Devi Upanishad

Any belief is stupid because all beliefs come from a lack of investigation, and a lack of investigation comes from deep fear and a feeling of insecurity. If you are insecure and afraid, then you will not dare to ask questions and investigate. And it is from that fear and insecurity that the concept of God has arisen. Now, God and reality are two different things. God and Truth are not the same thing. The mark of religiosity or true spirituality is an abiding faith in the truth.

Advait or Dvait?

It doesn’t matter whether you talk of *Advait* or *Dvait*. Do you finally admit that you cannot proceed any further with words? If your *Advait* says that I have come to the final truth, then your *Advait* is bogus. If your *Dvait* says that this is the ultimate expression, then your *Dvait,* too, is a fallacy. You may say *Advait,* you may say *Dvait,* you may even say *Trait,* or you may say anything of your choice. You are free to say whatever you want to, but all of that must surrender.

Your Worth does not come from Bearing Babies or Breast-Feeding || AP Neem Candies

6 min

Acharya Prashant: You have said, “What kind of change our education system needs to have so that our coming generations live together in peace and fulfillment?” Live together with each other, right? You haven’t said they live together with animals. The trees, the rivers, the rabbits, and the lions. That… read_more

Prakriti, Attention and Truth

You rather have to be relaxed and just receptive. It comes to you. You don't have to chase it. You simply have to unlock your door, and these two are very different approaches. What does the devotee do? He just opens his doors and waits, calmly waits. He doesn't want to enforce his will. Non-resistance. Active pursual would all be within yourself. You are actively pursuing the beyond within yourself.

Are You Spiritual or Religious? (The Difference Is Big)

10 min

If you are really a spiritual person, then you will find that the community that opposes you the most is not of atheists, it is of religious people. They will be the ones who would be opposing the really spiritual person the most, which is an unfortunate thing because the way religion was designed, it was designed to gradually make a person spiritual. Today, the situation is that these are not in sync or harmony with each other. Rather, these two have become greatly separated.

God's Presence Everywhere: What Does It Really Mean?

6 min

Gita and philosophy and Vedanta have nothing to do with God. They are in search of Truth, not God. These are different things — Truth and God. Secondly, all the objects that you look at, you look at them in search of something. In search of the Truth, you look at all these objects. In that sense you could say, I am looking at everything in search of the absolute. To the ego, everything carries a promise, a possibility of the absolute. That does not mean that all the objects that you look at contain the infinite or something.

Who Created the World?

14 min

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?

What’s New About the New Year?

No "New Year" will give you the "new." So many New Years have come and gone, only to become old years. If you want the new, why do you stick to the old? The new, the happiness you are looking for, will not come through experience. Look around, look at your relationships, look at your mind, your thoughts, and maybe you will suddenly cry out, “The looking itself is new.”

Why Are You Scared of Truth?

There is nothing more scary than the Truth. The primary function of Truth is to negate all your falseness, to show you that you are living in lies. Truth supports you in the sense that, without its help, you cannot even see falseness. Truth cannot be pleasant to what we are. Truth can only be pleasant to the Truth. Before the Real can come, this false one must disappear.

10 New Year Resolutions Suggested by Acharya Prashant

Man has always been attracted to the new. But attraction alone is not enough, especially when one is resistant to leaving the old ways. 'New' comes with an opportunity to change, and equally with a responsibility to act upon that change. Bridging this gap between attraction and action, Acharya Prashant guides us with practical resolves that possess the potential to bring real development—if followed honestly!

Should Women Leave Their Parental Home?

Your only obligation is your liberation. These are just loveless social customs and economic structures where a woman is seen as a factor of production that produces babies. There’s no need to go to the husband’s place or even stay at your father’s if you are unloved and unwanted. The world is a vast opportunity. Live anywhere, stay anywhere, do whatever is the right work, and fly free—simple.

Why Is God So Biased?

Why do you think that, first of all, a creating entity, a creator, exists in the same way this world exists? Secondly, why do you think that all values that you hold dear to your chest must be espoused by that God as well? You like somebody to be merciful to you, so you say, “Oh, God is merciful.” How do you know God is merciful? Are you bigger than God? Have you penetrated God's head—if there exists somebody called God at all?

What Does Jesus Represent?

Jesus is not a mere mortal. He is the source of light, the root of all flowers and beauty. Jesus stands for the Truth, and Truth is omnipresent. In one form, he disappears; in another, he arises again. Prophets don’t come and go—they live forever. Going back into the past to look for them is the tragedy of the living. He is here, right now, in the hearts of those who love him.

What is the 'Will of God'?

12 min

God wills that you be godly in your freedom. Because godliness, by definition, cannot be imposed. ‘God’ is patiently waiting for you to be godly. He’ll just keep showing you the mirror in some way or the other. He will keep sending you help—sometimes in the form of a situation, a book, or sometimes in the form of a person. God is nothing but your ultimate potential.

Is Religion Merely Superstition?

