What do you call as ‘bipolar disorder’? Is this disorder fundamentally not present in everybody? Mind lives in dualities; that is what you call as the ‘poles’. Sitting on one pole you feel attracted to the other. There is always a need to change and become something else. Won’t it be great to firstly understand the mind itself–its urges, its actions? There has to be determination to go into the route of the swings, desires and urges, to be free and well. And it is quite possible that the right medication need not be a pill.
Kauravas are scattered on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, not unified. Bheeshm is there because of promise. Dronocharya is there because of loyalty to the state. Karna is there to replay an old debt. Pandavas, on the other hand are unified by Dharma.
Acharya Prashant: Immerse yourself in the right action, then where is space and the time to worry? Indeed you are stealing time away from work. So that you can indulge in worries and anxiety and fancy and all kinds. Young people fantasize, don't they? Some fantasize about beautiful, pretty exciting
There might be people around you who make it compulsory for you to smoke, not because they urge you to smoke, but because they put you in so much of tension that you will need to smoke. But you are deriving some benefits from those people, so you will never
Question: I have suffered a lot from anxiety. Have been to many psychiatrists, and they have always advised me to be secure in my environment. But I have found that all that is something very false.
I can have faith, and I believe that my life can be good. Everyone…
Real relaxation is about relaxing even in the middle of activity. You are relaxed even as you exert yourself. You are relaxed even as you are running. You are relaxed even as you are drained out. You are not waiting for a special activity like going to bed or sitting
There is a subtle pleasure in worrying. Surely you are stealing time away from work so that you can indulge in worries and anxieties and fancies of all kinds.
The opposite of this self-centered worry is immersion in action. Immerse yourself in the right action, and then where is the…
Questioner (Q): Hello Sir. I am very happy with my life, I have achieved everything I wanted, even more than that. But you know, many times my anxiety levels go high for unknown reasons. I do meditations, I go on morning walks, and I do everything. But when any late
Many of us interrupt, rush to make our point, or change the topic when a conversation comes too close. We call it a lack of patience or discipline. But impatience in a conversation is often fear: when what we hold within is borrowed belief, every question could shatter it. The same confusion makes us take our instincts and feelings as ourselves, though they are only the body’s chemistry. If we looked honestly at what we hold, would a question still feel like an attack?
Many of us promise our parents high marks, and when the result falls short, the guilt can feel heavier than the exam itself. But no one controls results; they depend on far too many things outside us. What is in our hands is our intent, our effort and our honesty with what we study. The Bhagavad Gita says the same: our right is to action alone, never to its fruit. What if the only promise we made was to study honestly and with love?
Spirituality does not replace the fear of ghosts with belief in God. It asks us to question the mind that creates both fear and belief. Ghosts, gods, and stories can all become projections of imagination. The spiritual path begins by dropping assumptions, investigating “Who am I?” and understanding the source of suffering. With attention, right knowledge, and self-inquiry, fear loses its power and one becomes inwardly free.
Migration can arise from genuine needs such as safety, education, livelihood, or environmental conditions, as well as from the ego's pursuit of greater consumption and fulfilment. The challenge is to distinguish between these motives with wisdom rather than ideology. Fair, impartial screening, mutual respect between migrants and host societies, and practical integration create a balanced approach that is both humane and responsible.
True revolution begins with inner transformation, not merely with protest. Lasting social change is possible only when individuals cultivate self-knowledge, integrity, and personal responsibility. Replacing governments or demanding reforms without examining the mind that sustains the same patterns only repeats history. Awaken yourself first, educate others with clarity and compassion, and let conscious citizens, not unconscious crowds, become the foundation of a better society.
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.
Guilt says, “I am better than how and what I did.” Right? There need not be any imagination in this. Far better than guilt is the realization of one’s actual state. And once you realize where your choices and decisions have brought you, there is a certain sublimation. That honest realization does not shout too loudly, but it has great power. For that power to arise, you first have to acknowledge where you really are.
I am being told to work hard, but not for myself. I am being told to slog for something I don’t really care for. This is the situation of each one of us: no purpose and high pressure. The very system is designed to rob you of having any innate, heartfelt purpose of your own. Pressure alone is not the problem. The very nature of a great purpose is that it brings pressure, but such pressure now is life-saving, even life-giving, because you love what you want to achieve.
The moment your kid crosses four or five, the right kind of literature should be brought to him or her. If they can't read, then in the beginning, just through oral instruction. And later on, books can be given. So that too is very important. A well-read kid will not fall prey to easy temptations or all kinds of griefs.
