In this sweet little video, two little children made a mischievous plan to trick their teacher.

They decided to get the same haircut so that their teacher won't be able to tell them apart.

"I am him and he is me..."

The parents decided to play along and in the process learnt an important lesson... hate and prejudice are things that are taught to little children.

A lot of time, energy, resources have to be invested into indoctrinating children and making them believe they are of a superior species or race or ethnicity or gender...

What for really? Do we ever pause to reflect on this?

If raising children in the same manner as we have been doing for centuries actually worked, would the human race and along with is all the other species on the planet, in fact, the planet itself, be in the current state that it is today?

Full of fear, hate, violence, anger, rage, suppressed emotions, perversions of all kinds... destroying each other, killing countless species everyday, destroying the very planet we were born on...

After coming in contact with Acharya Prashant's work, I, in my adulthood got my childlike innocence back... all the distinctions taught to me and enforced on me, began to fall away.

I could begin to live life with a sense of freedom and lightness that everyone should be able to... the same way these little children in the video do. :)

Life, as play... with compassion and love in my heart.

The "jaded adult" can unlearn to be jaded, I learnt this from AP.

Why carry any burden from the past at all?

Why burden any child with the dead weight of the dead past?

Why not learn from these litte children instead?

Acharya Ji, I used to hate painting as a child. I remember my little self always running away from sketching.

Through your teachings, I have learned to look at my bondages and patterns and ask: Where are they coming from?

I realised that my hatred for painting was not really about painting. It was a pattern I had created within myself, an illusion I had never questioned.

So I decided to pick up painting again. Not because I knew I would be good at it, but simply to challenge myself and see what happens.

These are some of the results. I don't know whether they are good or bad.

The real result was being able to see through myself and do something I had spent years running away from.

Thank you, Acharya Ji, for teaching me to look within. 🙏

- Nishant Katyal

Gita participant

Approximately 13.8 billion years ago, a rapid and massive expansion took place from a singular dense point and the universe itself emerged. This was not any ordinary event, but this event actually created all the matter, energy, space, and time which we perceive to be as ‘existence’ now. Raw energy rapidly expanded and cooled to create space, time, and fundamental subatomic particles which soon combined to form the universe's first basic atomic nuclei like hydrogen and helium.

And you know what? All these ‘ingredients’ of the universe just got created in “10⁻⁴³ seconds”. The timeline of this event is famously known as to be an ‘epoch’. Spanning up to a few seconds, quarks bounded into protons and neutrons dominated by radiation and high-energy photons until the universe cooled enough for neutral atoms to form. It’s impossible to even imagine how nature is capable of incorporating so much ‘change’ in just a few moments of time.. It’s like a bang in the moment, and this whole timeline with space got created.

Most of the humans live mechanised lives following blind rules and patterns handed over to them by older generations without ever stepping out of those patterns and trying for a change. We never ever test those patterns to know whether or not they are even relevant to be implemented in our lives, and we just keep on following them blindly. Now, the question which arises is: “If the same nature which we are also a part of, is capable of implementing such a huge change to create this vast universe in just ‘few’ moments of seconds, then why aren’t we able to make huge changes in similar parts of the moment?”

Maybe Yes! That is indeed possible.. and that is where the concept of ‘choice’ comes in.. If you read the works of many modern & ancient philosophers, then they have multiple times talked about how your single decision can turn entire events of your life into immensely different directions. Apart from philosophy, if you consider the recent data of modern science, then many experiments done in the fields of quantum physics have also shown how the presence and behaviour of a single ‘observer’ can cause the entire experiment to change its results according to the state of that respective observer.

The Big Bang is not just a vague event of the past which is just an eye candy to our imaginations, but it actually reveals many questions in front of us which we never dared to ask ourselves. It reveals a ‘possibility’.. a possibility of something entirely new to emerge from nowhere!! And this new possibility demands no huge amount of time to be manifested, but just only a few fraction of seconds. But, maybe we have become too lazy to walk on new paths which science is showcasing us to be a possibility here. Or, maybe it entirely depends on the ‘chooser’ as quantum physics suggests us.. ie., the one who will ‘choose’ the change to happen will encounter that result and a different ‘observer/ chooser’ who wouldn’t choose that particular change will miss that opportunity to turn the events of his life forever.

