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00:00:00Welcome everyone. It is my privilege to welcome among us today a philosopher and author, Acharya Prashant.
00:00:07Philosophy becomes a thing of the masses without losing its quality at all.
00:00:14Acharya Prashant is a globally renowned philosopher and a national best-selling author with more than 160 books to his
00:00:20name.
00:00:21This evening we also have with us Dr. Saurabh Todariya. Dr. Saurabh Todariya is a professor of philosophy at IIIT
00:00:28Hyderabad.
00:00:28One of the primordial modes of philosophy whether in Greek philosophy or in India was the dialogue.
00:00:36He earned his PhD in philosophy from Jawaharlal Nehru University and specializes in phenomenology, Kantian philosophy, artificial intelligence, consciousness and
00:00:45the philosophy of mind.
00:00:47Dr. Saurabh Todariya also serves as a member of the NCRT textbook development team for philosophy textbooks for classes 11
00:00:53and 12.
00:00:54His recent publications include The World as Affordances, Phenomenology and Embeddedness in Heidegger and AI,
00:01:02along with Synthesis and Transcendental Ego, a comparison of Kant and Husserl.
00:01:07Friends, please join me in extending a very warm welcome to Acharya Prashant and Dr. Saurabh Todariya.
00:01:18Why some people choose the philosophical path? Why this suffering?
00:01:22Philosophy becomes a thing of the masses without losing its quality at all. Philosophy is for each one of us
00:01:29because all of us are alive and we all do suffer, don't we?
00:01:34It's your will. It's your will. It's your will. We want to get into the depth of things as philosophers.
00:01:43But why? And for whom?
00:01:45And as you correctly mentioned, the philosophical question starts from the existential crisis.
00:01:49Why would one question if one is already settled? So one has to be sensitive.
00:01:54So for young thinkers like the ones present here, it is very important to let their own inner self be
00:02:03the criteria, the measure.
00:02:06Not that you were so much in bondage that you lost all agency. That never, never happens. Never happens.
00:02:13And the complete but incomprehensible answer is...
00:02:21Namaste Acharya Prashantji. And I welcome you on behalf of our institution.
00:02:28And this is a great honor to share the stage with you.
00:02:32So philosophy is a very old discipline in India. It is as old as, you know, like the idea of
00:02:37the civilization in India.
00:02:38And Shardarshan has come from this land. And there is also like a Buddhist, Jainism, Javak philosophy.
00:02:48And on the other hand, we also find there is another stream of philosophy in India with the people like
00:02:53Acharya Rajneesh, Chiddu Krishmurthy, Ramesh Paleskar, Nisargad Maharaj.
00:02:58Who basically use the philosophy as a tool to address the basic fundamental existential problem.
00:03:06So how do you see this distinction between there are the one philosopher, academic philosopher who are not able to
00:03:14connect with the mass.
00:03:15On the present, the people like J. Krishmurthy and you can connect with the people actually, which are able to
00:03:23relate with the people.
00:03:24So can you tell us from your own journey when resolving the philosophical carries of the people?
00:03:31First of all, I thank the institution for inviting me. And I am really glad to be here discussing questions
00:03:42on existence, life, meaning with bright minds.
00:03:51You see, it's about the relationship of philosophy with life itself.
00:04:10In very bare terms, we know what philosophy means. Love for the truth.
00:04:21So philosophy stands with its arms stretched out towards the truth. And that's such a beautiful thing.
00:04:34So think of the philosopher. Think of the philosopher as somebody reaching out to the skies.
00:04:44And that's a wonderful sight to behold. But then that remains a thing between the philosopher and the sky.
00:05:01What the teachers have really done is that they have extended one arm to the sky and the other arm
00:05:13to the ego.
00:05:17And that's also the proper function of philosophy. To act as the bridge between life and liberation.
00:05:31At one end of philosophy, there must always be the ego and its suffering.
00:05:39And the moment that connection is established with the philosopher acting as the bridge,
00:05:48philosophy becomes a raging fire. Philosophy becomes a thing of the masses without losing its quality at all.
00:05:59Because the fundamental concern of all philosophy and very strikingly in all Indian philosophy is suffering, human suffering.
00:06:13And we all do suffer. And philosophy looks at this suffering, wants to understand it and wants the liberation of
00:06:24the sufferer.
00:06:25So that's a universal concern. Basically, that means philosophy is for each one of us because all of us are
00:06:34alive and we all do suffer, don't we?
00:06:37And if we do suffer, then philosophy is for each one of us. But where the academic philosophers, should I
00:06:51say struggle, is that they do profound work, but the work remains a little incomplete.
00:07:02The relationship between the philosopher, the relationship between the philosopher and the truth is well established, deep, authentic.
00:07:12But the relationship between the philosopher and the suffering ego, which is the masses, that doesn't remain well developed.
00:07:22As a result, the bridge remains only half made. Beautiful bridge, beautiful bridge, right?
00:07:31But you could say something like the last mile connectivity is missing. It's a beautiful bridge, but incomplete. Even if
00:07:40incomplete by just one step, but nevertheless still incomplete.
00:07:44So the most beautiful works then remain largely limited to universities, libraries, academicians and fellow philosophers and the masses don't
00:08:01benefit.
00:08:01The true function is when somebody like Socrates, for example, or Diogenes or the ones in India like Saint Kabir,
00:08:18they decide to bring the highest philosophy to the masses, the highest for everybody.
00:08:29Right? Without corruption, without corruption, without dilution, but with application.
00:08:33That's when philosophy comes alive. That's when it can be not just life changing, but age changing. It defines the
00:08:41very epoch, the era.
00:08:43And that's what we all need today, given the multiple crisis of our age.
00:08:49One of the primordial modes of philosophy, whether in Greek philosophy or in India, was the dialogue.
00:08:56As you correctly mentioned Socrates, Socrates was someone who came to the market, asked the simple question, what is friendship?
00:09:03And then the conversion started. And same thing I find in the Upanishads also, that it is unlike whether Shardarshan
00:09:10was developed, it became technical, but in the Upanishads, there is basically the fundamental questions are asked.
