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How did you find your calling in life? || Acharya Prashant, at BITS Goa (2024)
114.6K views
1 year ago
Discovery of Purpose
Questioning
Self-Knowledge
Ambiguity
Certainty
Love for Truth
Decision
Spontaneity
Description

Acharya Prashant begins by apologizing for being late. In response to a question about discovering one's life purpose, he explains that it is not a one-time event but a continuous process. He states that one never truly "discovers" their purpose as a final endpoint, as there is always a life to live and more to learn about the whole game. This process of questioning is relevant at any age, and one should never be too confident that they know everything. He emphasizes the importance of continuously asking questions about oneself, one's actions, and one's purpose. It is crucial to question whether one is merely repeating old patterns in new forms and to be wary of simply following the crowd. These fundamental questions must always be kept alive. The brain has a tendency to settle for quick decisions to avoid ambiguity, but one should not let this happen. It is better to be uncomfortable with an open question than to be deceived by a premature answer. Acharya Prashant clarifies that the ability to keep questioning is not an innate quality but a conscious decision, a choice akin to love. The focus should not be on finding answers, as that indicates a discomfort with the question itself. Instead, one should learn to love the questions. The solution to a question lies within the question itself. The root of every question is the questioner, and by probing deeply into one's questions, one comes to know oneself. The aim is not to find an answer that dismisses the question, but to understand the question so thoroughly that it loses its meaning and disappears. When interacting with people who do not question their own frames of reference, he advises against becoming bitter. One should remain mindful of the other person's perspective and be spontaneous in such conversations. He gives an example of how a seemingly trivial question about a fixed lunch time can be an opportunity to explore the underlying assumptions and structures that govern our lives.