Emotions

Acharya Prashant: Our story is that somebody says, ‘Hey! looking gorgeous today’. And we work up such a nice mood. And somebody says, ‘Hey! Where did you get this haircut from? Take two rupees from me, get a better haircut’. And we feel as if we have been put in… read_more

Acharya Prashant: What does guilt say? Let’s first of all look at it. Guilt says, “I am better than how and what I did”, right? Guilt says, “I am better than my actions”, or “I am better than my thoughts. I am better than the account I gave of myself… read_more

Questioner: (Reads out the following)

If you love, love openly

Twenty monks and one nun, who was named Eshun, were practicing meditation with a certain Zen master.

Eshun was very pretty even though her head was shaved and her dress plain. Several monks secretly fell in love with her.

One … read_more

Acharya Prashant: Only in aloneness can you have relationships that are not exploitative. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter what name, or what color you give to your relationship; your relationship will definitely be one of exploitation. Have you ever looked at your relationships closely? Do you ever want the other? No,… read_more

Acharya Prashant: You are standing, and a fellow comes over and slaps you hard on your shoulder from behind. The automated response is to turn back and look at him. But if he is a friend, then the same touch or hit or a slap often becomes a matter of… read_more

Questioner: Good Evening Sir. Because I remember something called Spiritual Quotient, and that being discussed once. So, I think what you were just talking about was related to that. Could you expand please on what is Spiritual Quotient, and how can one develop that.

Acharya Prashant: Spiritual Quotient, I do… read_more

Questioner: When I do something my parents don’t approve of, they scold me. But sometimes the matter goes too far and I get offended, and then I refrain from talking back to them; I fear that if I say something, I will end up hurting them. But then, if I… read_more

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,… read_more

Question: Sir, you said our actions define who we are. But our actions also keep changing from time to time.

A person may be sleeping in this session and be very active in the next. So, can it be said that the definition of who we are keeps changing?

Speaker: … read_more

Acharya Prashant : Vineet says, if mind is brain plus intelligence, which of these is in present moment, and he has used a word reaction.

Vineet, we will have to understand the difference between ‘reaction’ and ‘response’, right?

Ammonia and chlorine react with each other because they are configured to… read_more

Question: Sir, when we lose a loved one in the form of a body, what happens actually is that the love remains intact but we lose that loved one in that physical form – the body. Please guide.

Acharya Prashant: There would anyway be so many thoughts, live in them.… read_more

Questioner: Nowadays whenever I feel that I should not do something, I don't do it. I'm not planning much and this includes me not offering prayers to God. Is this okay?

Acharya Prashant: Arun (Questioner), that which we call as a feeling is not really so internal that may deserve… read_more

Emotions, they can do whatever they want to do. It doesn’t matter how I am feeling. What matters is what I must do.

Ask yourself: Had you not been feeling this way or that way, what would have you done? And you will get a very good answer.

When you… read_more

Do not let your inner welfare be conditional. If your inner sense of well-being is dependent on favorable external conditions, then it is a very sorry state to be in, because conditions are never under our control and, I am saying, I will allow myself to feel alright only upon… read_more

Is lust a thought, or is lust more or less instantaneous? Does lust even give you space to think? In fact, if you could think in the moment of great lust or anger, then you would act better.

Thought has its uses. The emotional ones need to be the thoughtful… read_more

Questioner (Q): How can negative emotions be expressed healthily? Can expressing negative emotions like crying be maladaptive? Does gender have a relation to mental health?

Acharya Prashant (AP): It doesn't matter whether you call the emotion negative or positive. The first thing to understand is that when you start calling… read_more

The man has seen the emotional side of the mother, so the man knows the woman’s emotionality. But the woman has never seen the sexual side of her father, so the woman really does not know man’s sexuality that much.

Do you get this? The man knows the woman’s emotionality,… read_more

Questioner: Hello sir, I am Utkarsh. I am pursuing my Master in Philosophy from the Department of Philosophy itself – Delhi University; my question dates back to the perennial debate between the concepts of EQ and IQ. And to expound my question, I would like to elaborate that this dates… read_more

One feels like worshiping the woman for enduring so much. One feels like worshiping the woman for being so willingly exploited. And one feels like slapping her hard in the face for being so stupid. Her own worst enemy she is.

Talk emotions to her, and she will be pleased.… read_more

When you don’t operate from a spiritual center, then you operate from an emotional center. These emotions are causing this climate change. You are so emotional about that next foreign holiday, right? That is carbon intensive. You are so emotional about having a good, nice nest of your own—that is… read_more

Before you accept or reject something, before you get wildly drawn to something, or before you just ignore something and move on, pause for five seconds, just five seconds, and ask: What is in it for me? What is the real importance it holds?

Do not be carried away by… read_more

When you are not alright with yourself, then your attitude towards others, the way your energy flows towards others, is called as envy or desire.

If you are envious that somebody has something, then rest assured, you too desire that something. Envy and desire go together. Unless the other has… read_more

Pay attention to all your thoughts, emotions, actions. Something unknown is waiting there for you. Most people know nothing about themselves.

