Your Education Is Useless If You Don't Know This
Questioner: So first of all, apology for interrupting this. I want to know your thoughts. You have given some indication, but I think in this audience, we are an educational institution. Please comment on your thoughts on education.
Acharya Prashant: See, the education that we are imparting here and they are taking here is awesome, wonderful, and I have been through the same process not too long back. It feels like yesterday I was on the same chairs. But what I have seen is, if we do not know what to do with our education, education helps in a limited way and sometimes even becomes a burden.
So along with the courses that they are being offered, their first-year basic sciences courses, then their departmental courses, and then the optional courses. Same as the structure here?
Questioner: Yeah. Same, very same.
Acharya Prashant: They must have courses on self-education. They must definitely have courses on self-education, four courses at least, starting from the third semester till the sixth. Before they enter placements, they must be sorted out; they must be very, very clear about themselves and life. So second year, third year, starting third semester: third, fourth, fifth, sixth; four semesters, four courses on self-education.
Questioner: And who do you think can offer those courses?
Acharya Prashant: Well, I would like to present myself.
Questioner: Sure, yeah. But you know, there is no formal structure available to invite somebody like you to give lectures.
Acharya Prashant: As an organization, we have devised a formal structure also, though we are not using it anymore, because right now we have moved on to a more national and global platform, not dealing really with educational institutions as such. But this is something we were doing five or seven years back. So that structure is still ready, always fresh and timeless. Ready to be used. We have that and we know of its potency.
And the fact is, before I put myself on a wider platform, I wanted to work only with students, and that's what I put 10 or more years of my life into, working only with students. But then I experienced the limitations of that model, so I moved to a wider platform. But my heart is still in that. Dealing with students is something I always relish.
So if an institution, if a serious institution of learning like IIIT, is willing, I’ll be glad. In fact, the first place where I offered the structure that I had made was IIT Delhi back in 2011. We started from there.
Questioner: Now I don’t want to say anything publicly, but at least I would like to request, let us explore the possibility with Goa.
Acharya Prashant: Definitely.
Questioner: Thank you. Pleasure having you. Thank you very much for coming. Please continue.
Questioner: Sir, as you mentioned, we need wisdom and education, but at the same time, wisdom and education will make us more inquisitive, inquire more, and that will place us against the entire society because, as we know, society is against questioning. So how can we stay firm on our stance in that situation? How can we go against society?
Acharya Prashant: What prevents you from going against society? The question is, if we become self-inquisitive, if we start looking into ourselves, we might come up with something that may offend society. Because when one starts loving questions, then one asks questions to everybody around as well.
If I can ask uncomfortable questions to myself, then why will I spare you or you? I'll throw questions all around, and that may annoy or offend some people. But why is that a problem? If people get annoyed or offended or crossed, how is that a problem? That is a problem only when you have stakes attached to those people. That is a problem only when you want something from those people. Right? And then you'll be afraid, "I have annoyed that person. He may withhold something." If you are offering something to somebody without expecting much in return, then you'll never be afraid. Fear comes only from greed and desire. If your aim is to bring the Truth to the other without expecting anything or without expecting much, then you will never be afraid. Never.
See at this moment, if I start wondering, even as I speak, what the hall is thinking of me, what my approval ratings would be like, what if I circulate a feedback form? Will they applaud for me when I rise? If I start thinking of these things, my voice would lose its edge. My Truth will be blunted. If I want to bring the Truth to you, I must not expect applause from you. That is the only way I can remain sincere and truthful here. And that's the answer.
Questioner: Yes, sir. Sir, like you were discussing education and spirituality also, but sir, like you were also saying that we should have some courses for spirituality and all that, like even Indian parents say, "Okay, you study the whole day, but spare some time for Pooja-paath, Bhakti, and all that." But sir, can't we just merge both these things? Both these things seem pious to us.
Acharya Prashant: You don't need to merge; you need to refine, purify. See, all the traditional religious practices have become distorted, but in their pure form, in their original form, the intention was always one; to show you a mirror. Because religion is about freedom from inner bondages, suffering, anxiety, chaos, and confusion, all these things that keep happening on the inside. That's the definition of religion. Very definition.
Religion is not about God's attainment. Religion is not about attaining a heaven for yourself. It is about freedom from your inner chaos and suffering right now. That is religion.
So all the religious practices originally had the same intent. Same intent, right? But they got distorted. So if you can look into religious practice, refine it for yourself, and use it as a mirror, then it's wonderful. But if it is not refined, if the religious practice is not acting as a mirror, if it is not bringing you face to face with yourself, then the religious practice is junk. It will not help you.
Questioner: Sir, as you mentioned, the religions that were created, they had traditions keeping something in mind, but those got distorted. But as you all know, the definition of being correct or being true keeps changing with time. Whatever is considered right in today's world might not be considered right in the future, and it was not considered right in the past as well. So how can we choose what is right?
