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If Vivekanand comes alive today, this is what he faces || Acharya Prashant, at BITS Goa (2023)
Breaking Free
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1 year ago
Swami Vivekananda
Conditioning
Youth
Vedanta
Self-inquiry
Superstition
Truth
Consumption
Description

Acharya Prashant explains that the youth exists in a peculiar condition where the body matures rapidly, granting energy and the power to build systems, yet understanding and experience are often lacking. He argues that formal education fails to address inner development, erroneously assuming that physical growth parallels inner maturity. Consequently, the energy of the youth is driven by social, cultural, and biological conditioning rather than true understanding. He notes that the vulnerability of the youth remains the same as it was during Swami Vivekananda's time because biological processes have not changed. Swami Vivekananda's mission was to challenge the conditioning of his era, which then expressed itself as physical weakness and a sense of defeat. Acharya Prashant asserts that if Swami Vivekananda were alive today, he would address modern conditioning, such as the obsession with consumption and the belief that happiness is derived from it. He emphasizes that truth is not a concept but lies in getting rid of inner patterns and dropping what one has become through ignorance. He highlights that modern superstitions are subjective and harder to defeat, often manifesting as a head-strong confidence in one's beliefs. He encourages the youth to engage in sincere self-inquiry to understand why they desire what they do, rather than blindly following conventional paths. He concludes that acknowledging the brain's tendency to adopt false beliefs is the first step toward liberation.