Why am I so attracted to the personality and mannerisms of all my teachers, often curious about their lives than the truth of their teachings? When I read Jiddu Krishnamurti(JK), am I conditioned by him? Is JK’s method really ‘via negativa’ all the time?…
Question: Sir, how does a mind that is enlightened look at life? What happens to its thoughts? Does its wiring change in response to fear? Does it change its response to emotions?
Question: Dear Sir, we have been talking about how to use the ‘higher’ desire of brahman as a broom to clean up all the desires and then to burn the broom itself. Do you think I should simply sit back and read without this burning desire, this lust for knowledge,…
Question: Dear Sir, when I review the discussions that take place in the clarity sessions, most of them are beyond my ordinary imaginations. The experiences or the words mentioned in these sessions sound very pure and pious but very difficult to attain. Why is it so?
Question: I read somewhere that when a person dies, the stream, of which it was a manifestation, still goes on. What is the process of this stream and how does it manifest itself?
Question: I have been reading Buddha and Kabir for long, and both are my favorite. While reading them I realized that both had different methods to get enlightenment.
Question: What is absent mindedness?Answer: Absent mindedness is mind being anywhere. Whenever you are occupied with anything, it is absent mindedness. Any act of focus, concentration, having ‘something’ as important in mind, becoming a subject,all these are acts of absent-mindedness. Mind busy with any object is absent-mindedness.
Question: Sir, I would want to seek clarification on the requirement of regularity in life. In being regular we would be stressed to do things even when we aren’t feeling good about it on some days. For example, if we pray to God everyday and don’t feel like doing it
Questioner:Dear Sir,I have been following Nisargadatta Maharaj. I have read all his dialogues, books, and watched most of his videos. But I feel I have been just sticking his words as knowledge in my mind. What you bring to me is something alive, I ‘see’ and I ‘feel’ whatever…
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,
Question: Today I saw some children roaming outside my hostel. They were trying to get some money or food but no one came out to help them. In what ways can we help others?
Why does it happen that on particular nights, despite my head heavy with knowledge of the outside, reading a scripture or listening to Osho or JK is so clear to me?
Question: Given that all our relationships seem to be arising purely out of a sense of imagined need, is it possible to have any other kind of relationship?
Question: What is God? Is it imagination or observation?
Answer: There was a group of people A who deeply believed in white. They worshipped white and denied black. They forgot the black background the white is written on. They declared that white is the absolute Truth.
Question: One of your quote says, “If you are identified with an object, you have given it control over yourself. This control itself will prevent you from being free from identification.”
Are you suffering, are you burning? Is there something that is eating you out?
Want to know the reason?
You have an ideal. You have a set idea of how things should be. You want existence to conform to your idea of things. You are so arrogant that you will
Question: I am a little confused with the statement by Shankar. He says, “Thought is the only means to knowledge.” Is there not a difference between thought and realization? What I mean is that is it not true that realization comes first and thought picks up the realization as an
Question: Dear Sir, in the last few days my reading and my own experiences have made me come to realize a lot of things. But I am still left with three questions. The three questions are:
Question: According to me if our mind is in empty mode then various thoughts come in our mind and it enforces us to think about past and future. That is why we forget the present.
Question: Dear Sir, I was meeting an old friend yesterday and was terribly dejected because in my judgment, I found him to have compromised severely on everything! What I mean to say is that everyone I know has moved away from the source: from themselves, from reality.
Search
Question: What do I do to cross the river? To me, it is such a challenge.
Acharya Prashant: Crossing the river is easy. Just hold the hand of someone who knows the other side, and cross. You have already crossed the river a thousand times with me. Your failure is…
Do not focus on the decision. Rather, look at the decision-maker. The decision is not bad, humbly accept that the decision-maker is bad. Without this acceptance, the series of bad decisions will continue.
When one realizes that the decision-makers' mind has been full of beliefs, past, and fear, then there is radical transformation in one’s being. The old, frozen, conditioned decision-maker simply evaporates.
