The mind is not an independent entity but a structure built and maintained by the ego through thoughts, memories, beliefs, and experiences. Most spiritual practices fail when they become distractions from examining the ego itself. Experiences, emotions, and preferences are often conditioned and unreliable. Real inquiry begins with observing the experiencer, admitting facts without distortion, and applying the same rigor to inner life that science applies to the external world.
The truth that we all inwardly love without even knowing we are in love. That truth is independent of time. It is independent of everything that's temporal, geographical, spatial, cultural. Spirituality has nothing to do with the clothes that you choose to wear, the language you speak, the way you behave, whether you address someone as this or that. facing a particular direction while eating or sleeping. No.
Questioner: How do I utilise my time better during this self-isolation period so that my devotion in him is strengthened and what are the things that I need to keep a check upon during this free time?
Acharya Prashant: Observing the daily ordinary actions of the mind, that is the only way. Observing it as an impartial observer. There is no other method that is going to work because all other methods are ‘isolations.’ The method does something to
Questioner: I have strong ego resistance and my ego resistance is health issues. Sometimes, I wake up at 4’o clock with this heavy migraine and today I woke up with this eye infection and these things, they come and go.
Question: Dear Sir, we have been talking about how to use the ‘higher’ desire of brahman as a broom to clean up all the desires and then to burn the broom itself. Do you think I should simply sit back and read without this burning desire, this lust for knowledge,…
Questioner: Nisargadatta Maharaj says to be constantly in the “I am” realization. What does that mean? What is this “I am” realization? This he said was the mantra that his Guru gave him and this was also the advice that he would give to all his listeners. He used to
Question: Dear Sir, when I review the discussions that take place in the clarity sessions, most of them are beyond my ordinary imaginations. The experiences or the words mentioned in these sessions sound very pure and pious but very difficult to attain. Why is it so?
Question: You have said, “Awareness is untouched by problems. No matter what, good or bad, be aware.” On the other hand you also talk of complete immersion. These two seem to be contradictory.
Question: I read somewhere that when a person dies, the stream, of which it was a manifestation, still goes on. What is the process of this stream and how does it manifest itself?
Questioner (Q): Can you please introduce us to some tools or practices which can help us in maintaining and focusing our awareness on the path of that endless work you hinted about the inner work?
Acharya Prashant (AP): Actually, all my life, I have never really used any specific definite…
So, when I notice thoughts arising or the sounds of the cars, when I notice them in my awareness, I will ask, “To whom is this arising?” And sometimes I’ll go, "Oh! They will just disappear and won't bother me." And,…
Question: Acharya Ji, I cannot really wrap my head around this when I say, “Okay fine, at this point that I am greedy for experiences, and I want to go out and may be get a massage for myself.”
Acharya Prashant: The ‘Who am I’ inquiry is a simple method. In fact, the simplest of methods. So simple that it cannot even be called a method. And it is often misunderstood. *‘*Who am I’ is not a question. It cannot be a question because we are already full of
Acharya Prashant: Being in the right environment itself is Satsang. Satsang does not necessarily mean a gathering. Satsang means realizing what affects the mind and acting accordingly. Give the mind the right food, give the mind the right companions. The right companions of all kinds: right books, right food in
Questioner: When we meditate regularly, we start losing let’s say the desires, or I want to do this and goals and everything. But, then it’s kind of equal to, to become passive in life. So, can you say something about that? Because being passive also feels like…
It is a very common and a very harmful misconception to take dhyāna as something. Dhyāna is nothing. Dhyāna is not an object. Dhyāna is not a thing. Dhyāna is not a routine, not a practice, not an exercise. Dhyāna, rather, is on all these things. Dhyāna is what…
Do you have the Buddha nature? Moo. Neither “Yes” nor “No”. If you say, “Yes”, then you mean that you, as you are, you as you think you are, have a Buddha nature. No, no way! The way we have built ourselves up, the way we have conceptualized ourselves, there…
Questioner: I have a friend who said that he got some special experiences while meditating in a meditation chamber at some meditation camp. I think he might have been under the influence of some psychedelics or something. There are a lot of gurus who advocate these kinds of practices, meditation…
Question: Dear Sir, in the last few days my reading and my own experiences have made me come to realize a lot of things. But I am still left with three questions. The three questions are:
Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, while meditating I feel silence and joy for some time, but after that, I’m not able to continue it and start feeling uneasy and want to come out of the meditation soon. Why does this happen, and does it mean that I’m not reaching the meditative…
Question: Sir, could there be an alternative to fear? Like I see in my life that I have been running after something and I realized that this thing is not fulfilling. But, I was so much influenced by the society that I ran after some other thing and again found
Real meditation is the courage to let life change. If you keep meditating without allowing life to change, this meditation is merely self-deception.
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“Immersing myself in deep meditation.” What do you mean by meditation? And who is being immersed? Please tell me, beyond a trick of words, what is this? But you’ll never ask these questions, because some Baba-ji totally dominated your faculty to question with his get-up and demeanour. Real spirituality is not about something that sounds elevated or respectable. Whenever you are bombarded with high-sounding fluff, learn to ask this question; what exactly does that mean?
This breath-in, breath-out, stomach-in, tummy-out; this is not meditation. Even animals do not need training in breathing, and we are being taught how to breathe. What’s going on? You know, you should breathe mindfully. Why? Is there anything wrong with your breath? Meditation is nothing but an observation of the naked inner fact. That is meditation. To stand naked and honest in front of what is, that is meditation.
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Meditation is the submergence of the ego in its essential nature. It is at the root of all self-knowledge and wisdom. However, most often, what we call meditation is just escapism—using some ‘method of meditation’ to superficially soothe our restlessness or gain temporary and deceptive relief from stress.
