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Video Information:
ShabdYog Satsang, Month of Awakening
15th July, 2019
Advait Bodhsthal, Greater Noida
Context:
If not the ego then what?
Why is spirituality so dangerous?
What does it mean to walk on the path of the Truth?
Music Credits: Milind Date
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?
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Video Information:
ShabdYog Satsang, Month of Awakening
15th July, 2019
Advait Bodhsthal, Greater Noida
Context:
If not the ego then what?
Why is spirituality so dangerous?
What does it mean to walk on the path of the Truth?
Music Credits: Milind Date
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Jami Sirat is asking, Pranam Acharyaji, here is a quote from Adhyatmik Nishad, just as
00:24a pulled up water reed stays not still, even for a moment, so does maya ceaselessly envelop.
00:39Even a wise man, if he averts his face from the truth.
00:53Then the next verse, whosoever wins absoluteness while alive, continues to be absolute even
01:04after death, rooted in concentration, oh sinless one, remain steadfast.
01:21So can you please elaborate on what the Nishad describes as averting one's face from the
01:27truth and remaining steadfast.
01:33There are always two directions to look at, who is the looker, the one who abides in
01:59twoness, in choices and has therefore two choices available.
02:14This must be clear, who is the one who has these two directions, two options available
02:28to him, the one that we are, the one that we usually identify with, the usual ego state.
02:47So if the ego has two directions to look at, what are these two directions, the first,
03:01the easiest, the obvious direction is its own direction.
03:11The ego loves to go its own direction, the ego loves to go its own direction.
03:32What is the other direction?
03:36Accurately speaking, it is just the direction that does not lead to itself.
03:50It is the direction in which the ego is not being itself.
04:00Euphemistically it has been called the direction of truth, really it is not any specific direction,
04:13it is just the denial of the tendency of the ego to go its own way.
04:24So who is the goer, who is the chooser?
04:28The ego.
04:32What is its usual and obvious choice, itself.
04:43The other choice is difficult, counter intuitive, counter cultural, against itself.
05:03The ego going against itself is a difficult thing, almost magical.
05:13Therefore one says that it requires grace.
05:23So now you know what is it that we commonly refer to as the direction of the truth, not
05:31any specific direction.
05:37It is enough that the ego does not choose itself.
05:42It does not really have to choose the truth.
05:46Choosing the truth is just a metaphor, it's a word play.
06:02Actually it is an impossibility.
06:07Only something limited can be chosen.
06:22So the two choices really available to the ego are, choose oneself and not choose oneself.
06:37Go one's own way and not go one's own way.
06:48Live by one's own center, do not live by one's own center.
06:55And when I say one's own center, what do I mean?
06:59The center of the ego.
07:00Because we are clear that the one having the choice is the ego.
07:08So when the one having the choice is the ego, obviously its center is the ego center.
07:20So now you know why it is not very important to know what to do, what to become, rather
07:39it is much more relevant, practical and useful to ask what not to do, how not to live, what
07:50not to become.
07:55There is one choice in which you become yourself.
08:02The ego lives as itself and the other choice is not to remain what you have been, what
08:11you have taken yourself to be.
08:18It is not useful to ask, if not the ego, what else?
08:29It is a mysterious question because that what else cannot be described in words.
08:39So you will never get the answer.
08:42It is such a mysterious question.
08:44It cannot have an answer and when you will not get the answer, you will feel entitled
08:50to continue as you are.
08:53Never ask if not the ego, what else?
08:57The answer will not come.
08:58Even if it comes, it will not satisfy you.
09:01So those who are looking for an alternative will always stand disappointed.
09:09Those who say I am prepared to leave my egoistic ways, but give me an alternative, will find
09:20that the alternative never comes.
09:26Therefore faith is needed.
09:28One has to leave what one has without knowing anything about that which would now come.
09:39It is a blind dive.
09:41You cannot ask for security in advance.
09:45You cannot have a blueprint or a map ready.
09:55The choice is me or not me.
10:02Not me.
10:03That's all that words can say.
10:07The words fail and mean nothing when they say God or truth.
10:17God cannot be contained in three letters.
10:20Truth cannot be contained in five letters.
10:25But when you say not me, that is perfectly expressible in words.