00:09:17Dialectical. Dialectical. So it's a conversation.
00:09:19Some of the thinkers have got it correctly when they were writing Panchatantra or Hitopadesha.
00:09:24Where they were the simple stories, what they have the deep, or even in Mahabharata or in that, like the
00:09:30deep philosophical questions.
00:09:31You see, a very basic question. We look for the truth, or the truths, whatever.
00:09:41We want to get into the depth of things as philosophers. But why? And for whom?
00:09:53So, if philosophy is not rooted in the human condition itself, if the philosopher is not moved by human suffering,
00:10:07then philosophy becomes largely just a mental intellectual pursuit.
00:10:15The moment philosophy arises from the ground of being and a compassion for the suffering one, it becomes something else.
00:10:31Not that it loses its philosophical rigor. But it starts living, starts breathing. It becomes a thing of the heart.
00:10:46And that is what has happened in India.
00:10:53To some extent also in Greece, in China, where there were those who said, it's not just about ideas and
00:11:03thoughts and systems and structures and construction and deconstruction.
00:11:10It's about this person sitting in front of me and his relationship with me. And I don't like the condition
00:11:17of this one. I don't like the condition of this world. Equally, I don't enjoy being confused inside.
00:11:26I need clarity for the sake of my consciousness. Then philosophy becomes something very subjective, very intimate. And that's when
00:11:39it becomes profoundly more useful.
00:11:43Yes. First of all, there should be a philosophical question. And as you correctly mentioned, the philosophical question starts from
00:11:51the existential crisis.
00:11:52What does it mean to be? The question of the being is started. Existential philosophies are interesting also.
00:11:59So, I want to explore with you. How do you see this connection of this question as the original mode
00:12:06of philosophy and connecting this with the existential crisis?
00:12:10Why would one question if one is already settled? So, one has to be sensitive. One sees one is restless
00:12:20inside and very unsettled.
00:12:23And only then can there be a question. If all is alright, if everything appears hunky-dory, then why would
00:12:35somebody take the pains of approaching someone to discuss, to question, to examine, to listen?
00:12:47Why would that happen? So, it starts from one's sensitivity to one's own suffering. It's a refusal. It's a rebellion.
00:13:03One says, this is what I experience and I am not okay with the quality of my experience.
00:13:12I don't like this experience for whatever reason. At the same time, I do not know where the experience comes
00:13:21from, who the experiencer is, and what can be done to resolve this inner condition.
00:13:30When the philosopher starts from here, then the whole thing becomes very different. And in fact, we need not even
00:13:41call this person a philosopher. It suffices to say, this one is a conscious human being, alive.
00:13:55How can you be alive? How can you be alive and be insensitive to your own condition?
00:14:02You see, when we say neti neti in context of Vedanta darshan, what is that? That's a refusal. That's a
00:14:13rebellion. I refuse to be co-opted. I do not think this satisfies me or even that.
00:14:24Yes, the crowd is that way. Yes, the convention flows that way. But how do I lie to myself? My
00:14:37inner condition remains restless. How do I forcibly convince myself to feel settled or at peace?
00:14:49So, it is from this inner honesty that real philosophy sprouts. And then obviously there will be questions. And all
00:15:02questions are actually statements of rebellion. Please see.
00:15:09All questions are actually implying that one refuses to accept the established answers. Because if you look at philosophical questions,
00:15:21all of them can be conveniently answered in some shallow way.
00:15:31Right? And ready-made answers do pre-exist. One has to first of all clearly say, I refuse to take
00:15:42these answers that are floating all around, that are socially commonly accepted.
00:15:50I do not take them. I do not take them because these answers. Why? Because these answers fail to bring
00:15:58peace to me.
00:16:01The final criteria is my own inner condition. You give me an answer. If the answer is just a reflection
00:16:12of the question I posed. If the answer is just like putting a lid on inquiry, I refuse to be
00:16:26co-opted.
00:16:26So, for young thinkers like the ones present here, it is very important to let their own inner self be
00:16:40the criteria, the measure. Nothing apart from that counts or suffices.
00:16:48Because we stand at this particular stage in life. And every moment, every step is a challenge with multiple choices
00:17:10available.
00:17:14And ready-made answers are available a dime a dozen. But one has a life to live. One has to
00:17:30own his choices.
00:17:32One has to own his choices. Your choices. Your choices cannot be a social phenomena. And if you want to
00:17:39own your choices, the chooser must have clarity.
00:17:43That's what is philosophy. Philosophy is not principally thought given by somebody else or systems provided by a certain school.
00:17:58Philosophy is about one's life. One's freedom.
00:18:02One's freedom. The worth of what we can call as existence. And when that is there, then one talks, one
00:18:14corresponds, one questions. And one refuses to accept.
00:18:24Yes. So, my question is that suffering is a fact. Everybody is suffering. So, why some people choose a philosophical
00:18:33path? Why this suffering leads to existential crisis?
00:18:37Which in some people, where some people, when it is a, you know, like people say, happy to, you know
00:18:42like a, what is called, you know,
00:18:45like Kierkegaard says, you know, like a crowd disturbance actually. There could be an answer one can comprehend, but the
00:19:01comprehensible answer would also be incomplete.
00:19:03complete. So we'll begin with the comprehensible answer. The comprehensible answer is that
00:19:08our choices are shaped by so many factors, right? When we talk of two persons being in
00:19:16a similar situation yet choosing differently, there is a convenient framework to explain
00:19:26away the difference. One could say they differ in their gender, one could say they are conditioned
00:19:32differently. One could say there is genetic difference. One could say they come from different
00:19:42kinds of economic strata and all those things. And one could say that's where the difference
00:19:50in choices comes from. And the complete but incomprehensible answer is ultimately
00:20:01choice is sovereign. Irrespective of the environment in which the chooser makes the choice, sovereignty
00:20:18is still available. So there can be then no reason why a choice is made. Choice then is
00:20:33not an effect of a particular cause. Causality cannot explain choice. Choice itself is sovereign.
