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00:00Today, we have a very special project in hand.
00:02This is a book by Acharya Prasanth, Truth Without Apology.
00:06How the journey started for this, especially the title Acharya Jeet, what is in it?
00:11This book just holds a mirror.
00:13It's not a faraway truth.
00:14It's your truth, it's my truth.
00:16It's everyday truth.
00:17It's everyday truth and everybody's truth.
00:19I'm talking of those things that are the everyday experiences of the common man.
00:24That's you and me.
00:25So, even if there is philosophy, I've tried to hide it.
00:30Yeah, it's polished in your words.
00:34Are we all sleepwalking through life?
00:37You want to hear it from me?
00:42And is it completely wrong, something that we are sort of losing our time with, without even understanding it?
00:49Isn't it great to understand?
00:51Please tell.
00:52Why can't our love be bigger than our habit?
00:54And listen to the punchline.
00:56I think everyone must read this book because it has many such punchlines.
01:00Stealing from yourself is punished by life itself.
01:03You know, life will be your biggest teacher if you are not doing justice to your own self.
01:09Can't there be a point within us that remains inaccessible to random happening?
01:15Untouched, pure, pristine, may I say sacred?
01:19Is it not possible?
01:20And if we have that, then we are truly alive.
01:23Otherwise, we are just slave to circumstances, aren't we?
01:26Hello everyone and welcome once again to this special feature on NDTV.
01:34My name is Preeti Dahiya.
01:36And once again, I have the pleasure of having with me Acharya Prashantji, who of course is a renowned philosopher, teacher of global wisdom literature and a best-selling author.
01:46As always, pleasure to have you with us Acharya Ji.
01:49Glad to be here.
01:49And today we have a very special project in hand.
01:53This is a book by Acharya Prashant, Truth Without Apology.
01:57For those tired of sweet lies, I am very intrigued with this book.
02:02This is newly released.
02:04And like I said, he's a best-selling author with more than 160 titles already to your name.
02:08I want to know about this particular book and how the journey started for this, especially the title, Acharya Ji, Truth Without Apology.
02:16What is in it?
02:19First of all, of all the books that I have authored, this is the one book I have given maximum time and effort to.
02:33In fact, I just relieved myself from all my regular administrative work and escaped away to Goa for more than two months just to polish the book to an extent that satisfies me.
03:03It has been written by keeping the reader in mind.
03:15Each chapter is just one or two pages.
03:19And probably everything that relates to the normal human life has been addressed.
03:33180 odd chapters are there.
03:34And it was a challenge to compress what I want to say in a chapter spanning just one page or two pages.
03:50That's very unlike of your previous writings.
03:52That's very unlike me.
03:54I love to explore things very freely, without any constraint, of words, of time, of any kind of limits.
04:07So I love to go here and there and explore the entire landscape and then discover a butterfly.
04:16Like a child that enters deliberately clueless into a garden and would explore every tree possible and the fruits and the leaves and then would come to ultimately a butterfly.
04:32So I had to come straight to the butterfly without compromising on the beauty of the process or the butterfly.
04:54No, but that's unfair.
04:55You know, you have the readers across generations and there are those of us who like to, you know, read your explanations, deep dive with you, understand the topic.
05:05But I do have a feeling that, you know, the way this book is written and the concise nature of the chapters.
05:12Was there a thought in your mind that perhaps this would be more handy to the current Gen Z situation that we have at hand?
05:18Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
05:19See, almost everybody is Gen Z.
05:22Now, yeah.
05:22Now.
05:23So, even those in 40s and 50s, their attention spans have also reduced.
05:34Right.
05:35And when it comes to serious philosophy, our appetite is actually quite limited.
05:44But that kind of defeats, at least challenges the whole point of wisdom literature, because it must reach the masses.
05:58It must reach the masses.
05:59If it's confined to the elite, then we are not addressing mankind in general.
06:07Then we are not addressing the human condition and human problems in general.
06:11So, I had to write it in a way that appeals to everybody, even to non-readers.