10:34Because the me is limited.
10:41So not me is very apt as an expression.
10:49It's honestly put.
10:55It's a practical thing to say, not me.
11:00What then?
11:01Don't ask that question.
11:05Your cleverness will make you ask that question.
11:07The moment you say not me, what pops up?
11:13Who else?
11:16If not you, then who?
11:20Immediately that question arises.
11:25It's an evil question.
11:29It's a question that will make you seek security assurance.
11:33And that security, that assurance, you will really never get.
11:40When you will not get that assurance, you will never leave yourself.
11:52The not me will not materialize.
11:55Me will stay secured.
12:04And that's a common demand.
12:05You say, oh, I am prepared to not remain myself.
12:13I am prepared to give myself up.
12:22But give me a good deal.
12:29If I am giving this up, what am I getting?
12:33If you are remaining to still get, what have you left behind?
12:44On one hand, you say, I am leaving myself behind.
12:48In the same breath you say, leaving myself behind, what next will I have?
12:54If you are asking about the next thing that you will have, have you really dropped yourself?
13:02If you have dropped yourself, who is still remaining to talk of the future and become
13:09something else?
13:10So you have really not dropped yourself.
13:19One has to drop the stink, the rot, without any cover, without any backup.
13:36The rot stays because we insist on a backup.
13:48You say, I can leave this, but give me a backup, an alternative.
13:57An alternative that I will assess to be better than myself.
14:01Who is the assessor?
14:03I.
14:05And who will assess the quality of the alternative?
14:09And what am I going to assess the alternative against?
14:12Myself.
14:13Will I ever find any alternative better than myself?
14:21I am the judge, judging whether you are better than me.
14:35File closed?
14:46Even if I do judge that you are indeed better than me, who has judged?
14:52Myself.
14:53So I am at least good enough to judge you.
14:56Even if I am judging that you are better than me, I am good enough to judge you.
15:02So practically, what have I asserted?
15:06I am better than you.
15:07Even if I concede that you are better than me, being the judge who has delivered this
15:16verdict, I have proven that I am one up over you.
15:24There are two lawyers who stand in front of the judge.
15:30Doesn't matter which of them wins the case.
15:34The fact is both of them bow down to the judge, right?
15:38Among the three of them, who is the highest?
15:41The judge.
15:42The two lawyers may keep quarreling and arguing, but the judge will remain higher than both
15:49of the lawyers.
15:50When you assess the alternative to the ego, according to yourself, the position of the
16:00judge, then who is the highest among these three?
16:09Which three?
16:10The two alternatives and the one who is assessing the alternatives.
16:15Who is the highest one?
16:17You.
16:18So now look at the absurdity of the situation.
16:23There is the ego as the judge and what is the ego judging?
16:28Whether I should have myself or I should have the truth.
16:34The ego is judging whether I should stay as myself or whether I should have the truth
16:40or surrender to the truth.
16:42So there are these three, ego, the judge, ego, the choice and truth, the choice.
16:51Irrespective of which of these two choices prevail, who is the real winner?
16:58The judge.
17:02Therefore, one keeps as one is.
17:12One stays trapped within oneself.
17:19Most of us are just too smart for our own good.
17:26We judge, we assess, we decide.
17:48So Jami, it is not about turning your face to the truth.
17:55The Upanishad says that Maya seizes the man who averts his face from the truth.
18:10That does not mean that the Upanishad is asking you to turn your face towards the truth.
18:15The truth is not standing anywhere in any particular direction.
18:19How will you turn your face towards the truth?
18:23What is being implied is, do not keep looking at yourself.
18:27Now don't ask me, what else do I have to look at?
18:36The question is irrelevant.
18:37Just don't look at yourself.
18:42I know it's not a very comforting answer.
18:45It leaves one in the middle of nowhere.
18:49We want certainty.
18:50We will agree to not look at ourselves provided one tells us in a definite sense what else
19:01is there to look at.
19:03Then we will agree.
19:04But no, that is not the way.
19:11You don't have to look at the truth.
19:14You have to just stop looking at yourself.
19:19You don't have to abide by the truth.
19:21You just have to stop abiding by yourself.
19:26You don't have to follow the truth.
19:28You don't have to surrender to the truth.
