Questioner: Acharya Ji, Pranaam! I read the six chapters from the book allotted to me yesterday. And now I don’t want to stop and there is a feeling of stillness. But when I look back to conclude what I have read, I cannot recollect much. There is a feeling that…
Acharya Prashant: Any kind of attainment whether physical or mental indicates the presence of a bonded one within. The full cannot attain. The limitless cannot add to itself anymore. Only the one with boundaries can aspire to attain. When there are boundaries, then there is scope for addition. When there
Acharya Prashant (AP): The feeling, the foolhardy certainty that “I am the body” is the progenitor of all other bondages. I am calling it foolhardy because if you apply a little mind it is not difficult at all to see that you and the body really cannot be one, that
का जाति:।
जातिरिति च।
न चर्मणो न रक्तस्य न मांसस्य न चास्थिनः।
न जातिरात्मनो जातिर्व्यवहारप्रकल्पिता॥१०॥
शरीर (त्वचा, रक्त, हड्डी आदि) की कोई जाति नहीं होती। आत्मा की भी कोई जाति नहीं होती। जाति तो व्यवहार में प्रयुक्त कल्पना मात्र है।
~ निरालंब उपनिषद (श्लोक क्रमांक १०)
आचार्य प्रशांत: आज जो…
Self-help books aim to help the self without investigating what it really is. The self has desires, and the book guides you to fulfill them, which gratifies the self. The way to help the ego is to reveal its falseness. It doesn’t need help; it needs dissolution. Vedanta explores the ‘I’ to dissolve it. That’s where you’ll find rigorous self-enquiry and freedom from the sufferings of the self.
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प्रश्नकर्ता: गरुड़ पुराण और ये सारे, जो वाचे जाते हैं, ये भी कल्पना हैं? कहीं न कहीं से तो ये आया है।
आचार्य प्रशांत: कुछ भी जो है, वो कहाँ से आता है? कुछ भी जिसको आप बोलते हो कि “है”, वो कहाँ से आता है? बोलिए?
प्र: रचना तो…
Brahm is not the creator. When you desperately want to invent a creator, then you come up with īśvára. But Vedanta is not very enamored of īśvára. So, Vedanta says, "Īśvara is just Maya, just Maya.” Because you experience the universe, therefore, you feel the need to justify the origin of the universe. Therefore, you must have an īśvára. But how can the creator of a false universe be real? If the universe is false, what do you say about its creator?
Excerpts from Articles
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।
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?
अंधविश्वास या किसी दावे को केवल किताबों, परंपराओं या बड़ी-बड़ी हस्तियों के कहने से नहीं मानना चाहिए। भौतिक जगत से जुड़े हर दावे के लिए प्रमाण माँगना आवश्यक है। जो बात जाँची-परखी जा सकती है, उसे तर्क, प्रयोग और उपकरणों से जाना जाए; बिना जाने नहीं माना जाए। सच्ची जिज्ञासा वही है जो हर दावे के सामने प्रश्नचिह्न रखे और प्रमाण मिलने पर ही स्वीकार करे।
फ़ालतू खर्च छोड़िए, अपनी ज़िंदगी पर खर्च करना सीखिए
आचार्य प्रशांत बताते हैं कि क्यों हम सही खान-पान, स्वास्थ्य और अपने ऊपर ज़रूरी खर्च से बचते हैं, लेकिन दिखावे और फ़ालतू सामाजिक परंपराओं पर पैसा बहा देते हैं। अधिकांश लोगों के लिए समस्या सिर्फ़ पैसों की कमी नहीं, बल्कि विवेक और सही प्राथमिकताओं की कमी भी 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.
जो खुद आज़ाद नहीं, वह लोकतंत्र को मजबूत कैसे करेगा?
