Guru

प्रश्न: आचार्य जी, आप आई.आई.टी., आई.आई.एम. के बाद अध्यात्म की शरण में क्यों गये?

आचार्य प्रशांत जी: हर आदमी की अपनी एक यात्रा होती है और उस यात्रा में दस कारण होते हैं जो उसके पीछे लगे होते हैं।

तुम्हारी अपनी एक यात्रा है जो तुम्हें तुम्हारे कॉलेज से ले … read_more

प्रश्नकर्ता: बार-बार कृष्णमूर्ति साहब ये कहते हैं कि कोई गुरु की आवश्यकता नहीं है।

आचार्य प्रशांत: हाँ, क्योंकि सब अपना ही है, ज़िम्मेदारी सारी अपनी है, तो बाहर वाले का फिर नाम भी लेने की तकलीफ़ क्यों करनी है। और जो गुरु है वह सर्वप्रथम आंतरिक है। मैं कह रहा… read_more

Questioner: Acharya ji, today I realized that without love in my heart, I cannot find joy in my life, however wonderful my external situations are. Just listening to, and singing a Kabir bhajan brings me so much joy, love, and tears, I really want to know this Love, and what… read_more

Acharya Prashant: I was six years old. My sister Pragya was three and my younger brother was being born, mother was in the maternity ward. So, we two kids were having good fun. We had been relieved from school for a month because mother had gone to another city to… read_more

आचार्य प्रशांत: जो बातें मैं कह रहा हूँ अगर उनमें कुछ दम, कुछ फ़ौलाद समझ में आता है तो उसको अपनी ज़िंदगी में उतार लें, मेरा उद्देश्य पूरा हो जाएगा। और अगर वो फ़ौलाद आप ज़िंदगी में नहीं उतार रहे हो और बस “गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णु” कर रहे हो, तो करते… read_more

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… read_more

Questioner: Sir, when you were growing up, is there any special memory, or any time you realized and had this aspiration to become, or go on the spiritual path? Is there something interesting related to your life, from your childhood, that you want us to know?

Acharya Prashant: First of… read_more

“A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave it wings.

Alone must it seek the ether.

And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun”.

Kahlil Gibran

Speaker: “A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave it wings”. You may… 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

प्रश्नकर्ता: सर, सुबह जब मैं आया था और बैठा था गंगा किनारे। तो जो लोग घूमने आये थे, अभी भी जैसे हैं, तो लोग चिल्लाते क्यों हैं? जैसे मैंने भी अपने पर ध्यान दिया है, मैं भी बहुत चिल्लाता हूँ। तो ये चिल्लाहट क्यों है? कोई अभिव्यक्ति होती है?

आचार्य … read_more

प्रश्नकर्ता: किसी भी मन को सत्य की तरफ़ दिशा कैसे मिलेगी अगर उसकी ज़िन्दगी में शरीर रुपी गुरु ही नहीं हो? गुरु के बिना क्या सत्य से साक्षात्कार होने की सम्भावना है भी?

आचार्य प्रशांत: ऐसा किसी के साथ भी नहीं होता कि वो एक पर्सन (व्यक्ति) से ही खाली… read_more

प्रश्नकर्ता नमस्ते सर, आज की बातचीत थोड़ी कॉन्ट्रोवर्शियल (विवादित) होने वाली है

आचार्य प्रशांत: कोई बात नहीं होती रहती है कॉन्ट्रोवर्शी।

प्र: मैं आपसे गुरुओं के ऊपर बात करना चाहता हूँ और इस पूरी बात की शुरुआत आज से दस या बारह साल पहले से होती है।

आचार्य: क्या हुआ… read_more

प्रश्नकर्ता: सर, प्रणाम! आपका पुराना छात्र हूँ। दो-हज़ार-दस से आपको सुन रहा हूँ, देख रहा हूँ। आप नहीं बदले, सब बदल गया। ज़माना बदल गया! आपके भीतर इतना जज़्बा आता कहाँ से है?

आचार्य प्रशांत: मुझे तो नहीं पता चलता कि मुझमें कोई जज़्बा है। तुमने कहा, ‘इतना जज़्बा! विशेष… read_more

प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी प्रणाम। मैं आपके द्वारा लोगों को लाभ पाता देखता हूँ। इस शिविर में भी बहुत से लोग ऐसे हैं जो लाभान्वित हुए हैं, और अपनी कृतज्ञता भी व्यक्त करते हैं और साथ में संस्था के जो स्वयं सेवक हैं उनके कार्य को भी देखता हूँ, तो मेरा… read_more

प्रश्नकर्ता: ये प्रश्न आपके व्यक्तिगत जीवन से जुड़ा है। बहुत सारे लोगों को शायद ये उत्सुकता होगी, मुझे भी है कि हमने आपको हमेशा सत्र में देखा है और यहाँ पर कैंप में आते हैं, यहाँ पर देखा है, यूट्यूब पर देखा है लेकिन उसके बाद आप क्या करते हैं?… read_more

प्रश्नकर्ता: नमस्ते सर। गुरु पूर्णिमा पर आपको बहुत सारा धन्यवाद। आपके कारण मैंने ईशावास्य उपनिषद् पढ़ा, वैसे पहले बस में उपन्यास वगैरह ही पढ़ता था। सर, ये बताइए कि आपने अपनेआप को गुरु बुलवाने में इतना अनकम्फ़रटेबल (असुविधाजनक) क्यों रखा है? आप हमेशा खुद को गुरु बुलवाने में इतना अनकम्फ़रटेबल … read_more

आचार्य प्रशांत: आपके और इस आश्रम के बारे में, आपके और संसार के बारे में, आपके और मेरे बारे में, कुछ बातें समझ लेना ज़रूरी है। आप किसी बाहरी जगह पर नहीं आये हैं, लगता ऐसा ही है। पर इंसान की आँखों का कुछ खास भरोसा किया जा नहीं सकता।… read_more

*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… read_more

My request to you is to never turn your back upon the saints. Never. Never let it become acceptable to you to decry, deride, or ignore the scriptures. Never. You must hold the scriptures today and always in the greatest esteem, and you must be very clear with what the… read_more

Questioner: Sir, for the past three years, I am reading your books and I have interpreted some meanings of them. But from the past three years, my meanings have changed, means it depends on my state of mind like to what extent I am grasping the explanation.