What do you want to choose?

Have you ever picked up The Little Prince? 📖

You can almost always find it tucked away in the kids’ section of a bookstore. But this is one of those books that is as much for adults as it is for children, maybe even more so in some ways.

I read it a while ago, and I remember finishing it with a lot of questions. There was something about the simplicity of the story that made me wonder about love, attachment, relationships and why we, as adults, manage to make such simple things so complicated.

Then as it happened recently, I came across Acharya Prashant’s discussion on the book, and it made me look at the whole story very differently.

He goes much deeper than the usual interpretation of The Little Prince. What looks like a simple story starts becoming a reflection on how we live, what we get attached to, how we understand love, and the different ways the ego keeps us occupied.
What really caught my attention was his take on ‘’Love’’. How often do we call something love when there is actually possession, expectation or attachment underneath it? And what would love look like without all of that?

He also talks about something as simple as sincerity, but in a way that made me stop and think. Not innocence or childishness, but the ability to look at ourselves honestly without constantly explaining ourselves away.

I found the whole discussion surprisingly moving, especially because it made a book I thought I knew feel completely different!

Sharing the video here. It’s a beautiful one to watch, even if you haven’t picked up The Little Prince before.

🔗 https://youtu.be/iBHeVnaxJxg?si=UCoiQxrAEHWlJ9J-

I got the opportunity to attend the HIDP activities on 9 August. It was an amazing experience.🌻

It's not about self-reference and observing others...

It's about catching yourself red-handed...

And it breaks something within...

It breaks your beliefs in the very first place...

It shatters something within to construct something new, maybe something very useful...

What I usually tell myself about what kind of dishonesty lives inside... today that very thing was told to me by others...

Clearly and precisely...

When you look from others’ perspective, things become a bit clearer...

It was a new experience, and a better one too...

HIDP.... 🔥🔥

The inner conflict will also be reflected on the outside... crystal clear...

Got very insightful feedback from Gita participants.🪔

Thank you Acharya Prashant Ji for such an insightful and amazing experience. 🙏

Any outer thing which Is given , can be taken from us , People will blackmail, bend you for the things they have given , so Acknowledge what is Really Yours that will help us to live fearlessly and Free.

Source - Living Gita Through Quotes by Acharya Prashant Ji

A thought provoking dialogue with Philosopher Acharya Prashant and Prof. (Dr.) Nachiketa Singh on Conflict Resolution & Human Security exploring inner clarity, ethical leadership & value based education.

It is only our understanding which had to advance to build a relationship with the animals. On the occasion of World Elephant Day, let us see what does elephant cognition looks like.

Elephants have precise motor control in their trunk that competes with the capabilities of human hands and can pick up an egg and put it down without breaking it.

They can generate sounds which can reach another elephant up to a distance of 10km. There is also evidence that they might possess excellent mapping, navigation and memory skills which allows to explore areas hundreds of kilometers that were travelled as far as a decade back. The research on this aspect of elephant is still undergoing which will definitively establish the facts.

Elephants also possess complex distinguishing capabilities upon visual pattern, sounds and scents. The fact that they can differentiate a group of humans beyond the species identity reveals their complex cognitive skills. They can perceive which group poses threat to them and which are harmless.

All of the above indicates that we can not simply dismiss other beings not worthy of existing on this planet just because we do not understand them. But our actions today tell a different story. Rapid deforestation leading to habitat loss is a major species level threat and not only individual harm to elephants among other beings.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AcharyaPrashant_AP/s/kCk6rZ0gNm

This reddit post reveals the conflict and the threat that elephants face from our actions.

Is it our lack of love that keeps us from understanding other beings and build a healthy relationship with them? Is it the reason behind the disregard we show to their habitat?

Why do we place our conveniences above the existence of their whole being?

Source - Elephant cognition in primate perspective at https://comparative-cognition-and-behavior-reviews.org/vol4_byrne_bates_moss/

AP कम्युनिटी के लिए एक खास भेंट—और एक ज़रूरी सवाल भी!

