Questioner: Dear Sir, I am writing this mail with a very heavy heart. It is on account of my affection for my father, that I had to get into the filth of society and family. But now that I am into it, I find myself unable to be a part of it. What to do now?
Acharya Prashant: You are in the middle of it and no one can see the situation better than you.
While it is pertinent that the false be clearly seen as the false, I know this would also enable you to see the True in the false.
What to do with this obstinate animal called ‘the society’ is indeed a tough question. Tougher because we are in many ways not separate from it. Complete separation would make the situation absurd, because then there would be no need to transform anybody, any society. Society matters only because we have something to do with it.
Who could answer this correctly? Who could walk this tightrope? You can’t leave the society, and you can’t bear it either. One then either tries to find a safe, secluded corner for himself, or tries to create an alternate society, a commune. That brings us to Osho, JK, and then to the memories of the Buddha and so many others who were essentially pissed off with the ridiculous, obdurate, everlasting stupidity of the common man.
Could any of these really succeed in the framework we call as ‘success’? Is the world enlightened for their efforts? Even then, for sure, the life of a Buddha or a Jesus is ‘successful’, despite the fact that the world could hardly understand them, and continues to abuse them to date.
Our mortal lives are too small. And the stupidity of this animal is monstrous. In some ways, this is a battle already lost and hence must not be taken too seriously. Even the Buddha is 'destined' to lose his fight against this monster. The odds are very unjustly stacked against awareness. I might sound a cynic but I know that the world is a game that awareness is bound to lose. Maya will always prevail because if Maya disappears, the world itself will disappear.
To be born itself is ego. To be in the world itself is to be bound. The world can exist 'only' as a stupid world. There can be no enlightened world. There may be phases of illumination, there may be moments of peace in aeons of noise, there may be the odd little star shining against a pitch black background, but that’s about all.
How does one play a game that he knows he is bound to lose? One plays it in the most carefree manner possible. One gives a damn about the result. One plays to enjoy. One plays to play. One plays in the most selfish manner possible. One does not weep at the result. One does not feel bad that he lost. One looks at the adversary in the eye even after being floored a thousand times. One treats the adversary like an oversized, pampered, petulant kid who kicks you in the face one moment, and needs your support the next moment. One walks with the clarity and understanding of an adult.
Keep playing your songs. Play on the seashore. Play on the streets. Play in the dead of the night, and play in the bustle of the afternoon. And if you feel like, play right in the middle of the marketplace. Smile, when a kid watches you play intently. And smile when they stone you, jail you, and kill you.
