Video Information: 22.02.23, SPA College (Online), Greater Noida
Description:
In this thought-provoking video, Acharya Ji delves into the intricate relationship between man-made structures and human emotions, revealing how our experiences of sacredness are shaped by both aesthetics and our mental conditioning. He challenges the conventional belief that a space can be consecrated through rituals or the presence of special individuals, arguing instead that true sanctity arises from understanding the deeper meanings embedded within these structures.
Through a captivating personal story about a visit to a temple, Acharya Ji illustrates how perceptions of divinity can be influenced by prior conditioning, highlighting the subjective nature of spiritual experiences. He emphasizes that spirituality is not about blind faith or mere rituals; rather, it is a journey toward self-knowledge and understanding.
Acharya Ji encourages viewers to engage in meaningful inquiry, urging them to explore the significance of the spaces they inhabit and the symbols they encounter. He advocates for the creation of structures that inspire higher values and foster personal growth, reminding us that the essence of spirituality lies in our ability to seek knowledge and connect with the deeper truths of existence. This video is a compelling invitation to rethink our relationship with sacred spaces and to cultivate a more profound understanding of what it means to be truly spiritual
Context:
~ The myth of 'Consecrated spaces'
~ What is a consecrated space?
~ What is the meaning of consecrated spaces?
~ How Consecrated Spaces Can Ignite Your Energies?
~ The Importance of Consecrated Spaces
~ What does consecrated space mean?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~
#AcharyaPrashant #आचार्यप्रशांत #Philosophy #bhagavadgita
Description:
In this thought-provoking video, Acharya Ji delves into the intricate relationship between man-made structures and human emotions, revealing how our experiences of sacredness are shaped by both aesthetics and our mental conditioning. He challenges the conventional belief that a space can be consecrated through rituals or the presence of special individuals, arguing instead that true sanctity arises from understanding the deeper meanings embedded within these structures.
Through a captivating personal story about a visit to a temple, Acharya Ji illustrates how perceptions of divinity can be influenced by prior conditioning, highlighting the subjective nature of spiritual experiences. He emphasizes that spirituality is not about blind faith or mere rituals; rather, it is a journey toward self-knowledge and understanding.
Acharya Ji encourages viewers to engage in meaningful inquiry, urging them to explore the significance of the spaces they inhabit and the symbols they encounter. He advocates for the creation of structures that inspire higher values and foster personal growth, reminding us that the essence of spirituality lies in our ability to seek knowledge and connect with the deeper truths of existence. This video is a compelling invitation to rethink our relationship with sacred spaces and to cultivate a more profound understanding of what it means to be truly spiritual
Context:
~ The myth of 'Consecrated spaces'
~ What is a consecrated space?
~ What is the meaning of consecrated spaces?
~ How Consecrated Spaces Can Ignite Your Energies?
~ The Importance of Consecrated Spaces
~ What does consecrated space mean?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~
#AcharyaPrashant #आचार्यप्रशांत #Philosophy #bhagavadgita
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Good evening, sir. Since we are talking at the School of Planning and Architecture, my
00:08question is regarding the structure. The geometry and aesthetics of the man-made structures
00:15have a deep impact on my mind, sort of an emotional impact. Is such impact a result
00:20of only the aesthetics and physics, or is there a spiritual sense to this too? Because
00:27I have heard some spiritual gurus speak of consecrated spaces. What do you mean by a
00:35consecrated space? A space which is regarded with some sort of energy, or a haunted place.
00:49You will not call a haunted place a consecrated place. You mean a place that radiates sacredness.
01:04And when you reach that place, you experience a certain divine feeling or something. That's
01:12how usually we talk of consecrated spaces. The opposite of that would be a haunted house.
01:23So when you reach that place, you start feeling jittery, or something wrong is going on. You
01:31see, most of that is obviously just your own conditioning. Just your own conditioning.
01:40That's the reason why you have to be told in advance that a particular place is a consecrated
01:46place. You have to be told in advance and you have to be told very very strongly, so
01:55that your mind is fully conditioned that that particular place is a consecrated place.
