Saint Kabir

Finding God Is Easy, Tolerating Him Is Difficult
Finding God Is Easy, Tolerating Him Is Difficult
19 min

Acharya Prashant: Suffering is a fire that burns down a lot. It brings along a certain purification. One of the poets gave the example of a snowball. Snowball that is cleansing itself in its own blood; by melting down. When a snowball starts melting, it starts becoming cleaner. And the

The Joy of Being Drenched in Love
The Joy of Being Drenched in Love
13 min
Usually our love is about one special thing or person. But Kabir Sahab is saying, "Hari bhai ban rai—the entire jungle has turned green. I see greenery not merely in one tree, but in the entire jungle.” That’s the difference between common love and Kabir Sahab’s love. In your love, there is just one green tree; in Kabir Sahab’s love, the entire world has turned green: there is nothing dry anywhere anymore.
Without this, all is worthless || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2019)
Without this, all is worthless || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2019)
5 min

If you cannot win the love of the Lord, so what if you can lord over your neighbor? What is the good of dressing your hair and donning your feet with jingling jewelry? What is the value of all your makeup with kajal to your eyelids and vermilion to your

Love or Knowledge: Which is More Powerful for Liberation?
Love or Knowledge: Which is More Powerful for Liberation?
4 min

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

The Joy of Being Drenched in Love
The Joy of Being Drenched in Love
13 min

Love clouds have gathered, it is raining down on me; my entire soul is soaked in it, all around there is greenery.

~ Kabir Sahab

Questioner: Could you please elaborate on the meaning of this poem?

Acharya Prashant: Just sing what Kabir Sahib is saying. Just sing! I may keep

Does Maya Really Exist?
Does Maya Really Exist?
25 min

Questioner: Acharya Ji, a good discussion happened yesterday in which many seekers participated and shared their understanding of Prakṛiti , Puruṣha and other things.

During the discussion, it was put that Prakṛiti , Puruṣha , Māyā , are mere concepts and that one is pure Ātman , never threatened and

What Is Faith?
What Is Faith?
15 min
If your trust has an object, it is mere belief, like saying, "I’ll be rescued because my friend will come." Faith is: "I do not bother whether I’m rescued; I am alright either way." Faith is not dependent on a person or reason; it reflects a fulfilled Self that is unbothered, when you are alright without an objective reason to be alright.
Is Patience Really a Virtue?
Is Patience Really a Virtue?
4 min
Do not use your life as a waiting room. Do not wait even a second for things that merely promise but won’t deliver, as it's in the future which is unseen. Having seen that what you hope and expect will never materialize, do not wait another moment. Drop what is false. Don’t be kind or liberal; have no patience with falseness.
Discipline and Dedication - Are They Really Virtues? || AP Neem Candies
Discipline and Dedication - Are They Really Virtues? || AP Neem Candies
7 min

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

Why Is the Guru-Disciple Relationship So Special?
Why Is the Guru-Disciple Relationship So Special?
17 min
The principle of maya is founded on free choice. That's the very condition behind her existence, which is that, “I will disappear only when I choose to.” Grace is not something that happens coincidentally, randomly. Grace is a function of your own willingness. They say, “it may rain but you have to keep your umbrella aside.” The willingness to at least receive, be a recipient has to be there. Otherwise, you will remain dry and untouched.
The One Most Important Thing About Life
The One Most Important Thing About Life
34 min
“The will to live.” “The will to just continue.” That, he said, is the basic human existential tendency. I’m asking, “Don’t animals have that tendency?” At the root of all consciousness; is the will to survive and continue. We don’t want to die; the animals, too, don’t want to die, right? We feel pain, we suffer; so do animals. The reasons might be very different. Often the reasons are, in fact, not too different. Separate a human mother from her baby and you see the suffering. It’s very apparent. Separate a cow from her calf, and the suffering is much the same. Read more...
With Kabir Saheb, I Am a Fanboy!
With Kabir Saheb, I Am a Fanboy!
6 min
I sometimes say to the ones around me, “If I am very unwell and dying don’t offer me Gangajal and all that, just sing Kabir Saheb to me, not that, that would take me to heaven, that might actually make me get up. I am not interested in heavens or swarg. But, if you bring Kabir Saheb to me chances are I will just spring back to my feet. No mambo-jambo, no miracles, no other worldly stuff. Read more....
Trying to Remove the Flies while Retaining the Dirt? Smart! || AP Neem Candies
Trying to Remove the Flies while Retaining the Dirt? Smart! || AP Neem Candies
8 min

Acharya Prashant: Desire means that you are not alright with yourself and you want something else to happen, correct? So, we are anyway not living for ourselves. We are rather living to change ourselves. And are these not two very different things? If you are living for yourself as you

Having Achieved a lot, why Am I Still Dissatisfied?
Having Achieved a lot, why Am I Still Dissatisfied?
17 min

Questioner: Whenever I succeed in achieving something, I immediately start looking for something else, and when I succeed in finding that something else, again I find myself in the same situation. What am I really looking for?

