Video Information: 23.01.2022, Vedanta Mahotsav, Rishikesh, India
Context:
What is aloneness?
What is loneliness?
How to be happy without depending on others?
How to understand the fear and how to get rid of it?
How to face challenges in life?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
Context:
What is aloneness?
What is loneliness?
How to be happy without depending on others?
How to understand the fear and how to get rid of it?
How to face challenges in life?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Namaste, Acharya ji. I've been listening to you from quite some time now and it has benefited
00:18me in the sense I feel a sense of freedom because I no more think it is important to
00:26have a belief system or rather replace one belief system with another and keep on believing
00:33in something. I've understood that it is okay to understand things, to analyze things and
00:40that I will not lose my mental or physical balance by not clinging to a belief system.
00:47So in that sense, I have felt a sense of freedom. However, there is a question that is troubling
00:55me from quite some time because before this, I used to listen to some spiritual gurus or
01:01some organizations and I thought that I had this freedom of listening to them as a spectator.
01:09If I feel that this is something that doesn't have any basis to, I would distance myself
01:20from it. But now, since I have started listening to you, now there is a question of associating
01:29myself with the organization. So I have a question that I have written down because
01:33I didn't want to go haywire. Can I read it? Is it necessary to have one and only one living
01:42spiritual guru that you are completely devoted to or surrender to or can the need be replaced
01:49by a text? With the kind of spiritual environment in the world, complete surrender creates a
01:56kind of fear. Leaving yourself completely into the hands of the other is at times fearful,
02:02now more so because it has taken the form of organizations and a lot of propaganda.
02:09And if yes, a guru is necessary, you yourself say that a man is always surrounded by or
02:16embraced by Maya. Is it for us to filter the information given by my guru? This is
02:22a paradox, a dilemma to me because complete surrender though can be wonderful and it will
02:28actually hit your ego, help you get out of it. It can be fearful and not surrendering
02:33can be a game of the ego or who am I to filter the knowledge given by my master?
02:38Your name please.
02:49It's a tricky thing. Let's see.
03:01The guide has to be your own urge to live in freedom without bondages,
03:18to not live as a plaything of circumstances. That has to be the guru. I'm quite skeptical
03:43of accepting a person, any person as your absolute guide. What I said it's a tricky
03:57thing because equally I would be very keen to seek guidance from where it is coming.
04:19In the old Bodhisattva, we used to have a poster. It read, the teacher is the, is she
04:33here? Kamlesh? The teacher is the voice of the truth, not the man behind the voice.
04:55It says that the voice obviously does need a carnal medium. So there has to be a person.
05:11But that person really is not the guru in the absolute sense. That person is just a
05:22medium and therefore the person is valuable only as long as he or she continues to act
05:37as a medium. Otherwise there is nothing important, significant or venerable or special in any
05:47person. As long as what is coming from that person is useful to you, be with the person,
05:59listen to him. The same thing applies to a book though with a difference. I'll come to that.
06:03When you find that the person with all the personal characteristics has taken precedence
06:13over what that person stands for, it's time to quit. And what becomes quite a grave situation
06:28in most such guru-disciple cases is that often the guru does not even stand for everything,
06:37for anything, even nominally. You ask what does your guru represent? The fellow will have no idea
06:48because the guru is not even trying to or even pretending to represent anything. Then what is
07:01it that the guru is offering? If the guru is not even trying to represent the truth,
07:09then what exactly is there on the table? Why are people attracted to him at all?
07:15The guru is offering his personality. And so many people are just attracted to the personality,
07:26the glamour and the glitz, the organizational force behind the personality, the pomp,
07:35the riches that prop up the personality. Because it takes a lot to hold up a personality,
07:45to turn the personality into a celebrity. It requires a lot of effort, a lot of manpower,
07:52a lot of resources, a lot of networking, money, everything. It's a great PR game
07:59to become a celebrity guru. And often we do not even want to ask. Fine, I can see all the jazz,
08:15but what is it that you are bringing to me? Please tell me. Or are you there only to intimidate me?
