Questioner: I am finding a contradiction between two oft-quoted statements, the first one is by Rumi, “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I want to change myself.” And the second one is from Steve Jobs, “Those who are, rather those who think they are crazy enough to change the world actually do it.” Shouldn't one try to bring positive change in the world? Given how the society as a whole is deteriorating, shouldn't one try to change it? I feel people are sometimes just not brave enough to stand up for what is right.
Acharya Prashant: Shruti (Questioner), any real difference between any two things or any two people or any two statements in this world is only a difference between the points they come from, the difference between their very origins. I know what I have said won't be making much sense till now, so let's pay attention. You see, you may try to change the world, right? But where are you coming from? What is the center of your thought, motivation, operation? Why do you want to change the world? You might want to change the world, just so that the world becomes more conducive or more suitable to the furtherance of your ego, to the furtherance of your evolutionary mechanism, your animal instincts.
A seller of products definitely wants to change the world. But why? He wants to change the world in probably much the same way the rabbits dig up earth these days. They are trying to change the world, aren't they? Here I have my lawn and there is a small home for the bunnies and they live there and they're very busy digging up these days because it's hot. Their little home and the lawn and the grass and the trees, plants - that's their universe physically and they are trying to change it. Why are they trying to change it? To bring good to the world. Why are they trying to change it? They are trying to change it so that their physical, biological evolutionary egoistic mechanism can continue itself.
There is no being in the world that does not try to change the world. The question is: why are you trying to change the world? The question is: what within you is prompting you to change the world? Show me one example of any living being from humans to species of the smallest size and smallest brains that is not effectively either trying to change the world to suit its own needs or adapting itself to change to the world. That's what is continuously going on, right? But, that is not intended to do any good to the world. That is coming from a point of your own little ego.
So, usually when a normal human being, a businessman, a seller feels pumped up and shoots such inspiring words, “Come on, be crazy enough to change the world.” It's not as if he is trying to really uplift the world. It's just that he is trying to modify the world in a way that suits his own needs. For example, today the world is such that it does not know me, recognize me and I want to see a changed world. What's my image of this changed world? World at t is equal to zero. I’m an anonymous entity, nobody knows me and I want a different world and I’m all fired up. What am I saying? "Come on, let's change the world!" Now, what's my vision of the changed world? The world is a better place or am I better off in the changed world? What's my vision for the world? Obviously, I'll go around declaring that I’m the savior of the world. But what is it that I really want? I want a world in which I am better off. I want a world in which I am recognized, wealthier, successful by my own definitions. So, there's not much in that.
Therefore, before you compare somebody like Rumi with a corporate person like Steve Jobs, you have to be mindful of the dimension they are coming from. When Rumi talks, he is talking from or at least attempting to talk from a higher center, a higher point of consciousness. When others talk, they might be talking really big, but all that bigness is most probably coming from something very small. Are you getting it?
So, here is Rumi, who is saying, “Yesterday I wanted to change the world." I wanted to change the world because I don't want to look at myself. Typical of the ego, it does not want to look at itself, it lives in its own fancies and imaginations. Therefore, it's always at odds with the facts of the world. There's a conflict. The ego is always deluded about itself. That's what the ego is, right? A grand illusion, a myth. So, the ego lives in imaginations about itself. Thus I am, this I am. Whereas the ego is not at all that way.
The ego overestimates, underestimates, totally misses the point, sees things where they are not, does not see what is apparent.
The result is that the ego is constantly in conflict with the facts of the world. Forget about the truth, the ego cannot even sit peacefully with facts. Because my estimation and imagination of who I am do not have any feet at all. I live in pure fancy and that is what is called the “I”, a fancy, having no rootedness, having no foundation in reality. That's the “I”. So, the ego is always, as we said, in strife with the facts of the universe. And when there is this conflict, what does the ego say? The ego does not say, “Oh, maybe I am mistaken about myself.” The ego will not say that. What does the ego say? “The universe seems too conceited, too bloated. The people are just not prepared to appreciate me. So, what am I going to do? I’m going to change the people, their perception.” The ego will not say, “I am not alright. I’m drunk. I’m daydreaming.” It will try to change the world.
And those who have taken this path have realized that there is no point trying to change the mirror when your face is filthy. You see that, just because what is coming back to you from the mirror does not look pretty to you, what is it that you attempt to do? You have to try to change the mirror or manipulate the mirror in such a way that what it sends to you is something you like. That's what the usual mind, the common man does. There are so many people who want to change the world, right? Very few who want to change themselves.
There has to be a reason. The reason is this: the ego lives in a very shallow, at the same time, very existential confidence. The ego's confidence is shallow, at the same time essential to itself. If the ego does not have that confidence, it will collapse. That will be a very great thing for you, the real you but not for the ego, the false you. Therefore, the ego has to keep pretending that it is in the Truth and if the ego is already in the Truth why will the ego ever want to look at itself and change itself? But, something is definitely not all right because the ego is in a constant conflict with the world. So, the conflict is there.
The proof of the conflict is daily suffering, daily wounds, one is tense, one is not at peace, something is not all right. So, either of the two have to change, either me or the world. Because these are the two at odds with each other. The choice is simple. The world has to change. "Because I am in the Truth in any way and already, so why will I change myself?" That's the approach of the common man. That's why Rumi’s teaching is valuable. He's saying if you are clever, you will try to change the world, and the use of the word 'clever' here is, it's a quip, it's spiritual sarcasm. The verse says, “Yesterday I was clever so I wanted to change the world.”, what he actually means is, "Yesterday I was outright stupid, so I was trying to change the world." And then, he says, "Now I am wise, so I want to change myself." Are you getting it?
