Concentration can be easy || Acharya Prashant, at BITS Pilani, Goa (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: 18.07.2022,  BITS Pilani, Goa   Context:  ~ How to concentrate? ~ What is concentration? ~ How to be free? ~ Why our attention spam is decreasing day by day? ~ Why our youth is not focused and distracted?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00Pranam Acharya ji. Sir, my question is what is going on in our mind constantly, we students

00:18of age 18 to 22. Sir, we have certain goals fixed in our life, we have made by themselves

00:24or by our parents and we need to achieve them, we think like this. But sir, then there is

00:32emotional breakdown, there is constant chaos in our mind, in particularly I am talking

00:36about myself. There are so much things that are going inside mind that we can't really

00:42focus on a single task at a particular time. Sir, how to overcome that overthinking and

00:50I know that we have to do, I have to do certain things, but that the perception of time fades

00:56away. There is so much of overthinking all the time, sir.

00:59You feel at accomplishing a particular task in a given time, which particular task? Which

01:07particular task? Remember, the one sitting within is very stubborn, that one is thirsty

01:20and desirous and there is one deep desire. If you involve yourself in fulfilling other

01:29desires or doing other things, attempting other tasks, the one within will not cooperate,

01:35you will fail and that's when people say, oh, I can't concentrate, I can't concentrate.

01:39I ask them, on what? First of all, are you concentrating on the right thing? Imagine

01:48a kid you have with you, little kid, the kid is thirsty, the kid is thirsty and you take

01:59the kid to a toy shop and you think that the toy is quite important, at least for the kid.

02:07Will the kid be able to concentrate? Even in a toy shop, will the kid be able to concentrate?

02:16No concentration. The kid is thirsty, you are not taking him to a stationary shop,

02:24you are saying you will get the best kind of pencil and eraser and tell me the fanciest

02:29notebook I'll give to you and it's important to buy these things because the teacher has

02:33asked for them. Will the kid be able to concentrate? The kid is thirsty and you are so ignorant,

02:43you do not realize the one fundamental thing you first of all need to give to the kid.

02:50It's neither toys nor sweets, nor stationary, not clothes, not entertainment, nothing.

02:58The kid is sitting inside you, the kid is thirsty. Do you realize it's thirst?

03:05It is that thirst that expresses itself in lack of concentration.

03:14See what you really want and then there will be no need to practice concentration.

03:22Otherwise concentration will remain a lifelong problem.

03:26The ones who are into real things never need to concentrate.

03:35Concentration just comes to them, running, a begging.

03:39The ones who are into unreal things keep trying to concentrate and still feel.

03:46The mind is distracted and running in 40 other directions.

03:53You need to value the right desire, you need to put your time where your real value is.

04:05On one hand you think, for example, that studies are just a way to secure placements.

04:15Then what is it that you are putting value on?

04:18Placements, now how will you concentrate on studies?

04:23Tell me.

04:25You have already taught yourself to value money, how will you value academics now?

04:36Your mind will go where your values are.

04:41And what do you want to do with money?

04:45You want to entertain yourself, right?

04:47I'll roam the world, I'll visit all kinds of scenic places.

04:54And next to you is your mobile phone.

04:58And scenes from those places are being flashed on the mobile screen.

05:03Now, would you ever want to concentrate on your studies?

05:10If the ultimate value lies in entertainment and that's what you are studying for so that

05:16you may get placed and then earn money and then entertain yourself.

05:22Then the mind says, if entertainment is the final and highest value, why not have entertainment

05:28right now?

05:30So close the book and jump into entertainment and that's what we experience all the time.

05:37Do we even know what to desire?

05:39That's the question, that's the question and that's called the crisis of values.

05:44We do not really know what is desirable.

05:47We do not know what to put value on.

05:51You put value on one thing and you try to give your time to something else.

05:58Obviously, you'll be bored, distracted, energy-less.

06:06In business parlance, they say, put your money where your mouth is, right?

06:14Invest where you believe in.

06:20Do what you profess.

06:25Tell me honestly, if today you are told that you can have great placements even without

06:31studying and you can have your degree with 9.5 CGPA without studying, honestly please

06:44tell me, who would not agree, who would not agree?

06:50And that's the reason why in the hinterlands, such shops actually do exist.

06:57You enroll, you pay money and you then don't need to be in the campus.

07:03They'll courier you your degree.

07:07You don't even need to come for the convocation, you are happy.

07:13That's also, now you would understand, the thing behind cheating in examinations.

07:21Because the whole process, the value that you put on, is not learning.

07:27The process is not about learning, the process is about securing marks.

07:31So if marks can be secured by copying rather than learning, pretty fine, no?

07:44Concentration is a problem because we live loveless lives.

07:48When you love something, I'm asking you, do you face concentration issues?

08:00Whenever you value, you find yourself concentrated there.

08:05And if you cannot concentrate at the right places, then you have to question your values.

08:12Ever faced a problem of concentration sitting in the cinema hall?

08:17Who has faced such a problem?

08:20Nobody, nobody comes and says, but sir, you know, I cannot concentrate on this song and

08:27dance sequence.

08:30Then you are, you have a laser-like focus, you'll burn the screen with your sight.

08:46Is concentration a problem then?

08:49Having the right desire is the problem.

08:52Having the right values is the problem.

08:55Concentration is not a problem.

09:00I keep a huge bundle of currency notes here.

09:07Who will face problems in concentrating?

09:10Not on me, on that.

09:13Immediately you will concentrate.

09:20I put up a collage of very exciting pics for youngsters over here.

09:26Who will not concentrate?

09:28Who will not concentrate?

09:31Immediately you will concentrate.

09:32You will concentrate so much, you will forget everything else.

09:35And then you say you have concentration problems, no?

09:41The crisis is of values.

09:44We do not know what is important.

09:47When we do not know what is important, rather we have taken all kinds of nonsensical things

09:57as important.

10:01Things that have zero value, we have imbibed them as valuable.

10:09Question your values.

10:13Write down all the things that you take as important and then objectively with all your

10:17brain power, ask yourself, are these things really important?

10:22That's something that you need to do right now in your life.

10:27Once you are 25, you might find it's too late.

10:32There are so many things that you get irretrievably into.

10:36The process is one way, irreversible reaction.

10:43Right now is the opportunity when you should decide what really is important in life.

10:52And if you can see that, you won't need to ever concentrate again.

10:56If you don't see that, you will bear the consequences all your life because you will get into all

11:04kinds of wrong stuff.

11:06And many of those things you will never be able to extract yourself from.

11:11Once you have gone in, you will remain in.

11:16Won't be possible to change tracks.

11:24You know what I am talking of, right?

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