19:32You just have to stop surrendering to yourself.
19:39Most of us are our own slaves.
19:42Who enslaves the ego?
19:43Nobody else.
19:44The ego is its own slave.
19:47The ego cannot defy itself.
19:52The ego is its own compulsive victim.
19:59The ego is helpless in front of itself.
20:09That's spiritual practice.
20:12Not to seek the truth, but to overcome oneself.
20:20But most of us rather try to overcome the truth.
20:26When you say, I want the truth.
20:30I must get the truth.
20:31I must own the truth.
20:32I must reach the truth.
20:35It's the truth you seem to be grappling against.
20:42That's nice.
20:47The ego enjoys nothing more than that.
20:55Declaring with the truth, declaring that it wants the truth.
21:20Look at yourself.
21:21Don't try to look at the truth.
21:27Truth is nowhere to be looked at.
21:32You have only yourself, sought yourself out.
21:53So then, Jami will ask, if it's about me not being myself, if it's about me looking
22:00at myself, if it's about me getting just sorted, then what's all this thing about
22:09truth and grace and mysticism and spirituality?
22:13Then it's just about me and me.
22:15I look at myself.
22:18Why bring in the truth?
22:21Why raise a song and a dance?
22:31What is all this about worship and prayer and transcendence?
22:41It seems it's just a thing between the ego and the ego.
22:48Where is God in this?
22:52Is it spirituality?
22:54Then needlessly bringing in the God element.
22:59I'll tell you why the God element is not only important, but rather central.
23:10It is impossible for the ego to look at itself.
23:16I did say not me, not me, but that's easier said than done.
23:22The fundamental characteristic of ego is its self-obsession.
23:28It knows nothing beyond itself.
23:30So it will keep favoring itself.
23:34If the ego is the judge, it will always be biased towards itself.
23:38It's a prescripted judgment.
23:44So you do have to look at yourself, but it is very difficult to honestly look at oneself.
23:51The ego will not look at anything that offends it.
24:03The ego will not look at anything that proves it to be false.
24:15Therefore something quite surreal is needed for the ego to actually turn inwards.
24:27A magic is needed.
24:31Otherwise it cannot happen.
24:39It is like suicide.
24:41You are asking the ego to look at itself, figure out its falseness and then openly declare
24:51itself to be false.
24:53Why would the ego do that?
24:57It neither has the capacity to honestly look at itself.
25:02It does not have the intention to honestly look at itself.
25:05And it does not have the guts to openly declare its falseness.
25:10Capacity is not there.
25:11Intention is not there.
25:12Courage is not there.
25:13How will the ego ever say, not me, I am false?
25:21So the ego requires a great deal of help.
25:30So some people who were fun loving, they said if the ego requires help, surely there must
25:39be a helper as well.
25:43And they named the helper as God.
25:48That's why in the spiritual process, you require the God element.
25:56Without God, the ego remains as helpless as ever.
26:02It can look at everything but not at itself.
26:09It can choose everything remaining itself.
26:14It will never unchoose itself.
26:19And if that magic is to happen, surely some help from somewhere is needed.
26:27Some blessing, some grace, that's Godliness.
26:36When you are to do the impossible and you have no option but to attempt the impossible,
26:44then you have to bring in a factor that makes the impossible possible.
26:54That's God.
27:00So God is the name for the element that renders the impossible possible.
27:09Without God, only the ego remains possible.
27:16Freedom, liberation, love, they all remain totally impossible.
27:24Then you are asking what does it mean to remain steadfast?
27:55The Upanishad is saying whosoever wins absoluteness while alive continues to be absolute even
28:01after death, rooted in concentration, O sinless one, remain steadfast.
28:16It is not without reason that the ego does not want to exercise any choice outside of
28:22itself.
28:26The moment the ego says, not me, it faces, it experiences deep inner conversions.
28:44As we said, not me is almost like suicide, painful, frightful.
29:02So even if the ego turns a little playful and tries to experiment, and says not me,
29:10the result is so drastic that the ego cannot hold on to this experimental position for long.
29:31It tries, it gets punched, and it returns to its shell.
29:47Having inferred from the experience that not me is dangerous and is not to be tried again
29:56in the future, the ego says, you know, I tried it, and I felt such fear, and I went through
30:06such agony, that now I know that it is never to be tried again.
