What defines a Culture? || Acharya Prashant, at Mithibai College, Mumbai (2022)

Acharya Prashant

Full Video: Grandpa says teenagers must not date || Acharya Prashant, at Mithibai College, Mumbai (2022) Link:      • Grandpa says teenagers must not date ...    ➖➖➖➖➖➖  ‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...  ⚡ Want Acharya Prashant’s regular updates? Join WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va6Z...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...   Want to accelerate Acharya Prashant’s work? Contribute: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/contri...   Want to work with Acharya Prashant? Apply to the Foundation here: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/hiring...  ➖➖➖➖➖➖  Video Information: 10.12.22, Mithibai College, Mumbai  Context:  ~ Should teenagers not date?  ~ Should one always listen to society? ~ Do we choose our friends?  ~ Why are teenagers not allowed to date? ~ Are we a slave to society? ~ How to ensure a good date?   Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00 Societies follow their respective cultures.

00:09 And let's define culture first thing.

00:11 What is culture?

00:16 Culture is just an accepted and traditionally transmitted way of behaving.

00:27 There is nothing more to that.

00:30 How do you identify the culture of a people or a place?

00:35 You look at them, how they talk to each other, how they greet their elders, how they bless

00:39 their juniors, how they eat, how they worship, how they erect their buildings, right?

00:49 What their architecture is like, how their roads are like, are they punctual?

00:56 Are they soft spoken, are they loud?

01:00 How do they behave with animals, how do they behave with men and women, how do they behave

01:05 with foreigners?

01:06 All that comes under cultures.

01:09 And equally what are their shared myths?

01:13 What are the stories they believe in?

01:15 What's their self-concept?

01:16 All this is culture.

01:18 Simply put, the culture of a place is evident in the behavior of the people of that place,

01:25 nothing more than that.

01:28 And culture is very very fluid.

01:30 When you say there is a society that does not approve of dating, you are referring to

01:36 the culture of that society.

01:38 Am I right?

01:40 Right.

01:41 Does that society have a frozen culture?

01:46 In the sense that has the culture of that society remained the same over the last 50

01:51 or 100 years?

01:53 Now food habits for example are included in culture.

01:55 Food is an important ingredient in culture.

01:58 Were people eating pizza and pasta and chips 100 years back?

02:07 Were they wearing the same kind of dresses 100 years back?

02:10 I am talking of even the most conservative of societies.

02:15 Even the most conservative of societies keep changing as a culture.

02:20 All cultures are fluid and culture is supposed to be fluid.

02:25 Culture has to change in light of advancements in science, technology, knowledge, empowerment,

02:34 economy.

02:35 As these things change, culture also changes.

02:39 Culture is supposed to change.

02:42 Culture does not deserve the kind of sacred and unchangeable respect and spot we provide

02:50 to it.

02:51 In India, it's a thing that has gained momentum in the last 10 years or so.

02:56 We have started thinking of culture as sacred.

03:01 Now by definition, the sacred is something that cannot change.

03:05 Truth is sacred because truth is unchangeable.

03:10 But we have started believing as if culture has to be put in a temple and defied, worshipped

03:20 as a deity, the deity of culture, Sanskriti.

03:26 Culture is not all that important.

03:28 Culture is something you are empowered to change as per the needs of development of

03:36 your consciousness.

03:39 What is important is truth.

03:41 What is important is freedom.

03:43 Freedom is central.

03:46 Culture must follow freedom.

03:49 If you want to assess the quality of culture of a place, the one question you must ask

03:54 is, is the culture conducive to freedom because freedom is the highest goal.

04:02 Socially, spiritually, individually, in every way, the highest goal of human life is freedom.

04:12 So a culture is good if it protects and promotes freedom.

04:22 And a culture deserves to be changed if it does not protect and promote freedom.

04:30 Freedom is the benchmark.

04:34 Freedom is the litmus test.

04:37 Getting it?

04:38 So people sticking to the dictates of their culture is something you need not take very

04:45 seriously.

04:46 What are young people supposed to do if not meet each other?

04:51 What's the alternative to dating I ask?

04:56 Arranged marriage?

04:58 If people don't date, basically what we are saying is there would be arranged marriages,

05:04 right?

05:05 And don't we know of the horror of arranged marriages?

05:08 I'm not saying love marriages are any less horrible.

05:14 But the horror of arranged relationships is special, very very unique.

05:25 If a young man and a young woman cannot meet as a man and woman, how are they ever going

05:34 to strike a relationship?

05:35 I'm asking a very practical question.

05:38 Please tell me.

05:39 First of all, they have all the freedom to do that.

05:44 Secondly, if you take away that freedom, what will happen to the most foundational of human

05:51 relationships?

05:52 The relationship between a man and a woman.

05:56 How is that ever going to be formed?

05:59 What's the answer?

06:03 Papa and mummy will do that.

06:07 And how dignified does it sound?

06:09 Papa is dating the girl you want to marry.

06:15 That's what arranged marriage is about, right?

06:19 The girl you want to marry is meeting papa.

06:26 And papa will then decide whether or not the girl can enter your house.

06:32 Are you getting it?

06:37 Meet each other as free individuals, as free men and free women.

06:44 Free not only of external pressure but also internal ego.

06:53 Do not meet the other as someone to be exploited.

06:59 Do not meet the other as a means of entertainment.

07:06 Meet the other as someone who would be helpful to you in your next steps through life.

07:15 And meet the other as someone you'd like to be with in a friendly way.

07:24 Fear is something that is the target of all religion, all spirituality, all wisdom.

07:34 Wisdom from fear is what spirituality ultimately wants.

07:40 You should not be afraid.

07:42 You should be free.

07:45 So first thing you should be free of the fear of society.

07:49 Second thing you should be free of the tyranny of your own ego.

07:56 Do not be mean when you date.

08:02 Your lust should not be the driver when you date.

08:08 You are not using the other as a means for your entertainment and enjoyment when you

08:14 date.

08:16 Ensure that.

08:19 If that is okay, then dating is something obvious, smooth, even desirable.

08:31 A boy can meet a boy, a girl can meet a girl and a girl can meet a boy.

08:35 It's all okay.

08:36 It has to happen.

08:37 A society that does not allow that is a sick society.

08:42 [Music]

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