Festivals

No "New Year" will give you the "new." So many New Years have come and gone, only to become old years. If you want the new, why do you stick to the old? The new, the happiness you are looking for, will not come through experience. Look around, look at your relationships, look at your mind, your thoughts, and maybe you will suddenly cry out, “The looking itself is new.”

10 New Year Resolutions Suggested by Acharya Prashant

Man has always been attracted to the new. But attraction alone is not enough, especially when one is resistant to leaving the old ways. 'New' comes with an opportunity to change, and equally with a responsibility to act upon that change. Bridging this gap between attraction and action, Acharya Prashant guides us with practical resolves that possess the potential to bring real development—if followed honestly!

What Does Jesus Represent?

Jesus is not a mere mortal. He is the source of light, the root of all flowers and beauty. Jesus stands for the Truth, and Truth is omnipresent. In one form, he disappears; in another, he arises again. Prophets don’t come and go—they live forever. Going back into the past to look for them is the tragedy of the living. He is here, right now, in the hearts of those who love him.

Shopping and bling—the way of Rama? || Neem Candies

Diwali lesson: How to break free and find your light || Neem Candies

Rama’s festival has become the festival of shopping, shoppers and shopkeepers—Rama, who never had anything to do with shops; Rama, who was never a buyer or a seller or a consumer; Shri Rama, who stands for that which can neither be bought nor be sold. This festival has turned into… read_more

The must-know real colours of Holi || Acharya Prashant (2019)

You may celebrate Diwali, or you may celebrate Christmas—the weather would remain what it has to. Or is the weather exceptionally fine because today is Diwali? If it has to rain, it will rain. Life has nothing to do with your festivals or your sufferings.

Every instance of freedom from… read_more

14 min

Isa (Questioner is from Netherlands): It’s my first time in India and there are a lot of new things, lot of impressions and now that Holi is coming I really want to know what is it about? What does it mean?

Acharya Prashant Ji: What have you seen so far… read_more

Shivratri is fast approaching || Neem Candies

Celebrating Janmashtami? ||Neem Candies

Distinctions are a burden on the mind. If A is different from B, then one has to remember both A and B.

It is wonderful when A to Z are all one; then you can just remember A and forget everything else.

And if A to Z all are nothing,… read_more

Holika was a smart woman || Neem Candies

The world’s oldest calendar comes from India. They never recorded when Krishna was born, never, and they never recorded when the character called Krishna died. This was out of a simple understanding and respect that He is not a character at all. Characters come and go, so dates can be… read_more

Why live 364 days without Rama? || Neem Candies

Yes, Holika… Not to miss out on her. A smart woman, no? A smart woman with extraordinary powers. And it’s her smartness that brought her to flames. That’s a very important message to be remembered. The more smart you are, the more clever you are, the more are the chances… read_more

Let’s apologize to Rama || Neem Candies

I say, if you have lived up to Rama for 364 days, only then must you celebrate the festival of Rama-ness. How is it that for 364 days your life had nothing to do with Shri Rama, and on the 365th day you jump up and join the bandwagon, the… read_more

Have you lived up to Rama? || Neem Candies

Diwali, for most people, must be a festival of austerity, of repentance. We must, on this day, offer our prayers to Shri Rama and say, “We are very sorry, O Holy One! We are extremely sorry. We couldn’t live by your life, your message, your teachings. We are very sorry.… read_more

Where is Rama in your celebration? || Neem Candies

I say, if for 364 days you have really lived up to Rama, only then must you honestly celebrate the festival of ‘Rama-ness’. How is it that for 364 days your life really had nothing to do with Shri Rama, and on the 365th day you jump up and join… read_more

Finding God Is Easy, Tolerating Him Is Difficult

Just think if Rama was there in his bodily shape, in his mortal life, and were to see you celebrating his festival. What would he say? He would call you, “Hey you! Yes, you! Come here. You just did something taking my name? All this tamasha (commotion) is in my… read_more

19 min

Acharya Prashant: Suffering is a fire that burns down a lot. It brings along a certain purification. One of the poets gave the example of a snowball. Snowball that is cleansing itself in its own blood; by melting down. When a snowball starts melting, it starts becoming cleaner. And the… read_more

Big Fat Salary, Or Stable Job?

Acharya Prashant Interviewed By Kip Andersen (#Christspiracy) || Religion And Animals

Question : Sir, What is more, important for a fresher, big fat salary, or a stable job?

Acharya Prashant : Neither. What’s your name?

Listener1 : Acharya Ji, Taranjay.

AP : Taranjay is asking “What is more important for a fresher, a good salary or a stable job?” Neither. A… read_more

Now, how does man relate with the world? How does man know what to do, how to approach, how to touch, how to live, how to eat, how to talk, how to connect? That, to me, is the essence of religion. Man’s relationship with himself and the world. That is religion, and that is also the essence of all organized religions.

