Vedanta reveals that freedom is impossible as long as the ego seeks to preserve itself. Meditation may bring temporary calm, but real transformation begins only when the false sense of individuality dissolves. Whether through devotion or knowledge, every genuine spiritual path culminates in the complete dissolution of the seeker into Truth. Liberation is not the experience of Truth by an individual—it is the end of the individual who wants to experience Truth.
Acharya Prashant: I might be a very violent man. And my goal is to blast a building off. To learn how to do it, I have to live through stern discipline. I will have to build my body, I will have to learn several skills. I may have the discipline
Acharya Prashant: So, you are asking, ‘How to surrender’?
If I say you can surrender by jumping from that hill top, you won’t take the advice, right? It would be foolish advice if I say that. If I say, you can surrender by jumping into leaping flames, that is again
So, if I really love Krishna, obviously I will be going through the Gītā 2000 times. And in the light of Gītā , I will then read *Bhagavat Purana* , *Harivansh Purana* , many other *Puranas* ; and then I will be able to understand the stories in the Puranic way. Without understanding the Gītā , how will you understand the *Purana* ? Read more...
Question: Sir, we just heard one of the couplets of Kabir, saying, “Jo sukh sadhu sang mein, so baikunth mein na hoi.” (The Joy that I find in the company of Saint, that Joy is greater than the joy of heaven).
Questioner (Q): How to have the faith, strength and trust to let go of my identities and dissolve into the One? How to avoid being carried away by the fragmented identities in the middle of my everyday activities?
Acharya Prashant: These are symbols. Shakti represents everything in motion, everything that can be experienced, everything that you can think of; Shakti represents the totality of that. If Shakti represents everything in motion, one feels like asking, “Why is everything in the motion…
Such fantastic mastery is rarely seen elsewhere. Obviously, you get glimpses of it in many other places as well. I respect all of them; all of them are very, very dear to me; I worship them. But when it comes to Kabir Sahib, I said I am a fanboy. When
Question 1: Pranaam Acharya Ji. I was introduced to Dhyan (meditation) through Indian Classical Music. Since then I am deeply interested in spirituality. In the last session you mentioned that cessation of passion is – dispassion. I think about it a lot, and I don’t think that I am passionate
Questioner (Q): Good afternoon, Sir. I have a doubt. In the market, there are a number of Bhagavad Gitas available. Somebody told me that there are eighty varieties of the Gita. Even though the slokas are the same, from what I have seen, the explanation was not making sense. In
Question: Acharya Ji, Pranaam! I have a six year old son. Me and my husband regularly discuss on lot of issues, after watching your videos. My son has observed that we use words like ‘God’, ‘Truth’, ‘Love’ very often.
Many times, he approaches me and asks, “What is ‘Love’?”…
Questioner: Acharya Ji, what does it mean to be spiritual?
Acharya Prashant: It merely means that you are not being stupid. Is it necessary that you must at least be sometimes stupid? Is there such great attraction in stupidity?
Questioner: Pranaam Acharya Ji. The Yogi worships with a one-pointed mind, but I worship with a hidden desire and a hidden self-interest. Is my devotion wrong? What is one-pointed devotion?
Question: When I read spiritual books, it feels like I am conditioning myself in a different way. Sometimes worldly desires take over me, and I am not able to stay spiritual all the time.
Question: What is real meaning of ‘devotion’ in spirituality? How can devotion help one to reach the Truth? What is the path of devotion? How to prepare oneself for devotion? Which one is greater, observation or devotion?
Question: Acharya Ji, why all this understanding has not brought about radical change in the way I operate? Why do I go back to my old patterns? Why being at a place of ‘not knowing’ is scary for the mind? Why does the mind fall back to it’s usual unconscious…
Questioner (Q): The yogi sings with a one-pointed mind, but I worship with a hidden desire and a hidden self-interest. Is my devotion wrong? What is one-pointed devotion?
The question is, "Why do we forget? Why forgetting is a property of the mind?"
Do not ask, "Why do we forget?" Just remember that we forget. Because when you forget then you don’t ask this question that, "Why do we…
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Truth enlightens, so it is attractive. Maya enthrals, so it is sometimes even more attractive. Where to go — that is the battle.
You cannot worship something with the intent of obtaining favors—that's exploitation. Worshiping a cow while asking for milk is not worship. Worship is when you do not use any dairy product and yet respect the cow. The common man sees everything as an object for consumption. True nature worship is desireless—not based on consumption, with no one left to desire.
Questioner:
Due to my conditioning and fear, mind tries to perceive some ‘thing’ to surrender to. This stops me from actually surrendering. With this conflict, how to understand if there is any movement towards the centre, or is it all at the periphery?
Acharya Prashant: The inner and the outer…
Excerpts from Articles
Climate Change: The Solution Is a Choice
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.
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।
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.
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।
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.
Questioner: Namaskar Acharya ji. Acharya ji, I have been listening to you for quite some time now, and one thing that I have noticed is that whenever you speak on any topic, you always speak in the light of Advait Vedant. One thing also on which you have spoken a…
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You never go and ask real questions. You ask, “How to surrender to the Truth?” but you never ask, “How to surrender to money?” There you very conveniently and easily surrender. Anybody who has faced difficulty in surrendering to fear? Have you seen how easy that is!
But in surrendering to Truth you say, “It is so impossible, how do I make that choice?”
…
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Question: At some places it is said that the ego must exist, the ego must be sharpened. At other places it is said that the ego is false, the ego simply does not exist. What is this paradox?
Speaker: At several points, by several teachers, it has been…
Question: Whenever I listen to your videos, or read your articles on blog, my mind seems to be free of fear. But this stays only for a small duration of time. If I want to increase the frequency of reading, there is a lot of resistance, and I want to…
Question:
Is it incorrect to refer to intelligence as my intelligence?