00:20:41And what is sovereign has nothing behind it. Now this is uncomfortable. To an extent this
00:20:52is incomprehensible. We might even find it unacceptable. But this is also very empowering. It means
00:21:04that irrespective of the conditions without or within, you still are sovereign. You can lose everything
00:21:17but never your power to choose. That is always available. Always available. So ultimately if you say,
00:21:26why somebody chose like that, why somebody chose like that, the convenient answer would be because
00:21:31the conditions were this way or that way, adverse or favorable, we can, we can. And that answer
00:21:41will not be incorrect, just incomplete, shallow. The real answer is choice is sovereign. It's your will. It's your will.
00:21:56It's your will. Which means you could have chosen something else. Not that you were helpless. Not that you were
00:22:08so much in bondage that you lost all agency. That never, never happens. Never happens.
00:22:16Yeah. So I see this very interesting connection between this choice and sovereignty as a being's essential, essential relationship with
00:22:25the truth. The being is, in our being, we are somehow, you know, attracted by the truth.
00:22:31Wonderful. Yes.
00:22:33Connected, connecting with your book, truth without apology. That truth is something which human being cannot put on the hold
00:22:41actually. It attracts the person always. It, and one has to, when you become responsible to the truth, either one
00:22:48can live an inauthentic life or one has to affirm one's sovereignty in relationship with the truth.
00:22:54So what I'm, because you have recently written the book on the truth. So this is like a raging problem
00:23:02in philosophy. What is truth actually? And one is like we all know scientific notion of the truth. Truth is
00:23:09correspondence. Cat is on the mat.
00:23:11So if it is corresponding with the fact, then okay, that is the property of a statement, proposition. But then
00:23:18there is another dimension of the truth which I find interesting in your speeches or also in this book, like
00:23:23Greek called the truth as Aletheia, unconcealment. It is a kind of the struggle. One has to involve into that
00:23:31struggle, then the truth is uncovered.
00:23:34And Ishi Upanishad also said that the face of the truth is covered with the golden veil actually, and one
00:23:39has to, you know, like unveil it. So how do you see this relationship between the being and the truth
00:23:44with respect to your book?
00:23:47See, the search for truth is very misplaced right from the beginning. Searching for truth is like darkness.
00:24:03And if darkness searching for light, you know, and if darkness searches for light, the primary concern always is to
00:24:15find light while remaining as one is, which is dark.
00:24:25If darkness is the searcher, its primary concern would be to, first of all, self-preserve. I want to remain
00:24:39who I am. I also want to know the truth.
00:24:44Therefore, it is possible that the searcher does come to a certain truth. But that truth will be a personal
00:24:56truth, a subjective truth, my truth. Therefore, it won't be the truth.
00:25:04It's like darkness says this is my light. Had it really been light, darkness wouldn't have remained to declare the
00:25:17accomplishment. No?
00:25:22So what Vedanta would say is that the search for truth itself is a futile endeavor. You can come to
00:25:36something, declare it as truth, but that would be another form of falseness.
00:25:43Search rather than for falseness in the searcher. Instead of the searcher proceeding on the journey of finding the truth.
00:25:57The searcher should rather hold a mirror and encounter its own falseness.
00:26:08Right? How do I proceed on a long, unpredictable, probably unending journey with a faulty self, a faulty driver, a
00:26:19faulty vehicle? Do we do that? Do we do that?
00:26:23So the first thing is to search the searcher. Right? You are so eager to learn about the truth, but
00:26:33all your tendencies and instincts are primed towards self-preservation.
00:26:41So that is your primary concern. Right? Not the truth. How will you then ever come to the truth? Your
00:26:48primary concern, I repeat, is not truth, but self-preservation. That's how the ego is.
00:26:56I want the truth is. I want the truth for myself. And what will you do with the truth? Maybe
00:27:02brandish it? Wear it on my forehead? Put it on sale? Use it to inflate myself or acquire power, prestige,
00:27:12position, something?
00:27:15That would be my truth for my sake. And then that is not the truth, obviously. It's something much smaller.
00:27:23It's something spoiled and dirtied by the touch of the one who claims to have discovered it.
00:27:34So therefore the search for truth will always remain elusive. What is needed is that we search wholeheartedly for the
00:27:44false. Look for falseness, not for truth.
00:27:50And in looking for false. And in looking for false. One sees that the engine is truth, that the ground
00:28:02is truth. Falseness will never have the guts to face itself.
00:28:11In looking for false. In looking for false. In boldly encountering the fact of one's own falsenesses. There is truth
00:28:24in action. It is only truth that inspires and empowers and enlightens one and encourages one.
00:28:37It is only truth in action. Sufficiently enough to face what is false. And in the false one, when faced,
00:28:50does not remain anymore. This progressive removal of falseness is what one can call as the journey of truth.
00:29:05An unloading and unloading and unburdening. It is not a journey of acquisition. It is not a journey of accomplishment.
00:29:18It is a journey in which the traveller loses himself bit by bit progressively.
00:29:26Because it is an inwardly. Because it is an inward journey. It is not something on the outside that you
00:29:33can travel to and attain. The traveller has to go within and discover all that is rotten and biased and
00:29:45borrowed and fearful inside.
00:29:51And just looking at it mostly suffices. It falls. It managed to remain within for long only because it was
00:30:05not seen as false. Only because it was thought of as true, as real.
00:30:14No? When you think of something as real. You preserve it. You hold it to your heart. The moment you
00:30:22see it was fake, inauthentic, borrowed, the cohesion ends.
00:30:34That which should not be inside, simply just drops. And that we can metaphorically call as movement towards the truth.
00:30:50But actually, it is movement away from the false, not towards the truth.
00:30:55The truth is no particular destination. You cannot move towards the truth. Think. What kind of paradox it would be
00:31:05if the ego says, I am moving towards the truth.
00:31:07You can move towards the truth only when you know its location, its coordinates. Right?