08:23With the weight of your glamour and the assertion that you are somebody.
08:31Ideally, one should never bow down to any person. Never, never, never. In fact,
08:47all my life, even I have been quite skeptical of persons. And absolute and unconditional
09:00surrender to any person is something I would be very vigilant against. And whenever I have
09:11bowed down to a person, it has been with great discretion, great observation, great patience,
09:23and therefore with great love. That love has been the product of discretion. That love has
09:36been the product of what that person has brought to me as a representative. Otherwise,
09:46I squirm at the thought of prostrating before a mere mortal. It just does not sit well with me
10:02to call someone the absolute itself. Because I know that no person can be the absolute. And if a
10:17person professes to be the absolute or even half the absolute, then there is a scandal cooking
10:26somewhere. Ideally, no need of persons. However, there is a practical problem as we have just said.
10:39The absolute by itself cannot come and talk to you. The absolute has no voice, no throat,
10:50no words of its own. Whenever the absolute will shine, it will be through a worldly medium. So,
11:02that worldly medium is indeed valuable when it and only when it acts as the medium. This
11:14distinction is foremost. Is that person acting as a medium or is that person imposing his own
11:23persona upon me? This distinction is everything. Is he a representative of the king or is he trying
11:39to usurp the king's throne for himself? These are two very different things. The ambassador cannot
11:50be the president and oftentimes the ambassador is not even a worthy ambassador. He is just
11:58trying to pretend to be an ambassador. Whereas, he internally is raising hopes of being called
12:12the king one day. So, first of all, be very cautious in taking somebody's guidance. Secondly,
12:25even if you do take somebody's guidance, nothing is eternal, nothing is unconditional,
12:34nothing is absolute. Only the absolute is unconditional. Only the absolute is timeless.
12:40Always remain vigilant, always. Maya is all-powerful. The ones we call as gurus too
12:54are not maya proof. She can make anyone sleep at any time. Therefore, your surrender or devotion,
13:10whatever it is, just cannot be unconditional. Do keep it conditional always. And what is the
13:19condition? As long as you are the voice of the truth, I am with you. The day you start
13:27barking in your own animal voice, nothing doing. I leave. I am not here to hear your voice. As far
13:40as bodies go, all bodies are the same. Your body is the same as mine. I am not here to take sermons
13:49from just another body like mine. However, if you can pay the price of distancing yourself
14:06from yourself, then I'll listen to you. And only as long. Because my objective is not to reach a
14:17person. My objective is to reach my fulfillment. My objective is my own freedom. One man, one woman,
14:29one text just cannot be my objective and coming to texts. Texts are all great and texts are way
14:38safer than men. In the sense that hardly any text has any malicious intention. Whereas people,
14:51men, the living gurus, they definitely can have malicious intentions. Plus texts are far more
15:00objective. A guru can lure you and tempt you with all his pomp and show. That is not there in the
15:12text. The text is more objective. So texts are preferable in that sense. But again, there is a
15:25limitation. Texts do save you from the harmful effects of the fake gurus. But texts also prevent
15:42you from reaping the full benefits that a true teacher may offer you. So texts do limit your
15:58downside but they also cap the upside. Are you getting it? With a text you cannot go horribly
16:11wrong. Equally with a text you are prevented from enjoying the full spectrum of benefits that a
16:24truly loving man can bring to you. Because the person, if he is genuine, it's a big if. Always
16:37remember it's a big if. Don't be in a hurry to just think that anything being lobbed at you is
16:50a great nugget of wisdom. Not necessarily. In fact rather rarely. If there is indeed a person with
17:04genuine intentions to help you, then that person is able to exercise personal affection through his
17:21personal self. This personal self is something that a book does not have. Simple things. A person can
17:31read your face. But no book can read your face though you can read the book. So with the book
17:40it becomes rather one way. When you stand in front of a person, the person can read your face. The
17:47book cannot read your face. The person can embrace you. The book won't. Can't. The person can admonish
17:59you, punish you. The book can't. The person can turn you away. The book is at your disposal always.
