“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
“Solitude has soft, silky hands, but with strong fingers it grasps the heart and makes it ache with sorrow. Solitude is the ally of sorrow as well as a companion of spiritual exaltation.”
-Kahlil Gibran (The Broken Wings)
Acharya Prashant: “Solitude has soft, silky hands, but with strong fingers it… read_more
“Thus, I became a madman
And I have found both freedom and safety
in my madness;
the freedom of loneliness
and the safety from being understood
For those who understand us,
enslave something in us. ”
Khalil Gibran
Question: Why is Khalil Gibran saying that those who understand us enslave… read_more
“Pleasure is a freedom song,
But it is not freedom.
It is the blossoming of your desires,
But it is not their fruit.”
Questioner : Sir, what pleasure is and what is its place in life?
Speaker : Khalil Gibran is saying, “Pleasure is a freedom song, But… read_more
H e may be here, and he may call her.
But like many others she may not hear.
-Khalil Gibran
Question: Why can’t he hear? What stops him from hearing?
Acharya Prashant: He is asking, “When there is the Call and the Caller, why can’t the Caller himself make the… read_more
“Let the whole world listen.
The sky will now speak to the earth,
but the earth is deaf as you and I”
~ Khalil Gibran
Speaker: “Let the whole world listen. The sky will now speak to the earth, but the earth is deaf as you and I”. What… read_more
Forgetfulness is a form of freedom. – Khalil Gibran
Speaker: The Heart stands for Freedom. The Centre, the Core stands for Freedom. The Truth stands for Freedom. And because the Truth is Truth, it cannot go away or disappear. Then why do we feel un-free? If Truth stands for Freedom… read_more
When you reach the Heart of Life you will find yourself not higher than the felon, and not lower than the Prophet.
Speaker : “When you reach the Heart of Life you will find yourself not higher than the felon, and not lower than the Prophet”. At… read_more
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
Question: Pranaam Acharya… read_more
Question: Acharya Ji, why do the wise call the Aatman, ‘the enjoyer?’
Acharya Prashant: Enjoyer, in the sense of the watcher. Just as in the cinema hall, you enjoy the show. How do you enjoy the show? By leaping into the screen? In Cinema Hall, how do you enjoy it?… read_more
Do not fear the thorns in your path, for they draw only the corrupt blood.
~ Kahil Gibran
Acharya Prashant: That is a surprise how in the movement of hurt we see only that which has been hurt and we totally ignore that which has been not and both are… read_more
That which seems most feeble and bewildered in youis the strongest and most determined.
Is it not your breath that has erected and hardened the structure of your bones?
-Khalil Gibran The prophet (The farewell)
Acharya Prashant: There are two ways one can look at this; which of these two… read_more
“Defeat, my Defeat, my solitude, and my aloofness; You are dearer to me than a thousand triumphs, And sweeter to my heart than all world-glory. “
~Khalil Gibran
Acharya Prashant: The question is, “How can defeat be sweet? How can there be joy in being shunned and scorned?”
There is… read_more
The Wise King
Once there ruled in the distant city of Wirani, a king who was both mighty and wise. And he was feared for his might and loved for his wisdom. Now, in the heart of that city was a well, whose water was cool and crystalline, from which… read_more
The Two Hermits Upon a lonely mountain, there lived two hermits who worshipped God and loved one another. Now, these two hermits had one earthen bowl and this was their only possession. One day, an evil spirit entered into the heart of the older hermit and he came to the… read_more
Acharya Prashant (AP): Questioner is asking — “Acharya Ji, 'love that does not renew itself every day becomes a habit and in turn, a slavery. How shall my heart be unsealed unless it be broken?'
~Khalil Gibran.
Kindly elaborate on the above two lines. What do renewal of love, unsealing… read_more
“Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape.”
Question: What is full embrace? How is it different from half embrace? If half embrace creates a movement of… read_more
“Your life, my friend,
is a residence far away from any other
residence and neighbours.
Your inner soul is a home far away from
other homes named after you.
If this residence is dark,
you cannot light it with your neighbour’s lamp;
If it is empty you cannot fill it … read_more
You asked me how I became a mad man. It happened thus: one day, long before many Gods were born, I woke up from a deep sleep and found all my masks were stolen- the seven masks I have fashioned and worn in seven lives- I ran maskless through the … read_more
“No man can reveal to you nothing but that which already lies half-asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.” ~ Khalil Gibran
Questioner: What is the role of a spiritual teacher in one’s life? How does life change in the presence of a spiritual teacher or a Guru?
Acharya Prashant: … read_more
“Too many fragments of the spirit have I scattered in these streets, and too many are the children of my longing that walk naked among these hills, and I cannot withdraw from them without a burden and an ache. It is not a garment that I cast off this day,… read_more
Questioner (Q): Man is typically a social animal who seeks to coexist with the society around him. I am a vegan but many people around me are not, and that creates a difficulty for me. I want to speak out my thoughts on animal cruelty and get into animal activism,… read_more
Questioner: Why is there a difference of intensity and love for mukti (liberation) between different human beings?
Acharya Prashant: The differences that you are talking of all relate to time; therefore, they all will be resolved in due course of time. Time gave rise to all those differences, and those… read_more
Questioner: I am a research scholar. I am in my fourth year of PhD, and it is kind of my second inning. Earlier I was a teacher, I was teaching at a university, but I’ve left that and I have started my PhD.
I’ve been suffering from a condition for… read_more
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
A lot of progress, even in the material sense, happens only by inviting pain. That which we call as discipline, even in the loose sense, is nothing but an invitation to pain. Is there discipline without pain? You have to get up at some point in the morning—doesn’t that involve… read_more
What is the punishment of having a wrong goal? What is the punishment? You will suffer. And if you keep having one wrong goal after the other, your suffering will keep compounding, so you will be forced to give up your false goals.
And if you are not forced to… read_more
Acharya Prashant: Love is the fire that melts down the bondage that is you. Knowledge is merely the light in which you can see your bondages. Even if you are able to look at your chains in the light of knowledge, that does not rid you of the chains. In… read_more
A. Objective and Fear
Wherever there is an objective, there would be fear associated with it. You hope to get something, and you fear that you may not get it. Don’t you see that a man who is chasing goals has condemned himself to live in fear?
It is possible… read_more
Questioner: There is a well-known saying, “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.” My question is, Is suffering really optional? Whenever I go through persistent issues, I suffer, even after knowing.
Acharya Prashant: Yes, suffering is always optional.
But you cannot have your world and the rest of what you are,… read_more
Questioner: There is some image of something and you are not conscious, where then there is that blocked energy, so to speak? Fear or whatever it is, you act out of reaction. So, what would be… at the moment there is no choice, you are just reacting. What would be… read_more
