Maslow's hierarchy of needs is flawed || Acharya Prashant, with XLRI (2021)

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:  02.07.21, XLRI- Jamshedpur (an Online discourse), Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh  Context:   What is the way to Self-realization? How can it help others? How to serve society? Who are we and what is our natural state? How to achieve Self-realization?   Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00I am Jagan from Chennai, Jagan, yes. So I am always a person who tries to hear something

00:09or hear some philosophies in class and try to apply the same in real life situations.

00:13So during one of our classes, I came across a philosophy called a Maslow s hierarchy of

00:18needs. The self-actualization need was placed at the top of the pyramid. And I think for

00:25many of the individuals, including me, our long term goal is esteem or security-based.

00:30Like if you ask me, I would be saying I want to become a CEO of a company, which is a security-based

00:35or esteem-based need. But you know, the self-actualization need is understanding that, okay, we have

00:41to live our present lives to the fullest, but that won't be a long term goal for me.

00:46Do you think having long term goal of attaining self-actualization, which is in turn spiritual,

00:52is important? Do you think creating awareness on self-actualization for an individual from

00:58an early age is important? Because when I'm studying my school days, when people were

01:03asking me about the long term goal, I'll be saying I want to become an engineer. When

01:06I was doing engineering, when people were asking, I told I want to become a manager.

01:11When I'm doing my managerial studies, I told I want to become a CEO. But you know, in this

01:16routine way of life, I never thought, okay, the spirituality need or you know, self-actualization

01:22is a need that I should be meeting in a long term. So, what do you think about this?

01:25See, the way Maslow constructed his pyramid is good, nicely indicative, but not very exact.

01:46Self-actualization is not something that stands distinct from all your other needs.

01:56The way that pyramid stands is you say, once all my lower needs are satisfied, only then

02:05I come to self-actualization. Right? So, you have kept sexualization at the top and you

02:12say food and security and self-esteem and only then self-actualization. No, that's not

02:21how it actually is. Maslow did a great job, but he was not quite there. Self-actualization

02:31is not the top of the pyramid. It is the foundation of everything that you do. It is the foundation

02:40of your activity even when you are fulfilling your lower needs. Let me give you an example.

02:47You want to go for self-esteem. Why do you want to be known in the society as someone

02:56important or respectable? You want to be known that way because you think that being known

03:05that way would give you self-actualization. So, when you are going for self-actualization,

03:11you are actually going, when you are going for self-esteem, you are actually going for

03:16self-actualization through self-esteem. Not getting it. So, given we are as a conscious

03:27organism, our only deep need is self-actualization. All other needs are just precursors and mediums.

03:43Even we eat to be alive, to be self-actualized. It's not as if eating and self-actualization

03:55are separated by a mile, like in the pyramid that you find in your textbooks. If self-actualization

04:05were not possible at all, then you would not even eat, believe me, because you are not

04:12an animal. An animal has no respect for any actualization. So, it will continue eating

04:20throughout its life with no concern for, no idea of, no craving for anything like self-actualization.

04:31No, but you are not an animal. So, why do you eat? You eat to be alive, to be actualized

04:38one day. You may not know that, but that's the case. Similarly, why do you have relationships?

04:49Why do you have money? Why do you want respect? All these things, you want either because

04:57you think that they lead to self-actualization or sometimes you want them as a proxy to self-actualization.

05:05Many people do that. Self-actualization in spiritual terms is the state of liberation.

05:16In traditional religious terms you could call self-actualization as God attainment. A religious

05:25vocabulary would say God attainment. The spiritual mind would say liberation. Does it not happen

05:36that when you get your dream job or when you get your dream partner you yell out, well,

05:53I got my God. Tujh mein Rab dikhta hai. Now, what is this going on? You are thinking that

06:02you have attained self-actualization via a relationship, via security in relationship.

06:12No, security needs. It's just that you have been deluded. You do not know that this is not the way.

06:27So, in Maslow's thoughts, the thing is sequential. You have one, you have the other,

06:40you have the next one, the next one and finally self-actualization. The indic realization,

06:49the spiritual understanding is way deeper and far better. It takes actualization as the very

07:03bottom of the pyramid. Not even the bottom because if you say it's the bottom then you will say it is

07:10not really intimately connected to the top. You take self-actualization as present at every level

07:20of the ladder. Whatever you are doing, it is really for self-actualization directly or indirectly

07:28because you are a human being and a human being lives only for one purpose whether he knows it

07:33or not. Even the worst rascal, even the most unconscious person is actually living only for

07:45actualization just that he does not know it. Why do you wake up in the morning? Don't say you wake

07:53up to attend classes. You actually wake up to be actualized just that you don't know it. Why are

08:00you having this conversation? Why do you even watch a movie? Why do you commit a heinous crime?

08:06Even that you do just for self-actualization because the one within that you can call as

08:14the I or the ego is crying out for fulfillment. So, that's the source of all this. That's the

08:22best word. It is the source of all this and also the purpose of all this. Everything arises from

08:30that. Whatever you do, your entire universe, all your deeds, thoughts, purposes, motivations,

08:35all arises from there and all arises for the sake of actualization. So, it is both the earth and

08:46the sky and in between the earth and the sky you are doing all your miscellaneous activities and mischief.

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