18:13You do something totally despicable. The person can ask you to get out. Leave. But you can keep
18:26doing all horrible things and still carry the book. The book is helpless in your hands. That's
18:35the limitation the book carries. So all these things are there. You have to weigh in all on
18:43all of them. The book definitely is safer, I'm saying. The book is not going to loot you and if
18:54you are a female disciple, the book is not going to tempt and rape you. And such things have
19:00happened with persons. Personal masters that is. The book is not going to ask you to go and riot
19:16in the streets of the city. And the book does not have mood swings. The book cannot say one
19:31thing today and another thing tomorrow. With the person, there is no such guarantee. So with the
19:44book there is a great deal of safety. And we said with the book there is also a big limitation. One
19:57must start with books. Good to begin with there. However if one comes to a point, having been with
20:09books for long, having gained much wisdom from the books for long, then if one comes to a point
20:15where he or she starts finding the books insufficient, probably then that is the time
20:25to seek personal guidance. That is my approach. That's why I advocate books so much. You see what
20:36would happen if you begin with books? The books themselves will tell you the right person to go
20:42to. Because books are safe to begin with. And when you begin, you are very gullible. You can be
20:52tempted, looted, robbed, misguided, anything. You do not know a thing. And teachers usually carry
21:04very imposing personas. You can just get sucked in. So start off with the books and we have
21:17time-tested established books. Be with them for long. Get as much as you can. And I'm saying then
21:27the book itself will tell you the right person or persons or sources to go to. And then the
21:36chances of going wrong are minimized. Because the books have already given you an armor. An
21:43armor of wisdom. You have known so much through the books that now if a fake peddler comes to
21:54you disguising as a guru, you will be quick to call him out. You will say, this much my books
22:04have told me that such a person is not worth listening to. But that does not happen. We are
22:11very aversive to books. We straightaway rush to people. Straightaway. And then what happens is
22:22what has been happening. And then we say, oh, the world is full of cheats and... No, the world is
22:32not full of dacoits. You invited trouble. When you do not know who to go to, why did you go to anybody?
22:46Just because the fellow happened to be popular? Just because there was a lot of glitz and the
22:56fellow was well networked? Or the fellow came from a long tradition or had the backing of a
23:05huge and deeply funded organization? So you thought, well, everybody is going there. Let
23:11me also queue up. And then when you are disappointed, you blame the world. Why blame
23:26the world? What's the problem in reading books first? At least have the fundamentals ready. For
23:35those fundamentals, you do not need any specialist teacher. Not needed. Even here in the Mahotsav,
23:44I try to ensure that you first read the books in the morning. So that you are prepared to an extent.
23:53First be with the books all by yourself. For every little thing, why do you need a personal teacher?
24:01Are you not capable? Are you not mature enough? What's your age? Will you rush to some person
24:09for every small thing? Read the books. Chances are, you may not even need a so-called living
24:18breathing teacher. And if even after reading the book, you have doubts, those doubts at least will
24:30have some level. At least you won't come up with childish queries and waste the teacher's time.
24:37Your problems would be more genuine if you come after reading the books. That way you'll be
24:48helping yourself as well as the teacher. Assuming the teacher is genuine. If the teacher is not
24:53genuine, he will anyway not send you to the books. Because books will be a great problem for the
25:00false teacher. If you read the books, you won't go to him. So you'll keep saying, no, no, don't read
25:04the books. I am sufficient. Read my books. Don't read the books. Read my books. Do you get this?
25:18It's not a zero or one thing. It's a nuanced thing and you have to make your way through all this.
25:30The last thing to do is, rather two things to do. One, do not just unconditionally accept any
25:45person. Do not do that. Second, do not try to avoid books. Right? The approach I am suggesting
25:59is, be with the books and then with the teacher. Or be with the books and the teacher concurrently.