00:31:15And you can know the location coordinates of only an object. So, by moving towards the truth or trying to
00:31:23know the truth, we are de facto turning the truth into an object of the ego.
00:31:30The ego becomes the subject. The truth becomes the object. And that is…
00:31:38This is a very interesting philosophical problem you have brought out. Like, you know, like an ego and its relationship
00:31:44with the truth.
00:31:45Because on the one hand, it has a disadvantageous position. It is in the ignorance. Yet, it is seek to
00:31:51remove it.
00:31:52But again, my question is then, how to distinguish between, say, the person who is on the ego trip and
00:31:58a seeker, genuine seeker?
00:31:59How do we know that? Like, okay, this is a genuine seeker and this is a person who is on
00:32:03the ego trip?
00:32:04The genuine seeker, the Jigyasu, the Mumukshu, will not be afraid, if not very willing, but then also not very
00:32:17resistant to things that demolish his identity.
00:32:24Obviously, when it comes, at first it shocks. At first the instinctive reaction is to resist.
00:32:34But then he would welcome it upon consideration.
00:32:38He would say, after all, my love for my own welfare, my love for my freedom from suffering is bigger
00:32:48than my insistence
00:32:52on maintaining the status quo. So, if there is something that hurts, but relieves, I must admit it. That's the
00:33:05seeker.
00:33:06So, the seeker you will find open, if not welcoming, at least open towards hurt.
00:33:20If there is something that attacks his or her deep rooted beliefs, the seeker won't flinch beyond a point.
00:33:32Being human, we all kind of wins, initially at least. But if the seeker has depth, he will say, fine,
00:33:45let it come to me.
00:33:46Let it prove me totally wrong. I am open. So, all his efforts, whether speaking or listening, will be directed
00:33:59at knowing where he has gone wrong.
00:34:02On the other hand, the one on the ego trip, will be accumulating knowledge to defend himself.
00:34:09That's an opposite. Knowledge to test oneself. Right? Is one thing. Knowledge to better oneself. Knowledge to dissolve oneself. That
00:34:24is one thing.
00:34:25And knowledge to fatten oneself. Knowledge to secure oneself. Is a totally different thing. So, in the egoistic one, you
00:34:43will see a lot of misinterpretation.
00:34:48Deliberate misinterpretation. Might be extremely knowledgeable. But all that knowledge will be food and fodder to the ego canon.
00:35:02You teach him more. You teach him more and he becomes even more dangerous. Because knowledge to him is ammunition.
00:35:13Knowledge to him is an object to be used by the ego subject.
00:35:22The real seeker operates differently, altogether differently. He says, if something is coming to me, it is to be used
00:35:35to test myself.
00:35:41Clear away whatever rubbish I am holding. That is not coming to help me remain more of what I already
00:35:52am. That is coming to displace me from my current position, my current center and elevate me to a better
00:36:04and higher position.
00:36:06That is the rightful function. That is the rightful function of knowledge. But most of us don't use knowledge that
00:36:12way.
00:36:14Science, for example, is used to further self-interest. No? And that is how it becomes technology. We say here
00:36:27is science. And we will use science to fulfill our desires.
00:36:32Science. And then technology becomes destructive. Now that is not the attitude of the seeker. You see, so many people
00:36:43who use technology so much have no scientific attitude at all. Right? Must have seen.
00:36:51Hmm?
00:36:54Pick users of technology. Rather compulsive users. And still the mind is steeped in superstition and belief and prejudice. Seen
00:37:03such people?
00:37:05So what are they doing? They are using knowledge to cement their own center. On the other hand, there could
00:37:16be a people who say we believe in certain gods in the sky that ride the planets like chariots.
00:37:28So now we want to use the telescope to verify our belief. Now that is a totally different use of
00:37:35science. Totally different use of science.
00:37:38science. Now science is being used to check, verify one's own existing internal position. And there is an openness to
00:37:50correct oneself. There is a certain humility. There is a certain love for betterment, internal betterment. So these are two
00:38:00different centers altogether.
00:38:03So interestingly, you have brought up the topic of technology. So as you know that in the contemporary debates in
00:38:11the philosophy of technology, so this problem has been what is the relationship between the technology and values.
00:38:19And one of the chief critique of technology, one of the chief critique of technology, one of the chief critique
00:38:24of technology, Martin Heidegger in his question concerning technology, he says one of the problem not with the technology, but
00:38:29with the technological mindset, where everything with this mindset that everything can be calculated, quantified, measured.
00:38:37Now what we see is that the only values which becomes important in the technology is like the instrumental values.
00:38:45And what we think of the value like the value of the solitude, value of you know like what we
00:38:50in philosophy call the intrinsic value, love for the wisdom, love for truth, love for and you know valuing the
00:38:58relationship.
00:39:00So the important thing is which I would like to ask you, how do we see, you know like we
00:39:07can distinguish between these two different realms that this is the realm of the technology where technology can help and
00:39:12these are the realm of the value where we have to need altogether different disposition and the mindset.
00:39:18So what we see is that Heidegger, Heidegger, Foku, Derrida, technology, words, interpretation, truth, wonderful things to talk of.
00:39:36What we probably need to emphasize on is the user of the technology.
00:39:45And why do we need to emphasize on that? Because that is the first step.
00:39:51Genuine philosophy starts from the ego, the self, the sufferer, the doer, the user, the consumer.
00:40:07Right?
00:40:07So that is the one at the center of everything.
00:40:12All our pursuits, not just philosophy.
00:40:16All that the self does is for itself.
00:40:21The moment we see that, we stop thinking so much in terms of what technology does.
00:40:33We start seeing it more in terms of what we do with and to technology.
00:40:41Is technology conscious or sentient?
00:40:44Well, no.
00:40:45So what can poor technology do?
00:40:49It's a question of what we do with technology.
00:40:53But this one, the doer, the user, the consumer, the inventor, the thinker is easy to ignore and forget.
00:41:06Right?
00:41:08So we think in terms of the age specific instruments, the instrumental value of technology for example.