Religion concerns itself with ‘Ego and its liberation!’ That’s all. In the name of religion, if you are talking about planets and stars, about fruits and vegetables, wear this, don’t wear that, eat this, don’t eat that, the house should face this direction, and a thousand other things that you associate with it, then all that is some kind of tribal superstition. Religion has nothing to do with these things.

Is Religion Patriarchal? Exploring Its Impact on Women's Lives

30 min

Vedānta is about the person gaining liberation from both of these—body identification and mental conditioning. So, ideally spirituality should be the woman’s best friend. But practically, evidence has been rather mixed; in fact, evidence has been that religion historically has been on the side of the oppressors when it comes to the women, oppressors of the women. The reason is that religion itself has not been well understood. Religion itself has been a victim of contamination, and when religion is contaminated then religion becomes a tool towards exploitation of women.

Wisdom Through Songs

27 min

AIR host (AIR): A very good morning to all our listeners tuned in! And a warm welcome to the brunch time show this Saturday morning with your friend Kiran! And this morning we have a very, very enlightened guest with us who is going to be sharing his views and… read_more

Is Sex and Meditation Just an Escape of Ego?

The ego says that my first priority is to remain, exist, and after that comes everything else. Even the Truth must be subservient to my first priority. So, liberation is alright as long as it is a second of liberation. Peace is alright as long as it is five minutes of peace. But if silence threatens to take over the entire life, if peace starts dominating noise to the extent that the noise might be completely annihilated, then the ego rejects. The ego wants Truth, but only a modicum of Truth. The ego wants peace, but only a sliver of peace.

The Reality of Fake Feminism: Separating Fact from Fiction

10 min

True feminism is really when the woman, the female, stops taking being a female as her primary identity. If you want to talk of feminism in the context of women's liberation, then this alone is liberation. As long as she is fighting for her rights as a woman, she is not liberated. She, first of all, needs to be liberated from the concept that she is a woman. If she continues to be a woman, then her genetic conditioning and biological impulses and physical drives would continue to rule her. And that would obviously make the achievement of her potential as a human being very difficult.

Men Desperately Trying to Understand Women - and Failing!

2 min

Questioner: Thank you for meeting with me again, Acharya Ji! I have a question.

Every time I see an attractive woman, I’m gonna feel the impulse to drop everything and look at her.

Men’s headspace is occupied with conquering women. Can I train myself out of it?

But I have… read_more

Life is for Better Things || Neem Candies

1 min

That could be one necessary mark of a true feminist: she would not be dependent on anybody else for a single rupee, especially not on the male partner.

“Financial independence and then still having kids, is that something that can be counted under feminism as such?”

No, you see, these… read_more

Most Ignored Side of Women Empowerment

External freedom without caring for her internal freedom will become dangerous because it creates an illusion of freedom. They say we are empowered, but internally they are living in the jungle variety of bondage. The woman has to have self-knowledge and that's where Vedanta comes in. Vedanta tells her, ‘Learn to keep the body aside. You are not the body.’

Are Women Sexually Passive?

3 min

Man keeps on fantasizing about sex as the ultimate remedy to his mental chaos. And to get this remedy, he must have the woman’s body. To ensure that the woman’s body is available, the man must keep the woman in bondage. Otherwise, she may, or she may not acquiesce.

Is Patriarchy Hurting Men Too?

15 min

Patriarchy is the belief that one’s job is determined by gender, oppressing both men and women. It’s not about men versus women; it’s wisdom versus ignorance. If a man continues to be a man, he can only be a predator who hunts women, while women hunt passively in return. Ultimately, no one can find joy while others remain in misery.

The Total Is Neither Masculine nor Feminine, Hence the Search and Summit of Both

There is hardly any need to give special attention to the so-called masculine and feminine because neither the masculine really exists nor the feminine really exists. We talk about them because our mind is obsessed with gender, with sex; with women, with men; all dualities are the same. In fact, there is only one duality, called “duality”. The two ends of that duality can be given any name.

Is Knowing the Truth a Never-Ending Quest?

41 min

“The significance of a man is not in what he attains, but rather what he longs to attain.” -Khalil Gibran, ‘Sand and Foam’

Question: Once during a discourse on the Bible, you too have said, “The more you know the Truth, the more you want to know; such is … read_more

You've Had Enough of This Person

12 min

Questioner: Namaskar Acharya ji! I am reading a book called “Freedom from the Known”, where the author, Jiddu Krishnamurthi, talks about removing authority to be free from the ego. What does he mean by authority? Can we take anything to be the authority and then say, “I’m not going to… read_more

Where Science and Spirituality Converge

Why Become a Woman, Why Become a Man?

Questioner: Is there some scientific context to spirituality? Because, at the end of the day, as you said, ‘Religion forms a boundary, an outer shell, within which spirituality remains.’ Because this has to be something that stops you from doing something wrong or something that is fundamentally upsetting. So, how… read_more

We Exist, and We Do Not

23 min

Questioner: Sir, it is pretty evident that I exist and you exist, but you have also stated that the ego does not exist. So, when someone calls you Acharya Prashant and you reply, isn’t that an identification that reflects an ego?

