Be cautious of what attracts you || Acharya Prashant, on Vedanta (2020)
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00:00 [Music]
00:07 Upanishad is saying,
00:08 "Be very, very cautious
00:12 of the one
00:14 you take as your God.
00:17 Be very, very cautious
00:21 of the one
00:22 you feel pulled towards.
00:29 Be extremely cautious of the one
00:31 you are attracted
00:34 and attached to.
00:36 You will become that.
00:39 You will have no option.
00:43 When you feel attracted
00:48 towards a little kid,
00:53 how do you behave?
00:57 If you want to be with a kid,
01:01 if the kid has become
01:04 very lovely and very attractive to you,
01:07 have you not found yourself
01:10 behaving like a kid?
01:12 You will become the one
01:16 you are attracted to.
01:21 You are attracted to.
01:23 If somehow it happens,
01:33 and be
01:37 very attentive when you are trying to
01:39 understand this,
01:40 otherwise you will miss the point.
01:42 If somehow it happens
01:45 that you are greatly
01:48 attracted towards an elephant,
01:50 in a psychic way,
01:52 slowly you will become an elephant.
01:54 The Indian scriptures
02:02 talk of the jiva,
02:04 the human being,
02:06 as analogous to the
02:08 brinji kit.
02:10 The human being
02:16 is a
02:18 mythical insect.
02:20 It's a mythical insect,
02:22 brinji.
02:24 It is said
02:28 that the
02:32 brinji insect
02:34 assumes
02:36 the name, shape and form
02:38 of the
02:40 object
02:42 it feels
02:44 attracted to,
02:46 the object it keeps
02:48 looking at.
02:50 So if brinji is
02:54 looking very attentively
02:56 at a blade of grass,
02:58 brinji
03:00 would more or less
03:02 turn
03:04 into a blade of grass.
03:06 There obviously
03:08 in the factual world
03:10 exists no such insect.
03:14 But get the message right.
03:16 You are
03:24 no different
03:28 from
03:32 that which you
03:34 take as
03:36 the highest.
03:38 Be very very
03:40 mindful of your
03:42 thoughts.
03:44 If you feel attracted
03:50 towards something
03:52 or someone bodily,
03:54 it will become
03:58 a compulsion with you
04:00 to assume
04:04 a body.
04:06 Think of it.
04:10 You are attracted towards a body.
04:12 Now how will you approach
04:16 that body if you are not
04:18 a body?
04:20 And your attraction
04:22 obviously is not
04:24 the love
04:26 of the
04:28 nameless, formless, selfless
04:30 kind.
04:32 Your attraction
04:34 is
04:36 of the consumptive
04:38 kind.
04:40 You want to
04:42 be physically
04:44 near to the object
04:46 of your attraction
04:48 so that
04:50 you can enjoy it
04:52 in a material way.
04:54 How will you enjoy
04:58 material if you are
05:00 not material?
05:02 Can
05:06 immaterial
05:08 existence
05:10 interact with
05:14 material stuff?
05:16 But to really
05:22 partake in
05:24 pleasurable consumption,
05:26 you will have to interact.
05:28 And if you
05:30 want to interact with material,
05:32 you will have to be material.
05:34 Only
05:36 a particular
05:38 chemical can react
05:40 with another chemical.
05:42 Ever heard of a
05:44 chemical reacting with nothing
05:46 and yet the reaction happening?
05:48 It's not possible.
05:50 Two things have to
05:56 be there for something
05:58 to happen between them.
06:02 So if you are pulled towards
06:04 a thing, you have no option
06:06 but to turn
06:08 yourself into a thing.
06:10 And your fate is
06:14 sealed.
06:16 Are you getting it?
06:20 Now,
06:26 the situation of the Jeev
06:28 is such
06:30 that
06:32 even though
06:36 his
06:38 truth
06:40 is immaterial,
06:42 yet
06:46 he
06:50 has his windows
06:54 and options
06:56 open
06:58 to
07:00 material
07:02 information.