Spirituality Is Neither Culture Nor Tradition

Spirituality is neither a tradition nor a culture. Spirituality is not at all about following something or somebody. When it is said that you must follow the Guru, the Guru is the Truth, not a person not a man. Spirituality would never say, “Follow the words of a man.” Spirituality says, “Let the mind follow the Center, the Truth or you may call it the Heart or God.”

Living Without God: Principles For A Purposeful Life

Any belief is stupid because all beliefs come from a lack of investigation, and a lack of investigation comes from deep fear and a feeling of insecurity. If you are insecure and afraid, then you will not dare to ask questions and investigate. And it is from that fear and insecurity that the concept of God has arisen. Now, God and reality are two different things. God and Truth are not the same thing. The mark of religiosity or true spirituality is an abiding faith in the truth.

Are All the Interesting People Found in Hell?

No! They are not interesting people; they are sick people. It’s just that the very definition of the word 'interesting' has become distorted to their advantage. People in hell are as interesting as a stinking pile of trash is.

Shraddh: How To Satisfy Your Ancestors?

13 min

Liberate yourself of ignorance and help the entire planet. That should be the meaning of Shraddh. Instead, Shraddh has become an entire elaborate ceremony of superstition. This is that souls are floating in some other universe, and they come down, and they are hungry, and they are this, and there is talk of crows and sparrows and all kinds of crude superstition. That is not at all to be called as religious.

Is Self-Love About Being Happy?

Making yourself happy isn't self-love. Self-love is gifting yourself the highest possible. If you do not know what to give yourself, at least abstain from giving yourself toxic and harmful things. Real love is always tough. Self-love is an exercise in reduction, not accumulation. When you work to make your life beautiful, you are truly loving yourself.

The Joy of Being Drenched in Love

13 min

Usually our love is about one special thing or person. But Kabir Sahab is saying, "Hari bhai ban rai—the entire jungle has turned green. I see greenery not merely in one tree, but in the entire jungle.” That’s the difference between common love and Kabir Sahab’s love. In your love, there is just one green tree; in Kabir Sahab’s love, the entire world has turned green: there is nothing dry anywhere anymore.

Gita Is Not This

To qualify an entrance exam, and work towards it, without thinking of the results, that’s not what Karma Yoga is. Karma Yoga is not about setting tangible worldly targets and going after them. It’s a moment-to-moment thing in which you are very conscious whether the objective of your action is personal ingratiation or larger welfare. You are acting all the time, you are not acting merely when you act towards a distant and a larger cause.

Why Isn't the Gita for Everyone?

It depends on the pain you are willing to take. Sometimes Duryodhanas have to be turned into Arjunas. It’s just that, it’s relatively easier with an Arjuna. But what to do when even Arjunas are not present to receive the Gita? As long as somebody has anything, anything that resembles consciousness, as long as somebody has even the faintest remnant of consciousness left, Gita can be brought to that person but it will be tough, difficult.

Are You Spiritual or Religious? (The Difference Is Big)

10 min

If you are really a spiritual person, then you will find that the community that opposes you the most is not of atheists, it is of religious people. They will be the ones who would be opposing the really spiritual person the most, which is an unfortunate thing because the way religion was designed, it was designed to gradually make a person spiritual. Today, the situation is that these are not in sync or harmony with each other. Rather, these two have become greatly separated.

How to Utilize Time?

13 min

The real issue is not about time at all. You are spending time exactly according to your values. Don’t ask how to utilize time. Ask yourself, "Do I know what is truly valuable?" When you are clear about what is truly valuable in life, all your time will be devoted to that. Become clear. Know what is truly valuable.

God's Presence Everywhere: What Does It Really Mean?

6 min

Gita and philosophy and Vedanta have nothing to do with God. They are in search of Truth, not God. These are different things — Truth and God. Secondly, all the objects that you look at, you look at them in search of something. In search of the Truth, you look at all these objects. In that sense you could say, I am looking at everything in search of the absolute. To the ego, everything carries a promise, a possibility of the absolute. That does not mean that all the objects that you look at contain the infinite or something.

Is Life Just Deja Vu?

9 min

Deja vu is not surprising. There is no newness here, only repetition. You are caught in a circuit, and everything is being rehashed, recycled, and repeated. Life itself is deja vu. It's just that you don't realize it. Those who realize this are the ones who, for the first time, come to something new and original. Discover your originality and write a new story of your own. Otherwise, there is nothing but deja vu!

Is Sadness the Door to Happiness?

