The Truth cannot be objectified as a thing, place, person, or book. So, don't be too quick to accept your own assessments, judgments, likes, dislikes, and experiences. Whatever you're seeing is seen by "you" — the Ego — and you are no absolute. Everything must be available to enquiry, investigation, and questioning — and questioning cannot happen if you declare that you’ve already come to the Truth. Never believe that the journey has ended or that the ego itself is the Truth.
Sufi Story:
In the city of Bastan where Bayazid made his home, there lived a very respected and venerable ascetic. He enjoyed Bayazid's circle, though he never became one of his disciples. One day he said to Bayazid, "O Master! For the last thirty years, I have been fasting from…
A man and a nail had a conversation. The nail said, “I have often wondered during my years, sticking here in this panel what my fate is to be.” The man said, “Latent in your situation, maybe a tearing out with pliers, a burning of wood, the rotting of the…
Acharya Prashant: Joshu went to Hermit and asked, “What’s up? What’s up?” The Hermit lifted up his fist and Joshu said, “Water is too shallow to enter here and went away”. Joshu visited the Hermit once again, a few days later and said, “What’s up? What’s up?” The Hermit raised
Acharya Prashant: Moo stands for nothing. Everything about the dog and the Buddha is different. As long as you compare a thing about the dog and the Buddha, you’ll only find differences. As long as the dog is
Whenever anyone asked him about Zen,
the great master Gutei would quietly raise one finger into the air.
A boy in the village began to imitate this behaviour.
Whenever he heard people talking about Gutei’s teachings,
he would interrupt the discussion and raise his finger.
Gutei heard about boy’s mischief.…
A monk asked Seijo, “Daitsu Chisho Buddha did zazen (meditated) for ten kalpas in a Meditation Hall, could not realize the highest truth, and so could not become fully emancipated. Why was this?”
Seijo said, “Your question is a very appropriate one!”
Acharya Prashant: 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…
Suiwo, the disciple of Hakuin, was a good teacher. During one summer seclusion period, a pupil came to him from a southern island of Japan. Suiwo gave him the problem: ‘Hear the sound of one hand.’ The pupil remained three years but couldn’t pass this test. One night he came…
Questioner (Q): Sir, ‘The sound of one hand clapping’. Please explain the Koan.
Acharya Prashant (AP): All our life, only that has happened to us, which has a cause and an effect. All our life, only that has happened to us, which is dualistic. When the Zen Master is saying…
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THE SHORT STAFF
Shuzan held out his short staff and said,
“If you call this short staff, you oppose its reality.”
“If you do not call it a short staff, you ignore the fact.”
“Now what do you wish to call this?”
Questioner: Acharya Ji, Pranaam! Please help me understand…
Excerpts from Articles
Sunday Guardian: Defeating the monster without becoming a monster
Though war may sometimes be inevitable, it should not be driven by revenge or momentary outrage. In spiritual terms, war is not necessarily forbidden.
A guide to handling difficult periods, adapting to unexpected changes, learning from experiences, seeking support, and continuing forward with confidence and patience.
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The woman is simpler, more innocent. I would dare to say the woman is simple and innocent just as animals are, because woman, just like animals, is biology-driven. She is emotional, and her emotions do not really arise from understanding, not even from intellect. Her emotions arise from her body, from her biological conditioning, from her hormones.
If you are fond of playing the game of Love, then come over
Love is not a mental or physical need. Love is not for the faint-hearted. Love is not for those who fear the loss of relationships, reputation, possessions or life. Love is not for those who are afraid of family, society, or uncertainty. Love is not for those who seek sanction from tradition or culture.
Love would have helped you fly. And now you have captivated love within four walls. As wise men and women, if you are married, wonderful. As wise men and women, if you are not married, wonderful. The point is not really marriage. The point is wisdom.
https://dev-main8.vedant.life/en/articles/marriage-and-love-1_0ff5cad
Unless you have reached the heart, the sexual activity has gone waste. Sex that is just a few inches deep serves no purpose. Sex has to be infinitely deep. You have to touch not only the other’s body but really the heart. That is what you are looking for.
“Revolutions always promise change, and they usually deliver something that merely looks like change. Regimes collapse, flags are replaced, slogans change, but something remains untouched. The question we refuse to ask is simple: when the wheel turns again, what will have changed?”
\"If one relies on events, shock is guaranteed, again and again, because most misdeeds never come fully to light. Scandals are not reliable teachers. If one understands the principle, shock loses its grip, because what unfolds is recognised rather than discovered.\"
Does Acharya Prashant Dismiss Alternative Teachers?
"I am fully in support of learning in all ways from everywhere and everybody but I am not at all in support of foolishness and hypocrisy. Get the difference please. I am absolutely in support of learning from wherever it is possible to learn but I am not at all in support of using the various avenues to learn to not to learn."
Anybody who believes in astrology cannot be rational. All you have is a set of beliefs—the belief that this thing will happen. There is no logic in it, only fear and insecurity. Science is based on verifiable and falsifiable experiments, whereas astrology is not subject to verification; hence, it is just a story. It's a story that is making big money for a lot of storytellers.
Is Acharya Prashant Building a Cult Around Himself?
"Cult means personality worship. Where the entire teaching is that personality is false and the Self is truth, where will personality worship come from? And there is nothing in my personality worthy of personality worship. If one wants to worship like that, there are many standing in line whose entire job is to polish their personality.”
‘I happen to live near here, and I can direct you to it, ‘ said the second man.
‘I…
…
There was once a man named Mojud. He lived in a town where he had obtained a post as a small official, and it seemed likely that he would end his days as inspector of weights and measures.
One day when he…
Nansen said: ‘If you try to direct yourself toward it, you go away from it.
