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भुलाते चलो || आचार्य प्रशांत (2019)
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5 years ago
Forgetting (Vismaran)
The Supreme (Param)
Remembrance (Smaran)
Spirituality (Adhyatma)
Incompleteness
Memory (Smriti)
The World (Jagat)
Truth (Satya)
Description

In response to a question about how to minimize the moments of forgetting the Supreme, Acharya Prashant explains that, in reality, there is neither remembrance nor forgetfulness of the Supreme. He clarifies that only objects and things can be remembered, and consequently, only they can be forgotten. When one says they have forgotten something, it implies they once remembered it. Since the Supreme, or Truth, cannot be held in memory, it cannot be forgotten. While spiritual literature often uses this language, it is metaphorical. Acharya Prashant describes spirituality as the process of reducing the importance of things that are actually insignificant but appear valuable due to delusion and ignorance. He states that humans are born with a psychological sense of incompleteness, a natural condition that drives them to seek fulfillment. Initially, people turn to the world, believing that acquiring things will make them feel whole. However, despite numerous efforts, most remain mentally unsatisfied, with their inner world feeling dry and thirsty. The true meaning of remembering the Supreme, he elaborates, is to continuously forget everything in the world that is worthless. We only remember what we deem important. Therefore, spirituality is not about adding more knowledge, mantras, or theories to one's memory. Instead, its purpose is to help one see the futility of what is already stored in memory and to clean it out. It is a process of becoming forgetful of the non-essential, a 'mind-wash' to clear the mind of accumulated clutter. He defines 'dirt' or 'waste' as that which is no longer of use, like an empty water bottle or used cotton from a wound. Our minds, he says, are filled with things that may have once been useful but are now worthless. Clinging to them out of attachment is futile. Thus, the constant remembrance of God ('Prabhu Sumiran') is, in fact, the constant forgetting of the useless. The practice is not to remember God, who is beyond memory, but to forget the worthless, which is the true remembrance.