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Video Information: 14.03.23, DU (Online), Greater Noida
Context:
~ Why social media influencers are so rich?
~ How to not be affected by social media?
~ Why do social media influencers affect us?
~ How useful is our education?
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: 14.03.23, DU (Online), Greater Noida
Context:
~ Why social media influencers are so rich?
~ How to not be affected by social media?
~ Why do social media influencers affect us?
~ How useful is our education?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00So good afternoon, sir.
00:11My question is, nowadays we use YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and other such short video
00:16platforms and they are really shortening our attention span.
00:20So my question is, how can we use technology and media in such a way that it does not affect
00:25attention span and what are some ways to maximize it?
00:30Thank you, sir.
00:35You know, see, it is primarily
00:42not about the span of attention. The important thing is not really for how long you can
00:55hold your attention on an object. The important thing is what is the quality of the object
01:06you are attending to. And the nature of human consciousness is such that
01:16only very specific type of objects can really hold your attention for long.
01:31Let me go a little deeper into it. You see, our mind, our consciousness is constantly
01:39searching for something.
01:43Getting it?
01:45Man is the name of a lifelong craving.
01:53We are continuously a longing.
01:59And the world is full of infinite objects and we do not know those objects.
02:06Therefore, we keep approaching those objects one after the other, incessantly, all our life
02:14in the hope that our internal longing will come to rest through one of those objects.
02:27That's why we are constantly restless. That's why we are constantly trying, experimenting.
02:36Knocking at one door after the other.
02:40Getting it?
02:43Now, that is the reason why the short format, the short video format in social media
02:54has been inevitable. And since it has arrived over the last few years, it has
03:02been more successful than the longer formats. Because the audience, without even knowing it,
03:10in an unconscious way, is looking for something extraordinary.
03:18Now, if you give them a 30 minute piece to watch,
03:23by the second or third minute, it is anyway clear that the thing that you are looking for
03:29is not going to be found in that long video.
03:35So, after the third minute, the audience will drop out.
03:41After the third minute, the audience will anyway drop out. Because it has become clear that the
03:47video is not what your deepest self wanted.
03:51So, how do the video makers, how do the so-called content creators cope with this?
04:00They said, we know that we cannot hold the audience anyway for more than three minutes.
04:10So, we will give them just one minute of content.
04:14And then the danger of the audience running away reduces.
04:21And then the proportion of the video that has been watched improves. Because if you see,
04:28on an average, if people are watching three minutes out of 30 minute content, that is just 10%.
04:35Right? The algorithm will record that the average duration viewed is just 10% of the video length.
04:46Whereas if you serve them just a 50 second thing,
04:51the audience will watch it for 30-40 seconds before they can make up their mind to drop out.
04:59Right? Even if you discover that the video is trash,
05:02still you would have spent a few seconds on the video, 10, 20, 30 seconds, something.
05:07So, even if you spend 15 seconds on a 45-second shot or reel or something,
05:18you have still watched 33% of the video length.
05:22Now, this 33% is far better than the 10% that you watch on the long video.
05:27So, this little thing gets more favorably ranked on the YouTube or Instagram algorithm.
05:35Right? Do you see the fundamental reason? The fundamental reason is,
05:39everybody, be it the long video creator, the short video creator, the movie maker,
05:44the Netflix maker, it does not matter who he is, everybody knows that the content that you are
05:49serving does not have that touch of eternity in it. It does not have that all essential
06:02quality in it that can simply bind the viewer to the screen.
06:13So, people are trying all kinds of tricks. They have to try these tricks because they are finding
06:21themselves unable to address the central problem. And the central problem, as I mentioned right in
06:28the first sentence today, is not the length of the attention span. The central problem
06:38is the quality of the object you are serving to your audience. Is the content worth it?
06:48If the content is worth it, then people can watch even for one hour, two hours and
06:53more. Any length does not matter. The epics have been so long lasting.
07:01And do you know the number of verses they contain?
07:05The number of verses run into scores of thousands.
07:0910,000 verses, 20,000 verses, 40,000 verses, more than a lakh verses.
07:18And yet they have been eternal and immortal.
07:20If you talk of the Vedas, the Rig Veda itself has 10,000 verses.