02:11And when you reach there, then you find you are indeed experiencing divinity. So I have
02:24a curious incident to narrate on this. So this is from my corporate days. And my job
02:43as a consultant required that I would frequently travel. So once I was staying in a hotel in
02:56a suburban area, close to a large automobile factory. And at that point I was a consultant
03:12to that factory. So it's one of the largest producers of tractors in the country at this
03:24moment. So I was there and a few others were there staying in the same hotel. It was actually
03:38a guest house. So it was a bit of a remote area, a little away from the city. So the
03:50guest house in charge comes and says, sirs, because you are staying there, you must definitely
03:56visit that particular group of temples. It's just around 20 kilometers from here and a
04:07lot of folklore is attached to it and especially the temple number 8. There are a lot of stories
04:21and even miracles attached to its name. So we said fine. He said, I mean that entire group
04:34of little temples and those are pretty old temples, not in proper shape either, dilapidated
04:43and all and there was a mystique attached to them. So he directed us specifically towards
04:51temple number 8 and all those temples were quite close by. So you got down from the car
04:57and in front of you was this cluster of temples and we were told to go to temple number 8.
05:04So we got down and after a while one of my fellows from the guest house, he comes and
05:24there is a peculiar glow on his face and he says, I really experienced divinity. I really
05:33experienced divinity. I was standing at temple number 8 because that's the place I had been
05:44directed to. I had been told that's the place where the magic is. So you go right to that
05:49place. So I was standing there and of course because the temples are old and all, there
05:53were no markings. You could not know really which one is the temple number 8. You had
05:59to manually count. You knew that one was 1 and this is 8 and there were 12 or 14 little
06:06temples. So I was standing in front of temple number 8, trying hard to experience divinity
06:15from there and then this fellow comes to me and says, miraculous, absolutely out of this
06:23world. Temple number 8 for sure has some sacred vibes. What I have experienced just now is
06:33definitely a paranormal phenomena. So I said okay, you did that, fine and this fellow was
06:41a deeply religious fellow. All kinds of rituals we knew he was partaking in and all those
06:53things and he had a great belief in the metaphysical and the paranormal and such things. So he
07:02comes and says, I just spent around 10 to 15 minutes in temple number 8 and you cannot,
07:10just cannot imagine what I have experienced. I said, wow, please narrate me your experience.
07:18But there is one little thing I want to tell you. The temple you are coming from is temple
07:24number 6. Temple number 8 is where I am standing. The moment I said that, all his experience
07:32was finished. He said, but then that must be a fluke. Do you understand this? You are
07:42already conditioned to experience so called sacredness. You have been told that if you
07:50go to this place, there is sacredness. So that fellow enters temple number 6, thinking
07:56that it is temple number 8 and starts experiencing sacredness that you are supposed to experience
08:00at temple number 8. This thing applies obviously not only to temple but structures from all
08:08religions. It would apply to mosques, churches, all other places. That's what, it's all within
08:18you. It's your own belief that you experience. There is nothing special in the structure
08:25as such. Nothing in the structure that, and if someone says, you know, there is this temple
08:34and now I am consecrating it and now it becomes special, that fellow is out to fool you. As
08:38simple as that. If someone says the architecture is special, even that can be admitted to an
08:47extent because there can be beauty in stuff that is made mad. Just as there is beauty
08:53in physical nature, there is also beauty in man-made stuff. So that can be admitted. Yes,
09:00there are man-made paintings, there are man-made machines that are absolutely exquisite. Someone
09:08can write a fabulous software. The same thing that was being accomplished by a computer
09:18program that ran over 500 lines. Someone comes and finishes that off in 45 lines. It's a marvelous
09:25piece, a thing of beauty. I understand, there is beauty. There is beauty in the way you solve a
09:31problem in mathematics. There is beauty in the way you compose a poem or write an essay. And
09:36there can obviously be beauty in architecture as well. So if you say because the thing is
09:45beautiful, I love it, I understand. When you look at the mighty Himalayas, when you look at the
09:54snow-capped peaks, when you look at the Ganga gushing down, it definitely has a soothing effect
10:04on the mind. That too I can understand. But to say that a place can be consecrated through rituals
10:12or by a special man going and performing ceremonies is absolutely hogwash. None of
10:23that. People say no, look at the deity. The deity is stoned till a certain point and then a priest
10:31comes and performs a few rituals and narrates a few mantras and then the deity comes alive or
10:41gets charged, gets energized, becomes real. All that is nonsense. None of that can happen. All
10:52that is just conditioning, conditioning and conditioning. That's why one man's sacred place
10:57is very ordinary for the other, is it not? A Muslim passes in front of a mosque and the kind
11:09of experience that he gets is not the experience that a Jew would get passing in front of the same
11:15mosque or a Hindu would get passing in front of the same mosque. It's all very subjective. It's
11:21within you. It's not in that structure. What can be in the structure is something else. There can
11:29be beauty in the structure. There can be sophistication in the structure. Also there can
11:37be one more thing in the structure, very important. I'm glad I didn't forget that.
