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Self-improvement is a decoration of the disease || Acharya Prashant (2016)
Acharya Prashant
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10 years ago
Self-improvement
Dissolution
Mind
Atman
Dishonesty
Seeing
Introspection
Pleasure
Description

Acharya Prashant explains that the concept of self-improvement is fundamentally flawed because the person who wants to improve is the same person who is currently dissatisfied with themselves. He argues that if one dislikes their current self, they cannot trust a destination chosen by that very same self. He clarifies that the self is one, and the belief that one part is sick while another is smart enough to fix it is actually a symptom of that sickness. According to him, the mind can only undergo dissolution, not improvement, while the soul is already perfect and requires no change. He asserts that the pretext of improvement is often used as a delay tactic to avoid actual transformation, much like someone repeatedly saying they are on their way to avoid admitting they have not arrived. He further discusses how individuals mistake their fears for pleasures and cling to them out of a false sense of security. Acharya Prashant emphasizes that true seeing is not an intellectual or memory-based exercise like introspection, but an immediate action that occurs in the present moment. He states that if real seeing happens, one's actions and life change instantly. He concludes that continuing to act in the same old patterns while claiming to have seen one's mistakes is a form of dishonesty, as genuine realization results in an immediate shift in behavior.