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J. Krishnamurti's 'The Observer Is the Observed' Explained by Acharya Prashant
J. Krishnamurti's 'The Observer Is the Observed' Explained by Acharya Prashant
8 min
'The observer is the observed; an honest observation dissolves them both.' Or, 'The observer is the observed, and both are false.' We lay a lot of emphasis on the world, assuming it to be the Truth. If the world is an entity independent of everything, then it has to be the Truth, right? Truth is that which is independent of everything.
Advait or Dvait?
Advait or Dvait?
4 min
It doesn’t matter whether you talk of *Advait* or *Dvait*. Do you finally admit that you cannot proceed any further with words? If your *Advait* says that I have come to the final truth, then your *Advait* is bogus. If your *Dvait* says that this is the ultimate expression, then your *Dvait,* too, is a fallacy. You may say *Advait,* you may say *Dvait,* you may even say *Trait,* or you may say anything of your choice. You are free to say whatever you want to, but all of that must surrender.
Prakriti, Attention and Truth
Prakriti, Attention and Truth
5 min
You rather have to be relaxed and just receptive. It comes to you. You don't have to chase it. You simply have to unlock your door, and these two are very different approaches. What does the devotee do? He just opens his doors and waits, calmly waits. He doesn't want to enforce his will. Non-resistance. Active pursual would all be within yourself. You are actively pursuing the beyond within yourself.
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.
The Multitasking Debate: Efficiency vs. Presence
The Multitasking Debate: Efficiency vs. Presence
12 min
Even when you think you are not multitasking, you are actually multitasking. Multitasking is an imperative, but don’t be a multiple-divided person. Multiple selves are not welcome; multitasking is alright. We live lives of multiple selves. One self, other self, and all those selves are all fake, borrowed.
I Am Either Absolutely Everything, or Nothing at All
I Am Either Absolutely Everything, or Nothing at All
11 min
I alone am! Nothing else. One could either have consciousness that is related to just these three states, a gross consciousness for which the material is supreme, an emotional mind, a thinker, analytical person who lives in ideas, or somebody who has been able to go beyond these two but is yet restless with this ‘I am'. One’s consciousness could rest in these three states or it could find a peaceful and relaxed home in just nothing. Call it either just nothing or call it absolutely everything — An all pervasive ‘I am', all pervasive ‘I am'.
Who Created the World?
Who Created the World?
14 min
Brahm is not the creator. When you desperately want to invent a creator, then you come up with īśvára. But Vedanta is not very enamored of īśvára. So, Vedanta says, "Īśvara is just Maya, just Maya.” Because you experience the universe, therefore, you feel the need to justify the origin of the universe. Therefore, you must have an īśvára. But how can the creator of a false universe be real? If the universe is false, what do you say about its creator?
Why Are You Scared of Truth?
Why Are You Scared of Truth?
8 min
There is nothing more scary than the Truth. The primary function of Truth is to negate all your falseness, to show you that you are living in lies. Truth supports you in the sense that, without its help, you cannot even see falseness. Truth cannot be pleasant to what we are. Truth can only be pleasant to the Truth. Before the Real can come, this false one must disappear.
Overpopulation and Greed: Is There Any Future for Mankind?
Overpopulation and Greed: Is There Any Future for Mankind?
4 min
We are looking at a scenario where nations have the population of India and the per capita consumption of the U.S. Multiply these two, and what do you get? Utter tragedy. Unless there is this basic recognition, which you can call a spiritual awakening, that the good life doesn’t consist of conspicuous consumption, we are hurtling towards a great disaster. It is already upon us.
Sad and Depressing: Living Without Knowing The Self
Sad and Depressing: Living Without Knowing The Self
8 min
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.
To Understand the Mind, Observe Without Concluding
To Understand the Mind, Observe Without Concluding
17 min
Just know that this is what is there in the mind. And that is the appropriate mental activity. The mind is the machine, well tuned, nicely designed for both analysis and observation. Use it for observation. You use it only for analysis and comparisons. Use it for observation. And if the observation is honest, then the object of observation will drop.
How to Be Happy Everyday?
How to Be Happy Everyday?
7 min
Happiness is just a glimpse of the absence of suffering. Real happiness comes when you cultivate it, just like a gardener cultivates his flowers. Our normal happiness is ephemeral, preceded and succeeded by sorrow, whereas Ananda (Joy) is freedom from both. Real happiness is freedom not merely from sadness, but also from superficial happiness.
Who Is Today’s Ravana? What Evil Does Man Needs to Fight Today?
Who Is Today’s Ravana? What Evil Does Man Needs to Fight Today?
35 min
If somebody would declare himself as an enemy of God, as Ravana did, as Kamsa did, oh they were very innocent fellows, they did, then you could fight him. But today's Ravanas do not declare themselves as enemies of god, they declare themselves to be surrendered to god. Today's Ravana would probably be found in Rishikesh teaching Hatha Yoga. And saying, “This is yoga. This is yoga.” Now whom are you going to fight? They’ve all assumed the name of God. Man is god.
How to Wake-Up Early?
How to Wake-Up Early?
7 min
Don’t sleep at all, and there would be no problem waking up at the right time. See, you cannot be trained in these things. It’s a matter of love. If waking up feels beautiful and full of love, you can bulldoze your habits. If you truly know something is right, you just do it. Keep knowing it deeply until your understanding transforms into loving action.
Does Self-Help Really Help?
