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अध्यात्म में शब्द हल्की चीज़ नहीं होते || आचार्य प्रशांत (2020)
10.4K views
5 years ago
Mukti (Liberation)
Scriptures
Bondage
Words
Experience
Ego
Bhagavad Gita
Kabir Saheb
Description

Acharya Prashant responds to a young man who claims to have read all the scriptures and now seeks immediate liberation. Initially, the speaker humorously notes that the questioner has done a religious deed by making everyone laugh. He then addresses the core of the matter, questioning the claim of having read all the scriptures. He explains that if one has truly read the scriptures, the answers to such questions would have been found within them, as scriptures provide answers in the form of words. He points out the contradiction in seeking something beyond words after supposedly reading the scriptures, which are themselves composed of words. The speaker clarifies that in spirituality, words are not trivial. He asks who told the questioner that words have no value and that something beyond words can be given. The scriptures themselves assert that if their words are read and heard with honesty, they will cleanse all of one's inner garbage. The speaker further deconstructs the notion of seeking an 'existential experience' instead of words, calling it a newly propagated trend. He explains that experience requires an experiencer, which is the ego. Therefore, seeking an experience is a desire of the ego. He emphasizes that liberation is not something to be obtained or given by another. Bondages are what one holds onto, and liberation is simply the act of letting them go, which is a decision that lies solely with the individual. He questions how one can ask for liberation from someone else when they are the one holding onto their own bondages. He states that liberation is not a gem or a sweet that can be handed over. Liberation is the natural state, which is already available to everyone. The problem is not the absence of liberation, but the presence of all the other things one has accumulated alongside it. These other things, these bondages, are what need to be dropped. Acharya Prashant challenges the feasibility of reading all scriptures in just two years, stating that it is not possible. He explains that scriptures are not novels to be finished and discarded. They are meant for continuous recitation and contemplation. A scripture is truly 'finished' only when the reader themselves is 'finished'—meaning, when the ego dissolves. As long as the reader exists, there is still more to be read and understood. The meaning of the verses deepens as the reader's own depth increases. He concludes by advising the questioner to avoid the haste and dishonesty hidden in the claim of having 'finished' the scriptures. Instead of asking for liberation, one should focus on dropping the bondages, which are like radioactive waste that should be discarded far away, not offered to someone else.