07:04 Look at the one you call the human being.
07:08 His heart
07:16 might have
07:20 pure
07:22 transcendental
07:24 silence.
07:26 Yet
07:28 his bodily
07:32 senses
07:34 all
07:36 open into the
07:38 material universe.
07:40 To put it more accurately,
07:46 in the
07:50 heart of the Jeev
07:52 sits
07:54 the formless
07:56 truth.
07:58 And yet, the Jeev
08:02 walks around
08:04 with a body
08:06 as a body.
08:08 Are you getting it?
08:14 So there is a
08:16 great possibility
08:18 of getting corrupted.
08:22 Because
08:24 you are being fed
08:28 on
08:30 material
08:32 information
08:34 continuously.
08:36 Things are coming
08:40 to you
08:42 and entering your consciousness
08:46 without
08:50 a gap.
08:52 Even when you
08:58 are asleep, you dream
09:00 only of
09:02 things and shapes and bodies
09:04 and events.
09:06 So this
09:14 Jeev, the mind,
09:16 is at
09:18 one end
09:20 firmly
09:24 anchored to the truth.
09:26 And that
09:32 relationship cannot
09:34 be severed.
09:36 It is
09:38 impossible for the
09:40 mind to lose
09:42 all relationship with
09:44 the truth.
09:46 That will exist.
09:48 But at the other end,
09:58 the mind is being
10:02 continuously fed
10:04 by the senses.
10:06 Take the mind as an
10:12 object
10:14 and expands
10:16 spanning
10:18 two poles.
10:20 One of which
10:24 is the silent truth.
10:26 And the other
10:30 end consists of
10:32 the noisy
10:34 glitzy
10:36 world.
10:40 And this
10:42 world is
10:44 continuously
10:46 entering the vessel of the
10:50 mind,
10:52 filling it up,
10:54 shaping it up
10:56 and
10:58 readying it for
11:00 further consumption.
11:02 So the situation of the mind
11:08 is like
11:10 that of a person
11:12 who is
11:16 held
11:18 to a tether
11:20 by an
11:22 unbreakable rope
11:24 but he
11:28 continuously keeps
11:30 his back to
11:32 the tether.
11:34 The
11:36 rope is
11:38 unbreakable.
11:40 The
11:42 tethering point is
11:44 called the truth.
11:46 You cannot break
11:50 away from it.
11:52 The rope
11:56 is unbreakable but elastic.
11:58 You can
12:00 stretch it as
12:02 much as possible.
12:04 You cannot break free of the
12:06 truth but you
12:08 can
12:10 go
12:14 away
12:16 an almost infinite distance.
12:20 You can
12:26 come so far away
12:28 from the truth that
12:30 it would be almost
12:32 equivalent to having
12:34 broken away from the truth.
12:36 The connecting
12:38 cord would still
12:40 exist
12:42 but having
12:44 been stretched
12:46 greatly,
12:48 it would have now
12:50 turned into a
12:52 thin sliver,
12:54 an almost
12:56 imperceptible
12:58 fiber
13:00 though still unbreakable.
13:04 So,
13:12 this human being
13:14 has his back
13:16 to the truth.
13:18 What is he facing then?
13:26 The world.
13:28 That is
13:30 what the Upanishad is saying.
13:32 The truth is
13:36 unavoidable. You are
13:38 inexorably
13:40 tethered to the truth
13:44 but still,
13:48 exercising
13:50 your freedom,
13:52 you can
13:54 choose to not
13:56 look at the truth.
13:58 You would be connected
14:00 but in a very
14:04 distant way.
14:08 You would be
14:10 connected
14:12 but in a very
14:14 loveless way.
14:22 What would you become?
14:24 Had you decided
14:26 to respond
14:28 to the pull
14:30 of your reality,
14:32 you would have
14:34 gone
14:36 closer and closer
14:38 to the pole of truth
14:44 and your being
14:48 and your life would have turned
14:50 truer and truer.
14:52 That would have
14:54 been the change
14:56 in you.
