Beliefs

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Many Images of Krishna: Their Utility and Limits

9 min

If you're obsessed with the lover-boy image of Krishna, then you will miss Krishna when he does not come as a charming lover. And he will not always come as a charming lover. If you are obsessed with Krishna, the male, then you will miss Krishna when he comes as a woman. Because, in your imagination, Krishna is the one wearing the peacock feather with the flute at his lips, appearing in attire that belonged to those ages, enjoying milk and butter, speaking Sanskrit.

Is Krishna Available Only to Arjuna?

14 min

Remember, it is not as if Krishna did not try with Duryodhana. Krishna goes to Duryodhana and what does Duryodhana do? He tries to arrest him. Krishna goes as the messenger of peace and Duryodhana says no, no, no! The action of Love is still taking place. He is not saying that I will leave Duryodhana to his fate. He says it is my responsibility to teach even Duryodhana. But when Duryodhana proves it beyond doubt, that he is incorrigible, then Krishna says, “Fine, now that the battle is destined, let the blows rain.”

What Is Auspicious and Why Do We Avoid It?

18 min

There is an innate inauspiciousness inbuilt in my existence. I am not good. And that’s the reason why man must seek improvement; that’s the reason why man seeks liberation; that’s the reason why man endeavors; that’s the reason why man has to look for successful navigation through life; that’s the reason why has man to look for success at all in some or the other field of life; that’s the reason man has desires. Because we are fundamentally not alright.

What Is Sin and Repentance if Aham Brahmasmi?

12 min

There is no way to rid yourself of sins except by coming very close to God, so close that you lose your individual identity. This is why the Upanishadic Mahavakya, 'Aham Brahmasmi' (I am Brahma), is central to all spirituality. Without this realization, no redemption is possible. No matter what you say about yourself, Truth, God, or the world, nothing will bring you peace. Only the declaration ‘I am That and That am I’ can offer true rest. Everything else is sin.

Parents Insist on Horoscope and Find the Guy is 'Manglik'

15 min

Questioner: Good evening sir. I’m…. and I’m a PhD student here at IIT, Kanpur. Sir, I have a very personal question. Being a girl child, especially in India, comes with very different sets of consequences. Despite being given equal opportunities like education and skills, at the end where we’re supposed… read_more

How Will You Know When Kaliyug Is Over?

3 min

Acharya Prashant: The four yugas in the Vedic tradition have been Satyug, Treta, Dvapara, and Kaliyug. Now, what do they represent? Do they represent the passage of time? Do they represent something historical? We have been led to believe that way, right? We believe that time is something external that… read_more

Hell is Full of these People - You might Recognize Some of them || AP Neem Candies

Still living in the jungle? || Neem Candies

Acharya Prashant: Hell is a place where you get a lot of sympathy, consolation, condolence, and commiseration. You're told that we agree that you are in a miserable state. Your neighbor comes to you, puts his hand on your shoulder, and with a grave face tells you that you are… read_more

You just keep feeling. Let the heart decide. The heart will decide. You feel, you think, you do whatever you want to do. You are a kid who is entitled to do everything and anything. Just don’t rebel against the father. As a kid, you are enlightened to live life as you want to. Just remain one with the father. Read more....

If you say that you must provide your daughter with a protein rich diet, why does the protein have to come from dairy? When everything in your life is anyway factory produced, why not use factory produced protein as well? People say, “Oh! But that would be unnatural.” Hello? If… read_more

The Myth of 'Acceptance'

7 min

Do God and Ghosts Really Exist?

13 min

Ghosts and gods and goddesses and all the stories we have read about this and that, obviously, they come from our own minds. Spirituality isn't about God; spirituality isn't about believing in anything. Neither ghosts nor gods. Not only does it say, ‘Do not believe in ghosts, do not believe in God,’ but it’s also so brutally honest that it says, ‘Do not believe even in yourself.’

What Is Faith?

15 min

If your trust has an object, it is mere belief, like saying, "I’ll be rescued because my friend will come." Faith is: "I do not bother whether I’m rescued; I am alright either way." Faith is not dependent on a person or reason; it reflects a fulfilled Self that is unbothered, when you are alright without an objective reason to be alright.

Meet the Most Exploited Person Ever || AP Neem Candies

Acharya Prashant: If you will observe, you will find that people who are living most contented lives do not find it necessary to intrude in the lives of their kids, their sons and daughters. Because they are complete and satisfied in themselves. If they have to do something, or get… read_more

My Life, My Rules

‘My life, my rules’. Whose life? Whose rules? Even this phrase, ‘my life, my rules’ is not coming from your own life. Even this rule, that if it’s my life, it has to be my rules, even this rule is not your own. So, you are being ruled by someone else when you say ‘my rules’. Even in saying ‘my rules’, it is somebody else’s rules that you are following and you still remain a slave, a slave by another name.

