Acharya Prashant explains that Mahatma Buddha was filled with compassion and was therefore very practical. He was not interested in high ideals or principles for their own sake but wanted to help the common people. Consequently, his entire process, teachings, and language were designed to be understandable and applicable in daily life. The speaker introduces the concept of duality (dvaita), which he defines as a pair of interdependent opposites, such as you and the world, hot and cold, or male and female. He states that it is an ancient realization that while the mind and ego love to dwell at the extremes of these dualities, doing so is extremely harmful to the individual being (jeev). This is why excess (ati) is forbidden, as residing at either end of a duality leads to suffering, and the mind knows nothing beyond these extremes. He contrasts this with Vedanta, which, in its sublime way, advises one to rise above, transgress, and go beyond (paar chale jao) both ends of duality. However, this teaching was misinterpreted. People, being clever, turned the concept of 'going beyond' (paar) into 'the other world' (parlok), creating numerous stories about it. The sages intended for people to rise above the plane of the mind, but instead, they remained on the same plane, imagining another world. This misinterpretation led to the degradation of the Vedic religion by the Buddha's time, marked by violence, animal sacrifice, and various perversions. Seeing this, the Buddha chose to use a different language. He knew that if he told people to 'go beyond,' they would get stuck in the concept itself. So, instead, he said, 'come to the middle' (beech mein aa jao). The Buddha's 'middle' (madhyam) does not mean a compromise or 'a little of this and a little of that.' The Buddha is a scientist of negation (nakaar); his entire language is that of 'no' (na). When he says 'middle,' he means 'neither this nor that.' The common interpretation of the middle path as a compromise is a distortion. The true meaning is to have no attachment to either extreme of duality, which is real non-duality (advaita). When the mind is given neither this nor that, it becomes calm and silent, reaching its ultimate state (param gati). Vedanta calls this merging with Brahman (Brahma-leenta) or completeness (poornata), while the Buddha calls it emptiness (shunyata). The middle path is not about adopting half-truth and half-falsehood; where truth is apparent, one's commitment must be absolute.
