Beliefs: Reconciling Perception & Reality || Acharya Prashant (2024)
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~~~~~
Video Information: 13.04.24, Vedanta Session, Greater Noida
Context:
How do our beliefs hurt us?
How to get rid of our beliefs?
How to see the mind functioning?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...
Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books?
Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...
~~~~~
Video Information: 13.04.24, Vedanta Session, Greater Noida
Context:
How do our beliefs hurt us?
How to get rid of our beliefs?
How to see the mind functioning?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Yeah, sir. So actually, I wanted to have a very important conversation with you. It's
00:10basically regarding the entire the like, I am currently in a mess, I can say that it
00:17was the mess of confusions, what is right, what is wrong, the belief system, like I can
00:23give an example how this got started. So, for example, I did various observations. And
00:28from that, I came to the conclusion that yeah, I am a restlessness. But it is just like that
00:33I saw what really was, I created an abstraction that I am a restlessness. And then I worked
00:40over it. I basically started conceptualizing, conceptualizing. And I said what Vedant speaks
00:48that you are a restlessness, it's a constant thing that you are a restlessness, restlessness
00:5324 hours, which is not, which I don't see it as a fact, because I have only seen that
00:59in few instance. And so there are various things which I just see those are not facts
01:07for me, but rather, just a logical understanding has been made not that it is not something
01:12which I can see that yes, it is for sure it is true. I don't care if it is an ideologically
01:16if it is wrong or what it is true for me. So like this, the entire model collapse, the
01:22various things, all of it collapse. So that's the biggest problem for me. And this happens
01:30quite...
01:31When you were seeing that you are not a restlessness, then you were seeing that you are not restless
01:40or you were not seeing?
01:45I was not seeing all this. Yeah.
01:47If you're not seeing, how can you see that you are not restless?
01:52It's like I tell you that there is somebody inside that house and you have to see through
02:05the window and you look through the window only five times a day. And then you infer
02:17that the fellow is in there only five times a day.
02:24Were you not seeing restlessness or were you not seeing at all?
02:29Yeah, I was not seeing at all.
02:31So how can you infer anything then?
02:34But when you say that, OK, I am like the entire model of Vedanta, people just accept it.
02:39Nobody is actually seeing 24 hours and actually confirming it.
02:43Nobody is asking you to accept anything.
02:47But from your honest observation, what you can say is, five out of five times when I saw, I saw restlessness.
02:58So 100% of my observations tell me I am restless.
03:02Fair enough? No beliefs involved.
03:05Yeah.
03:06That's it.
03:08That does not... like that is just five times.
03:12Make it eight, make it 20, make it 40. Come on, disprove it.
03:17It will remain 100%. That's my assertion, hypothesis. You disprove it.
03:23Watch yourself, look through that window and quote a single instance when you do not see that man inside, the restless man.
03:32Instead you are positing that just because you are not seeing, the man is not there.
03:38That doesn't stand to reason.
03:41Yeah, the positing was wrong. I am saying that I am not a restlessness. That statement is wrong.
03:46I should say that I am doubtful if I am a restlessness or not.
03:48No, no, you are not even doubtful. You have not seen at all. You have no reasons even to doubt.
03:53You are blank.
03:56How?
03:57Five out of five times you saw restlessness. Beyond the fifth time you didn't see anything at all.
04:01Yeah.
04:02So what assertion can you make?
04:07I can say that, okay, it's my inability to see.
04:11That is right.
04:13So then that inability has to be addressed.
04:19Yeah, okay.
04:20But sir, the mistake was that on the basis of just the five watchings, the five times that I watched,
04:26I created, I took this assumption that the boy is inside that room.
04:30No, no, no, due to some self-interest, what you are saying is even though my sample space is five,
04:39I am not able to see the restlessness, I am not able to see the restlessness.
04:44Due to some self-interest, what you are saying is, even though my sample space is five
04:53and all five samples are pointing at the same thing,
04:57yet due to some self-interest, I still want to believe that there is nobody inside.