True meditation…
Excerpts from Articles
Climate Change: The Solution Is a Choice
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।
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।
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.
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.
It’s unfortunate that today, methods of meditation are being mistaken for meditation itself. Meditation is what makes us human—it must be continuous, 24x7. No method can be continuous or 24x7. Meditation is a way of life, a beautiful love affair. Just as the body cannot wait to breathe, consciousness cannot wait to meditate—it’s a madness of love, not dry, ritualistic, or time-bound.
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.
Acharya Prashant: All right. Keep a check upon yourself. There’s nothing else to…
life
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When Shankaracharya says “Dissolve the mind by concentrating it in the Supreme Self” , what he is saying is that your mind is anyway always concentrated and the type of concentration that you have will not help. This verse just tells you that whatsoever you are concentrating on is going to disappoint you. The mind is always concentrated in all the worldly and miscellaneous things. It is beyond the mind to concentrate on the Truth. Because the Truth is not an object. So, concentration doesn't help, it is not a matter of concentrating, it is a matter of seeing the futility of concentration.
If I say you can surrender by jumping from that hill top, you won’t take the advice, right? It would be foolish advice if I say that. If I say, you can surrender by jumping into leaping flames, that is again
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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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If you want to really get to somebody, get to the Truth, do not get to the expression of one particular Lao Tzu. That is just one particular expression. And that was Lao Tzu’s expression. It can never be your own expression. Connect instead to the Source from where Lao Tzu drew his words. Do not connect to Lao Tzu. Lao Tzu is not original. Lao Tzu is an expression. The original is the Centre from where a thousand Lao Tzus emerge.
So, I believe it is ego resistance to my…
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Answer: The Sunday discussions…
The highest virtue is not virtuous
Therefore it has virtue
The lowest virtue holds onto its virtue
Therefore it has no virtue
The highest benevolence acts without purpose
The highest righteousness acts with purpose
The highest ritual acts, but since no one cares, it raises its arms and use force
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Speaker: First of all, be a little immersed so that you do not misquote me. I have…
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Questioner: Does meditation have something to do with attention?
Acharya Prashant: Meditation. What do you call as meditation? What do you mean by meditation?
Listener 1: Concentrating on something.
AP: So you mean some techniques that you may have read somewhere. They may be helpful but they are not the…
Sir, is there life after death? What sort of knowledge passes on at the time of enlightenment?…
How many hours do you spend meditating each day?
This is a trick question!
Whether you are “meditating” one hour per day or six, you are not truly meditating. This is because meditation is not something you do to escape life.…
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Acharya Prashant (AP): (Reads question) Mohit Sharma from the USA, “Pranam Acharya Ji, I am paying attention to what and how I do. I have observed four states of mind. Is it natural to observe this? Are these all the same or different? And by doing it, will I go…
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Acharya Prashant (AP): It means that even when you are thinking, thinking has not become too important for you.
It’s like this—In the morning, I get up from my bed…
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Questioner (Q): Is meditation required?
Acharya Prashant (AP): What is meditation?
Q: It’s like concentrating on breathing.
AP: Have we not already talked of concentration?
To concentrate is to force the mind to a particular object, and the mind doesn’t like being forced. So, if mediation is about concentration then…
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श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला।
समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि।।
śhruti-vipratipannā te yadā sthāsyati niśhchalā
samādhāv-achalā buddhis tadā Yogam avāpsyasi
When your mind, now perplexed by what you have heard, stands firm and steady, then you will have attained Yoga or Self-Realization.
~ Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2, Verse 53)
Acharya Prashant: We…
So once I have understood that I am greedy for new…
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Questioner (Q): What is liberation?
Acharya Prashant (AP): What is bondage? There is nothing called liberation, nothing at all. It’s just that because there is bondage, hence there is liberation. In the absence of bondage, you are liberated from liberation as well.
cittamūlo vikalpo’yaṃ cittābhāve na kaścana
ataścittaṃ samādhehi pratyagrūpe parātmani
This apparent universe has its root in the mind and never persists after the mind is annihilated. Therefore, dissolve the mind by concentrating it on the Supreme Self, which is…
Acharya Prashant Ji:
If ‘meditation’ is Freedom from bondage, if that’s what your meditation honestly is, then obviously meditation will help in Liberation. But if meditation is just another thing, then what does it have…
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Questioner (Q): How does one know that she is meditating rightly? Secondly, I know that one should not be dependent on others and one's happiness should always come from within. Yet, my emotions erupt and I react due to the actions of the other person. So, how to stay detached…
Questioner (Q):
My question is about meditation. My problem is that whenever I sit to meditate, you come to my mind and your videos come into mind, in which you say, “No, that's not spirituality. Sitting and closing your eyes or breathing—that's not spirituality.” But in some way or the
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Answer:
Let me answer in a few ways.
The very question you are asking is a step in that direction. This question is a result of an acceptance of the limitation of mind; otherwise…
Acharya Prashant: You…
It is true where there is no action there…
Acharya Prashant (AP):
What is everything? Do you have to go somewhere and experience it, or is it anyway happening daily? Whenever somebody says, “I need to go out and experience”, then he is directly suggesting that, “Right now life
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How did our ancients understand and come to believe in Advaita? How did they…
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Let’s take this example. Even right now, we are using a particular language which is coming from the past. Right? But what
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Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, one of the popular beliefs about meditation is that your mind will stop and you will not have any thoughts. A lot of the so-called Gurus say that your mind should be completely blank – no thoughts, and if any thought comes, that means, you are…
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And when I say life must change, I am not talking of something imaginary; I am talking of things very, very tangible. I am talking of your
