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Why Words Fail to Capture Life’s Truth? || Acharya Prashant (2023)
189.5K views
1 year ago
Ego
Bhagavad Gita
Truth
Self-preservation
Language
Liberation
Flux
Ramana Maharshi
Description

Acharya Prashant explains that the reason a particular verse from the Gita is so frequently highlighted is because it poses a threat to the ego. He states that one highlights things either to consume them, like a target or prey, or because they are a potential threat. This specific verse, if understood correctly, is a huge threat to our existence, which is the ego. Therefore, we have taken great care not to let it pass safely; we have ensured to corrupt its meaning so that we, the ego, can remain safe. This is a typical example of the ego identifying a threat within holy scriptures and neutralizing it. This tendency can be extended to all things in the world; if we are highlighting something, it is likely we are going to destroy or distort it. The speaker elaborates that the ego does not highlight things because they are virtuous or truthful, as it has no concern for virtue or truth. For the ego, its own security and preservation come first. Consequently, whenever the ego gets a whiff of truth, it becomes very alert—not to surrender, but to counter what it perceives as an enemy. This is why people rush to temples; they highlight them to distort their purpose. Even when the ego says, "I love you" or "I respect you," it should be seen as a red flag, similar to someone saying, "I love chicken." The intention is consumption or neutralization. Responding to a point about the conflict between the dynamic nature of life and the static nature of language, Acharya Prashant agrees that this difference is intentional. Language is deliberately constructed to support the ego. If one sees a tree as a process or a stream, one must also admit that the ego is a stream, and if the ego is a stream, it is nothing. To avoid this realization, language asserts that the ego is a static entity, just as it defines a tree as a static thing. This is done to maintain the illusion of a solid, separate self. Finally, Acharya Prashant uses an analogy to describe the state of a liberated person, comparing it to a vacated prison cell. The cell, representing the body, remains, but the prisoner, the ego, is gone and free. Externally, the liberated person may look like anyone else, but internally, there is nobody making mischief. It is like a room that has been checked out of; the room is there, but it is without an occupant.