Shamelessly, guiltlessly, continue with your wandering ways

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

Question: Two years ago, I left my job, my girlfriend, and my home. Since then, I haven’t got any rooftop over my head. In the beginning, it was very clear to me that I want to live like this and I was okay but now I don’t know whether it is okay to run away? I wonder at myself.

Acharya Prashant (AP): Do you have an obligation not to run away? What makes you feel that running away is a sin or a crime? Are you running away from life or are you running away from disturbance? Are you just running away from something or are you running towards something? Important to ask! Or you just running?

You have no obligation not to avoid something. You have no obligation to remain a part of the system.

It is the system that teaches you that running away from the system is a crime. Why must you feel guilty about avoiding the system?

Yes, run away. By all means, run away.

Why must you not run away?

(Smiles)

Listener (L): It is not about society. It’s just about myself as if this way of life was rough. But sometimes a thought comes that it (running away) is a good way to avoid responsibilities.

AP: Are you obliged to bear your responsibility?

L: If that responsibility can rectify me, can lead me to myself then, I think it would be nice.

AP: Was that really happening when you were bearing responsibilities before you broke away? When you were bearing all those responsibilities, were all those responsibilities leading you to peace? And if they were indeed leading to peace, then why did you run away?

So the fact is, those responsibilities were just a social burden. And now that you have run away, you haven’t totally run away. You are still carrying a part of the social self with you and that social self is nagging you. It is troubling you. You haven’t yet broken away totally from society. So, the society is still present in you and is reminding you to come back.

It is telling you, “Oh! Your responsibilities are waiting for you. How can you be so…