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To be thirsty and to be blind || Acharya Prashant, on Vivekachudamani (2018)
Scriptures and Saints
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3 years ago
Vivekchudamani
Rajas
Prakrti
Guna
Sahaj
Atman
Truth
Adi Shankaracharya
Description

Acharya Prashant explains that the conflict faced by Arjun in the Bhagavad Gita is not a historical event between two individuals, but a representation of the internal struggle of all mankind. He clarifies that Shri Krishna and Arjun both reside within us; Shri Krishna is the heart of Arjun. Addressing a question on the rajasic nature of the mind, he clarifies that the mind does not have a rajasic nature by essence. Instead, the three gunas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—are attributes of nature (prakrti) and not the true self (svabhava). When the mind is busy with things that are not its nature, it becomes uneasy and 'asahaj'. This lack of ease causes various mental disturbances like anger, jealousy, and insecurity to 'pop up' and become available to experience, much like a software flagging fraudulent transactions. To purge the rajasic mind, one must observe these mental disturbances without chasing them. Acharya Prashant describes the rajasic state as being both thirsty and blinded; one runs blindly and haphazardly because they cannot stand still but do not know where to go. This state is often mislabeled in society as ambition or motivation. He advises that one cannot 'practice' the truth because truth is not a skill or a routine. Instead, the practice lies in identifying the false as false. He emphasizes the importance of not being co-opted by the crowd or the market, which treats conscious beings as inanimate commodities. To be intimate with the truth, one must have the courage to remain an 'alien' in a gathering and refuse to belong to the falseness of the world.