Now, let's look at your question. You are saying, “Given the state of the society, shouldn’t one try to bring some positive change in it?” Now, first of all, if you have not understood yourself, how will you know what the state of the society really is? Because whatsoever is the state of the society, you are the perceiver, you are the judge that brings us to the question of what really is positive. How do you know what is good for the other? How do you know that your definition of goodness is absolute? Maybe it is just relative to your own conditioning and concepts. Maybe you are just trying to impose your own idea of positivity and wellness upon others.
We are not saying that you must not attempt to bring any change in the world. But, first of all, one has to be clear about why does one aspire to bring that change and whether one has brought about any change in oneself, first. Now, change in oneself, if you want to bring change in yourself, then the role of your external situations becomes important and that is one genuine reason why you might attempt to change the world. Because if you don't change your surroundings, it becomes difficult to bring deep change in yourself. So, that is one good reason why. The other good reason is: As you start changing, you start developing what is called the faculty of oneness and compassion. You realize that your wellness, your goodness cannot be separated from that of the other. Going a little further ahead, you realize that probably this feeling of otherness itself is a mirage and then you have no option but to work for the good of the other as well, which is nothing but your own good. Because, really, there is no other. Are you getting it?
And these are two very, very different things. Working on the other to promote your own personal welfare is one thing. And working on the other from a point of compassion is a totally different thing, is it not? In both the cases, outwardly it would appear that a fellow is just attempting to change or modify or correct the other. But, internally everything is different. The saint and the seller are not the same.
The saint works tirelessly to change the world because he realizes that his own welfare is not separate from the welfare of the world. He realizes that the other’s suffering is his own suffering. He realizes that joy is not something personal or fragmented. Therefore, he has no option but to work for the other as well. His narrow self has just fallen apart. Even if he tries to, he cannot work merely for his personal benefit. He has seen the falseness of what we call as 'the person', what we call as the 'me', the self, the individual, the personality. He has seen what all this is about and where it comes from. So, there's no way he can keep working for something that's just an illusion. Therefore, now his work is for the greater common good. The seller, on the other hand, will work relentlessly to effect a change in the world. But, the change that he wants to bring in the world, I would reckon, is mostly for his own benefit.
Before you try to bring so-called positive change in the world, ask yourself: Do you know what is positive? How do you know? What do you mean by positive? What is negative? A decade back, this used to be my favorite question to college-going students. What is positive for you is not positive for him at all. Basics of coordinate geometry—shift the origin, what is positive becomes negative. It all depends on your center. Where are you operating from? What's positive for the man is not positive for the woman. What is positive for the Indian is not positive for the Chinese. How do you know what is positive?
And if your idea of positivity is just your own personal idea relative to your personal self, is it right to impose this idea or even carry this idea to the other? First of all, you have to figure out what is meant by the absolute and universal good? Not personal good, absolute good. There is a great difference between personal welfare or personal good and that which is absolutely good for everybody without exception, unconditionally.
Before you work for the other, you'll have to move from your personal position to an impersonal position.
You have also said that most people do not have the courage to stand up for what is right. It's not so much about courage, it's about clarity. There are mental conditions in which one seems to become very fearless, nothing great about those conditions. Some drugs, some weed, a bit of alcohol, and there are so many people who lose all fear, tremendously intrepid they become, they can challenge the god of death himself at that moment. Three pegs down, you ask them to jump from a seventh storey and they would. It's not really courage that is always virtuous. Clarity is a virtue. Yes, obviously, there are many people who are courageous and in your words, brave and there are many people who are afraid. I would not greatly distinguish between the two.
The real distinction is between people who realize and people who do not realize. That is the only real distinction. And that is what is called as discretion: To realize what is versus what is not, the ability to distinguish between that which merely appears and that which is substantial. Have that. From that, what you get is something higher than courage.
Courage, as I said, can even be a result of your hormones or your drunkenness, right? If you are a bit under the impact of something bodily, you find yourself ready to take on all kinds of challenges. Fear stops mattering. Nothing big about that. The jails of the world are full of very, very courageous people. At least in their moment of madness, you could say they were not short of courage. There is no great virtue in courage.
We were saying that when you have clarity, then something much more indomitable than courage comes from it. Courage is momentary and after that, it subsides, does it not? Are you always equally courageous? No. From clarity, what you get is something much more stable, much more lasting; not something that is frothing and shouting and erupting, but something that is passively and solidly and permanently present in you. Courage appears heroic, does it not? Courage is spectacular. What clarity gives you may not appear heroic or spectacular, but it does great things. If you want to steal the show for five minutes, ask for courage. If you want to live a worthy life, ask for clarity.
Courage is just suspension of fear. In clarity, you know the falseness of fear.
That's the word, clarity: you are clear about fear or you are cleared of fear. If fear has merely been suspended or suppressed, obviously it will come back, bounce back. In clarity, you know what the whole game, the whole mechanism of fear is all about. You know how it operates in you, you know how it operates in others. And then, you relate to the world in a very different way. You tell the world, “I know why you live the way you do. I have been so much like you, I still am. Therefore, I want to talk to you. If I could overcome something, you too can. Potentially, fundamentally the two of us are not different, me and the world, right? So, let's talk.” That's one way of bringing about change in the world. That's the better way. All right.
