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Education of the Self || Acharya Prashant, with IIM Calcutta (2022)
Bharat
100 views
2 years ago
Shiva
Self-inquiry
Vedanta
Atman
Brahman
Satya
Negation
Conditioning
Description

Acharya Prashant explains that when Acharya Shankar refers to Shri Shiva, he means a joyful emptiness and the absence of all nonsense, rather than a material figure or Puranic character. He defines spirituality as pure self-inquiry, which is independent of any sect, community, or belief system. This process is essentially negative in nature, focusing on the negation of conditioning and the inquiry into one's true identity through the question "Who am I?" He emphasizes that self-inquiry is a secular necessity for all youngsters to prevent global destruction. Acharya Prashant further clarifies that any realization or conclusion reached during self-inquiry must be transcended, as the truth lies in total silence and emptiness. He describes the spiritual journey as an unlimited possibility where one must never settle or give up, driven by a sense of discontentment that points toward an invisible, unthinkable final peak. The essence of this path is to keep moving forward, constantly exceeding one's current station to reach higher states of being.