00:41:20So this is there, this is there, this is there.
00:41:23What is this doing?
00:41:24What is the impact of this on human life and society?
00:41:29Is it reducing us to mere utilities?
00:41:33We think in these terms and it's beautiful to think that way.
00:41:36Nevertheless, incomplete.
00:41:39Because it's all our creation.
00:41:41The one sitting here is the creator and the consumer.
00:41:48So technology in itself means nothing.
00:41:52It depends on who you are.
00:41:54And that therefore is the fundamental question of all philosophy.
00:41:58Who am I?
00:41:59Who am I?
00:42:03With self knowledge, everything will be put to the best use.
00:42:10Without self knowledge, even the most benign of technical instruments, will be put to harmful and destructive use.
00:42:29We know of this. Nothing in the universe is in itself useful or useless, good or bad.
00:42:39It's all in the context of the self. The self is the centre.
00:42:44By self I mean the one who we are internally, the ego.
00:42:49It's all for us.
00:42:50If we are healthy, our relationship with all objects, including technology, would be healthy.
00:43:00If we are not healthy, it doesn't matter what we have been given or what we have created or invented
00:43:10for ourselves.
00:43:12It would definitely prove to be destructive.
00:43:16Think, for example, of an animal, a wolf or a chimpanzee, having access to cutting edge technologies.
00:43:34What's this beast going to do with all that?
00:43:40So what has happened is that science and technology have raised ahead in leaps and bounds.
00:43:55But when it comes to the masses, philosophy has lagged behind.
00:44:04Not the field of philosophy, but the spread and acceptance of philosophy.
00:44:11So technology is now available to everybody.
00:44:15You are holding it in your hands and we all are users and consumers, right?
00:44:20The same cannot be said about philosophy.
00:44:23So internally, then we remain the wolf, the chimp.
00:44:29And externally, we have nuclear tipped missiles and all kinds of wonders of technology available to us.
00:44:39The result is disastrous.
00:44:43The result is disastrous.
00:44:46No technology is inherently bad or useless.
00:44:55Everything can be put to a virtuous use, provided there is light within, provided there is this constant question and
00:45:06a reminder.
00:45:07Who am I?
00:45:08Who am I to do this?
00:45:10Don't I know my condition?
00:45:12Am I not sensitive and awake to my suffering?
00:45:17Will this fetch me what I really need?
00:45:20This, the new tech toy that I am now going after,
00:45:26have I not already had versions of it in the past?
00:45:34Could they liberate me from my inner angst?
00:45:38And if they could not, how is it possible that what a particular phone model 10 failed to achieve?
00:45:50Not just model 10, models 1 to 10 failed to achieve.
00:45:54Now the new one has hit the market, model 11.
00:45:57How will model 11 succeed in doing what the previous ones couldn't?
00:46:04And please remember, we don't really buy a phone just to capture videos or to communicate.
00:46:13It might sound strange to hear, but whatever we do, whether it's buying a phone or sipping a cup of
00:46:24tea or entering a relationship or entering a movie hall,
00:46:29it is done for the sake of the one who is within and restless.
00:46:36Since we are restless, hence all these actions ensue.
00:46:41And if all these actions come from a centre of restlessness, then there can be only one valid objective behind
00:46:52any action.
00:46:53Which is, would it take care of my restlessness?
00:46:59Would it?
00:47:00And if it won't, why am I wasting myself?
00:47:02Limited life, limited energy, limited money, limited time, limited everything.
00:47:07Why am I wasting myself on this?
00:47:09If this is essentially the same as the previous 10 models.
00:47:15If this one is essentially the same as the previous 10 models and the previous 10 failed to deliver.
00:47:21The proof that they failed to deliver is that I am looking for the 11th one.
00:47:26Had those 10 succeeded or sufficed, I wouldn't be in the queue for the 11th.
00:47:34And the 11th is not fundamentally different from the previous 10.
00:47:41So why am I wasting myself here?
00:47:44That's the approach one must have towards all objects, including objects of technology.
00:47:52And those objects include human beings as well.
00:47:55Right?
00:47:56I have tried a relationship or friendship or whatever situation shape with this, this and that.
00:48:05And now a new one seems to be knocking.
00:48:09But is this one really fundamentally different?
00:48:13And if not, why am I now again intending to waste myself?
00:48:21So that question of self-remembrance becomes very central to the thinker, to the lover, to the one who is
00:48:31sensitive to herself.
00:48:33Yes, so this is very important thing like the question of self-remembrance vis-a-vis technology.
00:48:40But again, I would like to ask that how do you see like in the currently like there is a
00:48:46term called attention economy.
00:48:47Like attention is now monetized.
00:48:50The technology has been designed such a way so that they can grab more and more attention because it is
00:48:54monetized.
00:48:55So people are like, I understand this is also a policy level problem, ethical problem.
00:49:02But what it's actually doing is like the people are spending more, they are trained in such a way, condition
00:49:08in such a way that.
00:49:09So how do we see the problem of the self-reflection which requires switching off from the technology?
00:49:14You see, all of them want to capture my attention.
00:49:20It's a term that was coined in the 1970s.
00:49:24It's been in the making since like 50, 60 years now.
00:49:29All of them want my attention because they think attention is money and power.
00:49:35The politician wants my attention because attention is vote.
00:49:38The marketer wants my attention because attention is money.
00:49:43The family members want my attention because attention is security.
00:49:49They all want it.
00:49:52But even if they have my attention, will they get what they want?
00:49:56Because they have already had enough attention from enough people.
00:50:02Did that ever suffice?
00:50:04It didn't suffice for them.
00:50:06Now looking at the other end, where I am situated, what must I attend to?
00:50:14What must I attend to?
00:50:16I stand in a market in front of a pharmacy.
00:50:23I experience an ache within as we all do.
00:50:27A nameless anguish.
00:50:31A causeless restlessness.
00:50:33We all experience that, don't we?
00:50:36Something remains restive.
00:50:40Mostly it is subtle.
