Acharya Prashant (AP): You may plan to go and meet somebody, will you also plan how to hug him and what all to say to him? Will you also plan that?
Now, what is essential, the time at which you meet him, or the time that you spend with him?
Listen clearly, what is more important – the time at which you meet him, suppose 4:30 pm. Is that ‘4:30 pm’ the real thing or is the time that you spend with him the real thing?
Questioner (Q): The time that I spend with him.
AP: 4:30 pm can be planned out. In fact, you must plan it out. Otherwise, you will reach at 4:30, he will come at 7:30 and then there will be a great problem. So, that 4:30 pm is alright, plan it out.
Q: Sir, let’s take a situation. You have planned to come to this session to speak to us, and while coming here, you meet an old friend of yours on the road. As you say, planning is not very important, so you dump the plan, and spend time with your friend instead. Then what will happen to this session?
AP: Then the session won’t take place. My friend may be more important to me.
Who cares for the plan?
You see, I gave up my lunch so that I could speak to you. And I can give you up to be with my friend!
It’s alright, it doesn’t matter.
Planning is a tool, it cannot become life. Life is a lively, vibrant, throbbing thing; it has to be lived spontaneously, very-very spontaneously.
How will you feel if I give you ready-made and planned answers?
Let’s say, I have ten standard answers here and ten buttons. Someone asks me a question, and I press one button, someone else asks me another question, I press another button. What kind of a conversation would this be?
All those who love planning, they deserve this treatment that whatever question they ask, I give them planned answers.
That is your treatment - giving you planned answers. Then only you will understand what the ugliness of planning is. Then you will see how ugly planning can get and people live their entire life that way.