लोकतंत्र, गणतंत्र और स्वतंत्रता केवल संविधान में लिखे शब्द नहीं, बल्कि जागरूक नागरिक की चेतना पर निर्भर हैं। वास्तविक स्वतंत्रता मनमानी करने की छूट नहीं, बल्कि भीतर घुसे भय, लालच, अंधविश्वास, पूर्वाग्रह और बाहरी प्रभावों से मुक्ति है। जब नागरिक अपने ही विचारों और मान्यताओं की जाँच नहीं करता, तो लोकतंत्र भीड़तंत्र और संप्रभुता खोखली बन सकती 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।
रक्षाबंधन केवल भाई-बहन के रिश्ते और सुरक्षा की रस्म तक सीमित नहीं होना चाहिए। आज असली रक्षा उन चीज़ों की ज़रूरत है जो कमज़ोर और संकट में हैं—गौरैया, नदियाँ, पहाड़, पेड़, महासागर और पृथ्वी। साथ ही ईमानदारी, आत्मज्ञान और मानवीय मूल्यों की भी रक्षा जरूरी है। धर्म कर्मकांड नहीं, अपनी शक्ति और उससे जुड़ी व्यापक ज़िम्मेदारी को समझना है।
सपनों और सामाजिक प्रतिष्ठा के पीछे भागते हुए युवा अक्सर अपनी वास्तविक क्षमता, रुचि और वर्तमान चुनौतियों को देखना भूल जाते हैं। आईआईटी, यूपीएससी, सरकारी नौकरी और पेंशन को जीवन का लक्ष्य मान लेने के बजाय ज़रूरी है आत्मज्ञान—ख़ुद को ईमानदारी से परखना। जवानी भविष्य की सुरक्षा की चिंता में नहीं, आज की वास्तविक चुनौतियों से जूझने और सार्थक कर्म में लगनी चाहिए।
एक पुजारी जो रोज़ भूत-प्रेत, तंत्र-मंत्र और वशीकरण के नाम पर आए लोगों से मिलता है, आचार्य प्रशांत से पूछता है: जब वो ख़ुद जानता है कि कुछ भूत-चुड़ैल नहीं होता, तो लोग बार-बार इसी झूठ की शरण में क्यों जाते हैं? जवाब अंधविश्वास से कहीं गहरा निकलता है — यह हमारे भीतर के उस झूठ की कहानी है, जिसे हम हर कीमत पर बचाना चाहते हैं।
प्रश्नकर्ता: आज शिविर में वज्रसूचिकोपनिषद् का पाठ किया तो जाना कि सचमुच में ब्राह्मण कौन होता है। आज तक लगता था कि ब्राह्मण जन्म या जाति के आधार पर बनते हैं; आज वो धारणा टूट रही है। ब्राह्मण कौन होता है, आचार्य जी और स्पष्ट करें।
janam janam bharmat firi-o miti-o na jam ko taraas
kaho naanak har bhaj manaa nirbhai paavahi baas
Mortals wander lost and confused through countless lifetimes; their fear of death is never…
2
Questioner: Acharya Ji, today I was reading about brain and conditioning. Our brain is affected by experiences all the time, and these experiences put the brain in a certain form and cause deformities also.
I have some memories about some people that do not allow me to feel free. I…
Questioner:
What is
Duḥkha
?
Acharya Prashant: The thought, the desire of all that which is fleeting, ephemeral is Duḥkha. Why is it Duḥkha? To whom, is it Duḥkha? Few things have to be understood. Everything likes to be in its most stress-free state. That's what even…
Nachiketa said: That which you see as other than righteousness and unrighteousness, other than all this cause and effect, other than what has been and what is to be—tell me, that.
The destruction of actions leads to that of thought; thence results the dwindling of innate impulses (to act). The obliteration of innate impulses is liberation; it is held to be freedom in life. || 12||
~…
3
Questioner: You mentioned that mumukṣā (deep desire for liberation) is what matters when we choose a path for liberation. But the mind is always playing games. Once I do things against its comfort, it tries to make up stories, create random, non-existent problems for me. Should I listen to my…
ਪ੍ਰਭ ਭਾਵੈ ਬਿਨੁ ਸਾਸ ਤੇ ਰਾਖੈ ॥
ਪ੍ਰਭ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਾ ਹਰਿ ਗੁਣ ਭਾਖੈ ॥
ਪ੍ਰਭ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਾ ਪਤਿਤ ਉਧਾਰੈ ॥
ਆਪਿ ਕਰੈ ਆਪਨ ਬੀਚਾਰੈ ॥
ਦੁਹਾ ਸਿਰਿਆ ਕਾ ਆਪਿ ਸੁਆਮੀ ॥
ਖੇਲੈ ਬਿਗਸੈ ਅੰਤਰਜਾਮੀ ॥
ਜੋ ਭਾਵੈ ਸੋ…
1
Acharya Prashant: The purpose of the Upanishads has to be remembered. It is commonly said that the purpose of the Upanishads is ‘attainment of the Truth’ but it is not really so. If you say that the purpose of the Upanishads is the attainment of Truth then you are actually…
Questioner (Q): What is the highest?