11:40The structure can have great pointers towards higher values and then the structure really
11:54becomes a living story. The structure then becomes a teacher. The structure is not teaching you
12:04something. Let's say there is something carved on the walls or let's say there is a painting or
12:11let's say there is a specific shape to the pillars. Now that can mean something. I definitely admit
12:18that and I respect that. But for that to mean anything, you must know what the meaning is.
12:24But do you know what the meaning is? If you do not know what the meaning is, how have you just
12:31blindly started parroting sacred, sacred? Do you get this? For example, think of the swan,
12:42the Hans. Now the Hans is a very important motif in Vedanta. Why? Because it refers to the Atma.
12:59The free bird. Your fundamental inner nature of freedom. That's what the Hans refers to. Also
13:11when you write Hanso and you start chanting that, Hanso, Hanso, that turns into Soham.
13:21And Soham means that am I. So that answers the fundamental Vedantic query, who am I?
13:33Koham. Soham becomes the response to Koham. So if you look at a Hans drawn on a wall or
13:47etched or carved or something and you are immediately reminded of the Atma, the pure
13:55self, then there is sacredness. Definitely. But if you do not know what the bird stands for and
14:02you start saying, oh, great, peace, wonderful vibes, then you are just fooling yourself.
14:09That bird, that shape was put there to remind you of something. If indeed you are reminded,
14:19then the shape has worked for you. But if you are not being reminded at all and you are just
14:23saying no, no, no, I am getting vibes, then you are hell bent on remaining who you are.
14:30Then you don't want to benefit from the temple. Your ego is so strong that it has defeated the
14:37temple and you are just saying, oh, this is a consecrated space, so I am benefiting from being
14:42here. Nobody benefits from being anywhere unless the mind is active, unless the consciousness
14:49understands what is going on. Right now, you might be benefiting from this conversation because your
14:58mind is attentive and is trying to understand what is going on, right? Similarly, if you go
15:05to a temple, I am saying temple because typically when you say consecrated space, you mean a temple.
15:10You can mean other places also, but typically a temple. When you go to the temple, you must know
15:16what everything stands for and if you know that, then the temple will indeed have a beneficial
15:21effect on you. But if you do not know, what is the point? Similarly, the mantras, the verses,
15:27the shlok, do you know what that means? If you do not know, then it is a thing of stupidity to
15:35just keep hearing. In fact, you will become dull if you keep hearing something you do not understand.
15:40Now Sanskrit is a language most of us do not understand. It's a beautiful language. More
15:47people should know Sanskrit, but in actuality, we do not know. And then you sit through hours and
15:55hours of ritual listening to Sanskrit verses. How will that help you? But you say, no, no, no. There
16:01is something special in the sound of the mantras. Those vibrations are reaching my ears and even if
16:07I do not understand their meaning, they are still helping me. No, they are not helping you. Just as
16:12watching the Hans figure will not help you if you do not know what Hans stands for. Similarly,
16:19listening to a mantra will not help you if you do not know its meaning. Not only should you know
16:25its meaning, you should also know the deeper meaning. You should also know what that ultimately
16:34point towards. And ultimately, if a mantra is worth the name, it should point towards self-knowledge
16:40because that is all that there is to spirituality. Spirituality is not about spirits. Spirituality is
16:47not Bhutpreta business. Spirituality basically means Atma Gyan, self-knowledge. In fact,
16:53spirituality is a word that I more and more now feel like dropping because it has become very
17:00misused. Spirituality now stands for so many obnoxious things. First of all, we destroyed
17:06the word religion. Now, we have destroyed the word spirituality as well. Self-knowledge is
17:11still something we have not put our dirty hands on. So, the real thing is self-knowledge. Can
17:19you tell me how the shape of the temple is encouraging self-knowledge within you? If it
17:26is encouraging, then the temple is beneficial. Can you tell me how the sound of the mantra is
17:33removing your ignorance, clearing away your doubts, melting your ego, bringing clarity to you? If it
17:47is not bringing clarity to you, just that there is a lot of music and visual extravaganza and that
17:54is making you feel great, then you are being drugged in that place. A lot of temples, a lot
18:03of hyped temples, these things are now happening. Not only in temples, in other places also. I must
18:09mention churches, I must mention synagogues. It's happening everywhere. They have become places of
18:15entertainment. A lot of song, dance, optics, great sounds. So, all that is just food for the ego. The
18:27ego is becoming stronger by visiting such places. And to top it, the ego gets a license to say,
18:35I just came from some sacred place, a consecrated place where I got truly holy vibes. You didn't
18:42get any holy vibes. You just got fattened. You were an ordinary ego before you went to that place.
