u/BanjaraFreebird

Imagine a grandfather standing on the banks of the river Yamuna in Delhi, holding his grandson’s hand. He says, "Son, when I was your age, the river used to reach till here." The grandson looks in disbelief. Where the grandfather is pointing to the river, today there are roads, buildings and concrete. Did the river really move back, or did we push it back?

According to a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in collaboration with the Delhi government, in the last 225 years the Yamuna’s width within Delhi has shrunk by about 68%, and its natural water flow has reduced by about 89%. The study used historical maps, satellite images and geospatial (GIS) analysis from 1799 to 2024.

During this period, Delhi’s urban sprawl has multiplied many times over. Construction on the floodplain, embankments, roads, real estate projects and continuous encroachment have all restricted the river’s natural spread. As a result, the river has kept shrinking, groundwater recharge has decreased, and the risks of floods and pollution have gone on rising.

Experts say that the Yamuna is not just a water channel, but the lifeline of Delhi’s ecology. The shrinking of the river is not only a water crisis; it is also a crisis of biodiversity, climate adaptation, local temperature, groundwater, and the water security of future generations. The loss of the river’s floodplain can make future extreme rainfall events far more destructive.

The question is not just, "Why has the Yamuna shrunk?" The real question is: does development mean advancing by erasing nature? If every city writes the same fate for its river, then coming generations will read about rivers in history books, not see them in their own cities.

This is not the river’s problem; it is humanity’s problem. The ego wants to fill every empty space with its own achievements. Open skies, forests, rivers or floodplains appear useless to it, because in its eyes only that is valuable which can be bought, sold, and built upon. This very ignorance turns nature into a mere resource.

Pause and ask yourself: are we really building cities, or are we destroying the very foundations of our own lives? If the death of the river is necessary for our development, then is it truly development at all, or is it just the ego expanding itself to stuff its inner emptiness with external objects?

Source:

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/delhi/over-225-years-while-delhi-grew-yamuna-kept-shrinking-lost-68-width-89-flow

Learnings from the session:

1. There is no “middle path” (in-betweenness) in spirituality

Clutching at many teachings at once and comparing them is not a search for Truth.

A student comes to learn, not to compare and pass judgments. The student listen; the student doesn't admire. The reviewers admire. You are not my reviewer. I want you to be with the one. you are comparing me, again not because I mean harm to you or I mean to disrespect the other. This in-betweenness is actually harmful to you. I don't want any in-betweeners, that's the most problematic.

The ego turns different teachings into options for itself.

2. “Partial relief” is the greatest deception

By taking a little bit of spiritual support here and there, a person does not give up old habits.

Half-treatment only prolongs the illness.

That’s why, at times, creating distance is itself compassion.

3. Intent is what matters the most

It’s not wrong to read many books and thinkers.

The question is: with what intent are you reading?

If you are reading in order to search for Truth, then it is alright.

If you are reading to protect the ego or to hide behind it, then that very reading becomes a barrier.

4. Ego is the root cause of suffering

As long as a person does not see the real cause of suffering, the question of dropping the ego does not even arise.

The ego takes the credit for every achievement.

5. The brain and the ego are different

The brain is necessary for memory, language, reasoning, and problem-solving.

Ego is not a biological organ, nor a part of the brain.

The brain does not “secrete” the ego.

6. Creativity does not come from the ego

Acharya Prashant said,  “Ego builds, doesn't create.”

True creativity comes from a mind free of ego.

The ego only comes later and says, “I did this.”

7. Ego reduces gradually

Ego cannot be eliminated by force.

When you look at yourself honestly, it naturally becomes thinner and thinner.

It is an ongoing process.

8. The “witness” is not a separate entity

There is no separate witness sitting inside.

Acharya Ji elaborated, “Witnessing is an attitude, not an agency.”

That means, witnessing is the tendency to look at oneself honestly.

9. What is consciousness?

Consciousness is not a thing.

It is the relationship between the ego and its object.

The quality of consciousness depends on where the ego directs its attention.

10. What is self-inquiry?

Self-inquiry is not an attempt to know the Truth.

Self-inquiry is the process of recognizing the delusion, maya, and ego within.