Acharya Prashant: You… read_more

Questioner (Q): I am seeing that the mind lives in a hierarchy. So, there are some social reformers and then there are some spiritual mystics. Is there any difference between them, if both of them are working from the right centre?

Acharya Prashant (AP): No, you cannot be a true… read_more

Acharya Prashant (AP): When you come upon something beautiful, try to understand it. That’s what is meant by watching. The worldly bird, the engaged bird would have surely glanced at her neighbour many times, that’s not really called looking. To look is to understand; do you really understand, or do… read_more

Question: Sir, I have come here for the first time and I want to know you better and that is why I want to ask, why do you teach?

Acharya Prashant: Why do you listen?

L: Sir, actually I come here to be in the company of like-minded people.

AP: … read_more

Questioner: Does serving the Guru with compassion and devotion lead to liberation?

Acharya Prashant:

Liberation is not about serving the Guru. Liberation is about not serving what you serve so much.

You don’t have to be liberated with respect to the Guru. Liberation means getting rid of something, right? You… read_more

Are you looking for me?

Look a little closely!

Am I in the Stupa, am I in the Shrine?

You really want me , or just images of mine?

… a little closely!

The crowds in the Ashram are all misled,

What you call as Yoga is such a dread,… read_more

Listener : Seeing the actions and responses that what I call a teacher gives, so the argument comes that maybe they are coming from the influential part of the mind , they are not coming from the essential just like you said that the faces are real till the time… read_more

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

Questioner: Dear Acharya Ji, Pranaam!

I have observed that the mind gets coloured with the subject that I get myself involved into. Firstly it was Osho, Krishnamurti, Adi Shankaracharya, Rumi, and Ashtavkara. And now the subject is you (referring to Acharya Ji).

Ever since I came in touch with you,… read_more

Acharya Prashant: In some sense, it is very cruel to be a Teacher, absolute helplessness one experiences, one feels like asking, "Why does one have to inflict daily wounds, rather carnage upon himself?"

You know what is it to be a Teacher, to know everything and have power over very… read_more

The only way to continue with the scripture that you are reading, or the spiritual practice you are into, is to keep demolishing your conditioning. If you are not constantly progressing against your conditioning, you will soon lose interest in the scriptures. The very sight of the scripture or the… read_more

Acharya Prashant (AP): When we say that somebody didn't have a Guru, it's the same as saying that the fellow did not exist. The Guru is what you are. You cannot be and not have a Guru. You may accept that you are a disciple or you may not accept… read_more

Questioner: We have such a rich heritage and history. India is the land of the Vedas, the Upanishads, and so many perfect masters. As a country, how did we get so far from the Truth, or was Truth always for just a limited few?

Acharya Prashant: The misfortune of India… read_more

“Enjoy the moment! Go with the flow!” What is that flow? Where is it coming from? Why should I go with it? Why don’t you just pause and ask, which flow are we talking of?

The tsunamis are coming to take you away, and the great master is teaching you:… read_more

Question: Acharya Ji, I have a few friends who also follow different Gurus and their paths. We often discuss Spirituality and land up at a conclusion that a Guru who has known the Truth should always present himself in a pleasant way. That itself shows that he has known the… read_more

*Question: Acharya Ji, I am afraid of you. The reasons are: *

First reason is that of authority.

And second reason is I want something from you and there is no total trust in you.

And I am afraid of that being found out.

Is there more to … read_more

**ਅਉਧ ਘਟੈ ਦਿਨਸੁ ਰੈਣਾਰੇ ॥ ਮਨ ਗੁਰ ਮਿਲਿ ਕਾਜ ਸਵਾਰੇ ॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

a-oDh ghatai dinas rainaaray. man gur mil kaaj savaaray. rahaa-o.

The life passes day and night. My mind, meet the Guru so that he sets things right: meet the Guru so that he attaches you … read_more

Questioner (Q): Dear Acharya Ji, with Kabir Saheb and other saints, I see that they had an intense longing for the Love of God. They continuously felt that they were in distress because of being separated from God. But Acharya Ji, you tell people that they are all right, but… read_more

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-… read_more

The shopkeeper’s business is to sell his goods, and that’s what most gurus of today are: they have to sell their goods. When that is what you want to do, how can you afford to antagonize a big chunk of the population? And you would never, never do that if… read_more

Questioner: Dear Acharya Ji, Pranaam! I know that the online sessions are interactive. A question needs to be asked, and the question will be addressed by you. Sometimes I desperately search for a question to ask, maybe just so that I may participate and my presence is acknowledged, but nothing… read_more

Acharya Prashant (AP): Why do you think I would always insist that the audience comes closer to me? (referring to the physical distance between the Speaker and the listeners)

Questioner (Q): So that we can gain more, as there is no separation and distance.

AP: That’s well said, symbolically. But,… read_more