Questioner (Q): What’s the difference between conspiracy and belief?
Acharya Prashant (AP): A conspiracy is a belief that you are quite clever. A belief is a conspiracy that is not known as a conspiracy.
A conspiracy is a belief that you are quite clever. A belief is a conspiracy that is not known as a conspiracy.
Q: So belief has conspiracy in it?
AP: Of course, but you do not know that you are conspiring against yourself. Why do you believe in something? You believe in something so that you do not have to know the fact. You say that you already know. You say, “I believe that I know, so I don’t have to know. “ This is your own inner conspiracy against yourself.
Q: Can we say that the difference between conspiracy and belief is that conspiracy has a motive behind it and belief does not?
AP: Belief too has a motive but that motive is a little subconscious. Every belief exists with a motive to frustrate the Truth, to block the Truth. There is no other motive of the belief. To believe is to say, “I do not need any observation because I already know.” That is what belief means.
Q: So what is the vital difference between conspiracy and belief? I don’t see any vital difference.
AP: In believing you say, “I already know, so I do not need to know.” In conspiring, you at least admit that you are being mischievous. In believing, you can even afford to be holy. “It’s a holy belief.” Haven’t you heard the phrase ‘Religious beliefs’? And I can’t get over it, one day I heard, ‘Spiritual beliefs’—beat that! It was there in a feedback form. The lady said, “I won’t return because you hurt my spiritual beliefs.”
Q: People are using words that they do not even know the meaning of.
AP: And do you see that in this there is that deep inner conspiracy? More than anybody else in the session, that particular lady would have known that what I am saying is important for her. But she is conspiring against herself by not returning.
Amritbindu Upanishad begins by saying, “मन एव मनुष्याणां कारणं बन्धमोक्षयो:।“ (Mind itself is the only cause of both bondage and liberation). This is a perfect example of how the mind is the cause of bondage. The mind conspires.
Q: The heart never conspires.
AP: The heart too conspires. It is a very sweet conspiracy. It keeps conspiring on how to pull you towards itself. It’s like a lover's mischief—How to bring you to the home. It’s a very sweet mischief. May we have more of heartfelt conspiracies. Don’t you think it is a conspiracy to load this city with those posters?
Q: Yes, quite!
AP: People are wondering, “These people must be having tons of money to paint the city black, blue and red."
Q: Can we say that after conspiracy comes manifestation?
AP: After conspiracy comes union. After conspiracy comes this discourse. (Laughs)
Q: Basically if you are believing in something, you are blocking yourself from something?
AP: From the fact.
Q: From the Truth?
AP: Truth you do not know. But you have good access to the fact. Truth is beyond, but to the fact, we have immediate access. By believing, you block your access to the fact. And that, in turn, blocks your access to the Truth. So you are right.
Q: I had asked you a question on the first day about Maya , you said something like, “If you see Maya , then you are on the path of reaching somewhere. If you see Maya , then you are believing in Maya , you are blocking yourself from something else.”
AP: You don’t see Maya ; When you do not see, it is Maya .
You don’t see Maya; When you do not see, it is Maya.
Maya is when you fail to see. Maya is where you fail in your discretion. Maya is when you are unable to distinguish the True from the false—That is Maya . Ultimately it is all very simple. This is life, and life will be there even if there are no temples, no bells, no scriptures, no Gita, no Bible, no Krishna, and no Jesus – let’s say the collective memory of mankind is wiped out. Man would still be there, life would still be there, in a different way. Life is the only non-negotiable, hence it is the only teacher, and it is the only reality as far as we are concerned. It is the only spirituality—To live life rightly.
Live life, not crookedly, not cunningly, but rather directly, simply, and innocently. I’ve often said that the one spiritual advice I can offer, and people are disappointed because it is not what they want to hear, it is simple, the one spiritual advice that I can offer is:
Do not be too clever; remain a little foolish, a little innocent. That is the crux of all spirituality. Do not be too smart; allow yourself to be cheated a little, allow yourself to be robbed, allow yourself to be wounded a little, but never lose your innocence. If you have gained a lot from the world, but compromised on your innocence, then you are left with nothing.
