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00:00When I see the religious practice, particularly in my household, so I'm a Muslim, I see some of the practice that I'm doing without some rasna.
00:09Our forefathers did it, so we are doing it. But I want to introduce that rasna to my family. How should I approach them or how should I discuss it with them?
00:18A far better approach, which is not just a good policy, but actually a very honest thing to do, is to ask, if you are religious, sir, don't you want to be truly and purely religious? Is it not?
00:32Shouldn't the first thing be to examine my life as I'm living? Can we look at our religions, our traditions, our rituals, our beliefs, and say, well, we are committed to purity?
00:46Don't we want to refine our thoughts, our traditions? Don't we want to be coming to the sacred with a certain honesty?
00:56Instead of being approximately religious, can we be exactly religious?
01:03They do make sacrifices in the name of religion, right?
01:07Sometimes they would limit their consumption, sometimes they won't even eat, sometimes they'll want to modify their behavior.
01:15So, there are a lot of adjustments that they make to be called as religious.
01:20But the path you are walking in the name of religion is actually truly religious.
01:29Namaste Jaya Ji, and I am the first year student of PG at IIT Kanpur.
01:35So, my question is that when I see the religious practice that in my household, particularly in my household,
01:43I see some of the practice that are going without some rasnan.
01:48And like our forefathers did it, so we are doing it.
01:51But I want to introduce that rasnan to my family, to my like elders, like my father and my other, let's say my father.
01:58So, for that, how should I approach them or how should I discuss it with them so that it does not like affect their faith and it does not like offend them?
02:09You will have to tell them that the objective of religion is not to attain a heaven, not to please a holy figure,
02:30but to come to your own inner truth and that is sacred.
02:40You will have to tell them,
02:43I am a Muslim.
02:44I am a Muslim.
02:46You are a Muslim.
02:48Be it a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, anybody.
02:51You are a Muslim.
02:52The Jewish family, the highest objective of religion is truth.
03:04Truth.
03:04Your family would understand the word Hak.
03:10Hak.
03:11That is the highest.
03:14And if the truth is the highest, then shouldn't you begin by dropping falsenesses wherever
03:24you see them?
03:28Is that not a good way to begin?
03:30Yeah, that's a very good way to begin.
03:33But the thing is, the rationale you have, I have, but how should I like convince them
03:39to do something?
03:40No, don't convince them.
03:41Just ask them, what is it that they want and show them, yeah, request them and show them
03:48that that which they really want, which is the objective and the pinnacle of all religion
03:58is not going to be attained through blind ritualism.
04:05If they are religious, then shouldn't they be truly religious?
04:11If I say I'm religious and you tell me, no, no, no, religion is nothing, waste.
04:18Then obviously I'll be offended.
04:19I won't listen to you.
04:21Yeah.
04:22So even practically this kind of approach won't work.
04:27Yes.
04:28Right.
04:29a far better approach, which is not just a good policy, but actually a very honest thing
04:34to do is to ask if you are religious, sir, don't you want to be truly and purely religious?
04:47And religion is about a total commitment to the truth, is it not?
04:54Yes.
04:55Yes.
04:56And if I am to be committed to the truth, shouldn't the first thing be to examine my life as I
05:04am living?
05:06And wherever I spot fakeness, falseness, hollowness, ignorance, drop it.
05:15Yes.
05:16If I am doing something as a mere ritual without knowing what it means, am I being truthful?
05:23No.
05:24So, that's the question to ask, it's a very simple question.
05:31In the holy books, it is often said, you must never live in falseness, in darkness, in hollow
05:40sins, do not go down the wrong lane, they declare that way, don't they?
05:48What do those words, those lines, what do they really mean?
05:56See things as they are, that's what they mean.
06:02Do not be captivated by mere appearances.
06:06Do not live on hearsay.
06:13And tradition is not necessarily truth.
06:18Just because people have been doing something since years or since centuries, that does not
06:24become the truth.
06:27So can we look at our religions, our traditions, our rituals, our beliefs?
06:36And say, well, we are committed to purity.
06:41Don't we want to refine our thoughts?
06:43Our traditions?