05:06100% of your observations are yielding the same result, yet you want to side with
05:14an unproven possibility. What does this tell about your inner judge?
05:22It's like this. I bring 100 boxes to you
05:29and I say there is something inside the box.
05:34That's my hypothesis. And of all the 100 boxes that you open or unbox,
05:40that little thing is found inside.
05:42And still you say, no, I want to claim that there is nothing inside the box.
05:46What does that tell about the quality of the judge? Is the judge not biased?
05:56I am still, I cannot see. Like, if you stick to that boy well example
06:00and I see that five times the boy is in the room,
06:03but how does that prove that the entire day the boy...
06:07How does that prove the contrary also? Even if there is some ground to prove anything,
06:14the proof goes in the direction of somebody being inside.
06:20I understand, it is not yet because the sample size is small, just five.
06:25You cannot still absolutely claim that the man is inside 24 hours.
06:32That is understood. Very right. Logical.
06:34But I want to question this questioner.
06:38Even though all his five observations are proving the same thing,
06:42why does he want to believe to the contrary? What self-interest does he have?
06:48I will tell you his self-interest.
06:50When you look at the ego and find restlessness,
06:56then what is proven to the ego is that you are not the atma.
07:00The ego fights back. The ego says, you know what?
07:05Your observations were ill-timed.
07:09You caught me red-handed at just the wrong moments.
07:12You should have come after an appointment.
07:15You should have watched me after due intimation
07:19and then you would have seen that I am restful because I am atma.
07:23Because I am atma.
07:25That's the central greed and desire and mission of the ego
07:34to prove that it is indeed restful as it is.
07:38I am alright, though it is not.
07:42But it wants to keep proving that I am okay.
07:45If it accepts that it is not okay, it will have to own the responsibility for genuine change.
07:50And responsibility, as we know, is tough.
07:53It wants to shirk that responsibility.
07:56Therefore, it comes up with all kinds of obnoxious arguments.
08:04Otherwise, see, let's say there are 10,000 moments in the day.
08:12You watch yourself for 9999 moments.
08:15All the time, every single instance, you find yourself restless.
08:20You still, going by your logic, have ground to say,
08:24I might not be restless because one particular moment I didn't watch myself.
08:28Maybe I was not restless then.
08:31And if that is going to be the logic, then you know what you will do?
08:34You will ensure that there is one moment per day
08:39that is spent unwatched.
08:42Because that one moment per day unwatched will enable you to claim that you are restful.
08:51You will say, see, I watched 9999 only.
08:55There was one moment I didn't watch and in that one moment I was very peaceful.
08:59So, that proves that the ego is peace itself. Therefore, I am Atma.
09:04That is the logic.
09:06And that one moment, I tell you, you will never watch.
09:10That is purposeful.
09:12As if...
09:14You have to take a leap of faith.
09:16There is no leap of faith in this, Bhai.
09:20There is just a reasonable thing to say.
09:24You see, anything that you consume comes to you
09:28after testing. Any edible food item, for example.
09:34There is something in it.
09:36It came to me not just straight from the factory.
09:40From there it goes to a quality auditor
09:43who checks it. He cannot check every single molecule of every item that is coming to you.
09:49How does he check it?
09:51Sampling.
09:53It is a matter of life and death.
09:55Yet man trusts sampling because sampling is random.
10:01Random.
10:02And random sampling provides a great confidence level. Confidence is a mathematical term.
10:1099.5% confidence level, 99.85% confidence level, depending on the sample size.
10:17So, if I observe myself 40 times a day and every time I am restless,
10:22then I have a 99.85% reason to believe that yes, I am indeed restless.
10:29So, we can never come into an absolute conclusion.
10:40Don't come into an absolute conclusion. Believe it 99.85% times.
10:46You can remain cynical 0.1.5%. That's okay.
10:50Can I start a bit more? Because I have some sequential doubts in the entire understanding.
11:02So, like if I start with the very beginning.