07:30Or if you go to Homer and talk of Iliad and Odyssey, again there the length of the work
07:37is so daunting. But still it has been with the people and they have just loved it.
07:45So, it's not that people are afraid of length really. People are just fed up of trash.
07:55Trash. And trash does not necessarily refer to production values. It does not really
08:05refer to how attractively, how lucratively you have packaged the whole thing.
08:13It refers to what is inside the package. It is the stuff that is inside the package that's what
08:21I am referring to as trash. What is the message you are delivering? What is the insight you are
08:28providing through your video? Is there something in the video that will give some relief to my
08:36that will give some relief to my otherwise tormented life?
08:43Be it a youngster, a man, a woman, a professional, a student, an old man, a Hindu, a Muslim,
08:53a rich man, somebody looking for a job.
08:57It does not matter. We all are missing something very essential in our life.
09:02Now, is your video or your story or whatever you have as an artist,
09:08is that able to provide me something that will fill up the hollow here in my chest?
09:17At the center of my existence is a big void and it pains. It pains me.
09:26It pains incessantly. If you are a video creator, you're an artist. If you're a painter or a story
09:34teller, you're an artist. Do you have it in you? Does your art contain that beauty, that truth
09:45that will bring some succor to my charred life?
09:53A few drops of relief to my parched existence.
10:04So that's the problem. And if you don't solve that problem,
10:07you'll find even one minute is too much. People will run away from you in five seconds
10:17because what you are bringing to them is just so repetitive and old and dull and boring.
10:27Within five seconds, people have begun to discover that the stuff being served
10:32is just a rehash of something old. Now the old thing itself was unable to provide any relief.
10:40What will this thing in the new package do? No hope. So one just scrawls away.
10:48And you hold your mobile phone like this and with one thumb or one finger you are just
10:53scrawling away. Even five seconds is too much now.
10:59So that's the thing. Ours is an age of a very special kind of crisis you see.
11:08There is a complete proliferation of all kinds of colorful objects all around.
11:14You want to buy a car, you will be flooded with choices.
11:20You specify a budget and 15-25 kinds of models are available.
11:26You want to buy a shirt, n numbers of brands.
11:30You want to visit a place, so many options and so many to travel operators.
11:35You want to eat, just look at the ever lengthening menu.
11:42The entire culinary expanse of the world is available on your table.
11:50So choices, choices everywhere. That's what the industrial age has done. Go to Amazon.
11:59Does not matter what you want, it will be delivered at your doorsteps.
12:04People are truly empowered. So objects all around and yet nothing that can satisfy you.
12:11I'm reminded of that beautiful poem. Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.
12:27A lost ship in the middle of a vast ocean.
12:32Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. That's our state.
12:41In the language of social media, you could say content, content everywhere, but not one video
12:53of relief.
12:58So instead of taking the issue head on, instead of discovering the root cause,
13:06as usual, we have relied more on trickery and cunningness
13:15and shortcuts. So we have said, okay, we will keep reducing the length of the video. We'll
13:21keep loading it with special effects. Look at the VFX content in movies these days.
13:28VFX content in movies these days. Why do you need that so much?
13:33Why? There is a reason and unless you understand that reason, you will not
13:38understand the age you are living in. You will not understand the world,
13:42you will not understand your own life. Why so many filters are needed?
13:50There is a reason and the reason is very important to know.
13:54You cannot have a video where you are just saying something, something important in a simple way.
14:04Because nothing important is being said at all.
14:10Trash is being served in innumerable avatars and therefore you require all kinds of embellishments
14:19and filters and decorations, editing and effects and
14:31all the jazz.
14:37Getting it? Yes, sir.
14:40Is this making sense or is this looking all very incoherent?
14:45Sir, it's related to the question and it provided a deeper perspective.
14:50You were talking about trash, like there is a lot of trash in nowadays, you know, media.
14:54So how to pick out, you know, what is, you know, not trash and my question was, you know,
15:01that when we try to focus on what's good, you know, so how much trash, you know, has been fed to us?
15:08How much trash, you know, has been fed to us?
15:12So much trash, so much amount of irrelevant videos have been thrown to us.
