Freedom is often assumed to be the ability to choose, yet most decisions arise from conditioning, biology, social influences, and habit. Real freedom begins by seeing how mechanical and unconscious life usually is. As awareness deepens, confusion and endless options gradually diminish, making life simpler and more direct. Liberation lies not in imagining freedom, but in recognising and understanding the forces that keep one bound.
Questioner: What is the role of persuasion in teaching? Is it alright if teaching involves a certain degree of persuasion? If yes, why must one be persuaded?
Defeat is not the end of war; defeat is not in the end of the war. Mostly defeat lies in the beginning of war. A needless war, the moment it begins, the point from where it begins is already a defeat. Read more.....
Questioner: Sir, youngsters in India and the world over, often rebel against rules and regulations in the name of freedom of choice or freedom of expression, the list of complaints is long and all have one bottom line: My life my rules. What do ancient wisdom and Vedanta say on
Listener: Sir, I often find myself surrounded by fears like fear of failure, fear of society. I want to know that how can I get rid of these fears? How can I develop strong will power?
It is not so much about courage; it is about clarity. There are mental conditions in which one seems to become very fearless. Nothing great about those conditions. Some drugs, some weed, a bit of alcohol, and there are so many people who lose all fear. Tremendously intrepid they become.
There is a lot happening in my life, the whole day is full of innumerable actions and reactions. What is it to be at the centre and then be doing all this?
Questioner (Q): I see myself escaping in all possible ways. I have observed that reading too has become a tool for the mind, to escape seeing itself. I have been seeing this for the past three days. What should I do?
The world is your playground. So don’t be so particular about moving only within your pre-existing circle. If your cause is worth it, show some courage and move out.
If you have a tender and precious sapling in your palm, would you plant it in a desert? No. You will…
Questioner: Acharya Ji, in the previous discourse you mentioned that one should always choose That, instead of money, or fame, or other worldly things. But who is the one who makes this choice? Is that the same ‘I’, that same Ego that makes choice? Can it ever make choice against
First and foremost, understand that others are seeing weakness in you, and that’s why they are trying to overpower you. If they don’t find you weak, they will not try to control you.
You got into the traps of wrong kinds of work because you were tempted by results. “Let me take up this work. On the 30th day of the month the result will be good. What will be the result? A nice paycheck.”
Acharya Prashant: Sushmita asks, “What does it mean to look at anything, or anyone, afresh? Memories, inkling, or a very basic thought, always persists”.
Dhirendra says, “Sir, you said that look at everything and everybody as if it is for the first time. How is it possible? How can one…
If God has given you anything, it is just the freedom, the power, and the responsibility to create yourself. You are your own father. God is just the background. God is just the canvas on which you paint yourself. God is the brush, God is the color, God is the…
At some point the chick has to discover that the shell of the egg is just too small to spend a life in. How do you think the shell cracks? The baby grows big enough to crack the shell. It’s just that the chick has just one shell to break.
“To do as I want to do”—is that not what freedom means to us? The ones who have better sense, they say this is nothing but the freedom to remain a slave. “So, I will be a slave of my choice.” Everybody is free. In the country of slaves, everybody
Relationships are great when they help elevate your consciousness, and that’s the only purpose of relationships in life. If relationships are not fulfilling that purpose, then relationships are just a big waste, a great drag.
Questioner: The question is, how to reach the stage of ‘vulnerability’. Because if I become vulnerable, people’s behavior towards me does not bother me. There is no ego, no expectation left. Even if there is something that hits me, then also I remain normal so easily as if nothing has…
Speaker: The reason why people get in love with their conditioning, they get totally attached to their slavery; the reasons are simple, they have developed an identification with that; family, society, nation, I have developed such a deep identification with that, that today if someone comes and shows their falseness,
There is no great virtue in courage. Courage is momentary, and after that it subsides. Are you always equally courageous? The jails of the world are full of very, very courageous people. At least in their moment of madness, you could say they were not short of courage.
Teach the girls that their body is not an instrument to bear kids. Teach them that their self-worth is not at all linked to their motherhood. Teach them where the real fulfillment of life lies, and teach them that it is not in birthing or breastfeeding.