18:48Now you are a totally ignorant, drunk and arrogant ego that calls itself religious. So, that's a
19:00great problem. There are several temples that have shlokas from the Upanishads carved on them.
19:10It's beautiful. When you visit Varanasi, go to the temple inside BHU. For hours, whenever I have
19:35visited BHU, I found myself sitting there. And I was very young. I think my board results had just
19:45been declared, class 10th. Because my father came from Varanasi. So, I went there with him and it
20:00was enthralling. All the chosen verses from the Upanishads were there in the temple. Now that's
20:08what a temple really is. And I made notes. And I made lots of notes. And for a very long time,
20:19I suppose a few decades, those little pieces of paper, they remained in my wallet. I just sat
20:28down and started copying from the walls. Think, copying from the walls. Now that's a temple. And
20:36if I remember correctly, there were verses from Buddhist scriptures, also from Jain scriptures.
20:43Spirituality is not mumbo-jumbo. Spirituality is hard, unrelenting inquiry. You want to know
21:03what is going on. Spirituality is philosophy with the purpose of liberation from the ordeal of life.
21:14That's what philosophy is. Philosophy is, spirituality is not a belief system. Come on,
21:22start believing in this. Come on, start just dancing or parroting something totally mindlessly.
21:27You must ask, what do the arms of the deity stand for? And if the figure is worth it,
21:49there would definitely be a meaning. Figure out the meaning. And if there is no meaning,
21:58then there is no compulsion to again and again visit that place. Everything is symbolic and
22:08the right meaning has to be ascertained. You must know what is being pointed at. And if the
22:21temple is real, then it will definitely point only towards the sky, the truth, the absolute freedom.
22:31And if you cannot see that, then you must say, oh, the temple right now holds no meaning for me,
22:36because that temple is not telling me of liberation. Not the temple's fault really,
22:42my own fault. I cannot read the meaning. Your emphasis should be on reading the meaning.
22:49That's what you must try for. What is hidden here? What is the meaning? If there is a meaning,
22:55I should know. And unfortunately, there is some probability that some temples may not have any
23:00meaning. Because there are lakhs of temples you see. But all the great ones, all the real ones,
23:09definitely point towards the absolute. And you must know how that pointer is working.
23:17The functioning of that pointer must be known with great application of intellect and logic.
23:23Do not keep your mind, your logic, your argument, your intellect aside when you
23:29enter a place of religion. Religion requires great application of intellect and logic.
23:37And it is this intellectless, thoughtless, mindless religiosity that has brought us down
23:45to our sorry state. It is not without reason that India suffered so badly for so many centuries.
23:52To me, the primary reason was misinterpretation and exploitation of religion. And that is still
24:03continuing. Also in the last 10-20 years, that exploitation has somehow worsened.
24:09We thought that with the arrival of science and education and values of freedom and inquiry,
24:22superstition would reduce. The masses would refuse to be fooled. But very strangely,
24:34that has not come to pass. What we are seeing is a phenomena in the opposite direction.
24:41More and more blind kinds of cults are rising. People are not reading. People are becoming more
24:56and more ignorant of their own central scriptures. And you have religious leaders who repeatedly say
25:07that there is no need to read. In fact, in some cults, I have heard, reading is prohibited. They
25:14say no, you don't read anything. Especially don't read anything related to science. You just read
25:19these 3-4 books that our cult prescribes and become totally brainwashed. This is very unfortunate
25:32and very scary. I do not know what we are making of this nation. There can be no religiosity without
25:43sound and sharp application of the mind. Don't keep your mind aside when you enter the scope
25:55and dimension of religion. Ask. Seek to understand. And if you are told to believe in something blindly,
26:04just refuse. No, that's not what religion is about. Religion is the opposite of blind belief.
