Acharya Prashant addresses a question about 'real interest' by first examining the origin of our usual interests and choices. He explains that what we call our interests or choices are not made in a vacuum but come from our bodily composition and conditioning. In a macro sense, our choices are confined by our physical constitution. For instance, while one can choose between different kinds of food, one can never choose to eat 500 kilograms of it, as the body will not allow it. Similarly, one can choose a favorite color from the visible spectrum, but not a color with a wavelength of 2000 or 20,000 angstroms, because our eyes cannot perceive it. All our supposed infinite choices lie within this very narrow, physically determined spectrum. The speaker further elaborates that our choices are also dictated by social conditioning. Our likes and dislikes are often a fallout of our circumstances, such as our religion, nationality, or background. For example, a person born in India is very likely to play or like cricket, which is not a real choice but an imposition of the environment. Similarly, a person born in Germany is more likely to know of Mozart and Beethoven than Tansen. Therefore, what we call our choice is often a result of our conditioning and indicates a lack of freedom, not its presence. Our choices are not liberating; they are confining. Acharya Prashant concludes that the more important question is not 'what to choose next?' but 'what am I currently doing?' and 'why am I choosing this?'. We are constantly in an unconscious momentum, running towards goals and desires. The first step towards wisdom is to stop this flow, even for a moment, to take stock of the present. It is very difficult to see clearly when the mind is clouded with desires and ambitions. This impartial looking at one's choices is at the center of all wisdom. By lovingly attending to the present, the future will organically emerge on its own, without the need for planning. The job is not to plan a future but to be attentive to the present.