06:45Don't we want to be coming to the sacred with a certain honesty?
06:58Isn't there pretense in a lot of things that we do in the name of religion?
07:05And that's a question that you should not answer.
07:07That's a question that they should answer.
07:11Because you see, it's a very personal thing.
07:14Right?
07:15It's about reaching your own inner truth.
07:18You cannot bulldoze somebody, you cannot force yourself on somebody, you cannot drag somebody to liberation.
07:25That's often I found, like, whenever I try to tell them something or try to explain something, I get stuck at some point.
07:35They say the faith comes above all.
07:37That is the thing where I get stuck and I cannot, like, go ahead without offending them or offending their relationship.
07:47I have learnt it the hard way, and you must benefit from my experience, that offence is not necessarily the best way.
07:57Don't do that.
07:58Don't try that.
07:59That should be your last resort, you see.
08:02Not that you are totally discounted, but that should be used only when nothing else works.
08:09You see, I am a religious person, right?
08:13In my own mind, in my own belief, I am doing the right thing.
08:18I think I am pleasing my Lord, right?
08:21If I do these things, then the Lord will be happy.
08:24That is how most religious persons would describe their actions, right?
08:29If I do all these things, then the Master, the Lord, he'll be happy.
08:36Your question must be, have you actually understood what the truth is?
08:47If you want to be religious, are you sure the path you are walking is truly religious?
08:55Yes, you want to be a good person.
08:58That's what we often say, religious people are good people, right?
09:02At least the religious ones like to say that.
09:06But are you sure, they consider themselves that way, yes.
09:10But can we be sure that the path you are walking in the name of religion is actually of goodness?
09:19Can and even if you are walking down the right path, can we somehow increase the pace?
09:26Maybe you are going in the right direction, yes, the direction is almost right.
09:30But can we choose the smarter lane instead of being approximately religious?
09:42Can we be exactly religious?
09:46You can't tell them that what you are doing in the name of religion is actually the opposite
09:49of religion, which often is the truth by the way.
09:54But if you put it that way, their listening would simply stop at that point.
10:03Don't do that.
10:05A religious person, there are some things that you ought to respect about them.
10:12They do make sacrifices in the name of religion, right?
10:18Sometimes they would limit their consumption, sometimes they won't even eat.
10:24Sometimes they'll want to modify their behavior.
10:28So, there are a lot of adjustments that they make, a lot of prices that they pay to be called as religious.
10:41And let's respect their sentiment.
10:45In their own mind, they are trying to do the right thing.
10:49Just that they do not really know that what they are doing in the name of rightness or righteousness is not really the right thing.
11:00So don't tell them, I have come to break you.
11:03Tell them, I have come to improve you.
11:05And that's also true.
11:07That's also the honest thing to tell them.
11:10You don't want to break them, right?
11:11You want to help them improve.
11:17Often going closer to the scripture also helps.
11:23Because a lot of religious people, in fact not a lot, an overwhelming majority of religious people have never by themselves studied the scripture.
11:35Yeah, that's one thing I often find that they just follow someone, like some guy who knows the scriptures, they follow them.
11:46They don't actually try to understand what it is like written in it.
11:50Yes.
11:51So, I often find, once recent thing happened to me, that I was telling my friend that if you read this thing that the religious structure, it will like have different meaning for you.
12:06Repeat, repeat.
12:07Your last sentence got totally broken.
12:11Recently, I have had an experience with a friend.
12:14So, I tell him that I am reading this scripture to understand something which can have different meaning.
12:23A single sentence can have different meaning in the scripture.
12:27Like, to understand it, I have to do it myself.
12:30I cannot just follow someone else's work or someone else's work they have understood.
12:35So, he said that, no, I believe in them.
12:38Like, I believe in them.
12:40They have more knowledge than me.
12:41They have more experience than me.
12:43So, I follow them.
12:45So, I should, how should I like convince them that you yourself should do it, it will like benefit you more or it is like he is right and I am wrong.
12:58So, all good books exist to awaken your consciousness, to make you brighter, sharper, clearer.
13:12Right?