06:21Gen Z included, those with very little philosophical bent of mind included, those who are interested only in fiction included,
06:34those who are interested only in Instagram, scrolling, scrolling included, without excluding those who lean towards serious philosophy and want to go deep into the essence, the truth of things.
06:56So, as I said, it was challenging to take both these together, to not to compromise on the philosophical integrity and yet make it not just palatable, but delectable for the common reader.
07:11Right.
07:12And the feedback that I have so far received, including from you, is that probably I have not done a very bad job.
07:22No, you've done a brilliant job.
07:23You know, I'll add one more synonym.
07:27It's very accessible.
07:28You know, you can read it while you are traveling in the metro.
07:31You can read it if you have time at home between meals or, you know, at the time of your tea or coffee break or whatever.
07:39And I love the fact that it's breezy.
07:42I was very, very easily going through one page or the other.
07:46And it was very easy on the eye, on the mind.
07:49And I was at the same time imbibing what you are trying to send to your reader.
07:53Now, I want to come to the introduction of the book.
07:55And the intrigue in the book starts with the introduction.
08:00Truth without apology is not a gentle invitation, but a direct encounter.
08:05Can you please tell us more about this direct encounter for those who are wanting to go into this book?
08:11What is this encounter going to be about?
08:15It's the way the mirror encounters you.
08:19You know, it's not that I'm going to bring something outside of you or otherworldly to you.
08:27I'm not going to bring a distant truth to you.
08:31This book just holds a mirror.
08:34That's all.
08:35That's all.
08:36And that's what usually one is supposed to be apologetic for.
08:44And hence the title, Truth Without Apology.
08:46It's not a faraway truth.
08:50It's your truth.
08:51It's my truth.
08:52It's everyday truth.
08:53It's everyday truth and everybody's truth.
08:55Right.
08:56Everybody's truth.
08:57This is all our lives.
08:59I'm not dealing with big names here.
09:02I'm not dealing with classical philosophies here, Western or Indian.
09:06I'm not even naming any of them.
09:09I'm talking of the way you sip your tea.
09:11I'm talking of the way I deal with my colleagues.
09:14You deal with your work.
09:16Somebody deals with her kids.
09:19That's what I'm talking of.
09:20I'm talking of the usual fears that we have.
09:24I'm talking of what happens to us when we are window shopping or scrolling.
09:30I'm talking of those things that are the everyday experiences of the common man.
09:35That's you and me.
09:35So, even if there is philosophy, I've tried to hide it.
09:44Yeah, it's polished in your words.
09:49I won't say it's hidden because I think that's the nature of our author here.
09:53You can't stay away from that.
09:55But, you know, having said that, it's a great initiative that the chapters are very concise.
10:01The philosophy is very easy to handle.
10:03But there are certain points which, when the reader gets into, they would want more to talk about it with the author.
10:12So, I think through this, you know, episode, we have that opportunity that we can dive a little deeper into some of the chapters that I have managed to read.
10:20And, of course, I'll be reading the entire book.
10:21And maybe the feedback from the viewer is also invited.
10:24If you want to expand further on any point, please do write to us.
10:27So, you know, I have marked a few points from the book here.
10:31There is a very nice chapter on the exhibitionist mindset.
10:35Now, again, we were talking about an age, a generation, which has that mindset.
10:42Why do people show off?
10:43The exhibitionist mind seeks validation through others' approval.
10:47Do you connect it with the craze for social media, the validation that, you know, everyone is seeking on social media?
10:55How many likes?
10:56How many views?
10:56How many comments?
10:57Is it connected to that?
10:59Social media didn't start it.
11:01Yeah.
11:01Social media didn't start it.
11:03Yeah.
11:04Social media took the shape it has because we are the way we are.
11:11We already had it.
11:12We already had it.
11:13Social media is at best a demonstration, a manifestation.
11:20It is not the cause.
11:22It didn't start it.
11:23You see, when I do not...
11:26I do not want to look at myself, or I have lost the ability to look at myself, or I have been indoctrinated that it's very important to keep your eyes closed.