26:08These two will either be sequential or concurrent. But you cannot have just one of them. If you have
26:18just the person, chances are you will be deceived. If you have just the books, chances are that your
26:27progress will be safe but limited. In case you have to choose between either a book or a person,
26:38go for the book. Definitely go for the book. If you are not sure about the person,
26:46remain with the book. At least you'll be safe. And even if you have to go to a person, ensure
26:56that you are not keeping your books aside. Are you getting it? Anything more?
27:12Yes, I had another follow-up question on the same thing. What I had been doing in the beginning is,
27:21if I liked a video of yours or whatever I thought I wanted to share with someone,
27:28I would directly share the video or I would directly take a screenshot of some of the
27:33quotes and send them through. Slowly, what I started realizing is, I would get into fights
27:39with people as in they would start questioning that, you know, you are listening to another
27:45guru now and now you have started sharing things about him. And you will find everything that this
27:50person says is right. So, they would say such things. But now, what I have started doing is,
27:57I have the app and whenever the wisdom feed is uploaded, I usually take a screenshot and I crop
28:02your name out of it and I post it. Once I have started doing that, people readily accept what
28:10is being said and they say, very good, where did you get this from? Where do you get all this from?
28:15So, I feel that there is this kind of a problem also wherein people agree to what is being said.
28:22But just because someone is saying it, they tend to refuse it. But I have a feeling of guilt because
28:30I feel that because of social acceptance or because people have started questioning me,
28:36is that the reason I have started cropping out the name and is it okay? Should I feel guilty
28:40about it? It is a moral dilemma. But this again, like everything in life, is nuanced. If you are
28:53cropping out my name because you are afraid to own the name, then that is one thing. I am so afraid,
29:08I cannot associate myself with that name. It's dangerous. That is one thing. On the other hand,
29:16if you are cropping out my name for a purely missionary reason, then that's a totally different
29:25thing. And this thing is acceptable now, very acceptable, no issues. But mostly, people are
29:35just afraid. So, they crop out the name or they just pick up the stuff in their own name, whatever.
29:42Something interesting just happened a few days back. There is this popular Twitter handle that
29:54publishes literature in Hindi. They pick up pieces from the prominent authors and poets in Hindi.
30:04And they tweet. So, they picked up something from AP in Hindi. They tweeted it without quoting
30:18the name. So, they did that but somehow many people who knew AP got to know and there was
30:30a mini outrage. So, a lot of people went to that post and asked them to acknowledge the author.
30:37Otherwise, it is just plagiarism. So, that Twitter handle apologized and the next day,
30:53they tweeted another excerpt from AP, duly carrying the author's name. The first one
31:02without AP's name had several thousand likes and retweets. You got it. The next one carrying
31:15his name had barely a few hundred. But that's okay, fine. Fine in one sense, not at all fine
31:26in another sense. So, you have to be discreet. I am not saying that the name is very important.
31:36I am also saying, ask yourself why the name must be avoided. And sometimes, there is a
31:47genuine reason to leave out the name. In such cases, do leave out the name without any feeling
31:56of guilt. In other cases, you might be leaving out the name just because you don't have the guts.
32:04To be with the name, then it is not okay. So, be clear about what your intention is.
32:13There can be a little bit of tactic in this. If you have to send an AP thing to a group of people
32:26who are known to be averse to his name, then obviously it's a good idea to leave out the name.
32:35If there is a particular segment that is allergic to the name itself, then send in the content
32:44without the name. Even I would do that. Anything else? No, thank you, thank you so much. Thank you.
33:05I just like to extend the question that was asked by the lady in the online thing about
33:13Gurus. So, Ekam Sat Vipra Bahu Vedanti. So, one truth is expressed by sages in different names.