Success never quiets the anxiety underneath it. Hustle culture runs on karma — a restless cycle of chasing the next job, package, or achievement in hopes of filling an inner void. Young professionals in Bangalore who've "succeeded" on paper remain fearful, ashamed, and unsettled within, proof that success is a liar: it promises liberation but delivers only debt. Anxiety itself traces not to the future but to a present that's been neglected, and real freedom from restlessness begins only by turning inward.
The balance between order and disorder should not be decided by personal likes or dislikes, but by what the task at hand requires. Sometimes a project demands discipline and order; at other times, more important work requires leaving things messy. The right action comes from responding to the actual need, not personal preference. Even sacrifice can be meaningful when it serves something important, but “staying backstage” should never become an excuse to avoid what one cannot tolerate.
Innovation is born from research, creativity, critical thinking, scientific temper, and original thinking—not imitation or appearances. A society that values honest inquiry over validation creates genuine progress. India's future depends on nurturing a culture that encourages questioning, respects originality, and pursues truth with intellectual honesty instead of settling for superficial success and empty displays.
Society has a role in practical matters, but it should never decide love, marriage, happiness, or the purpose of life. Real freedom begins when personal choices are guided by understanding instead of social pressure. While social norms help maintain order, they become harmful when they dictate relationships, career, or inner values. True happiness and love arise from freedom, not conformity, making every love story meaningful only when it is authentically one's own.
Neuroscience says there is no free will. Vedanta also comes to the absence of free will, but through the route of choiceless understanding. It says that the right action will never be a product of your choice because there's no such thing. The right action happens when you just don't see options — not because you're an idiot, but because you're in love with the right one. So, you don't require choice. You require observation. And then, you don’t have to choose. It’s an effortless flow.
Inquiry is the only route. Otherwise, there is no way you can ever detect whether your thoughts, internal processes, feelings and importantly conclusions and decisions are your own, really original or whether they are products of an implanted process. You will never come to know what has been implanted within that which you are calling as conditioning is an implanted thing and once it has entered your insides it will always appear innate.
Acharya Prashant:
Freedom is available only to a free mind. A mind that has been conditioned, deeply enslaved, moves from no other factor
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Excerpts from Articles
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.
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.
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.
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.
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।
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।
If there is work to do, how do I say that my routine necessitates going to bed at 11 pm. When you say routine that means, these are the hours I will study, these are the hours and I’ll do this, do that and these are the hours when I will have my spare time for leisure etc. So, a routine is some kind of luxury, you require a discipline beyond a routine. A successful life, in some sense, is about dancing to somebody else's tune. Who’s tunes? Something bigger than yourself. Something bigger than yourself.
Speaker:
So your question rests on an assumption that you ‘do’ understand something. Should I take it any further?
Even in our humility lies only arrogance. “Whatever I understand, it will vanish, and before it vanishes I want to give it…
Question: Sir, what is freedom of a person?
Speaker: I do not know whether to laugh or lament.
The sun is asking- “What is brightness?” The flower is asking- “What is odor, what is fragrance?” A free being is asking- “What is freedom?” Flying birds are asking- “What is flight?”…
Speaker:
It is because we have traded away our freedom to speak the truth. There is no problem in speaking the truth to anybody, there is no limitation at all. The only limitation
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Speaker: Anubhav, will power is rubbish. You do not need willpower. Willpower is a…
Acharya Prashant:
Can anyone tell the storyline, please…
Listener: There is this girl and she sees, there was this group of people who were saying “Azaadi, Azaadi (Freedom, Freedom)” inside…
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Questioner (Q): Can you talk about the relationship between free will, destiny, and the law of attraction?
Acharya Prashant (AP): All three do not exist.
(Laughter)
Free will belongs only to the Truth.
Your destiny is to reach the Truth.
And only the Truth really attracts you.
Free will —…
Self-improvement cannot happen along with self-deception. If you don’t even admit to yourself that you are in the dumps, how would any improvement happen? You don’t really need to announce it to the world. To yourself, you must know where you really stand. And that silent realization, I assure you,…
The woman wants me to be an attending man, and I turn into an attending man as per her dictate.
