Acharya Prashant: “He who claims liberation as his own, as an attainment of a person is neither enlightened nor a seeker. He suffers his own misery.”
Beautiful. “He who claims liberation as his own, as an attainment of a person is neither enlightened nor a seeker. He suffers his own… read_more
Questioner: Namaskar Acharya Ji. You talked of Mukti. So, I would like to know, is it a Mukti from life and birth? I mean, more, If you can elaborate?
Acharya Prashant: Mukti from internal compulsions. The goal of life can be talked of as Mukti which is Liberation, which is… read_more
Questioner: My question is that I heard that there are two cosmic energies, these two Cosmic energies will take out all the sufferings of the people, which are from treta yuga of Lord Sri Ram and Lakshman get received the cosmic energies from Sage Vishwamitra, those are called some bala… read_more
Acharya Prashant: We anyway live in attitudes, try to have a carefree attitude. Try to have an attitude of reasonless security, try to have an attitude in which you don't get daunted easily, you don't start shivering easily.
The world might be stamping its feet in front of you, angrily,… read_more
Acharya Prashant: Nachiketa is a mere boy dependent on his father, and he has the honesty and the guts to go to his father and say, “Of what use is all this that you are doing? Who will benefit from these old and sick and milkless cows?” I assure you… read_more
Questioner: Does the continuous remembrance of liberation lead one to the right way?
Acharya Prashant: One has to be reminded of it. It’s a very strange thing. One need not be reminded of the false, the false is anyway always ready to tempt you, assault you. One does not need… read_more
Questioner: Acharya Ji, if the decisions that one takes in one’s life is a matter of choice, then what is Grace?
Acharya Prashant: Grace is that which is available free of cost, grace is that which comes to you unconditionally, grace is not something that you receive unconditionally. There’s many… read_more
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?
Answer: Assuming sufficiently good understanding of the brain and sufficiently developed scientific processes, anything can surely be done… read_more
Questioner: My spiritual path is taking me very long and I sometimes feel stuck and I am a bit discouraged. If you can give me some inspiration at this point to, as they say, drop the false. How actually to drop it? It’s not happening, it seems so far.
Speaker: … read_more
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.
Buddha said, “Renounce the world and be a monk.”
While Kabir said, “Don’t renounce the world, be in this world, face… read_more
How many hours do you spend meditating each day?
This is a trick question!
Whether you are “meditating” one hour per day or six, you are not truly meditating. This is because meditation is not something you do to escape life.… read_more
Questioner (Q): Is life not ultimately a hall of mirrors?
Acharya Prashant (AP): No, what is meant by that? There is somebody outside the hall who can see that all this is happening. Yes, you project your world, it’s possible to see that you are doing that. So, life is… read_more
Acharya Prashant: She said that she feels worst today. She told that she came to India in 1989. Experience creates respect for her, the kind of commitment she has shown, the devotion she has put in all these years. And at the same time I found it quite tragic that… read_more
Question: What is the most fundamental step in the liberation of the Self? Is liberation of the Self a gradual process or is it instantaneous like switching on a light?
Acharya Prashant: It is neither. Liberation is just another name for the Self. The Self by nature is liberated. Hence… read_more
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?
Speaker: Helping others is great. But to help others, we must first be free of our… read_more
Acharya Prashant: The thing is realization, enlightenment or sahajta, this is nothing objective, you doesn’t have to look at others, one cannot even know whether the other is realized or enlightened or not; that is not at all the way to go about it; because looking at the other you… read_more
Acharya Prashant: If it’s a model, an idea, if it’s a thought then you can very easily say what is it that you have known; because then you have concluded something. When it comes to the Truth, when it comes to the Heart, you know that you can never say… read_more
Questioner (Q): Yes, so just again we haven't been able to talk about this conversation prior to this, but I’m sure you got a sense of it. What we like to do in this conversation is keep it very transparent and conversational. But what we like to believe is different… read_more
Human beings are not born human beings; they have to be educated to become human beings.
A human baby needs to take two births before it can be rightfully called as a human being. There is ignorance, there is greed, there is envy, there is lust, there is fear, there… read_more
Limit yourself to consciousness and learn about the ways of consciousness. If you can learn the ways of consciousness, that is the blessing of the Absolute.
The Absolute is not just another thing in the consciousness. The Absolute is when you go to the very root of consciousness. And how… read_more
Questioner: How to know whether I am aware?
Acharya Prashant: What you call as ‘knowing’ is just thinking. It is a mental activity. Do you know of anything that is beyond the mind? You know of so many things in this world. Right? List them and see whether anything that… read_more
Question: I have a confused question. Can I confess that I don’t know if I want to be awakened or not! I am afraid to realise myself. I am curious but I am stepping back from the Truth.
Acharya Prashant: “I am afraid of being awakened!” You must be afraid.… read_more
Question: Acharya Ji, we have heard many stories of kings getting enlightened in one moment. So, is enlightenment gradual or instantaneous?
Acharya Prashant Ji: It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. (Pointing at the arrangement of posters on the wall) Do you see this arrangement there? Let us say that this is… read_more
Questioner (Q): It's an overwhelming moment of joy to have my revered teacher Acharya Prashant come here at such a short notice and share his wisdom with you all. I’ve had the privilege of listening to him for the past one year and also attending in-person Q&A questions which have… read_more
Questioner (Q): Is ego pride? What is enlightenment?
Acharya Prashant (AP): Ego is the ‘I’-feeling that causes you suffering.
Pride causes you suffering, but it is not merely pride that causes you suffering: even the opposite of pride causes you suffering. Taking yourself as too big will cause suffering, but… read_more
Question: Dear Sir,I have gone through a couple of books. As I am traveling I have time in my hands.
I know what you meant when you said, the last stage is the absence of the thinker. “To study the way of the Buddha is to study oneself. To study… read_more
Questioner1 (Q1): I remember you were surprising the dogs and the cows of the street; I know this is a very big cliché about India.
Questioner2 (Q2): Yes, but I guess it's always different to see things live, but yes, even there I mean, the dogs, one can feel sorry… read_more
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
Questioner (Q): Sir, if we do something to make someone else happy by deceiving our own self, is it worth it?
Acharya Prashant (AP): No, you cannot make someone else happy by deceiving your own self. That kind of a thing cannot exist; that kind of a thing exists only… read_more
THE SHORT STAFF
Shuzan held out his short staff and said,
“If you call this short staff, you oppose its reality.”
“If you do not call it a short staff, you ignore the fact.”
“Now what do you wish to call this?”
Questioner: Acharya Ji, Pranaam! Please help me understand… read_more
