Job vs Studies Which Path to Choose ||  Acharya Prashant, NIT- Jamshedpur (2023) - video Dailymotion

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant?  Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...    Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books?  Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...  ~~~~~   Video Information: 04.10.23, NIT-Jamshedpur (online), Greater Noida   Context:  ~ Why is the chooser more important than choices?  ~ What should I do if I'm not feeling driven to pursue further studies?  ~ What can help to get rid of confusion?  ~ Why do rigid choices cause more harm?  ~ Can I change my past career decisions?  ~ What is the mark of inner growth?  ~ Why is experimentation sometimes the only solution?  ~ What is the way to know the truth?    Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00I am a student of philosophy. I completed my M.Phil two years back. Technically the

00:15next step for me should be to go for PhD. But I have been connected to your videos since

00:22past one year, three months. And what if after connecting to you, I do not feel equally driven

00:31towards the career choice that I made in the past. Currently my priority is to get financially

00:38independent but without my PhD also I can sustain myself. I can work as an educator

00:44in a school. But right now I am confused like what should I really do.

00:57Often experimentation helps. When you cannot make your mind, then you just probe. Maybe

01:12beginning the process of your PhD will tell you how far your heart allows you to go into it.

01:18And if you find that your self is resisting the very idea, even the initial steps,

01:34then you will realize that you will not be able to stay in next three or five years there.

01:39Equally you should explore the other side where you said you could work as an educator in some

01:46educational institution. Explore that as well. See whether that confirms to your image of life

01:57there. And there is no harm in changing or reversing choices. In fact, much greater harm

02:07lies in rigid choices. We do not exist for the sake of defending our choices. The chooser comes

02:21first. The chooser's interests are paramount, not the chooser's choices. Choices are all

02:29dispensable. They are all reversible. You can make one choice today and boldly and unabashedly

02:39reverse it tomorrow. You are not accountable to anybody. So it's okay. Experiment, probe,

02:49try this, try that. Maybe you will take a few steps in a direction and then discover it doesn't

02:59help. And then without hesitation, you can retrace your steps, take a U-turn, take a turn

03:09to somewhere else, whatever. It's all okay. In fact, it is a mark of inner growth that you want

03:19to reverse the choices that you've made in the past. Think of it. If as a person you are really

03:28evolving, how can you steadfastly remain loyal to the choices yourself of the past made? You're

03:39somebody else two years back, you made a particular choice then. You're not the same person today and

03:44that's a thing to rejoice. That denotes that you have evolved and that exactly is the purpose of

03:51life to keep evolving. You are a better person now. If you're a better person now, how can this

03:56better person live by the choices that a relatively inferior person made a few years back? So it's

04:06all right. So I was preparing for the entrance, but there is certain sort of resistance. But at

04:23the same time, I've attached certain sort of a value to a degree or something. And all those,

04:29the past education and everything has helped me evolve. But I don't know deep down, I've attached

04:34certain kind of value to this upcoming degree or something that I'm not able to take my

04:41step back. I also understand that there are other better career options that I can go for. But

04:49due to certain sort of a fear or maybe laziness, I am refraining myself to go there.

04:56See, there would never be absolute clarity.

05:02That's not given to the normal consciousness to be absolutely clear.

05:11There would always be confusion, there would always be in between-ness.

05:17And then the only solution is experimentation. I understand there is a thing for having probably

05:28a doctor against your name. All that is okay and all that cannot just fall down in a jiffy.

05:37But that extracts a price, does it not? So maybe enroll for the PhD program and see whether you

05:45are prepared to pay the price, bear the cost. We do not know much. Experimentation

05:57is a way of self-knowledge. When you try something, then you discover how your mind is

06:07responding to it. Without actually trying it, all you have is assumptions.

06:13Maybe when you enroll for the program, just the first few days will appear

06:18so repugnant to you that the decision will become obvious and automatically clear.

06:28Maybe if you go for the program, you find, oh,

06:31this PhD is my life, how was I even thinking of not going for it?

06:36Yes, I think after watching your videos, maybe I was trying to, because in your videos,

06:51there is always like what one should do, but at the same time, I am not at that stage to

06:57follow what you are saying. So I think experimentation is the key right now.

07:03But whatever I say, I add a rider to it. This has to be discovered by you for yourself.

07:15What I am saying cannot become your truth. Truth is a very, very individual, a very intimate thing.

07:24So you have to dig it out from within for yourself. I am in some way imploring you just to

07:32do that. So try both these things out. Probably, I think I know the way it will go, but let that be

07:44your own discovery. But at the same time, you know, the time there is also, for example, I was

07:53at a stage wherein, you know, the question of marriage was considered and I was equally able

07:58to understand that, okay, that is something not for me. So in this also that this will lead to a

08:06lot of time wastage in my moving towards. So that is maybe the fear that a lot of time will go.

08:18And you have to get into these feelings, you have to ask yourself, you know, what really is the

08:26meaning of wastage? What is this and what is that and where do these stand in priority?

08:36You will have to get into these things. Your own inner clarity has to be decided.

08:43These questions you must keep asking yourself. My words, my videos can at best help you ask

08:49the right questions. The answer has to emerge from within.

09:03Thank you so much.

Job vs Studies Which Path to Choose || Acharya Prashant, NIT- Jamshedpur (2023)

Category

Transcript

Recommended