We Worship Belief, Not Truth—And Here's the Cost || Acharya Prashant (2025)

Acharya Prashant

Watch We Worship Belief, Not Truth—And Here's the Cost || Acharya Prashant (2025) - Acharya Prashant on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00My question to you is, how did we fall so deeply in illusion, like the unreal thing, and how do we break out of it?

00:06When your entire inner structure is founded on a belief system, then how can you respect facts? Truth is gone, finished.

00:15This country very urgently needs to respect inquiry, to respect hard facts, and to put it very mildly, say two hoots to sentiment.

00:25But when emotions rule, truth is the first casualty.

00:29I came across when we were putting facts. The people which believed, they are secular, but offended very much. They are believing in faults.

00:37If you are hurt, it's your own fault. Who's responsible? Why did you believe? Why didn't you go and test?

00:43Testing is not a word very common with our people. The mandate of religion is freedom from belief, not a reinforcement of belief.

00:52But that was not happening then, and that is not happening now, and it's all very bad.

00:59Namaste Acharya Ji. Am I audible?

01:02Yes, you are. Welcome.

01:05Thank you for giving me this opportunity to ask my question.

01:09My question is from a recent debate in my college on like how our country is so hypocrite.

01:19We had two examples like secularism is promised, but there is a division and slaughter is banned, but we lead in beef production.

01:31My question to you is how did we fall so deeply in illusion, like the unreal thing, and how do we break out of it?

01:39Illusion is belief, is it not? When you see through illusion, then it is gone, right? Illusion stands only as long as you believe in it.

01:57There is something unreal, there is something unreal, but you take it as real, that is what you call as illusion, right?

02:04So belief, you see, is the culprit. When you glorify belief a lot, then illusion will lord,

02:26that's it. You lose a taste for facts. When your entire inner structure is founded on a belief system, then how can you respect facts?

02:45Truth is gone. Truth is gone, finished. The moment you start worshipping beliefs, truth is finished.

02:51That entire population will then live in self-reinforced illusion and deception.

03:07That entire population will become very very skilled at cheating itself.

03:16Because that's what belief essentially is. You are cheating yourself to begin with and later others. No?

03:29Instead of finding out, you are saying, no, no, no. Why take the trouble? Why go through the pain?

03:40I'll simply believe in something. And that's the, that's the thing with our country.

03:50We have worshipped belief so much. Goodness. Do you, what do you think is more important?

04:11the feeling about something or the fact of that thing? Fact.

04:19But we don't respect facts at all.

04:26We worship our feelings, no?

04:30You are talking to someone and the moment he says, you are hurting my sentiments, you withdraw, don't you?

04:38You will have to retreat.

04:41In fact, even the law says, that if you hurt public sentiment, then you can be booked.

04:58Now, public sentiment is most likely to be offended when you utter the facts.

05:03Utter facts and people will be hurt because they don't live in facts. They live in beliefs.

05:11Even the constitution says, that your fundamental rights are subject to public morality.

05:22That's the expression that the constitution uses.

05:25And public morality is founded more or less on their beliefs.

05:30This is moral. This is immoral. This is what we like. This is what should be permitted.

05:36So, all your fundamental rights

05:44stand in the shadow of the public belief system.

05:55That's the problem. Nothing else.

06:02This country very urgently needs to respect inquiry. To respect hard facts.

06:16And to put it very mildly, say two hoots to sentiment.

06:25Why should your sentiment be respected? Yes.

06:28If you come up with something truthful,

06:31I ought to respect that.

06:36He believes he is a Kangaroo.

06:38And I ought to offer respect to that. But why?

06:47No, but you cannot hurt the feelings of people.

06:51And then, you see, don't we love to declare, Indians are very emotional people.

06:56Do you see where that is coming from?

06:58That is coming from the great respect we have been told to accord to emotion.

07:07We are emotional for a reason. It offers benefit.

07:11The moment you display emotion, you get what you want.

07:16I tell you, I want a lot of money from you.

07:19You will question me. You will debate.

07:24Right? You will want to know the truth.

07:26You will want to inquire and explore.

07:30But instead of going through this long process of presenting and debating facts.

07:36If I tell you, give me money and I start weeping.

07:40And shedding huge tears.

07:42You are more likely to give me the money.

07:45And that's why we are a very emotional people.