Does Self-Help Really Help?
7 min
Self-help doesn't help. Its approach is, “I am sad as my desires are not fulfilled, so the way to help myself is to fulfill desires.” They never realize their lives are driven by biological, social, and cultural forces outside of themselves. Spirituality offers the only real solution: “Before helping the self, one must know what the self really is."
What Is Yoga According to the Bhagavad Gita?
What Is Yoga According to the Bhagavad Gita?
28 min
Shri Krishna is saying, “As long as you are the actor, please forget Yoga. Yoga is not for you.” Yoga is freedom from the false actor. The Yogi is the one who has realized that Yoga cannot be attained through any method. A yogi is healthy and alright with himself.
Does Following Myself Lead to Freedom?
Does Following Myself Lead to Freedom?
8 min
If following others is slavery, the mind quickly wants to conclude that following oneself is freedom. No, following oneself is deeper slavery because what we call the 'self' is just an aggregate of internalized, pervasive influences, like a crow mistaking a cuckoo’s eggs for its own. True freedom is to be free of others and, more importantly, yourself.
Relax and Let the Mind Observe Naturally
Relax and Let the Mind Observe Naturally
5 min
When you are relaxed, then there is no need to observe. Observation is not a need. It cannot happen because you are telling yourself to observe. It cannot happen out of some purpose. When you are internally relaxed, then a subtle observation is automatically happening.
What’s True Thanksgiving About?
What’s True Thanksgiving About?
6 min
“I thank the Lord for all that he has given me.” This is a totally nonsensical prayer. You should thank for what he has not given you. "Thanks for not giving me disease." It's very easy to miss that you do not have a disease. Truth is so easy to miss because it is an absence. Truth is always ‘not’ something. It is the absences that you must be thankful for.
How To Build Healthy Relationships?
How To Build Healthy Relationships?
6 min
A healthy relationship is possible only when you are healthy. A healthy being is not restless, not continuously suffering, and not wandering in tension. When you are settled within, this sureness, power, peace, and completeness reflect in your relationships. What I have within me shines through all my relationships. The relationship of a healthy being is called Love.
The Gap Between Understanding and Action
The Gap Between Understanding and Action
6 min
Understanding expresses itself through action. And understanding knows no other expression. Words are a very poor substitute for the right action and that is what Gibran is talking of here. He says that which is understood claim for its final expression as action in life. The poet often lets his understanding become his words. To that extent, there is a flow but if the words remain mere words and do not turn into life then there is no freedom yet. The imprisonment continues. Live what you love, otherwise, the punishment is tremendous.
The Role of Love and Acceptance in Defining Your Relationships
The Role of Love and Acceptance in Defining Your Relationships
11 min
You decide with whom to spend your time. You choose your boyfriend or your girlfriend, right? So, all of this, at least most of this, is happening as a result of my own decisions, my own choices. If I do not like my choices, then de-facto what is it that I dislike? The one who is making the choice.
Are We All Rapists?
Are We All Rapists?
10 min
Rape is a state of mind; the body only expresses it. A mind that cannot love will only rape. And we all rape. Is there anything you don’t rape? Look at how we consume rivers—are we not raping them? We are bothered only when the act becomes sexual and explicit. Laws or hanging a few people won’t stop rape. Till the mind of the individual does not change, rape will not stop.
Bleeding Throat, Unyielding Spirit: Acharya Prashant’s Fight for the Voiceless
Bleeding Throat, Unyielding Spirit: Acharya Prashant’s Fight for the Voiceless
5 min
On the evening of November 15, just hours before a scheduled Gita session, a message arrived from Gauri Maulekhi, a prominent animal rights activist. She requested Acharya Prashant to join her in Patna the following morning to meet the Chief Secretary of Bihar and address the press about the Gadhimai festival in Nepal. This was no ordinary request. It was a plea to save thousands of animals and to raise a voice against a centuries-old practice of cruelty disguised as tradition.
The Total Is Neither Masculine nor Feminine, Hence the Search and Summit of Both
The Total Is Neither Masculine nor Feminine, Hence the Search and Summit of Both
8 min
There is hardly any need to give special attention to the so-called masculine and feminine because neither the masculine really exists nor the feminine really exists. We talk about them because our mind is obsessed with gender, with sex; with women, with men; all dualities are the same. In fact, there is only one duality, called “duality”. The two ends of that duality can be given any name.
What Is Sin and Repentance if Aham Brahmasmi?
What Is Sin and Repentance if Aham Brahmasmi?
12 min
There is no way to rid yourself of sins except by coming very close to God, so close that you lose your individual identity. This is why the Upanishadic Mahavakya, 'Aham Brahmasmi' (I am Brahma), is central to all spirituality. Without this realization, no redemption is possible. No matter what you say about yourself, Truth, God, or the world, nothing will bring you peace. Only the declaration ‘I am That and That am I’ can offer true rest. Everything else is sin.
What Is Prayer? Acharya Prashant on Guru Nanak
What Is Prayer? Acharya Prashant on Guru Nanak
7 min
Prayer is not an activity; it is your very being. "So you cannot pray; you can only be full of prayer." Prayer is the silent call of the mind. The deeper the silence, the truer the prayer. The noisier the mind, the more it is desire, not prayer. True prayer asks for nothing; it’s simply being prayerful in every movement of the mind—eating, walking, talking.
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

