Do you overthink? Here is a beautiful solution || Acharya Prashant, Sir J.J. College, Mumbai(2022)

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?...   Read 3 handpicked wisdom articles, just for you: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articl... ➖➖➖➖➖➖  Video Information:  08.12.2022, Sir J.J. College, Mumbai   Context:  ~ How do I stop overthinking?  ~ How to deal with anxiety and fear?  ~ Why do we keep thinking of little things?  ~ How to stay away from trivia in life? ~ What is important to do in life?  ~ How to not be bothered by every little thing?  ~ What is worth doing?  ~ How to not waste my life?   Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, sir. I am Tohina Chatterjee and I am in first year. So, I usually tend

00:13to overthink everyday things like everyday situations. Like even if it's just my bus

00:19not reaching the destination and things like that. So, how do I not let this fear take

00:24over myself? Think of better things. Think of more important things. I fall into this

00:32loop of thoughts where I just think about it instead of actually doing it. Have something

00:38in life that overpowers all the random thoughts. I am talking to you, right? Yes, sir. I happen

00:48to be a busy person. There are so many things that I can alternately think of at this moment.

00:57What makes me forget all those things? And frankly, to me, right now you're a stranger. All I know of

01:09is your name, to some extent your age, the institutions you are affiliated to. That's

01:15all that I know about you. Compared to this, there is so much else that I am involved in.

01:24There is my mission, there's my work and this is a working day and so many people are dependent

01:30on me for what they are doing. Why am I not thinking of them at this moment? Because this

01:43is important. That's all. When you do not have that in your life, which is important, when you

01:51do not have a sense of the worthy, the result will be that a lot of little things will invade the

02:02mind. There is no way to keep those little things away. They are like germs. They constantly keep

02:16attacking you. You cannot keep them away. You can only have a strong inner immunity. Is there a way

02:26to keep germs away, virus or bacteria or other kinds of pathogens? Is it possible? No, they are

02:33everywhere. I keep my hand here, they are here. This air that I breathe in, they are in the air.

02:41How do I ensure I am 100% shielded against them? Not possible. However, there is one thing that

02:52is possible which is my inner immunity and that inner immunity is called importance. Know what is

03:01important and then random things will cease to matter. If you find yourself thinking about

03:11unimportant matters too much, it just means that there is a huge inner vacancy for something

03:19important and that vacancy has not been filled. The mind cannot tolerate a vacuum, a vacancy.

03:31The mind needs something to chew. You cannot just abruptly bring the mind to a thoughtless state.

03:43Not possible. So what to do? As students, as beginners, what to do? Determine what is

03:58important. Honestly give it due credit and I like to say fall in love with it. Make it your life.

04:08Then there will be no space to think of random things. And is that not beautiful? Life is

04:19pestering you with all the normal trivia and yet you are not bothered. Why? Because there is a

04:27mighty inner thing you have embraced and you simply don't have the time, the space to look

04:39towards anything else. Is it hot? Yes, it is. Is it cold? Might be. Are you hungry? Probably yes.

04:54Do you need a little more money? Of course I do. Care for better clothes? Why not? But so sorry,

05:08in spite of all these things that I might potentially care for, I am occupied. Nobody

05:20will ever have enough money. Nobody will ever be able to say I do not need more clothes or better

05:28clothes. Nobody will ever say all my desires are now satisfied. That's not going to happen.

05:37Nobody will ever say the situations are all perfect. No.

05:43Those things will continuously remain just like the pathogens we talked of.

05:51But along with them, taking precedence over them, an inner sense of importance can remain and that

06:11has to be developed. It won't just come. As a young person, you need to figure out very clearly

06:18what is worth doing. What is important in life? Else you are traveling to the college and you're

06:31looking out of the bus window and you see something happening, something by chance,

06:40the usual trivia and it will capture you and you will find yourself thinking about it 30 minutes.

06:4930 minutes of life gone. On? Nothing. And that's how most of us simply waste away our entire life.

07:02On? On? Nothing in particular. So what did you do your entire life?

07:10Nothing in particular. Though I was always occupied. I was always occupied. But what did

07:19you do? Nothing in particular. Okay, let's say you get a one week break, a Diwali break, 10 days break

07:32and somebody asks you what did you do actually? Is that not an honest answer? Nothing in particular.

07:44And that's what happens when you have nothing really important to do. You do nothing. At least

07:50nothing in particular. And it's unimaginable the lengths of time that you can simply squander doing

08:04nothing in particular. Two months summer holidays spent doing nothing in particular.

08:13Well, nothing in particular. My driver, I make it a point, he drives slowly.

08:26So that sitting on the rear seat, I do not get disturbed. Why? Because commutes take long,

08:35one hour, two hours and I want to read. That's a dedicated time I get

08:45to complete my reading list. Else it's very possible to simply say I was traveling, so I was

08:54doing nothing in particular. And it's not that you are doing nothing at all when you are traveling.

09:00You are doing something. What are you doing? Staring out of the window, looking at something

09:07random. In between you just scroll through the feed, Facebook or something.

09:16Type something random on Instagram.

09:19Ogle at some nice faces passing by. You don't know their name.

09:27The fellow will be in visual range for 2.2 seconds and yet the fellow becomes so important.

09:35Two seconds you stare and then for two minutes you think.

09:42By the time the next pretty face comes, you have already forgotten the previous one.

