Are Your Thoughts and Emotions Just Words?
Questioner: Pranaam Acharya Ji. I'm very excited to finally see you and interact with you. So my question is, or rather, reaction is—you have talked a lot about emotions being a bundle of chemicals. Now, the context here is, what is the relationship between emotions and language, or words, basically?
So, I have been observing myself for some time now, and I have seen that a lot of ideas and concepts that I have—when I try to investigate them, all I end up with is just more words. Basically, what I see is that these different groupings of words, which my mind tells me, are creating emotional responses within me. So I want to understand from you whether the mind and my words are anything more than just words.
Thank you.
Acharya Prashant: No. Words come upon observation—that is one thing. And words are mind-stuff—that is another thing.
One thing is: I observed, and then I was trying to verbalize my observation, and the words got muddled up—that is one thing. And it's a different question to ask, "Is mind-stuff just words?" Which of these two is your question?
Questioner: Basically, when I contemplate all the ideas that I have—the definitions of ideas—I feel that, in essence, they are just words.
Acharya Prashant: They are. Okay. Step by step. Yes, they are. Then?
Questioner: Since they are words, there is something in me which is giving more meaning to them than just seeing them as words. And this happens because, when words pop up in my mind, some kind of emotion happens. Right? Like, if I'm anxious, there is an explanation—
Acharya Prashant: Stop, stop, stop. That’s just because the mind can receive stimuli not only from the externally looking senses but also from its internal database—memory.
So, somebody called me a hippo. I got angry when called a hippo. And then I got angry again when I remembered that he called me a hippo.
The first time, the word "hippo" came to me from?
Questioner: Outside.
Acharya Prashant: The second time, the word "hippo" came to me from?
Questioner: My mind.
Acharya Prashant: From inside, from memory. And where did the meaning of the word "hippo" come from?
Questioner: Outside.
Acharya Prashant: Again—from experiences, which are all stored within.
Questioner: Right.
Acharya Prashant: So, the word has a certain meaning. Meaning? What does the word "meaning" mean? Interest. It has a stake. Meaning means "stake." In spiritual parlance, in linguistics, meaning simply means translation. If I ask the meaning of a word, you will simply translate it into other words that you already know of—that's called a meaning.
In spiritual terms, meaning implies interest. Meaning implies stake. For example, when you say, "Let's live a meaningful life," that means, "Let's live a life that fulfills our deepest interest." Are you getting it?
So that's what the word, as a stimulus, does. It tells the ego whether it is gaining or losing. So, the word comes to me, and the word is "hippo." And the word tells the ego, "Oh, you are losing something." And the ego is already afraid of losses. It's already sitting, shivering, and on top of that, it has been told that it's a hippo. And being a hippo means loss of social acceptance and respectability.
Because I am a hippo, nobody respects me. So the ego feels even more shriveled. That's what the word does.
All words have existential connotations to the ego. That existential connotation is the meaning. If that connotation is removed, words will do nothing.
All words carry something that impinges on your very existence. If you can clear the word of that, then words will remain just words, and no words will have the power to shake you up or disturb you.
Questioner: So, basically, the way I'm using my language is affecting my ego also, right?
Acharya Prashant: All words—all words exist for the ego. And the ego is so damn desperate that nothing can exist for it without having a meaning for it.
In your entire universe, nothing can exist just for its own sake. We are so hungry that everything exists for our sake. Is there anything in your house that is meaningless? Please tell me. Is there anything in your house that doesn’t serve any function? That’s what is called meaninglessness.
Is there anything in your house that does not serve your self-interest? Your house is your brahmand—your universe. Everything inside it must have meaning for you; otherwise, you'll throw it away.
Similarly, your entire vocabulary has things—words—that have meaning for you. And if a word does not have any meaning for you, you will forget it.
So, that’s what language is. It reminds you of something that potentially can either belittle you or inflate you. Every word is a pointer to the ego—of its hollowness and also of its potential fulfillment.
(The questioner nods- the sign of understanding.)
Acharya Prashant: Thank you
Questioner: Thank you, sir.
