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Video Information: Shabdyog Session, 16.01.2016, Sivanand Ashram, Delhi, India
Context:
Why peace appears far?
Why is mind so restless?
How to overcome the restlessness of mind?
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?...
Read 3 handpicked wisdom articles, just for you: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articl...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Video Information: Shabdyog Session, 16.01.2016, Sivanand Ashram, Delhi, India
Context:
Why peace appears far?
Why is mind so restless?
How to overcome the restlessness of mind?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Tad doore, tad antike.
00:25It is far, it is near, so says Isha Upanishad.
00:40It is one of the main Upanishads, has been called Poetic Upanishad.
01:02And it is easy to take its utterances as poetic delight.
01:25A poet is entitled to flights of fancy.
01:32So one may look at this paradox, Upanishad says it is within, it is without, moves,
01:43it moves not, it is near, it is far.
01:47One may look at these paradoxes and take them to be merely poetic in nature.
01:57That would be to miss the point.
02:09What is it that keeps on appearing far to us?
02:18It's a very common, a very simple word, far.
02:28What is far?
02:29What do we mean when we say something is far?
02:41What do we mean when we say something is far?
02:43How is it known that something is far?
02:50Upanishads say it is near, it is far, it is far, it is near.
03:00What is it that appears far?
03:15Is it not simple, that which cannot be reached, that which is difficult to reach, that which
03:28demands effort to reach, that which demands time and method to reach.
03:39The further it is, the more effort, more time, more concentration it requires.
03:46That is what we call as far.
03:50And after all the effort and time that you put in, if it is really far, it still cannot
03:57be reached.
04:02Is there something in our life which is similar, which meets this criterion?
04:20Something in which a lot of time is invested, something towards which goes a lot of effort
04:33and yet it remains perpetually unreachable.
04:40Is there something of the kind?
04:48We seem unable to figure out whether there is actually something like this.
04:5610.
04:57All the while, all our life, we have been striving, we have been trying to get, reach,
05:10attain, obtain.
05:16And that effort is continuing.
05:18Is it not?
05:21The point of secession has not arrived.
05:26The point of stopping, non-doing has not arrived.
05:34There is something that we want and all effort, all aims are directed towards that.
05:45Only we are chasing aims, but all aims are chasing that.
05:55And even after chasing aims, we do not seem to be getting it and the proof is that after
06:02one aim, there is always the next aim to be chased, to be achieved.
06:09Is there not?
06:10There is always.
06:17What is it that is far?
06:20What is it that is so far that the investment of an entire lifetime proves insufficient?
06:32What is it that is so far that in spite of running all our life, it remains as distant
06:42as it ever was?
06:50We are probably not acquainted with that which we are chasing, that which appears to be so
06:56far.
06:59But because we are living, so we are at least familiar with the facts of our life, with
07:05the facts of our consciousness and the fact is that as far as we are concerned, life is
07:13a continuous movement.
07:16Far and near make sense, hold meaning only when there is movement.
07:23Without movement, there is no farness, no nearness.
07:28For us, life is a continuous movement.
07:29Why are we moving?
07:30Towards what are we moving?
07:31Surely, if you are moving, there is something that you want and that which you want is so
07:43distant that in spite of all your movement, you are no closer to it.
07:53Whenever you have moved, have you not moved towards it?
08:00Different occasions, different situations, different times, different ages, different
08:04reasons, you appear to be moving towards different things and different objects.
08:09You appear to be having different motivations.
08:14But what is it behind all motivations that we want?
08:19Surely at times, we seem to have reached the goal.
08:25Surely in the terms of the material, in terms of the world, we are not always a failure.
08:32Sometimes we have succeeded.
08:34But even when we have succeeded, have we really succeeded?
08:40If success is attainment, where is attainment?
08:51Is the achiever not as hollow, as thirsty, as needy as the non-achiever?
09:05The one who is failing, is he any more desperate for success than the one who is succeeding?
09:21What is it that remains so far that man keeps working all his life, traveling milestone
09:30after milestone, conquering challenge after challenge, striving, fighting, hurting, getting
09:44hurt, succeeding, meeting failure.
09:51And yet at the end of the day, the moment of his physical demise, if he is honest towards
09:59himself, all he can say to himself is, it's all non-waste, where there is a chase.
10:18Surely there is a goal, at least an assumed goal.
10:23Can we come to the fact of this, that since we are chasing, hence there has to be a goal.
10:33And that goal presumably cannot be the goal that we assume it to be, because had it been
10:41that, at least somebody would have chased it down.
10:50So while it is true that we are thirsty, while it is true that there is an internal hollow,
10:57while it is true that we want something, it is equally true that what we want is not that
11:06which we are chasing.
11:10That which we are chasing appears to be so far, that we are not chasing it at all.
11:19That which we really want appears to be so distant that we have no concept of it at all.