11:04So, I would say that because I am physically, I am well-being.
11:08So, I am able to inquire into the entire thing.
11:11If I won't be physically alright, I won't even be able to be inquiring.
11:14So, when I inquire, I see that I have dispassion towards various objects in the universe.
11:20Be it the one I am already related with or the one whom I am not unrelated.
11:23This is key. Yeah, the dispassion is there.
11:27So, with this dispassion creates a very big confusion then what to do.
11:32Because there is no as such purpose. Because purpose is instantaneous.
11:35You have a purpose, okay do this and you are just doing this.
11:38By this, I am suddenly coming into a center that okay now what to do?
11:43What has to be done and all that.
11:46But the fact is that I am inquiring with you.
11:49But at the same time, there is a very strong flow which will ultimately take me to
11:55behoves actions. Actions which are unconsciously happening.
11:58It will happen. It's not like that I can control action.
12:00It's not that if I don't do this discussion with you, the actions won't happen.
12:04The actions will happen. The thinking will happen.
12:06But the point is that I don't quite understand.
12:09I don't quite, I don't, I see that those actions does not make sense to me.
12:16As if something is wrong. I don't know what is right and wrong.
12:20The entire fundamentals are somehow shaking which were established earlier.
12:24And that's how, that's why I am quite confused.
12:28And I can also see that there is a huge amount of suffering in various objects
12:33that I am related to. And hence there is this one more,
12:35like I can see that I am currently standing into two demands.
12:39First is that I want a suffering less life.
12:41I don't want suffering in those objects.
12:43And secondly, I want understanding which is established over facts
12:48and not theoretical assumptions and all that.
12:51Because all of that in the past has created a lot of ruckus in my life
12:57because I create beliefs and assumptions that yeah, this is true.
13:01And then it falls apart leading to all the decisions falling.
13:06So this takes me to a journey.
13:11Either I do it completely on my own or I take external help.
13:14So because the suffering is quite huge, so I choose external help.
13:19And for that...
13:20It's not that you are choosing external.
13:22You are choosing external help along with the suffering.
13:27You are driving a car and using the inbuilt audio system of the car,
13:38what you call as the infotainment system.
13:40You are communicating with me, right?
13:45Even as you are communicating with me,
13:47you are still driving the car towards the same destination.
13:52You are the one doing both the things.
13:57There is a clear choice involved.
14:00Stop the car. Get out.
14:04It is not necessary to talk to me while being in the car.
14:09Being in the car is a choice.
14:12No current is carrying you away.
14:16There is pleasure in being carried away.
14:20Pleasure is always something determined by you.
14:25No pleasure is absolute.
14:28All pleasures get their value from the pleasure seeker.
14:33The same thing that appears pleasurable to one is discarded by the other.
14:39Therefore, pleasure is not something that can carry you away on its own.
14:44You accord value to the pleasure.
14:46You can also withdraw value from the pleasure.
14:49Withdraw value from the pleasure.
14:51Stop the car. Get down.
14:53Sit by a rock.
14:56Below a shady tree.
14:58Keep speaking to me.
15:01Things might change.
15:04Otherwise, nothing changes.
15:06With or without this conversation, the car is carrying you towards the same place,
15:13same speed.
15:16And a lot of people do that.
15:20I speak to them. I know where they are coming from.
15:24I know once the conversation is done,
15:28they will go the self-same way.
15:32They have as if just stopped by
15:38to have a little break,
15:41a little bit of an entertaining change.
15:46It's a decision.
15:49It's a choice.
15:55But sir, this inquiry is not happening in the flow.
15:59I am choosing the flow.
16:02Honestly, I am choosing the flow.
16:04It's not that the flow is taking me away.
16:06I am choosing it because of my pleasure.
16:08You are according value to the flow
16:10and that value
16:13is misinformed.
16:16That which you are valuing
16:18does not intrinsically deserve value.
16:23Because you do not know, hence you are taking it as valuable.
16:28It's like a man being robbed of his money
16:31by somebody who is selling fake gems.
