Competition

The effect of repeated failures on the self || IIT Delhi (2020)

Listener: Life is a race and it is a competitive fast going generation. If you do not become a part of the race then you will lag behind and will have to face the consequences.

Speaker: What are the consequences?

Listener: Sir, if we do not compete with the rest… read_more

10 min

Questioner (Q): In this age of competition, we try very hard for various types of exams, and sometimes it is possible that we come very close but may still end up on the losing side. If that keeps continuing, then won’t the repeated failures hamper our self-confidence? If they do,… read_more

Take up the real challenge || Neem Candies

1 min

Man is born in a battlefield. Man will have to deal with challenges. Now, it is upon you which challenges you choose to deal with. You could either fight several miscellaneous, worthless wars—that cannot really even be called as wars, call them skirmishes, squabbles—or you could devote yourself to the… read_more

Alasinga Perumal - Swami Vivekananda's most loved disciple

Is Sex and Meditation Just an Escape of Ego?

We all know Swami Vivekananda. But have you heard about 'Shri Alasinga Perumal'?

Probably not. But if Alasinga Ji had not been there, Swami Vivekananda would never have been able to give that historic speech in Chicago, due to which he brought fame to Vedanta and Hinduism throughout the world.… read_more

8 min

The ego says that my first priority is to remain, exist, and after that comes everything else. Even the Truth must be subservient to my first priority. So, liberation is alright as long as it is a second of liberation. Peace is alright as long as it is five minutes of peace. But if silence threatens to take over the entire life, if peace starts dominating noise to the extent that the noise might be completely annihilated, then the ego rejects. The ego wants Truth, but only a modicum of Truth. The ego wants peace, but only a sliver of peace.

The Key to Progress || Neem Candies

1 min

A lot of progress, even in the material sense, happens only by inviting pain. That which we call as discipline, even in the loose sense, is nothing but an invitation to pain. Is there discipline without pain? You have to get up at some point in the morning—doesn’t that involve… read_more

‘I want’ versus ‘I must’

1 min

Questioner: Is it possible to live without a target in life? I set a target for myself so that I have something to strive for, so that I have a sense of direction, but the thought of not achieving this target also brings sorrow and fear. So how can a… read_more

Which direction to take in life? || Acharya Prashant (2019)

Punishment of Having a Wrong Goal || Neem Candies

Questioner: Acharya Ji, which direction to take in life?

Acharya Prashant: What is it, that matters to you?

The direction in which you must go is determined by where you will feel the pain.

And if you feel no pain, no discomfort, why must you go in any direction?

You … read_more

2 min

What is the punishment of having a wrong goal? What is the punishment? You will suffer. And if you keep having one wrong goal after the other, your suffering will keep compounding, so you will be forced to give up your false goals.

And if you are not forced to… read_more

How to Overcome Perfectionism?

How to Overcome Laziness?

Questioner: I want everything that I do to be perfect. Because of this, I end up procrastinating a lot of things and focus only on the minor ones that I can do almost perfectly and feel satisfied about. I am not happy about this tendency. How should I get out… read_more

14 min

'Laziness' is an unnecessary pejorative. You’re imposing morality on Prakriti (physical nature) and calling it laziness. There’s nothing called laziness. In nature, there’s a tendency towards work minimization, which is logical—get maximum output with minimum effort. You view it through a moral lens and call it laziness. If something gives more output with less work, you’ll choose it. You call it laziness, but it’s simply efficiency. You calculate the pleasure-to-effort ratio, and if lying in bed offers more pleasure than working out, you’ll naturally choose the bed.

You've Had Enough of This Person

On Education, Corporate Life and Career Progress

Questioner: Namaskar Acharya ji! I am reading a book called “Freedom from the Known”, where the author, Jiddu Krishnamurthi, talks about removing authority to be free from the ego. What does he mean by authority? Can we take anything to be the authority and then say, “I’m not going to… read_more

32 min

Questioner: Good evening everyone, my name is Saurabh Sardana and you are watching the first episode of season 2, ‘Recast.’ I’m so glad to have you with me today, Acharya Prashant Ji. I’m pretty sure, that most of you that most of you sort of follow him on one of… read_more

Want More Pleasure?

Why most People Fail in their Goals || AP Neem candies

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… read_more

Be Committed, even to your Wrong Choices || AP Neem Candies

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.

