On choosing a profession, listening, and anger || On Vivekachudamani (2018)

Questioner (Q): If I deeply understand that the bliss of consciousness or Brahm is truly greater by manifolds, then what motivation would I have left to perform the mundane duties, like chasing worldly desires, wealth, etc.? I cannot just sit doing nothing, thinking that my kids will have an education and food on their plates; karma has to be performed.

I feel from my own experience that there is an inherent dichotomy between what I am and what I do. How do I reconcile the dichotomy so that my actions get aligned with Brahm? To do something there has to be some sense of motivation, if not external at least intrinsic. The love for, let’s say, mathematics or rocket sciences etc., is that love wrong? Is passion not useful when it comes to the attempt of realizing Brahm? Does realizing Brahm mean an altered state of consciousness?

There are too many swirling questions in the mind; I am like a cat on the wall, a man who is scared to try to realize Brahm, because I believe that that path will take me away from my family and my necessary duties. And on the other side, I am unable to be fully motivated in things like wealth because I know the futility of chasing them. Hence the dilemma, a perpetual toggle mode of existence, so to speak. How to get out of this mode is the answer I long for.

Acharya Prashant (AP): Too many concepts, too much knowledge about that which is beyond knowledge. This is what you believe in: one, that action is born only out of motivation; second, the one who seeks Brahm renounces the world and his responsibilities. You are surmising; there is just too much speculation. You are using your current and limited set of experiences to project what Brahm