I become what the other wants me to become.…
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Many times I catch myself slipping, at times, I see chaos, there are
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Acharya Prashant (AP): Escaping in what way? What do…
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It’s not that whatever they said is right or wrong. The point is, how could they dare
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Questioner (Q): Are we responsible for our actions? Or is it just happening to us? Because, if life happens to us then we are not responsible?
Acharya Prashant (AP): No, you are responsible, you are responsible to let it happen through you. Your only responsibility is towards the Truth. That…
Passion is as much an external thing as, let’s say, peer pressure. Somebody chooses his work or occupation going by market forces or peer pressure or family pressure, and then there is someone who says, “I am choosing my passion for my livelihood”; these two are hardly different. Even if…
Now ask yourself, what if it is certain…
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Questioner: Dear Acharya Ji, you have said that what is healthy is forgotten, what is sick is remembered. If something is bothering me and making me restless, is it always that I am sick? Can there be also a way where I am healthy, but the sickness of another person…
Acharya Prashant:
You know, the general concept of freedom, what does it entail? The general concept of freedom is all about being free to act as per my conditioning. "I want to buy
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Questioner (Q): You said that when there are options, choices, there can be no freedom. Earlier I used to think that I am free if I have choices, but Vedanta says that freedom can be only in choicelessness.
Acharya Prashant (AP): And isn’t there great joy in being choiceless? You…
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There is no better way, more effective way to waste life than to make a…
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When you…
Teach them creativity, teach…
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We often believe we are living freely, while our desires, dreams, beliefs, and choices are shaped by physical, social, cultural, religious, and psychological scripts. These scripts offer comfort and security, making us reluctant to examine our bondage. Freedom does not begin by imagining what lies beyond the script, but by deeply observing the cage we already live in, without fear, desire, or attachment.
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.
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True learning is not built on memorizing answers but on understanding reality. Memory may help in examinations, but life constantly presents new questions that demand clarity, presence, and intelligence. Education becomes meaningful only when knowledge is deeply understood and lived, not merely remembered. Real understanding frees us from dependence on rote learning and enables us to respond wisely to every new situation.
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The Bhagavad Gita is often accused of supporting caste and misogyny through selective quotations that ignore context, grammar, and the text's central teachings. A closer reading shows that its emphasis is on inner qualities, conscious action, and spiritual equality rather than birth-based hierarchy or gender discrimination. Misinterpretations arise when isolated verses are detached from their broader meaning, while the Gita consistently points toward self-knowledge, freedom from ego, and the universal possibility of liberation for every human being.
Kabir Saheb's message questions the very act of searching for fulfilment outside oneself. Whether through religion, relationships, success, possessions, or identity, people keep assuming that what is missing lies somewhere else. The problem is not the destination but the belief that fulfilment exists at a distance. Real freedom begins when the search turns inward, recognising that the seeker and the sought were never truly separate.
Freedom begins when a person stops handing over the authority of life to others. Society, family, and tradition can offer opinions, rewards, or disapproval, but they cannot truly stop someone unless there is inner dependence on their approval. Many conflicts that appear external are rooted in psychological dependence, fear, greed, obligation, or the desire for validation. Clarity does not come from controlling every outcome; it comes from ensuring that decisions are not driven by inner confusion, and then allowing life to unfold naturally.
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Inner freedom becomes impossible when identity is borrowed from family, friends, or social expectations. Fear, guilt, and pressure arise because people allow others to define their worth and choices. Relationships become healthy only when they support growth rather than control it. Real autonomy comes from self-understanding, continuous inner inquiry, and the courage to act from clarity rather than conformity. When there is inner certainty, labels, criticism, and social judgment lose their power.
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The debate around nudity and movements like “Free the Nipple” miss a deeper issue: true freedom is not about clothing, but freedom from psychological conditioning and body-based identity. Clothes themselves neither oppress nor liberate. A truly free society is one where the body becomes ordinary and irrelevant, not a source of obsession, shame, validation, or social control.
