Acharya Prashant begins by apologizing for the delay in starting the session. He then addresses a question about whether life is a consequence of our decisions or external factors beyond our control. He explains that there is hardly anything that is in our control as far as the situations of life are concerned. Even when we feel that things are happening because we planned them, it is not actually that way. The ego is the agency that likes to believe it is the doer. Even those who feel their life is in their control are mistaken. He illustrates this with the example of physical ailments. When someone discovers they have cancer, the doer is shocked because it did not do the cancer. The doer, who loves to claim credit for good things, is perplexed by such events. Acharya Prashant states that everything in the sensual, material domain is just random and incidental. The ego is a fictitious agency that likes to say, "I did it." The fact is, everything in the material domain is just Prakriti (nature). The ego is the agency that likes to believe it is the doer. The fact is, everything in the sensual, material domain is just Prakriti (nature). The ego is a fictitious agency that likes to say, "I did it." He further explains that we are all puppets of chance, and what we call our conscious decisions are actually just chemical games being played out as thoughts and emotions. We mistakenly believe our thoughts come from a place called 'I', but they actually come from hormones, chemicals, and material Prakriti. The only thing bigger than chance is the Self, which is the one you really are. The Self is that within you which must remain unaffected by chance. It is timeless, formless, and beyond situations. The Self is an optional entity; it exists for you only if you choose it. If you have the Self, you can beat luck; otherwise, you are a puppet of luck. The only help can come from the Self, which means the one that you really are, not the one that you have assumed yourself to be.
