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00:00Nowadays, protests are triggered in Iran.
00:08This is the beginning of the inner revolution.
00:11Yes, we have tried science, we have tried psychology, we have tried politics,
00:15we have tried organized religion, we have tried prosperity,
00:18we have tried various kinds of economic models,
00:21we have tried all of that and that is not succeeding.
00:23Now what do I do as an individual?
00:25I carry the weight of entire history.
00:27But if we see Iran, I was reading the news and like their protests have been brutally crushed.
00:33We don't know the exact numbers of people that have been murdered or killed.
00:37So what could be the way, how the light would reach to them?
00:41The entire flow of all the revolutions in history is out there
00:46and we are standing here observing all of that.
00:49No, no, no.
00:50Today, we are having this discussion as a living response to what is happening across the world, right?
00:58So we are not outside of that, we are inside that.
01:03Good evening, sir.
01:04So, sir, nowadays protests are triggered in Iran.
01:16So, they have gone from economic grievances to anti-regime protest.
01:21And external effects like EU has declared their military as a terrorist organization
01:30and America's military.
01:32So, what is your response regarding this situation
01:36and how can there be a peaceful transition without chaos?
01:40You see, you can have a seemingly peaceful transition on the surface.
02:04But the chaos will still remain because the chaos is much deeper than what you see on the surface.
02:24I call these rotating revolutions.
02:27In 1979, the same Iran, the same streets, they were protesting against the Shah.
02:42Muhammad Shah Raza Pahlvi, the Islamic revolution.
02:50And many of the grievances that were held against Shah, that dictatorial regime, are interestingly very, very similar
03:06to the grievances that the protestors today have against the Islamic regime.
03:16Then there was the secret police, the Shah had a secret police.
03:23Today you have the moral police.
03:31Then there was a dictatorship that was seen as leaning heavily towards Western powers and the US.
03:44Today again you have a theocratic dictatorship that is seen as leaning away from the Western powers.
03:58There were economic grievances then, there are economic grievances even today.
04:07There was a feeling of loss of national pride and dignity then, in terms of being subservient to Western interests.
04:18Today again there is that feeling.
04:21Today again there is that feeling.
04:22Because all of Iran's proxies in Gaza, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, many places, Lebanon, they have been demolished.
04:35And the US and Israel were able to bomb Iran with impunity just the last year.
04:47So again there is that same feeling of loss of national pride.
04:54What is happening?
04:55Something very interesting.
05:00Revolutions keep happening.
05:05Revolutions aim to demolish some external system.
05:13But the revolutionary, the man or in case of Iran today, the woman, the woman on the street, rarely bothers to ask what in me first of all created this system.
05:39So I am the ego.
05:42I create one system.
05:46It is dictatorial.
05:51It smells a particular kind.
05:53It wears a particular color.
05:58It chants a particular slogan.
06:03I am the creator.
06:04I am the ego.
06:08And that system serves me not.
06:13It cannot make me any better.
06:15It cannot bring me real peace, real progress or prosperity.
06:20Because the system is, after all, my own baby.
06:27The leaves cannot change the roots, can they?
06:33The leaves cannot change the roots.
06:37If the revolution itself is a product of an unexamined ego.
06:44The revolution, no revolution ever.
06:47It is not related to Iran.
06:48No revolution ever.
06:50Can bring lasting peace or freedom.
06:56You look at the world around.
07:02The Russian revolution.
07:05Let there be power to the workers.
07:10Let there be power to the workers.
07:15Then we got Stalin.
07:18And there was a greater concentration of power in Stalin's hand than even the Tsar had.
07:29The number of people that were killed for political reasons in Stalin's regime far exceeded anything that the Tsar ever did.
07:40Russia, they wanted power to the workers.
07:43China, they wanted power to the common man.
07:48The farmers.
07:49They said, no feudal lordships, please.
07:53So, they had the Chinese revolution and they got Mao.
07:57And we know the number of the millions of farmers that were killed.
08:03Not directly.
08:04Not directly.