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If a kid has been continuously told that the world is everything, how will an untouched point remain within? The world, as we know, is quite fickle, while our real nature is stability or permanence. It is this dichotomy that pushes us into stress and anxiety. A big portion of the mental health problem can be addressed if we provide the right value system to the kid—the right literature.
Excerpts from Articles
Stuck Between Job Security and Your Real Passion?
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.
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।
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?
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।
Justice Without Boundaries: Why Compassion Cannot Stop at Species
Oppression should not see caste, gender, creed or colour, and it should not see species either. The moral threshold is sentience, not intelligence. An animal feels pain as fully as a human does, whether or not it can explain its suffering.
Ours is the situation of a man who trades everything away and gets nothing in return; double depression, double debit. Without realizing that Truth must be the number one priority, we very easily dispense it away. Depression means – the height is unknown to you. The only height is the Core, the Essence, the Self. The one who is not connected to the One Truth will always feel depressed, will always feel down.
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Restlessness lives on the promise that, eventually, I will find rest somewhere. There is no great future waiting for you. If you are lonely right now, lonely is what you are, and no great company is waiting for you in the future. You have nothing except what you think you have right now. This is it. When you see this, you enter into rest right now!
Acharya Prashant: Immerse yourself in the right action, then where are space and the time to worry? Indeed you are stealing time away from work. So that you can indulge in worries and anxiety and fancy and all kinds. Young people fantasize, don't they?
Some fantasize about beautiful, pretty exciting…
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Acharya Prashant: What is the fact of life? How do you react to your own sweat? Have you seen how one reacts when one is sweating? The trickle can be quite unnerving. Have you seen the aggression with which one often wipes out his sweat? The aggression, the frustration, the…
~ Acharya Prashant, commentary on Bhagavad Gita, Chapter…
Questioner: Good evening, Guru ji. My name is Shashikant Prabhakar, and I am from Dhanbad, Jharkhand. I am currently pursuing an MTech from NIT-Silchar, Assam. My question is, if I get tired of something, I get into depression. If I move away from that place, everything starts working fine. After…
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Questioner 1: Namaskar Acharya Ji! My question is, how should I control my emotions, so that they don’t become too extreme in positive as well as in negative situations. Actually, it happens to me every time that whenever I achieve my goal, I feel so happy. But if I fail,…
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The more your inner dissatisfaction grows, the more becomes the importance of diverse objects in your life, and vice versa, mind you. The more the prevalence and production and consumption of objects will grow, the more the dissatisfaction in your life will grow.
Now do you see why neurosis has…
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For us, life means reactivity. Life is not peace to us. Life is not meditativeness to us. We feel alive when we are tense, reactive, and agitated. Then you say that now you have come alive.
The fellow is sitting silently and peacefully, unnoticeable. You will say he is a…
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Interviewer (I): We're in Rishikesh, India and with me for today’s episode podcast is Acharya Prashant, who is a spiritual teacher and philosopher of Vedic tradition. It’s a pleasure to have you join us for the podcast.
Perhaps we could begin with, what inspired you to give up quite a…
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Questioner: Acharya Ji, we use anger as a weapon and it's a weakness too. How to stop anger from becoming a weakness and why do we get angry?
Acharya Prashant: When desire is not fulfilled Parul (Questioner) then one gets angry, you know that. So, it's not about anger. It's…
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Questioner: How should one reduce overthinking about situations or the future? There is so much unnecessary anxiety in students everywhere.
Acharya Prashant: Work! To be anxious you need to be blessed with a lot of spare time. How do you manage the time to indulge in anxiety? I have chosen…
…
Listener 1 (L1): More snow
AP: More snow. And ultimately it becomes quite big. So, if you ask, “Who is it that has become big?”
Has…
Acharya Prashant: What’s your name?
Questioner: Kumar Abhishek.
AP: Sit, Abhishek.
Abhishek is saying, how to be free from botheration and yet to be focused on the goal. Let’s examine.
Abhishek,…
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Questioner: How should one reduce overthinking about situations and about the future? There is so much unnecessary anxiety in students.
Acharya Prashant: Work! To be anxious, you need to be blessed with a lot of spare time. How do you manage time to indulge in anxiety?
It is an indulgence…
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Question: Why do I often feel anxiety?