07:47Because emotional serves a very very material purpose.

07:54But when emotions rule,

07:57truth is the first casualty.

08:04Somebody wants to do something stupid.

08:07He will simply say, you know, I am very emotional in this matter.

08:12Take that as a warning.

08:14The fellow is going to do something very stupid, very unethical.

08:20Even very evil.

08:22All kinds of evils are sanctioned in the name of feeling, belief, emotionality, sentiment, all these things.

08:35And if you question beliefs, then as we said, you can be tried, lynched, hanged, booked.

08:42Anybody can believe in anything.

08:55How does that become respectable?

08:57In fact, if you are believing, resorting to believe so much.

09:02Then your intelligence becomes disputable.

09:03You don't become respectable.

09:04We are supposed to know.

09:05Right?

09:06Because we are equipped to know.

09:07Why do I believe?

09:08Why should I believe?

09:09Why should I believe?

09:10I can know.

09:11But knowing requires effort and honesty.

09:12And you don't want to put in that effort.

09:15You don't want to be honest.

09:16So, you simply go for believing.

09:17As you sit on this planet, it is so easy to believe.

09:21No?

09:22No?

09:23That there is a grand canopy over your head.

09:24No?

09:25No?

09:26No?

09:27No?

09:28No?

09:29No?

09:30No?

09:31No?

09:32No?

09:33No?

09:34No?

09:35No?

09:36No?

09:37No?

09:38No?

09:39No?

09:40No?

09:41No?

09:42No?

09:43No?

09:44No?

09:45No?

09:46No?

09:47No?

09:48No?

09:49No?

09:50No?

09:51No?

09:52No?

09:53No?

09:54No?

09:55No?

09:56No?

09:57No?

09:58No?

09:59No?

10:00No?

10:01No?

10:02No?

10:03No?

10:04No?

10:05No?

10:06No?

10:07No?

10:08No?

10:09No?

10:10No?

10:11No?

10:12No?

10:13No?

10:14No?

10:15Yes, obviously, I am here and those are the stars up there.

10:28But it takes a lot to know that the sun is not going around the earth.

10:37The earth is going around the sun and that the earth is not the centre of the universe.

10:45Those stars are sometimes a million times bigger than the earth.

10:51And the earth is not stationary.

10:54The earth is going around at thousands of kilometers per second.

11:00Will you ever believe in this? No, you will never believe in this.

11:03This has to be known and you are a human being only because you can know.

11:06Even animals can believe.

11:10And whenever you want to hunt down an animal,

11:14you make it believe in some stupidity.

11:17Right?

11:20And it falls prey to its own stupidity and then you can hunt it.

11:26To be a believer,

11:30is to be hunted.

11:36But it's not so easy to hunt down a knower.

11:52When we were debating on this topic,

11:57I came across when we were putting facts like the slaughtering houses and the on-papers agreements,

12:07the people which believed they are secular got offended very much.

12:14Some of the beliefs were shattered I guess.

12:18They were like a bit angry or something.

12:22They were not accepting the fact that they are supporting that hypocrisy or they are believing in false.

12:32So, that's fine.

12:35You take belief as your truth.

12:37And when it will be challenged,

12:40or demolished,

12:42you will be hurt.

12:44But if you are hurt,

12:46it's your own fault.

12:48Why did you believe in something so fragile?

12:53Right?

12:54I believe there is boiling water in this.

13:02Hmm?

13:06And I want to use it for some reason.

13:10And when I come close,

13:13I discover it's freezing cold.

13:18I am hurt.

13:20Who is responsible?

13:23Why did you believe?

13:24Why didn't you go and test?

13:26But testing is not a word very,

13:29very common with our people.

13:32Our culture does not like this word very much.

13:36Testing, inquiry, questions.

13:39We don't dare to question.

13:48Instead submission and meek surrender

13:52is taught to us as a value.

13:55All kinds of authority figures are there.

14:00And you are supposed to just kneel down to them.

14:07Anything more on that?

14:10Now, from your example,

14:12I remember the theory of everything,

14:15wherein Aristotle proposed that

14:17the earth is circular,

14:20but the earth is center of the universe.

14:25Aristotle?

14:27Okay, proceed.

14:29I don't know.

14:31I might mistake that name.

14:33When you come with your question,

14:37some basic due preparation,

14:40no?

