Detachment and ambition are not opposites. Both arise from clear insight into what is truly valuable. Detachment means naturally dropping what is seen as false, futile, or harmful, while ambition means pursuing the highest and most meaningful truth with complete intensity. Spiritual surrender is continuous: as understanding deepens, false attachments are repeatedly abandoned, until renunciation becomes natural and almost choiceless.
Acharya Prashant: We want to look at ‘ambition’. So, as I enter, I see that we have been singing Kabir; Kabir talking about achievement, about ambition, about greed and desire and he seems to be taking a clear position, it’s unmistakable. Let us not leave it ambiguous, there is a
प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी, मैं गर्ल्स हॉस्टल (लड़कियों का छात्रावास) में रहती हूँ, इंदौर में। तो वहाँ पर बहुत बड़ा हॉस्टल है। सौ-डेढ़ सौ लड़कियाँ रहती हैं तो उसमें से फ़िफ़्टी पर्सेन्ट
Questioner: Pranam sir, I am Ram Surendra Singh, a research scholar from the Mathematics Department. Sir, we all are dealing with physical matter here but if we see a periodic table, all the elements in there, and if someone knows how to play with those elements they can all create
Questioner: Acharya Ji, I think this question may be on behalf of many of us sitting in this auditorium. Every student sitting in this auditorium had a dream not of getting admission in Lakshminarayanan Institute of Technology (where the session is being held), but getting into IITs. Then, after IIT,
Acharya Prashant: If I am incomplete, then sitting where I am, what would be the quality of my actions, thoughts, and imagination? They, too, would be of an incomplete nature.
Acharya Prashant: Whatever you are doing, there has to be honesty in that. What is important is that you do not say one thing and do another thing. If you look at the great scientific discoveries or inventions, the scientist or the explorer would be busy in his chosen area
Whatsoever affects you but happens without your choice, or without your will is luck. If you are master of your mind, then luck can have no effect upon you. Because battles are won or lost in the mind. When you are really-really enjoying, then you will find that you are doing so much of hard work without even realizing that you are working hard. Don’t work hard, enjoy what you are doing, and then a lot of hard work will happen on its own.
Questioner: I have something to say. There is a very famous line which is called─ the survival of the fittest. Now, I am an actor, and I’m also a medical practitioner. I studied cardiology, and as an actor, I have always advocated less makeup and simpler ways of life to
Questioner: Good afternoon and Jai Hind sir. My question to you is that people define success by different terms like influence, happiness, fame, name, etc. So, sir when did you start considering yourself success?
Acharya Prashant: People feel that because human intelligence knows no limits and human desire knows no limits, therefore the human race is going to keep expanding endlessly. They are taking inspiration from history. They keep saying that if you look at history, man has kept ceaselessly inventing; if you look
Question: Sir, in the market place, everywhere, are they not selling just the ‘Identities’? For example, if we talk about a newspaper, one kind newspaper is read by one kind of intellectual people. They relate to it, they have an identity through which they relate to the newspaper.
Questioner: Talking about the theme that we have today – The Profit beyond profits. In management, we learn about how to maximize profit. And, you talk about going beyond profits. So what does going beyond profits mean?
Speaker: The question can be broadly put as, ‘why is it so that our happiness comes at the cost of others?’ Why is it always a zero-sum game: if I win, you lose, if I am happy then you are sad? Why is it always like this?
Man is the only animal that is always sexually active. Why? Because man is the only animal who is always ambitious. Because you are constantly a seeker, because you are constantly feeling that hollow, because you are constantly feeling inferior, so you are always seeking something from the world. Always.
Man wants progress, and progress means an ascension, an elevation. It is as if man wants to be elevated to some high sky. That’s what you say, right? “I am rising up, I am progressing.” What is the intention of this tendency to keep progressing? The intention is to progress
All desires, all wants are motivated by the ego and hence desire too is an extension of the self. Now my question is that if we are our thoughts only, then how does one move from what one does not like, let us say his present occupation,
Questioner: Sir, I worked as a software developer for three and a half years, and later moved to soft-skills training due to job dissatisfaction. Left that as well, and worked in sales for three-four years. At every point, the career transition happened because of my interest in those fields. But
Question: Acharya Ji, the results of class 10th and 12th are out. And the parents of children who have scored high marks are shouting over the roof top. Entire social media is filled with such declarations.
Is poverty something that existence gave you, or is poverty something that the society has given you? If existence were to be blamed, then ask yourself, why is nothing else poor?
Remember, it is not situations that defeat you. Situations are just situations. A situation by definition is something outside of you, whereas defeat is something inside of you.