The mind is fed up of its daily, boring, routine, fettered and frustrated life. But it has no faith or courage to break away from this life. It is very necessary for it to keep looking towards the future. Some special day must always lie ahead: New Year, Valentine’s, Holi, your birthday, Diwali and so on. This cycle keeps up the illusion that something great is coming.
Being spiritual is simply about not being stupid. Spirituality is not at all organised religion. It is not about customs or rituals or beliefs. Spirituality is an awakened state of mind in which the mind really understands. So, mind has only two options: spirituality or stupidity.The mind when conditioned and away from origin (essence), is bound to be stupid.
Only a spiritual man really lives, loves and enjoys. Others die without living.
Excerpts from Articles
The Secret to True Victory
Victory is not decided by the trophy you hold but by the battle you choose to fight. Real strength lies in making the right decisions, staying true to your deepest values, and refusing to be ruled by fear or circumstances. When your actions arise from clarity rather than ambition, the outcome loses its power over you. The moment you choose the right path, you have already won.
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.
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।
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।
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?
You Don't Understand the Bhagvad Gita, But You Still Claim That You Love Krishna?
The Bhagavad Gita deserves reverence not because of inherited beliefs about its author, but because of its power to dissolve falsehood and reveal Truth. Real devotion is not ritual or blind faith—it is understanding, inquiry, and living the wisdom of the Gita. Through sincere study, one discovers the true meaning of Krishna, making the Gita the most authentic path to knowing and worshipping Him.
Animal cruelty: Who deserves mercy, and who doesn’t?
Violence begins long before the knife or the slaughterhouse—it begins with the ego, the one that draws boundaries, seeks justification, and decides who deserves compassion. Laws and reforms may reduce suffering, but they cannot end violence while the ego remains intact. When the ego dissolves, exploitation ends naturally, and compassion no longer depends on regulation or moral boundaries.
Formal education is important to the extent the body is important. The less the body-identification, the less is the importance of object-centric education. A person's attachment to material possessions, driven by societal values, leads to poverty and duality. Poverty, unlike the natural world, is man-made and rooted in the desire to accumulate. While education enables material progress, it doesn’t address deeper issues of self-identity and existence.
Eating, walking, sleeping, working, dying – these alone surely cannot mean being alive. Life is much more than the physical and mental processes. Machines can walk, eat, work. The programmed analysis that computers do is no different from what we call thinking. Machines have no role in their formation, just as we have no role in our birth. And machines can be programmed to self-terminate after a certain time, just as we die.
Answer: Assuming sufficiently good understanding of the brain and sufficiently developed scientific processes, anything can surely be done…
Share
Answer: The Sunday discussions…
Sir, is there life after death? What sort of knowledge passes on at the time of enlightenment?
…
Buddha said, “Renounce the world and be a monk.”
While Kabir said, “Don’t renounce the world, be in this world, face…
At the core, not only are
…
*Question: Sir, what does it mean to be a Teacher?*
Answer: Going through Shankar’s works and then a few Upanishads, I am humbled by the pain these teachers have taken to bring the concept to the student.
Shankar announces, even before the beginning, that only the most deserving and…
Mind busy…
*One group of people walk toward the fire, into the fire,
And the other towards the cool flowing waters.
No one knows which is blessed and which is not.*
*But…
…
Questioner: Dear Sir,
My silly questions aside, I wanted to know your perspective on this one issue:
How can a sensitive man survive in the world as it is? I mean, an artist, or for that matter, anyone who draws from the springs of his inner depths will be sensitive.…
Share
…
Speaker:
सम्मान=सम्यक्+मान
सम्यक मानने का अर्थ है समझना ।
तो जो समझ सकता है, वो सम्माननीय। जो नासमझ है उसका कोई सम्मान नहीं।
तुम भी यदि किसी का सम्मान करना चाहो, तो उसे समझो। यही…
Student: Sir, what is an Ideal?
Acharya Prashant: You tell me. What is Idealism?