14:58 Remember the
15:00 principle.
15:02 You become the
15:04 one
15:06 you
15:08 look towards.
15:10 You become the one
15:16 you look
15:18 up to.
15:20 You become the one
15:22 who
15:24 occupies your mind.
15:26 You become
15:28 the one
15:30 who occupies
15:32 your time.
15:34 You have no option.
15:38 You will have to become that
15:40 if you are to maintain that relationship
15:42 because relationships
15:44 can exist
15:46 only
15:48 between entities in the
15:50 same dimension.
15:52 If the greatest
15:56 thing in your life
15:58 somehow
16:02 is a pillar,
16:04 slowly you will find
16:08 that you are turning into
16:10 a pillar.
16:12 Otherwise, how will you
16:14 sustain that relationship?
16:16 A conscious being
16:18 cannot have
16:20 a real relationship with a pillar.
16:22 A conscious being
16:28 can have a real relationship
16:30 only with consciousness.
16:32 I will continue.
16:42 Be extremely careful
16:44 of what you are
16:46 conceiving
16:48 as the highest.
16:50 You cannot
16:56 remain yourself
16:58 even as
17:00 the
17:02 center
17:04 of your mind
17:06 changes.
17:08 What is meant by the center of mind?
17:10 Nothing abstract.
17:12 That which fills up your mind
17:14 is the center of your mind.
17:16 Want to know what is the center of your mind?
17:18 Just see where you spend the entire day.
17:22 That's the center of your mind.
17:26 Just see what occupies your thoughts.
17:28 Just see
17:30 what sits at the
17:32 top of your priority list.
17:34 That's the center of your mind.
17:38 Simple?
17:40 As your priority list changes,
17:48 so do you.
17:50 You want to know
17:54 what your identity is?
17:56 Just look at your to-do list.
17:58 That will tell you who you are.
18:00 Not the formal one.
18:04 Not the one you maintain to cheat your boss.
18:06 The real to-do list.
18:08 And you will know the real to-do list
18:14 by knowing
18:16 what your mind
18:18 keeps busy with.
18:20 Are you getting it?
18:28 So when there are several gods
18:34 you are
18:36 reverent to,
18:38 then the world
18:42 obviously will appear as diverse.
18:44 Now you know why the jiva perceives
18:48 diversity in this world?
18:50 In spite of being
18:52 just the one truth?
18:54 If the jiva is really
19:02 the one
19:04 indivisible
19:06 truth,
19:08 how come
19:10 there are so many
19:12 different
19:14 things in the world
19:16 and so many different people
19:18 walking around?
19:20 How does that happen?
19:22 It happens
19:24 because
19:26 there is
19:28 no single one
19:30 that you conceive of
19:32 as absolutely the highest.
19:34 This is not intuitive to understand.
19:38 You will have to stretch yourself.
19:40 Pay attention.
19:46 There is
19:52 this
19:58 buffet.
20:00 All kinds
20:06 of delicacies are there.
20:08 Imagine a person
20:16 who is
20:20 absolutely in love with
20:22 just
20:24 one particular
20:26 dish.
20:28 Is it too difficult to imagine that he will not
20:34 even look at the other things?
20:36 It can be imagined.
20:40 He will look just at the
20:44 one thing he is
20:46 madly in love with.
20:48 Will he perceive diversity?
20:54 He will not.
20:56 Now think of someone
21:04 who just does not know
21:06 what to put in his plate.
21:10 Or there are many things there
21:14 that he
21:16 almost equally likes.
21:18 As we all do.
21:22 Wherever
21:24 there is a diverse
21:26 and expansive spread,
21:28 have you not found yourself
21:30 wondering what to
21:32 fill up your plate with?
21:34 There is just so much.
21:36 There is Indian,
21:38 there is continental, there is Mughlai,
21:40 there is Thai, there is Chinese,
21:42 there is Mexican.
21:44 Oh and there, that side, there is Italian.
21:46 And how big is the plate?