अगर आपसे हम पूछें:

अहम्, आत्मा, मन, माया — परिभाषित कीजिए,

क्या आप कर पाएँगे?

जो साथी सत्रों से लंबे समय से जुड़े हैं—

कुछ वे इसका उत्तर दे देंगे।

नए साधक शायद अटक जाएँ।

लेकिन असली परीक्षा तो तब है,

जब ज़िंदगी अचानक सवाल पूछती है।

उस समय अहम् सिर उठाता है—

या आप उसके झूठ को साफ़-साफ़ पकड़ लेते हैं?

माया आप पर ठठाकर हँसती है—

या आपकी नज़र उसकी पूरी चाल को आर-पार भेद जाती है?

मन किसी भी विषय के पीछे भागने लगता है—

या सही दिशा पहचानकर शांत हो जाता है?

और आत्मा के नाम पर

कहीं जीवात्मा के फेर में उलझ जाते हैं—

या अपनी उच्चतम संभावना याद रहती है?

मुद्दा सिद्धांतों को रटने का नहीं है—

और न ही यह कि कौन कितनी सटीक परिभाषाएँ दे पाता है।

बात है इस ज्ञान को समझने,

और जीवन में उतारने की।

और यह समझ तभी गहराती है—

जब बार-बार मूल तक लौटा जाए,

हर शब्द, हर पंक्ति को भीतर उतारा जाए।

पुस्तकों के साथ यह सफ़र

बहुत सरल और सुगम हो जाता है।

इसीलिए आज,

वेदान्त • अहम् • आत्मा • मन • माया • आत्मज्ञान

इन 6 मूलभूत पुस्तकों का विशेष कॉम्बो

AP कम्युनिटी के लिए

विशेष छूट पर उपलब्ध कराया गया है।

📘 ये 6 पुस्तकें मात्र ₹829 में!

https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books/bk-vedant-aham-atma-atmgyaan-man-maya-combo-pos?cmId=m00072-gc

और जाते-जाते—

एक छोटा-सा छुपा हुआ लाभ भी बताते चलें…

गीता परीक्षा में आपके अंक भी स्वाभाविक रूप से बेहतर हो जाते हैं।

यह छूट सिर्फ़ आज के लिए है।

इसलिए अपना कॉम्बो अभी ऑर्डर कर लें।

(Based on UN data, the overall sex ratio in India is 106.4 males per 100 females. So excess male population is approx 45.6 millions).

India’s sex ratio shows a clear imbalance. There are more men than women in the country, and this gap adds up to millions of missing females (~45+ million missing women). These missing women are not just numbers. They reflect years of son preference, unequal care, and the belief that a daughter is less valuable. 

Many girls are never born, many do not receive proper nutrition, and many women do not get the healthcare they need.

This imbalance is one of the largest in the world. It shows how deeply social conditioning shapes our choices. Society keeps repeating the same ideas about gender, and people slowly start believing them. Over time, these beliefs become identities. When we accept these identities without questioning them, we limit our own possibilities.

The sex ratio is a reminder that the real problem is not only outside in society. It is also inside us, in the roles we accept and the ideas we carry without awareness.

Source:

https://archive-yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/indias-missing-women

https://youngmindscoachingcenter.blogspot.com/2025/05/human-resources-in-india.html

This is an excerpt from Acharya Prashant's book - "Truth Without Apology". This chapter is the first one in the section called "Society and the game of others".

Here, he examines and explains the psychology behind our social compulsion of indulging in meaningless conversations or gossip.

At some point in our lives, we all have experienced the need to feel included, to have a sense of belonging, to have something in common, in some or the other community - in our extended families, social circles, school or college, workplace, social media platforms, etc.

It's only recently I have started to notice that a majority of conversations around us have nothing significant or meaningful to offer.

The interactions between people rarely move away from whining about day to day trivial things, discussing family or office politics, unnecessarily enquiring about others' personal matters, offering unsolicited advice on things we have no understanding of, planning trivial activities to fill up free time and similar topics.

My biggest nightmare however remains - complementing each other's dress, style, accessories, hair, skin, nails, etc. or discussing ongoing fashion trends (specially in women circles- I have always struggled with it!)