26:12But as we said, religion, the word has been corrupted. So let's simply say self-knowledge
26:18is the opposite of blind belief. Let them usurp the word religion. They have taken it away. Let's
26:27give it to them. Let's stick to self-knowledge. Self-knowledge is inquiry. You want to know,
26:33you want to understand what is going on. And create great structures with great sophistication
26:39as a student, as a practitioner of architecture. Create buildings that do not have just utilitarian
26:51value, but that point towards something higher, that give life with a sense of purpose.
27:02When you look at that building, you realize the building is saying something to you very purposefully
27:07and saying something very important. And if you can understand what the building is saying,
27:12then you will be a better person. That's the kind of structure you should try to create.
27:17In that creation lies consecration. Consecration does not lie in standing in front of the building
27:24and narrating a few mantras and sprinkling water and using some rice and sandalwood and doing a
27:30few things. And then you say, oh, now it is consecrated. Now the deity is active and energized.
27:40Create a great building that speaks really. Let there be great pointers.
27:47Refer to great pieces from world literature, including religious literature and have pointers
27:54that remind you of what happened in that particular story or that particular novel
27:58or that particular poem or in that particular Upanishad.
28:04That's when the building will stand as something that elevates you.
28:09You look at the building and you say, well, life is worth living. Life is worth living.
28:15This building speaks. It is not there just to house a few people. It is not an animal's cave.
28:21It is not an insect's rock. It is a living structure.
28:29So, if you can create such a thing, you would come very close to creating a temple.
28:37And believe me, no, don't believe me. You are not supposed to believe anything.
28:42So, I would ever that that's how the first temple would have been built.
28:48You want to have a place where your ego can just bow down.
28:56You want to have something of beauty. You want to have something that is higher than yourself.
29:02And that's how man would have built his first temple.
29:05He said, fine, life is just ordinary mediocre, but that does not satisfy me.
29:12Let there be something higher than this everyday living, than this usual muck.
29:19And then you say, let there be a temple. Let there be a temple.
29:25The temple stands for everything that is worth worshipping.
29:30What is worth worshipping? What is something that you value highly?
29:36Tell me, please.
29:43I would hear it from you. What is worth worshipping?
29:50Can we unmute the student?
29:53The student?
30:01Something that provides, something that improves your consciousness to a great level.
30:10Yeah, but what is it that you'd value in life?
30:14Don't go by the prescription.
30:17Tell me very originally, very honestly, as a person, what is it that you value in life?
30:23What is it that you value in life?
30:41I can't hear you.
30:42Existence of my own being.
30:44I didn't get it.
30:45I should be able to hear you.
30:48Existence of my own being.
30:50Somebody as ignorant as me.
30:57I exist.
30:59Yes, that is right. So, you mean life.
31:01But what is it that you value in life?
31:06What is it that you find worth respecting in life or in a person, let's say?
31:11Knowledge of that person.
31:12Knowledge. And?
31:31Think of the people you respect and please tell me what is it in them that you value in life or in a person, let's say?
31:40That is worth respecting.
31:44Their freedom, their independence.
31:46Freedom and you said knowledge and you said independence and courage, maybe?
31:51Courage.
31:52So, can you create a structure that's a testament to courage?
31:58And by knowledge, you mean understanding.
32:04Can you have a building?
32:10That encourages you to understand.
32:17Devoted to both understanding.
32:20If you can create such a building, that's a de facto temple.
32:23That's a real temple.
32:28Let not religion have a monopoly over temples.
32:31If you can create a building that encourages you to be courageous, that building is a temple.
32:42And that's how the first temples would have been made.
32:46Courage is the deity.
32:50Knowledge is the deity.
32:52So, when you when you visit that place, you say, well, well, well, well, all my life on one side.
33:00All the places that I usually visit on one side and this place on one side and this place is
33:08just somehow more lovely.
33:11And that's how the first temples were made.
33:14And this place on one side and this place is just somehow more lovely.
33:23I come here and I'm reminded of something very superior, very elevated, very sublime.
33:32I come here.
33:36And it's like coming to a senior, to a guide, to a well-wisher, to a beloved.
33:43Who tells me, daughter, don't get lost in the humdrum affairs of life.
33:50Remember what is truly important.
33:52Knowledge is important. Courage is important. Freedom is important.