14:41That is needed.

14:42Right?

14:43Who are Aristotle?

14:45You are dragging him into this.

14:47Huh?

14:48Sorry.

14:49Sorry.

14:50The Copernicus scientists,

14:54who proposed that

14:56earth is not center of the earth,

14:59wherein sun is,

15:01sorry,

15:02earth is not the center of the universe.

15:04Sun is the center.

15:07But he too got,

15:08he was in fear of releasing his research in publicly.

15:14I would relate it to that.

15:18Yes, obviously,

15:19because popular religion at his place,

15:23in his time,

15:24was all founded on belief.

15:25It still is.

15:26Hmm?

15:27It was founded on belief about the individual and about the universe.

15:34First of all,

15:36whether the sun goes around the earth,

15:42or the earth goes around the sun,

15:46is none of religion's business.

15:48Religion is an inquiry into the self.

15:52Right?

15:54So, that's the first thing.

15:56Religion should have nothing to do with all these things.

15:59Leave it to science.

16:00Secondly,

16:02you are promoting belief.

16:05And religion's mandate is to demolish belief.

16:09Religion's mandate is to promote inquiry.

16:13But as your example physicists,

16:18that has never really been the case.

16:20First of all,

16:22religion gets into all kinds of worldly things.

16:26Who made the rivers?

16:29Which tree is sacred and which tree is not?

16:33What to wear?

16:34Where to sleep?

16:35Whom to marry?

16:36What to eat?

16:37Religion gets into all these things,

16:39which are none of religion's business.

16:41True religion is just an inquiry into the ego,

16:46the self.

16:47Who am I?

16:48That's religion.

16:50And secondly,

16:53the mandate of religion is freedom from belief,

16:58not a reinforcement of belief.

17:02But,

17:03that was not happening then and that is not happening now.

17:09And it's all,

17:14all very bad.

17:23Anything else?

17:24Thank you so much.

17:27Sorry.

17:29I stay in London,

17:31UK.

17:32And right now,

17:33I'm visiting India.

17:34This was my first session today.

17:35And,

17:36yeah,

17:38it was really,

17:39really nice to

17:42see firsthand,

17:43like,

17:44not a recording,

17:45because I've been following Acharya Ji for,

17:46what,

17:47two years now.

17:48And,

17:49uh,

17:50I've read his books.

17:51And,

17:52it was really lovely to see,

17:53understand life.

17:54Um,

17:55reflections,

17:56um,

17:57most beautiful thing I find about,

17:59about Acharya Ji,

18:00is how he gets into every single word,

18:02about,

18:03informing,

18:04the,

18:05definition of understanding.

18:07And,

18:08the thing he said is,

18:10when you,

18:11definition of understanding is,

18:13it ends desire.

18:14Once you break it,

18:15it automatically ends desire,

18:17because you see,

18:18the whole and soul part of it.

18:20Again,

18:21I'm a professional in terms of,

18:22I'm a,

18:23uh,

18:24diabetic coach,

18:25in,

18:26working in NHS.

18:27So,

18:28I keep telling this to everyone,

18:29where I say,

18:30you graduate step by step,

18:31graduate step by step.

18:33You know,

18:34you don't go from,

18:35zero goal to ten goal directly.

18:37And,

18:38he put it so simply,

18:40in,

18:41in terms of facing fear.

18:42And I was like,

18:43whew.

18:44I mean,

18:45so,

18:46amazing.

18:47I mean,

18:48these are a few reflections,

18:49that I got from him.

18:50And,

18:51yeah.

18:52I mean,

18:53his reflections,

18:54always stick with me.

18:55That's why,

18:56I implement them.

18:57I don't,

18:58kind of write them.

18:59I make voice notes for this.

19:00But,

19:01yeah,

19:02I'm very thankful for this session.

19:13what,

19:14the only thing is that,

19:15that I'm going to be Instead of talking to me.

19:16What old man do?

19:18To be...

19:19what old man do?

19:20What old man do?

19:22What old man do?

19:23That,

19:24what old man do?

19:25It's not,

19:26everybody.

19:27What old man do?

19:28What old man do?

19:29You can do again.

19:30I mean,

19:31I have no knowledge.

19:32I have no knowledge.

19:33You can do that.

19:34How old man.

19:35I can do.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended