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00:00:00So trying to do something about desire is absolutely useless and religions have
00:00:06focused so much on desire do not want this do not do this they say desireless
00:00:11action so they look at desirelessness from the point of view of action do not
00:00:16hurt do not steal do not argue do not lie and all that has been very
00:00:23wasteful that cannot help what's the point of attempting change at the level
00:00:30of action when the actor is not being even challenged let alone changed
00:00:35spirituality is not about changing your actions it is about looking at yourself
00:00:41honestly ruthlessly and that's all
00:00:48Bhagavad Gita
00:00:51chapter 2 verse 47
00:01:00your authority is over your actions only
00:01:09and not over the result of your actions so do not act with the hope of fruit of
00:01:21your actions then also do not become actionless this is inactive akarmanya
00:01:32authority over actions what is this authority and we are being told that this is the only authority that we have
00:01:44what is this authority and we are being told that this is the only authority that we have
00:01:56we should place no demands on the fruits of the action we should place no demands on the fruits of the action
00:02:06the authority that the ego has and all these words
00:02:17and all these words are being addressed to the ego is to
00:02:30not become a barrier in the path of realization
00:02:38that is the adhikar
00:02:43that is the adhikar
00:02:45it is not that the ego must
00:02:55act rightly
00:02:57while it has a tendency to act wrongly
00:03:02the ego must look at itself and dissuade from acting at all
00:03:13neither rightly nor wrongly
00:03:17nobody
00:03:26nobody
00:03:28acts
00:03:29acts
00:03:30wrongly
00:03:32deliberately
00:03:33the ego
00:03:37the ego
00:03:42from its own vantage point always acts rightly
00:03:47I am doing the right thing
00:03:52so there is no point in advising the ego to act rightly
00:03:59in its own frame of reference the ego is anyway always acting rightly
00:04:11does not help to say no stop your wrong actions
00:04:16and begin the right actions
00:04:21the ego has to just stop
00:04:26either right or wrong
00:04:28right and wrong
00:04:31like or dislike
00:04:35left or right
00:04:40that is the only authority
00:04:43the ego really has
00:04:45to stop itself
00:04:47to stop believing in itself
00:04:52to stop investing in itself
00:04:56the ego does not have to come up with the right action
00:05:02the right action
00:05:05the right action
00:05:06is spontaneous
00:05:09the ego is fundamentally incapable of any rightness
00:05:17any rightness
00:05:18all rightness that the ego has is with reference to itself
00:05:26and that makes all rights wrong
00:05:32that which is actually right
00:05:34absolutely right
00:05:36is unavailable to the ego as long as the ego remains
00:05:42because the absolutely right
00:05:44is obfuscated by the ego itself
00:05:47the very definition of the ego is that
00:05:51which arises
00:05:53at the cost of
00:05:55by obfuscating
00:05:57that
00:05:58which is right
00:06:00what is meant by right here?
00:06:02true
00:06:03reliable
00:06:05not deceptive
00:06:12so you are
00:06:13not
00:06:14to
00:06:15get into action
00:06:19coming from your centre
00:06:21at all
00:06:22not that you have to suppress
00:06:27one kind of actions
00:06:29and promote
00:06:30the other kind
00:06:31not that you have to discipline or train yourself
00:06:36to come up with
00:06:39more
00:06:41acceptable deeds
00:06:43actions that are
00:06:46more
00:06:47morally
00:06:49possible
00:06:51none of that
00:06:54if the
00:06:59ego acts
00:07:01there will be
00:07:04the desire of fruit
00:07:07because the ego by definition is incomplete
00:07:09when you are
00:07:11acting
00:07:12from a point of incompletion
00:07:15then the obvious
00:07:18motive
00:07:20purpose
00:07:21of action
00:07:22is to fetch
00:07:23some kind of completion
00:07:25you cannot have motiveless
00:07:28or purposeless
00:07:29or nishkam action
00:07:30acting from the ego
00:07:31from the ego
00:07:33ego
00:07:34acts
00:07:35wrongly
00:07:36it will still desire
00:07:37a particular
00:07:38fruit
00:07:39the ego acts
00:07:42rightly
00:07:43it will again desire
00:07:44another kind of fruit
00:07:46nishkam karma is not possible
00:07:50as long as
00:07:51one is acting from the centre
00:07:53so what is the authority
00:07:57that the ego has
00:07:59it is not to act rightly
00:08:02that authority is not available to the ego
00:08:05the right
00:08:08the power
00:08:09the choice
00:08:10that the ego really has
00:08:12is to check itself
00:08:17stop
00:08:19halt
00:08:20you are needless
00:08:24you are superfluous
00:08:28you are redundant
00:08:30you are just
00:08:35extra and additional
00:08:39stop
00:08:44go
00:08:47go
00:08:48that's the authority
00:08:51that's the choice
00:08:52that one has to
00:08:53exercise
00:08:54we are being
00:08:59warned today
00:09:00that
00:09:01if you
00:09:07act
00:09:08with
00:09:11greed
00:09:12or desire
00:09:13that is much the same
00:09:20as not acting
00:09:24if you still have
00:09:27greed and desire
00:09:29the centre is the same
00:09:32sometimes the ego
00:09:37blocks the truth by acting
00:09:40acting
00:09:41at other times
00:09:42the ego blocks the truth
00:09:44by not acting
00:09:53acting desirously
00:09:57is something that is visible
00:09:59so we say
00:10:00look at this person
00:10:01he is so full of desire
00:10:02reprehensible
00:10:05we condemn this fellow
00:10:07he is not spiritual
00:10:08he is not spiritual
00:10:09why
00:10:12because
00:10:13here
00:10:14there is
00:10:15desirous action
00:10:17and that is visible
00:10:19you can see action happening
00:10:22you can see desire dripping from the action
00:10:25so you are
00:10:28able to condemn
00:10:29but
00:10:30we are not able to detect desire and ego
00:10:40so easily
00:10:41so smoothly
00:10:42in people
00:10:43who block the
00:10:44sahaja
00:10:45free action
00:10:46from happening
00:10:47there
00:10:48nothing can be detected
00:11:00because there is no gross action to detect
00:11:02a fellow
00:11:03is running after something
00:11:19and you will be able to easily spot desire there
00:11:25see this fellow is running after something
00:11:28he is so desirous
00:11:29and there is another fellow
00:11:38who is sitting quietly in the middle
00:11:46of a carnage
00:11:51in the middle of mass suffering
00:11:57in the middle of exploitation
00:12:02and he is not acting
00:12:07and it will not be
00:12:10very easy to spot desire here
00:12:14because he is not acting
00:12:15after all he is just sitting
00:12:17and he might appear
00:12:19very quiet still and patient
00:12:22there is no difference
00:12:28between
00:12:29action
00:12:30and the absence of action
00:12:33if the actor is the ego
00:12:36often
00:12:40the desirous ones
00:12:42seek spiritual improvement
00:12:45by not acting desirously
00:12:49they remove the action
00:12:53not the center of action
00:12:55they do away with the action
00:12:59they do not do away with themselves
00:13:01remaining themselves
00:13:05they cease to act
00:13:06and they think that they have improved
00:13:10Inwardly one remains the same
00:13:16externally
00:13:18one stops
00:13:21what were very visible actions of desire
00:13:29because one has become spiritual
00:13:35right
00:13:38I remain the same
00:13:40but now
00:13:42I am not letting my ego manifest itself
00:13:46in an external
00:13:48visible
00:13:49gross way
00:13:50the action has been stopped
00:13:53but the ego remains
00:13:55so the action will just change
00:14:00form
00:14:01level
00:14:02from being externally visible
00:14:07it will
00:14:08turn itself
00:14:10into internal
00:14:12subtle action
00:14:13and that you will not be able to detect
00:14:17so you will feel that
00:14:18this person has become a non-doer
00:14:20no it is not that
00:14:21he has become a non-doer
00:14:22he is still a doer
00:14:25he is still a doer
00:14:26because his center is
00:14:28still that of the ego
00:14:30and as long as
00:14:31there is ego at the center
00:14:33there will be doership
00:14:35the ego is the doer
00:14:37you cannot have a situation
00:14:39where there is ego
00:14:40and no doership
00:14:43not possible
00:14:44why is the ego condemned to
00:14:48be the doer
00:14:50because the ego
00:14:51is a restlessness
00:14:53when you are restless
00:14:55you will do something
00:14:57because the ego is an incompletion
00:15:01when you feel incomplete
00:15:03obviously you will run hither dither
00:15:05you will want to act
00:15:09with the intention
00:15:11to reach somewhere
00:15:13to somehow
00:15:15take care
00:15:17of
00:15:18your
00:15:19incompleteness
00:15:21uneasiness
00:15:26the ego therefore
00:15:28is bound to be a doer
00:15:31we do not
00:15:34look at the ego
00:15:36more correctly
00:15:38the ego does not look at itself
00:15:41rather
00:15:45it just wants to
00:15:48extinguish
00:15:50the external signs
00:15:53of its mischief
00:15:56and that
00:16:00too
00:16:02it extinguishes
00:16:04just
00:16:06so that
00:16:07some desire
00:16:08can be fulfilled
00:16:09so
00:16:11I will not
00:16:12exhibit desire
00:16:14so that
00:16:15I can
00:16:16fulfill desire
00:16:17if I exhibit desire
00:16:19then it becomes
00:16:22difficult
00:16:23for desire
00:16:24to be fulfilled
00:16:25let me give an example
00:16:26if I exhibit my
00:16:28desire
00:16:29for money
00:16:30for money
00:16:31it will become
00:16:32difficult
00:16:33to fulfill
00:16:34my desire
00:16:35for respect
00:16:37so
00:16:39I will
00:16:41ostensibly
00:16:42quell my desire
00:16:43for money
00:16:44and I will not
00:16:46display any signs
00:16:48that I am money minded
00:16:50right
00:16:51I may in fact
00:16:53stop running
00:16:54after money
00:16:55in
00:16:57some limited way
00:17:00so
00:17:02that
00:17:03another
00:17:04probably
00:17:05a bigger desire
00:17:06is fulfilled
00:17:07what is that bigger desire
00:17:08to have
00:17:09respect
00:17:10so
00:17:11as long as
00:17:12there is ego
00:17:13at the center
00:17:14it is impossible
00:17:15to be desireless
00:17:16and
00:17:23once
00:17:24the ego
00:17:25has looked at
00:17:26its
00:17:27own
00:17:28reality
00:17:31its
00:17:32own
00:17:33suffering
00:17:36its own
00:17:37culpability
00:17:38in its suffering
00:17:40its
00:17:41stupidity
00:17:43in suffering
00:17:44needlessly
00:17:47then the ego
00:17:48makes a choice
00:17:49to retreat
00:17:56to retreat
00:17:57is really
00:17:58the only choice
00:17:59that the ego
00:18:00has
00:18:03any other choice
00:18:04that the ego
00:18:05makes
00:18:06is just an
00:18:07expression
00:18:08of the ego
00:18:16the ego
00:18:17expressing itself
00:18:18is not really a choice
00:18:26its an unavoidable phenomenon
00:18:27its like ice feeling cold
00:18:33thats not a choice
00:18:34that ice makes
00:18:39its like a mad man
00:18:41uttering nonsense
00:18:42thats not a choice
00:18:43that the mad man
00:18:44makes
00:18:54like iron being pulled to magnet
00:18:56thats not a choice
00:18:57that
00:19:00iron makes
00:19:04its an inevitability
00:19:05an inevitability
00:19:08so desire
00:19:09is an inevitability
00:19:12with the
00:19:13ego
00:19:15the ego cannot be
00:19:16and not be
00:19:17desirous
00:19:22so trying to do something
00:19:23about desire
00:19:24is absolutely useless
00:19:26and religions
00:19:30have focused
00:19:31so much on desire
00:19:32do not want this
00:19:33do not do this
00:19:36they say desireless action
00:19:38so they
00:19:40look at desirelessness
00:19:41from the point of view
00:19:42of action
00:19:45do not hurt
00:19:46do not steal
00:19:47do not argue
00:19:51do not lie
00:19:52and all that has
00:19:58been
00:20:00very
00:20:02wasteful
00:20:04that cannot help
00:20:07what's the point
00:20:09of attempting change
00:20:12at the level of action
00:20:14when the actor
00:20:15is not being
00:20:17even challenged
00:20:18let alone changed
00:20:19right
00:20:31the right action
00:20:33the real action
00:20:35happens on its own
00:20:41you cannot be the cause
00:20:43of the right action
00:20:47you meaning the ego
00:20:50you cannot cause it
00:20:52it is uncaused
00:20:58it does not come from
00:21:00a place that the ego
00:21:01can command
00:21:08however there is something
00:21:09that the ego can do
00:21:10and it continues doing it
00:21:12because we said that
00:21:13that's how the ego
00:21:15expresses itself
00:21:20sometimes the ego
00:21:21blocks the right action
00:21:22and comes up with
00:21:24an alternate action
00:21:27and sometimes
00:21:28the alternate action
00:21:29is the blockage
00:21:30of the right action itself
00:21:32both of these are actions
00:21:36the right action
00:21:38is about to happen
00:21:40it is always ready to happen
00:21:42anytime
00:21:43truth is never distant
00:21:46truth is never distant
00:21:49the right action
00:21:50is about to happen
00:21:53and now the ego
00:21:55if
00:21:57it is not yet very
00:22:00desirous of fame etc
00:22:02the ego will either
00:22:03come up with some other
00:22:05action
00:22:08which is steeped in desire
00:22:09and that way
00:22:10it will
00:22:11block the right action
00:22:12or
00:22:14if it wants to act
00:22:15respectable
00:22:16it will not come up with
00:22:17an alternate action
00:22:18but just block the right action
00:22:20and just blocking the right action
00:22:22too is
00:22:24an action
00:22:26so all actions of the ego
00:22:28are just with
00:22:31one solo purpose
00:22:34and the purpose
00:22:35is to not let the right action happen
00:22:41the ego can go left
00:22:43there is just
00:22:44one intention
00:22:46the right action
00:22:47must not happen
00:22:48the ego
00:22:49can also go right
00:22:52forward or backward
00:22:55the intention is just the same
00:23:00so there is not much
00:23:02change
00:23:03in changing the direction
00:23:04of your actions
00:23:08are you getting it?
00:23:12you can be an exploiter
00:23:14towards the right
00:23:15you can be an exploiter
00:23:16towards the left
00:23:22your job is to let it happen
00:23:26and that's real choice
00:23:28the only choice
00:23:30all other choices
00:23:32are just fake
00:23:35and this choice
00:23:36this authority
00:23:37this adhikar
00:23:38that we have
00:23:39is rarely exercised
00:23:41the ego looks at
00:23:42this one
00:23:43as a fatal choice
00:23:47it feels mortally threatened
00:23:51if I exercise this choice
00:23:52then I am gone
00:23:53finished
00:23:56therefore this authority is there
00:23:57but it remains unused
00:24:01and this is the only
00:24:02only
00:24:04real power
00:24:06that the ego has
00:24:09what is this power?
00:24:10to disappear
00:24:11what is this power?
00:24:12to step back
00:24:13what is this power?
00:24:14to resign
00:24:17what is this power?
00:24:18to let go
00:24:19to drop
00:24:22to flow
00:24:27the ego
00:24:30but you know
00:24:31the ego
00:24:35is made of desire
00:24:37that's the stuff of ego
00:24:39and desire is future
00:24:42so even if there is
00:24:44the chance to retreat
00:24:46the ego will first ask
00:24:48what after this?
00:24:51if I retreat
00:24:54what after me?
00:24:55who is there. Unfortunately, that which is there, once the ego is gone, can never be
00:25:04visible or detectable to the ego. The ego can detect only the stuff that lies in its
00:25:14own dimension. Truth is beyond the ego, therefore undetectable.
00:25:25The ego asks, well, let us assume I am not there, who is in charge after me? And gets
00:25:39no answer. Since it gets no answer, it gets more reasons to believe that there is nobody
00:25:48else to be in charge. The ego says, since there is nobody else to shoulder the responsibility
00:25:55of the organism, this jiva, therefore I have to be at the saddle. Therefore I have to hem
00:26:08the action. Are you getting it? Love, mysticism, faith. They are about retreating without
00:26:31bothering for what will happen next. They are about letting the real thing happen without
00:26:49asking what does it have for me. And you forget to ask that only when you allow yourself to
00:27:00be drenched in, to be marinated in the beauty of the real thing. You cannot stop asking questions
00:27:14about future and security. You can only forget asking those questions. And that forgetfulness
00:27:23happens only when you are lost in beauty. Only when you have allowed yourself to be charmed.
00:27:31Only when you have allowed yourself to really fall in love. Then those questions are forgotten.
00:27:42Remember those questions can never be answered. Never. What will happen to me? Who will take
00:27:49care of my security? Who will provide for my future? Nobody can answer those questions. Impossible.
00:27:56But yes, you can be mesmerised. You can be in a spell. You can be charmed so deeply that you just
00:28:17forget those questions. And that's what a real life is like. A life of charm. A life of beauty. A life of freedom
00:28:36freedom from normal consciousness. A life of being drunk with love. You are so drunk, you cannot
00:29:01remember petty things. Oh, I am so drunk. A divine forgetfulness. All the nonsense. Even if I try to
00:29:21remember I can't. I am so drunk. Something so enticing has captivated me. That I am no more in control of myself. And that's
00:29:44surrender. That's another name for the only choice that the ego has. All other choices that you keep making are just
00:29:54various expressions of the same rottenness. Therefore, they are not choices at all. You think you are making a choice when you decide
00:30:02whether to buy a black shirt or a white shirt or a crimson one or a violet one. There is no choice there because
00:30:08irrespective of the colour you choose, the desire is to impress someone. Or the desire is to get some comfort or the desire
00:30:15is to somehow extract a discount or something. They are not choices at all. Since they are coming from the same centre,
00:30:25therefore it would be a mistake to call them choices. Choices exist only when the options are different from each other. If all
00:30:39options are nothing but echoes of each other, copies of each other, then we are wrongly using the word choice.
00:30:55Real choice is only one. I will not be. I decide to proceed without myself. I can be joyful without myself.
00:31:25That's the only choice.
00:31:39Altering action, starting a new kind of action, stopping action, these are not choices because the actor is sitting pretty
00:31:54at his old comfortable position. Sitting at his position, he is sometimes exhibiting himself towards the left, sometimes towards the right.
00:32:06There is no fundamental distinction between these various choices that he is making.
00:32:14People often ask what to do. My answer is not to do. You are not asking who is the doer. You are asking what to do.
00:32:32You are saying the doer will not even be brought to scrutiny. Sir, you just advise us about the deed not the doer. We are not including the doer in the purview of the question.
00:33:00So they will come and say what to do. What should I do in this situation? This is my situation.
00:33:12Very smartly people hide the doer. What to do is a very unnecessary, very superfluous question. You have to retreat. The right thing will happen and when the right thing is happening, don't block it.
00:33:34The power to block it. The power to block is a very unfortunate power that is always available to the ego. Don't exercise that power.
00:33:49The ego cannot do anything great. The ego cannot do anything great. But it has the unfortunate authority to stop greatness from happening.
00:34:01It does not have any creative or constructive value. But it has a lot of nuisance value. I cannot do anything wonderful.
00:34:13But I can always throw a spanner in the wheels. I can stop the machine from running. I cannot make the machine run. But I can stop it from running.
00:34:28Which machine are we talking? The machine of innocent prakrati within yourself. The ego can either stop it or make it run in a suboptimal way towards regrettable direction.
00:34:58That is karta bhav. Doership. It is a bit of a task and it feels quite heavy. To let things happen. Yes. Your job is to understand yourself. That is your only job.
00:35:26That is the only authority, only choice you have and as a result of that understanding you find yourself thinning out. You find yourself dissolving, vaporizing, whichever way you want to put it.
00:35:39The more you find yourself. The more you find yourself. The more you find yourself gone. That is your only job.
00:35:52The more you find yourself. The more you find yourself. And the more you disappear. The more beautifully the stream of spontaneous action flows. The ego is the block. Otherwise, the stream knows its way.
00:36:15The ego is not needed to make the flow happen. The ego is not needed to assist the flow. The ego is just needed to get out of the way of the flow.
00:36:34Therefore, I advise you. Get out of your own way. You are wonderful. You are great. But you are your own blockage.
00:36:48You are beautiful. But you are determined to live and act ugly. Ugly? Am I not beautiful? You just said, yes, you are beautiful. In spite of yourself, you are beautiful.
00:37:15Let the beauty radiate itself. Inwardly, yes, all of us are magnificent. But what's the point in letting that magnificence remain just a potentiality?
00:37:45Let that magnificence become your life breath. Not just a latent sleeping thing in your heart.
00:38:02And no, you don't have to feed your greatness. No, you don't have to nurture it.
00:38:06The greatness knows its way just as the stream knows its way. You don't have to do anything positive or constructive.
00:38:15Rather, you have to do something negative and destructive. You have to remove yourself.
00:38:21Remove yourself. That's the reason Vedanta talks the language of removal. Of rejection. Of negation. Neti neti.
00:38:32No, don't be there. Get out. Leave it. Drop it. Have faith. What is right will happen.
00:38:44Just that it may not happen as per your plans. It may not happen as per your desires.
00:38:56But your plans and your desires are no good for you anyway.
00:39:03Let the smooth flow of life take over.
00:39:14Getting it?
00:39:27Action can at best be
00:39:29some kind of faint
00:39:35and partially reliable indicator of inner change.
00:39:39That's all.
00:39:45But because it is action that is outwards, manifested, visible,
00:39:52therefore we forget about inner change
00:39:59and focus on changing the action.
00:40:04I have started doing this, I have stopped doing that, so action has changed.
00:40:09And therefore you see progress is happening. No, there is no guarantee that just because your deeds have changed,
00:40:16so the doer has changed.
00:40:20In fact, even when you change your deeds, you change them in very pre-scripted ways.
00:40:30You very well know what it means to commit a bad deed, you also know what is a good deed like,
00:40:35so from bad deed you switch to good deed. It's all fake.
00:40:41Change of action, I was doing this, I am not doing this anymore.
00:40:45Now I am feeding dogs.
00:40:49Now I have stopped drinking milk.
00:40:51No guarantee that it is coming from any inner place.
00:41:04Self-knowledge, wisdom, spirituality is not about changing your actions.
00:41:09It is about looking at yourself honestly, ruthlessly, and that's all.
00:41:19The entire field of spirituality is just one honest glance.
00:41:27Can I look at myself honestly?
00:41:33That's the sum total of the entire spiritual process.
00:41:40Look at yourself honestly.
00:41:41And if you are looking at yourself honestly,
00:41:44that sets the ball rolling.