15:18So we find it really difficult to focus on what's really important.
15:22So I was talking about that perspective.
15:25Yes, yes, yes, that's very important to ask.
15:29You see, before I can be able to sift the trash from the useful,
15:40I must know who I am because all the usefulness will be to me.
15:47Before I can put my finger on a specific medicine or a food item, I must know what I need.
15:57Right?
15:57Before I can discover what is the kind of video content or content in literature or arts
16:05or anywhere I can pick for myself, I must know what I truly need.
16:11That's called self-knowledge.
16:14Knowledge of yourself.
16:16When you know who you are, then you will be able to put all useless content aside.
16:23Not much thought will be needed then, and you will not be indecisive.
16:28You will immediately know that's the point I need to go to because that's what I'm looking for.
16:33And when you do not know who you are and therefore you do not know what you're looking for,
16:39all kinds of diverse options remain open and available and compelling to you.
16:48They all keep calling you.
16:49Because you do not know what you want.
16:53See, you go to a supermarket and you have no idea what you have come there for.
17:02Can you imagine your condition?
17:05You will be standing in the center and at that center you will be gawking at all kinds of shops.
17:11And no option will be available to be discounted.
17:22And have you not seen people saying, right, this is right, even that is right, and then even that is right.
17:31And then something else comes up, a fourth or fifth option, and that fellow says,
17:37else comes up a fourth or fifth option and that fellow says, well, now even this thing sounds right.
17:45That's the condition of the commoner.
17:48Everything appears right and nothing appears fully right.
17:57So there is no option that appears so absolutely right that you commit yourself to it.
18:03And there is no option that appears so obviously wrong that you totally discard it.
18:11So you remain in the middle of that super mall with options surrounding you from all sides.
18:23And you are unable to cross out any of the options.
18:29That's what is happening when you are scrolling through your shorts feed.
18:35You just do not know what is it that you want. So your entire night, two hours, four hours,
18:40you just keep watching everything. And have you seen how the algorithm performs?
18:44It serves you a mix of everything and then it tries to see what is it that you spend more time on.
18:53And then it starts serving you more of that content. But it never serves you 100% of anything.
19:01It just keeps mixing and rotating. Because it knows fully well that you will be very soon bored out.
19:09Because you are not committed to anything. And that is all right.
19:13Because how do I commit to anything if I do not know that that thing is perfect for me?
19:18And before I can know what is perfect for me, I should know
19:22who I am, what I lack, where do I stand, what do I identify with, what do I therefore want.
19:31Our education or upbringing just do not impart any kind of self-knowledge to us.
19:39They do not even encourage us to give importance to self-knowledge.
19:47Because self-knowledge is not really so much about memorizing something in a given book.
19:56A large part of the process of self-knowledge is just about observing your own life,
20:02thoughts, actions, emotions, relationships, all these things.
20:06So, all that can be done internally in solitude as a solo inquirer who wants to know himself.
20:17All that can be done. But only if first of all somebody points it out to us that self-knowledge
20:24is extremely important. That does not happen in the kind of system we are brought up and educated.
20:35So, we just totally sit with yourself and ask yourself, what is truly important for me?
20:45And it's not that you will not get some kind of answer. Maybe the answer will not be perfect.
20:49Actually, the answer will not be perfect. But you will get some kind of an answer.
20:55You will at least get a tentative list of priorities.
21:00One, two, three, four, five, six. These six things are important to me. And roughly,
21:05I can say that item number two is more important than item number five.
21:12You'll have to sit with yourself in a relaxed, calm way. Collect yourself and ask truly,
21:20keeping all the thrills and all the trash apart. What do I really want? What do I really want?
21:28What do I really want? And once that list is there, then commit yourself to the top items
21:35in that list. Search for them. Not that there cannot be anything more important than the stuff
21:43you have put on your list. But you cannot do better than what you're currently doing.
21:50The thing that still remains undisclosed to you will be revealed in due time.
21:58Till that time, you can do no better than doing justice to what you already know of.
22:06I know that I need to have awareness of what's happening to the environment, let's say.
22:15Is that one of your priorities? I do not know. It might be. Give me one nice thing you
22:22are convinced is important and worth knowing. Tell me, please.