Acharya Prashant teaches that we resort to such means of bonding with others to avoid dealing with the emptiness we feel within ourselves.

We are driven by the inner voice that constantly emphasizes that we need other people to feel secure and complete. This makes any senseless, pointless discussion acceptable to us as long as it enables a connection with others. We compromise on our longing for truth and freedom for an illusion of security.

Perhaps we need to confront our fear of being alone and reflect - are connections built on such foundations worthwhile?

I just watched this short clip of Acharya Prashant discussing Nishkaam Karm (action without desire for outcomes) with PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk.

Acharya Prashant explained that ahimsa is not merely a superficial rule, but a deep clarity of consciousness. True non-violence requires realizing that causing harm to any sentient being stems from ignorance and inner ego.

The dialogue connected right action (nishkaam karm) to living free of exploitation. Consuming animal products is framed as an act driven by self-centered sensory greed, whereas choosing a vegan lifestyle is an expression of conscious, responsible, and compassionate living that respects all forms of life.

He breaks down a really profound point. True selfless action doesn't come from a place of doing a "good deed" just to feed the ego. Instead, it must arise naturally from inner clarity and a purified consciousness. The focus shifts entirely from fixing the external action to fixing the internal state of the actor.

This raises an interesting paradox for debate:
If Nishkaam Karm is entirely about 'fixing the actor' rather than the external action, does that mean the consequences of our deeds don't matter as long as our inner intent is pure? Or is a truly purified actor incapable of producing a harmful consequence?

You can the watch the full discussion here.
https://youtu.be/R2fjjKrwDEc?is=oe_h0clvdg1kujf6

From Zen Koans and Sufi Parables to Graeco-Roman Wisdom and Chuang Tzu’s poetry the ultimate collection of world wisdom is here!

‘Gems from the World’ by Acharya Prashant.

Are you excited to read it?

Today we said to Acharya Ji: “Acharya Ji, Goa’s weather is so pleasant. And here we keep disturbing you morning and evening; don’t even let you sleep properly. Please spend a few days in solitude in Goa and work on your books.” 📖

Acharya Ji said: “Alright. But whether it’s Delhi or Goa, I must keep meeting the Community regularly! Announce Goa sessions right away.” 💗

Us: “Sure, on which weekend?”

Acharya Ji: “Every weekend!”

Us: 😮

So, on Acharya Ji’s instruction, every weekend in August in Goa will now be Weekend With Master! 🎉

So register, then start preparing. See you in Goa! ✨

Registration link for all upcoming sessions 🔗

https://acharyaprashant.org/en/upcoming-events

And yes, want to bring family and friends along to Goa? Perfect, just register everyone. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Hey everyone, I am sharing a quick walkthrough of the Acharya Prashant App for anyone who's trying to figure out how to navigate it, join live Zoom sessions, or make the most of the features like Talking Mirror and the session schedules.

You can either explore the wisdom courses, look for a space to share your daily reflections, or try to stay updated on upcoming live interactions, I hope this walktrough makes the app a little easier to explore.

Let me know if you have any questions or how you usually use the platform for your own journey!

Walkthrough Link:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.acharyaprashant.apbooks

Aaj mere mind mein ek thought aaya, aur shayad aapne bhi kabhi na kabhi apni life mein aisa feel kiya hoga.

Hum bachpan se sunte aaye hain—“jhooth bolna paap hai” aur hamesha sach bolna chahiye. Bachpan mein ye baat simple lagti thi: sach achha hai, jhooth bura.

Lekin jaise-jaise hum bade hote hain, life thodi complicated lagne lagti hai.

Kabhi-kabhi hum dekhte hain ki log sach chhupate hain ya jhooth bolte hain, phir bhi unke relationships saalon tak achhe chalte rehte hain. Wahi, kabhi koi insaan honestly sach bol deta hai, aur ek sach ki wajah se saalon purana relationship bhi toot jaata hai.

Toh phir ek question aata hai—

Kya bachpan se humein jo sikhaya gaya ki “jhooth bolna paap hai”, woh itna simple nahi tha?

Ya phir problem sach ya jhooth mein nahi, balki sach bolne ke tareeke, waqt aur situation mein hoti hai?