11:41And it is our nature to be great, to be unlimited, to be beautiful.
11:57Beautiful.
11:58Beautiful.
11:59That's your inner nature.
12:00Beautiful, not in the superficial way.
12:01Really beautiful.
12:02Fearless.
12:04That's our...
12:05So we want to hear that about us from others.
12:12You see, it's a second-handed way of approaching life.
12:17I cannot look directly at myself, so I will come to you, almost begging, seeking validation.
12:24Can you please validate, verify, certify, attest that I'm good?
12:32Can you please do that?
12:33And if you do that, you will demand reciprocity.
12:40You will say, yes, I scratch your back and you...
12:42Pay back the compliment.
12:43Right.
12:43Yeah.
12:44The problem there is, if I allow you to dictate who I am, and I feel gloated that you have paid me a compliment,
12:59I do not realize, I have rendered myself a slave to you.
13:06In the morning, you will tell me, you look wonderful, and I'm wonderful.
13:10In the evening, you come and tell me, oh, you look dirty, you are a filthy fellow.
13:15And I'll have to accept that as well.
13:18And the trouble with that is not that I'm not filthy.
13:24The trouble with that is not that I'm actually beautiful.
13:26The trouble with that is I might neither be filthy nor beautiful.
13:30I am somebody else.
13:32And I have just no knowledge of that.
13:38And that takes away the most valuable thing from life, freedom.
13:43Just tell me one thing.
13:44I just want to clarify one point here.
13:46The need to seek validation and the need to be seen.
13:51You see me, you know, as an individual.
13:55They are two different, aren't they?
13:57Like a lot of women complain about the fact that no one sees what I do.
14:01For one day, if I disappear, everyone will value what I'm doing.
14:04But otherwise, they take me for granted.
14:06So are these two very different needs?
14:09Not fundamentally different.
14:10Please understand.
14:11They are interconnected.
14:12They are interconnected at the root.
14:14Please see.
14:14If I really love my work, why will I want others to see what I'm doing?
14:24To appreciate it?
14:25Why will I seek appreciation?
14:26The work is its own reward.
14:29I don't need any other appreciation.
14:32The fact is, if you talk of most women, unfortunately, due to miscellaneous reasons, mostly traditional,
14:40they are confined to doing things that they don't really love doing.
14:50Give her absolute freedom.
14:52And she won't be doing the things that she normally does in her household, the usual chores, the daily routine.
14:59Why will she ever opt for that?
15:02She is doing that to fulfill an obligation.
15:04She is doing that to conform to a role, to a character.
15:10And none of that would really please her heart.
15:13It cannot.
15:14You are just doing something because your role demands it.
15:18That cannot be internally fulfilling.
15:20Because it is not internally fulfilling, so she will demand appreciation from others.
15:25She will say, let there be some compensation.
15:29You see that?
15:29The appreciation that you are demanding is actually compensation for a loveless life, for a loveless job.
15:39You are doing something that you don't really want to do.
15:44You are doing something that you don't even understand.
15:47Somebody asks you, but why do you keep doing this the entire day?
15:52You won't really have an answer.
15:54And that leaves a void within.
15:57How to fill that void?
15:58One of the ways, useless ways actually, one of the useless ways is gaining some appreciation from others.
16:09Somebody coming and paying a compliment.
16:11Somebody coming and saying, you are the perfect householder, the perfect wife or the mother or the queen of the domestic kingdom.
16:22Something.
16:23Home minister.
16:23Home minister.
16:24Home minister.
16:24And so, so that kind of a thing.
16:27And you feel that there has been, well, but you see the word compensation is in itself a bit dirty, is it not?
16:38It implies you have been harmed.
16:41You have been harmed.
16:42and now you are being paid for being harmed.
16:46So, the compliment you have been paid is actually a compensation for having been harmed.
16:56So should I then ask for the compliment or avoid the harm altogether?
17:06Should I keep myself subjected to the harm and then as something to just atone for what the others have done to me,
17:22I say, you know, you come and this much you have to pay me, whether verbally or financially or emotionally, not done.