33:56That's what consecration is.
33:59So, consecration is not a ritual.
34:02Consecration is when you are reminded of that which is truly sacred and the name of that is freedom.
34:14Yeah.
34:15Great.
34:21So, my follow-up question is that you mentioned that all the objects,
34:26like say in a temple or anywhere you go, they are like pointers, right, to the higher truth.
34:34So, in this case, shouldn't we do a little more inquiry with our relation to everything around
34:41us, like all the objects that we're surrounded by, because why do we just limit ourselves to
34:47scriptures or temples, something that's been given to us?
34:50Why can't we assign our own meaning to things like, you know, maybe…
34:56Lovely, lovely, lovely.
34:58Think of the person who raised the first temple.
35:03He had no precedent to go by, right?
35:07In some sense, he created his personal temple, his or her personal temple,
35:12because there was no tradition he was following.
35:15He said, obviously, life is not worth living if there is no sacredness in it.
35:21If there is no sacredness, then life is dull, boring, monotonous, just a mass of mediocrity.
35:28I don't want to live that way. There has to be something higher.
35:31So, that was a personal aspiration that took the shape of a temple.
35:38And that can happen even today, obviously.
35:41You can have your personal sacred space. You must have that.
35:44And, you know, those who have known, they have said, now we have no need of sacred spaces,
35:50because we are in so deep love with sacredness,
35:54that we cannot live without sacredness at any point, at any place.
35:57So, there is no need for especially made sacred spots.
36:03The kind of inquiry that we live in now, the purity of mind that we live with now,
36:10renders the entire universe sacred for us.
36:14The entire universe is now an open book of truth to us.
36:19So, there is no need for us even to visit a temple or any other place.
36:23So, there is no need for us even to visit a temple or any other place.
36:27But that's obviously a very advanced stage, one of the higher and final stages.
36:34So, let's not talk of that.
36:35But you are very right that sacredness is something obviously for us.
36:42So, it is something very intimate, very personal.
36:45So, you can have your little personal shrine, definitely.
36:49And if you can have that, then you are entering true religiosity.
36:57It is okay to, you said that it's for higher levels, right?
37:02So, when you're initially maybe starting out, it is okay to go to these places,
37:07because the environment is a little more conducive for that type of work that you want to do.
37:13By these places, you mean the commonly accepted temples?
37:17Places that claim to be…
37:20Many of them are very beautifully built and very purposefully designed.
37:31It's just that we are such stupid people that we have destroyed those places.
37:38Those were works of masterminds, people who could think, probe, inquire, understand.
37:44And the ones who are visiting those places now are all just dumb, blind followers who do not understand a thing.
37:54They come there just very religiously, very blindly, in no knowledge of what that place stands for.
38:06Right?
38:07Right?
38:07So, there are a few temples I have a special relationship with.
38:20And it breaks my heart to visit them when there is a crowd.
38:29It becomes a bit like an intimate love affair.
38:34You don't want to share it with a crowd.
38:37Especially if the crowd is insensitive, violent, ignorant and disrespectful to the sacredness of that place.
38:48So, I found myself
38:53gazing at my beloved temples from a distance, especially in the night.
38:59So, yes, it's not just all right to visit great places of worship, it is also beneficial, but then you must understand what's going on.
39:18Just going to the Ganga and taking a few dips is not going to help.
39:22People visit Kedarnath, they exploit the mules, the donkeys there and they go and then they do all kinds of stupidities and they return, that's not going to help.
39:35So, when you go to a sacred place, meet that place with your own soul.
39:45When you go to a sacred place, meet that place with your own sacredness.
39:55Don't let it be a dead ritual.
39:59And stick to the thing that you first talked of, creating your personal shrine.
40:08Nobody can monopolize the truth and the truth never said that it is going to be based only at a particular geographical location.
40:20Truth is your own personal reality, which when approached becomes totally impersonal.
40:29But for you to begin with, you must say it is my own thing, it is the thing within.
40:35It is the thing within. So, it is good to visit religious places, places of pilgrimage and all those things, it's alright.
40:47But also, you must constantly be in touch with your own core.
40:55You must constantly be assessing the quality of your own mind.
40:59Is there anger? Is there greed? Is there a lot of fear? Is there blind faith?
41:05Is there ignorance? You must keep asking these questions. That's true religiosity.
41:13That's beautiful. Thank you, sir.