30:17Therefore, Jami, the importance of steadfastness.
30:25It is not important merely to say not me.
30:31One has to keep saying not me, not me, till the me itself is no more there to say not me.
30:55Who is saying not me?
30:58Me, the ego.
31:02Therefore, till what point do you have to keep saying not me?
31:09Till the me remains.
31:16So if the me is there, it must keep saying not me, not me.
31:23When must not me cease?
31:28When me ceases, me is there, me is saying not me, me is there, me is saying not me.
31:37Till me is there, not me must continue steadfastly.
31:45It cannot be a periodic or episodic thing.
31:49You cannot say that once a week I say not me, or when I am in trouble I say not me,
31:57or when I am in the church I say not me.
32:07The me has to abide in not me.
32:11The me has to live not at itself.
32:17The me has to live in its own denial, continuously.
32:26Because till me is there, it will experience a huge motivation to come out of not me.
32:46It's almost like holding somebody's neck and keeping him fully immersed in a tank of water.
33:10Till the time he is alive, he will continuously keep trying to come out.
33:20Therefore if you really want to get rid of him, you have to not only hold him down, you
33:27have to steadfastly hold him down.
33:32If he manages to come to the surface even for a while, he will be able to breathe and
33:40normalcy will be restored.
33:46He has to be continuously kept down.
33:53Even a moment of respite to him is like a new life to him.
34:02All the effort, practice, sadhana will go waste.
34:09You were strangulating your enemy, which is you, and then in the middle of strangulation
34:18you allowed him to breathe.
34:23What happened to all your effort?
34:32So the wrestler has pinned down the other wrestler to the ground and the referee is
34:40counting 10, 9, 8, 7 and the wrestler on top is exerting all his force, all his might
34:55to keep the opponent down.
35:05And when the referee in his countdown reaches 1, the wrestler on top loosens his grip.
35:21The one who had been pinned down gets up.
35:27What happened to all the effort that the wrestler on top had made?
35:38It goes totally waste.
35:41The one who could have been defeated by keeping him down steadfastly has now been given new
35:49life.
35:52All is back to normal.
36:00Both return to square one.
36:07The referee will say, alright, now both of you stand up again.
36:14And the bout resumes again.
36:18Just a little more perseverance, just a little more steadfastness and the dominant wrestler
36:28could have won the fight for good forever with just a little more patience.
36:37But he gave up.
36:40Not that he didn't work hard enough, he gave up.
36:43He gave up at just the wrong time with the result that all the good work that he had
36:49done became neutralized.
36:52Now he stands at zero.
37:01So it's not sufficient just to throw your opponent down on the mat.
37:08You must also display the patience and the stamina to keep him down on the mat.
37:18Throwing him down on the mat is not sufficient.
37:26He has to be continuously kept glued to the mat for a time sufficiently long enough to
37:44exhaust him out.
37:54Jamie, kabaddi is a nice Indian sport.
38:06I am not sure whether Australia knows kabaddi at all.
38:21You enter the half of the opponent, there are two halves.
38:29The kabaddi court consists of two halves.
38:34Watch a few kabaddi matches tonight, Jamie, it's all there on YouTube.
38:42Now once you have reached there and touched the opponent, one of two consequences will follow.
39:08Either the opponents will display enough stamina and might to hold you and clutch you
39:21till you exhaust your breath and then you have lost the point and you are out.
39:31Or having touched the opponents, you run back to your own half and then the opponents
39:43are out.
39:55From your perspective, it is not sufficient merely to touch the opponent.
40:00You must also be able to escape.
40:03From the opponent's perspective, it is not sufficient merely to clutch the raider.
40:12The raider has to be steadfastly held down till his breath expires.
40:30Otherwise it is a great loss.
40:34The raider came to your half, you held him, but you didn't hold him steadfastly.
40:48You held him, you did hold him for a while, but you allowed him to slowly escape away
40:56and touch the center line.
41:00All of you are gone.
41:18Therefore when you tackle the raider, make sure that you do it fully or don't intercept
41:31him.
41:32Let him come, say kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi.
41:37You stay behind at the baseline, play defensive, he will utter his kabaddi for a while and
41:47find that you are not lured, you are not up for a fight and he will retreat to his half.
