Acharya Prashant addresses the question of whether choosing the right path requires understanding (Bodh) or can be achieved by pushing oneself. He explains that these two are not entirely separate. It is a misconception that once understanding dawns, the journey becomes automatic. Even after understanding, a deep-seated force of resistance remains within. This is why many people claim to have understanding, but very few live a life aligned with it. Continuous resolve (Sankalp) is essential, otherwise, even understanding slips away like sand through one's fingers. He elaborates that a complete battle against oneself is necessary. The struggle truly begins only after one understands the situation. Before understanding, one is simply carried away by the flow of unconsciousness. The fight starts when you realize you are going downhill but need to go uphill. Merely understanding that you need to go up does not mean you will reach the top. Your entire momentum is in the downward direction, and you have gained a lot of speed over a long time. Now, even if you understand that you need to go up, it will not happen instantly that you will stop. A lot of effort is required. Without paying the price, there will be no change in life, although one might have very high thoughts. This is just intellectual indulgence. Those who want to live an honest life have to go against themselves. One should not be under the illusion that merely understanding is enough. Your troubles begin after you understand. Ignorant people live with very few troubles; you will often find them happy. The word 'happy' contains as much foolishness as the word 'prasannata' (joy/contentment) does not. You will find mostly foolish people to be happy. The more foolish one is, the happier they are. The day their foolishness starts to decrease, their happiness will also start to decrease. The measure of your worth in existence is not your happiness, but it can certainly be your bliss (anand). And these two are very different things: happiness (prasannata) and bliss (anand). Happiness is a light, cheap, and shallow thing. Bliss is a very expensive thing; it demands a very big heart. It is found by going against yourself. There is pain in it, there is frustration, there is the thought of running away from the field, there is repeated defeat. But bliss is there. To go with yourself will bring you sorrow if things go very wrong, and pleasure if things go very well. Pleasure is often worse than sorrow. But the essence of life, the nectar, is found only by going against yourself. For the transformation of life, a cash payment is required. Understanding is just like someone telling you that the work will be done by making a certain payment. If you don't make the payment, why would the work be done? After making the payment, it is realized that it was not a payment at all. Removing the garbage from your life is not a payment, it is a boon. But when one doesn't even realize that the garbage is garbage, then the boon also feels like a payment.
