Kabir Saheb's message questions the very act of searching for fulfilment outside oneself. Whether through religion, relationships, success, possessions, or identity, people keep assuming that what is missing lies somewhere else. The problem is not the destination but the belief that fulfilment exists at a distance. Real freedom begins when the search turns inward, recognising that the seeker and the sought were never truly separate.
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.
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
“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...
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
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
True love is not a biological instinct, emotional attachment, or social conditioning. Biology and science explain the body's drives, but they cannot explain the self that seeks freedom. Love is the inner restlessness to move from ignorance and bondage toward truth and liberation. Religion is not rituals or inherited beliefs but this personal journey of understanding. Freedom—not possession or conformity—is the essence of both love and religion.
Truth cannot be forced upon anyone, but neither should falsehood be entertained. Genuine love is not about preserving relationships at any cost; it is about helping oneself and others break free from illusion, even if that means risking the relationship itself. Spiritual growth begins by questioning conditioning, examining falsehood without bias, and choosing authenticity over comfort. Real relationships are built on the courage to seek freedom, not convenience.
Vedanta reveals that freedom is impossible as long as the ego seeks to preserve itself. Meditation may bring temporary calm, but real transformation begins only when the false sense of individuality dissolves. Whether through devotion or knowledge, every genuine spiritual path culminates in the complete dissolution of the seeker into Truth. Liberation is not the experience of Truth by an individual—it is the end of the individual who wants to experience Truth.
Love is not a special emotion reserved for selected people or relationships but a way of relating free from self-interest, possession, and psychological dependence. Most relationships become transactions driven by insecurity, where the ego seeks completion through ownership and exchange. Genuine companionship arises without the urge to control or claim another, allowing affection to exist naturally, freely, and without conditions or expectations.
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…
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.
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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…
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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…
Excerpts from Articles
Animal cruelty: Who deserves mercy, and who doesn’t?
Violence begins long before the knife or the slaughterhouse—it begins with the ego, the one that draws boundaries, seeks justification, and decides who deserves compassion. Laws and reforms may reduce suffering, but they cannot end violence while the ego remains intact. When the ego dissolves, exploitation ends naturally, and compassion no longer depends on regulation or moral boundaries.
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.
You Don't Understand the Bhagvad Gita, But You Still Claim That You Love Krishna?
The Bhagavad Gita deserves reverence not because of inherited beliefs about its author, but because of its power to dissolve falsehood and reveal Truth. Real devotion is not ritual or blind faith—it is understanding, inquiry, and living the wisdom of the Gita. Through sincere study, one discovers the true meaning of Krishna, making the Gita the most authentic path to knowing and worshipping Him.
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।
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।
Victory is not decided by the trophy you hold but by the battle you choose to fight. Real strength lies in making the right decisions, staying true to your deepest values, and refusing to be ruled by fear or circumstances. When your actions arise from clarity rather than ambition, the outcome loses its power over you. The moment you choose the right path, you have already won.
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?
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…
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…
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.
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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.
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....
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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…
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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,…
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,…
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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...
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…
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…
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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,…
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.…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
“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…
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Tohi more lagan lagaye re fakirwa
Sovat hi main apne mandir meinShabd baan mari jagaye re fakirwa
Tohi more lagan lagaye re fakirwa
Doobat hi bhav ke saagar meinBahinyan pakari samajhaye re fakirwa
Tohi more lagan lagaye re fakirwa
Ek vachan vachan nahi duja,bandhan mohe chhudaye re…
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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…
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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…
…
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Jo main piyake man nahin bhaayeTo kaa padosin kaie dulrayeKahaa chudaa paayal jhamkaaye kahaa bhaye bichuaa thankaayeKahaa kaajar sindoor kaie diyyaie solaah singaar kahaa bhaye kiyaieAnjan manjan karaie thagauree ka pachi maraie thagauree baureeJo patibrataa hai naree kaisehi raho so pihayee piyareeTan man jeevan…
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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…
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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…
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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?
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,…
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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…
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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…
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*“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…
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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…
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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…
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We often call something “help” or “love” while secretly expecting something in return. When that return does not come, we feel hurt, revealing that the relationship was a trade, not genuine help. The ego, being unfulfilled, cannot truly love or share. Likewise, desperation to be loved makes us controllable. Real love emerges when we stop seeking validation, work on ourselves, and become so inwardly fulfilled that we no longer need to be loved.
Victory is not decided by the trophy you hold but by the battle you choose to fight. Real strength lies in making the right decisions, staying true to your deepest values, and refusing to be ruled by fear or circumstances. When your actions arise from clarity rather than ambition, the outcome loses its power over you. The moment you choose the right path, you have already won.
The Bhagavad Gita is not a separate spiritual path or an escape from everyday life - it is a mirror that reveals the truth of your present life. Real spirituality begins with self-observation, not rituals or temporary practices. Lasting transformation comes when work, relationships, career, and personal growth become one integrated life driven by awareness, love, and freedom rather than ego, fear, money, or social pressure.
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The Bhagavad Gita is often accused of supporting caste and misogyny through selective quotations that ignore context, grammar, and the text's central teachings. A closer reading shows that its emphasis is on inner qualities, conscious action, and spiritual equality rather than birth-based hierarchy or gender discrimination. Misinterpretations arise when isolated verses are detached from their broader meaning, while the Gita consistently points toward self-knowledge, freedom from ego, and the universal possibility of liberation for every human being.
Modern relationships often create more insecurity, not less, because people are conditioned to seek completion, validation, and identity through another person. Social institutions, media, culture, and tradition continuously reinforce the idea that fulfillment lies in romantic attachment. As a result, relationships become driven by dependence rather than love. Real companionship becomes possible only when one is inwardly at peace and not using another person to fill an inner void.