00:41:47That starts a chain reaction.
00:41:49You look at yourself and that which you are looking at,
00:41:54dissolves just by the virtue of being seen.
00:42:00I can see, I can see I am afraid, I can see I am voracious.
00:42:12That which is seen for what it is,
00:42:17starts losing its validity.
00:42:21Because it has been exposed, it has been seen.
00:42:25Now it cannot pretend to be virtuous.
00:42:27It has been virtuous.
00:42:28It has been seen.
00:42:32It loses its validity, its sanctity, its very reason to exist.
00:42:47And it starts dissolving.
00:42:49Now the process you see is in motion.
00:42:57You look at something, that which you look at, starts falling.
00:43:02That's the power of your glance.
00:43:04You look at something, it starts falling.
00:43:09It starts falling.
00:43:11Then that which it was obstructing starts flowing.
00:43:18A thick wall was obstructing the flow of the water.
00:43:22The wall starts falling.
00:43:25The water starts flowing.
00:43:27That water is your nature.
00:43:29That flow is your nature.
00:43:31Please flow.
00:43:33Please allow yourself to flow.
00:43:36Don't worry what the flow is about.
00:43:39Don't worry where the flow will take you.
00:43:41You anyway, do not exist downstream.
00:43:44You exist right now.
00:43:47What will happen in the future?
00:43:49The future one will take care of that.
00:43:52You exist only for this moment.
00:43:55In this moment, beauty lies in letting the flow happen, in going with the flow.
00:44:01We are not talking of emotional and hormonal flows here.
00:44:12We are talking of something far more sublime and sacred.
00:44:19A flow that comes only by virtue of understanding.
00:44:22Emotional and hormonal flows do not require any understanding at all.
00:44:28Even if you are perfectly mad, you will still have hormonal flows.
00:44:37We are talking of the flow that is possible only when the ego looks at itself in understanding.
00:44:45It is a flow catalyzed by understanding.
00:44:53It is a flow that cannot happen in absence of understanding.
00:44:58What is to be understood?
00:45:00Not the truth.
00:45:06It is sufficient for the ego to understand itself.
00:45:15You have choice, power, authority only over your actions.
00:45:30That does not mean that you are the master of your actions and you can act any way you like.
00:45:35That means your only authority lies in letting the real action happen.
00:45:47It happens.
00:45:49It is not done.
00:45:53You look at the passivity here.
00:45:56This is not something that you actively can do.
00:46:00This happens when you lie passive.
00:46:07Real action in that way is passive action.
00:46:16You stand by the side and let it flow.
00:46:21So your contribution is there but yours is a passive contribution.
00:46:26You are not causing the flow.
00:46:28You are just allowing the flow.
00:46:32What is the relationship with the action?
00:46:35I am not the causing entity.
00:46:39Yet I had the unfortunate authority to stop the flow.
00:46:43My contribution here is that I didn't stop the flow.
00:46:47That is my passive contribution.
00:46:50My contribution does not lie in doing something.
00:46:51My contribution here lies in not doing something that I could have potentially done.
00:46:56What would I have done?
00:46:58I could have blocked.
00:47:00I didn't block.
00:47:01That's my contribution.
00:47:02So my contribution is passive, not active.
00:47:04I am not active.
00:47:11If I am not active, who is?
00:47:13You don't have to worry.
00:47:15The entire universe is active.
00:47:19The entire universe is active.
00:47:21You don't need to shoulder the burden of activity.
00:47:24Activity will happen.
00:47:25You just limit yourself to understanding what is it that blocks action.
00:47:35Which is self knowledge.
00:47:37You just have to limit yourself to knowing yourself.
00:47:41That suffices.
00:47:47Be a good spectator.
00:47:48Stand.
00:47:58Beyond the ropes.
00:48:01Watch.
00:48:03Cheer.
00:48:04Applaud.
00:48:05But don't try to intrude into the arena.
00:48:09The arena belongs to the player.
00:48:13You.
00:48:15Are best being a spectator.
00:48:22Let the play happen.
00:48:27Have you seen in tennis, in cricket, in football also?
00:48:33Sometimes spectators, streakers and all, they intrude.
00:48:39What happens when they intrude into the field?
00:48:41The play stops.
00:48:44That's the ego.
00:48:46The play
00:48:48can happen beautifully only when the ego remains at the margins.
00:48:53Just a spectator ego.
00:48:55A watching ego.
00:48:57A witnessing ego.
00:48:59Not a playing ego.
00:49:02The moment the ego enters the playground, the play stops.
00:49:06The play has been defiled, corrupted.
00:49:08See how ugly it looks.
00:49:13Two or three of them have entered the playground.
