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So, life is sorted? || Acharya Prashant, with BITS Pilani (2022)
7.8K views
3 years ago
Life is a battle
Sorted life
Truth
Maya
Love
Adversity
Victory and Defeat
Realization
Description

In response to a question about whether life can ever be fully "sorted," Acharya Prashant states that the truth, as the proverb goes, is bitter. The truth is that life can never be ultimately sorted. He explains that if one can live with this realization, then one is realized. The desire to be sorted belongs to the grave, where there are no matters, affairs, quarrels, or suffering. As long as one is breathing, there remains a job to be done, and this job will continue even after one is no longer breathing. Life is never going to be finally sorted. Acharya Prashant advises against fooling or consoling oneself with the idea of a "fool's paradise," where one believes they have finally arrived and everything is sorted. He cautions against convincing oneself that others have achieved a fully sorted life, as there has never been anybody who was one hundred percent sorted. The challenges in life arise from the body itself. The enemy is within you, and as long as you are alive, the enemy is alive. Therefore, you can never have a final victory. This enemy is what is called Maya, and it will always find new and newer ways to raise its head. Instead of seeking a final victory, one should learn to revel in this situation, which is life itself. One must learn to flourish amidst continuous adversity, to smile in pain, and not to surrender in defeat, of which there will be plenty. No skill can allow you to smile in defeat; what is needed is heart. The heart is not defeated if it is in love. Life can only be lived in the purest kind of love; otherwise, it is unbearable. Those battles and bloody defeats can only be tolerated if you are in love, or else you will quit. Quitting doesn't mean physical death but living the life of a loser. Instead of asking for a final victory, one should shift their desire and start asking for good battles. This requires a love worth dying for, something so tremendous that you remain invigorated even if you do not reach that thing, that point, that spot.