12 min

If you want to be happy, you should be sad. How many of you want deep happiness? You must go and must become deeply sad. This kind of happiness is of no use, it is coming from others, it is situation-dependent, there is no intelligence in it. There is another happiness that is called as ‘joy’. Find that happiness which nobody has given you and nobody can take away, which is your own nature. Lightness, simple pure lightness!

Without this, all is worthless || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2019)

Brahm is not the creator. When you desperately want to invent a creator, then you come up with īśvára. But Vedanta is not very enamored of īśvára. So, Vedanta says, "Īśvara is just Maya, just Maya.” Because you experience the universe, therefore, you feel the need to justify the origin of the universe. Therefore, you must have an īśvára. But how can the creator of a false universe be real? If the universe is false, what do you say about its creator?

If you cannot win the love of the Lord, so what if you can lord over your neighbor? What is the good of dressing your hair and donning your feet with jingling jewelry? What is the value of all your makeup with kajal to your eyelids and vermilion to your … read_more

Who Created the World?

14 min

Astrology: Science or Superstition?

10 min

Anybody who believes in astrology cannot be rational. All you have is a set of beliefs—the belief that this thing will happen. There is no logic in it, only fear and insecurity. Science is based on verifiable and falsifiable experiments, whereas astrology is not subject to verification; hence, it is just a story. It's a story that is making big money for a lot of storytellers.

What is Yagya?

11 min

In the name of yagya, if you continue to burn wood, you are doing no good to anybody. Yagya must be understood in its true spirit. Shri Krishna says, “Do not act for yourself or for your personal gain. Act for a higher cause; higher than yourself, beyond yourself. Do that action that takes you to your Niyati, which is your end. Yagya is that which dissolves you; that which reduces you.”

Happiness Is a False Medicine

3 min

The bulk of the human population is always, by default, in the state of boredom, frustration, irritation and anxiety— which are all nothing but sadness. The brain can never know the real happiness, i.e., 'Joy'. So, it is looking for some kind of a cheap substitute, which it finds in various objects: position, power, performance, money, appreciation, prestige, reputation— all these things. Happiness is a false medicine. A substitute. A cheap, unworthy substitute for joy.

Can the Materialistic Man Be Spiritual?

Whatsoever is precious will be non-dualistic, and if it is non-dualistic, it cannot have an object. Totally, if you are anything, then you are spiritual. The totality itself is spirituality. The emphasis, then, will not be on materialistic totally. The totality is important. Being total means you are total—not divided, not limited, not small.

Where Is the Kurukshetra of Your Life?

Arjuna’s hell was in his daily tasks, and so is yours. Arjuna could sense the evil in what appeared normal to others; you must also be able to sense that there is something extremely fishy in what seems normal to others. Your house, your workplace, your society—these are your Kurukshetra. That’s where you have to fight your Mahabharata. That’s where you need Shri Krishna and the Gita.

Why Is God So Biased?

Why do you think that, first of all, a creating entity, a creator, exists in the same way this world exists? Secondly, why do you think that all values that you hold dear to your chest must be espoused by that God as well? You like somebody to be merciful to you, so you say, “Oh, God is merciful.” How do you know God is merciful? Are you bigger than God? Have you penetrated God's head—if there exists somebody called God at all?

Hurt by Those Around You?

12 min

Hurt comes when you are not sure of yourself. You are saying you are all right with your habits, but not all right with people criticizing you. You feel hurt. If you feel hurt, that clearly tells you that you do not know what you do and why you do it. If you know that making the bed, for example, is the best thing you can do with your time in the morning, then why would you pay attention to someone objecting to it?

Yoga - The Biggest 'Spiritual' Myth Today

17 min

You have ample gurus who come over and say, “You know, you do this and then you can do whatever you want to do.” Now the moment you hear this kind of philosophy that Yoga will help you do better whatever you want to do, I suppose one must run away. Because that’s exactly antithetical to Yoga. Yoga is not about doing whatever you want to do; it’s the ego that says that, not the dedicated, devoted, wise mind. That does not come from there.

The Real Meaning of Devoting One's Action to Shri Krishna

You are too small to conceive or imagine who Shri Krishna really is. How then will you devote your actions to him? You can only devote something to an object, and the real Shri Krishna is not an object. So, limit yourself to just practising a certain casualness. A certain beparwahi. You must never accord too much value to your desires and opinions. And if possible, crack a joke or two about yourself. It’s great to be the butt of one’s own jokes!

What is the 'Will of God'?

12 min

God wills that you be godly in your freedom. Because godliness, by definition, cannot be imposed. ‘God’ is patiently waiting for you to be godly. He’ll just keep showing you the mirror in some way or the other. He will keep sending you help—sometimes in the form of a situation, a book, or sometimes in the form of a person. God is nothing but your ultimate potential.

Why Does One Desire Liberation while the Other does not?