00:49:19And now they are being chased away by the police.
00:49:24That's the ego.
00:49:27That's the ego.
00:49:28That's the ego.
00:49:31It enters places where it should not be.
00:49:39It assumes responsibilities that it should not.
00:49:43It assumes its own existence.
00:49:48That's the ego.
00:49:50That's the ego.
00:49:56What to do?
00:49:58Disappear.
00:49:59Go away.
00:50:00Retreat.
00:50:02But you cannot just retreat like that.
00:50:05To retreat you will have to know yourself.
00:50:08Know yourself.
00:50:10Knowing is retreating.
00:50:12Knowing is dissolving.
00:50:17Knowing therefore is purification.
00:50:20Are you sure the right action will happen in my absence?
00:50:37I just have to be a passive observer and the right thing will happen?
00:50:40So you need to ask why there is need for such an assurance.
00:50:48Once you understand who is the one seeking assurance on this count,
00:50:55the question will drop.
00:51:08Sir, you said your only job is to understand yourself.
00:51:12But I always feel like doing something, planning or thinking.
00:51:15So it becomes difficult for me to stop doing.
00:51:18And then give myself time to understand myself.
00:51:21So how do I move from this state to understanding myself?
00:51:24That is my fundamental question.
00:51:27No, see, you don't have to forcibly stop your actions
00:51:34to understand yourself.
00:51:36If you stop everything, it will in fact become more difficult to see
00:51:41where your actions are coming from.
00:51:45This thief is so well groomed and masked
00:51:54that he can be caught only red handed.
00:51:58So you have to be in the middle of action, whatever it is, planning, thinking, doing, speaking.
00:52:06And then see in the moment, in the middle of the action, parallel to the action, what you are doing.
00:52:17And it is possible to be the actor and also find yourself the witness of the action.
00:52:31It is possible for these two to happen simultaneously.
00:52:35You are haggling with the vendor, negotiating for some petty amount.
00:52:47And then that is the action that is there.
00:52:52It is possible to be witnessing this action even as it is happening in real time.
00:53:00It is possible.
00:53:01It is happening.
00:53:04It is happening.
00:53:06And right as it is happening, in the moment itself, I am able to watch it.
00:53:12I am not watching some memory of it.
00:53:16I am not recalling or recollecting it.
00:53:19Even as it is happening, I can see it happening.
00:53:21Here, right now.
00:53:24So, watching is not about sitting still in some corner, doing nothing and trying to watch.
00:53:36What will you watch?
00:53:39Watching will become difficult because if you are not outwardly doing anything,
00:53:43if your limbs are not in motion, then all that remains to be watched is thoughts.
00:53:51And thoughts are subtle.
00:53:54Watching this external, outward, sensual motion is relatively easier.
00:54:04You are hitting someone.
00:54:05You can see you are hitting someone and that can be.
00:54:09Or you are abusing someone.
00:54:11Or whatever.
00:54:12You are expressing love to someone.
00:54:17That can be experienced with the senses.
00:54:20So that is easier to watch.
00:54:22Okay.
00:54:24I just said this to that person.
00:54:27Such and such words.
00:54:30I can see where all this is coming from.
00:54:32I can see the reality of these things.
00:54:36Whereas if you sit still and say, you know, this is my time to witness myself.
00:54:42Then all that you will have, at most, is some thoughts, some feelings.
00:54:48They too can be watched, but it is relatively difficult.
00:54:53So, develop this practice
00:54:57of watching yourself in the normal run of daily events.
00:55:10I am doing and I am watching.
00:55:12I am doing and I am watching.
00:55:14Just as we said, it is unfortunate that the ego has the capacity
00:55:19to block the real flow.
00:55:22Fortunately for the ego, it has the capacity to observe itself in motion.
00:55:29So, the ego can do these two things potentially at once, together, concurrently.
00:55:36It can act and it can also be the watcher of the action.
00:55:42So, practice doing these two things simultaneously.
00:55:47Like one of those performers who juggled two balls.
00:55:54Doing this and doing this.
00:55:58And doing both of them concurrently.
00:56:00Namaste Acharya Ji.
00:56:01Namaste Acharya Ji.
00:56:02My name is Nidhi Pandya.
00:56:03And I am a housewife.
00:56:04Presently, I am living in UAE.
00:56:05My question is about emotional vulnerability and our problem-oriented approach.
00:56:07Recently on Community, someone posted about India's very bad position in World Happiness Index.
00:56:13And there are so many posts on social media regarding people hyping their very small problems.
00:56:32While I have seen my mother doing household chores, even in very bad health, without any stress.
00:56:40While in today's youth, we focus more on problems and play victimization card rather than finding solutions.
