On YouTube
Parents don't care for your interests? || Acharya Prashant, with IIM Nagpur (2022)
8K views
3 years ago
Spirituality
Truth
Ego
Materialism
Disagreement
Intention
Family Relationships
Perspective
Description

Acharya Prashant begins by stating that, without exception, all human beings are spiritual. He defines spirituality as the understanding that the material world around you is not going to prove sufficient for you. This is why the word 'spirit' is used in comparison to the word 'material'. Spirituality does not discard the material; it keeps the material at its right place. Because we have material bodies, material things definitely have a role to play in our life, which is the life of the body. Spirituality is to understand that beyond your bodily needs and beyond the thoughts and emotions that your material brain experiences, there is something else that you need, or rather, crave for. This spiritual need is experienced by every single person on this planet, not just a few. However, that need is never fulfilled by anything material. So, we are all spiritual, but some of us acknowledge that need, while others do not and continue running after the material, even though the material disappoints them a million times. Your parents, you, and all of us are people of the spirit. It's not that we do not need material things; just as you need the laptop to talk to me, I too need a laptop and other equipment to talk to you. Regarding disagreements in relationships, Acharya Prashant explains that a disagreement is not greatly problematic. The problem may lie in one's reluctance to explore the facts. Discussions are useful because they help you see something bigger than your personal perspective. Whenever a situation of disagreement arises, do not take it as something unwanted. Instead, see it as an opportunity to widen your perspective, provided the intention is to reach the fact. The catch is that the intention is rarely to reach the fact; most often, it is to defend and secure one's own position, which is the ego. This is why discussions turn into debates, then conflicts, and conflicts bring suffering. To avoid suffering, one wants to avoid the discussion. To handle this, do not take anything personally. If the other person says something that hurts you, it is something with the other one; do not let it become your personal thing. In discussions, many things fly around; you must have the discretion to pick what is of use and ignore the trivia. Be absolutely focused on the truth. You are not in any interaction to settle personal scores or for personal aggrandizement; you are in it for the fact. You are interested in the fact because imagination and ignorance bring suffering, and only in the fact is there a possibility of a solution.