21:50 The mischievous ones
21:52 keep the plate
21:54 two sizes smaller than normal
21:56 at such places.
21:58 So the plate is only this big.
22:00 You do not know.
22:04 Even as you
22:06 keep one thing
22:08 on your plate,
22:10 the other thing
22:12 beckons.
22:14 And you cannot fill up your plate with one thing.
22:18 You cannot let
22:20 the plate of your consciousness
22:22 be fully occupied with any
22:24 single entity.
22:26 Why?
22:28 Because there is no single entity
22:30 that you are absolutely devoted to.
22:32 So even as you are with one thing,
22:36 the other thing is calling.
22:38 And if you give too much space to one thing,
22:42 there is
22:44 guilt rising within
22:46 and a feeling of missing out.
22:48 Oh I just gave
22:50 too much time and space to this one.
22:52 I have just missed out on all the spicy stuff there.
22:54 God!
22:56 Look at the queue
22:58 on that table. Surely I am missing out
23:00 on the action.
23:02 That's how
23:04 the human being operates. Because
23:06 the ones
23:08 we are attracted to
23:10 are not worthy of
23:12 absolute love
23:14 or devotion or dedication.
23:16 Therefore,
23:18 it becomes a compulsion
23:20 on us
23:22 to project
23:24 a diverse and
23:26 divided world.
23:28 Had you had
23:30 just one pole in your life,
23:32 you would not
23:34 have perceived diversity.
23:36 Now that's
23:38 a thing
23:40 to be
23:42 meditated on.
23:44 Don't just
23:46 start arguing against this.
23:48 Obviously these eyes,
23:50 they will always
23:52 perceive diversity.
23:54 Don't try to argue
23:56 that if you are 100%
23:58 devoted, will the eyes
24:00 stop seeing diversity?
24:02 No.
24:04 The eyes will always
24:06 see diversity.
24:08 Will the tree and the grass
24:10 turn into one?
24:12 Will the pillar and the roof
24:14 merge into each other?
24:16 Don't throw such questions
24:18 too quickly.
24:20 The entire spread
24:28 will continue to exist
24:30 as an
24:32 objective reality.
24:34 Do you live in objective
24:36 realities or do you live in your
24:38 subjective world?
24:40 Come on.
24:42 You live in your subjective world.
24:44 Objectively, the world
24:46 might exist. To you, it would not.
24:48 To you, there would be just
24:52 the one thing
24:54 that matters to you.
24:56 There would be just that
24:58 one thing that matters to you
25:00 because
25:02 you are
25:04 that. Soham.
25:06 It matters to you
25:08 because there is nothing else
25:10 to matter to you.
25:12 Because all else is matter.
25:14 Are you getting it?
25:22 So that's the
25:24 situation of the Jeev.
25:26 Two principles we
25:28 touched upon. First,
25:30 if your
25:32 gods
25:34 are material and bodily
25:36 and carnal,
25:38 so will
25:42 be you.
25:44 Secondly,
25:46 diversity exists
25:48 because
25:50 in your
25:52 projected world, there is
25:54 no single entity
25:56 powerful enough to
25:58 command all
26:00 your devotion.
26:02 You are never
26:04 fully contended with one single
26:06 thing. So you have no option
26:08 but to project this and that
26:10 because you see
26:12 you are hungry
26:14 and thirsty in a
26:16 psychic way.
26:18 You live for the sake
26:22 of contentment.
26:24 You are
26:26 desperately looking around
26:28 for contentment. You don't
26:30 get it here.
26:32 So you move to the
26:34 next place. You don't get it there. You move to the next
26:36 place. You move to the next place. You move to the next place.
26:38 And this continuous
26:40 movement has created this infinite
26:42 universe. Do you get now
26:44 why the universe is infinite?
26:46 Because your thirst is infinite.
26:48 Assume
26:52 the universe
26:54 were finite.
26:56 Were the universe
26:58 finite?
27:00 How would you survive?
27:02 Let's say the universe had just
27:04 space enough
27:06 to contain only
27:08 ten objects.