08:05But due to flawed policies.
08:10So, that is the game that the ego plays.
08:18And the ego is an expert at playing this game.
08:23First of all, clamor for democracy.
08:26We want democracy.
08:27We want democracy.
08:28And then, no, no, democracy is the root cause of all problems.
08:37We are suffering because of too much democracy.
08:43Does that sound familiar?
08:46Yes.
08:47When a colonial master is there, then you say, we want to be the creators of our own destiny.
08:55We want democracy.
08:56And once you have democracy, say, we are lagging behind China because we have too much democracy.
09:07We keep playing the blame game at the level of systems.
09:14As if systems run people.
09:17As if systems make people.
09:19See, obviously, we understand systems have power.
09:24A woman, for example, living in the Iranian system, experiences life very differently compared
09:34to a woman in, let's say, Germany.
09:37Today's Germany.
09:39Yes, the systems do have power.
09:42But out of these two, the ego and the system, the more fundamental one is the ego.
09:50And that's something that the ego never wants to admit.
09:55It would pretend as if the system is everything and changing the system would change life.
10:02So, it keeps rotating systems.
10:07Communist countries become capitalist.
10:10Traditional countries become modern.
10:12Right leaning countries become left leaning.
10:17Secular countries become theocratic.
10:21Dictatorships become democracies.
10:24Systems keep coming and going.
10:27The churn continues.
10:31And no system ever suffices.
10:36Because the ego, the producer of all systems, remains unseen, untested, unexamined.
10:49Every time, a system created by the ego fails, the ego will never admit, I have failed.
10:57It will say, the system is at flaw.
11:02Therefore, death to the system.
11:15Death to the system.
11:17Death to the system.
11:19It will never say, I am the fundamental culprit.
11:22Unless I look into the mirror.
11:27Unless I look at my own flawed assumptions.
11:33And hollow existence.
11:34I will keep producing one system after the other that serves no good.
11:40no good. See, the ego tremors for freedom, right? Iran today, we hear woman, life, freedom
11:56and many such things. Equally, you see, when the ego is given freedom, it cannot handle
12:06it. Because freedom implies responsibility. Therefore, when the ego is actually given freedom,
12:17it starts asking for support. It starts saying, oh, this is too much load to bear. I don't
12:29want so much freedom. When the ego does not have freedom, we know the mehasaamini case,
12:36and the ego has a legitimate urge for freedom. That must be respected, yes. But since the
12:44ego does not know itself, therefore, it also does not know what real freedom truly means.
12:50Real freedom is not just about having certain rights, social, political, judicial, etc. That's
12:56not real freedom. Real freedom is when you are inwardly free. And that is a freedom the
13:02ego neither wants to have nor would tolerate. So you give democracy to the ego, and what
13:14would it do? It would elect strongmen through the democratic route, like what you see in the
13:22U.S. today. Because the ego cannot really carry freedom. Therefore, it will vote those to power
13:36who limit freedom. It is so interesting. Using freedom to vote for those whose very agenda is
13:48anti-freedom. And then we keep blaming systems, we keep blaming neighbors, we keep blaming global
14:00conditions, or economic cycles. We keep saying those things. A lot of people think that the Iranian
14:08turmoil is because inflation has touched 40% or that unemployment is close to 20%. They think it's because
14:19of the external hardship that the people are out on the streets. No, not really. The ego would always
14:31prefer to be out on the streets rather than in with the truth. Because it's much easier to raise slogans.
14:44And roll down shutters. And stop traffic. And carry out processions.
15:01It's much easier to do that. The far more difficult thing is to have some self-knowledge. And that self-knowledge
15:15is the biggest revolution. But that's the revolution the ego would be deeply afraid of.
15:30In its place, it would go for all kinds of external this and that. It's not about countries. It's not about systems. It's also not about politics or religion. It's about the human being. When you are bored or restless within, do you actually
15:58attend to your inner state and want to find out what's going on? Or do you rather choose to stroll out to a mall, buy something, watch a movie, scroll Instagram, or endlessly gossip with somebody who can take your gibberish?