Situations can at worst be adverse, correct? And a situation is always external. The sense of defeat is an internal thing; that…
Questioner (Q): Sir, I wanted to know how do you find direction in your life? How do you find the mission that you want to pursue and how do you find excellence in every second? That's my question.
Man is the only animal that is always sexually active. Why? Because man is the only animal who is always ambitious. Because you are constantly a seeker, because you are constantly feeling that hollow, because you are constantly feeling inferior, so you are always seeking something from the world. Always.
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All of us want a new future. But the brain cannot want anything new. How many of you would want to taste a dish like Kakatua? Forget about tasting it, you haven’t even heard the name before. So, there is a golden rule: all desire is nothing but a stale repetition of memories. Ambition is nothing but a repetition of the past. What you didn’t know in the past, you can’t want in the future. New is new only when it is totally unrelated to the past. The truly new comes as a surprise.
मनुष्य ही है जो बंधन का अनुभव करता है, इसलिए उसे अर्थ चाहिए। ज़िंदगी मिली है भीतरी बंधन तोड़ने के लिए, न कि भीड़ या रेस में दौड़ने के लिए। हमें लगता है रेस में दौड़ने वाले मेहनत कर रहे हैं, पर वो मौज कर रहे हैं। निरर्थक काम करने में तो मेहनत लगती है, लेकिन अकेले चलने और सार्थक काम करने में उससे कहीं ज़्यादा मेहनत लगती है। खोजो वो, जो जीवन को अर्थपूर्ण बना दे। भीड़ में जीवन नहीं लगाना है, क्योंकि भीड़ में निरर्थकता है। उस निरर्थकता से बचना ही सार्थकता है।
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Questioner:* I am Darshan, and my question is very simple yet complicated. So why do we not work? So even after knowing that if we work, we will get something that we are looking for. So, to take an example, I had the opportunity to interact with a lot…
Excerpts from Articles
कद नहीं, अपनी कहानी बदलो
कई तरह के डर—अकेले पड़ने, छवि खोने या छोटा समझे जाने—की जड़ अक्सर अतीत में बनी पहचान और कहानियों में होती है। शरीर की हाइट जैसी चीज़ों को समस्या मानकर उनसे जूझने के बजाय उनकी अप्रासंगिकता को समझकर आगे बढ़ना चाहिए। अतीत को दबाने से मुक्ति नहीं मिलती; उसके करीब जाकर अपनी स्मृतियों, धारणाओं और पुराने पैटर्न को निष्पक्षता से देखना ज़रूरी है।
रक्षाबंधन केवल भाई-बहन के रिश्ते और सुरक्षा की रस्म तक सीमित नहीं होना चाहिए। आज असली रक्षा उन चीज़ों की ज़रूरत है जो कमज़ोर और संकट में हैं—गौरैया, नदियाँ, पहाड़, पेड़, महासागर और पृथ्वी। साथ ही ईमानदारी, आत्मज्ञान और मानवीय मूल्यों की भी रक्षा जरूरी है। धर्म कर्मकांड नहीं, अपनी शक्ति और उससे जुड़ी व्यापक ज़िम्मेदारी को समझना है।
ज्योतिष कितना सच है? कुंडली, ग्रह-नक्षत्र: इनका क्या अर्थ है?
वेदांत को केवल इसलिए सही या श्रेष्ठ नहीं माना जा सकता कि वह किसी विशेष परंपरा से आता है। विज्ञान जहाँ भौतिक जगत की वस्तुनिष्ठ जाँच करता है, वहीं अद्वैत वेदांत सीधे मनुष्य के ‘मैं’, उसके दुख, बंधन और मुक्ति की पड़ताल करता है। इसकी कसौटी वैज्ञानिक प्रमाण नहीं, बल्कि अपने जीवन में इसकी सच्चाई को देख पाना है। किसी दर्शन को मान लेना नहीं, बल्कि उससे स्वयं को मुक्त करना ही उसका वास्तविक उद्देश्य है।
सपनों और सामाजिक प्रतिष्ठा के पीछे भागते हुए युवा अक्सर अपनी वास्तविक क्षमता, रुचि और वर्तमान चुनौतियों को देखना भूल जाते हैं। आईआईटी, यूपीएससी, सरकारी नौकरी और पेंशन को जीवन का लक्ष्य मान लेने के बजाय ज़रूरी है आत्मज्ञान—ख़ुद को ईमानदारी से परखना। जवानी भविष्य की सुरक्षा की चिंता में नहीं, आज की वास्तविक चुनौतियों से जूझने और सार्थक कर्म में लगनी चाहिए।
एक पुजारी जो रोज़ भूत-प्रेत, तंत्र-मंत्र और वशीकरण के नाम पर आए लोगों से मिलता है, आचार्य प्रशांत से पूछता है: जब वो ख़ुद जानता है कि कुछ भूत-चुड़ैल नहीं होता, तो लोग बार-बार इसी झूठ की शरण में क्यों जाते हैं? जवाब अंधविश्वास से कहीं गहरा निकलता है — यह हमारे भीतर के उस झूठ की कहानी है, जिसे हम हर कीमत पर बचाना चाहते हैं।
Climate change is more than an environmental crisis—it is a crisis of human choices. Our patterns of consumption, consumerism and endless pursuit of more are putting increasing pressure on the planet. But meaningful change does not necessarily begin with new technology or stricter policies. It begins with a deeper question: what are we willing to change within ourselves?