If you are angry, it tells you that there is something within you that is resisting the world now. Why is it resisting the world? Go into it. Try… read_more

Hurt is not automatic. Somewhere there is an admission from you that you are hurt, and that you would be hurt, and that you would call yourself as hurt. Don’t call yourself as hurt, and see what happens.

Hurt is not an obligation. Hurt is a choice. Insecurity, fear, temptations—none… read_more

Questioner (Q): I have been following some of the pages on social media, and there is one topic that is quite “in” these days—which says, ‘no emotion is a mistake’. But I have heard you in the past, and you have said that emotions are intensified thoughts. So won’t that… read_more

We all have arguments in favor of our weaknesses, no?

“What do I do? I am just a kid.”

“What do I do? I don’t have the right background.”

“What do I do? I am just twenty years old.”

“What do I do? Nobody helps me.”

“What do I do?… read_more

The woman is her own worst enemy because she is very, very biology-driven. Man, too, is biology driven but he abides by his intellect much more than the woman does.

The woman is simpler, more innocent. I would dare to say the woman is simple and innocent just as animals… read_more

Acharya Prashant (AP): He is asking, “Is being moody good or not?”

But what are these moods? Do you know what these moods are? You take water in a saucer, in a saucer, a plate, and the water is lying still but if you keep the saucer under this fan,… read_more

Before you accept or reject something, before you get wildly drawn to something, or before you just ignore something and move on, pause for five seconds and ask, “What is in it for me? What is the real importance it holds?”

Do not be carried away by emotions. Do not… read_more

Question: How can we control our emotions?

Speaker: How can you control something that you do not quite understand? Our friend here is controlling the operations of this camera. How is he able to control the operations? Because he understands the functioning, he knows what leads to what, he knows… read_more

Instead of proceeding with a packaged product like meat, why don’t you slaughter the thing yourself? And when you slaughter the animal yourself, why don’t you know it fully even as you slaughter it? After all, even from a perspective of self-interest, if something is going into your body, it… read_more

The belief that life is just crumbs and dredges thrown at you—that’s your undoing. You are content with too little.

To avoid facing pain, you have become numb and insensitive towards yourself. Deeper sensitivity results in deeper pain. To avoid facing pain we become insensitive, and when you are insensitive,… read_more

For us, support just means weeping with the weeping one. We totally forget that in most cases the ones who are weeping do not need to weep. The ones who are weeping are needlessly weeping, and if you support their tears, you are supporting their false centers; you are making… read_more

Questioner: Sir, how to control our emotions?

Acharya Prashant: So, Shantanu is talking about controlling emotions. Let’s say Shantanu is driving his car. Do you drive your car in a controlled way or in an uncontrolled way? Obviously in a controlled way. Now, what is all control about? You are… read_more

Questioner (Q): On one hand, I want to spiritually grow towards enlightenment, but at the same time, some side of me wants to have earthly freedom, experiences, like traveling. Even though I know that those things won’t bring me True Joy.

Are earthly pleasures a hindrance to spiritual growth?

Acharya … read_more

Acharya Prashant: Emotional outbursts to settled living.

What do you see in the topic itself? “Emotional outbursts to settled living.” What is happening here?

What is happening here is that the mind is desiring the movement from one place to another place. From place A to place B; emotional outbursts… read_more

Questioner: Is getting devoid of all emotions a part of feeling contented?

Acharya Prashant: Can you do that?

Why must we give importance to hypothetical questions? Can you really get rid of all emotions? And if you do, would that person be the same as this one? And if not,… read_more

“Why are women so emotional? If we are saying that it is okay for a man to be emotional, there is an implicit assumption that men are not emotional but women are.”

Both are. It’s just that both express their emotionality in different ways. Inner urges, latent tendencies in women… read_more

“You have said that women and men both have emotionality but they express it differently. I have noticed women tend to be more indirect and coy when they talk. Is that again a same trait that is coming out differently?”

It is biological, very biological.

“Let the man make the… read_more

Questioner: How can negative emotions be expressed in a healthy way? Can expressing negative emotions be maladaptive? Does gender have a relation to mental health?

Acharya Prashant: You see, it does not matter whether you call the emotion negative or positive. The first thing to understand is that when you… read_more

Channelize your desire. You must know what you are really hungry for. Your central and primary desire is not sex. Sex may appear overpowering, tempting, but that is really not what you ultimately want. Figure out what you really must have, and then sex will be assigned automatically, inwardly, its… read_more

Weakness is such a great strength. The child controls the mother—how? Not through his strength, but through his weakness. Decades and decades of the mother’s life are controlled by the child through the child’s weakness.

If the wife is strong, or if the husband is strong, they would not really… read_more

प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी प्रणाम। मेरा सवाल ये है कि मेरी दो बेटियाँ हैं, एक तेरह वर्ष की है और एक ग्यारह वर्ष की है। आचार्य जी, अभी तो मुझे ही चीज़ें स्पष्ट नहीं हुई हैं, न ही अपने बारे में, और न ही समाज से सम्बन्धित चीज़ों के बारे में।… read_more