16:27Take your gibberish. The moment the ego finds itself in discomfort, it chooses to venture out. Whereas the root of discomfort is within. Does that mean that I am being anti-revolution? No. On the contrary, I am asking for a complete revolution.
16:53The revolution. The revolutions we have had, the French, the Russian, the German, the British, the American, they have all only partially and superficially succeeded, if at all.
17:11A complete revolution means an inner overhauling of the human being. That's what is needed.
17:24That does not mean that we should not challenge the outer systems. Yes, the outer systems too must be challenged.
17:33But just challenging the outer system would never suffice. It's rather a distraction. It's entertainment for the ego.
17:43It provides a kind of self-ingratiating consolation. You see, I am not weak. I am not a coward. I did something. And what did I do? I chased something on the outside.
18:05I am not a coward. I am not dishonest either. I chased something on the outside. And yes, obviously, we do want external change as well. Definitely.
18:18We don't want an external system in which women can't even come out with their hair flying.
18:25Mahasa Amini had to die for it. We don't want external systems in which basic social freedoms are curtailed.
18:40So, obviously, external systems too must change. But external change is less than half the job done.
18:55A total revolution would mean the internal system has to change and from that cleaned, renewed, refreshed inner point,
19:09great external systems would arise. We need not predict in advance what kind of external systems would arise.
19:19Maybe the need to have a strong structure, a binding architecture of a system would itself diminish. Maybe. That's possible.
19:32It's possible that when the human being awakens, the very need to rely on an external architecture diminishes. Even that is possible.
19:42But that may diminish. That may not diminish. We do not know. And we need not bother about that.
19:48The more important thing is, let the revolution start from here and then proceed inside out.
20:00Our revolutions remain outside out. They don't even proceed outside in. They just don't touch the inner thing.
20:10Let the revolution start from the heart and then proceed to the streets and the systems and the parliaments. That's fine.
20:20My question has actually two parts. Let me start with first. We talked of Iran. We talked of freedom, revolution.
20:30freedom actually means being inwardly free and revolution is actually total revolution and the ego does never want total revolution, right?
20:40So, correct me if I'm right, if I understood it, right? We are talking of Iran. So, actually, we are talking of masses here, right?
20:48Although masses comprise of individuals only. So, a day that comes when the masses are awakened, like a freedom from, although it is an evolving process.
21:00But that day, the kind of suppression that we see in Iran today, the kind of violence or the kind of regime that we see today.
21:08And you also talked of systems that we cling to the systems. So, the system would be completely different.
21:16Maybe it would be a democracy, we don't know. Maybe it would be something else, we don't know. Or maybe it would be something that we know, but in some other way.
21:24But that would be the thing that would happen when the masses are little awakened, right? This is my first part.
21:32The second is, but now we are living in reality. Now the condition is that, suppose we are here in India, you are in India, you are doing your work because you know what is right.
21:42I am here in front of you because I know what is right. But if we see Iran, okay, I was reading the news and the, like their protests have been brutally crushed.
21:54We don't know the exact numbers of people that have been murdered or killed. So, what could be the way how the light would reach to them that in the present times that awakening would arise into them?
22:06What could be the way or being here, being here, we are talking, we should say that me and you should be, this event should be so loud, this conversation should be so successful that the light reaches to them.
22:20In fact, you have very nicely concluded your question as the beginning of the solution itself.
22:32You see, you and I are not outside what's going on. Let not the mental model be that Iran is there, China is there, Russia is there, US is there, Europe is there.
22:48Even the Indian political system is somewhere out there. The entire flow of all the revolutions in history is out there and we are standing here observing all of that. No, no, no.
23:04Today, we are having this discussion as a living response to what is happening across the world, right?
23:16So, we are not outside of that. We are inside that. And this is the beginning of the inner revolution. Yes.
23:25When we see that as a species, as human beings, we have been restless all throughout history. Always.
