Why is it difficult to explain spirituality to our close ones?

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

Questioner: Acharya Ji, I have noticed that people who know me since childhood are now facing difficulty in understanding what I am doing. For instance, it took me two years to convince my wife and relatives, etc., to even allow me to do what I am doing.

When I say, “What I am doing”, I am referring to my inclination towards Spirituality. Why do our close ones take so much time to understand us?

Acharya Prashant: It is because Abhilash (the questioner), they are close to you in an unspiritual way. So they will take a lot of time. And you will have to live with this fact.

Do not just say, “Some person is close to you.” Complete the sentence. Elaborate and clarify. When you say, “He is close to me”, how is he close to you? What do you mean by ‘closeness’? Closeness of what to what? When you say ‘close’, you mean — X is close to Y.

When do you say that somebody is close to you, kindly elaborate — what is close to what? The closeness itself is quite material, or co-incidental, or social, or physical.

They were close to you in a very-very unspiritual way. In the spiritual dimension, they were not close at all.

So it is not that people who are close to you are taking time to understand you. If you want to express it honestly, the situation is like this — people who are spiritually very-very far from you, are taking time to come close to you. And that is understandable. Is it not? They were anyway very-very far from you, so they are taking time to come close to you.

Are you getting me?

(Referring to the table placed in front) Right now, am I closer to you, or to this table? In purely the physical sense, I am close to the table. But if I start teaching to this table, will it understand? So, that’s how your question is Abhilash.

“Acharya Ji, I have been close to a table for two decades. I have been very very close to the table. I live on the table, I eat on the table, I sleep on the table, I dance on the table. Wherever I go, I carry the table on my back. But now I am teaching Bhagwad Gita to the table, and the table…