Enlightenment

Limit yourself to consciousness and learn about the ways of consciousness. If you can learn the ways of consciousness, that is the blessing of the Absolute.

The Absolute is not just another thing in the consciousness. The Absolute is when you go to the very root of consciousness. And how…

Human beings are not born human beings; they have to be educated to become human beings.

A human baby needs to take two births before it can be rightfully called as a human being. There is ignorance, there is greed, there is envy, there is lust, there is fear, there…

प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी, आप हमें जो ज्ञान देते हैं, वह कहाँ से आता है?

आचार्य प्रशांत: कल कहा था न मैंने कि आप मुझसे सीख रहे हो और मैं आपसे सीख रहा हूँ। ज़िन्दगी देखता हूँ, और ज़िन्दगी में वो सारे गुरुजन शामिल हैं जो इस संसार में रहे और…

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.

प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी जीवन को जानना क्यों ज़रूरी है?

आचार्य प्रशांत: एकदम ज़रूरी नहीं है!

प्र: लेकिन मैंने यूट्यूब और कहीं-कहीं से देखकर कई बार जानने की कोशिश किया कि ये शरीर नहीं है, मन नहीं है, विचार नहीं है और उसके बाद फ़िर अटक जाता हूँ।

प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी प्रणाम, मेरा नाम विक्की है, युवा हूँ। मैंने घर की आर्थिक स्थिति के कारण अपनी पढ़ाई छोड़ दी और मैं तीन साल से मल्टी लेवल मार्केटिंग व्यापार में हूँ। मुझे सब कुछ अपने ही दम पर करना है, समृद्ध बनना है। मेरे मित्र नौकरी छोड़कर ध्यान में…

प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी, क्या हममें क्षमता नहीं है जीवन को समझने की? क्या गुरु का होना ज़रुरी है?

आचार्य प्रशांत: ये नहीं कहना चाहिए कि हममें क्षमता नहीं है तो हमें गुरु का सहारा लेना चाहिए। इसको ऐसे कहते हैं कि हमारी ही जो क्षमता है वो हमारे सामने गुरु…

Questioner (Q): Is ego pride? What is enlightenment?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Ego is the ‘I’-feeling that causes you suffering.

Pride causes you suffering, but it is not merely pride that causes you suffering: even the opposite of pride causes you suffering. Taking yourself as too big will cause suffering, but

अलमर्थेन कामेन सुकृतेनापि कर्मणा ।

एभ्यः संसारकान्तारे न विश्रान्तमभून्मनः ॥ 10.७ ॥

alamarthena kāmena sukṛtenāpi karmaṇā

प्रश्नकर्ता: अहंकार कब ख़त्म होता है?

आचार्य प्रशांत: जब उसको अपने ख़त्म होने में कोई रुचि न रह जाए। आपका सवाल बताता है कि अभी उसके ख़त्म होने में रुचि है आपको। किसके ख़त्म होने में रूचि होती है? जिसके होने का एहसास होता है।

अहंकार उस दिन ख़त्म हुआ

प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी, जब अचानक मन के सामने कुछ आता है तो वह प्रतिक्रिया व्यक्त करता है — जो अच्छी भी हो सकती है व बुरी भी हो सकती है। किसी चीज़ की पुनरावृत्ति होने पर मन योजना बनाने लगता है कि — "कैसे होगा?"  

आचार्य प्रशांत: मन का तो…

Question: In this materialistic life, we realise the importance of Freedom that you are speaking of. Then what should we do?

Acharya Prashant (AP): what she is asking is, "I am already engaged materially. I work somewhere, I have commitments there; I have a family, I have responsibilities there. And…

Question: Acharya Ji, we have heard many stories of kings getting enlightened in one moment. So, is enlightenment gradual or instantaneous?

Acharya Prashant Ji: It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. (Pointing at the arrangement of posters on the wall) Do you see this arrangement there? Let us say that this is…

प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी, क्या यह पता लगाया जा सकता है कि बोध की प्राप्ति में अभी कितनी यात्रा बची है, या किसकी कितनी यात्रा हो चुकी है?

आचार्य प्रशांत: यात्रा लम्बी किसी की नहीं होती है। समझाने वालों ने ऐसा बोला, मैं भी ऐसा ही उदाहरण रख देता हूँ।

Acharya Prashant: The thing is realization, enlightenment or sahajta, this is nothing objective, you doesn’t have to look at others, one cannot even know whether the other is realized or enlightened or not; that is not at all the way to go about it; because looking at the other you…

प्रश्न: आचार्य जी, ‘झूठा होश’ का क्या अर्थ होता है?

आचार्य प्रशांत: हम जिसको ‘होश’ कहते हैं वो क्या है? आप जब कहते हो कि आप ‘होश’ में आ गए, तो आप किस स्थिति की बात कर रहे होते हो? रात में आप सो रहे हो । जब…

Acharya Prashant: She said that she feels worst today. She told that she came to India in 1989. Experience creates respect for her, the kind of commitment she has shown, the devotion she has put in all these years. And at the same time I found it quite tragic that…

Question: What is the most fundamental step in the liberation of the Self? Is liberation of the Self a gradual process or is it instantaneous like switching on a light?

Acharya Prashant: It is neither. Liberation is just another name for the Self. The Self by nature is liberated. Hence…

Acharya Prashant: If it’s a model, an idea, if it’s a thought then you can very easily say what is it that you have known; because then you have concluded something. When it comes to the Truth, when it comes to the Heart, you know that you can never say…

Question: I have a confused question. Can I confess that I don’t know if I want to be awakened or not! I am afraid to realise myself. I am curious but I am stepping back from the Truth.

Acharya Prashant: “I am afraid of being awakened!” You must be afraid.…

Questioner (Q): Is life not ultimately a hall of mirrors?

Acharya Prashant (AP): No, what is meant by that? There is somebody outside the hall who can see that all this is happening. Yes, you project your world, it’s possible to see that you are doing that. So, life is…

Questioner: My spiritual path is taking me very long and I sometimes feel stuck and I am a bit discouraged. If you can give me some inspiration at this point to, as they say, drop the false. How actually to drop it? It’s not happening, it seems so far.

Speaker:…

Question: I have been reading Buddha and Kabir for long, and both are my favorite. While reading them I realized that both had different methods to get enlightenment.

Buddha said, “Renounce the world and be a monk.”

While Kabir said, “Don’t renounce the world, be in this world, face

Questioner: How to know whether I am aware?

Acharya Prashant: What you call as ‘knowing’ is just thinking. It is a mental activity. Do you know of anything that is beyond the mind? You know of so many things in this world. Right? List them and see whether anything that…

Question: Sir, how does a mind that is enlightened look at life? What happens to its thoughts? Does its wiring change in response to fear? Does it change its response to emotions?

Answer: Assuming sufficiently good understanding of the brain and sufficiently developed scientific processes, anything can surely be done…

Question: Dear Sir,I have gone through a couple of books. As I am traveling I have time in my hands.

I know what you meant when you said, the last stage is the absence of the thinker. “To study the way of the Buddha is to study oneself. To study…

Question: Today I saw some children roaming outside my hostel. They were trying to get some money or food but no one came out to help them. In what ways can we help others?

Speaker: Helping others is great. But to help others, we must first be free of our…

saknd alks cl,.Z >Z<CM ksld