How to be spiritual with worldly responsibilities

Following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner: Sir, during the process of spiritual sadhana, we have some responsibilities related to both finances as well as physical availability. How to tackle this?

Acharya Prashant: Who are you?

Q: Incomplete consciousness.

AP: So what is your responsibility?

Q: To get completion.

AP: Full stop.

Q: So, what to do of the responsibilities?

AP: What is your responsibility?

Q: To get completion.

AP: Full stop.

Never forget who you are. If you will forget who you are, you will take up false responsibilities.

Are you getting it?

Q: Isn’t the other’s completeness, also our responsibility?

AP: How do you know about the other’s completion, when you have not fulfilled your basic responsibility towards yourself? Is it not great arrogance and story-telling?

When you do not know what is your responsibility, and what will bring fulfillment to you, what do you know about others and others’ fulfillment?

May be you are the biggest barrier to others’ fulfillment.

Q: Suppose my child needs my…..

AP: Why ‘suppose’? Why not stick to that, which you definitely know of? Why suppose so much, and make more stories?

(Referring to the ongoing three-day retreat) The very first day, we said that — what is the only thing that you definitely know of?

Q: Suffering.

AP: “I am. And I am suffering.” Is there anything else that you definitely know of? Then why suppose so much? Why live in suppositions?

It hurts to realize that suppositions are stories.

The more you live in stories about yourself, the more you will have ideas about the world.

The more you gain clarity about yourself, the more you realize that your stories about the world were all cotton-wool stuff.