Acharya Prashant: It is a thing that is useful… read_more

6 min

Acharya Prashant: What if you were never, never trained in womanhood? How would you live? You can’t even think because right now, every bit of you is a trained bit. How do you know that a woman must have long hair? How do you know? That’s how it is! Nine… read_more

Vedanta and Bhakti (Devotion)

17 min

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… read_more

Wasting Life on an Unworthy Person?

The Difficult Call of Dear Love

Questioner: I was in a relationship with a person from the last eight years. Last three years while being with me, he was also seeing and dating other women. I have always been honest and loyal to him. After knowing that he is so mean, so dishonest, why am I… read_more

12 min

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

Women in Revealing Dresses: Liberation or Titillation?

9 min

To those who articulate that women should mind their clothes and dressings, the question arises: what kind of person are you, man or woman, if anything is able to disturb or provoke you so easily? The allegation is that when watching a woman dressed skimpily, it becomes a disturbance, a distraction, even a provocation. How will you insulate yourself, and how much will you insulate yourself from the world? And what are the limits to what you want to see and not see? Today, it is said that a woman’s legs or thighs provoke you. What prevents you from saying tomorrow that her ankles and fingernails provoke you? Would you then demand that she should cover up from head to toe?

Religious Fanatics and Bigots - Where Do They Come from?

17 min

Questioner: Sir, I am Saurabh Kumar from Rajdhani College, Delhi University. My question is that there is one or two days ago, there was Ram Navami. Some people were going and cheering Ram, Ram at the mosque and figuring out some flags at the mosque. And they are looking like… read_more

Hell is Full of these People - You might Recognize Some of them || AP Neem Candies

A Single Mother with a 4-year-Old Kid, Is She Helpless? || AP Neem Candies

Acharya Prashant: Hell is a place where you get a lot of sympathy, consolation, condolence, and commiseration. You're told that we agree that you are in a miserable state. Your neighbor comes to you, puts his hand on your shoulder, and with a grave face tells you that you are… read_more

3 min

Acharya Prashant: Socially, we have been trained to visualize the happy family as a kid with his two arms being held by two people of opposite gender. That’s really not needed. The kid is already being held in the palm of his real Father. The real Father is not even… read_more

Live against yourself || AP Neem Candies

The ego likes to settle matters too soon, the ego likes to conclude too soon. Wherever there is a conclusion, wherever there is a settlement, wherever there is an ending that thought can grasp, it is a false ending, it is a false realization. I have no interest in talking about what true realization is like. True realization is anywhere not a subject matter of this course. We should rather warn of that which is false. Read more....

Acharya Prashant: One hallmark, one unmistakable quality of right action would be that it would require all your guts. It is only a false action that you can comfortably undertake. Falseness is never troublesome; Truth always is. Whenever you would be doing something that would be real, you would know… read_more

The Mind Is Not Your Own

13 min

What Actually Holds Women Back?

18 min

Questioner: Just a thought. I have seen that the basic approach, the very base of how a woman is looking at the world, as well as I have come near to a woman’s mind and I’ve tried to understand is that they think through a lens that I cannot even… read_more

For the Right Reason, Be Tactful and Clever || AP Neem Candies

Nothing Within Us Is the Truth

Acharya Prashant: The spiritual soldier, the religious warrior has to be extremely intelligent. You could go to the extent of saying that he has to be cunning in the service of Truth; I’m choosing this word with all deliberation.

He has to be cunning in the service of the Truth;… read_more

10 min

Acharya Prashant: The truth is not a side of you; the truth is not a part of you. The truth is the absence of this fictitious thing called ‘you.’ That's how the false survives by calling a part of itself ‘the truth.’ You know, yes, of course, I'm false, but… read_more

Love is Enough. Hari Om!

Great love; Greater Love || AP Neem Candies

Acharya Prashant: The disappearance of sound into silence, as it happens in Om , is analogous to the disappearance of the arrow mind into the Brahman target. What is Om ? Sounds finely dissolving into, tapering off into silence. That's how it happens.

And then figuratively, we say that Om … read_more

New-Age Truths || AP Neem Candies

Acharya Prashant: We want something, right? We want the Ultimate. There’s nobody who wants to stop at something small. We want something as big as possible, right? That’s the nature of desire, correct? It doesn’t want to stop anywhere. Probably it can stop only when it gets something immeasurable, infinite.… read_more

2 min

Acharya Prashant: Real spirituality is about rejecting the false. Real spirituality, therefore, is uncompromising, harsh, ruthless. Just reject the false—that's what real spirituality is about. But if you are living in an age, in an era, in a society, in an economic system that is dominated by forces of falseness,… read_more

Prakriti and Purusha

Finally, What Takes the Seeker to the Truth?

Acharya Prashant: For a woman, the lips of a woman are something very commonplace and ordinary. It is only the eye of the Purusha (consciousness) that worships the Prakriti (physical nature). That is why these two must be found together. If the masculine is not there, who will praise and… read_more