09:55And the world can be an unending succession of beautiful faces.

10:01The world can be an unending succession of pretty faces. Two hours will fly away.

10:15You did your entire journey doing nothing in particular.

10:23The name of the journey is life.

10:25Now death has arrived.

10:34And death asks, so tell me, how was it?

10:42What did you do? Well, nothing in particular.

10:46Though I was always busy. Always busy.

11:01You will never find anyone saying, so much time, kindly assign me some task.

11:09I have found somebody begging for work. Everybody is running behind on schedule.

11:19If you happen to have a to-do list at all of any kind, you are always behind the list.

11:29Are you not? So everybody is occupied doing nothing in particular.

11:38Have one thing worth living for. You will forget when you board the bus.

11:47You will forget when the destination has arrived. Somebody will have to prod you to get down.

12:00You will be so immersed. That's a beautiful word, no? Immersion. How do you like it?

12:07Immersion. How about that? Does that appeal to you? Immersion?

12:17Have you experienced that sometimes? Immersion?

12:24That alone is the way to live. If you are not immersed, you are scattered.

12:28How does it feel to be scattered? Have you experienced that? A state of being scattered inwardly?

12:41Have you?

12:46Isn't immersion beautiful? Have you seen how time stops when you are immersed?

12:52And if you can have immersion in your everyday life, that alone is the best meditation.

13:07Are you getting it? And if you can have that immersion, that is an antidote to all kinds of

13:16mental troubles. Otherwise, there is the menace of depression, anxiety and all kinds of mental things, especially among the young.

13:39The one who has something to live for will never be mentally sick.

13:46And mental illness is a pointer that life is devoid of essence.

14:07I have no time to be anxious. How about that?

14:10Are you suffering from anxiety? What's the answer? I have no time to be anxious.

14:17Even anxiety requires time. I don't have time. How can I be anxious? Are you afraid?

14:26I have no space for fear. When fear comes, I say, sorry, no vacancy.

14:32Not that you aren't great. Obviously, you are great and powerful.

14:39The entire world kneels to you. You are wonderful. But as far as I am concerned, no vacancy.

14:49Give all your inner space to something that is beautiful for you.

14:58Let there be no vacancy.

15:02Get a headband, no vacancy. Or have a t-shirt, straight on your heart here, no vacancy.

15:22Occupied. Engaged.

15:32The knowers in the spiritual domain, they have said, we are wedded already.

15:44And not only in the spiritual domain. Obviously, you know of Bhagat Singh.

15:48So, he was just 22 or 23, when he laid down his life.

15:57His mother had approached him once, you'll have to marry, you'll have to marry.

16:07He said, but I already am.

16:11And she was shocked. How can my son do that?

16:14She was shocked. How can my son do that? What's her name?

16:19And what did he say? What did he say?

16:23Azadi. So, no vacancy.

16:27The girls are all beautiful, but sorry, no vacancy.

16:35Azadi. Already married, no vacancy.

16:42And that's why you remember him today.

16:46And that's why all others have become the dust of time.

16:52And Bhagat Singh is immortal. Even though he left his body at 23, yet he's immortal.

16:58And Bhagat Singh is immortal. Even though he left his body at 23, yet he's immortal.

17:06And there were those who lived long lives for 90, 100 years.

17:12And yet, as we say, are just the dust of time. Who cares for them?

17:20That's the difference.

17:28Have an early wedding, as early as possible.

17:37Not the kind of wedding that requires social, religious and legal sanction and ceremonies.

17:46An internal wedding. Let nobody know of it.

17:52Freedom. Azadi.

17:57What do you think? Bhagat Singh had time to think of miscellaneous things?

18:08How occupied he was, you know of it. Even

18:14on the eve of his hangover,

18:18on the eve of his hanging,

18:23he was still reading the Bhagavad Gita.

18:30A copy of that, in fact, that particular copy is still preserved.

18:39Or was he thinking, tomorrow I'll die, what will happen then?

18:42Was he thinking? No. He said, but I still have a few.

18:49I still have a few hours. Let me spend these hours with the beloved.

18:54I have something very important to do.

19:00Was he doing nothing in particular?

19:04Was he doing nothing in particular even in his last hours? No.

19:10He said, let me spend this time in reading and he was a voracious reader.

19:16At your age, he was so well read.

19:26Never had any time to waste.

19:28I don't know, this one is from Bhagat Singh or one of the other great revolutionaries.

19:36But they actually marked the last page they read in their favorite book.

19:43And somebody out of curiosity asked them, it said, tomorrow you are going to be hanged.

19:48You will be no more. Why are you?

19:51And somebody out of curiosity asked them, it said,

19:53tomorrow you are going to be hanged. You will be no more. Why are you marking this page?

20:02And very mystically he said, because I have to continue from there.

20:06No time for self-pity,

20:12inner misery,

20:15sad thoughts. No time. I am busy with the right thing even in my last moment.

20:27How about such a life? Does it not excite you?

20:36It does not, it seems. Or does it? It does.

20:44Don't be like these

20:46It does not, it seems, or does it?

20:54It does.

20:59Be extremely occupied, don't be like these wanton flies or insects.

21:15Seen how a mosquito behaves, sitting here, sitting there or a fly, hopping from here

21:20to there.

21:21Doing?

21:22Don't be like that, please.

21:23Yes, sir.

21:24Sit.

21:25Thank you, sir.

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