00:50:42Sometimes it becomes very obvious, very glaring.
00:50:46You even start saying, it pains, it pains within.
00:50:51Without knowing what that within really is.
00:50:56That's the most nebulous term we use inside, within.
00:51:03Right?
00:51:04And I don't know what lies within.
00:51:07Instead, I am prepared to dish out my attention to him, to him, to her, to her.
00:51:13Is it wise of me?
00:51:15Is it wise of me?
00:51:17There is something far more important, rather critical I need to attend to.
00:51:23Instead of attending to that, I am attending to his marketing, to his proposals, to his glamour, to her demands.
00:51:40Is that wise of me?
00:51:43And one needs a reminder.
00:51:45One needs a mirror.
00:51:47So that one sees that behind the normal and the clean and the healthy looking facade, there is a lot
00:52:01of turbulence.
00:52:02And it requires courage to acknowledge that turbulence.
00:52:07No, I am not alright within.
00:52:11And I don't want to just blame the world for that.
00:52:15I want to own the responsibility for my life, my choices and my wellness.
00:52:22And if I own the responsibility, I will attend to it.
00:52:26That's where then your attention goes.
00:52:30Is it not common sense that there must be a hierarchy of values that you must know how to prioritize?
00:52:44And there are so many objects.
00:52:46And we want to differentiate between them and prioritize.
00:52:51But please, please tell me, to whom are all those objects?
00:52:56To whom and for whom are all those objects?
00:53:01For this subject, right?
00:53:03For this subject.
00:53:04So this subject has the highest value, should be the first one in priority.
00:53:11Therefore, before one attends to any subject outside, that subject could be a person, a thing, a place, an idea,
00:53:24whatever.
00:53:26Before one attends to any object outside, one has to attend to this one, the receiver and the experiencer of
00:53:34all objects.
00:53:38If this is remembered, if this is seen, if this is seen, and this seeing requires a lot of self
00:53:44-love.
00:53:45If this is seen, one will not allow himself to be dissipated.
00:53:49Yes, the entire world is a big banner, a big ad.
00:53:55This, this and that.
00:53:57Everything is vying for your attention because they are incomplete in themselves.
00:54:03They too hold the false notion that if they get your attention, they'll feel fulfilled.
00:54:09Or if they get your money, it will suffice.
00:54:12So that's about them.
00:54:13We'll come to them later.
00:54:15We have to begin with ourselves.
00:54:18Am I alright?
00:54:19And if I'm not alright.
00:54:21And I don't know what my situation is.
00:54:24Standing in front of this pharmacy.
00:54:29Why am I gossiping about the various kinds of medicines?
00:54:37And to the man at the counter, I'm saying, hey, that one, the cover looks very glitzy.
00:54:43New gloss, new shine?
00:54:45Who's the maker?
00:54:46Are they offering discounts?
00:54:48I don't know what I need because I don't know who I am.
00:54:51And I'm busy gossiping about the several things on the several shelves.
00:54:57That's what the attention economy is about and attention deficit is about.
00:55:03See, whatever comes to you actually comes as some kind of remedy, some kind of medicine, right?
00:55:10And that pharmacy has 10,000 units of them stocked there.
00:55:17Of what use are all those distinct medicines if you do not know the sick one?
00:55:25And I repeat, it takes guts and humility to acknowledge that we are internally sick.
00:55:30And if you are internally sick, then medicine should not be entertainment.
00:55:38One has to know how one is.
00:55:41And then one knows what to go for.
00:55:44One shoots that one.
00:55:46That and only that.
00:55:48And that is one pointed attention.
00:55:50I know what my ailment is.
00:55:53Therefore, that's what is going to be life saving for me.
00:55:57That and only that one. Give. Come on.
00:56:00No more gossiping.
00:56:01No more ads.
00:56:03No more dissipation.
00:56:05No more fragmentation.
00:56:06Give me that.
00:56:07And I can know that only if I first of all know myself.
00:56:14So, all these things, fragmentation of attention and all these things,
00:56:18they all arise from a lack of self-knowledge.
00:56:23Yeah, so this is very important that what is like this clarity about the self-knowledge,
00:56:30seeking what is the truth, discovering truth about oneself.
00:56:34Another dimension which I think have been missing is actually,
00:56:37especially in the philosophy and also in the sciences,
00:56:40is relationship between the art and the truth.
00:56:45So, basically when the, especially in the enlightenment, when the truth was considered as a scientific truth, fact,
00:56:52and in India and in the other western tradition, it was also argued that when we,
00:56:57when the Buddha is saying that suffering is the fact of the word,
00:57:00or somebody when in the truth fiction right and says, okay, life is a struggle.
00:57:04So, it is not like a subjective statement.
00:57:07I am saying I like coke or I don't like this brand.
00:57:11They are making some truth claim actually, on the basis of the experience they have in the life.
00:57:16Now, how do we see that,
00:57:19an Indian, oh, what I again coming back, like in India, there is a beautiful concept of Sahajrata,
00:57:24that when you read the plays and the literature,
00:57:28so when you empathize with the character, because you yourself is suffering from something,
00:57:34and when you relate to their condition, it developed a kind of the empathy, Sahajrata with the character,
00:57:39which ennobles your character, edify your character.
00:57:44So, how do you see that relationship?
00:57:46The Buddha did say that life is suffering, that suffering is fact,
00:57:51but it didn't say suffering is inevitable, never, never.
00:57:55Go to the fourth noble truth.
00:57:57Suffering is not inevitable.
00:57:59The entire purpose of philosophy is liberation from suffering.
00:58:04So, if suffering is inevitable, then there is no point getting into anything.
00:58:10Suffering is optional.
00:58:15Suffering comes from our misplaced subjective choices.
00:58:20Right?
00:58:21So, truth is not really fact.
00:58:29Kant, for example,
00:58:32he said categories and forms and all those things and
00:58:40we construct
00:58:45whatever there is in the mind,
00:58:52is actually very carefully either picked or constructed by the ego for the sake of self-preservation.