00:56:48Is there something youth is missing out and learnt from our older generation?
00:56:52You are asking about why people are seemingly more stressed out these days?
00:57:04Yeah, on very small problems.
00:57:06Like even a power cut is a very big problem to them.
00:57:09See, that comes with the intensity of desire, no?
00:57:23You want something very strongly, in a very expansive way, in a very detailed way.
00:57:31The number of details runs into hundreds.
00:57:34So, now there are hundred ways your desire can be frustrated.
00:57:44Because that which you wanted had hundred different kinds of desired details.
00:57:51This should be like this, that should be like this, that should be like this, that should be like this, that should be like this.
00:57:55And only then I can say I have a good life.
00:57:59If any of these things or a few of these things are not the way you desire them, then you feel you have reason to feel disappointed.
00:58:10That is what is happening.
00:58:13The number of objects at our disposal has dramatically increased over the last hundred years or so.
00:58:23In India, over the last thirty, forty years.
00:58:27Globally, over the last hundred and fifty years.
00:58:32And the increase is exponential.
00:58:37If you don't get something in your local store or even the local shopping mall, there is Amazon to order from.
00:58:51Anything is available.
00:58:54Something is not sold in India, you can still order it online.
00:58:58Anything is available. The entire world is available to you.
00:59:00And you feel empowered.
00:59:05You feel you have much more choice today.
00:59:08Right?
00:59:10And when there are so many objects vying for your attention,
00:59:14then your desire also gets attached to so many points.
00:59:20Therefore, you have so many points to be disappointed from.
00:59:26Now you have so many avenues to get a heartbreak from.
00:59:35No?
00:59:37And that is what is happening.
00:59:40See, we are, we are restless people.
00:59:54Right?
00:59:55And to take care of that restlessness, we have exploited the earth and produced an unimaginable diversity and abundance of goods and services.
01:00:16Because we want to feel good about ourselves.
01:00:23We think if we have that, if we can have more of this, even more of that, then we will feel nicer.
01:00:29And producing even more.
01:00:36Consuming even more.
01:00:40Asking for even more diversity and details.
01:00:46Will, will continue to remain an imperative.
01:00:50As long as you are unfulfilled.
01:00:54You have thousands of objects today.
01:00:58And they don't fulfill you.
01:01:00So tomorrow you will ask for millions of objects.
01:01:03And you will feel that since you do not have a few out of those million, that is the reason why you are frustrated.
01:01:14So you will say fine, I will increase the number at my disposal to a billion.
01:01:20But it is never going to suffice.
01:01:24It is not that we are disappointed over petty things, over minor issues.
01:01:30It is not, it is not about that.
01:01:33Even if there are no petty things, even if there are no minor issues, we will still be disappointed.
01:01:39It is not that the man wanted 100 things and he got only 90.
01:01:43That is why he is disappointed.
01:01:46Your question is, why are people today so disappointed on losing just 10% of what they want?
01:01:54Like uninterrupted power supply.
01:02:00And my grandparents, they didn't have much of what we have today and yet I found them relatively satisfied with themselves.
01:02:09That is how you are putting your question.
01:02:11The question is slightly misplaced.
01:02:17Even if you give a person all that he desires, all the thousands and millions of things that he can enlist,
01:02:26you will find he is still frustrated.
01:02:29Some pretext will emerge.
01:02:32Some reason will come from somewhere and he will still not be okay.
01:02:41Because it is not about getting the best quality of electricity supply uninterrupted and such thing.
01:02:47It is not about having this, having that, having relationships, having money, having furniture, having cars, having houses, enjoying foreign travel, having the best holidays.
01:02:59So how wonderful it is.
01:03:03We are not condemning them.
01:03:05You are just saying that is not the real deal.
01:03:07We are saying, if you are internally aflame, ablaze, burning, it will not help you to go
01:03:24to Maldives and drench yourself in the sea and be carried away by the waves.
01:03:36That's not going to help you, the fire is within.
01:03:39No amount of water on the outside is going to provide any relief.
01:03:50Self-knowledge, spirituality, wisdom, that's what is missing and that's what is the only
01:03:57solution.
01:04:00But that any kind of material growth will only deepen your frustration and only strengthen
01:04:08your resolve to destroy the planet and destroy your fellow human beings and destroy all the
01:04:17species so that you can somehow get some kind of peace.
01:04:22And the peace would still remain fleeting.
01:04:29Thank you, Aten.
01:04:36Aten.
01:04:37Aten.
01:04:38Aten.
01:04:39Aten.
01:04:40Aten.
01:04:41Aten.
01:04:42Aten.
01:04:43Aten.
01:04:44Aten.
01:04:45Aten.
01:04:46You
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