So, incompleteness is projecting more incompleteness for itself and then trying with all its might to reach more incompleteness. How… read_more

Career Anxiety: Follow Your Heart or the Market?

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… read_more

7 min

Work. Where is the time to devote to anxiety? Where is the space to be anxious? If you are anxious about something, that thing is obviously important to you. Else you wouldn’t be anxious and if that thing is important, work. Work for that thing. The thing is not only important but also stands incomplete. That’s the reason you are anxious. Correct? If it stands incomplete, work, bring it to completion. Somebody said action is the antidote to despair. Action. Don’t just sit and brood, work. And life will become intolerable if you are not a worker.

Look at the Eyes, Before You Look Through the Eyes || AP Neem Candies

He Chose a Wife, Not a Guru

Acharya Prashant: Those of you who have tried to chase success in this world know very well that all that you have received is fear. Kindly do not punish your children now. Kindly do not push them to make the same foolish mistakes that you kept making all your life.… read_more

Rise Above Failure: Claim Your Success Today

Questioner: We have a question by Pooja. So people who try to become self-aware and you know knowledgeable of themselves. They usually became the black sheep of their families.

Question by Pooja is what can we do if our loved ones, that is spouse, parents, friends are not receptive to… read_more

Not Acting Is Not an Option

Questioner: My name is Rohit. My question is related to failures. At certain moments of life we feel that we have had enough of failures and we are tired of it. Similar goes with me, like I have been trying my best in my life to do everything that I… read_more

4 min

Questioner: Sir, I am pursuing MSc in physics. After watching your videos and reading the Bhagavat Gita, I understand that whatever in this world we achieve to please ourselves does not really give us peace. I also find that doing science might be just pleasing myself or my ego. It… read_more

The Real Meaning of "All is One"

7 min

The mind suffers because of the choices that it makes, thinking of one object as superior than the other object. “All is one” is not an objective statement. “All is one” refers, not to the objects, but to the subject and the relationship that the subject strikes with the various objects. As long as one thing appears more desirable than the other things, how can “All is one” be true to you? Have you, in your inner journey, come to a point where you do not see anything as excessively desirable and anything as too repugnant?

Is Hard Work the Key to Success?

'Success’ is just a concept of the mind that requires mental movement. Constantly ‘thinking’ of success means mental work is happening. Real success is when you understand something, and from that understanding, you immediately start acting. Mental movement stops once you understand; now the mind is peaceful, and the body is acting.

Prakriti and I

13 min

Prakriti is another name for duality. Prakriti carries two ends. At one end is the perceiver, and at the other end is the perceived environment or objects or the world or the universe. The ‘I’ that exists at one end of Prakriti says, "I am," and no more. The other end provides a name and meaning to the "I am," the ego self. The Prakriti world exists in this ‘I’ for the sake of its enjoyment and liberation. If you can understand this, you will know the purpose of life, and you will know how to live.

Hard Work vs Luck

8 min

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.

This Is Why a Vivekanand Is Rare || AP Neem Candies

Should You Sacrifice Your Pleasures - When and How Much? || AP Neem Candies

Acharya Prashant: By looking at one Vivekanand, you start imagining, or dreaming, or expecting that all youth can be like Vivekanand. And in this lies your ingratitude and disrespect towards Vivekanand. You do not know what kind of an impossibility a Vivekanand is. You do not appreciate him, so you… read_more

Forget yourself, Find Yourself || AP Neem Candies

Acharya Prashant: You have to ask yourself what your primary identity is. If your primary identity is that of the body, then do what the body commands you to do. Good. The body has an inbuilt software of its own, and it’s a self-improving software. Its capacity to keep improving… read_more

Where Should I See Myself in 5 Years?

Acharya Prashant: Service will not probably fulfill this restless ‘I’, but service will enable you to forget this restless ‘I’. That is beyondness—not quite the fulfillment of the little ‘I’, but a certain forgetfulness towards the little ‘I’. You say that you are serving a cause bigger than yourself or… read_more

At 16, if you were asked, ‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’ Were you in a great position to answer? Why then should a 26-year-old live by the vision of their 21-year-old self? You don't want to constrain yourself by saying, ‘I had thought of a future - a vision at the age of 16, and now my entire life, I live by that vision.’