17:35So, the motive is coming from my clarity, not from my expectation.
17:42I'm not doing it because I expect I'll get something from the other in return.
17:50Yes, if the other applauds me, appreciates me, that's wonderful, that's a bonus, but I'm not targeting that.
17:58It is equally likely that the other doesn't understand what I'm doing for him or her, misinterprets it or ignores it.
18:05And I'll be okay with that. I'll be okay with that.
18:09If this centre, this attitude, if I may say, is not there, then one is subjecting herself to constant randomness.
18:23Because you'll do something and from your own side, you might have done something wonderful.
18:28And it might go unnoticed, unspoken of, unheard. And you'll feel bad.
18:35It'll be painful.
18:37It'll be painful. And sometimes when you will find that you have just received a bounty in spite of having done nothing,
18:47you'll grow superstitious. You'll say, so my welfare or my happiness is not dependent on my clarity or my effort.
19:06It is dependent on random chance. So how do I please the Lords that control these random occurrences?
19:16And you'll go superstitious. So it's best just to do from your right centre and leave it at that.
19:29And I know humanly, we all want returns, but let's limit that desire.
19:37And that desire can be limited only when you say, I'm doing it really not for you, but for myself.
19:44In a place of love.
19:47I'm doing it from a place of love. And I'm doing it because I love.
19:52Because I am the loving one. So in that sense, even if it is for you, it is actually for me.
19:59Right? I couldn't have not done it. I couldn't have not done it. So I'm doing it because it was an imperative for me,
20:09an inner imperative. And now I have done it and I'm done with it. What you do with what I have done for you is your business now.
20:17Yeah. You know what you're saying is exactly how a mother child relationship works. We do everything for our child,
20:23but we don't seek their appreciation because we are doing it in a place of love.
20:27But we seek validation and appreciation from neighbours, relatives, spouse.
20:33Ideally what you are saying in a mother-son relationship, ideally that is valid.
20:38But if you look at it practically, that doesn't happen because I'm the same person.
20:44Be it with my son or my boss or my customer or my relative or my gods, anybody, I'm the same person.
20:53If I am someone who operates from a place of desire and expectations,
20:59it is subtle desire and expectations that I will inevitably carry even with my kids.
21:06I cannot avoid that. So it is not that in one relationship you can become an altogether different person
21:13compared to what you usually are. Right? So if you want to be good to your kids,
21:18you will have to be good as a person altogether because we want to believe in the fragmented self.
21:24We want to believe that we can be one person at work, one person in the temple,
21:29one person in front of the mother-in-law, one person in front of somebody I hate.
21:35Compartmentalize our life. Yes. We believe that this kind of division or fragmentation is possible.
21:40And then we believe I can be a very, very great person in front of my son or daughter.
21:47Unfortunately, that is not really possible. A violent one will remain violent there as well.
21:54And if one is really loving towards his or her kids, one will find that love radiating in other directions also.
22:02Well, you know, like I said, it's very nice to read this like a mirror.
22:08Somebody is showing a mirror to you, but it will perhaps take a lot of time and a lot of self-control
22:13to practice it on a daily basis and become a different being from what you are.
22:18So let's move forward to another chapter. And again, it's like we've been mentioning throughout,
22:25very well connected to what we witness around us almost on a daily basis, sleepwalking through life.
22:31Man lives like a machine, programmed, predictable and unconscious.
22:35We have a schedule. We follow it. We follow it to the T.
22:39We expect a certain results because we are following it to the T.
22:42And that's how our life is at least till the age of 60 when we retire.
22:46Then also we have a plan. So much in insurance, so much in the bank account.
22:49This is how we'll retire. This is our home. Everything is programmed.
22:53Are we all sleepwalking through life? Is that what you're trying to say?
22:58You want to hear it from me?
23:02And is it completely wrong, something that we are sort of losing our time with,
23:08without even understanding it?
23:11Isn't it great to understand? Please tell. Isn't it great?