S: It is a prescription by the society in regard to how we should be.
AP: For an idealism to exist there must be an ideal and for an ideal, there should be an idea. Let’s…
Speaker: Helping others is great. But to help others, we must first be free of our…
You said when there is no self, there is purity in being and hence the desireless action takes place. By this do you…
Question: Sir, many a times it happens that we ask a question to ourselves and then we are also able to answer it on our own. Moreover, this is what forms the basis of so many assumptions that we take. Is this an appropriate method or should verification also be…
A represents the individuality-the one, common, impersonal individuality.
All points on BC represent persons i.e. personal, differentiated minds.
Love is the rising of the base…
Answer: It often appears as if we have met some new ‘experience’.
Remember, all that is…
Those who are free of the world, are free to relate with the world in a healthy way. And
…
The foolish will always hunt the wise. If the wise recede to the forest, the foolish will condemn them for that. If the wise stay and fight, they shall be condemned
…
There was a group…
Answer:
Let me answer in a few ways.
The very question you are asking is a step in that direction. This question is a result of an acceptance of the limitation of mind; otherwise…
1
Question: Dear Sir, I want to inquire about a couple of perspectives that seem to be troubling me to some extent.
The first one is based on an earlier conversation I had with you: when there is action without the self, is that action marked by compassion?
The second doubt…
Question: Sir, what is the role of a teacher in the life of a student? Whatever syllabus we are prescribed as of now can be possibly dealt by us to a decent level. Then why a teacher? Isn’t there something more than just teaching?
Answer: There is something called knowledge-…
Does it mean that once you are identified with an object you can’t be free from this identification ?…
1
Questioner: Dear Sir, I am writing this mail with a very heavy heart. It is on account of my affection for my father, that I had to get into the filth of society and family. But now that I am into it, I find myself unable to be a part…
…
Answer:
Is character about sticking to certain norms of behaviour? Is character about following the patterns of society or religion? Then character is just dead conditioning. Your reaction, behaviour, and life will be predictable, like a puppet-show.
Rather,…
Question: Sir, even if I find the falseness of happiness, I will not leave seeking for happiness because it is given to us by nature. It is our natural behaviour. If we call happiness as false, then are we not challenging our human nature.
Answer: What we call as nature…
…
Acharya Prashant Ji:
When we love what we do, procrastination is out of the question.
Procrastination is a challenge we have all faced at some point in time. If you find yourself procrastinating a lot, if you find that you have fixed a…
Question: Sir, there is a fear in my mind regarding future, and it constantly hampers my present. What to do?
Answer: Ashish,
You are not worried about the future.
You are worried that whether you are capable enough to meet the future.
Understand the difference between these two: You have…
All thoughts are fundamentally the same – mental activity. Elation and guilt both are just mind. Whichever…
How did our ancients understand and come to believe in Advaita? How did they…
Depending upon where your centre is, something becomes positive, and something becomes negative. Our centres are conditioned centres, our centres…
Question: Sir, Why and how when somebody is non-attached to people and things make him less compassionate or loving in the eyes of the society and when less talkative, anti-social?
Answer: Ankita,
Look at people. People know of themselves only as bodies bound in time. They think of their minds…
Speaker:
How can thoughts come to an empty mind?
Thoughts come only to the thinking…
Question:
Sir, I asked you a question during Samvaad that how can I get rid of my anger. You said that we feel pleasure while getting angry. You said I need to think before getting angry that to whom am I showing anger. I need to think of relation with
…
Question: Sir, what does the name of the group ‘You belong here’ signify?
Speaker: The name ‘You Belong Here’ signifies that our real home cannot be at a disturbed point. ‘xyz’ means others and ‘t’ means past and future.
When the mind is free of the conditioning of others and…
Question:
Dear Sir, I am still not very clear about what ‘Love’ is. But Yes, what I have understood is that it has the pull energy. It pulls towards itself !
If a person is in love- be it his or her beloved, or the love for reading, or love…
