A questioner from Rajasthan shares his experience of trying to reject societal and familial beliefs, such as the worship of goddesses and the practices of local priests. He admits to feeling an inner fear but continues to reject these traditions, which are passed down by his parents. Acharya Prashant affirms his actions, encouraging him to continue. The speaker then points out that the most superstitious states in the country are also the most backward in every way, including education and economic status, according to all human development indicators. The questioner, who runs a grocery store in Ahmedabad, mentions that he shut down his dairy business after understanding the truth about it, which led to family conflicts. He tries to reason with customers who buy items like coconuts for worship, but they have no answers. He even keeps 50-60 of Acharya Prashant's books in his store to awaken people, but finds that even educated individuals are unwilling to touch them. Acharya Prashant humorously remarks that their hands are already full with coconuts. The questioner adds that his business has dropped to 25% since he stopped selling dairy products, but he has no regrets. His wife suggested he restart the business and offer half the 'sin' to God, to which he responded by asking his son if it would be acceptable to kill him and bring another son home. In response to another question about why superstition cannot be eradicated by logic or science, Acharya Prashant explains that the ego is at the center of all superstition. The first superstition is the ego's belief that "I am." All superstitions originate from the ego. As long as the ego exists, superstition will persist in some form, even in great scientists. Superstition can only be removed when the ego is removed, and the ego is dissolved not by science or logic, but by spirituality. Therefore, only a truly spiritual person can be free from superstition. He clarifies that our definition of superstition is often limited to practices like black magic, but we fail to recognize the superstitions of the educated and logical people. When asked about the difference between faith (shraddha) and belief (manyata), he explains that faith is the conviction that breaking untruth is always auspicious, and another name for untruth is belief. Thus, faith means that breaking beliefs is always auspicious, making faith and belief opposites.