23:16But it's scary. It's scary because you realize there is so much more that was available, but is being lost out on.
23:27Otherwise, understanding is joy itself. No, is it not? It is. But when you understand, it opens a Pandora's box.
23:36Yes, it demands further understanding. Yes. In that sense. And that demands giving up on certain beliefs, comforts, conveniences, schedules, schedules, and things that are nicely settled now.
23:51You will have to unsettle them. And that requires energy and devotion. Therefore, it appears scary. Otherwise, understanding is joy. Serious joy. The only joy possible.
24:07Imagine a situation. We are here. And if we do not know anything about anything here. Let's say I'm speaking a language. You don't understand. You're speaking a language. I don't understand.
24:17I don't know what this mug is all about. I don't know why this object has this particular shape and what is the fluid it contains. I know nothing.
24:25I do not know whether this thing is animate, inanimate. I don't know why that soil has a particular texture. I know nothing. I don't know of these gadgets here.
24:34I don't know which species is this. How would it be? Is that not scary? Yeah. Is that not scary?
24:42Whereas, when you can read that book, when you can actually connect to it, that is joy. That is understanding. So understanding is joy. And yes, you will have it from me. Yes, most of us, most of the times are sleepwalking through life.
25:01How to break that cycle of convenience? Not everyone can afford to break that cycle.
25:07That's not true. That's not true. In fact, I wonder how can we afford to continuously sleepwalk? That's the bigger question.
25:18Because it's convenient and we have been taught a certain pattern. Not convenient. We are just habituated. Just that's all. Nothing else.
25:26Why can't our love be bigger than our habit? Why can't joy be bigger than habit? And it's not as if we are actually sleepwalking. The sleepwalker has zero idea that he or she is sleepwalking. We know we are sleepwalking.
25:53Right? We have bought into the notion that sleepwalking is alright. That because this is something that everybody practices. The crowd and the past. I have been doing it since long. And all of them are doing this. My past and the crowd.
26:15So time and society. They get together and we sell ourselves off. We say it's safer. It's more secure to participate in this.
26:28It's more predictable. More predictable. Yes. The mirage of security. If I do this, then the returns are assured or predictable. Well, that does not really happen.
26:40Even though we want it to be that way. It doesn't happen. Nobody knows the future. But we just lose out almost willingly on the present for the sake of an unpredictable future. And that's no fun.
26:58Is that where you bring in this next chapter, which is wonderfully written. And it's just like, you know, almost one para only. Stealing from your own pocket. Basically, you are denying yourself a true chance to become who you can become.
27:13No. Not become. You are stealing from yourself the opportunity to be who you really are.
27:21Now, becoming is something that you have already done. And a lot of it you have already done.
27:26I have become a man. I have become a scholar. I have become a father. I have become a professional. I have become a religious zealot. I have become an intellectual. I have become opinionated. I have become wealthy. All these things I have already become.
27:46But in this becoming, do I remember who I really am? I have become a friend to somebody. I have become a foe to somebody. In this becoming, do I remember who I really am? And all this becoming took place over a period of time.
28:04No, didn't it? You are not always a friend, a foe, a father, a mother, or something, something, something, something, or opinionated. You are not always this.
28:12So, becoming is the imprint of time. Right? With the passage of time and due to the influence of society, you became somebody. But is that who you really are?
28:22So, we aren't that. And daily we keep foregoing our potential. That's what I am calling as stealing from your own pocket. And it's possible to be who you really are. That's not a mere slogan.
28:37It's a real possibility. And I have tried to kind of inspire through this book.
28:45And listen to the punchline. I think everyone must read this book because it has many such punchlines.
28:50Stealing from yourself is punished by life itself. You know, life will be your biggest teacher if you are not doing justice to your own self.
28:59I think that that's a great punchline. So, the book is divided into several bigger titles like The Lie Called You is what I'm quoting from.
29:07There will be subsequent discussions on other such bigger topics. Again, here, The Lie Called You, there is a chapter in which you are talking about
29:19what the most dangerous wound is self-inflicted and it is followed by playing the victim card, which is a very common thing that we see, you know, in current times.
