Acharya Prashant explains that the state of a child is defined by childish dreams. Therefore, to want to protect the dreams of childhood is to want to protect the state of childhood itself. He posits that to grow is to grow into higher dreams. If one still desires the same things at thirty as they did at three or thirteen, there has been no growth. The dreams of childhood are not to be protected; one must grow out of them. The speaker elaborates that a child has an underdeveloped consciousness and is deeply conditioned by their body, genetics, and external influences from family, school, and media. Childhood dreams, therefore, lack depth, consideration, or discretion. For instance, a child wanting to become a pilot after seeing a neighbor's father in that profession is a conditioned dream. These desires do not have any real substance. Addressing the pleasure derived from childhood activities, Acharya Prashant states that this happiness was experienced by a different personâthe childâwho is now gone. An infant seeks pleasure, a kid seeks happiness, but a grown-up must look for joy. Sticking to the pleasures of childhood blocks inner growth because what pleases a person is a direct reflection of their level of consciousness. A man of deep consciousness finds joy in entirely different things than a shallow man. What pleases you will become your destiny, so if the same things that pleased you as a child still please you, it is a matter for introspection. He further deconstructs the romanticization of childhood, stating that what is often called innocence is merely the bliss of ignorance. There is no real innocence in childhood; it is a state of biological conditioning. If childhood were truly pure, it would not so easily degrade into the kind of adulthood commonly seen. Real innocence, simplicity, and freedom are not things one is born with; they must be achieved as an adult. This is the very target of life. Life is a journey towards liberation, not towards childhood. To find real freedom and a carefree life, one must turn to scriptures like the Gita and Vedanta, not to memories of the past. The real thing was never in the past. The problem is not that one is no longer a child, but that one is not yet a true adult. To find joy, one must be fully grown up and let childish things be for children.
