What Is Love?

Question: Acharya ji, whenever we sit down to do anything—like studying, doing yoga, meditation—even when I’m asking you this question, my mind is thinking about something else at the same time. So the question is: how can the mind be controlled and focused on one thing at a time?

Acharya Prashant: If you have ten things to think about, you still prioritize among them, right? You create a hierarchy. Maybe you don’t know the absolute highest thing worth pursuing or thinking about. That’s possible. But you do know something, don’t you?

All of us know several things—say ten—and these become subjects of thought at different times. Sometimes we think about one thing, then another, then a third, and so on. Even if we don’t know the eleventh or the fiftieth thing that might be truly the highest, among what we already know, there is still a hierarchy.

Among the things you know, the one that holds the most value—honesty demands that you give it the most attention. Suppose the highest possible thing has a value of 100 (even though the highest has no measurable value, let’s assume it for understanding). You may not know that highest thing—young people often don’t.

We are all searching for something that can make life meaningful—something truly worth living for. That may not be known. But among the things you do know, one may be worth 60, another 55, another 50, 45, 15, or 5. You at least know this much, right?

So honesty demands: why are you stuck on something worth 5 when you already know something worth 60? Even if you don’t know 100, at least engage with 60!

And when you work sincerely on something worth 60, you get rewarded—65 opens up. When you immerse in 65, 70 opens up. But if you remain stuck at 5 despite knowing 60, you’re being dishonest with yourself—and eventually even that 60 will fade away.

You may not know the absolute highest, but you do know what is relatively higher. So at least do justice to that. If you keep saying, “I don’t know what to do,” then you’ll never discover the highest.

The highest is like absolute zero temperature—zero Kelvin. Try reaching it if you can. Instead, keep moving forward with what you have. What other option do you have?

The highest cannot be grasped directly. What is relatively higher is known, yet we insult it by saying, “It’s only relatively higher.” Then what do you expect to do?

Whatever you understand right now as the highest possible action for you—do that immediately. If you do it wholeheartedly, the next level will reveal itself. That’s how growth happens.

There is no alternative. The greatest people in any field—spirituality, science, sports, politics—have all progressed step by step, through effort, trial, and persistence. There is no substitute for hard work.

This idea of sudden realization is a myth. A scientist doesn’t just sit in a lab and suddenly shout “Eureka!” without effort. That moment is backed by immense work. Similarly, a spiritual seeker doesn’t gain enlightenment just by sitting under a tree suddenly. These are stories. Real growth is gradual—step by step, relative progress.

Anyone unwilling to work step by step and hoping for sudden change will achieve nothing.

Question 2: How can we live fearlessly when we know that death is inevitable? How can we live without the fear of death every moment?

Acharya: Why do you have so much free time to keep thinking, “I’m going to die”? You fear death only when you keep thinking about it. This happens because there is emptiness in your life—what we casually call idleness.

Life is meant to be lived fully, not to be spent thinking about death while you’re still alive.

There’s no point in thinking about death. What will you gain from it? You haven’t experienced death, so how do you know what it is like? What you do know is that life ends. You don’t know death—you only know that life will end.

Once you understand that life will end, what is there to keep thinking about? That’s already a big realization—that whatever life you have will definitely end.

Think of it like an exam. When you sit down to write, you check how much time you have—say two hours. After that, do you keep thinking about how many minutes are left, or do you focus on writing?

You already know you will die. Some at 30, some at 50, some at 90. Now what will you gain by repeatedly thinking about it? If thinking about death could reveal something new, then fine—think for hours. But it won’t. All you’ll realize is that life—this body, this flow of energy—will stop one day, and you don’t know when.

So your time is limited. And when time is limited, you should do what is worth doing and not waste it. Understanding death means realizing that not even a single moment should be wasted.

There are two kinds of people—those who understand death and those who don’t. In India, there has been a tradition of remembering death, even singing about it beautifully. Why? Because if you remember death, you won’t waste your life.

The one who remembers death cannot waste life. And the best way to waste life is to keep thinking about death.

Understand this: death should be remembered, not constantly thought about. Once you know it, what more is there to think?

Immerse yourself in meaningful work. Often, when you go unprepared for an exam, others are busy writing, and you sit there observing and thinking, “All of this is temporary; everyone will die!”

Why does this thought arise? Because instead of preparing the night before, you relaxed and did nothing.

Everyone knows life is temporary. Don’t keep repeating it. Know it—and live fully.

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