22:33Sports, politics, environment, science, spirituality, literature, art, something.
22:41Sir, currently, it's knowing my strengths and my weaknesses. So, I'm really in the process
22:50of finding myself and I was looking into what are the things which I can
22:57look into and dive deeper into. So, that connects three different fields.
23:04Psychology, philosophy, spirituality. Psychology, philosophy and spirituality. By spirituality,
23:14I do not mean spirits and all kinds of superstition. By spirituality, I simply mean self-knowledge.
23:23So, these three fields. Now, once you know that these are the three things
23:27that as a youngster, you are interested in,
23:31you have discovered these three things are important to you, what do you do next?
23:35Come on. I know that these three things are important and
23:39now if I am a human being, I must live by my conviction.
23:48Yes, sir. I try to find relevant information and knowledge.
23:50That's all. That's all. That's what.
23:54Yeah, but sir, there's also a different kind of conviction.
23:58That's what. That's what.
24:01Yeah, but sir, there's also a different kind of question that arised. So, I've been in this
24:07self-discovery process for a while and while I was in that process, I found that, okay,
24:13this is what I need. This is something I want to be and when I've been there, when I've done that,
24:18I realized that no, this is not what I wanted. I must present that.
24:23That's not just all right. That's actually great. Sorry, I forgot your name, please.
24:31Samarth.
24:31Samarth. Samarth, that's just great. See, youth is the time to experiment and make mistakes.
24:41Didn't I say that the stuff that you will list down in your priority list
24:46will never be absolutely perfect. There would always be something higher, something better
24:54that remains yet undisclosed and hidden.
24:59But that's the thing. The process of learning is like going up a staircase.
25:06Right? You keep your foot on the next step, on the next rung and only then you discover
25:16how to move to the one beyond that, like a dimly lit staircase.
25:22Right? You cannot look too far ahead of yourself.
25:28Only when you move ahead do you discover what lies further ahead.
25:35Correct? So, that really cannot even be called a mistake, Samarth.
25:39With an open mind, with an inquisitive mind, you try something out.
25:45And if that attempt reveals to you that this is not the ultimate thing I'm looking for,
25:52then at least you have been able to strike out something from the list of available options.
25:58Right? And that's not a mean thing. That's a blessing to know clearly that this is not what
26:06you want. In Vedanta, that's the process of niti-neti, the ultimate process of negation,
26:16to know what the truth is not. And it's not just about Vedanta enough. Even if you
26:23go to the ancient Greeks or to the more contemporary western philosophers,
26:29the highest among them have said that the truth can be approached only via negation.
26:36It is not possible to go to the truth with your established set of internal affirmations
26:45because all affirmations are just the ego.
26:50Inquiry can at most result in negation. It's ego that results in affirmation.
26:58So, the process has to be of negation, which is okay.
27:02With an honest intent, you tried something out. It didn't work out. You haven't failed.
27:09It's not a disappointment. And if that's a disappointment, then I failed all my life
27:14because my entire journey has been of trying things out and then moving on.
27:22And there's a beauty to that. There's a beauty to not settling down at the wrong place.
27:29There's a beauty in having the courage to move on even if that place beckons you via attachment,
27:41via relationships, via memories, adjustment and habit. Once you have been with something,
27:49all these things keep you in bondage via a certain stickiness, don't they?
28:04You want to stay there just because you have stayed there for long.
28:08No, move on. Once you know that a certain thing has yielded to you all that it could,
28:15honesty demands that you try out something higher because the purpose of life is learning,
28:20a constant movement. You are not born to stagnate. There is no point called the final one.
28:28There is just no possibility of you ever becoming saturated with knowledge or realization.
28:36The potential to be bigger and better and more fulfilled and more joyful will remain last
28:43to try till your last breath.
28:47Are you getting it? And these things should never, never be considered as failures.
28:54Somebody who has settled down and made a home at some ordinary place as most commoners do,
29:05as most worldly men do, cannot be called successful.
29:12Far more successful than such a person is someone who tried out a thousand things
29:19out of which nothing succeeded. He was committed to excellence. He was experimenting.
29:28He was putting himself at risk. He was not saying that he is a sucker for security and stability
29:37and respect. He said, no security, everything is risked and people will not respect me.
