What is moodiness? || With youth (2014)

Acharya Prashant (AP): He is asking, “Is being moody good or not?”

But what are these moods? Do you know what these moods are? You take water in a saucer, in a saucer, a plate, and the water is lying still but if you keep the saucer under this fan, what will happen to the surface of the water? What will happen?

Questioner (Q): Vibrations.

AP: Yes, there will be ripples that you are calling as vibrations. Some kind of wave formation, right?

This is what we call as moods — External event disturbing my inner peace. An outside event is dominating my mind. It is creating ripples.

Now, is the water not becoming a slave of the external situation? Tell me.

Is it not better for the water to say, “My mood will be under my control. I will not allow others’ situations to affect me”? But that is not our story.

Our story is that, somebody says, “Hey! Looking gorgeous today.” And we work up such a nice mood. And somebody says, “Hey! Where did you get this haircut from? Take two rupees from me, get a better haircut.” And we feel as if we have been put in some sever.

Our mood is always dependent on others and situations, always. And is such a deep slavery. Anybody can come and spoil my mood and even to correct my mood, I need some external help — I need to watch a movie, I need to listen to some kind of music, I need to talk to my best friend, I, at least, need to sleep to correct my mood — and this is such a deep slavery.

Anybody can spoil your mood. What kind of an individual are you? So easily you get hurt. Have you no inner locus of control?

Talking on the phone, somebody says something, and she starts crying on the phone itself. Probably she thinks just as you have voice transfer and image transfer, you also have tear transfer. What kind of an individual are you? Somebody says something to you on the phone and you start crying.

You are so down. Results have not been up to your expectations, and we have so many expectations, right? We live in expectation so now you require a morale booster, some motivating speaker. Now a motivating speaker says, and he performs all kinds of antics, this, that, “Come on, move the mountain. Dig a 20 km deep hole.” And you feel, “Yes, a lot of energy. I can do it!” The moment that fellow is gone, your all energy also goes away. The greatly energetic mood which was there, vanishes; gone.

This is our typical moodiness. Our moodiness is just our deep dependency, deep slavery.

But there is another way of living. Want to know of that?

That is, when whatever is happening, is happening only on the surface. Deep within myself, I find a point that no external situation can touch. A very deep, silent, and composed point.

So, you tell me a joke, I laugh. I laugh but that point within me will remain untouched. A very sad event has taken place, I will cry. I will cry but that point in me will not cry. That will remain stable, uninvolved, a non–participant. Then it is alright.

If you can have that point within you which — in no situation, no happening, no voice, no sight — nothing can touch, then it is alright.

I am running very hard; the situation demands that I run very hard. But that point remains still stable. I am not nervous. There is a great danger. Let’s say, a great physical danger. I am doing everything I can in the face of that danger but still, that point within me is not afraid, not at all afraid. Then you are not a slave. Then you are really free. Whatever happens, happens on the surface. My core is untouched. That core remaining untouched is the freedom of life.