23:39Why do you think that old man, that ancient one chose to step out of the forest? Why did he take to farming? Why?
23:51And from farming, why did he come to industry? And from industry, why did he come to the internet? Why? Because we have always been restless. Right?
24:06So, the revolution, which comes from restlessness is not out there somewhere. That restlessness is in here. In here.
24:18And we are seeing how we are coping with that restlessness. What are we doing?
24:24We are trying one external solution after the other. So, what are you seeing in Iran today is a form of an attempted political solution, right?
24:36It is an attempted political solution to human restlessness. Are you getting it?
24:43When you say, I want the kind of generative AI that is able to read even my heart.
24:54And de facto act as my lover. Even that is an attempted solution to inner restlessness.
25:05Even we have tried all kinds of solutions. This entire edifice of culture and civilization and knowledge and economy and progress that we have built is nothing but a reaction to our restlessness.
25:20Sometimes it appears in the form of a political revolution. At other times it appears in the form of exploration of outer space.
25:31But the basic restlessness is the same. So far so good. Should we not also see that the restlessness has not diminished?
25:44That we have tried virtually everything that we can try in the entire universe. Fundamentally.
25:55From here we will only amplify what already exists. We will not do anything fundamentally different.
26:02And we have tried all of that. We have tried science. We have tried psychology. We have tried politics. We have tried organized religion.
26:14We have tried prosperity. We have tried various kinds of economic models.
26:21We have tried various kinds of relationships between human beings. We have tried all of that. And that is not succeeding. That is not succeeding.
26:31Now what do I do as an individual? I am not just a human being standing here in front of you. X years old.
26:41I carry the weight of entire history. I am homo sapiens. And I have been trying all kinds of treatments to my physiological restlessness since eternity.
26:56I am born restless. I am born restless. And I have been attempting this, this, this, this. Entertainment, adventure, thrill, wars, mercy. You name it.
27:11Art, culture, science. I have been attempting everything. From the deepest kind of welfare to the biggest slaughter.
27:25I have been attempting everything. And I am still restless. So what should be the first honest thing to conclude?
27:40The external direction is not working out.
27:45Irrespective of what is done. Outwardly. The inner problem will not be solved. Are you getting it?
28:03And that is seen in the middle of the turmoil and the restlessness.
28:10There must be surely somebody in Iran who would be seeing this. They would be saying,
28:15Ah, Iran has such a very gated history. Right?
28:25It starts with the Aryans. Then the Vesta. Zarathrustra. The great battles.
28:40Then Islam arrives. The Parsis flee. And then the age of the Persian dominance.
28:52And all this has been happening. We have been changing everything possible. Color, costume, religion, regimes.
29:04Then we had the Shah. We changed the Shah. We brought in Ayatollah Khomeini.
29:16And now, not even half a century has passed and we won't change. We won't change. Once again, somebody within the entire turmoil has to be seeing this.
29:34Or at least honestly acknowledging this. All the external attempts that mankind makes are not succeeding.
29:45And that is what the man in the middle of the turmoil has to honestly see. We are not outside the happening. We are within the happening.
29:54Therefore, we must be able to see. We have been trying everything, everything, everything. But see where all that has brought us.
30:09The doomsday clock was very recently reset. I think just this month itself. And you know how far it is from catastrophe? How many seconds? Just 85 seconds.
30:22That is what all our external efforts and revolutions have given us. No other species eats away their own home, their own planet. We have done that.
30:37Look at what Trump is doing in the US. Look at how he has walked out of all climate deals. Look at how nations are again talking the language of nuclear testing and proliferation.
30:58Obviously, whatever the human being has done in the outward direction to gain peace, freedom, whatever, whatever, all the nice words, that has not succeeded.
31:12Far from succeeding, it has brought us to the very edge of disaster. Don't you see where we stand? Youngsters here, most of you, don't you know what the climate catastrophe means?
31:27You know that, right? Because you are the ones to face the consequences in your lifetime. Very debilitating consequences. Very unprecedented consequences.