29:46The world will call me a failure. All that is okay.
29:49My job is to remain a traveler. Read that poem, Ithaka, and at just the most inopportune time,
29:58I have forgotten the name of the poet. Somebody help me please, Ithaka. It's one of my favorite
30:10poems and I have taught this poem as well. And this is very intimately linked to the question
30:17you are raising.
31:17Kawafi, C-A-V-A-F-Y.
31:36Let me quote something from here.
31:37So, Ithaka is a place that young people set out to. It's a fabled place and it's said that if you
31:46reach Ithaka, you'll find huge treasures there and probably even
31:55all kinds of excitement and fame and glory and all that.
32:03So, Ithaka beckons, attracts. But it is said that it often happens that those who face all the
32:12obstacles and manage to reach Ithaka, they don't find anything there. Most people do not reach
32:18Ithaka because there are huge obstacles in the way. Some people indeed do manage and when they
32:27reach there, they find that there is none of that fairy tale stuff there that was promised to them
32:34and to those people, the poet says. And I'll quote from an earlier point.
32:48Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you are destined for.
32:54But don't hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years. So, you are old by the time you
33:02But don't hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years.
33:08So, you are old by the time you reach the island. Wealthy with all you have gained on the way.
33:19Not expecting Ithaka to make you rich. It's the journey that has the riches, not the destination.
33:27And you cannot journey if you settle down too quickly.
33:33Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her, you wouldn't have set out.
33:40She has nothing left to give you now. The journey is all that there is.
33:48The journey is all that there is. So, keep experimenting, keep trying, keep failing. It's okay.
33:55It's okay. And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.
34:04Wise, as you will have become so full of experience, you'll have understood by then
34:11what these Ithakas mean.
34:18It should be a compulsory read, especially for young people.
34:25With your limited understanding, with your little experience,
34:34with your little and half knowledge, still set out. Knowing fully well that you do not
34:43completely know who you are. You also do not completely know what the world and life are all
34:50about. You do not know anything perfectly. Still, you have nothing more than what you currently
34:59know, right? At this moment, you have nothing more than what you currently know. And
35:08put your finger on, bet on the best that you know of currently. With all your limitations,
35:15of currently. With all your limitations, there is something that you hold as the highest, right?
35:21Commit yourself to it. But that commitment has to be conditional.
35:28In the sense that if you find something better than that along the way, you say, fine, thank you
35:33so much. You brought me to this point. Now I commit myself to that which I find the highest
35:40at this point, at this moment. So I'm constantly progressing from one step of the case to the
35:49next one, right? I'm not making a house here. I'm not saying I have arrived. I'm not saying
35:59my journey has ended. It's an infinite staircase. If at all I have a home, it is in the sky.
36:10Is this getting too poetic and abstract, Samarth?
36:18No, sir. It's getting really interesting. So I have this question coming up, sir.
36:23So, as you talked about self-realization, so how can we balance the journey of finding ourselves
36:29if we are busy pursuing the unending staircase?
36:35You'll have to explain what is it more specifically.
36:40So, sir, you were talking about you have to find yourself first in the beginning.
36:45It's a process. It's a process. Even finding yourself is an unending thing.
36:51Yeah, yeah, yeah. So now the question is that when I'm into these endeavors of doing different
36:58things, trying something out and that, so I'm really concentrated on that thing. So how can I
37:05balance like meditation and not in like just sitting down and doing nothing, like really
37:12contemplating about life and what I am and what I'm not, like that kind of contemplating things.
37:17When you say balance, there have to be two things. So you said probably one thing is
37:24that kind of meditation in which you just sit down and contemplate. What is the other thing?
37:28Sir, another one as I've read is concentrative meditation and there are different kinds of
37:37the meditations I've read in some books.
37:41Yeah, it's not that way. It's active exploration. It's active learning,
37:49which means that it's in your activity that your learning is happening,
37:55not in your passive contemplation. I'm not denying the utility of passive contemplation,
38:04but then that's not the foremost thing. You see right now the two of us are not in a passive
38:12relationship. There is an activity happening. There is an exchange happening and you attend
38:21to it. So do I and we learn from it. Similarly, the two of us could have been engaged
38:31in a tennis match, right? And there is constant activity, rigorous physical activity happening
38:40and you learn and you learn in the moment, along the process. That's the nature of life.
