Nothing is right or wrong, says today’s pop Spirituality

Acharya Prashant
4 min readJul 13, 2020

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 18, Verse 29 to 32)

29. Hear thou the triple distinction of intellect and fortitude, according to the Gunas, as I declare them exhaustively and severally, O Dhananjaya.

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30. That which knows the paths of work and renunciation, right and wrong action, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation, that intellect, O Pārtha, is Satvik.

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31. That which has a distorted apprehension of Dharma and its opposite and also of right action and its opposite, that intellect, O Pārtha, is Rājasika.

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32. That which, enveloped in darkness, regards Adharma as Dharma and views all things in a perverted light, that intellect, O Pārtha, is Tamasika.

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

Questioner: Dear sir, today’s pop Spirituality says, “There is no right and wrong.”

They claim that everything is fine as it is and it is one’s way of looking at it that is making things seem right and wrong. However, here Shri Krishna specifically talks of knowing about right and wrong action for Satvik intellect. What is it that pop Spirituality is missing?

Acharya Prashant: No, the pop Spirituality is isn’t missing something, it’s carrying a lot. It’s carrying a lot that it needs to drop and miss.

What is it carrying?

It is carrying the obligation to defend itself.

Pop spirituality is carrying the responsibility to defend the ego and that’s what makes it come up with outrageous and amusing claims and principles. As you said — There is a new cult today that says, “There is nothing right or wrong.”

For whom? For whom?

Come to your senses. Let’s talk life. Let’s talk facts.

In every situation isn’t there something right or wrong for you?

Will you sip your pizza? Will you?

Will you eat your drink? Will you chew your beer?

Something as elementary as this too has rightness and wrongness associated with it. There is…