16:35You do not know what a real diamond looks like.
16:39Somebody is fobbing off some ordinary stone.
16:45But you are according the value of a real diamond to that ordinary thing.
16:50As long as that value estimation stands,
16:55you will keep going with the flow.
16:59Sometimes I advise people
17:02go completely with the flow.
17:04Flow away.
17:07Then you will know what value lies in the place the flow is leading you to.
17:13It is the top gutter of the flow.
17:15It is the place the flow is leading you to.
17:18It is the top gutter of the city.
17:22That's where the flow will take you.
17:26Find yourself
17:28in the greatest septic tank possible
17:32and then you will realize what going with the flow means.
17:36Sometimes I get tired.
17:38You know my human limits.
17:40And then I let people go.
17:42You please go with the flow.
17:45I will enjoy seeing you in your septic tank.
17:54And not to you, sir.
17:57I am coming from my general experience.
18:00Just realized it might appear that way. No, no, no.
18:05But that's something that you should tell yourself.
18:09You should not wait to hear it from me.
18:13Ask yourself, how do you favor going with the flow
18:16when you do not know what the flow is taking you to?
18:20How do you favor?
18:24Like somebody flowing in a river
18:26and the river is coming to a fall.
18:29See in those waterfalls?
18:31Merrily flowing.
18:33And just before a waterfall, a cascade,
18:37the river is quite shallow.
18:40So you do not fear drowning.
18:42No fear of drowning. No fear of drowning.
18:44Chill.
18:46And then bhaap.
18:54But all this is just my words.
18:58Maybe my experience.
19:00Maybe my observations.
19:03You have to figure it out for yourself.
19:06But this is exactly what I was saying.
19:09You just put it more honestly.
19:12I was saying that the flow is taking me.
19:14You said it quite brutally.
19:16Yes, I am choosing the flow.
19:18Nothing takes anybody anywhere, sir.
19:20Nothing.
19:24All pretense of helplessness is exactly that.
19:30A dishonest pretense.
19:34We all are such
19:38wicked creatures.
19:42We feign helplessness
19:45just to extort pleasure.
19:51We cannot even be honest enough to say
19:53that I am a pleasure seeker,
19:55therefore I am doing all those things.
19:57We say, you know,
20:00I just fell into pleasure.
20:03Helplessly.
20:07Why didn't you come in time?
20:09You know, I just crashed on the bed.
20:12Why didn't you crash
20:16on hot burning coal?
20:19Why do you ever crash only on your bed?
20:22Why don't you crash on the commode?
20:27All your helplessness results in pleasure.
20:29Have you never seen that?
20:31All your assumptions lead to pleasure.
20:34All your dishonesties lead to pleasure.
20:37So everything is just for the sake of
20:39pleasure.
20:41If somebody comes and says, you know,
20:43I am helpless.
20:45Just figure out where the pleasure is
20:47and you will know the dishonesty.
20:51Someone comes and says, it happened
20:53despite me.
20:55I didn't know. It just happens.
20:57Just see where the pleasure is.
20:59The pleasure is what you should seek out.
21:05You were supposed to come to me at this time.
21:07Why didn't you come?
21:09Because I assumed you are not there.
21:11If you had to assume, you could have as well
21:13assumed that I am there.
21:15But all your assumptions are towards the
21:17side of your pleasure.
21:19All assumptions, if you figure out,
21:21you will see there is pleasure in the assumptions.
21:28Why did you keep this thing hidden?
21:30Why didn't you tell me?
21:32Oh, I assumed you already knew.
21:34Why didn't you assume I didn't know?
21:37Because one assumption
21:39helps your pleasure.
21:49So sir, this enquiry,
21:51but this enquiry wasn't happening
21:53this way, like
21:55from two or three...
21:57Enquiry is nothing. What do you mean by enquiry?
21:59Enquiry is not investigation
22:01or third degree interrogation.
22:03Enquiry is just honesty.
22:05It's happening within you.
