The difference between seriousness and Immersion || Acharya Prashant, with youth (2013)
Question: In one of our sessions we came across words, ‘seriousness’ and immersion’. Sir, there we only came to know about their surface meanings. There was no light thrown on there exact detailed meanings. What is the basic difference between them? Which one is more advantageous to inculcate and how can we enhance it?
Speaker: See, words by themselves are nothing but when we are saying that we need to differentiate ‘seriousness’ and ‘immersion’, what we are saying is that these are two distinct states of mind and we must understand what they are. Names are not important, what I will be calling as seriousness, you can call it something else. What is important is to understand that this is a state of mind. You can give any label to it. Seriousness in some senses can be a beautiful word as well. Jiddu Krishnamurti would always say ‘Be serious’.
In what sense are we saying that seriousness is a load? Understand this. Seriousness implies- a mind that is bogged down. Seriousness implies that I am considering something very very important. Don’t you say that I am serious about something. When you say ‘I am serious about something’, what do you mean? You mean that this thing is important. Nothing is important because whatever will become important for you will push your life into fear. Because is something is very important then the thought of it being lost will create fear within you. Seriousness says that there is something outside of me, which is very, very important and this becomes a burden upon the mind.
Immersion on the other hand says that I am into it. Remember when you are serious about something, the thing is outside of you. ‘I am serious about a person’, ‘I am serious about an event’, ‘I am serious about an examination’. Now you are not the examination, you are not that event, you are not the person; the thing is outside of you, your concern is located in the world. Your mind is wandering. When you are immersed, you are into it. Whatever is there, you are fully into it, it is not outside of you. Are you getting it? These two are in that sense opposite to each other.
When you are immersed in it, how can you be serious about it? If you are immersed in listening right now, you cannot be serious about it. But yes, somebody outside can be serious about this whole thing. Before coming to this Samvaad session you could be serious about it. When you are into it, you can only be…
Listeners(everyone): Immersed.
Speaker: Seriousness exists only till the point when you are not one with the happening. When you are one with the happening, there is no question of seriousness. An event is approaching. Till the time the event is not there, you will keep thinking about it, fuming, fearing and imagining, and this is called as seriousness. Once you are into the event and really really into it, then there can be no seriousness. Then, there is only the event, the flow and you are a part of the flow. You are the flow.
Seriousness implies that I am there, I am there, and the thing is there. So, seriousness is actually Ego. I am there and the thing is separate from me. So, seriousness in that sense reinforces the Ego. Immersion dissolves the Ego. There is no separation between me and the event, me and the thing, me and the person, so there is no question of an ‘I’ or an ego. I exists only in separation. Are you getting it?
In most of the moments in life, we are serious but rarely immersed. Mind loves seriousness and hates immersion. Tell me why? I am asserting that mind loves seriousness but hates immersion. Why? Because in being serious, it has something to think about. Have you seen serious people? They are lost, thinking, worrying, self-centered. ‘What will happen?’. ‘There is something so important’. ‘If I achieve this something great will happen, if I don’t achieve this, my life will be destroyed’. So, the mind is very happy. You are providing food to the mind. What is the food of the mind?
Listeners (everyone): Thoughts
Speaker: And you’re providing lot of food to the mind. In immersion, mind has to dissolve. Why the mind has to dissolve? Because the mind is not thinking about something, the mind is into that thing. Thinking about it means that there is a separation, a gap. And the gap is what the mind feeds on. Now, the event is real. Be into it. There is no space for thought now.
Immersion says, ‘there is no space for thoughts’. Get real. Don’t look at the party from outside. Come inside and join the dance’. This is immersion. Seriousness says, ‘look at the party and keep imagining that what will happen, when I’ll go outside? Will it be lot of fun?’ Yes, I must go inside and I must have the credentials to go inside. And immersion says, ‘go, jump into it and start dancing’. Now, what will the mind do? Nothing. It will just come to a standstill. So it does not like immersion. Is it clear? Alright.
Excerpted from a ‘Shabd-Yog’ session. Edited for clarity.