Acharya Prashant: That which you commonly look for and that which you achieve

How to Uncover the Unconscious? Do Tendencies of the Mind come from Past Lives?
How to Uncover the Unconscious? Do Tendencies of the Mind come from Past Lives?
15 min

Questioner: How can we expose the subconscious mind?

Acharya Prashant: By watching your daily actions very, very closely.

Alright, somebody comes to you and says, ‘Namaste'. Quickly show me how you respond.

[Listeners: Namaste (keeping hands together and smiling)]

So, you are smiling. And the moment the fellow is gone,

The Madness called Man
The Madness called Man
9 min

How do you, ask the chief of police, patrol a city, where the butcher shops are guarded by vultures, where bulls get pregnant, cows are barren, and calves give milk three times a day, where mice are the boatmen, and tomcats row the boats, where frogs keep snakes as watchdogs,

Any Kind of Freedom Is Made Possible Only by Spiritual Freedom
Any Kind of Freedom Is Made Possible Only by Spiritual Freedom
20 min
The real solution to a problem is a real change in who you are. If who you are has changed, then it cannot continue to have an attraction towards who it once was. So, if you go back, no problem has ever been solved. If you think that your problem is now solved and you can go back, then actually nothing has ever been solved. Read more...
Why are You so Angry Over Yourself?
Why are You so Angry Over Yourself?
18 min

Acharya Prashant: Latha is saying, why does she get angry so often even over small matters? Especially with some people, she is unable to control anger and she says she tried to change her attitude but hasn’t been quite successful. She is saying, now, how to change myself. Because anger

What Makes You Do This?
What Makes You Do This?
61 min

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

Do Certain People Not Deserve to Read the Scriptures?
Do Certain People Not Deserve to Read the Scriptures?
6 min

Questioner: Namskar Acharya ji. Pardon me for not remembering exactly but in one of the shivirs where we had read ‘Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna’ to come to terms with this expression called ‘Adhikar Bhed.’

So therein Ramakrishna was saying that, “now in modern times there cannot be any Adhikar Bhed,

Grace waits only for your consent
Grace waits only for your consent
7 min

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

Who is Saint Kabir? || Acharya Prashant (2016)
Who is Saint Kabir? || Acharya Prashant (2016)
4 min

Questioner: I have a question about Kabir. As I know, he was also a kind of Sufi, not just Hindu or Muslim, he…

Speaker: See, the heart of Sufism and the heart of Vedanta , the heart of Hasidism , the heart of Christian mysticism, they are all one Heart.

Why is singing of great importance in spirituality? || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2018)
Why is singing of great importance in spirituality? || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2018)
8 min

Question: Acharya Ji, how is music related to Spirituality? What do Bhakti Saints sing of?

Acharya Prashant Ji: Sing with a Kabir, or sing Kabir with yourself. That’s the best thing.

The best thing is to sing.

The best thing is to – sing.

But you know, we have become

If you are in Love, then why are you asleep? || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2018)
If you are in Love, then why are you asleep? || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2018)
9 min

Oh Friend, I love you. Think this over, carefully. If you are in Love, then why are you asleep? If you have found him, give yourself to him, take him. Why do you lose track of him again and again? If you are about to fall, into heavy sleep anyway,

Only the ego loves; only love kills the ego || Acharya Prashant (2019)
Only the ego loves; only love kills the ego || Acharya Prashant (2019)
18 min

Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, Pranam, “Love is an egocentric manifestation: The Essential Oneness of all life has no room for love.” ~Wei Wu Wei

Acharya Ji, kindly shed light on this quote. In my first camp, I asked ‘How to be loving’, without knowing what that word meant. Now, I

All addictions vanish when this happens || Acharya Prashant, at Mithibai College Mumbai (2022)
All addictions vanish when this happens || Acharya Prashant, at Mithibai College Mumbai (2022)
5 min

Questioner (Q): Namaste, sir. My question is, in these teenage years, how do we avoid social evils like bad addiction and bad activities which exist in society and just focus on our goal?

Acharya Prashant (AP): For that, the goal has to be alluring enough. The goal has to be

Give your best time to the Best One || (2016)
Give your best time to the Best One || (2016)
5 min

“You failed to know your Love in your youth Wake up and see your Love is gone.”

