Has India lost its spiritual heritage?

Questioner: We have such a rich heritage and history. India is the land of the Vedas, the Upanishads and so many perfect masters. As a country, how did we get so far from the Truth, or was the Truth always for just a limited few?

Acharya Prashant : The misfortune of India is that it is the land of Upanishads, it is the land of the Buddhas, the Kabirs, the Nanaks and the Farids. That which is too abundantly available becomes unavailable, and the one who is very abundantly available must become little unavailable, so that he becomes again available.

Masters after masters, scriptures upon scriptures, the common folk start taking things for granted. Every village has a dozen fakirs. You throw a stone in any direction and it is going to hit a sadhu!

That’s the way the human constitution is. We respect that which is rare. What do you value? Everyday events or festivals that come once in a year? If you meet Kabir every two hours, then you will start avoiding him. It is too much!

That’s the misfortune of India. Too much grace. And that’s how we are. We need to be hungry to enjoy a meal. If meals become too abundant, then we start choosing hunger because unless hunger is there, meals are of no value.

It is a strange thing, you know? To respect a Kabir, you must first of all not be a Kabir. A Kabir is one with Kabir. There is no question of respect there. And to greatly respect a Kabir, you must be greatly separated from a Kabir. So, there is separation.

Even today, you see, when I speak, when I speak at Rishikesh, the western crowd, the foreigners, they listened to me with a rapt attention because it is uncommon for them to come across the kind of stuff that I deal with. But Indians? Here everybody is a Brahmavid, you see. You tell them that we are going to talk wisdom, the Guru will speak, and they will say, “I have my bhabhi and a dog, and they are great Gurus, four fakirs live in the basement of my house. What Guru do I need? Even my cat sings bhajans! Even my goat has a beard! What respect do you deserve?”

For the foreigners it is a different affair; their jaws drop. If you look at their pictures clicked when they are absorbed in the session, then you would know what it means to be attentive. It is cyclical. You…