Be Fully Tired

3 min

Tiredness is a recognition, it is an admission, it is a surrender. One has to be so tired that he has no motivation left even to decide. As long as you are deciding, you are still acting, so you still have got some energy left. You are not tired. Tiredness means seeing that you have given all that you could, and that hope is useless. Tiredness means seeing that you cannot do anything new that you have not done so far.

How to Stop Taking Things Personally

10 min

When you stop taking yourself seriously, the world loses its power to hurt you. If someone can hurt you, they can also control and possess you. But you don’t want to be controlled, right? You are not the person who is controllable. The real ‘you’ is beyond hurt and domination. Ask yourself, do you want to be dominated? No! You are the one who cannot be controlled, and that is your true strength.

How about Reading the Gita? || AP Neem Candies

20 min

Acharya Prashant: How can I identify a master with my limited knowledge? How can I judge his words to be true or false? If I go by faith or seeing their simplicity or innocence, I’m labeled as a blind believer. What should I do?

What is all spirituality about? If… read_more

Why are You so Angry Over Yourself?

18 min

Acharya Prashant: Latha is saying, why does she get angry so often even over small matters? Especially with some people, she is unable to control anger and she says she tried to change her attitude but hasn’t been quite successful. She is saying, now, how to change myself. Because anger… read_more

Do Certain People Not Deserve to Read the Scriptures?

Man vs God: How Intellect Has Become a Hindrance to Liberation

Questioner: Namskar Acharya ji. Pardon me for not remembering exactly but in one of the shivirs where we had read ‘Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna’ to come to terms with this expression called ‘Adhikar Bhed.’

So therein Ramakrishna was saying that, “now in modern times there cannot be any Adhikar Bhed,… read_more

Age does not give intelligence || Acharya Prashant, with youth (2013)

Question: Acharya Ji, a few minutes back in the session you said that in today’s times we will not approach God to Love him. We will approach Him to stab Him. You also said that animal operates from the centre of prakriti (nature), and the Saint operates from the centre… read_more

2 min

Question : Sir, at the age of ten, one has a particular intelligence level, at the age of twenty-one has a different level of intelligence. Do you think it is possible to be intelligent without getting exposed to external influences?

Acharya Prashant: No, you don’t gather intelligence from outside. Biologically… read_more

Spirituality is the intimacy of the immediate, not the blaze of the beyond || Acharya Prashant(2016)

23 min

Acharya Prashant: So, here we are, sitting in a spiritual city. Everything here, the whole context is spiritual. Some of us are not from India, and they have come here for spiritual reasons.

So, what is Spirituality?

There is that which is visible, which appears substantial, is perceptible – we… read_more

Witnessing is a myth || Acharya Prashant (2016)

15 min

Question: I have seen that the doer does not exist. I have seen that I am nothing.

Acharya Prashant: Who was seeing?

L: Witnessing of this witnesses.

AP: Who was seeing?

L: I can’t say.

AP: Then you must not say. Witnessing is not about coming to conclusions. You can… read_more

What is your primary inner need? || (2020)

When one is destroying his own life || Acharya Prashant (2018)

Questioner: Acharya Ji, I have three questions. I think, according to me, all three are co-related to each other. I want to know how to make the best use of resources. And how to manage oneself. And how to be better with decision making. Because on a recent day, I… read_more

9 min

Question: Acharya Ji, Pranaam! I am damaging my future with my own hands.

Acharya Prashant Ji: Abhay (the questioner) , do you seriously believe that your hands are so powerful? Send me a photo of your hands, I would be interested. Which gym you go to?

Questioner: Acharya Ji, I… read_more

Is the Universe actually a human being? || Acharya Prashant (2016)

Call them out! || Neem Candies

Questioner: The whole universe is a human and each of our part in the body is different places in the Universe, is it right or wrong ?

Acharya Prashant: Both, right and wrong. What you are referring to is the classical Upanishadic description of the first human being, or the… read_more

You are extremely smart || Neem Candies

There is no remedy against any of the torments of our lives except calling them out. You have to expose them. You have to name them. You have to call them out.

You already know. It’s a matter of acknowledgment rather than realization. Acknowledge it.

There is nothing greatly mystical… read_more

Equality is quite a foolish idea. Oneness is diversity, not equality || Acharya Prashant (2016)

When it comes to all the nonsense, see how you succeed, don’t you? You want to go and satisfy your lust, and see how you find out ways, don’t you? Like a rat, you find a way into the house; then you know where the hole is. And if the… read_more

How to have spiritual experiences? || Acharya Prashant (2016)

Question: Sir, the inequality that exists on the planet, between people, disturbs me. Kindly help.