Acharya Prashant (AP): The question is - What is the highest? What is the utmost highest? And the answer, as usual, begins in negativa. They (referring to the Rishis of Upanishads) said the highest is not prāṇa; the highest is not the sense…
sa paryagācchukramakāyamavraṇamasnāviraṁ śuddhamapāpaviddham
kavirmanīṣī paribhūḥ svayambhūryāthātathyato'rthān vyadadhāt śāśvatībhyaḥ samābhyaḥ
He, the self-existent One, is everywhere; the pure one, without a (subtle) body, without blemish, without muscles, holy and without the taint of sin; the all-seeing, the all-knowing, the all-encompassing…
Without granting for a moment even a toe-hold for sleep, gossip, verbal exchanges, etc., and self-forgetfulness, meditate on the Self in the self.
~ Adhyatma Upanishad, Verse 5
✥ ✥ ✥
Questioner: I am not sure…
…
Acharya Prashant (AP): The first question comes from an MBA 2nd year student from IIT Kanpur named Prashant. He says:
“I have been reading Krishnamurti and Vivekanand since the past three years having learned from them, I genuinely feel that the teachings of such great teachers should be at the…
Would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, and like an air plant be sustained by the light.
But since you must kill to eat, and rob
…
…
Questioner (Q): How do I know what is sitting in my subconscious? What does the thing within want? Hence, how should I make my choices and decisions?
Acharya Prashant (AP): You have no perception beyond what you consciously know. You can only operate within the zone of your consciousness. How…
jo paraanee nis din bhajai roop raam tih jaan
har jan har antar nahee naanak saachee maan
That mortal who meditates and vibrates upon the Lord night and day—know him to…
kriyānāśādbhavecchintānāśo'smādvāsanākṣayaḥ
vāsanāprakṣayo mokṣaḥ sā jīvanmuktiriṣyate
The destruction of action leads to that of thought; thence results the dwindling of innate impulse (to act). The obliteration of innate impulse is liberation; it is held to be freedom in life.
O son, you have become habitual of thinking ‘I am body’ since long. Experience the Self and by this sword of Knowledge cut that bondage and be happy.
~ Ashtavakra…
Acharya Prashant: ‘We are two’. And, there are always two ways to look at our existence. One is to look at our physical body and say we are purely physical, material. Who am I? This (referring to the body). The other way is to see that you are probably not…
1
Vidyā does not take you to Brahman. That is another popular misconception, kindly get rid of it. Vidyā has to go away for only Brahman to remain. Brahman is immortality. When you believed in the universe, then you also believed in the study of the universe. So, a belief in…
1
Questioner: Is everything happening in the realm of consciousness, and the Absolute lies outside of that realm unaffected?
Acharya Prashant: The first part of the question is valid, the second one is merely speculative, of no help.
Yes, all that is happening or not happening is all within the domain…
यस्मिन्सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मैवाभूद्विजानतः।
तत्र को मोहः कः शोक एकत्वमनुपश्यतः ॥ ७ ॥
yasminsarvāṇi bhūtānyātmaivābhūdvijānataḥ |
tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka ekatvamanupaśyataḥ || 7 ||
When to the man of realization all beings become the very Self, then what delusion and what sorrow can there be for that seer of oneness? (Or--…
Questioner (Q): How is doership related to body-identification?
Acharya Prashant (AP): It’s very important. These are fundamentals. If you can appreciate them, you will never be misled.
