When friends prefer nonsense || Acharya Prashant, on Vedanta (2021)

Acharya Prashant

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Video Information: Shastra Kaumudi, 20.12.2021, Rishikesh, India   Context:  How did Krishna teach Arjun?  What is the essence of the Bhagwad Gita?  Bhagwad Gita holds a very special place in spirituality.  What makes Bhagwad Gita so special?  The real meaning of Gita  How to understand Bhagwad Gita?    Music Credits: Milind Date   #acharyaprashant #vedanta  #youth

Transcript

00:00It's from a 30-year-old assistant professor. She's asking, Namaste sir, often while talking

00:07to friends and colleagues, I tend to nowadays talk about the Upanishads, but they see it

00:14as some sort of exotic different type of readings that I'm undertaking, as opposed to realizing

00:19that they are the very essence, the authority on life. In my social circle, an academician

00:25is an authority. I cannot seem to communicate that Upanishads are not a side study, but

00:31really everything that could be seen and heard. There's no question at the end, but I think

00:37she's asking that how do I communicate to them that the Upanishads are really the essence

00:44and authority of life. Now, so why is that such a situation?

00:48You will have to continue going deeper into the Upanishads. Two things will then concurrently

00:57happen. One, you will gain the conviction and the argument to be more convincing to

01:10others. Secondly, you will lose the need to be more convincing to others. You will

01:25gain the power, the argument, the clarity to be more convincing to others. Equally,

01:37you will lose the need to be more convincing to others. In your question, I sense a lot

01:44of need. Where does that need come from? That need comes from the desperation to keep the

01:56company of the Upanishads and still not lose your old company. If you are with the Upanishads

02:07and with people who do not acknowledge the Upanishads, what are you doing with those people?

02:15Right now, it is not as if you want to do others a favor by explaining the Upanishads

02:23to them. Right now, you are in a need to explain to the others because probably you cannot

02:32afford to be without the others. That is because your study of the Upanishads is still

02:41not deep enough. What is liberation, if not liberation from bad company? Of what use have

02:52the Upanishads been if they could not give you the strength, the conviction to reject

03:03bad company? And bad company is not merely that which would abuse the Upanishads. If

03:16you think of Upanishads as some exotic toys, what else is bad company? So, it's a funny

03:35combination. You become more capable of explaining to others and you become less needful of explaining

03:45to others. Now, you do not explain to others because it's an obligation upon you. You do not

04:01explain to others because you cannot survive without the others. Now, you explain to the

04:06others from a position of strength, not a position of desperation. And that's when,

04:16the funniness in the story continues, that's when others realize that Upanishads indeed do

04:25have power. When they will see that you are not even interested in explaining to unworthy people,

04:31they will realize you have understood something important. And then they will come a begging,

04:39they will say, please tell us what you have known, please tell us what you have known. And now,

04:47you are not desperate to explain to them. Now, you will choose the worthy listeners and when

04:57the worthy ones will be there, you will find you are very capable of explaining to them. Initially,

05:05the condition is the opposite. You are desperate to explain to others and not capable of explaining

05:19at all. So, you can imagine what happens. You run around gathering people, trying to convince them

05:29that the Upanishads you have recently gained familiarity with are nice things to read. But

05:38you yourself don't have much depth. So, the crowd that you gather does not get impressed by you.

05:46Your arguments have hardly any depth. So, it is this huge crowd you have gathered out of your

05:56need, out of your own desperation to maintain relationships and company. And the crowd just

06:07feels bemused and amused. What is this new thing he has gotten into? And all in all,

06:25one gives the Upanishads a bad name. Some smart chap comes up with a smart question.

06:37And that fellow has had nothing to do with spirituality at all. And he comes up with a

06:43funny question. People are smart. And you have no proper response. What have you done to the

06:53Upanishads? You have given them a bad name. First thing in liberation is feel empowered to

07:07dismiss unworthy people. Why do you have to be in their company? If a worthy one is spotted,

07:21do everything you can to relay this special knowledge to him or her. But unworthy ones,

07:35unwilling ones, two hoots to them. People come, take the Upanishads from here and then feel

07:59depressed. Their parents or spouses are not heeding to the Upanishads. So, I ask them,

08:11why must your spouse or your parents be the first ones to gain this knowledge from you?

08:18If they are not listening to you, go and teach this to your neighbor or to some random person

08:26on the street. There are so many eligible and willing people. They will be very happy to receive

08:38this knowledge from you. But to them you will not go. Because you do not have a blood relationship

08:43with them. Because you do not have selfish interests tied to them. So, you won't go to

08:48them. Instead you go to your spouse. It's alright, I do not say, do not teach the Upanishads to your

08:57spouse. But having tried with your spouse, if you meet resistance and unwillingness and also

09:07ineligibility, why do you still keep wasting your time with that ineligible person? Aren't there

09:21other more deserving candidates to invest your time upon? Go to them, teach them. But no, we

09:34are held captive by bonds of blood, by bonds of pecuniary or social interest. I have just

09:53learned the Upanishads and if I can impress my boss with it, I will gain a quick promotion. So,

10:00I will go to the boss and gift a copy of the Upanishads and the boss doesn't care and then I

10:05am hurt. Then what do I do? I ask Acharya, Acharya ji, how to impress one's boss with the Upanishads?

10:10Offer your resignation. He will be impressed. Your resignation will be your first baby step

10:22towards the Upanishad. Why walk under a boss who is stupid enough to not respect the Upanishads?

10:31Aren't you ashamed? But the boss is boss. Even if the boss throws the Bhagavad Gita to the dustbin

10:49in front of you, you will not resign because we are servants to money.

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