11:31We are chasing proxies, we are running after dummies, we are targeting substitutes.
11:43There is something important, something real, something immense that you wanted, your heart
11:50cried for it, but because you could not conceptualize it, because it was too far in that sense,
11:58in the sense of being infinite, being immense, so you substituted it with a petty proxy and
12:11started chasing the proxy.
12:15Now you may succeed or you may fail, but in either case you have actually failed.
12:20Have you not?
12:27Look at that, which appeared to give meaning to life and we have all been through such events.
12:38We have all lived through such occasions.
12:47A college degree, a job, a prestigious award, a love affair, beautiful, a love affair.
13:02It appears you have obtained what you wanted.
13:08It appears the end has arrived.
13:14It appears this is the full stop of all craving, but it betrays, does it not?
13:24It does not deliver what it promised.
13:32Every love affair is doomed to fail because the lover promises what he can never deliver.
13:43Because you are searching in the other, what the other is not qualified, neither entitled
13:49to deliver.
13:50In fact, the other can never really know what you are looking for.
14:00Instead of looking for that which is real, which you really, really want, you try to
14:09find a substitute in a lover, in an award, in progress, in money, in all the games of the ego.
14:31Yes, does it not happen?
14:37Rishi of the Upanishad is not coming from imagination.
14:57It is not a mental output.
15:03What he is watching, he is really observing life.
15:10He is looking all around and within.
15:16He is seeing the ways of life in mind.
15:24And from there arise his words.
15:34When words arise from an honest observation of life, then those words are called divine.
15:44That itself is divinity.
15:49Then you are rightly entitled to claim that the Upanishads are not works of the human
15:58mind.
16:01Yes, because the mind in its habitual pattern-based functioning can never really observe.
16:16If honest observation is taking place, it is taking place only when the mind has gone still.
16:23And if the mind has gone still, then the utterances can be rightfully, justfully called to be divine utterances.
16:35Whatever is uttered from a still mind will be divine.
16:45Whatever is heard with a still mind will only reveal the divine.
16:57So the Rishi is looking at the mind of man, the mind of man which is constantly in a want.
17:12And he says, since centuries, since millennia, you are wanting.
17:18And not only are you wanting, you are actively trying to fulfill that want and yet you have
17:24not succeeded.
17:25Surely that which you want is very, very far.
17:33Very, very far.
17:42What is it that you want?
17:44What is it that you want?
17:48The moment this question is asked, what is it that you want?
17:55The mind realizes that it cannot look at its own wants while it is running.
18:07To the running mind, the Rishi is asking, Sir, you are indeed a hard worker, a go-getter.
18:19And you are indeed putting in the maximum effort with the maximum cleverness and tactfulness.
18:32But with all due respect to you, would you please tell me what is it that you want?
18:37And what is it that is so unreachable that you never seem to be reaching it?
18:46Because the question has been asked, because the challenge has been posed, the mind must answer it.
18:58To answer it, the mind finds that it must stop.
19:04Difficult to answer while running.
19:10Difficult to observe while running.
19:12To have a clear view, to have a still view, to have a nice view of itself, the mind says,
19:22Alright, let me pause, let me consider the question, let me consider my own situation.
19:35The mind pauses and finds it has reached.
19:47The mind pauses and finds that it had never gone away.
19:58The mind pauses and finds it had always reached.
20:13The mind didn't pause with the expectation of finding it instantly, finding it so near.
20:25The mind paused because the ego was posed with a challenge.
20:34The pausing is always indirect.
20:43The mind cannot pause with the promise of the infinite because it cannot know the infinite in advance.
20:51Because there can be no imagination, no image, no presumption of the infinite.
21:00So it is only through some trick, some chance, which some people call as grace, that the mind pauses.
21:20It pauses to ask, what is it that is far?
21:24And it pauses and finds that that which it thought of as far is very very near when there is no thought.
21:34For thought itself is the movement of the mind.
21:46Rishi playfully says yet again, it is far, it is near.
21:54It depends on who you are.
21:59If you are the ambitious man, the runner, the achiever, the go-getter, it is far and it will remain far.
22:14Those who want it never get it.
22:17Those who are determined to get it, they too never get it.
22:22Those who chase it, they chase it away.
22:27And those who simply pause, find that the pausing is it.
22:34The pausing, the non-movement, the stillness, the cessation, the dissolution.
22:41That is that.
22:49What we have just talked of is not something that belongs to the Rishi.
22:55We are not discussing a scripture here.
23:00We are not discussing theory or concept here.
23:04We are discussing your life here, that which you call as your intimate personal life.
23:12There is nobody here, not in the streets and not in the entire world,
23:24who is not engaged in a chase, who is not desirous, who does not want.
23:33And if you want, then it is your responsibility towards yourself to know what you really want.
23:46Otherwise, is it not kind of stupid to keep wanting?