38:48See, as a young man, you are unlikely to get a long occasion to just sit and meditate.
38:59In fact, I'm not really in favor of the kind of meditation that necessitates sitting down.
39:10Because if you are leading a really rich life, a vigorous life, a purposeful life,
39:18the opportunity to sit down might not really be abundant.
39:25You might find that your active day, your rich day
39:30involves 16 out of the 24 hours of the day. How will you eke out the time to
39:39meditate in a corner? Equally meditation is very important.
39:46So what is the kind of meditation that is needed? You need active meditation.
39:53So even as I speak to you, I am meditative.
39:58And even as you listen to me, you are meditative. This is real meditation. You are knowing
40:09alongside acting.
40:14And this is also more useful because in the middle of your daily action, in your relationship,
40:23in your associations, in the way you approach your targets, you discover who you truly are.
40:34Let's say you want something. You are engaged in some activity between 1 pm and 3 pm,
40:43the peak hours of the day. And you want something. You say this is my target and
40:47that has to be completed till 3 pm. And you perceive an obstacle.
40:53And you succumb to that obstacle. What will that tell you about yourself?
41:04That will tell you something very important about yourself that there sits something inside you
41:09that yields to challenges, that surrenders to problems.
41:16Right? And that can be known only first of all when you confront a problem.
41:24If you say that my meditation is limited to the time between 6 and 6.30 am,
41:30will you ever realize this thing about your inner self?
41:35Because between 6 and 6.30 am, you are anyway not facing the problem that you faced at 2 pm.
41:44That problem can be encountered only in the middle of hectic activity.
41:50So that hectic activity alone can tell you what your real self is like.
41:55Otherwise, you can live in your imaginations about yourself. You can say, I am very brave,
42:00very courageous. But when you are faced with a challenge, you got afraid. You retreated.
42:10All those aspects of your inner personality get exposed only in real life situations.
42:18The kind of meditation in which you have to sit in a corner and meditate,
42:22the kind of meditation in which you have to sit in a corner in solitude,
42:28aloof from the world, that's largely an artificial setting, is it not?
42:35You have already created an artificial condition. You are saying, I'll be sitting in a corner.
42:39Now is life, real life about sitting in a corner? In real life, you are in the middle of the worldly
42:47flow. But here, in the name of meditation, you have created a corner. Then you say,
42:51in my meditation room, there should be no noise. Now is real life full of noise or not?
43:01That's like practicing for a test match with, let's say, a tennis ball.
43:11How many runs will you secure in the real match?
43:19First of all, you are practicing with a tennis ball. Secondly, you have put an under 11 bowler
43:27in front of you, that too on a 44 yard pitch. And then you feel very confident that you have scored
43:35a century during net practice. That's the usual kind of meditation. You have created a very
43:44unreal and artificial condition that you will not get in the real match.
43:50In the real match, you will have a hunk coming at you,
43:57a hunk coming at you,
44:0122 yard pitch with a proper cricket ball, not a soft ball.
44:12So, it doesn't help. That's the reason why so many people meditate for 20 years, 40 years,
44:20and yet get only very marginal benefit.
44:27So, be immersed in life. Be attentive to whatsoever is happening. Learn even from your mistakes.
44:37Know how you are reacting to everything that's around you.
44:43A defeat comes, a disappointment comes. See how yourself reacts.
44:48Something comes and offers great temptation.
44:52A group of people is praising you. A job offer comes your way.
44:59Some pretty girl has proposed to you. See how something within reacts. See how there is something
45:08within that very readily wants to forget the truth.
45:15You know, for example, that you are not the tallest guy in your batch
45:22and three or four random people come and say, wow, this dude is really tall.
45:31And you see how something within wants to accept their compliment.
45:35You know fully well that you are not the tallest one
45:39and yet you will not refute them on their face. You will not say, sir, please, you are mistaken.
45:47There are two dozen taller fellows in my batch.
45:50Why are you complimenting me on something that I am not?
