Summary
Unlike many spiritual, self-help gurus, Kapil Gupta does not believe in prescriptions, how-to’s, self-help, guru’s, mental hacks, psychology, motivation, and the like. He thinks that these things are for those who are not serious.
According to Kapil Gupta, this book is for serious and sincere seekers. In this book, Kapil Gupta has explored and dissected real questions that are fundamental to our daily existence. We cannot be free until we realize how deeply we are bound. We cannot use our mind until we first break free from its control. The book is organized in the form of dialogues and commentary, most of which comes from conversations Kapil Gupta has had with his clients. This book will help you explore major questions about life and the fundamental nature of your mind, and in the process you will begin to shed false notions that society has filled you with.
Some key highlights:
– Atmamun is a process of transcending the mind altogether. What the mind really is. What gives rise to it. What excites it. What its patterns are. And how it controls our lives.
– All of us are controlled by the mind. Although most people in the world do not realize this. They believe that the decisions that they make are the result of their own conscious logic and reasoning. They believe that their “personality” is an intrinsic part of their fundamental nature. They believe that they are in control of their own lives. This is an illusion.
– Man’s greatest dilemma is that he lives in a prison and he believes that he is free. The man who knows that he lives in a prison will find a way to break free of it. But the one who believes that he is free while being imprisoned will remained imprisoned forever.
– The human being is thus imprisoned by his likes and dislikes. What would you do if you had no likes or dislikes? You would take life as it comes. You would experience it. And because you would not be taking sides, you would enjoy it immensely. When you have likes and dislikes, you have a desire for one thing and an aversion for another. This is a deep and painful imprisonment.
– The mind can go anywhere it wishes. You need not go With It. The mind can entertain any thoughts that it wishes. They have nothing to do with you.
– In cultures around the world, prayers are not an innocent homage to the divine. They are a clever transaction. It is bartering at its best. A deal in the “holy” market. People donate fruit and money to their lord in exchange for a higher pension. Success for their children. A flourishing of their business. To be given a certain gender of child. It’s a black market devoted to the fulfillment of desires. How often are the prayers and the worships about God himself? For his betterment? Without asking for anything in return? If God does exist, I doubt he pays 50 to 1. Who would give a man a life of riches, in exchange for a coconut?
– Does God exist? The answer to this question has no significance to anyone’s life. It is a mere curiosity. More senseless concepts upon which to waste our precious existence. If he exists, your day-to-day existence is still your day-to-day existence. If he doesn’t exist, your day-to-day existence is still your day-to-day existence. In reality, whether God exists or not matters only if you want to ask something from him, if you want a barter. If you don’t need anything from God, how does it matter whether God exists or not?
– If you seek riches, chase them. If you seek fame, cultivate it. If you seek to be a holy man, become one. If you seek success for your children, help them attain it. If you seek to help the needy, do it. Do whatever you wish, freely and completely. This is your day-to-day existence. This is Your Life. What does God have to do with it?
– Do not use your God as an insurance policy. Do not pray to him or worship him just to make requests to him. Discover what you are using God for. Discover the ways in which you’re playing a clever game.
– Anything of great value has a great price. If you are asking for no less than God himself, you must give no less than your Entire Self.
– Success arises from innocence or from a sort of knowing. It arises from innocence when an individual is so devoted to his craft that he gives himself to it, day and night. Not because he wishes to make himself a success. But because the craft is quite literally a part of him. He simply cannot imagine doing anything else with his life. He feels that he is born to do it. He feels that this is what he was made for. And because of this intimacy with his craft and the innocence with which he approaches it, his skill level soars. And success comes running to him.
– The one who knows just knows. The one who doesn’t know looks at “the odds.” The one who hopes for success creates backup plans, “just in case.” The one who knows has no need for a backup plan. Because he simply cannot imagine doing anything else with his life, he simply has no choice but to succeed.
– Society is against the creation of legends. This society is not meant for legends. It does not breed legends. It breeds clones. It breeds sheep. It values conformity. And hails mediocrity. If you seek to be a legend in your field, it will help you to understand that you will have to be comfortable being an outcast. For you will not fit into this society. And if you do fit neatly into this society, there is no way that you will be a legend.
– Society does not support anyone who goes against it. It only supports the masses. It supports common people with common thinking. And there is perhaps no greater contributor to mediocrity than the concept of “school.” For education is one thing. School is another.
– The fundamental tenet of love is Freedom. The one who gives love has no need to control. He sees the humanity in the human being. And he loves him for who he is. He has no need to meddle. For how can one meddle with perfection?