Acharya Ji says, “Truth cannot be known. Know what is false.”

11. Order already exists

The Nature, the body, the seasons, the planets, everything has an intrinsic order.

This order is not because of the individual.

12. Disorder is brought in by the ego

It’s the Ego that comes in the middle and disturbs the natural balance.

The lesser the ego, the more order reveals itself on its own.

13. You don’t have to create order, only step back

To bring order, effort is not required; stepping back of the ego is required.

Acharya Ji said: “Take one step back, order will arise on its own.”

14. What is Divine Order like?

It is not a straight-line, machine-like arrangement.

From the outside, it may appear disorderly or chaotic.

A river is an example, up close it seems chaotic, from a distance it is perfectly ordered.

15. Non-egoic chaos is the real Order

What the ego calls “chaos” may actually be divine order.

When ego is not there, life flows naturally in accordance with reality.

Spirituality is not an intellectual collection or a matter of comparison.

Ego alone is the root cause of suffering and disorder.

Through honest self-examination, ego gradually withers away.

True creativity, consciousness, witnessing, and order appear only when one loosens the grip of ego and begins to live in accordance with reality.

Verse 3.32: 

ये त्वेतदभ्यसूयन्तो नानुतिष्ठन्ति मे मतम्।

सर्वज्ञानविमूढांस्तान्विद्धि नष्टानचेतसः।।3.32।।

Translation:

Those who are deluded about all knowledge, devoid of consciousness, invested in cavil, and who do not honour My teachings: do not think that their future will be ruined or that they will one day perish at the hands of Time. They are already destroyed today.

Learning from the session:

One's true nature is like empty space that is free, limitless, and incapable of being bound; only the ego feels trapped. " Stop believing that your personality, temperament, or upbringing determines your spiritual potential, because these are identifications of the ego, not your real self."

The real punishment for wrong doing is not a future consequence or even the act itself, but the egoic state of being that gives rise to the action. In other words, becoming a thief is the punishment in the first place not the theft or its consequences. The corrupted state of being is itself suffering.

The ego itself is the crime and its existence is the punishment in itself not any future consequence or external judgment. The ego suffers because, instead of choosing love, truth, and self-dissolution, it chooses self-preservation and separation, thereby imprisoning itself. Since the ego alone can truly see and judge itself, it is both the offender and its own judge , making its suffering self-created and immediate.

The ego cannot possess true knowledge because it approaches everything through the lens of self-interest and self-preservation, which inevitably distorts what it knows. Real wisdom begins by recognizing that one's certainty is often ignorance in disguise, especially when we claim to know ourselves or others.

The true consciousness is not awareness of the external world but honest self-observation; healing begins the moment the ego looks at itself without escape. 

The greatest obstacle is not disagreement with truth or the teacher, but the ego's fear of dissolving, which makes it reject the very source that could free it from suffering.

Rejecting the truth is itself the loss. When the ego rejects the teaching or the teacher, it is like throwing away the only medicine that could heal it, leaving no path to transformation.

The ego adapts to suffering and starts calling it normal. Over time, we become so accustomed to our inner bondage that we forget we ever longed for freedom and mistake compromise for contentment. 

A good measure of one's growth is whether the younger self would respect the person one has become.

Shri Krishna of Bhagvad Geeta represents an impersonal principle, not merely a historical personality. The essence of ‘Krishnatva’ is the universal truth that the ego finds freedom only through its dissolution.

No single book or tradition has a monopoly on truth. Any teaching, from any culture or scripture, that genuinely helps dissolve the ego carries the same liberating essence as the Gita. 

The value of a teacher lies in the truth they reflect, not in their personality. Focusing only on the person while missing the transformative message is to mistake the messenger for the destination.

Liberation cannot be forced upon anyone. Truth is always available and patiently waiting, but it becomes transformative only when Ego willingly choose to open itself to it. 

Human beings wait for fulfillment from the world, while Truth patiently waits for peoples to turn toward it. "The tragedy is not that Truth is absent, but that Ego keeps looking elsewhere while the Truth quietly waits for consent."

