Acharya Prashant: Vice is the spice of life.
I am saying: vice is spice. Mostly, what you call as virtue, is just empty morality.
Listener 1: Yes, Sir.
AP: There is no basis to it. So, you see, I don’t want to sound as if I am advocating drinking or smoking or sexual permissiveness.
L1: Yes, Sir. I am also against these things…
AP: No, let me complete. I am not advocating them, but I am not against them either. It’s ok. Go ahead. Your life, you understand. You understand.
There are far more important things to look for in a man or in a woman than to ask whether he drinks or not. There are far, far more important things. If you are looking at a girl, then there are 40 more important things about her than her chastity.
If you want to make friends with somebody, there are a hundred others considerations that you should have, not whether he drinks or not. And these are trivial matters. These are made important by those who do not know what is really important. So what will they do?
“This boy is good”
Why?
“Because he doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke cigarette.”
And who is he? No. one bastard! But since he doesn’t consume cigarette and alcohol, so he is good.
“The girl is good” – Why? Already understood.
She has done rest all of the things – She may destroy the world. She is dumb! A cunning woman! But if she is a virgin, then – “The girl is good”.
This is madness! Then, we do not know what is really valuable in life. Then, we do not know. These are small matters; they are of no consequence.
Let’s proceed further:
“The boy is good”
Why?
“He earns well”
Is that how you look at a person, that how much he earns? Why is he good? “He is a well-read man. He has done MBA after his BTech and now he is settled in USA.”
Is that how you look at a man?
“The girl is good” – Why?
“She looks good; morally sound; never argues with anyone.
(laughter)
Is that how you look at a human being? But is that not how people around us operate? This is foolishness! Somebody drinks, somebody may not drink. How does that matter? Well, physically it does have some effects; so know those effects. But there are, as I am saying, there are so many other things that are much more important. Take care of them.
“Does he understands Freedom?”
“Does he know Love?”
“Can he think for himself?”
“Does he have courage to stand for what he thinks is right?”
No, he has none of this. He absolutely has none of this. But he doesn’t smoke. – “The boy is good.” Will you roam around hanging this boy in your lap!
(laughter)
What do you want to do? There is this girl, absolutely dumb! She has not read anything. You talk to her about what is happening in this world, she will not know anything. Ask her what is happening in the middle-east, she has no idea. Ask her how does the Indian democratic system operates, she will not know. Ask her how many moons does Saturn have, she’ll have no idea. Ask her anything, she will not know!
But one thing she has… – “Good!”
(laughter)
Her dumbness is now an asset.
“She is innocent,” She is not innocent, she is dumb! You understand the difference between innocence and dumbness?
Being innocent is one thing, being dumb is another.