45:54Does that happen that you quickly refute somebody's compliments? No, that doesn't happen.
45:59If praise comes our way, something within us is eager to lap it up.
46:05Equally, if someone comes and criticizes us, even if the criticism is real,
46:11there is something within us that wants to refute the criticism.
46:18Even if that person is speaking as a well-wisher, that fellow still appears as an enemy. Does he not?
46:26So you have to observe all these things within you.
46:29How suddenly and forcefully disgust arises and opposition arises.
46:35Without even your consciousness, a reaction happens within.
46:40These are the things to be observed. That's real meditativeness.
46:43And that can happen only in the flow of life.
46:47The real thing is not victory.
46:50Obviously, even defeat is not the real thing.
46:53Obviously, even defeat is not the real thing.
46:56The real thing is observing what victory and defeat mean to this one sitting inside.
47:05Because that's who you are.
47:07And the purification and sublimation of that is the very purpose of life.
47:12We don't live in the world, we live within ourselves, don't we?
47:18Apparently, we live in the world.
47:19You say, I live in my house, I am sitting in my classroom.
47:22But the fact is we all live here within ourselves.
47:25So that's where we are.
47:27So if we have to improve ourselves, that's where the improvement is.
47:32And you cannot improve that because the eyes are unable to look at that.
47:37The eyes look only at the world.
47:42So that inner thing can be seen only in your reactions.
47:46Only in your relationships.
47:48Only in your thoughts and emotions and how they get provoked.
47:52You observe them.
47:54Impartially, you look at this thing called the self.
47:58That's self-observation.
48:00That's also meditativeness.
48:02And that's the entire thing in life.
48:11Have I drifted too far away from what you wanted?
48:14No, no, sir.
48:15It was really informative.
48:16I even wanted to ask some of these kind of questions to you.
48:19I'm glad.
48:20That was really an eye-opening session.
48:21Thank you so much.
48:27Sir, I have a follow-up question.
48:29I wanted to ask that YouTube videos full of information get lesser views.
48:36On the other hand, YouTube videos full of entertainment get more views.
48:42So my question is, isn't it justified to the content creators
48:47to upload videos which get more views?
48:51And if it is so, then why do we criticize them?
48:55What do you mean?
48:55Because they are doing their job.
48:57Shubhra, you said, right?
48:59Yes, sir.
49:00Shubhra, what do you mean by justification?
49:04So let's say you are a video uploader.
49:07What do you mean by justification?
49:11Sir, I myself am a content creator.
49:13Oh, you are.
49:14And yes, and I just meant to say that justified is like
49:21when we are uploading videos full of entertainment, we are getting criticisms.
49:25So it's not justified to the content creators because they are getting views from that.
49:30No, I understand.
49:32But as a content creator, you know, the word creator is such an important word.
49:39A creator is an artist.
49:41A creator is the highest function one can perform.
49:48Creator.
49:49So do you create for views and views only?
49:57No.
49:58Sir, I wanted to tell you one more thing.
50:00When I started to upload videos on Bhagavad Gita,
50:03I uploaded videos of so many verses of Bhagavad Gita and it was very useful and informative.
50:09But I got less views.
50:11But when I started to show people some big institutions and made vlogs that
50:16this is Hindu College, that is Hansraj College, so those videos got so many views.
50:21So isn't it justified to me that I would upload those videos and not just…
50:25I'll go back to that same word, justification.
50:30The word justice means setting something right.
50:37So justification has to be related to the rightness of something.
50:43So, I am somebody who uploads videos, let's say.
50:46Right?
50:48Is it just for the sake of getting a particular number of views?
50:55I'll share a few other concerns with you.
50:58Who are these people who are watching my videos?
51:02One lakh people watching a particular video
51:06might be much more important than 10 lakh people watching some other video
51:16if the quality of these one lakh is far superior.
51:20That's one concern.
51:22Second, what is the impact of my video on the 10 lakh people who watch it?
51:29Are these things not important when it comes to justification?
51:37Unfortunately, YouTube will only show you the aggregate number of views.
51:43It will not tell you the quality of your audience, though that can be known.
51:48Through some indirect matrices that can be kind of judged.
51:54What is the quality of people who watch your video?
51:56What is the quality of people who watch your video?
