With youth: How do I know whether I really understand it?

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

Questioner (Q): Sir, how do I know whether I am really understanding something or not?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Understanding is not some knowledge that you can hold and store here (pointing towards the brain). It has to become your life. If it is not becoming your life, it is useless.

You may know a lot about fearlessness. “You know, I have read twenty volumes on fearlessness. And the moment I see a small lizard, all hell breaks loose!” What is the point of reading all these books? You have not really really understood. Real understanding does not come from outside. And what is Real understanding?

Real understanding is a state of your mind in which it is attentive.

It knows.

That intelligent self; it knows.

That is real understanding.

Right? When anger is arising, then at that moment can you see the anger? At that moment can you tell yourself, ‘the mind is angry but I am not angry’? When anger is arising, then at that moment can you see the anger? At that moment can you tell yourself, ‘The mind is angry, but I am not angry.’?