Acharya Prashant: So, things that change with time, as you rightly said, are not reliable. Will you want to be with someone who can change the next moment? Will you want to eat food that can get poisonous even as you pick it up and bring it to your mouth?
The waiter will say, "When I served it to you, it was all right." But the half-life was two minutes. So it got spoiled even as you ate it. Would you want to consume such food? You won't want to. Right? So that's the thing. We are all so anxious because the world is unreliable. We don't know what will happen next. That's why things that change with time must be taken with a pinch of salt. You want that which doesn't change with time.
And how to come to that?
By first of all not labeling the changeable as unchangeable. Right? Lovers tell each other, "I love you till eternity." Now what have you done? You have blocked the Truth. How? You have labeled the ephemeral as eternal. You have labeled the time-bound as timeless. Now, when you have labeled the false as Truth, you have blocked the real Truth. Therefore, the real spiritual practice lies in identifying what is continuously changing with time and not taking it very seriously.
Questioner: Sir, now this requires real inquiry. If we are to go beyond just following the norms of society, and if we are to question even our own inner view of ethics, that means we have to go away from society. Now, there are two kinds of people who go away from society. One is a non-conformist, and then there is a contrarian, who opposes for the sake of opposition or because of his inability to cope. So how do we draw a distinction between a non-conformist and…?
Aacharya Prashant: Both of these, you have defined with respect to society or with respect to the outside. The moment you say "non-conformist," you are saying somebody who doesn't conform to the outside. Again, you are not talking of the inside. You have taken the outside and you have said somebody who doesn't conform to the outside is a non-conformist. Then you have said "contrarian," again somebody who does not necessarily agree or rather acts in an opposite way.
Questioner: always the opposite.
Acharya Prashant: Always the opposite way. You are calling that a contrarian. Again, the center of the statement is outside.
No, we are talking of the lover of Truth. We are talking of somebody with deep inner honesty. He is not determined to oppose society. His commitment is to inner honesty. His commitment is not to always oppose somebody on the outside. That's not his commitment.
No, no. Sometimes I might agree with you. Sometimes I might disagree. That is not the point. The point is whether I am truthful inwardly. Sometimes I might follow the crowd. Sometimes I might go against the crowd. Sometimes I might go orthogonal to the crowd. That's not the matter, because the crowd is not at all the center of my action. The center of my action is my inner honesty. That's the young man we want today. And the young woman. Yes. Am I making some sense?
Questioner: That is correct. So how do we go about this first step of unlearning, or rather questioning our conditioning?
Acharya Prashant: By seeing that a lot of things that you're calling “inner” are not inner at all. What do you call my thoughts, my feelings, my desires, my targets, my goals? They are mostly all borrowed. But when they were seeping in, when they were penetrating your mind, at that time we were probably sleeping or unconscious. So we didn't realize that something foreign had permeated us. And when we woke up, we said, "Oh, there is something here; must be mine."
No, it’s not yours. It’s like you are sleeping and somebody just entered your room and kept something by your bedside, and you wake up and you think that thing must belong to you. That’s not yours. The same thing applies to your beliefs, your concepts, your desires, your goals; your everything that you carry here as mental matter, everything. It’s all borrowed. But don’t take it from me; you’ll have to explore it for yourself. Otherwise, this will become another borrowed thing.
Questioner: Thank you, sir. That was very illuminating.
Questioner: Hello sir, I’m Parveen Saxena, M.Tech second year. So my question is: I’ve been hearing lots of problems and the only solution I’m coming to know is knowing yourself. Is there a flowchart to know who we are in your guidance?
Acharya Prashant: A flowchart is a very limited thing. A flowchart is a limited and limiting thing both, because you’ll have to depend on the flowchart; you’ll have to follow certain steps. Right? It’s a map; it’s a guide. Knowing yourself is far easier than following a flowchart, because you are always available to yourself to be observed.
What is this thing called knowing yourself? This self is not a thing sitting somewhere in the lung, or in the heart, or in the intestines. It’s nothing. When you die and you’re incinerated, are you left with something called the self? No. There’s this body and there is nothing called the self within; not a stone, not a thing, not an entity, nothing.
But then it shows up in its actions. Only in the actions is the self present. There has to be a certain movement. The self is doing something, and then you know the self is there. If the self does nothing, then the self is impossible to be seen. It is not like an insect, that the insect is sitting there and you can see it. No. It is like light. Do you ever have stationary light?
Light is possible only in movement. Similarly, the self is something that exists only in movement.
Can you have a stationary photon? Is it possible? I mean, yes, it is possible, but in a very extreme sense. You’ll have to conduct a mind-boggling experiment, and then you can bring the speed down in a relativistic framework to close to zero, but leave that.
Listener: Then, we can’t determine the position.
Acharya Prashant: Yes, very right. So the self is always available because the self is always acting. What is the action of the self? Even as you speak to someone else, listen to your own words, that will tell you something about yourself. “That fellow got a better grade than me.” Just don’t suppress that envy rising within. Face it and acknowledge it: “Yes, I am envious.”