Acharya Prashant: Where in the world is equality? Where in the entire existence is equality? Are all the planets equal in size? Are the rivers equal in size? Are the flowers, even on the same… read_more

11 min

Question: Acharya ji, what do you think is the significance of understanding the body to have some real experiences beyond the mind of oneness. I mean, I see a lot of masters giving discourses on how the oneness is realized on mind levels sometimes. But there are no real, valid… read_more

Is spirituality related to evolution?

9 min

Acharya Prashant (AP): What is evolution? Is there evolution without time? Is there evolution without movement?

Is there evolution without time? And what is time? Time is the essential mind stuff. Time is past and future.

Spirituality is to know, the falseness that is evolution. It is not an evolution,… read_more

How men trap women || Neem Candies

Would you know without naming? || Acharya Prashant (2016)

Don’t give in to emotional traps. The man says, “Darling why do you have to work? You stay at home; I will work. You take care of the bed and the eggs and the babies and your mother-in-law; I will bring in the booty.”

As long as the woman keeps… read_more

Myths regarding energy and consciousness

Acharya Prashant speaking at 23rd Advait Learning Camp (International Spiritual Exchange)on 1st February 2016, Shivpuri, Uttarakhand

Acharya Prashant: Suppose these statements (referring to the scriptures given to camp participants) come to you without a title, suppose you do not know that they are coming from the Upanishads. How would you… read_more

Neither Yoga, nor Japa, nor Mantra || Acharya Prashant (2016)

Questioner (Q): This world, the material world, obviously works according to the scientific laws which are discovered.

Acharya Prashant (AP): Yes, science is the language of laws of physical nature.

Q: But that, it's not in conflict with the fact that there is no such thing as matter but that… read_more

Only That can say, “I am That” || Acharya Prashant (2016)

Question: Is there value in practicing Yoga, and meditation?

Acharya Prashant: No.

There is some physical value involved, and that is an important value. But unfortunately, the value that we are looking for is a Spiritual value. In that dimension, there is no value. It is very good if we… read_more

What is intelligent spirituality? || Acharya Prashant (2016)

Question: If our original nature is the Truth itself, and primarily, and originally we are Truth itself, we are THAT. And, we were THAT, we are THAT and we will be THAT. So, why this whole cycle of birth and death and worldly travels?

AP: Because even right now the… read_more

What is the 'Who am I' method? || Acharya Prashant (2016)

Questioner: What is the meaning of “Intelligent Spirituality”?

Acharya Prashant: Actually, one of the words is redundant.

You could just say, ‘Spirituality’ or you could just say, ‘Intelligence’.

But they both have to be put together for a double effect because a lot that is being touted around as spirituality… read_more

Real work || Neem Candies

Acharya Prashant: The ‘Who am I’ inquiry is a simple method. In fact, the simplest of methods. So simple that it cannot even be called a method. And it is often misunderstood. *‘*Who am I’ is not a question. It cannot be a question because we are already full of… read_more

You are not missing the secret; you are missing the obvious || Acharya Prashant (2016)

There is work that one needs to do to run the body, and such work even animals have to do. This you need not call as work; this you can call as labor of living. If you are alive then you have to feed yourself. This even animals have to… read_more

10 min

Acharya Prashant: I want to begin this morning by talking of ‘living in facts’ versus ‘living in thoughts’.

Is not the whole system, the being, the personality, even the face very different when you are there, connected to the fact? You visit a shopping mall. Have you observed our… read_more

Life ruined by life-experts || Neem Candies

Does the Aatma (soul) leave the body after death? || (2016)

The more you go to those “wise” people, the more you will see how those around us are gravely unwise. And that will tell you why those around you do not like it when you go to the really wise ones: because if you do manage to spend time with… read_more

Spirituality and mental health: Acharya Prashant, interviewed by Joshua Bloom (2019)

Acharya Prashant (AP): What is the Aatman ?

Do you already know what I am going to tell you?

Questioner (Q): No.

AP: Yet you will understand, right? Now, how do you understand without knowledge? How do you understand without having already known? How does something absolutely new come to… read_more

24 min

Interviewer (I): We're in Rishikesh, India and with me for today’s episode podcast is Acharya Prashant, who is a spiritual teacher and philosopher of Vedic tradition. It’s a pleasure to have you join us for the podcast.

Perhaps we could begin with, what inspired you to give up quite a… read_more

There is nothing called a new beginning || Acharya Prashant (2016)

21 min

L: Can we begin from Nowhere?

AP: Can we begin from Nowhere?

L: Yes.

AP: Actually you always begin from somewhere. If you begin from nowhere, you also show no movement and you also do not go anywhere. Nowhere is not a point of beginning. All beginning implies a change… read_more

Stop the lies about karma || Neem Candies