Time spent joyfully is not at all wasted time

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

Question (Q): Sir, many times it happens that we ask a question to ourselves and then we are also able to answer it on our own. Moreover, this is what forms the basis of so many assumptions that we take. Is this an appropriate method or should verification also be done?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Verification is valid and sometimes useful when it comes to objects.

Verification is an act of mind and must be applied only to that which is a product of the mind. Things, objects, events, and facts can be verified. In the mental space-time world, verification helps separate imagination from facts. Here, one knows by being a little separate, detached from the object of verification. Like in science.

But never apply verification to that which is beyond the mind. Facts can be verified, but Truth cannot. Love, Joy, and Freedom — these cannot be objects of mental verification. Here one knows by being the Truth. Verification requires distance. Knowing requires closeness.

We make two mistakes at two extremes:

1. Blindly believing without verifying facts. This keeps us trapped in our imaginations and superstitions and facts are not discovered. Without facts, one cannot rise…