33:21So, I mean, there are different schools of thought. You also said in one of the videos
33:27that a theorem can be proved in multiple ways. So, as there are different schools of thought,
33:35of self-realization, and as you come from Vedanta, other Gurus and other teachers come
33:42from other schools of thought. So, there has been this conflict which is seen even
33:50at the times of Osho and even right now as well. So, why does this happen? And as a seeker,
34:00if I am somebody inclined towards hybridization, like I want to mix and match things, is that
34:07a trick of the ego or is that something which is plausible to move forward or does that
34:17make things more difficult? Vedanta is not a school of thought. It's not? Sorry, it's
34:25a loose use of language. That's all? That's all? How can a clear inquiry into who you
34:36are be a school of thought? It's not a school of thought or an ideology or a way of thinking.
34:44You're looking at yourself and asking, who am I? That's Vedanta. Full stop. How is it
34:48a school of thought? Yes, it's a wrong use of words. No, it's not merely a wrong use
34:54of words. It's a complete negation of the hybridization you're talking of. Equally,
35:02it permits all kinds of ways including hybrid ways. But you cannot hybridize the question
35:09who am I with a thousand miscellaneous questions. The realization that this is the most central
35:18question has to be paramount. This cannot be mixed with other things. Now, once you
35:26ask who am I? After that, if you get the answer, I am most certainly a body, therefore
35:33what I need is physical exercises. Then you can proceed with something that tells you
35:40to do something in a physical way or whatever. There are many other things. Vedanta looks
35:47at thought. It does not get expressed in thought. Vedanta is the mother of thought.
36:00The other things that you're talking of, they are products of thought. There has to be a
36:06difference between the mother of thought and several products of thought. There are people
36:14who may tell you, you do this, this will happen, you do this, that will happen. Vedanta
36:22says, who are you? And stops. After that, it's your ball. Play it the way you like.
36:33If I may elaborate on, is that okay? So, let's say if we take into consideration Yoga Sutras,
36:41it proceeds with Yama's name. Why should I go to the Yoga Sutras? What need do I have?
36:48Let's begin from there. Because both Vedanta and… Wait, wait, wait. You are sitting there,
36:53I am sitting here, right? We two are two people. Why do I need to go to the Yoga Sutras or
36:59to Vedanta? Let's begin with the real thing. Why do I need to do anything? If I can answer
37:10that, so both of them have… No, you are talking of them. I am asking about myself.
37:15Why do I need to go to any book? For freedom. Right. Why do you need freedom, first of all?
37:23Because we are in bondage. Right. So, there has to be a clear realization, I am in bondage.
37:28I am in bondage, right? Now, who is in bondage? The ego, the I tendency is in bondage. The
37:36I tendency is in bondage and what is the bondage of the I tendency? It's attached to a lot
37:43of things. It's knowledge of itself. What it takes itself to be is its own bondage.
37:52What it takes itself to be is its own bondage, right? Its perception, its thoughts of itself
37:58are its bondage. Now tell me, which book should I go to? A book that does not talk
38:07of my self-perception, my self-image at all. Why should I go to it? I am not trying to
38:20downplay any book. I am just asking you, how do you really pick a book for yourself?
38:30May I respond to that, Acharya? So, both these approaches have Samadhi as their end goal,
38:39both Vedanta and the Yoga Sutras and in the beginning of Yoga Sutras itself, they say
38:47the end goal is the stilling the modifications of the mind and so that you can go to the
38:53witness. So they are saying the same thing. Again, this is not in my experience or I am
38:58not at that state, I am just on the path and I am trying to reconcile these things. So
39:04I am not really at this point of time finding too much of a conflict per se and both of
39:12them are trying to address that core issue of bondage and freedom but their application
39:17of words and their approaches seem to be slightly different is what I am perceiving right now.