00:59:04For the sake of self-preservation.
00:59:08Yes, facts don't lie, but don't we choose our facts?
00:59:15When the ego can't escape facts, it would pick and choose.
00:59:22Cherry picking.
00:59:24And whenever possible, it would totally avoid facts.
00:59:27It would get into imagination.
00:59:32imagination that has nothing at all to do with facts.
00:59:35And when you slap the facts in its face,
00:59:41it will accept them partially, selectively, as per convenience.
00:59:47This fact I want to pick, this I don't.
00:59:49I would turn a blind eye.
00:59:53Or I would say, well, you know, the authenticity is disputed.
00:59:57Go and fact check or the source itself might be biased.
01:00:04Data integrity is a problem.
01:00:06All those things.
01:00:10So, we suffer for a reason.
01:00:13There is a reason.
01:00:13That's the Buddha's philosophy.
01:00:15There is a reason.
01:00:17And the reason is subjectivity.
01:00:19The reason is that the subject keeps itself at the centre of everything.
01:00:24The more the subject is present, the more present is suffering.
01:00:29The more one is present in his or her own life, the more life becomes suffering.
01:00:37So, our facts, it sounds strange, but even our facts are subjective.
01:00:42Yes.
01:00:43Imagination, projection, fiction.
01:00:47We all readily see that subjective.
01:00:50But even in our facts, there is a lot of subjectivity.
01:00:54Lot of subjectivity.
01:00:57Think of, for example, the climate debate.
01:01:04Right?
01:01:05The climate denialists who declare climate change is a hoax.
01:01:09They come up with a lot of facts.
01:01:14They don't dare to come up with fiction in front of informed committees and scientists.
01:01:21And empowered panels.
01:01:23They can't do that.
01:01:24But what do they do?
01:01:26They come up with convenient facts.
01:01:31And they try to establish causation where there is none.
01:01:39Right?
01:01:41So, the subject is at the centre of everything.
01:01:46And the primary concern of the subject is to just remain.
01:01:52Just remain as one is.
01:01:54The subject is a very fearful one.
01:01:58Who is the subject?
01:01:59This one.
01:02:00This one.
01:02:01I.
01:02:02This subject is so afraid.
01:02:05Why is it afraid?
01:02:07One then has to go into the fact of its genesis.
01:02:11Its very construction.
01:02:14Where does the ego subject come from?
01:02:20It comes from the flow of evolution in the physical sense.
01:02:24And then from social and temporal conditioning.
01:02:27That's where it comes from.
01:02:30And none of that is eternal.
01:02:39Or time or place independent.
01:02:44All of that is something that changes and thereby dies every moment.
01:02:54Evolution itself means continuous change.
01:02:58And social norms.
01:03:00To change from time to time and place to place.
01:03:04And that's what the ego is made of.
01:03:06The subject.
01:03:07Who am I?
01:03:08Who am I?
01:03:09The one made of several influences I have gathered over time.
01:03:14Either in the body or in the mind.
01:03:19The body too is just a collection of influences, right?
01:03:21We know how evolution proceeds.
01:03:26So that's what I take as the self.
01:03:30And this self is a motley collection
01:03:36of all kinds of disparate influences.
01:03:41And it calls itself as the I.
01:03:45This is who I am.
01:03:48Obviously it will be very afraid.
01:03:50This subject
01:03:52is always insecure.
01:03:53Because it knows its reality.
01:03:56Somewhere.
01:03:56Even if it doesn't know its reality,
01:03:58it experiences something it is amiss.
01:04:02Something is terribly wrong with my being.
01:04:04Because our being is all second handed.
01:04:08Being is all second handed.
01:04:11Accumulated from here and there.
01:04:15One is born as a woman.
01:04:16One thinks of herself as the woman.
01:04:18But then you never chose to be a woman.
01:04:22You never chose to be a woman.
01:04:24And now you are terribly identified with the body
01:04:28and therefore with your woman-ness.
01:04:31And you will be therefore insecure.
01:04:35You carry certain beliefs
01:04:37because they came to you from the flow of tradition.
01:04:42But you have never checked them.
01:04:44Therefore, within,
01:04:47you will be insecure.
01:04:50That's the state of the subject.
01:04:52Because it is an accumulation.
01:04:56It is a blind accumulation.
01:05:01Seen all kinds of blind accumulations.
01:05:03They happen during rain.
01:05:07Debris from here, here, here, here, here.
01:05:10And rain water causes it to flow down the drain
01:05:14and then at some place there is an obstruction
01:05:17and it all accumulates.
01:05:18Seen that?
01:05:20That's how the ego is.
01:05:22That's the subject.
01:05:23That's the subject.
01:05:25Now, can this subject have any coherence, any integrity?
01:05:29No, nothing.
01:05:30But it exists as if it is one homogeneous mass,
01:05:38which it is not.
01:05:40I say I, but I am not homogeneous.
01:05:43I am a collection of fragments that don't talk to each other.
01:05:47I am a collection of ideas and beliefs
01:05:50that don't internally reconcile.
01:05:55Therefore, I would always be internally very shaky,
01:05:58very uncertain.
01:05:59And I won't know what to do.
01:06:01And that shows up in our life decisions.
01:06:04One doesn't know what to pursue next.
01:06:06One doesn't know which stream to choose in engineering.
01:06:09One doesn't know whom to marry.
01:06:11One doesn't know when to break up.
01:06:12One doesn't know where to settle.
01:06:14One doesn't even know whether to buy a shirt.
01:06:18And one asks, is this one looking good on me?
01:06:23Think why happens?
01:06:26Why does it happen?
01:06:28Because there is no integrity inside.
01:06:31The subject, I repeat, is a collection of random influences.
01:06:39There is no central idea there.
01:06:43There is nothing to hold the various pieces of the ego together.
01:06:50Hence, the fundamental concern always is to somehow stay alive.
01:06:57Because the end is always imminent.
01:07:06You are carrying something fictitious within.
01:07:10It can end any time.
