On YouTube
तुम्हारी कमज़ोरियाँ कितनी खूबसूरत हैं, और बेवकूफ़ियाँ कितनी हसीन || आचार्य प्रशांत (2021)
143.7K views
4 years ago
Weakness
Rejection
Spirituality
Effort
Consciousness
Fear
Truth
Freedom
Description

Acharya Prashant responds to a viewer's comment which advocates for accepting one's weaknesses as a part of their personality, suggesting that this acceptance leads to victory. Acharya Prashant strongly refutes this idea, calling it a "contaminated and polluted philosophy" that stems from fear and is not auspicious for anyone. He defines weakness as anything that prevents a person from attaining peace and truth, that which keeps them small, weak, and troubled. He questions how one can accept the very source of their suffering, comparing it to a tight pair of pants that causes discomfort—one must change it, not accept it as a part of their personality. The speaker argues that this philosophy of easy acceptance is a way to avoid the hard work and effort required for self-improvement. People become comfortable with their weaknesses because they are familiar, and they start finding a false sense of security in them. He criticizes the mindset that this philosophy promotes: "eat, drink, get fat, and lie around." To fight one's weaknesses, one needs to be a fearless person, as cowards are incapable of fighting. He asserts that true spirituality begins not with acceptance, but with rejection (नकार), with saying "no" to one's current conditioned state, and with opposition. Acceptance, he clarifies, is a very advanced stage of the spiritual journey, not the starting point. Acharya Prashant explains that the philosophy of easy acceptance is the language of modern, new-age gurus, which he considers a philosophy of fear designed to preserve one's laziness and cowardice. He calls it a "dishonest mask on the face of cowardice." He distinguishes between humans and other beings like animals or plants. A rabbit or a flower can remain as it is, but a human is born with the challenge and opportunity to rise, to transform their consciousness through effort and struggle. The joy and dance that come after such an ascent are of a far superior quality than the simple existence of an animal. He concludes by stating that while accepting the existence of a weakness is the first step of honesty, it must be followed by the hard work and labor required to overcome it. For instance, accepting that one is bad at mathematics does not magically make them good at it; it is the starting point for the effort needed to learn. Spirituality, therefore, is not about easy acceptance but about the courageous struggle against one's bondages to attain freedom and completeness.