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Or, call: +91-9650585100 / +91-9643750710
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http://acharyaprashant.org/donate
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https://acharyaprashant.org/online-co...
Or, call: +91-9650585100
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Or, call: +91-9650585100
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Video Information: 22.11.21, Shastra Kaumudi, Rishikesh, Uttar Pradesh
Context:
~ What is the importance of scriptures?
~ How a living Guru is more Important than a scripture?
~ Why we often fear to face a living Guru?
~ Do we need scriptures if Guru is available?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://acharyaprashant.org/enquiry?fo...
Or, call: +91-9650585100 / +91-9643750710
~~~~~
Donate to spread the message of Acharya Prashant to the world:
http://acharyaprashant.org/donate
~~~~~
For learning Vedanta, Upanishads, Gita and other scriptures from Acharya Prashant:
https://acharyaprashant.org/online-co...
Or, call: +91-9650585100
~~~~~
To meet Acharya Prashant:
https://acharyaprashant.org/camps
Or, call: +91-9650585100
~~~~~
To enroll in life-related online courses with Acharya Prashant: https://solutions.acharyaprashant.org
~~~~~
Books by Acharya Prashant: http://books.acharyaprashant.org
~~~~~
Video Information: 22.11.21, Shastra Kaumudi, Rishikesh, Uttar Pradesh
Context:
~ What is the importance of scriptures?
~ How a living Guru is more Important than a scripture?
~ Why we often fear to face a living Guru?
~ Do we need scriptures if Guru is available?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Namaskar Acharya ji. The first question today comes from the US. The participant has been
00:14listening to you for a very long time now. She asks, Namaste Acharya ji. Does knowledge
00:22of Vedanta comes from listening with the presence and the teachings of a level master or can
00:29knowledge be also grasped without the master's life presence or any kind of direct help?
00:42Can the knowledge be had by listening to the videos and reading the master's words?
00:50You see, theoretically yes, it is possible to have that knowledge from books.
01:08Theoretically yes, it is possible.
01:10You see, today I was in the Gita Press shop here in Rishikesh.
01:26Several hundred titles they had, right, and in that shop it somehow was so that most people
01:52seem to know me. So there was this young man and he came to me and he said that he
02:07has been reading spiritual texts since long but he does not seem to comprehend them.
02:26And so I took him to a certain part of the shop and gave him two books that I know would help him.
02:46That's the situation you see. Firstly, there are so many books and often what the books are saying
03:00is not much in agreement with what the other books are saying. The books contradict each other.
03:19You do not get to begin with the right book because there are different sects, communities, streams
03:37and they seem to give importance to different kinds, different categories of books.
03:44All books appear important and if you randomly start with something, it is not necessary that it will be the best text for you.
03:56So firstly, there is so much of literature. What is it that you must begin with?
04:06Secondly, even if you lay your hands on the right book, it is not simple to comprehend what the book is saying.
04:26You were today with me and you were flipping through the pages of the Bhagavad Gita and you asked me,
04:43what is this about Adhibhut, Adhidaya and Adhiyagya? And even as I did explain that to you, I realized that moment
05:03that it would be very difficult for you to get it on your own or to get it purely through a translation.
05:14Because the translation was available to you. The translation was very much there. The translation didn't help.
05:23So that's the situation you see. Theoretically, yes, it is possible that merely books may suffice.
05:33In my own life, I must clearly tell that I have relied a lot on books.
05:46So I would be the last person to say that books on their own cannot help. They have helped me and I'll admit that.
06:01But do books help everybody? Again, an ideal answer would be yes.
06:08A practical answer is no. Even in a normal educational school, you require a teacher on top of the books.
06:27The students have their books and the students have a teacher. It's a combination that clicks.
06:39Next you said, can videos suffice? Well, videos are probably a little more useful than books.
06:57In the sense that in videos you have not only words but also visuals. So they are a little more useful.
07:10And then a little more useful than even the videos are interactive sessions like the one we are having right now.
07:22You are watching me through a video medium but are interacting with me real time.
07:36And even better than this online interaction is face-to-face interaction.
07:41So these are levels of communication with the truth.
07:52The first level is the text.
08:01Then there is the video. Then there is an online kind of virtual interaction.
08:11And then there is the face-to-face thing.
08:16And I'll repeat, I am in no way saying that books alone can't suffice.
08:29You see, books are the bedrock.
08:34Even if there is a face-to-face interaction, it has to be assisted, aided by a book.
08:43Like it happens in a classroom. The teacher is there and the student is there.
08:49And in between the teacher and the student is the textbook.
08:53So the textbook is of course always important.
09:00Any form of teaching that does not include a textbook is extremely prone to duplicity and also mischief.
09:17You do not know what is going on.
09:20The book lends a certain authenticity, authority, credibility.
09:29Because the words are not flimsy things.
09:35They are not like our thoughts or ideas or opinions.
09:40They don't change overnight.
09:43Two people are talking to each other, trying to convince each other of something.
09:50Very forcefully let's say.
09:52Next day you might find that these two people have themselves changed their positions, their ideas.
09:59That cannot happen with a book.
10:03A book comes into existence after a lot of thought.
10:09It is something set in concrete.
10:18It is not ephemeral, perishable, momentary.
10:30It is frozen in time.
10:34A bit like the truth.
10:36A bit like the truth.
10:41Not changing with time.
10:44But if a person is teaching the other, then his thoughts or ideas can change tomorrow.
10:52Therefore, the quality of the content that a book communicates to you is bound to be higher.
11:09We talked of these four levels of learning.
11:16Let's say Vedanta.
11:18In each of these levels, the book plays a very important role.
11:27So it is not whether the book is important or not.
11:30The book is absolutely important.
11:33The question is, is the book sufficient by itself?
11:39It is always important, but not always sufficient.
11:44Sometimes you require something plus the book.
11:51The book you would always require.
11:53The text is an imperative unconditionally.
12:02But with the text, you sometimes also require a perceiving consciousness.
12:13Who can know the fact of the student's life.
12:20Who can look into your eyes and read your mind.
12:27That's something the book cannot do.
12:32But the living teacher can do.
12:37However, as I say this, I must warn you.
12:41A living teacher who does not bond with books is a much more dangerous proposition than learning from books alone.
13:08We have said sometimes books are important but not sufficient.
13:17So we have a problem, right?
13:19The books do not always suffice on their own.
13:23But this problem is a small problem.
13:30The big problem is a teacher who has nothing to do with books.
13:39Books without a teacher is a small problem.
13:42Teacher without books is a huge problem.
13:51Books without a teacher is a problem in the sense that you will have difficulty in comprehension.
13:56And you may take a long time coming to realization.
14:00So that's the problem.
14:01Then it's a small problem.
14:03All that is happening is that your task is becoming difficult.
14:09What could happen in 2 years will probably take 10 years.
14:15But a far far bigger problem is to be with a teacher who contradicts books or is not with books or condemns books.
14:27Here it's not a question of 2 years versus 10 years.
14:31You are never going to arrive.
14:32In fact, your task is being made more difficult.
14:42It's not that you are progressing slowly.
14:46No, you are not progressing at all.
14:48You are regressing.
14:52You are not advancing.
14:53You are retreating.
14:57So the best thing is books plus teacher.
15:01In a nutshell, the best thing is books plus teacher.
15:07But if you can't have books plus teacher, have books.
15:14Best is books plus teacher.
15:16But if you can't have books plus teacher, have books.
15:19The worst thing is to have a teacher who sends books.
15:23That's worst.
15:24Unfortunately, this worst option is exercised by most people.