Passion or 9 to 5 Job: What Should I Do?

15 min

Somebody chooses his work or occupation going by external conditions and then there is someone who says, “I am choosing my passion for my livelihood." These two are hardly different. Passion becomes dangerous because it decorates itself as something of the heart. The only thing that makes all the difference in life is by doing not what you desire to do rather by doing that which you must do. Observe the world and observe yourself, and you will know, what is it that must be done.

How to Overcome Procrastination?

Procrastination is nothing but the postponement of misery. ‘If I do it right now, I will feel miserable.’ So I try to escape by sending the thing into the future. But if I loved what I did, would I still procrastinate? After all, one never delays love.

Why Is Our Attention-Span Declining?

It is primarily not about the span of attention. The important thing is not really for how long you can hold your attention on an object. The important thing is, what is the quality of the object you are attending to, and the nature of the human consciousness is such that, only very specific type of objects can really hold your attention for long.

How to Identify the Real Master?

26 min

It is not others that you have to be cautious of. You have to be cautious of that within you which gets influenced by others, which does not know others but gets influenced by others. It does not live in knowing. It lives in indoctrination. How to know the real master? See, who is treating your disease. How do you know a doctor? Not by his degrees but by his ability to treat you.

What Is My Destiny? How Do I Achieve It?

Destiny is the inviolable thing. You cannot get rid of it. You have to reach there. So, better choose in favour of your destiny. Now, destiny is something that can, at most, keep waiting till eternity. But you can never dismiss it. So, make a choice in the favour of destiny. Bow down to your destiny, surrender to your destiny. If it has to happen, why keep postponing it? Because that postponement is just suffering. Destiny is love. Destiny is what each of us craves, is crazy for.

Acharya ji, You Are at the Top. How Does It Feel?

You must keep learning till your last breath, you must keep discovering till your last breath. You must keep knowing yourself, you must keep finding out where the last remains of inner bondages are. “I want to confront them.” So know, read, reflect, observe and keep moving on. And all these things will just happen along the way. Don’t settle down when you have not yet arrived. Your Dharma is that of the traveller.

Superstitions are Your Worst Enemy

11 min

The question should often be asked, "How do you know this?" The typical response is, "Science is proving this." Lately, there has been much discussion around the idea that water has memory. About a month ago, this topic came up, and a video was published dismissing the claim. The molecule is a molecule. What do you mean by memory? So, people have been coming with proof. And what proofs? The proofs are YouTube videos!

Path to Success?

What Is Meant by ‘Leaving the World’?

Acharya Prashant: How to get success in whatever I do? The questioner says, “How do I get success in whatever I do?” Success does not lie in doing any random thing. That’s the first, the most important and, probably, the last thing. The game is not at all about picking… read_more

10 min

Acharya Prashant: Leaving what is not, That is all right, but that leaving is not done with an objective to get joy. Had the thing been so transactional that you could leave one thing and as an exchange offer get another thing, then everybody would have taken the deal. Were… read_more

The Secrets of the World

The world is like an open book to the one whose eyes are open; if you cannot read the world, then you have to look at yourself first, then you have to be mindful of your own condition. Read more...

When You Are Sure of Yourself, You Feel Less Angry at Others

7 min

I am not talking of your confidence arising from skill or knowledge. I am talking of your confidence arising from the realization that no business is God. And that the Truth remains with you even if your business fails and the Truth does not get amplified even if your business prospers. Read more....

Trying to Remove the Flies while Retaining the Dirt? Smart! || AP Neem Candies

8 min

Acharya Prashant: Desire means that you are not alright with yourself and you want something else to happen, correct? So, we are anyway not living for ourselves. We are rather living to change ourselves. And are these not two very different things? If you are living for yourself as you… read_more

How to Remain Non-Violent?

Spirituality is about belonging to existence. Not belonging to a narrow household, or caste or ideology. All these are boundaries. So, wherever there are boundaries, there is violence. Wherever there are boundaries, there is also the fear of being small, powerless, limited. The really non-violent one is at home, everywhere and in every situation. Non-violence is not about following duties. Non-violence is an action in clarity and love. That alone is non-violence.

Sir, Are You Successful?

If Everything is Temporary, Why Do Anything?

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: First of all, thanks for inviting me here. I don't consider myself a success… read_more