Bhagavad Gita Quotes, Chapter 1, The Grief of Arjun
Bhagavad Gita Quotes, Chapter 1, The Grief of Arjun
16 min

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, commentary on Bhagavad Gita, Chapter

The Mind Is Not Your Own
The Mind Is Not Your Own
13 min
The ego likes to settle matters too soon, the ego likes to conclude too soon. Wherever there is a conclusion, wherever there is a settlement, wherever there is an ending that thought can grasp, it is a false ending, it is a false realization. I have no interest in talking about what true realization is like. True realization is anywhere not a subject matter of this course. We should rather warn of that which is false. Read more....
Is Suffering a Choice? Why Do We Keep Choosing It?
Is Suffering a Choice? Why Do We Keep Choosing It?
7 min
The mind can suffer when the body is in pain. The sufferer is always the mind. The mind is the subject, the sufferer, and it is possible that the subject mind is suffering because the object body is in pain. But that's not a compulsion upon the mind. The mind has a choice. The mind always has a choice whether it wants to suffer or it wants to realize.
What Turns the Ego Towards God?
What Turns the Ego Towards God?
31 min

धुरी करमु जिना कउ तुधु पाइआ ता तिनी खसमु धिआइआ ||

“Dhuri Dhuri karam jinaa ka-o tuDh paa-i-aa taa tinee khasam Dhi-aa-i-aa.”

