ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Akriyavada

Akriyavada is a tricky word, but let's break it down so you can understand!

"Akriya" means "without action" and "vada" means "view" or "position." So, akriyavada is the belief or philosophy that you don't need to do anything to achieve enlightenment or reach a higher spiritual level.

Imagine you have a really big goal, like climbing a mountain. Normally, you would need to take a lot of steps and put in a lot of effort to reach the top of the mountain. But in akriyavada, you believe that you don't need to climb the mountain at all - it will somehow just happen for you without any effort or action on your part.

This might sound appealing, but most people would say that it's not a good philosophy to live by. That's because if you want to achieve anything in life - whether it's climbing a mountain or becoming a successful scientist - you usually need to work hard and take some action.

So, in summary: akriyavada is the idea that you don't need to take any action to achieve spiritual enlightenment, but most people believe that you need to work hard and put in effort to achieve any goal.