"Don’t Fear the Truth that changes you, fear the comfort that keeps you the same"

On July 3, a special dialogue was held between Acharya Prashant and Mimi Bekhechi, President of the world's largest animal rights organization, the PETA Foundation. The discussion, held at PETA's London office, was attended in-person by a large audience and it explored the deep relationship between animal rights, climate change, and human consciousness. 

The event formed an important part of Acharya Ji's historic UK tour, through which he is taking the wisdom of Indian philosophy and Vedanta to globally renowned platforms, including the Cambridge Union, the University of Oxford, the House of Lords in the UK Parliament, the London School of Economics, and London Climate Action Week.

During the dialogue, Acharya Ji said that compassion is not something that needs to be taught, it is the natural state of a human being. What is required is not the teaching of compassion, but the recognition and removal of violence. He explained that the root cause of violence against animals is the human ego, social conditioning, and humanity's own inner insecurity. 

He added that unless we understand our own ego and inner violence, neither animal exploitation nor the environmental crisis will come to an end, nor will genuine compassion emerge in society. Acharya Ji further emphasized that the courage to reject violence and even when it is endorsed by history, tradition, and society is the true essence of spirituality.

Source and Media coverage: 

◼️Punjab Kesari

https://english.punjabkesari.com/india/acharya-prashant-in-dialogue-with-peta-foundation-president-mimi-bekhechi-in-london-says-one-who-is-violent-towards-animals-will-be-violent-towards-all/

◼️Dainik Bhaskar

https://www.bhaskarhindi.com/other/london-mein-acharya-prashant-ka-peta-foundation-ki-adhyaksh-mimi-bekhechi-se-samvad-jo-pashu-ke-prati-hinsak-hai-vo-sabke-prati-hinsa-karega-1323820

◼️Deshbandhu

https://deshbandhump.com/post/landana-mem-acarya-prasanta-ka-peta-phaundesana-ki-adhyaksa-mimi-bekheci-se-sanvada-bole-jo-pasu-ke-prati-hinsaka-hai-vo-sabake-prati-hinsa-karega

I found the video hilarious when I first watched it. People were laughing, splashing, and playing in streets flooded with rainwater.

But then I couldn't stop thinking about something else.

The water they were playing in wasn't just rainwater. It was mixed with sewage and overflowing drains.

It made me wonder if we've slowly started adapting to what should never have become normal. A flooded street becomes a water park. Instead of asking why this is happening, we simply learn to live with it.

Climate change is real. Extreme rainfall, urban flooding, disappearing wetlands, and rising temperatures are no longer distant warnings. They are already part of our lives. Yet, instead of working towards address the crisis, we are slowly adapting to its consequences. The abnormal slowly starts feeling normal.

But climate change is not the root problem. It is a symptom of something deeper. Our endless desire for consumption comes from an inner restlessness that keeps seeking fulfillment outside ourselves. As long as we don't understand that, climate change cannot be addressed.

“Climate change is nothing but a consequence of how we are on the inside. Let’s treat the inside.” – Acharya Prashant

In exclusive interaction with Acharya Prashant at Richmond Park, London on 5 July, the first thing that became clear was that our biggest problem is not that we are on the wrong path, but that we don’t even realize we are on the wrong path. As long as we don’t see the danger, alertness doesn’t arise. That is why we treat spiritual life as something we can “get to later.”

Acharya Ji explained that we are sitting having compromised exactly with what we claim we want to escape from. The biggest enemy is not outside; it is the ego, ignorance and maya within. And maya never comes in its true form. It comes disguised as comfort, pleasure, success, relationships, and the soothing sense that “everything is fine.” That’s why we fail to recognize it. The Q&A interaction below should remind us that the greatest battle of life is not outside, but within. And in this battle, the biggest defeat is when we start believing that there is no battle at all.

Question: Why are we so casual? 

Acharya Prashant: We don’t even know how great the danger is. We have no sense of how terrifying the danger really is. We have struck a compromise with exactly that from which we need to be saved. The danger is that which has hollowed out all of humanity and is today devouring the entire earth.

All I can do is remind you for 2-3 hours a day, that too through an online medium. The rest of the world’s system and setup exists to destroy you.

