Poor is the one who has forgotten his riches

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

Question: We are wonderful, and we are beautiful as we are. Does that mean that we should be self-contented and not try to develop ourselves?

Acharya Prashant (AP): I may have everything very, very close to me, right there within me, but would it be of any use to me if I do not remember that I have it with me. I may have a thousand rupee note tucked in my pocket but I do not remember that I have it.

What will I do then?

I will go around begging for money, I will go around with a thought that I am poor. Just having a thousand rupee note with me will not give me any richness. Now it is a very strange situation. I am rich and yet I am poor, and this situation is not just your situation(addressing the questioner), it is with everybody. We are very rich, yet very poor. There is nobody richer than us. No richer person ever existed. We are the richest and yet there is hardly anybody who is poorer than us.

Isn’t that strange? Isn’t that funny? Isn’t that tragic? In spite of being so rich, I am still so poor. You said that if we have everything, then can we be self-contented.

Just having is not sufficient. One must also know that I have it. So know. We will make all the efforts to know that we have it. I have forgotten that I have a mike. What did I do when I forgot that I have a mike? I started looking around and then it occurred to me that I am a fool if I am looking around. I should have rather looked at myself. That is the key- looking at yourself. That is the way ahead.

If you want to look at your riches, if you want to look at what you already have, do not look around, look at yourself. Looking here and there will not tell me where the mike has gone. To find out what I already have, I have to look at myself.

How do I look at myself?

By looking at my daily life because that is what I am. So, we define life as every moment that is passing. So if we want to look at ourselves and want to really know how we are and what we are, then we have to look at our daily life. You may keep thinking that I am very brave but, look at your daily life. Is your regular day not full of…