Your pious deeds will not help you || Acharya Prashant, on Ashtavakra Gita (2018)

Acharya Prashant

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Transcript

00:00Chakra 10 verse 7 Prosperity, Pleasure, Paya feeds in us, in the dream forest of the world

00:14the mind finds no rest, here the word Paya feeds does not seem to belong to the family

00:21which the word Prosperity and Pleasure appear to belong to, as per my understanding Prosperity

00:29and Pleasure seem to belong to materialistic part of life and Paya feeds seem to belong

00:34to the dream, please help me to understand what does it mean by the word Paya feeds,

00:42no jargon, not that way, in the world of Ashtavakra these three belong to the same dimension Prosperity,

00:53Pleasure and Pity, Pity differing to Paya feeds, Prosperity, Pleasure and Pity they

01:03belong to the same dimension, yes you are right, generally in worldly terms, in moralistic

01:12terms Prosperity and Pleasure are held as something material and worldly and Paya feeds,

01:18Virtues, Pity, they are held as something belonging to the other world, no not at all,

01:24we have had a long discourse on the difference between morality and spirituality in the very

01:29last session, I would advise you to go through that again, Paya feeds belong to the world

01:37of morality and morality is not spirituality, na papam, na punyam, na dukkham, na sukham,

01:55you go to Adattatreya or a Ribhu or an Ashtavakra, they all will be quick to denounce virtues

02:05as much as they denounce vices, because they focus on the actor and not the action, they

02:17focus on the doer and not on the deeds, because they do not focus on the deeds, so for them

02:25Paya feeds are only as good or bad as profane feeds, Pity or profanity for them, they both

02:40belong to the same dimension, they are talking of something beyond that dimension, in most

02:52cultures, in most denominations, it is considered great to do good deeds, not in the world of

03:01Ashtavakra, not in the world of real spirituality, here no deed is stamped as good and no deed

03:12is stamped as bad, you can put it this way or you can put it another way and more accurate

03:18that deeds that are stamped as bad and deeds that are stamped as good are both kept in the

03:26same container and what is that container? The one that contains stamped deeds, if the deed is

03:36stamped, put it in this vessel, doesn't matter what the stamp reads, the stamp can read good

03:43or the stamp can read bad or the stamp can read indifferent or something, if it is stamped, put it

03:50in this vessel and this vessel we do not want to look at, throw it away. This is not easily digestible

04:00to those who have been conditioned to live moral lives, for them they are specifically good deeds

04:07and specifically bad deeds. Charity for them is for example, good deed. Without understanding the

04:24real meaning of charity, they will keep on donating. The result being that such donations only enhance

04:32the impurity within the ego, they cause the ego to puff up even more. Without knowing the real

04:46meaning of violence, they will keep denouncing wars. The result is that wars keep happening,

04:54more and more people keep suffering. Without knowing the real meaning of help,

05:06they will continue to keep helping. Without knowing the real meaning of anger,

05:18they will continue to criticize anger. Something is good, something is bad, of course,

05:28such a classification helps only the hare brain. That is an insult to the hare. The hares are

05:40close relative of the rabbits and I dare not do anything that offends my rabbits.

05:49So, that word should be put off the record. One has to be lazy to just follow the conventional

06:11separation between good and bad. If you are someone who has no light of his own,

06:19then it suits you to just ask your neighbor, what is considered good? And he tells you,

06:24all these things are considered good. Keep your house clean, wash your face twice a day,

06:28be a good girl, obey the parents, respect the neighbors, go to the elderly and because you

06:35are so lazy, you don't bother to inquire. So, you just follow these things. And you are equally

06:42lazy in inquiring about the things that are prohibited and they tell you, don't drink,

06:47don't sleep with strangers, don't do this, don't do that, don't do this and now I am okay.

06:54Now, obviously, I am not advising you to reverse the titles, but all those things

07:01that are considered bad, you start taking them as good. There are many who do that in

07:07the name of rebellion. Conventional morality forbids drugs. So, let's do drugs man. The

07:17liberals for example. Let's do everything that offends the moralists. I am not advising that.

07:27I am indifferent to the conventional labels. I am saying you have it within you to know for

07:35yourself. Know for yourself and the decision then will be spontaneous. When I used to go to college

07:52students, I used to ask them that which was considered good, is it considered good anymore?

07:57So, how do you know that that which is considered good would be considered good in the future?

08:04Just 100 years back that which was socially sanctioned, it is approved anymore? It is

08:13not approved anymore. Even today, things that are considered admissible in one community,

08:20are they admissible and acceptable in other communities? They are not. Even the laws vary,

08:28the state laws. In one country, you have one thing that is barred. In the other country,

08:34it is freely allowed. What is good and what is bad? Fragments of man's fertile topstool.

08:49Pranam Acharyaji. Why wisdom in action is not so easier for me? How can I overcome

09:04this? Praveen from Kolkata. What you probably mean Praveen is that why are you not able to

09:22put into action that which wisdom has brought to you. Realization and action are always together.

09:35You cannot realize and not have. To realize is to lose your decision-making capacity. To realize

09:52is to surrender your decision-making capacity. Then realization decides and acts on your behalf.

09:59So, if you say that you realize and yet the right action is not happening, then either you do not

10:10realize at all or you are matching the action happening against your image of the right action.

10:22Please appreciate. Realization may bring about an action that you have never imagined or

10:35conceptualized as the right action. So, even if that right action, truly right action comes about,

10:47you still remain dissatisfied because that action is not what you imagined to be the right action.

10:58So, either that is the possibility or you are not realizing anything at all. If you say that

11:09you know and yet not act, then probably you do not know at all. Knowing has a tremendous power,

11:21absolutely tremendous power. It leaves you helpless. Once you know, action starts happening.

11:32Even if your latent fears then try to impede that action, it won't get stopped.

11:41Please proceed. So, when you say that you have realized, pause for a while and ask yourself,

12:04have I? Hint, if you have realized, you can have no other concern. If along with realization,

12:15you have five other concerns, then rest assured you haven't realized. Once realization comes,

12:25realization itself is the biggest concern, the driver, the master. Along with realization,

12:32if you face five other issues, oh I realize but, oh I realize but, I know that but,

12:42if these several buts or even one of them are present in your mind,

12:49then rest assured that realization is not yet there.

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