Your faith in yourself just doesn’t break. The entire structure of civilization and culture is there for only one reason: so that you keep feeling that you are fine and that “everything is fine.” This entire apparatus around you exists so that this feeling is maintained within you.

It’s like a deer caught in a hunter’s net, the vast majority of people just cannot see the seriousness and horror of the situation. And those who have seen it, are not willing to acknowledge it; they can’t accept it. Because if they accept it, they will have to take responsibility.

“The ego is losing its life every day, yet shamelessly it still doesn’t accept that it is dying. The problem is not merely that there is self-confidence; the problem is that what we claim about ourselves is one thing, and the facts of our life do not match that claim. It is this mismatch that makes life keep kicking us.”

“Just as you cannot manufacture love inside someone, how will you manufacture shame inside someone? Shame is: I am not able to give total surrender to the one I claim to love.”

“This is a Dharmayuddha, a righteous war, and we want to change the course of history. Leaving aside a few chosen lamps, we want to reject almost everything from the past.”

“First you must see how grave the danger is for you. One who does not even realize what a deep well he has fallen into will never value the hand I extend to pull him out.”

If you are honest with yourself, you will clearly see how frightened you are, how many doubts and fears you carry within. You do not want to look at your ruined condition, nor at the world’s; that is why you keep consoling yourself with false dreams.

Question: In front of you we say ‘yes’, but when it is time to act, we forget.

Acharya Prashant: When you already know that your tendency is to forget, that you do not want to retain what is said in the session, then why don’t you carefully create a structure for yourself so that you can remember?

The one who has heard does not want to remember. The ego will deliberately forget the session, and forget all the lessons and points related to it. It is compelled to do so; therefore it has to be forcibly brought back.

“The issue is not that there is a shortage of money, the issue is that the intention is dirty.”

Why would the ego remember that which is central and is erasing its very existence?

Whoever is not of the Truth, is not ours.

Why are you with such people, sitting with them, if they are not in the Gita? A person who cannot stay with, or remain steady with, the Gita and the Upanishads than how is that person able to stay with you? So, “Whenever a decision has to be made on the earth, look towards the sky and say, what is not yours, is not ours.”

“When has the ego ever willingly wanted to surrender itself to the Ganga? With it, one has to apply even more force.”

I am human; I get tired. How long can I keep forcing you and somehow hold you back?

Yes, I do force you. And had I not done that, even two percent of the people would not have been here today.

The point is not how much I have forced you; the point is how much longer I will be able to.

I have started getting tired now. Now you are going to get ample opportunities to fly away.

The last few lines should be enough to break the stone within though. Thoughts?

Another insightful session with Acharya Prashant Ji during a walk and talk in Richmond Park, London. 

It shows where we stand as individuals and a nation today. Real progress or change is only possible through a change in the collective consciousness. The courage to free ourselves from the culture, traditions and customs we so proudly embody is the only way to ascend the vertical axis.

Without realizing Vedanta, the ultimate pinnacle of Indian philosophy and self-knowledge, India cannot become the Vishwa Guru. "The world may accept you, but you will be respected only when you have something original to offer to the world."

Today, millions of Indians are going abroad in search of better opportunities. Going abroad is not wrong, but do we go there only to take, or also to give something?

Why is India not getting respect from the world?

The West has spoken of outer freedom, and India has spoken of inner freedom. Here are the core teachings and learning from the session.

Key points:

🔹 Acceptance and respect are two different things.

Becoming a good employee (obedient worker) can get you a job, but not respect. Respect comes from original contribution.

🔹 India’s greatest capital is self-knowledge.

India’s true peak lies in its spiritual vision—inner freedom, self-realization and discernment. If Indians themselves do not live it, how will the world ever respect it?

🔹 Blind belief and fear have made us mentally weak.

Ritualism, astrology, fatalism, the fear of sin and curses—all these rob a person of inner strength and make him dependent on others.

🔹 We were taught praise, not struggle.

To change one’s life, you need discernment, courage and struggle. Mere worship or ritual cannot transform a person or a society.

🔹 Respect goes to originality.

Whether it is science, technology, art or self-knowledge—those who bring something new to the world are the ones who are respected. Not the imitators, not the middlemen.