51:58You can, for example, look at the quality of comments.
52:01You can also look at some numbers in your dashboard and you will come to know
52:07what approximately is the composition of your audience,
52:12where are they coming from and all those things.
52:16You can also see what are the other videos and channels that your audience watches.
52:22That too is available to be seen in the dashboard.
52:25You will realize that this is where my people are coming from.
52:29Now, is that not a source of satisfaction or dissatisfaction?
52:35What would you rather have?
52:38Two great friends or a group of 20 hooligans?
52:44Friends.
52:45That's what.
52:47Now tell me, what is justified?
52:51Two or 20?
52:52It's a two.
52:55So that's what, that's what.
52:57Quality is more important than quantity.
53:03You go, for example, to J. Krishnamurthy's channel
53:10and several videos there, probably most videos there, will not have even one lakh views.
53:16Will not have even one lakh views.
53:21And you can go to the channels of the biggest YouTubers and you know the kind of content there.
53:31So it is obvious that the number of followers or likes can only be of secondary importance.
53:41The first thing is something else.
53:43The artist is, first of all, accountable to herself, right?
53:49When you look at what you have created, first of all, you must be able to feel a certain pride.
53:57Or is it better to be ashamed of what you have created?
54:00Though your video is awash with views.
54:05Your video has two million views and you cannot bear to look at your own video.
54:10Would you, would you want to be in that situation?
54:14Unfortunately, that's the situation most people are in.
54:18Most of these so-called content creators cannot tolerate their own videos.
54:24It's just that the quality of the audience is so poor that
54:31the more mediocre and vulgar your video is, the more views it's likely to fetch.
54:42Don't get into that. Remember, two is bigger than twenty. Quality matters.
54:49And also, there is no need to be cynical, Shubhra.
54:54It's not that the world is totally empty of good people.
54:57They are not in a majority, we concede.
55:00But it's not as if good people are nowhere to be found.
55:04We all are looking for a rarity, are we not?
55:10We are not looking for the majority. At no point do you look for the majority.
55:16You are enrolled in a great college, a good course probably.
55:21And you, you are not looking for the majority.
55:25And you would have seen only, only a tiny minority gaining admission to your course.
55:34I do not know the details. I'm speculating.
55:37So out of a thousand people who would have applied, let's say no more than 10, 20, 50
55:42would have gained admission. That's what would have happened.
55:47Right? So would you want to be with the minority or the majority?
55:55Remember, the majority was denied admission.
56:02Remember, the majority was denied admission.
56:06It's the minority always that is, that is important.
56:12It's the minority that matters and it's that, it's that rarity, not the abundance that we all are looking for.
56:19You will want to pursue a career. Will you want to take up any kind of job that comes your way or
56:25will you be selective and choosy?
56:28Selective.
56:29So that's it. You want that, that one among the 10.
56:35And 9 out of 10 are always fit to be just rejected.
56:43Right?
56:43You will probably choose a friend or a partner at some point.
56:47You might already have. We all are making friends since we are kids.
56:52Do you make friends with just about anybody?
56:57Or are you quite choosy in that?
57:03You want to say, my fellow is one in a thousand.
57:08You want to say, my fellow is one in a thousand.
57:14One in a thousand, right? That's what you want for yourself.
57:19Then why don't you want the same thing for your video?
57:23You should actively wish that 999 out of 1000 people refuse your video.
57:31Because your video too has to be one in a thousand.
57:34In some sense, it can be a reason to celebrate if only worthy people watch your videos.
57:42Let your video be the touchstone of worthiness.
57:47You should be able to say, not everyone comes to my channel.
57:53Only very special people come to my channel.
57:56I do not mean to say that you should consciously avoid getting views.
58:04No, that's not the assertion.
58:09The point I'm trying to make is, it's not crowds that you should be after.
58:14It's quality you should pursue.
58:17And if you are pursuing quality, remember that good people exist to be appreciated.
58:24That good people exist even though they are in a minority.
58:31You'll get sufficient number of views.
58:35You'll get a good quality audience to be with.
58:38And that's a great pleasure to have in life.
58:40The company of good people, no?
58:43Right, Swamiji. Thank you so much.