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Even in your darkest hour, the Truth shines in your Heart || Acharya Prashant (2016)
Acharya Prashant
693 views
9 years ago
Meditation
Conditioning
Truth
Self-Acceptance
Ego
Observation
Surrender
Personality
Description

Acharya Prashant addresses the common misconception that one must be quiet, calm, or follow a specific meditative image to be spiritual. He explains that the urge to be quiet or to look like a saint is often a concept sold by meditation courses and advertisements. He emphasizes that there is no such thing as a 'right personality' and that one does not need to become a photocopy of a particular image, such as the Buddha, to be acceptable. Just as the Ganga is noisy in the hills and trees are diverse yet rooted in the same earth, an individual has the right to be exactly as they are, whether noisy or quiet. He further clarifies that truth does not demand a change in personality or the removal of basic conditioning. Even a surrendered mind retains its tendencies and physical attributes, as conditioning runs as deep as the body itself. The key is not to despise oneself or one's mannerisms but to realize they are unimportant compared to the truth. He describes observation not as a process of judging or belittling oneself, but as a judgment-less awareness. He uses the analogy of two plants—one that causes rashes and one that heals—to show that both have a right to exist and neither is inherently evil or virtuous. Acharya Prashant concludes by stating that spiritual change happens only when there is total non-resistance and fondness toward oneself. He explains the paradox that when you are completely all right with yourself and touch your flaws with love rather than hatred, the 'rotten' parts of the ego drop away naturally. He encourages a deep-seated, reasonless confidence in one's existential worth, asserting that if one were rejected by the divine, they would not exist at all. By accepting oneself as a 'superhero' in essence, one naturally stops acting in ways that are beneath that dignity.