🔹 Religion does not mean bowing your head; it means dissolving the ego.

Real spirituality is not fearfully bowing to external powers; it is ending the ignorance, ego and weakness within.

🔹 If we continue to treat casteism, misogyny, blind belief and regressive mindsets as ‘religion’, then expecting respect is futile.

📌 1. 💠 "You will be accepted, yes, but true respect comes only from originality."

📌 2. 💠 "India will not gain respect by becoming obedient workers, but by making original contributions."

📌 3.💠 "Respect goes to originality, not to imitation."

📌 4. 💠"India’s greatest gift to the world is self-knowledge."

📌 5.💠 "A religion founded on fear does not make a person free; it cripples him mentally."

📌 6.💠 "Fatalism snatches away inner strength; only discernment makes a person truly free."

📌 7.💠 "If you want to change your condition, you will have to struggle, not just offer praise."

📌 8. 💠"Surrender cannot be a substitute for struggle."

📌 9.💠 "Ego does not care for respect; it is willing to trade even respect for profit."

📌 10.💠"If we keep calling blind belief, casteism and misogyny ‘religion’, then expecting respect from the world is pointless."

📌 11.💠 "One who does not bow to his own discernment is forced to bow before every external authority."

📌 12.💠"India’s dignity lies in fighting the right battle and living the right life, not in merely shouting the slogan of ‘Vishwaguru’."

Love how a casual walk in London can turn into a profound teaching moment. Acharya Ji was asked a random question and delivered wisdom for all of us on true freedom.

It's not just about status or states which keeps changing always. It goes all the way down to freedom from "being" itself. Highly recommend reflecting on this one!

A recent video from the Kedarnath route went viral and sparked widespread outrage. In the video, a mule is seen struggling under the weight of a heavily built pilgrim. The incident has once again raised concerns about the condition of animals used in pilgrimages.

📍 This is not an isolated incident. In 2025, for the Kedarnath yatra, over 4,300 operators registered nearly 8,000 mules and horses. According to reports, in just the first three days of the Char Dham yatra, 14 mules died.

🛕 Millions set out on this pilgrimage in search of peace, blessings, and spiritual merit. But the picture of an exhausted animal carrying a load beyond its capacity raises a very uneasy question.
If this journey is meant to take us closer to purity, why is another living being paying the price for it?

🐾 The mule does not know that it is carrying a pilgrim. It knows nothing of Kedarnath, merit, or liberation. It only knows the weight placed on its back.

❓ If someone’s devotion stands on the silent suffering of another creature, then who is really being worshipped: Truth, or one’s own convenience?

🌟 Let’s understand this as per Acharya Prashant Vedant teachings-

🎯 The real question is not who managed to reach Kedarnath. The real question is: what kind of consciousness reached Kedarnath?

🪞 The ego wants to reach the place of pilgrimage, but without changing itself. Dharma begins exactly where the journey starts to challenge the ‘I’ that has set out on it.

Someone can travel hundreds of kilometers to reach a holy place, and yet remain untouched by the suffering unfolding right in front of them. The outer journey and the inner journey are not the same thing.

💭 The real danger is not just cruelty. The real danger is that a person sees cruelty and still continues to consider themselves religious. This is where dharma slowly starts turning into mere ritualism.

🌿 The purpose of dharma is to lead a human being towards Truth and compassion. If a so‑called religious act depends on the suffering of another creature, then that act must be questioned. Thoughts ?

🔗 Source

Moneycontrol
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/stop-animal-cruelty-viral-video-of-mule-carrying-heavily-built-man-during-kedarnath-trek-sparks-outrage-13935705.html

Something is missing.

Let me try this.

This is what I wanted.

Is it?

Are you sure?

Yeah, I got it.

I feel good.

For a moment.

Then again,

something is missing.

Since childhood,

something is missing.

They say, good girl.

I smile. I glow.

And soon after,

something is missing.

Summer vacations.

Long afternoons with nothing to do.

Even then,

something is missing.

Beautiful evenings.

Friends laughing beside me.

Still,

something is missing.

Let me try this.

Let me try that.

I did it.

I achieved it.

And again,

something is missing.