01:07:12Any time it can just come to a shattering.
01:07:17Gone.
01:07:18Now, if this is the inner condition, please see.
01:07:21How will we be feeling continuously?
01:07:28Will we have an affection for greatness?
01:07:34No.
01:07:36Will we have stamina for meaningful, large endeavors and projects?
01:07:46No.
01:07:47Will we be able to keep the other's welfare above our own ever?
01:07:55No.
01:07:56Why?
01:07:57Because the primary concern would always be to somehow,
01:08:01somehow,
01:08:03stay alive internally, not physically.
01:08:05Physically is alright.
01:08:06We are all young.
01:08:07I mean, you are all young.
01:08:10Physically is alright.
01:08:12But internally, it's always very, very, very doubtful.
01:08:16We are always ready to be shattered within.
01:08:19Because that's the nature of the thing, the space we call as within.
01:08:26That's the very nature of the space.
01:08:28Therefore, there can be no greatness, no love, no beauty.
01:08:32All that remains is a pathetic concern for self-preservation.
01:08:39Pathetic and continuous and unrelenting.
01:08:49Do we see this?
01:08:51So, this subject, as long as it remains unexplored, all other kinds of enquiries are wasteful.
01:09:02Not just wasteful, harmful.
01:09:07Harmful, very harmful.
01:09:10You'll clear away the forests.
01:09:14You'll tear into the heart of the planet.
01:09:19You'll make hundreds of species go extinct every day.
01:09:24You'll exploit in the name of love.
01:09:28All kinds of nonsense and cruelty emanate from this unillumined core of mankind.
01:09:43So, how to replace it with something radiant, resplendent, you can't, you don't have to replace.
01:09:52You simply have to remove.
01:09:54Remove.
01:09:56Remove.
01:09:58Therefore, philosophy, really, whenever it has assumed depth, has been negative in character.
01:10:07Negative in the sense that it aims at removal rather than replacement.
01:10:15And that terrifies the ego even more.
01:10:18The ego says, yes, this is rotten and borrowed and fractured and it contains something toxic.
01:10:26Yet, I at least have it.
01:10:31Yet, I at least have something to hold.
01:10:35And you're telling me this is second-handed.
01:10:39This is just flowing to you from tradition.
01:10:42That this is the wolf and the chimpanzee in the jungle in form of your body.
01:10:46You're telling me all these things about this.
01:10:48But please tell me what do I have if not this?
01:10:53So, if you want to take this away, kindly replace.
01:10:56That's how we insist, right?
01:10:58If you want me to accept that this is rotten and useless and harmful, then kindly replace.
01:11:04But real philosophy doesn't replace.
01:11:06It simply removes.
01:11:08And that's where something important comes in, something so important and Western philosophy totally lacks it.
01:11:17Faith.
01:11:19Faith.
01:11:20By faith, I do not mean trust or belief or the religious or traditional kind of systems.
01:11:27I'm not talking of them.
01:11:30Faith.
01:11:34Is the courage.
01:11:37Faith is rather the carelessness.
01:11:41I don't bother what happens once I drop it.
01:11:46It suffices that this is toxic.
01:11:49I'll not ask for a replacement.
01:11:51I'll be bold enough to drop it without caring for a substitution or the future.
01:11:57I don't bother what happens in the future.
01:12:00That's faith.
01:12:02Unless that faith is there, philosophy won't succeed.
01:12:05It cannot succeed.
01:12:08Because philosophy will reveal to you all that which deserves to be dropped.
01:12:12But how will you drop it?
01:12:13You'll say, I'll go lonely.
01:12:16Yes, my boyfriend is a lusty beast.
01:12:21But I at least have somebody to walk besides.
01:12:26And he carries my bag, doesn't he?
01:12:29Yes, he's an animal, but he does carry my bag and open the door.
01:12:35Otherwise, you know, what will happen to the profile pic?
01:12:39I'll appear so lonely.
01:12:43A desperate loser.
01:12:46Nobody besides me.
01:12:47So you ask for a replacement.
01:12:50Philosophy is the courage to do the right thing without asking for a guarantee.
01:12:59Without caring for the future.
01:13:03And that's faith.
01:13:05That's the real meaning of faith.
01:13:09Do we see this?
01:13:11Because this is a gathering, you see, of your students.
01:13:17Nothing lacking in intellect.
01:13:20What we lack sometimes in is faith.
01:13:24We do see, often, where things are rotten.
01:13:33There and here, both.
01:13:34We do see that.
01:13:35But then we say, you know, something is better than nothing.
01:13:42Or one bird in hand is better than two in the bush.
01:13:45Something of that.
01:13:51Dare to be alone.
01:13:54That void is what the Buddha would call as the truth.
01:14:04A great pure emptiness.
01:14:06Empty not of something auspicious.
01:14:10Empty of suffering.
01:14:11Nirvana.
01:14:22Am I reaching out?
01:14:27You all have good IQs.
01:14:30You do see what's wrong there and here.
01:14:33Often. Don't you?
01:14:34But then that thought comes in the way.
01:14:38If not this.
01:14:40If not this, then what?
01:14:43Sir, don't worry.
01:14:47This, that ought to be removed.
01:14:50Is the one making you ask the question,
01:14:53if not this, then what?
01:14:55When this goes, the question goes along with it.
01:15:04This, that you are holding on to,
01:15:07is the one inducing insecurity in the holder.
01:15:17This is the one inducing insecurity in the holder.
01:15:22As long as you hold it.
01:15:24This will make you ask the question, if not this, then what?
01:15:28The moment you drop this, you have also dropped the question, if not this, then what?
01:15:33Don't worry.
01:15:35You will be alright.
01:15:36That's faith.
01:15:41Yeah, so I think this is a very important dimension of faith you brought out.
01:15:46And I think Upanisha talks about faith, even Western philosophy, Kirikika talks about leap of faith actually.
01:15:51And, but I think it's a high time, we open it for the discussion and the students must be having
01:15:56another, you know, lot of queries.
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