13:13And if you are to constantly stay someone who needs some kind of a middle man to approach the scripture,
13:24then it doesn't behove the very, the purpose of the scripture.
13:29In the beginning, yes, a few years maybe, you can have someone who interprets it for you.
13:40But if that person, I refer to as middle man, you can call that person as a teacher, a guru, somebody, a Malvi.
13:49If that person is actually doing his task properly, then after a point, you should be able to relate to the scripture on your own.
14:07Otherwise, the entire process has failed, has it not?
14:10Yes.
14:11Because the whole purpose of scripture is to help you stand on your own and live life independently.
14:21And to have a very, very personal and intimate relationship with the truth.
14:27When it comes to you and the truth, do you want somebody in between?
14:33No.
14:34No.
14:35No, no.
14:36Right?
14:37So, yes, initially, you can depend on an interpretation or someone who is, you know, doing the teaching
14:48thing for you.
14:49Maybe, yes.
14:50But you must also keep asking yourself, am I growing within or not?
14:56Am I developing a personal relationship with the book or not?
15:03Can I see the words in clearer light by myself or not?
15:10Also, have I become sharp enough to see a meaning beyond the traditional one?
15:17If not at all places, then at least at a few places?
15:24If that is happening, then it's a healthy relationship between the individual and the scripture.
15:31Whereas, if the person is just depending on belief, you know, this is the common interpretation,
15:40doing the rounds.
15:42So, I too have bought it.
15:46If that is your position, then there is a great problem.
15:49Okay.
15:50I understood it.
15:51Like, we have to have personal innocence with the scripture and to, like, to get up beyond
16:04meaning of what it is written rather than what this other person of the middle man is explaining
16:12after this guidance.
16:14Because, you see, the truth is…
16:15The truth follows…
16:16Yes.
16:17Yes.
16:18Because the truth is a very, very intimate thing.
16:19Is it not?
16:20Yes.
16:21I also think it's very personal for me about these kind of things.
16:22It's quite personal to me.
16:23I also think the same.
16:37And when you are speaking to people in matters of religion, be a little discreet.
16:50On one hand, you are responsible and you are loving.
16:55So, you want to bring the right thing to a lot of people that is understandable and appreciable.
17:02But also, you must understand, not everybody is ready.
17:10So, no point trying to push your way through.
17:15Yes?
17:16Yeah.
17:17That is the thing I follow.
17:19Like, charity begins at home.
17:21I want to, like, improve myself first, then go on.
17:25Yes.
17:26Yes.
17:27Yes.
17:28Wonderful.
17:29Wonderful.
17:30Wonderful.
17:39Hello, everyone.
17:40My name is Vivek.
17:41So, I have been associated with Foundation since last three years and that is a continuous
17:47involvement and a continuous journey of having more clarity, becoming fearless.
17:54Yes.
17:55The main thing which I see, what I have learned is not to base my identity on the world and
18:04the situations outside.
18:05So, I have become more centered, more anchored and more clear in my decisions.
18:11Also, I was able to guide my daughter.
18:14She is pursuing a psychology masters in Nottingham University.
18:19So, that was all.
18:20I wouldn't have, you know, had that mindset to be true and courage to send her a loan there
18:29and, you know, to take that much of loan and everything.
18:34But, however, when you, you know, enroll in Gita, you know what is the right thing to
18:41do and all the falsehood from your life begins falling off and that is what gives you freedom.
18:52I have been a non-vegetarian for 40 years and as soon as I started listening to Acharya
18:59G, I was able to, you know, do away with the non-veg food and then also I became a vegan.
19:06That has given me, you know, healthy weight loss and I have become more energetic.
19:13That's, these are all the physical aspects and the internal aspects are more important.
19:19So, Gita or Vedanta should be the center of our life and I don't think there is any other
19:27source currently existing which is delivering the message and the, you know, the concept
19:36of Sri Krishna or Vedanta so clearly and so profoundly.
19:41So, please join in regular Gita sessions.
19:46The asking fees has been reduced to almost nothing.
19:50The only thing which is asked is your dedication and your true, you know, love for Krishna.
19:57So, that is all from my side. Thank you.
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