Acharya Prashant: Anxiety is a thought. If you want you can be anxious right now, you can call thoughts of anxiety, and you will see that you have become anxious. Call forth the memories that make you stressful, and within few minutes you…
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When you are feeling depressed, ask yourself: “What do I really want? What is the problem?” And it will irritate you no end, because you seek pleasure in depression; because your depression, your bad mood is self-verified and sanctified and certified.
You tell yourself that you have the right to…
Question: Why do I often feel anxiety?
Acharya Prashant: Anxiety is a thought. If you want you can be anxious right now, you can call thoughts of anxiety, and you will see that you have become anxious. Call forth the memories that make you stressful, and within few minutes you…
Especially in the modern world, unfortunately, a degree of constant anxiety has become an almost normalized state for us. A large portion of our mental health problems as a collective is very much about anxiety and fear. Burn-outs, career pressures, problems with self-esteem, fear of…
…
Acharya Prashant (AP):
First of all, I do not think that there is any magical formula to it. There is a part of anxiety that is related to ‘facts’, and there is a
…
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…
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When someone calls us ugly or dumb, it can feel as if our confidence has been taken away. But others are outsiders; they cannot know us as well as we can know ourselves. The trouble begins when we do not know ourselves, so we start looking at ourselves through others’ eyes. Self-knowledge here simply means being honest with ourselves about where our likes, fears and desires come from. What would change if we looked at ourselves directly, and not through others’ opinions?
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A young athlete says she knows she should not be attached to winning, yet she is, because her coach, family and country are invested in it. Wanting to win on the court is fine; that is what a contest is for. But we never know who the next opponent will be, and the one opponent always present is ourselves. She also fears that starting at 14 was too late. The past is fixed, so what is left is to play the cards we are dealt. Where does our real contest lie?
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A world champion asks why she cannot sleep when a teammate outperforms her, and why even big wins leave her restless. The restlessness is not a problem but unspent energy, a sign that we have more to give. When every bit of our time and attention goes to what we have chosen, there is no surplus left to worry with. The right fight is never only against an opponent; it is against the ego within. What would it mean to fight so fully that nothing is left to celebrate or mourn?
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A modern woman calls herself liberated, yet lives anxious — anxious about age, desirability, marriage, motherhood. Acharya Prashant exposes this anxiety as proof that feminism never touched the real wound: centuries of conditioning that reduced women to bodies for pleasure and reproduction. External equality isn't enough. True freedom demands she reject the entire inheritance of tradition and simply become human — not woman, not wife, not mother by decree, but free.
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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.
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Feeling lonely on campus after being disappointed by friends? Acharya Prashant explains why loneliness should not push you into accepting the wrong company or remaining attached to relationships that pull you away from what is right. One person’s wrongdoing does not justify condemning everyone, nor does friendship mean supporting a friend in what is wrong.
Learn why the right company is the company that helps you move toward truth rather than merely giving you temporary relief from loneliness.
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Parental expectations, peer comparison, and academic pressure can overwhelm you only when you allow others’ desires to dictate your life. As an adult, you are responsible for discovering your own potential and making choices through your own understanding. Love is not about fulfilling each other’s expectations or keeping someone happy. True love requires freedom—giving others the space to live and grow, while living according to your own inner clarity.
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Reaction is an instinctive, unconscious response rooted in ancient survival mechanisms, while response arises from consciousness and understanding. Our biological instincts evolved for survival, but modern life demands that we move beyond them. Emotional reactivity makes us predictable and controllable, allowing others to manipulate our emotional triggers. True freedom lies in pausing before reacting, examining emotions, thinking deeply, and responding consciously rather than living as slaves to instinct.
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।
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A true relationship is not built on need, possession, or emotional dependence, but on a shared commitment to Truth and inner growth. A worthy companion reflects your reality like a mirror rather than performing a role to please you. Real love is effortless, rooted in one's nature, not expectations. When your highest commitment is to excellence and Truth, relationships become a natural outcome—not the purpose of life itself.
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The crisis exposed by the NEET paper leak goes far beyond examination malpractice. When society teaches young people that a single rank determines their worth, corruption, desperation, and broken trust become inevitable. Lasting reform requires more than stricter systems—it demands a transformation in how education, success, and self-worth are understood by students, parents, teachers, and society.
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Bullying hurts deeply only when it is allowed to define one's inner identity. External abuse may wound the body, but lasting psychological wounds require inner participation. While OCD, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and other mental health conditions deserve proper treatment through psychiatry, lasting freedom demands self-knowledge.