~ Saint Kabir

Acharya Prashant (AP): Youth refers to a time when you are physically neither dependent nor incapable. After a particular time, you become physically incapable. And what happens to the rest

When help comes, just don’t resist || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2019)
When help comes, just don’t resist || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2019)
12 min

Tohi more lagan lagaye re fakirwa

Sovat hi main apne mandir mein Shabd baan mari jagaye re fakirwa

Tohi more lagan lagaye re fakirwa

Doobat hi bhav ke saagar mein Bahinyan pakari samajhaye re fakirwa

Tohi more lagan lagaye re fakirwa

Ek vachan vachan nahi duja, bandhan mohe chhudaye re

Forget God. Who are you? || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Kabir (2017)
Forget God. Who are you? || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Kabir (2017)
9 min

पानी बीच बतासा संतों,

तन का यही तमासा है।।

क्या ले आया, क्या ले जाएगा,

क्या बैठा पछताता है।।

मूठी बाँधे आये जगत में,

हाथ पसारे जाता है।।

किसकी नारी, कौन पुरुष है,

कहाँ से लगता नाता है।।

बड़े निहाल, खबर ना तन की,

बिरही लहर बुझाता है।।

इक दिन

Living in the present can be a big problem || Acharya Prashant (2022)
Living in the present can be a big problem || Acharya Prashant (2022)
9 min

Questioner (Q): Most often we are asked to live in the present and be here and now and mindful. Can you talk to us about that?

Acharya Prashant (AP): The same thing, I mean, when we were talking about what to do with knowledge, I said it depends on the

A fanboy of Kabir Sahib || Neem Candies
A fanboy of Kabir Sahib || Neem Candies
1 min

Such fantastic mastery is rarely seen elsewhere. Obviously, you get glimpses of it in many other places as well. I respect all of them; all of them are very, very dear to me; I worship them. But when it comes to Kabir Sahib, I said I am a fanboy. When

Without this, all is worthless || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2019)
Without this, all is worthless || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2019)
6 min

Jo main piyake man nahin bhaaye To kaa padosin kaie dulraye Kahaa chudaa paayal jhamkaaye kahaa bhaye bichuaa thankaaye Kahaa kaajar sindoor kaie diyyaie solaah singaar kahaa bhaye kiyaie Anjan manjan karaie thagauree ka pachi maraie thagauree bauree Jo patibrataa hai naree kaisehi raho so pihayee piyaree Tan man jeevan

पुनर्जन्म तो होता है, पर आपका नहीं होगा || आचार्य प्रशांत कार्यशाला (2023)
पुनर्जन्म तो होता है, पर आपका नहीं होगा || आचार्य प्रशांत कार्यशाला (2023)
17 min

प्रश्नकर्ता: सर, जो पुनर्जन्म की बात की जाती है, क्या हम उसको समझ सकते हैं?

आचार्या प्रशांत: देखो, पुनर्जन्म तो ठीक है, लेकिन ज़रूरी है यह पूछना – पुनर्जन्म किसका? आवश्यक है कि आप समझें कि पुनर्जन्म है, लेकिन कोई पर्सनल सेल्फ (व्यक्तिगत स्व) नहीं होता है जिसका पुनर्जन्म हो

The Ultimate desire || Acharya Prashant, on Jesus Christ and Saint Kabir (2016)
The Ultimate desire || Acharya Prashant, on Jesus Christ and Saint Kabir (2016)
4 min

THE GOLDEN RULE

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” “Enter by a narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it

How can consciousness arise from a material body?||AcharyaPrashant,with Virat Hindustan Sangam(2021)
How can consciousness arise from a material body?||AcharyaPrashant,with Virat Hindustan Sangam(2021)
5 min

Questioner (Q): I want to know, essentially, the relationship between the material world and consciousness. Is the body, you know, just like putting together a few chemicals? And, how does consciousness come from an unconscious body? Or.. is it the other way around?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Obviously. Yeah, yeah! Obviously,

Keep moving, even if it is dark || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Kabir (2018)
Keep moving, even if it is dark || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Kabir (2018)
8 min

Questioner:

Pranaam Acharya Ji,

I have lived life in images. In past I have kept myself away from experiences with the excuse of not being sufficiently prepared. I realize now that all this is a myth. How can I be prepared without practice?

But I’m still afraid, afraid of losing,

Love, take me to the Heart! || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Kabir (2016)
Love, take me to the Heart! || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Kabir (2016)
26 min

Speaker: Every single line here makes use of characters, objects, metaphors, images, that is the only way language can proceed. That is the tool of language as well as the limitation of language. It will have to talk about something . Whenever you will use words, whenever you will use

The utility of Yoga and methods of meditation || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Kabir (2016)
The utility of Yoga and methods of meditation || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Kabir (2016)
7 min

Question: Why do people practice techniques like ‘Yoga’ and ‘Meditation’? Do you think they are necessary?

Acharya Prashant (AP): They have their own place. But one should be very clear about the place that they have.