23:56Or have you been tutored and conditioned to believe that perpetual thirst is your destiny?
24:08That you are condemned to keep asking and never receiving?
24:14No, that is not our destiny.
24:19We have made that our life.
24:28We, nobody else is responsible.
24:37The very fact of desire is an indication and an invitation.
24:46The very fact of wanting, wanting anything, wanting to understand, wanting to settle down,
24:52wanting to grow up, wanting to get attached, wanting to get detached,
24:59wanting more, wanting to quit, wanting to gain, wanting to renounce.
25:05The very fact of wanting is an indication of an unease with your present situation.
25:15And if I am uneasy with my present situation, must I not know what the situation is about?
25:26Must I not understand who I am and where am I standing?
25:36I constantly feel afraid and run hither-thither.
25:41Must I not pause for a while and ask what is it that terrifies me?
25:50But you cannot look over your shoulder.
25:53You cannot see whether there is anything to be afraid of if you are running away all the time.
26:04You may say, no, I'm not always running away. I'm running towards something.
26:08Yes, you are running towards security, security that is always elusive.
26:16Proof, you're always running.
26:27We claim to be intelligent beings.
26:30We are called as homo sapiens. Where is the sapiens?
26:40Nothing in existence acts more stupidly than us.
26:55Everything seems to be settled.
27:06Only we appear so homeless, so uprooted.
27:16So restless.
27:30Have you seen more stress and tension on the faces of animals, insects, birds, fish,
27:40Can you see on the face of men?
27:47Surely not all is alright with the way we take ourselves to be.
28:02Surely we must stop deceiving ourselves.
28:11Surely we must stop believing in the script, the tension and stress and pull.
28:24It's the stuff of human life.
28:28The enabler of progress.
28:44Look at the movement of an animal.
28:48Look at how it eats, sleeps.
28:54And look at the face of a man.
28:59And if you can really look, you'll feel pity and disgust.
29:13What is it that we have assumed to be so far that we never seem to reach it?
29:33Why is it so that we, through all our myths, all our religions, all our education, all our propaganda,
29:43seem to have convinced ourselves that something is missing in life?
29:52Why do we insist on teaching the child that he is inadequate, that he must become something?
30:07Why is our mind so habituated to compare?
30:16Why are we so ungrateful?
30:23And that is when the fact of physical death is so clearly in our knowledge.
30:41I mean, what is it that we are thinking of and planning?
30:47Living like this and then just dying one day like the way we have lived.
30:55Dissatisfied, burning, wounded, hurt, angry, dissociated.
31:08Planning, hoping, conspiring, running and assuming that we will reach someday.
31:24Is that the bigger plan?
31:28Is that our grand arrangement for ourselves to die this way?
31:46Let's honestly ask ourselves, is it really that far?
31:52Or is it so that there is something within me that swells up when I run?
32:03There is something within me that feels good only when it achieves
32:14and does not feel good when it receives freely.
32:25Is there something within me which for its own sustenance is killing me?
32:43Maybe something is simply, obviously, by virtue of grace, available.
32:54But I want to make it distant so that I can have the credit of chasing it down.
33:07I obtained it. I am the go-getter. I am the achiever. I did it.
33:15Is there a tendency within us to be bloated with that claim?
33:27And to be able to claim, we are keeping ourselves deprived.
33:46Our situation is like that of the hungry man
33:53who insists that he knows where in which particular restaurant is food found in the city.
34:13He says, I already know. I have knowledge.
34:17And because I am a knowledgeable man, I will only eat at places that I have chosen and I have reached.
34:29Walking on my own legs, planning with my mind, deciding with my discretion.
34:38And he is hungry.
34:41And the place that he is aiming actually does not exist.
34:46It is his fancy, his illusion, his drunkenness.
34:53In chasing that place, he is going past one eatery after the other, one restaurant after the other, ignoring them.
35:07He can pause and fill himself up.
35:10At any moment, the city is full of eateries.
35:14But he is saying, no, no, I know where I would get it.
35:19And I must go there.
35:21What is the fun in eating at all these places that have come to me just incidentally?
35:27I cannot accept that which is just coming to me free of cost.
35:33Because if I take it, then where is the pleasure of claiming?
35:38Where is the pleasure of achieving?
35:42How will I claim that I am somebody?
35:46So let me remain hungry.
35:49But I'll chase that mirage.
35:54That is our situation.
35:59How long do we intend to remain hungry?
36:06Can we be a little sensitive and compassionate towards ourselves?
36:16Can we hate ourselves a little less?
36:25Can we be a little less concerned with what others are thinking about us?
36:33Can we be a little more honest and look at our life?
36:40The answer to all these is yes, yes, yes, most definitely yes.
36:45But it doesn't seem to be happening.
36:47Why?
37:03It is near, it is far.
37:22The Rishi is laughing.
37:27It depends totally on you, whether it is near for you or far for you.