Struggling to choose between a secure job and the path you actually feel drawn to? This isn't really a question about careers. It's about why other people's opinions have so much power over you in the first place. Real clarity doesn't come from finding the 'right' choice. It comes from honestly looking at your own fear, again and again, until it stops running the decision for you.
फ़ालतू खर्च छोड़िए, अपनी ज़िंदगी पर खर्च करना सीखिए
आचार्य प्रशांत बताते हैं कि क्यों हम सही खान-पान, स्वास्थ्य और अपने ऊपर ज़रूरी खर्च से बचते हैं, लेकिन दिखावे और फ़ालतू सामाजिक परंपराओं पर पैसा बहा देते हैं। अधिकांश लोगों के लिए समस्या सिर्फ़ पैसों की कमी नहीं, बल्कि विवेक और सही प्राथमिकताओं की कमी भी है।
अंधविश्वास या किसी दावे को केवल किताबों, परंपराओं या बड़ी-बड़ी हस्तियों के कहने से नहीं मानना चाहिए। भौतिक जगत से जुड़े हर दावे के लिए प्रमाण माँगना आवश्यक है। जो बात जाँची-परखी जा सकती है, उसे तर्क, प्रयोग और उपकरणों से जाना जाए; बिना जाने नहीं माना जाए। सच्ची जिज्ञासा वही है जो हर दावे के सामने प्रश्नचिह्न रखे और प्रमाण मिलने पर ही स्वीकार करे।
जो खुद आज़ाद नहीं, वह लोकतंत्र को मजबूत कैसे करेगा?
लोकतंत्र, गणतंत्र और स्वतंत्रता केवल संविधान में लिखे शब्द नहीं, बल्कि जागरूक नागरिक की चेतना पर निर्भर हैं। वास्तविक स्वतंत्रता मनमानी करने की छूट नहीं, बल्कि भीतर घुसे भय, लालच, अंधविश्वास, पूर्वाग्रह और बाहरी प्रभावों से मुक्ति है। जब नागरिक अपने ही विचारों और मान्यताओं की जाँच नहीं करता, तो लोकतंत्र भीड़तंत्र और संप्रभुता खोखली बन सकती है।
प्रश्नकर्ता: कोई काम करते हैं या कोई बुक पढ़ते हैं, तो मन उस समय नहीं होता, वो भविष्य या भूतकाल में चला जाता है। ज़्यादातर प्रेज़ेन्ट (वर्तमान) में नहीं रहता है। तो क्या करें कि वो अधिकांशतः वर्तमान में ही रहे?
आचार्य प्रशांत: क्या करोगे तुम वर्तमान में रहकर?
प्र:…
Questioner:
Acharyaji, my question is that the greed of getting more and more pleasure is increasing with time, and finally I’m finding myself getting stuck in the vicious circle of getting more and more pleasure. Sir, what are the ways that you could suggest to me to get out of
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So, incompleteness is projecting more incompleteness for itself and then trying with all its might to reach more incompleteness. How…
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You think that since you have dropped a lot of material stuff behind, you can live at ease without any worry but that's not how it is. One central belief that does not allow man to live freely and fully – “I will be my own master. My intellect will decide the next step.” If you keep thinking about what you need to do next via the intellectual route, then you still haven’t dropped your misplaced belief, in your power to take care of yourself.
