Purposeful life, or purposeless? || Acharya Prashant (2020)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? 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?...   Read 3 handpicked wisdom articles, just for you: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articl...  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Video Information: 07.07.2020, IIT-Bombay, Greater Noida, U.P.  Context: ~ What is the purpose of our life? ~ Can we live a purposeless life? ~ Is is necessary to live a purposeful life? ~ What is purposelessness? ~ How to have the right purpose?  Music Credits: Milind Date

Transcript

00:00Adarsh Tiwari, second year undergraduate mathematics student, so you advise us to have a purposeless,

00:28aimless life, but if we will not aim for anything, then how will I crack my exams?

00:41In your young days, you too prepared for exams like MBA, IITJ, civil services, etc.

00:51But now you say that having aims is no good, aren't you contradicting yourself?

01:09Adarsh, living an aimless purposeless life is the ultimate thing, that's the goal, that's

01:25the goal, however, given we are, we cannot realize that goal instantaneously, if that could be done,

01:42if instantaneous liberation were possible this moment, wonderful, have it, go right away for it,

01:54so purposelessness is the ultimate state beyond all states that one aspires for, but here is the

02:13contradiction, what is the state one aspires for? A state in which there is no purpose, no aim,

02:27and therefore no aspiration, so what's your aspiration? To come to a point of freedom

02:38from aspirations, what's the desire then you must have? To reach a point where you have exceeded

02:51all desires, what is the aim that you must carry? To set aims in a way that you come to a point of

03:09aimlessness, there is a difference between ends and means, purposelessness is the end,

03:28purposefulness is the means, thoughtlessness is the end, thoughtfulness is the means,

03:46desirelessness is the end, right desire is the means, actionlessness is the end,

04:07action is the means, silence is the end, right word is the means, if you do not have the right

04:23word what will take you to silence or if you are so tremendously gifted that you can at the drop

04:33of a hat come to absolute silence all by yourself then nothing like it, unfortunately that is not

04:41possible for most people, even to come to silence most people require the aid of the right word,

04:52that right word is also called as the holy word, to come to desirelessness most people will first

05:02of all require to cultivate the right desires, to come to a point in life where there is no goal

05:10left, most people will firstly require to set right goals for themselves and that's the difference

05:18between right goal and wrong goal, right desire and wrong desire, right word and wrong word,

05:23that's the only way you can differentiate between right and wrong, the right is that

05:31which will take you beyond itself, the right will enable you to exceed it, transcend it,

05:40the wrong will keep you confined to itself, that which you enter never to emerge out is wrong for

05:58you, the wrong is like walking into a jail, the right is like walking over a bridge, get the

06:16difference, you walk into a jail only to remain confined, and you step over a bridge and very

06:33soon you find that you have crossed over, the right is that which enables you to cross over,

06:43the wrong welcomes you and then you're trapped, shut firmly in, the gates are closed, no freedom,

07:07no escape, so you're asking but you must have targeted clearing those exams that you did,

07:25yes of course I targeted, but now you'd know the difference between target and target, right,

07:34you must know what you're targeting, you must know what is it within you that wants to achieve

07:47something, rule of thumb that which you want to achieve for yourself would be like a jail,

07:56that in which there is a larger purpose, a bigger vision involved would be like a bridge,

08:09before you take the next step, ask yourself what is it in front of me, a trap or a bridge?

08:39So there are quite a few exams that I might have cleared, but if you see unfortunately those

08:52institutions generally require you to take up specific professions or work of a definite

09:14kind or work within a narrow spectrum, I think I can be satisfied that my work does

09:28not fall within the spectrum dictated by the institutions I have been through, I have

09:44not allowed anything to act as a jail for me, I walked in and I walked out, I'm thankful

09:57to those institutions, I learnt quite a few important lessons, at the same time I have

10:06not allowed any institution to hold me captive, I'm not doing what a typical IITian does,

10:13I'm not doing what a typical IIM pass out does, yes I did prepare for the sales examination,

10:31I did clear the examination, but when I found that things aren't going to suit me as they are,

10:44I resigned. Are you getting it? So probably I used them as bridges, otherwise it is quite

11:06possible to get used by the institutions you come from, to be enslaved by the targets that you set.

11:29Someone says this is the target that I set, now I have achieved it, how do I exceed it

11:37now, there is so much investment I have put in, how do I go beyond it now, did I come

11:46to this point only to go beyond this point, it appears absurd, so people then are held

12:01hostage by the targets that they achieve, reminds me of the Zen saying, it says once

12:10you have reached the top of the hill, keep climbing, there is another one that probably

12:17says that the climb begins after you have reached the top of the hill, do not allow

12:23the summit to declare a full stop to your evolution, it doesn't matter how high the

12:41hill is, it will have a summit and the summit is the limit of the hill, it cannot offer

12:49you any height beyond its summit, once you reach the summit, begin the next climb, begin

13:02the real climb, no point settling down on the hilltop, maybe you can rest for a while,

13:24there is some Maggie point there, fine, chill, have some juice, collect your breath, and

13:38then move on, move on, Charai Veti, what I am, thank you so much, you gave me so much,

13:51I shall be tremendously grateful, but you are not what I am born for, there is something

14:02far higher than institutional sanction or institutional certification that I am looking for.

14:14Mine is a very long road, several institutions are there along the way and they are all beautiful

14:34and grand institutions, let me be there for a while, let me humbly accept what they can

14:48offer me, and then, Charai Veti, hmm, keep moving.

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