29:29We love to play the victim. This is not done to me. This is not fair to me. Somebody has played their game on me and I'm in a mess because of someone else.
29:40But you do see such cunning people around you. It's also a fact. Can you ignore that and say that, no, no, I am to be blamed and single-handedly responsible for everything that happens to me?
29:53Not at the level of the happening, but at the level of becoming.
30:05At the level of happening, things are all random, not just in a few cases, but in all cases. We do not know what can happen to this body the next moment.
30:18So, there is no way I am responsible for the happening. The tea might be cold. An insect might just start flying around. We do not know. It's a happening.
30:34It's a happening and I can't hold myself accountable for that. There might be an earthquake the next minute. You are driving and some mad truck man comes and bangs it into you and you are not responsible, obviously.
30:49What I am talking of here is the inner impact you allow the happening to have. Can it touch you from the inside if you do not allow it to? Obviously anybody can come and touch your body. It's possible. It's possible. If not a human being, then it rains.
31:14It rains. You are walking and it starts raining and you find yourself drenched and you can't say that you are responsible for being in that wet condition. That's alright.
31:26But can't there be a point within us that remains inaccessible to random happening, untouched, pure, pristine, may I say sacred? Is it not possible? And if we have that, then we are truly alive.
31:44Otherwise, otherwise we are just slaves to circumstances, aren't we? There is sun and we are sweating. Right? There is the rain and we are drenched.
31:56Somebody comes and utters a few sweet words and we are happy. Somebody comes and utters some gibberish and we are annoyed. Somebody comes and manages to please us because our ways are well known. Right?
32:16We know in advance, if I make such profit in that particular deal, I will be happy. Our relatives know well in advance, if such food is served to that person, that would please him.
32:32Isn't that all slavery in the sense that you are predictable and therefore vulnerable to being controlled by others?
32:43So, at the level of the body, obviously, you rose from the soil and one day you will go back to the soil. Therefore, there is no way elements of the soil, this world that is, cannot have an influence on you.
32:56They will have. They will have and there is no need to even contest that. Let that happen. Let that happen. Subject yourself to the world because that is anyway going to happen.
33:07But inwardly, let there be a little fiefdom inside. A little territory totally of your own. A territory nobody is allowed to enter.
33:22Not even you can enter that place. That place is so, so sacred. And when that is there, then you can freely participate in the world and its experiences.
33:32Why? Because you will no longer be afraid. You will say, come what may. I am secure within. I am pure within. So, I can participate.
33:41I am not afraid and I am not ambitious either. Because just as the world cannot take away anything from that point, similarly, the world cannot add anything to that thing within.
33:53Absolutely. It is complete in itself. It is of another dimension. It is not accessible. It is not corruptible. It is not expandable either.
34:05So, you live then in a deep security and we all know how pleasing security is. That sense of security. That sense of security.
34:16Come what may, I am not going to be harmed. And come what may, I am not going to be greedy or ambitious.
34:24Because, yes, you are giving me wonderful things. Right, right, right. But I already have something of immense value within me.
34:31So, what you are giving me is welcome, but not that I am salivating for it.
34:36Well, that's wonderful. There is plenty more to discuss in this book, which we will do in subsequent episodes.
34:41For this one, Acharya Ji, thank you once again. Most welcome.
34:46My name is Sunaina. So, I have joined Gita for almost eight months.
34:54And so, I have seen myself like changing in various aspects, but not so much, but still I am working.
35:06Yeah, one thing I also appreciated today was that about the thing that we always try to think forward and see that, okay, so if I start on this path, then there will be some time when I have to sacrifice something or look ahead that what will happen, this and that.
35:29But still, I am not in a position of doing that, but there is always this behavior to look forward.
35:34But that was a very nice example that just if you are at zero step, then it's just one step ahead that you look and that's your real state.
35:44And then it's all ongoing process and you will find yourself very, very comfortable in that.
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