39:27So again the question comes back to, is it possible for a seeker to kind of mix these
39:35two and go pursue ahead? See, you can not only mix these two, you can mix the twenty
39:42of them, provided you do not forget that you are at the centre of everything. In fact,
39:49the way you started, truth is one, the knowers express it in several ways, that does not
39:56mean anything. You have to ask yourself, what is your truth? What is your truth? The absolute
40:03is of no use to you if you do not know your position. Where do you stand? And the knowers
40:10have no need to express it in several ways. They express it in several ways to several
40:15people because the several people stand at several distinct positions. The impression
40:21that we carry that the truth can be expressed in this way, that way, that way is totally
40:25flawed. The truth cannot be expressed in any way. However, diseases can be cured in
40:34multiple ways because there are multiple diseases. You stand at a particular point, so one thing
40:42will have to be said to you. Somebody else stands at a separate point, something else
40:46will need to be said to that person. In fact, even to you, something might need to be said
40:51today and something totally different might need to be said tomorrow. It is not that the
40:56truth is getting variable or fluctuating. Your own position fluctuates, therefore the
41:03truth has to be brought to you in a certain way. Now, when it comes to approaches, Vedanta is
41:10extremely liberal because the approaches do not matter at all, you see. What matters is the one
41:18real thing. If you can get to that one real thing using a hybrid of hundred ways, great. But never
41:29must you forget the real question, what is happening to me in the process? What is happening
41:36to me? The things that are being said, if they are even a little corrupted, will they take me
41:42there? And if I am following a particular book, one half of which is saying things that are purely
41:51imaginary, for example, you will start flying in the air. You will become light as cotton. What
41:58will happen? Do go to all sources possible, but always ask yourself, what is happening to me in
42:11the process? Because you are at the center of all your effort. The book is not. The book is for
42:18your sake. You are not for the book's sake. So, in some of the videos you have said, if you are
42:28doing some practices and if they are working for you, by all means go ahead and do it. So,
42:35I have experimented with some of those practices and they seem to be working. Hopefully, I am not
42:42biased in that conclusion. When they will work, then you will not say, hopefully I am not biased.
42:48Their work, the proof of their success is that you will know and you will know for sure. If right
42:59now you have to attach such qualifications, hopefully, maybe, I do not know, probably I
43:04am not biased, then they are not working. But Acharyaji, now when we say something is working
43:12or something is not working, let us say if I have some random flow of thoughts two years back and
43:20let us say that flow of thoughts that irrelevant fluctuations have subsided a little and I am
43:27able to understand certain things clearly from your words, from other practices maybe. Now,
43:33that is a sign that they are working at this point of time. So, would that be a fair conclusion to
43:39make? I do not know. You see, it is very possible to very smoothly and speedily go down a road,
43:49only to discover that there is a cul-de-sac, a dead end. Just because you have been speedily
43:59and smoothly going down a road and feel to have covered some distance, it does not necessarily
44:08bode well for you. You will go down the wrong road for a long time only to find that the
44:17other side, the way to return is equally long. So, I do not know. You have to be extremely
44:29vigilant. Maya strikes in a thousand ways. Just be vigilant. Keep being vigilant what is going on.
44:38And the other question I have is, let us say if you are looking at the society and there are so
44:48many causes that one is concerned with and one is attuned to that which needs to be addressed. Like,
44:58for example, lack of green cover in our cities, veganism, the issue of honking and the noise
45:07pollution. And I can just go on listing these issues which I find all around me. So, when one
45:15is convinced that one has to take up one of these things and work towards them irrespective of the
45:21challenges one might face. But I am also equally overwhelmed by which one to pick because they all
45:31somehow seem to be important. So, in such a stage, how can... From what you are saying,
45:39be it respect to the books you need to pick from or the causes you need to pick from,
45:46I sense that there is a great hesitancy in according hierarchy. Right? Many things might
46:03be good but one has to realize which one is more valuable than the other. Just as any line that
46:14does not begin from the question, who is this line for? I am talking of philosophy. Has to be
46:22inferior to something that begins with the question, who am I? Similarly, all causes
46:30might carry some value but they are not equal. You have to identify the mother cause. Right?