That’s the action of the self. Envy is the action of the self. Words are the action of the self. Physical movement is the action of the self. Thoughts are the action of the self. Anything that involves change is action. Anything that involves movement is action. There’s some displacement, something changed from something to something. And only in that can you know the self; otherwise you cannot know the self.
Something happened and then it can be noticed, like a radar that can detect only movement. Only movement can be detected, and the self is, that’s the good news, always moving.
There is not a second when you are not doing anything. Even when you are not doing anything, there is still some activity going on. Acknowledge it. Something is going on, whatever is going on. Sometimes the thing is very obvious, very material, like you are extending your hand to pick this cup, and you can see what you’re doing. Sometimes you’re abusing someone, and you can see what you’re doing. Sometimes it’s a little subtler; it’s happening within. And then you have to be more careful, what is going on. Only in your actions, thoughts, feelings, instincts, decisions, desires can the self be seen.
Questioner: Sir, how do we know if it is right or it is wrong?
Acharya Prashant: Right or wrong are labels. Don’t apply them. Otherwise you will not be able to see anything. To see something, especially to see yourself, you must not be judgmental. If you’ll be judgmental. If you will only see what you consider good, because seeing the other things will be dangerous.
You have already said envy is a bad thing, lust is a bad thing. Now, as a young man, these are the things you may frequently encounter: anger, greed, envy, lust. But you have already labeled them as chi-chi, ganda. So even when they are available to be seen, what will you do?
Questioner: Neglect.
Acharya Prashant: You’ll turn your face away. You’ll say, “No, no, they don’t exist.” Because if I acknowledge that I’m envious, then I’m a ganda baccha. So I’ll not see.
You can really know what is happening within when you are not judgmental. Watch without judgment. Watch without bias. Watch without desire or the need to conclude. Don’t say, “I watched this; hence it is proven that this is this.” No, no, your job is not to prove something. Your job is not to come to a conclusion. Your job is just to be truthful and know; that’s your job. That’s your fundamental nature.
Questioner: So coming to the last point, sir, when we listen to the conversation between Arjun and Shri Krishna, Arjun is asking the right set of questions and Shri Krishna Bhagwan is giving the right answer. But as a human being, we don’t know what is the right question to be asked.
Acharya Prashant: No question is ever right, and the right answers are always irrelevant to the question. Arjun is not asking the right questions. When it comes to the inner world, we are not talking of mathematics and physics here. We are talking of who you are, what your relationship with this, that is; where should your action come from; we are talking of these questions. When you’re talking of the inner dimension, you can never ask the right question.
So the right teacher always gives you the right answer. Even if it is a little irrelevant to the question, he packages the answer in such a way that it looks like an answer to your question, but really it is never an answer to your question. You have asked something else. You asked something else and the answer will take you in the right direction.
Arjun’s question, if you will visit the Bhagavad Gita, especially if you look at just the two opening verses of Chapter 3, for example, you know what Arjun is asking Shri Krishna? The question, verbatim I’m quoting: “Why are you misleading me?” This is the question.
What will be the relevant answer to this? The question is: “Why are you misleading me?” The right answer would be: “I am misleading you because… because… because…”
Behind the question is the assumption that Shri Krishna is misleading Arjun. Behind all questions is a facetious assumption. Therefore, no teacher can ever answer a question. All questions are based on faulty assumptions. It’s like asking him, “When did you come out of jail?” What is the assumption? I’ve been to jail. There can be no right answer to this question. There can be no relevant answer.
And all questions are like this. They are based on faulty assumptions. Therefore, the teacher looks at the question, smiles, and then says, “Fine, I’ll give the needed answer, the required answer, the beneficial answer, and package it such that it looks like the answer to the question. Because if I make it very obvious that I’m ignoring your question and telling you something else, then the questioner will run. He will say, ‘I asked a question and instead he is telling me some other gyan.’ So the questioner will run away. So the teacher’s craft lies in giving a beautiful answer packaged to look relevant.
Questioner: And useful.
Acharya Prashant: And useful. Yes, beautiful.
That’s a useful thing. So your question to me is, tell me the best way to commit suicide. There will be a great difference between a relevant answer and a useful answer. The teacher will never give you a relevant answer, because the question is: How do I commit suicide? And all questions are like that. The assumption is, committing suicide is good. The question is: How do I commit suicide?
Now, if I am just a robot or even AI, I’ll probably list the ways and rank them also, and ask, “Do you want me to further elaborate?” But the teacher will not do that. He will go into the matter of suicide, but in a way that will dissuade you from committing suicide. So the answer is, on a very technical scale, not relevant but very useful, very useful. It is the answer that you never asked for but really needed.
Questioner: Where can I find that teacher?
Acharya Prashant: Be the student, the teacher emerges.