27:10 We are assuming a finite universe
27:12 with just enough space
27:14 to hold ten objects.
27:16 Ten objects besides you.
27:20 You go to the first one.
27:22 What do you get?
27:24 Dissatisfaction. You go to
27:26 the second one. Dissatisfaction.
27:28 And soon you find
27:32 that you are testing the tenth one.
27:34 And what do you get
27:36 here as well? Dissatisfaction.
27:38 What will you do now?
27:40 How will you live?
27:42 You require an infinite
27:44 number of objects just to
27:46 survive in a psychic way.
27:48 In a psychic way. So that
27:50 you can console yourself
27:52 that there is something else left
27:54 to be tried.
27:56 Had the universe not been
28:00 infinite,
28:02 how would your hope
28:04 have survived for so long?
28:06 For your false hope to survive,
28:10 you will have to project
28:12 an infinitely
28:18 large and
28:20 false universe.
28:22 Do you get this?
28:26 That's why the more
28:38 your inner dissatisfaction
28:40 grows,
28:42 the more
28:46 becomes the importance
28:48 of diverse
28:50 objects in your life.
28:52 And vice versa.
28:54 Mind you.
28:56 The more
28:58 the
29:00 prevalence
29:02 and production and
29:04 consumption of objects
29:06 will grow,
29:08 the more the dissatisfaction
29:10 in your life will grow.
29:14 Now do you see
29:16 why neurosis
29:18 has become
29:20 so pandemic
29:22 in the last
29:24 hundred years?
29:26 Can you relate it
29:28 to the
29:32 exponential rise
29:34 in man's
29:36 ability to produce
29:38 and consume objects?
29:40 The more is our ability
29:42 to produce and consume
29:44 objects,
29:46 the more
29:48 terribly dissatisfied
29:50 we grow within.
29:52 And hence,
29:56 mental illness.
29:58 Remaining what man is,
30:06 if he
30:08 would someday
30:10 come to a point
30:14 of technological attainment
30:16 where he could
30:18 colonize and exploit
30:20 the entire
30:22 universe,
30:24 that would be his last
30:26 day.
30:28 Because that would be the day
30:30 the falseness
30:34 of his
30:36 hope-based
30:38 existence
30:40 would be
30:42 brutally
30:44 and
30:46 undeniably
30:48 be revealed to him.
30:50 Now everything is available for
30:54 consumption. No
30:56 scope left for
30:58 any future
31:04 There is
31:06 nothing that you can
31:08 keep suspended
31:10 for the future.
31:12 All is immediately available.
31:14 Pick
31:20 what you may.
31:22 And horror.
31:26 You find
31:28 that even this
31:30 infinite abundance
31:32 of
31:34 choice
31:36 fails
31:38 to quench your thirst.
31:40 You will collapse.
31:44 Mind you, in a
31:46 psychic way. In a bodily way,
31:48 you may still continue to
31:50 move about.
31:52 As most people do.
31:54 Were our bodies
32:00 to reflect accurately
32:02 and honestly
32:04 the state of
32:06 our minds,
32:08 none of
32:10 us would have been able
32:12 to walk firmly
32:16 even for
32:18 a distance of 10 meters.
32:20 Our legs
32:28 would have shown up
32:30 as
32:32 cut,
32:34 wounded,
32:36 bruised, fractured.
32:38 The way,
32:40 exactly the way
32:42 our mind is.
32:44 Unfortunately
32:46 for us, our bodies
32:48 do not reflect the
32:50 condition of our
32:52 mind.
32:54 Mind
32:56 is in
32:58 deep trauma.
33:00 Mind
33:04 is fractured and
33:06 lacerated.
33:08 Cut upon cut.
33:10 And yet the body
33:14 looks so healthy.
33:16 The skin is glowing.
33:18 And that keeps us
33:24 in the illusion
33:26 that things are almost alright.
33:30 Are you getting this?
33:40 [Music]
33:42 [Music]
33:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]