Where do right decisions come from?

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

Acharya Prashant (AP): There appears a very difficult task in front of us.

One approach is, the task is so difficult that I leave it to be handled by time. The task is so difficult that, being with what I am today, with my energy, my resources, my understanding, my knowledge, I am not equipped to handle this task. So, I don’t look at the task. I leave it to some imaginary date in the future. Or to some well-planned date. Doesn’t matter. Both are the same.

The other is, I know that there is urgency in the situation, I know that the right action needs to be done, but the fruits of the right action are not in my hands. I do not know when the whole thing will bear fruits, will materialize. But at least the action is happening right now. And if the action takes time, so be it. And when I say the action takes time, I mean the appearance of the fruits takes time. And the fruits obviously come only when they have to come. You do not know when your actions will bear fruit. And it is not wisdom, to keep thinking of the fruits.

So, you do what you must do. You keep hitting on the walls. And if the wall, comes down brick by brick, so be it. One has been given only limited energy, time, and resources. The only thing is that one should not postpone it. One should not depend on the future. One must not say, that I understand what is right, and yet I will not do it because doing it is impractical. And that is a very convenient argument with most of us.

The difference between the wise man, the spiritual man, and others is not :

that one understands and the other does not.

The real difference is :

that one has faith and the other refuses to have faith.

One says, “I understand what is right and I will do what is right.” Not bothering about the results, I will do what is right because I understand what is right.

The other says, I too understand what is right. Remember, the other does not say that I do not understand what is right. Everybody knows. We all know what is right. So, the other one also says, I know what is right. Just as the first fellow does, I too know what…