Got the job.

Work feels good.

But in between the work,

when silence returns,

something is missing.

Fell in love.

Found a partner.

Yet somewhere,

something is missing.

Have a family.

Have a home.

Morning comes.

Night falls.

And in between,

something is missing.

Trips planned.

Outings planned.

Photos taken.

Memories saved.

Still,

something is missing.

Friends, family, relations,

so many faces,

yet something is missing.

I plan the day.

Tick the tasks.

Everything done.

Something still missing.

I wake up at five.

I meditate.

I feel light for a moment.

And then,

something is missing.

I stay up late.

I party.

I laugh loudly.

And quietly,

something is missing.

I keep trying.

At the end of every road,

something is missing.

My ego whispers,

After this, you will feel good.

After that, you will be fulfilled.

I listen.

I follow.

I become its fool.

I wanted something limitless,

but I kept collecting things

smaller than me.

Limited.

Temporary.

.....

I know desires promise fulfillment,

yet fulfillment never arrives.

So does it really matter

to keep running?

I tried again and again,

hoping to find something

that would enrich me.

But brain chemicals only say,

Now you are satisfied.

Briefly.

...

Then I noticed something.

When I look,

the moment opens.

When I look for,

the ego interferes.

When I look,

I find beauty.

When I look for,

I become a beggar.

When I look,

I see

no utopian world exists.

Just this.

Alive.

Enough.

...

So now,

I am not looking for

what is missing.

I am just looking.

And in looking,

I find freedom.

I find peace.

A subtle, quiet delight.

I love

not to get love back.

I speak

not to be praised.

I listen

not to be answered.

Getting back no longer rules me.

Love returns or does not.

Appreciation arrives or fades.

Achievements pass.

They come. They go.

And for the first time,

nothing feels missing.

(Inspired by Acharya Prashant Jis teachings)

- Posted by Manali on Acharya Prashant's Gita Mission App

📜 On 20 June 1894, in a letter written from America to the Diwan of Junagadh, Haridas Biharidas Desai, Swami Vivekananda wrote that a Foundation was needed for a new wave of dharma, and that what was most needed was money. Even after his historic success in Chicago, a full year of lecturing in America did not manage to gather funds for his mission. And from India? He himself wrote, “The rich people simply cannot understand what I say, so I have refused their money.” His own countrymen could not even do as much as to tell the Americans: this man is not a fraud, he is a genuine man.

📜 Yet there was no despair in that letter. He wrote, “Diwan Ji, I love my fellow Indians. If I do not succeed, then in India someone far more capable and valiant than I will surely be born, who will accomplish my work.” These words come from a man centered on the work, not on his own name. No jealousy, no sense of ownership—only direction.

📜 Three years later, on 5 May 1897, in a letter to Sister Nivedita, he was saying the very same thing: “I do not pay much attention to my physical illness. The only sorrow is that there is no opportunity to bring my plans to fruition. And the root cause of this is the lack of funds. People take out processions, but they cannot extend financial help.” This pain was not the pain of an ambitious man; it was the pain of one who wanted nothing for himself, who wanted only that the work should happen.

🤔 Whose pain was Swami Vivekananda’s pain?

Look closely at what he asked for. Nothing for himself. No fame, no comfort, no recognition. Only that the work be done. This is the truest sign of action free of ego: when action arises from I’m-ness, the doer has nothing to do with his own success—only the direction remains.

And you? You too say you want nothing for yourself. But when the work doesn’t happen, when recognition doesn’t come, when the plan fails, whose burning is it that rises within? That disappointment, that complaint—“no one supported me”—this is the ego’s ledger quietly being maintained within.

In Swami Vivekananda’s pain there was no ledger. That is why even that pain was love.

📚 Sources:

📲 AP Framework:
https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/ap-framework

Swami Vivekananda Patra-Sangrah — 20 June 1894 (to Diwan Haridas Biharidas Desai) and 5 May 1897 (to Sister Nivedita); The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

A new health-and-wellness trend is drawing attention in different parts of India . People are going to animal Farms and ashrams and paying thousands of rupees to hug cows, stroke them, and spend time with them. Some programs also include meditation, religious rituals, and guided interactions with the animals.