46:40There are so many schools of thought as you said. All carry weightage, all are worth considering.
46:47But nothing beats the mother question, for whom is everything? For whom are all these schools?
46:58And any school that does not begin from this question is an inferior school even if it
47:05carries some value, even if it offers some benefit. Similarly, this thing saying this
47:13cause is great, this cause is great, this cause is great shows a reluctance to accord priority
47:21and this usually comes out of an aversion to risk. If I do accept that this is higher than this,
47:31then I'll have to go with this because I do not really want to completely go with anything. I
47:40want to avoid the absolute. Therefore, what I will say is this is there, this is there,
47:46this is there, this is there and all look kind of equal to me. So, which one do I go for? How
47:53is it possible that you are unable to identify where all these social problems are fundamentally
48:02coming from? That is the cause worth espousing. Go for that. So, if I have to relate everything
48:12to the mother question as you said, which is me and my bondage and my freedom, it's actually very
48:21clear to me that I can easily spend the rest of my life pursuing that question and my life
48:26would end very easily because probably I have such a long journey to cover. So, it's not,
48:37it's not, I'm making lot of assumptions here. So, basically we have to ask that question
48:47every time we do. But when we see all these causes and when we take up, let's say,
48:54suppose when we take up one cause, how can we overlook the other things and how can we not
49:01be affected or by the other things we see because they all are important?
49:06Sorry, if I am… You have brain cancer and you have a resultant
49:16headache. All causes are equally important. Which one do you want to address? And you also have
49:27problems with eyesight because of the cancer. The cancer is affecting special parts in your brain.
49:32You also are losing weight because of the cancer. There are so many problems. Which
49:40one would you want to address? You want to go to an eye specialist? Your skin is
49:46also not doing well. You want to go to a dermatologist? To you everything is equal.
49:53Everything is equal. Let's go to the skin doctor. Please, I'm having some pimples.
50:01The mother question is the mother of all problems. That's what deserves to be addressed. Other things,
50:13well, they can be managed through analgesics. They have to be managed. They are not problems
50:19to be solved. They are not things that need to be dissolved. They will go away on their own.
50:30The mother grantee, the mother problem is what needs to be dissolved.
50:37I could say, it's raining so much. The solution is let's all wear raincoats. Tomorrow,
50:58let's all wear heavy woolens. Why is that not a solution? Why is that not a solution?
51:07Let's go beyond that. Let's change the session venue tomorrow. It's raining so much. Why is
51:12that not a solution? And it's raining so much. It's creating muddy pools outside. Let's call
51:19up the municipality to fill up the pools. Why is that not a solution? It's raining so much.
51:30In the future, let's consult the weather forecast before we decide on the dates. Why is that not a
51:37solution? All that is a solution. It depends on how far do I want to go. Vedanta is for those
51:50who want to go the whole hog, the complete distance. If I want to go the complete distance,
51:57I will say this is climate crisis. Yes, to manage the situation immediately, temporarily,
52:08I will probably use bitumen tapes to ensure there are no leaks. I'll also probably advise
52:16you to wear woolens tomorrow. But I'll know very well that all this is just problem management of
52:26a very temporary kind. This is no solution. If I am honest, then I want to go right to the root
52:36of the solution. Is that not so? I want to address the root. And if I just want to somehow address my
52:48responsibility in a superficial way, then I'll do some little thing and feel happy that the
52:55situation has been brought in control. It's okay. We anyway don't have to be on this planet for
53:03long, just as we don't have to be in this hall forever. So let's just do something that enables
53:10us to spend the next two days nicely. And then we will depart just as we will depart one day
53:15from this planet. So why do we need to take too much load? Just do some little thing and declare
53:22that's the end of your responsibility. That approach too you can take. All that depends
53:28on your inner honesty and your willingness to shoulder responsibility. There can be no one
53:34answer. The answer depends on you. That's Vedanta.