(Only those whose karma You have pre-ordained from the very beginning, O Lord, meditate on You.

~ Asa di Vaar (Guru Granth Sahib)

Questioner: What does Karma being

Do God and Ghosts Really Exist?
Do God and Ghosts Really Exist?
13 min
Ghosts and gods and goddesses and all the stories we have read about this and that, obviously, they come from our own minds. Spirituality isn't about God; spirituality isn't about believing in anything. Neither ghosts nor gods. Not only does it say, ‘Do not believe in ghosts, do not believe in God,’ but it’s also so brutally honest that it says, ‘Do not believe even in yourself.’
Why Do We Crave Holidays?
Why Do We Crave Holidays?
5 min
The mind is fed up of its daily, boring, routine, fettered and frustrated life. But it has no faith or courage to break away from this life. It is very necessary for it to keep looking towards the future. Some special day must always lie ahead: New Year, Valentine’s, Holi, your birthday, Diwali and so on. This cycle keeps up the illusion that something great is coming.
The One Thing You Must Never Lose
The One Thing You Must Never Lose
12 min

Acharya Prashant: Chandogya Upanishad — Chapter 3, part 11, verses 2 and 3:

न वै तत्र न निम्लोच नोदियाय कदाचन । देवास्तेनाहंसत्येन मा विराधिषि ब्रह्मणेति ॥ ३.११.२ ॥

na vai tatra na nimloca nodiyāya kadācana | devāstenāhaṃsatyena mā virādhiṣi Brahmaṇeti || 3.11.2 ||

Never does this happen there; never did

According to Krishna, Who Is an Asura?
According to Krishna, Who Is an Asura?
27 min
An Asura is one who keeps the scriptures aside, detests them, ignores them, even derides them, and says, “What I know is right. What I feel like saying is the Truth. My own experience determines the Truth.” That is the relation of the demon with the spiritual scriptures — he disregards spiritual scriptures, even hates them. That’s what Shri Krishna is very concretely saying in chapter 16 of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita.
Is Anger Really the Problem?
Is Anger Really the Problem?
12 min
Anger is not a disease in itself. Anger is an indicator. If we could have anger without any side effects, how about that? Exciting? Anger becomes necessary so that you may see how bad your condition is. Anger is a message that the entire spectrum of twenty-four hours is going wrong. A message that you are not living rightly.
How to Identify the Real Master?
How to Identify the Real Master?
26 min
It is not others that you have to be cautious of. You have to be cautious of that within you which gets influenced by others, which does not know others but gets influenced by others. It does not live in knowing. It lives in indoctrination. How to know the real master? See, who is treating your disease. How do you know a doctor? Not by his degrees but by his ability to treat you.
Three Ways To Fool Oneself
Three Ways To Fool Oneself
20 min

Acharya Prashant: ‘Karma’ or doing, or action is easier to understand. That, with which you associate yourself as the doer is karma. Remember you are not the doer; you are associating yourself with the action. Where is the action happening? The action is happening in the domain of the senses.

