• 4 months ago
‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant?
Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/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: 18.10.2022, ICT - Mumbai, Mumbai

Context:
~ How does stress affect our lives?
~ How to deal with stress?
~ Why is student life so stressful?
~ What should I do in a stressful situation?
~ How to not be jealous of others?
~ Is being competitive good?

Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~

Category

📚
Learning
Transcript
00:00There are two facets that I would just like to discuss regarding students.
00:10One is the increasing stress which affects their performance and we are seeing that happening
00:16over a period of years and the second is the extensive competition which affects their
00:22camaraderie which is even more dangerous because this is the period of life where they need
00:28to build up friendships and at least I have been witnessing that it affects that.
00:37What is it that gives you stress?
00:39How many of you feel stressed let's say at least a couple of times in the week?
00:49Quite a few, alright.
00:52What is it you feel stressed about?
01:00Just speak up.
01:01I am hearing.
01:02Without the mic just speak up.
01:03What is it you feel stressed about?
01:08GPA and deadlines and assignments and getting jobs, placements and train travels, commuting
01:21to and fro from the campus and performance in terms of grades and so that's okay.
01:41Not much has changed.
01:43Just the train part was not there.
01:51Anything else we too experienced, right?
02:00See it's alright to have a particular level of stress.
02:07It keeps you disciplined.
02:09The problem is when stress becomes everything for you, when you lose sight of joy or freedom
02:20of attainment and start feeling overwhelmed by stress.
02:32Stress is okay.
02:35You must learn to crack jokes when stressed and those jokes will have a special flavor.
02:43There is tension in the mind and I turn my own tension into a joke on myself.
02:56So right now there is so much tension within me.
03:06Some kind of sponty PJ, close to the breaking point, something on the Young's modulus.
03:18Stress and strain.
03:20Turn your own situation into a joke.
03:26It's okay.
03:29There is nobody who can live without stress and it is not even desirable that one lives
03:37with zero stress.
03:41You should have however things in life that are bigger than your stress.
03:49You must know the right and relative place of everything.
03:56There is something you feel stressed about.
04:02The stress is alright.
04:04But then there are far more important things in life.
04:10Life and existence itself is more important than anything in life.
04:19So before I came here, I was at IIT Bombay.
04:27From there I went and checked into a hotel and then came here and yes, time pressure
04:37was there definitely.
04:42And this was actually scheduled at 5 p.m.
04:47Originally the time I was supposed to be here was 5 and then I was told no, a little later
04:535.30 then 5.45 and things happened.
04:57So that stress was there.
04:59You are not the only one who feels stressed coming to your institute.
05:05Even I experienced that tension coming to your institute.
05:08There is something special here.
05:13It's just that you probably take the train and I was in another vehicle and I was wondering
05:23will I be here in time?
05:26Will the students be kept waiting for me?
05:28Bad thing.
05:30That's okay.
05:34How did I cope with the stress?
05:38My fellow passengers will tell you, I fell asleep.
05:45And then somebody woke me up, sir, two more minutes, we are entering the campus.
05:53Who wants to live with stress?
05:55There are more useful things to do, there are better ways to utilize your time.
06:03Sleeping was a good way to utilize my time.
06:06Otherwise what's the point in just staring at the bumper and the number plates of the
06:13vehicle in front of you?
06:14And that's what you do in Mumbai all the time.
06:20If the eyes are open, all they will see is the bumpers, the number plates and the chaos
06:29on the streets.
06:31Sleep.
06:34I'm not saying you must start sleeping.
06:38I deal in a lot of symbolism, so bear with me.
06:51If you deal rightly with stress, stress is a friend.
06:56It crystallizes something within you.
06:59It makes you stronger.
07:02But if you do not know the right place of stress in life, then stress becomes threatening.
07:23It becomes anti-life to the extent that it can lead to physical diseases.
07:34And it reduces your ability to work, to concentrate, to think, to be meditative.
07:42All that will suffer.
07:46Next time you are in a stressful position or period, try to take it lightly.
07:56Try to turn it into a joke.
07:59Try to laugh at yourself.
08:01Try to remember all the previous instances when you were stressed out.
08:07What happened to those instances?
08:09They passed, right?
08:12So as the Sufis say, this too shall pass.
08:18I was stressed out for exactly the same reason last Sunday.
08:27What happened to all that stress?
08:28What happened to that episode?
08:29It passed.
08:32So this period too should not be too big on me.
08:35This too shall pass, right?
08:44Competitiveness too is the same thing, much the same thing.
08:48Even I have been highly competitive.
08:51I think I still am.
08:55When I'm playing with someone, I do keep an eye on the scoreboard.
09:02When I'm playing with someone and I'm lagging, trailing, being defeated, I want to win, right?
09:15Competitiveness should be used to bring out the best in you.
09:20The problem is when competitiveness brings out the worst in you.
09:29If you find yourself lagging behind someone, ask yourself, is it the best that I can be?
09:40Or is there hidden potential that I am not choosing to reveal, to manifest, to dig out?
09:53And let me assure each one of you, you are more powerful, beautiful and greater than
10:05you can ever imagine.
10:08But all that remains hidden within just as an unexpressed potential.
10:18You know what, most people die carrying that potential within without ever seeing it expressed.
10:31They do not even know what they were capable of and they die.
10:40Don't let that happen to you.
10:46When challenged, when defeated, when cornered, just remember that whatever is the level of
10:56your work, your performance, you can be far better than that.
11:02It depends on how much you want to put into it.
11:05It depends on your choice to commit yourself more to the thing you want to excel in.
11:15It depends on your choice to withdraw your inner resources from all the wasteful, miscellaneous
11:21places and concentrate those resources on the one thing that matters.
11:27Are you getting it?

Recommended