31:41That's what the external strife has done. And once you see that, what do you do?
31:50You say, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Before, before I take a step in this direction or annul this and move in this direction, I must first of all know who the mover is.
32:08Otherwise, the fact is, I have tried all 360 degrees. There is no direction that the human being has never tried. We have tried everything and yet we remain discontented within.
32:30Therefore, now I need to try out the only direction that still remains to be tested. And which direction is that? The inner direction. Who am I? Who am I? And why am I so restless?
32:46Do I even know where I am coming from? Why must I be a slave to my opinions or likes or desires? Do I have in me to go to the root of my own instincts?
33:11Right? And a revolution, external disorder is a great place to let these reflections be invoked within you.
33:33There was the culling war. And that served as a mirror to Ashok. Because he sat there and said, no, no, no, no. I'm seeing what is happening. I cannot deny it anymore. The consequences are right there in front of me. And this won't work.
33:57Therefore, he was forced to turn within. So, a new system came up. Did Ashok resign? Did he run away to the jungle? No, he still remained the emperor.
34:11But the very nature of the empire changed. He still remained the emperor. But the whole imperial posture changed. And that's how a new system arises.
34:24When you honestly look at the devastation all around you and say, I have tried out everything. And this is not the way it's ever going to work.
34:35Maybe I have not tried out everything in my own limited lifetime. But when I look at the history of mankind, every possible thing has been tried out. And this is not the way it will work out.
34:45And then you say, that's the way. And that does not mean, I repeat, that you have to abdicate the throne. That does not mean that you have to run away from the campus.
35:01That simply means that the normal territorial emperor called Ashok becomes Ashok the Great. He still remains the emperor. He still uses technology.
35:23He was still sending out missions and missionaries, but not to conquer, to enlighten.
35:36Do you get this? I'm not saying one has to copy Ashok's system or any other system.
35:44What I'm saying is, something beautiful arises from self-knowledge.
35:53What its nature would be, we cannot predict. But what is certain is, we can dismiss that which is surely not succeeding. What is not succeeding?
36:03The outer revolutions, the outer efforts.
36:06Let us conquer new continents. When we cannot conquer new continents, we want to conquer new planets.
36:13Let us have more to eat.
36:17In having more to eat. We have wiped out 75% of wildlife from the forests.
36:27You all know that, right?
36:30The rate of extinction of species. Hundred times more than the natural rate.
36:36It is obvious, it is common sense to see that the external movement, that the external hustle is very counterproductive.
36:51And that's when you see that the inner revolution is needed.
36:55Sitting in the middle of the chaos. Sitting at the center of the ruins.
37:01And seeing it all fall and collapse all around you.
37:07That's when there is this unmistakable realization.
37:12This won't work out. Not on moral grounds. Very practical grounds.
37:20This is not succeeding. This is not working out. Something else needs to be attempted.
37:27This is not working out.
37:28Yes.
37:29Good evening, sir.
37:30Good evening, sir.
37:31Sir, as you said, don't blame the system. But once a person tries to go out of the league,
37:37then this system tries to suppress them.
37:40Once a person goes out of?
37:42Tries to go out of league or try to do something new.
37:46Okay.
37:47This system tries to suppress them or society.
37:50So isn't it confusing? So my question is that, is society sick because individuals are
37:56confused. All the individual is confused because the society is sick.
38:01You see, it's a mutually reinforcing relationship.
38:07The ego builds systems to sustain itself.
38:13So if you say the systems are sustaining the ego, you are right.
38:19You are right.
38:20But that does not mean that systems created the ego in the first place.
38:26The ego does not come from any external system. If you want to know the origins of the ego,
38:31the ego comes from your basic anatomical system. The ego comes from this physiological system.
38:40And then it creates a lot of systems outside. The family system, the education system, the
38:45political system, the religious system, all kinds of systems. Systems of trade, commerce,
38:51all kinds of systems. If you want to know which one is more fundamental, the ego is more fundamental.
38:58Yes.
39:02Yes.
39:05Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
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