Organizers say these experiences help people step away from life’s pressures for a while and slow down. People spend time in a peaceful environment, away from traffic and hectic daily routines. This experience is being marketed as beneficial for mental and emotional health.

Now look at these facts:
🔹 India is among the world’s largest exporters of bovine meat. In export data, it is recorded mainly as buffalo meat.

🔹 There is no uniform nationwide ban on bovine slaughter in India. ⚖️ The rules differ from state to state. Many states have bans or strict controls on cow slaughter, while in several regions the slaughter of buffaloes is permitted.

🔹 India exports buffalo meat to many countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. This industry provides income to several sectors connected to animal husbandry, meat processing, transportation, and trade. 💵

🐄 On one hand, we hug the animal; on the other, when it becomes “unproductive,” we slaughter it.

Source:
https://www.indiatoday.in/sunday-special/story/cow-cuddling-therapy-india-gaushala-a2-milk-ritual-premium-wellness-gaushala-iskcon-suvendu-bengal-2922374-2026-06-07

Mr. J had been waiting for a new phone for many months. Whenever he found time, he would read about it, look at its pictures, listen to people’s reviews. Slowly, that phone stopped being just an ordinary object. A whole expectation got attached to it in his mind. He felt that once he bought it, something would change. His daily boredom would decrease, his mind would feel lighter, and life would feel better than before.

The day he bought the phone, there was a different kind of excitement on his face as he returned home. He opened the box very carefully. He held the phone in his hands and kept looking at it for a long time. For the next few days he handled it with extreme care. If he saw even a tiny speck of dust on the screen, he would immediately clean it. He would keep taking it out just to look at it. The same thought kept arising in his mind: “At last, it’s mine.”

But only a few weeks later, that same phone began to lie around casually on the table. There was no special excitement in picking it up anymore. Sometimes it would be lying on the bed, sometimes crushed under things in his bag. Something that had felt so special a short while ago had now become just like all the other objects in his life. The phone hadn’t changed, but Mr J’s experience of it had.

It’s not just Mr J, most of us go through this experience. A new phone, new clothes, a new car, a new house, or some big achievement. Before we get it, we think about it a lot. We feel that once we have it, everything will fall into place. But after some time, the same thing starts to feel normal, and the mind moves on to some new desire.

In psychology, this phenomenon is called the “hedonic treadmill” or “hedonic adaptation.” According to it, any new object, achievement, or pleasant experience can increase our happiness for a while, but gradually we get used to it. Then our mental state starts returning to its usual baseline. A new house, a new car, a promotion, or some big accomplishment — with time, the charm of all of these can fade.

In 1978, psychologist Philip Brickman and his colleagues conducted a famous study. They studied people who had won the lottery and found that after the initial thrill, they too, over the long run, returned to roughly their normal level of happiness.

This is why as soon as one desire is fulfilled, another desire appears in front of us. The very thing we spent months craving starts to feel ordinary after a while. Perhaps this is why the market keeps selling us dreams of the next object, the next experience, the next big achievement.

But the question here isn’t just about the phone. If the charm of every new acquisition fades after some time, why do we keep expecting lasting satisfaction from it every single time? In the end, are we buying the object, or the hope attached to it?

Mr. J didn’t buy a phone. He bought the hope that after this, something would change, something would be completed. This is the basic structure of the ego. It is incompleteness itself, and its entire way of functioning is to try to fill that incompleteness with external objects.

Psychology calls this phenomenon “hedonic adaptation,” but that term only captures the symptom, not the cause. The real question is: why does the same cycle repeat every time? Not because we are choosing the wrong object. It’s because the ego’s sense of lack cannot be removed by any object. That lack is its very definition, not some accidental flaw. What is inherently incomplete by nature cannot be completed by any phone, any relationship, or any achievement.

Mr J’s excitement didn’t fade because the phone turned out to be bad. It faded because the ego had absorbed that object, normalized it, and was now looking for the next one. That is its life: the object keeps changing, the emptiness does not.

Until it becomes clear that the problem is not the object, but the craving for the object, the next phone will repeat the very same story.

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/hedonic-treadmill