When you are identified with the body, you are identified with the bundle of crying needs. Remember, the body has its needs; consciousness,…
1
यथाऽपकृष्टं शैवालं क्षणमात्रं न तिष्ठति ।
आवृणोति तथा माया प्राज्ञं वापि पराङ्मुखम् ॥
Just as a pulled-up water reed stays not still even for a moment, so does Maya (ceaselessly) envelop even a wise man if he averts his…
1
Questioner: In the last session you said that cessation of passion is dispassion. I don’t feel I am passionate towards anything in my life. I like classical music, reading about spirituality, listening to the masters, I like the silence, but I am not passionate about anything. I am unable to…
Acharya Prashant (AP):
Even before you go to the teacher, that is needed, the body must be such that it doesn’t fall off in the middle of a session, the senses must be such that they do not start wandering when the teacher is speaking, that kind of inner discipline
…
1
Questioner (Q): Swami Vivekananda has said, “First of all, our young men must be strong. Religion will come afterwards. Be strong, my young friends; that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita. These are bold words; but…
1
Shuzan held out his short staff and said,
“If you call this a short staff, you oppose reality.
If you do not call it a short staff, you ignore the fact.
Now, what do you wish to call this?”
~ ‘The Short Staff’, a Zen Koan
Questioner: Acharya Ji, like…
The Upanishads were not composed to give you the normal kind of comfort and happiness. The Upanishads are there to give you an exalted happiness, a transcendental happiness, an eternal happiness. A happiness so rare and exquisite that it is not called as harṣa or moda or prasannatā; a…
2
ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ik-onkaar satgur parsaad
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:
~ Guru Granth Sahib 1426-9
✥ ✥ ✥
ਸਲੋਕ ਮਹਲਾ ੯ ॥
salok mehlaa 9
Shalok, Ninth Mehl:
~ Guru Granth Sahib 1426-10
✥ ✥ ✥
ਗੁਨ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਗਾਇਓ ਨਹੀ ਜਨਮੁ ਅਕਾਰਥ…
2
Throw out concepts like ‘I am virtuous’ or ‘I am a sinner’. What is the entity that senses this? Body-consciousness will not lose its grasp on you with the thought that your well-being is the result of some spiritual activity. All you need is to keep observing yourself.
Do not…
1
Questioner: Acharya Ji, since the last few days I have been sharing my learnings with my parents. Every time I discuss something with them, I have to deliberately attack their conditioned mind to make them aware of their conditioning. I feel sorry for them and I find myself being cruel…
Questioner (Q): Who are the various Gods?
Acharya Prashant (AP): Who is Indra? A power within me! I am asking myself, ‘’Please, bestow wellbeing on yourself.” What am I telling myself? “Kindly be good to yourself.” Too much to ask for, too much? We keep wanting others to be good…
1
Questioner: Swami Vivekananda has said that the minds of our modern youth are becoming storehouses of multiple complexes, such as sex complex, fear complex, ego complex, inferiority complex. Our young adults seem to be full of confidence in the way they speak, dress, look and act. But when I look…
1
Questioner: Acharya Ji, I have noticed that people who have known me since childhood are now facing difficulties in understanding what I am doing. For instance, it took two years for me to convince my wife and relatives, etc. to even allow me to practice spirituality. Why do our close…
harakh sog jaa kai nahee bairee meet samaan
kaho naanak sun ray manaa mukat taahi tai jaan
One who is not affected by pleasure or pain, who looks upon friend and…
Questioner: What is happiness?
Acharya Prashant: The questioner, it’s important to be reminded, is the ego-self. And the ego-self lives in its own little dualistic world. In its own world, it experiences Sukhā and Duḥkha, happiness and sorrow, pleasure and pain. It knows nothing beyond happiness and…
Through penance, one gets to know the inborn disposition (sattva); from sattva one gets (stability of) the mind; through the mind, one realizes the Ātman; by realizing the…
jatan bahut sukh kay kee-ay dukh ko kee-o na ko-ay
kaho naanak sun ray manaa har bhaavai so ho-ay
People make all sorts of efforts to find peace and…
2
Questioner (Q): You said that consciousness is precious, it should be valued, and that is why we shouldn’t kill animals. We can take it the other way around also, that if we are killing animals, it means we are killing our own consciousness somewhere, and therefore we are not valuing…
2
Acharya Prashant (AP): The Upanishads have no two things to tell. There are no two truths. There is not even one. So, this is exactly what Śvetāśvatara was saying yesterday. As the spider puts out the web and then takes it in, mythically at least, so does everything arise from…