41:57But in case you decide to tackle him, intercept him, it has to be done fully.
42:05Bring him down and keep him down.
42:12Slowly bringing him down is not sufficient.
42:15In fact it will prove suicidal.
42:18You brought him down, but he stretched his hand and touched the line and what happens
42:23to you then?
42:24You are gone.
42:27That's the fate of most spiritual seekers.
42:32They do manage to bring Maya down.
42:34She is the raider.
42:37They do manage to bring Maya down and Maya is smiling.
42:40She is saying, yes, yes, five of you come and put me down and all five are upon her
42:55and she invites two more, two more, you two come.
43:02All of you must collectively ensure that I have been held to the ground and just when
43:16the half a dozen of them are all over her, she stretches her extensible hand and it goes
43:27right up to the center line and the whole team is wiped out.
43:40This is what happens to spiritual seekers.
43:42They try to tackle Maya.
43:47Don't try to mess with her.
43:55If you cannot steadfastly hold her down, give her half a chance and she will decimate you.
44:07If you are not sure of yourself, then just stay behind, don't touch her.
44:13But if you have touched her, then you have to fully dominate her.
44:20That is what is meant by steadfastness.
44:30Touching her is like declaring war upon her and you cannot fight wars half-heartedly.
44:41If you are not man enough to declare a war, then just stay mum.
44:53But once you declare the war, then you have to be fully in the war.
45:03Not fighting is bad.
45:10Fighting with anything less than absolute dedication is far worse.
45:21That's why the fate of most spiritual seekers is worse than those fate of those who do not seek at all.
45:36Those who do not seek at all are playing it safe.
45:42They are saying we are not trying to mess with Maya.
45:50She can have her way.
46:02But those on the path of liberation have picked up a fight.
46:16Why did you pick up a fight?
46:19Look at the opponent, look at her might and look at your vacillation, your half-heartedness,
46:36your lack of determination.
46:46Now she'll beat you down very, very badly.
46:50Don't challenge her.
46:53Challenge her only when you have no other preoccupation.
47:02If you are entangled in five things, then you are not the one who should challenge her.
47:14The moment you get occupied in anything other than beating her down, that will give her
47:26the space she needs to resurrect herself.
47:40When you are jostling with her, then defeating her has to be your only occupation.
47:52If you have other things to do, then the moment your attention shifts to those other things,
48:01she will spring back to her feet and beat you down mercilessly.
48:10And Maya takes no prisoners.
48:18She is extremely ruthless.
48:23Once she knows that this fellow is dangerous, he troubled me, he challenged me, he declared
48:32war on me, she will not just warn you and let you go.
48:45She will kill you, not physically, but actually.
48:53She takes no prisoners.
48:55She kills.
49:10The spiritual universe is full of those who overestimated their intention, their capacity
49:21and their honesty and tried to take Maya on.
49:28Where do you find such people?
49:34In the spiritual graveyard, dead.
49:43Maya shows no mercy.
49:52So if you do manage to clutch her throat, keep strangulating her
50:19with all your might, till you know that now she is finally gone.
50:33And when you know that she is finally gone, strangulate her even more.
50:43This is called steadfastness, Jami.
50:46Either don't touch her or if you touch her, then keep upon her till she is totally and
51:01fully annihilated.
51:26What do spiritual novices do?
51:31In their enthusiasm to take on Maya, they just try to cross her and then they come in
51:46her bad books.
51:49She notices, this one, don't get noticed.
51:58Keep mum, stay underground, keep preparing and then declare yourself with one grand explosion.
52:07Catch her unawares.
52:12Don't keep issuing her advance warnings.
52:20Catch her unawares and then snuff the life out of her.
52:31It's not going to happen.
52:35Just saying, there have been too many before me who had the same intention, catch her,
52:46kill her, hasn't happened so far, except maybe in a few rare handful of cases.
53:03But there is no harm in just entertaining yourself with the idea, it's a nice idea,
53:11catching hold of Maya, remaining steadfastly at her throat, seeing the light go out of
53:20her eyes and saying, yes, I did it and just as you raise one hand to say, I did it and
53:31you loosen your grip on her throat, what happens?
54:01.