Speaker: In love if you do that, it’s wonderful. You are saying, “Is it incorrect to refer to intelligence as my intelligence?” If you are referring to intelligence as my intelligence in love, then it’s wonderful, but if you…
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Speaker: Is there any freshness possible to somebody who is beyond corruption and fatigue? If you cannot get stale, how will you get fresh?
Who gets stale? The mind.
And who gets fresh? The mind.
The very usefulness of going to one extreme of duality is that it makes the…
Speaker: Who is to do what? Who are you referring to?
Listener: Probably me, myself.
Speaker: Where is that?
When you say, “What am I to do?”…
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Questioner: It is said, “You have what you need utmost”, so why do we try to ignore some situations?
Speaker: You are sprouting forth from existence. You are the existence’s will. You are the desire of the existence to express itself. You have done nothing in your expression, right? That…
Listener 1:
What all is going on all around.
Listener 2: The play.
Listener 3: Game of Maya with Truth.
Listener 4: When you are in the game it remains a…
Questioner: Acharya Ji, please explain about honesty and simplicity.
Acharya Prashant: When do things become complex? When there is fear between you and the obvious. Neither can you deny the obvious, nor can you overcome your fear. Then one goes round and round.
It is very difficult to break away…
*“It is the complete merging of the mind in God-Consciousness. The jnani experiences jada samaadhi, in which no trace of ‘I’ is left. The samaadhi attained through the path of bhakti is called ‘chaitanya samaadhi’.”*
“In this samaadhi there remains the consciousness of ‘I’…
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…
Acharya Prashant (AP):
You will have to allow something big to take
…
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Acharya Prashant: Among the Indian saints, in the whole galaxy of the saints of the World, Kabir is delightfully special. It is said that he was born a Hindu, but because he was born of a widow, so out of social shame the mother went and kept the baby Kabir…
पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते ।।
न हि कल्याणकृत्कश्चिद्दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति ।। 40 ।।
śhrī bhagavān uvācha
pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśhas tasya vidyate
na hi kalyāṇa-kṛit kaśhchid durgatiṁ tāta gachchhati
The Blessed Lord said, ‘O Partha, there is certainly no ruin for him here or hereafter. For, no one…
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(The above lines have been taken from a poem penned down by Acharya Ji during the Myth Demolition Tour).
Acharya Ji, for me, the one who…
…
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Questioner: What is a ‘Temple’, and what purpose should it serve?
Acharya Prashant: A ‘Temple’ must definitely have elements that elevate your consciousness.
Being at a place, being with elements, being with people, being with structures, being with sites, scenes, sounds, that remind you of the Beyond, that take the…
Acharya Prashant: I love Jesus, l love Krishna, I love Buddha, they are all wonderful. There is no doubt that there is a lot about me which is Christian. I won’t even say…
Acharya Prashant Ji:
If you move beyond the pointlessness or even the relevance of something, you would move into the relevance, or significance, or need of something else.
(Acharya Ji referring to an example quoted earlier in the Satsang)…
Acharya Prashant:
All these books are totally useless for the one who is not disturbed. In fact, the books themselves say, “After you have gone through us, just burn us, throw us away, treat us like excreta.”
Books are only for the one who is…
…
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Questioner: I am very inspired by Swami Vivekananda. How can I challenge my conditioning, reject distractions, and maintain continuity with the scriptures?
Acharya Prashant: You have a giant no less than Swami Vivekananda to get your answers from. See what he did: he lived by his conviction. Merely being impressed…
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If water and poison are kept in front of you, ten
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Acharya Prashant: It is not about ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, it is about settling down with a little when a lot…
The last week, I was extremely happy about my mental constitution. My mind was silent, there was no constant flow of needless thoughts, and I was engaged in what I was doing: playing music, reading, working, running
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You have asked:
“Suppose a person realizes that the whole problem is because that faith is missing. Can it be regained? Can a person who does have faith, get it?How can one develop that faith within oneself? “
How…
What can I do, to stay spiritual all the time?
Acharya Prashant Ji: See, spirituality is…
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Questioner: Pranaam Acharya Ji. Why does spiritual sadhana take long to complete?
Acharya Prashant: The condition you have come to, is not sudden. It has taken millions of years of evolution for you to come to this state. It’s a very, very old habit. It is like dust that has…
Acharya Prashant Ji:
‘Devotion’ is a million times more powerful than ‘observation’. With…
Question: If I have to make a decision and there are two options, my thoughts don’t bring me any further. Then I try to listen to my heart, and that also does not bring me any answer. So, how can I find a way to the solution?
Acharya Prashant: If…
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Question: Desire is the memory of pleasure, and fear is the memory of pain. Both make the mind restless. Moments of pleasure are merely gaps in the stream of pain. If our natural state is joy, then why do we slip out of this state?
Acharya Prashant (AP): It’s not about right or wrong; it’s about settling down with a little when a lot is available. When…
True God is the Truth right now in your heart. That is true godliness, true bhagavatta. The problem is that people want to avoid the real living Truth in their heart. Therefore, they come up with stories that place an imaginary God somewhere up in the skies. God is wonderful, but the stories and the imaginations about God are all very disrespectful towards God. When there is love for God, God is held very close to the chest, and that God is called Truth. That God is the very purpose of philosophy and the very origin.
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.
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We often call something “help” or “love” while secretly expecting something in return. When that return does not come, we feel hurt, revealing that the relationship was a trade, not genuine help. The ego, being unfulfilled, cannot truly love or share. Likewise, desperation to be loved makes us controllable. Real love emerges when we stop seeking validation, work on ourselves, and become so inwardly fulfilled that we no longer need to be loved.