22:07You just know it.
22:11Enquiry is something that happens on its own.
22:13Your job is not to
22:15obstruct it.
22:19Enquiry is simple knowing.
22:21It's happening. You know it's happening.
22:23Don't you know when your bladder is full?
22:25Or do you need to enquire?
22:35But like
22:41a lot of control has to be
22:43made to basically even think
22:45over such things.
22:47You don't have to think over these things. These things are there.
22:49Thinking impedes
22:51the observation. You just have to see
22:53directly, openly
22:55as it is, without
22:57thinking. It is obvious.
23:01The fellow is lying.
23:04It's obvious what's there to be thought of.
23:06I am lying. It's obvious.
23:10I want to sleep.
23:12So a lot of supportive thoughts
23:14start coming. It's obvious why those thoughts
23:16are coming, where they are coming from.
23:18I want to sleep.
23:26I want to sleep.
23:28So I am right now thinking that
23:30this big thing is such an
23:32energy drainer and it's
23:34coming from some damn power plant
23:36maybe coal fired. So it is amounting
23:38to climate change.
23:40For the sake of climate change
23:42let's all go to sleep.
23:44The fact is, I just want to sleep.
23:46Climate change has nothing to do
23:48with it.
23:50And I should be the first one, probably
23:52the only one to clearly know where all
23:54my arguments are coming from. I am a liar.
23:56I just want to sleep.
23:58And man, the beast
24:00that he is, does not want
24:02many things beyond all this.
24:04Sleep, sex, security,
24:06food. Whatsoever
24:08you are saying or doing is for the sake
24:10of only these 4-5 things.
24:12Even the
24:14richest person on the planet ever
24:16whatsoever he is doing, he is doing
24:18only for these things. Nothing else.
24:20The argument might be coming from a very
24:22sublime place. The fellow
24:24might be a great philosopher.
24:26So the argument might be put in
24:28the most eloquent and sophisticated
24:30way possible. But still
24:32the whole thing amounts to only this.
24:34Sleep, sex, food,
24:36security, and the other kind
24:38of nonsense.
24:40That's all.
24:46Sir, but how are you, like, okay
24:48like, I saw a fact for
24:50me, but how can I say that this is a fact for others as well?
24:52You don't need to
24:54think of others. The others are
24:56much the same as you are if you observe
24:58them. But to observe
25:00others, first of all, you must have your
25:02own eyes that observe with honesty.
25:04So observe yourself first.
25:08Even if others
25:10are to be observed, that will be with your
25:12eyes, right? So these have
25:14to be cleaned up.
25:16Honesty, honesty.
25:20Rob yourself,
25:22strip yourself down of
25:24any pretense of respectability.
25:28We should know
25:30we are all just bastards.
25:32That's all. Full stop.
25:34All the time
25:36we are lying to ourselves,
25:38cheating on our own life,
25:40depriving
25:42ourselves of what we
25:44deserve to be
25:46and yet we
25:48strut
25:50as if we are
25:52somebody.
25:58Have you not seen all the respectable ones?
26:00How with puffed chests
26:02they prance around?
26:06We are just little pieces of
26:08shit
26:12moving around for a few years and then
26:14we drop dead. Full stop.
26:18The seers of Vedant,
26:20let's not talk
26:22of them, let's not talk of them.
26:28Let's talk of ourselves
26:30the way we are.
26:36So you must understand,
26:38we must take care of climate change.
26:40Therefore it is time to close the session.
26:42Otherwise so much
26:44carbon is being released into the atmosphere.
26:46The gases
26:48from our elementary Kerala,
26:50they carry carbon dioxide, even methane.
26:54More than
26:56one of our friends from the audience have been
26:58farting.
27:00So this session
27:02is amounting to climate disaster.
27:04We'll all go to sleep
27:06now to save the planet.
27:10That's the kind of bullshit we are.
27:16Liars.
27:18Deceivers.
27:22Betrayers of our own destiny.
27:28That's it.