The world is full of people who pursued what they call as their ‘interest’, or their ‘hobby’, or even their ‘love’, and they kept feeling frustrated.The influences that others have upon us, we resist them.There is a constant feeling that “I am doing something under somebody’s influence or pressure”. So, we turn to the mind and ask the mind, “What do you want?” and the mind comes up with an answer which we call as ‘my interest’. You say, “I want to pursue my interest.”
So, say somebody is a kid and there are many influences upon him. There is the influence of the father who wants him to take over the traditional family business, and then there is the influence of all the friends and they are playing cricket all the time. So, they take this fellow out to play cricket. Now, cricket is something that he acquires from these people, but he starts calling it ‘my interest’. And the business is something he gets from his father and he calls it ‘father’s’ business.
When the influence is superficial, you call it somebody else’s influence, and when the influence is deep, then you call it ‘my interest’.
In fact, if you must resist, what must you resist? The superficial interest or the deeper interest? There are three levels of influence:
• First, when the influence is superficial, you call it ‘influence’.
• Second, when the influence is deep, then you call it ‘interest’.
• And third, when the influence has penetrated the very depth of your mind, then you start calling it ‘my individuality’.
The influence that is superficial, like wearing a particular coloured shirt, cannot be very harmful because it is superficial. So, even if you don’t resist it, the harm will not be great. Now, what must you really be cautious against — the business or the cricket? But you will say, “No, business comes from father. He is trying to impose himself on me.
I will resist him. Cricket is my interest.” Not only is cricket not your own interest, it is actually an imposition that has enslaved you deeply now. It is alright if you are doing something that others are telling you to do, but it’s very alerting when somebody talks of his own interests. And when somebody says, “This is not even my interest, this is my individuality;” now this is an emergency situation.
Whatever you are saying, doing or claiming is arising from your mind. When the mind is cleansed, then this narrative will change.
Right now you have two choices, and it is difficult to say which is worse. One entails being a slave to one person, another entails being slave to your own mind, which obviously cannot even be called your own.
None of these choices is a worthy choice. Don’t exercise these choices. Leave both of them. Let your attention go inwards. Let the mind have a certain refinement, a certain quality, and then from that quality the right path automatically will emerge. And it is unpredictable.
Don’t even try to guess it. Don’t try to speculate. Don’t try to peep in the future. You will see nothing. Don’t just keep making decisions. First get ‘sober’ and then decide.
(The writer, Acharya Prashant, is a Vedanta teacher, author, and the founder of Prashant Advait Foundation)