How to Remain Non-Violent?
How to Remain Non-Violent?
6 min
Spirituality is about belonging to existence. Not belonging to a narrow household, or caste or ideology. All these are boundaries. So, wherever there are boundaries, there is violence. Wherever there are boundaries, there is also the fear of being small, powerless, limited. The really non-violent one is at home, everywhere and in every situation. Non-violence is not about following duties. Non-violence is an action in clarity and love. That alone is non-violence.
Why Freedom Requires Discipline First
Why Freedom Requires Discipline First
15 min
Discipline is that which can potentially disrupt the cycle. Nothing else is discipline. So, discipline is a break from the normal pattern. Remember please, every pattern has a great interest in its own continuation, the pattern will not just disappear, it needs something. It lives in cause and effect and even to disappear, it requires a cause. It requires a cause. Discipline is that cause. You will require it, as long as you do not require it. Till you come to a point where the word freedom itself becomes meaningless for you, you will require discipline.
Karmanye Vadhikaraste
Karmanye Vadhikaraste
19 min
Fulfillment of expectations does not give you fulfillment. Expectations might get fulfilled; you do not get fulfilled. Expectation is kamana, desire, and when you see that even the complete fulfillment of expectation gives you neither fulfillment nor completeness, then you say that expectation is junk, I do not want to chase it any further.
‘Speak to Us of Houses' by Kahlil Gibran
‘Speak to Us of Houses' by Kahlil Gibran
6 min
You are always in Home, but there are some people who open their eyes and see that they are always at Home. And there are some people, who are in the Home, and yet they keep sleeping and dreaming that they are somewhere far away. And not only are they dreaming that they are somewhere far away, they are actually planning, of course in their dreams, to go further far away. That is the ‘Home’ that Khalil Gibran is talking of – where you really are.
Facing Life Is More Real than Facing Death (Kath Upanishad) || AP Neem Candies
Facing Life Is More Real than Facing Death (Kath Upanishad) || AP Neem Candies
6 min

Acharya Prashant: Nachiketa is a mere boy dependent on his father, and he has the honesty and the guts to go to his father and say, “Of what use is all this that you are doing? Who will benefit from these old and sick and milkless cows?” I assure you

Does Remembrance Help in Liberation?
Does Remembrance Help in Liberation?
9 min

Questioner: Does the continuous remembrance of liberation lead one to the right way?

Acharya Prashant: One has to be reminded of it. It’s a very strange thing. One need not be reminded of the false, the false is anyway always ready to tempt you, assault you. One does not need

To Witness Is Not to Think about Witnessing
To Witness Is Not to Think about Witnessing
6 min

Questioner: Sir, so one when day I was taking a bath, I was applying soap so there was a moment when I realized - the one who is applying the soap, and to whom it is getting applied to, both are somewhere different but both are one. But there is

Vivekachudamani: Dissolve the Mind by Concentrating It in the Supreme Self
Vivekachudamani: Dissolve the Mind by Concentrating It in the Supreme Self
11 min
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.
Mundaka Upanishad: The Actual Journey Is in the Destination
Mundaka Upanishad: The Actual Journey Is in the Destination
18 min
Those who are anywhere close to the Truth know what is being said. The journeying fructifies only when one is at the destination in the beginning itself. Be at the destination right in the beginning, and then the journey will be successful. But if one is traveling to reach the destination, one will never reach because the traveler is designed to not reach. If he were to reach, why would he be a traveler?
Kabir Sahab Asks: ‘If You Are in Love, Then Why Are You Asleep?’
Kabir Sahab Asks: ‘If You Are in Love, Then Why Are You Asleep?’
8 min
Those who are in love with awakening create methods against sleep, don’t they? What does this student want? He wants awakening. So, he is creating a method whereby he would not fall asleep. It is such a simple method and an effective one: the head must stay still and then it would not hurt. But the moment your head swings, especially if it swings downwards, it would appear as if somebody has just pulled your hair. And how hard would the pull be? As hard is your downward swing. So, the more deeply you are asleep, the more unconscious you have become, the harder will be the pull, and so you will be compelled to stay awake. Do you get this?
What Is Meant by Human Nature
What Is Meant by Human Nature
12 min
Two monks were washing their bowls in the river when they noticed a scorpion that was drowning. One monk immediately scooped it up and set it upon the bank. In the process he was stung. He went back to washing his bowl and again the scorpion fell in. The monk saved the scorpion and was again stung. The other monk asked him, “Friend, why do you continue to save the scorpion when you know its nature is to sting?” “Because”, the monk replied, “to save it is my nature.”