Pretending to be happy?

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

Questioner (Q): Sir, yesterday was my first Satsang that I attended. I came to know about it through your poster. It is indeed very enlightening to be here, to hear you in person for the first time.

As a spiritual aspirant, one tries to keep the mind under control and to go inwards. But, in one of your videos, you question why the mind should be under control when it hasn’t been under control for the last 50 years or so. Could you enlighten me on what could be the process for seeking happiness that is inward, and not external?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Process for what exactly?

Q: As I have mentioned to you, we do realize that the mind goes all around the place, probably because of desires, tendencies, and whatever. Then as a spiritual aspirant, you have to not allow it to wander, turn inwards and understand, ‘who are you?’, ‘who am I?’, ‘what am I?’ etc. So, one of the ways to do that is the ‘meditative process’ which is sitting quietly. But, it is impossible because the mind wanders, and we consciously try to bring back the wandering mind. So if there is a process, how does one achieve that?

AP: It is interesting when you say that the mind has to be kept within, the mind has to be prevented from wandering. You would…