What you usually call as ‘Yoga’, the kind of yoga that is prevalent in

The song of the Heart || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Kabir (2017)
The song of the Heart || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Kabir (2017)
10 min

*“Hiding in this cage of visible matter *

is the invisible life bird.

Pay attention to her,

She is singing your song”

~Saint Kabir

ACHARYA JI : The invisible is difficult to be attended to. How many of you have ever looked at the invisible? How many of you

You must have heaven in your Heart || On Saint Kabir (2016)
You must have heaven in your Heart || On Saint Kabir (2016)
4 min

Questioner (Q): When you talk about fear in the process of letting go, in meditation, in awareness, or when you are watching, one has a heavy reaction from the mind like a big fight that starts, and then you’re so afraid of it that you just drop the inner part

The source of all excellence || On Vivekachudamani (2018)
The source of all excellence || On Vivekachudamani (2018)
8 min

Questioner (Q): I have a question related to work. You shared an inspiring story of Guru Kabir and his profession. I want to have the same level of inspiration and energy in my profession. Your teaching has helped me to understand a lot about my concept of work and getting

Why Did Sufi Poets Like Kabir Emphasize Love in Bhakti?
Why Did Sufi Poets Like Kabir Emphasize Love in Bhakti?
5 min
The saints don't display affection at all. Affection actually means disease. Affection means disease. The saints have no affection. The saints have love and love has nothing to do with affection. Affection and affliction go together. It is not affection that characterizes a saint. It is love that characterizes him. Affection and dryness, they go together. Together always. And affection and love, they never go together. So you have to be very clear about what accompanies what.
(Gita-8) The Self and the Joy of Immortality
(Gita-8) The Self and the Joy of Immortality
37 min
If all that the Ego wants is liberation from itself, which means coming to see its own non-existence, then the only way to see its non-existence is by paying attention to itself. The more the Ego pays attention to itself, it sees that it does not exist. The more the Ego remains attached to this and that, all the sensory inputs, the Ego feels that is real and this is real.
Redefine Love This Valentine’s Day
Redefine Love This Valentine’s Day
9 min
The purest definition of love is when the mind is very, very joyful, and that joy shows up in all your relationships. Love is your internal joy spilling over. Love is not about trying to find love. Love is about letting yourself be absolutely free! That is it! Love is not object-based. Love is not about - 'I love this person,' or 'I love this work,' or 'I love this book.' Love is your inner state of mind.
How Gita Transforms Your Mind?
How Gita Transforms Your Mind?
43 min
The entire Bhagavad Gita is devoted to Freedom from the conditioning of the body and the conditioning of the mind. Gita is about letting Arjuna know who he is. In a very liberal way, Shri Krishna says, "If you realize who you are, then you will know what to do. I do not need to instruct you. So Arjuna is not even being motivated, let alone being instructed. He's being illuminated." And that illumination enables him to do what he must.
Breaking through the cycle of exploitation in relationships
Breaking through the cycle of exploitation in relationships
7 min

Our society embodies a stark contrast between its proclaimed life-affirmative ideals and the underlying suffering that prevails. Relationships, especially marriage, are often transactional and materialistic arrangements rather than expressions of love and understanding.

While marriages in developed countries witness high divorce rates but less systemic exploitation, India boasts of low

What is 'Nature Worship' in Vedas?
What is 'Nature Worship' in Vedas?
14 min
You cannot worship something with the intent of obtaining favors—that's exploitation. Worshiping a cow while asking for milk is not worship. Worship is when you do not use any dairy product and yet respect the cow. The common man sees everything as an object for consumption. True nature worship is desireless—not based on consumption, with no one left to desire.
Is Pop Religion Compatible With the Gita?
Is Pop Religion Compatible With the Gita?
38 min
The center of the Gita is 'Nishkamta'—desireless action stemming from self-knowledge. Whereas popular religion is all about the fulfillment of desire. We go to a supernatural power and beg him to grant our desires. That is popular religion. You can either have the Gita or the entirety of religion as practiced in common culture. They are totally incompatible.
What To Do When Life Seems Hopeless?
What To Do When Life Seems Hopeless?
5 min
Do the utmost that you must in any situation, and you will find only the joy of right action. Tears are for those who turn away from their responsibility. If you were truly dedicating your energy rightly, how would you have any left to weep? So fight so hard that you either win or perish. If you win, the glory is yours. If you perish, at least all suffering is gone.
How To Express Love?
How To Express Love?
15 min
Love and realization are things that roar aloud. They are extremely intimate, yet if they are there, there is no way you can hide them. These are not things that you can ever prevent from getting expressed. So, don’t even try. This expression means living it. Every thought is an expression, every action is an expression. You just express. By blocking it, you are blocking the thing itself. You don’t allow it to be expressed, and it’s gone.