प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी, प्रणाम। जीवन में आगे बढ़ने के लिए मन बहुत कुछ पाना चाहता है; मूलत: इसमें आर्थिक लाभ भी छुपा होता है। लेकिन पाँच-छह महीने कुछ किया और फिर कुछ और करने को मन चाहता है। मन को समझने का प्रयास किया, आपके कुछ वीडियोज़ देखे। एक वीडियो…
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Acharya Prashant:
First of all, thanks for inviting me here. I don't consider myself a success
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Smart work means being a little cunning, chalu (street smart), knowing shortcuts, and having connections in the right places. That’s what the world means by ‘smart work’. Unfortunately, choosing between hard work and smart work is like choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea. Whichever way you go, you are doomed. Hard work and smart work—what does hard work mean?
Hard work means I do not know what I am doing, why I am doing it, or who is doing it, but I have been told that doing is important, so I am just doing and doing; that is hard work.
There are far more important things in life to give importance to, and also if you are leading a truthful life then you can’t be too short of money. You will do something, right? Otherwise, you will gain weight. And if you are a little intelligent, a little creative, why would you not earn anything? You would earn something and that would keep you going. Fear about one’s financial future is proportional to one’s disbelief in one’s own worth. Otherwise, one says, “We will see when we come to that, will be able to manage something. We are not so very unskilled or stupid or useless, we will do something, we will manage.
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Speaker: There was a lot that was asking to be changed. Leaving the corporate was not really an objective. I wanted to do something, and if it could have been nicely done…
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Question: Sir, I understand that the work we are doing these days will help us. But, mostly I get the feeling that everyone in Advait has become too ambitious. They say do this, get that done. The office seems so much like a corporate.
Speaker: You do not know ambition;…
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Questioner (Q): In this present college scenario, there is one thing, which is the academics which I focus on, and there is an equivalent pool of activities which will help me develop my personality, in the sense that if I get better in a specific activity, it might help me…
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Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, you often talk about the importance of time, and that is something that bothers me in the context of my career. I don’t know if I should continue in my current job or not. I took the job for very ordinary reasons: money and position in…
Acharya Prashant:
See, when we talk of material profits, profits in the commercial,
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Acharya Prashant:
Let’s see, from where the question is coming. It only shows that so far we have acted only with?
Listener: Purpose.
AP: Purpose.
To act with purpose is to act in exploitation.To act in purpose is…
This is the…
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When the fellow is in class sixth, he is continuously told by his mom and dad that he ought to do well in his exams. He is bound to be
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One thing I have always advised those who are on the verge of choosing a career, or even those who are deep into their careers: Let there be no dissonance between who you are and what you do.
Your work is who you are. Do not say that you work…
If the resolution, the will itself
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There is a kind of entrepreneurship that says, start the company, see which sectors are hot and booming, and when you reach a certain stage after n rounds of funding, sell it off and add a few more zeroes to your personal bank balance. That’s one kind of entrepreneurship. It…
Acharya Prashant:
Ofcourse, when you don’t have to achieve anything in life then you don’t run; but are you that person who doesn’t have to achieve anything? The one who doesn’t have to achieve anything,
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My first question is: What does it do to their children and other parents…
What do you mean by a new idea? Can an idea ever be really new? An idea is a thought and thought will necessary come from…
Acharya Prashant (AP):
Ashish wants to understand failure and success, and the relation between them. When do you call something a ‘success’? You call yourself to be successful when you have a goal, and you reach it. And the attainment of that goal, you name as ‘success’. Right?
Now, we…
The rose is shining so majestically without earning anything. The animals are leaping and playing so beautifully without going…
Look at the lifecycle of the normal human being: Be born, get educated, get a job, get married, get a house, get a few luxuries, get a car, deal with your kids, deal with your wife or
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Questioner (Q): I have heard you say that life should be purposeless and aimless. But if we do not aim for anything, then how will we crack our exams? When you were our age, you too prepared for exams like MBA, IIT-JEE, civil services, etc. But now you say having…
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Listener:
Kshitij Aggarwal.
AP: The question asked by Kshitij is why do needs often dominate ambition?
And he surely thinks that it is quite unfortunate that needs to start dominating ambitions. The reason is simple, he probably gives a lower priority to needs and…
Acharya Prashant (AP): You have to know what you are doing. You…
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Questioner (Q): Sir, how to stay motivated and ambitious even after repeated failures in life?
Acharya Prashant (AP): Our friend is asking that how to stay motivated and ambitious even after repeated failures.
Do you understand what is ambition? Do you understand what is motivation? Do you understand what is…
Who is the teacher? The teacher is the most obedient and voluntary of all students. The teacher is not a non-student; the teacher is the first student, the best student, the most voluntary student.
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Questioner: Sir, you always emphasize on total involvement in any task one takes up. But in our lives, we experience a constant state of flux. So, my question is, how to remain centered amidst all ups and downs, and remain involved in my task?