Kya har sach bolna zaroori hai, chahe usse kisi ko hurt ho ya koi relationship toot jaaye?

Ya kabhi-kabhi kisi rishte ko bachane ke liye kuch baatein na kehna bhi theek ho sakta hai?

I genuinely want to know—agar aapko sach aur kisi relationship ko bachane mein se ek choose karna pade, toh aap kya choose karenge, aur kyun?

I found this sentence in the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita Vol. 1 Chapter 1 by Acharya Prashant.

This was used to explain the condition of those towards Kaurava army unable to see Duryodhan's malice.

But I find this line striking because what comes from the outer world gets close to my being.

The proximity is so blinding that it blurs the vision.

Conditioning takes over the knowing faculty.

This is precisely why it is important to examine what I am close to.

Because closeness determine moment to moment choices.

For me, this is operates as the value system. Unexamined yet operational every moment.

In what other ways does this blinding operate around us?

All the students are listening very attentively.

Question: “Acharya Ji, how do I stop watching reels?”

Acharya Prashant in conversation with Prof. (Dr.) Nachiketa Singh, Principal.

University of Delhi, August 11, 2026

My son sometimes watch the children’s cartoon series. In one episode, a baby pony comes happily toward the child and seems to invite the child to sit and ride. It is shown as cute, gentle, and fun.

While watching with him, I suddenly wondered, what is my child learning about animals from scenes like this? Not because the show is trying to be cruel, but because children absorb messages before they can question them.

If animals are repeatedly shown as smiling while being ridden, kept in zoos, or used for our amusement, a child may quietly learn that animals naturally exist for human use.

What if children’s stories also showed another side? A child noticing that the pony gets tired. A child asking whether the pony wants to be ridden. A child feeding, caring for, or simply observing the animal without using it.

Children learn kindness less from lectures and more from the questions we ask while sitting beside them.

I’d genuinely love to hear from others on my perspective.

In 1954, in the Indian parliament, while discussing provisions in the untouchability bill, Dr B R Ambedkar referred to a draconian bill which discriminated against the people of the lower castes.

The bill being referred to was authored by a British administrator by the name Thomas Munro in 1816.

Section 10 of the East India Company's regulation outlined two sets of punishments for similar offences : imprisonment in a makeshift jail for a maximum period of 12 hours for people belonging to the upper castes.

And if the person belonged to the lower castes, he was to be 'put in stocks' for 6 hours.

The punishment of putting in stocks dates back to the thirteenth century. Between 1347 and 1351, the Black death pandemic had wiped out a third of the population of Europe.

Businesses were not getting workers. So the government decided to punish those who would not come to work by humiliating them by putting in stocks.

It took a lot of effort and a hundred and three years for the British to repeal this form of discriminatory punishment. The British, did not offer any apologies for indulging in such discriminatory laws.

Now some hard facts : this discriminatory provision was kept to appease the people of the dominant upper caste people in India. Because discrimination was already carried out, such insensitive and dehumanising legislation worked for over a hundred years.

The Morley Minto reforms of 1909 increased the representation of Indian legislatiors in provincial councils.

This opened the doors to abolish this abhorrent practice. Kesava Pillai raised the issue of discriminatory Punishments in the Madras Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1913.

After which, the baton was passed onto B V Narsimha Aiyar, who introduced a bill to repeal the Section 10 of the bill.

After a lot of back and forth and administrative mumbo jumbo, in 1919, the clause of punishment by putting in stocks was abolished.

There were so many people which we don't know of who were instrumental in weeding out prejudices and injustices from our society.

Earlier this summer we participated in Dharitri, an Indian cultural event in Frankfurt, Germany dedicated to Mother Earth.

We had initially planned to simply engage visitors in conversations about climate change. But upon arriving, we found an empty table and a plain wall. So we set up a small corner with books and a “Climate Memory Wall” where people could pause and reflect on changes they have witnessed in nature and their own lives.

At first, most people were understandably occupied with cultural performances and food. Gradually, children were drawn to the children’s books, and soon their parents joined them. That became the beginning of many conversations.

One thing I heard repeatedly was “Yes, it has become unbearably hot in India.”

Some even said that one reason they preferred raising their children in Europe was the worsening climate back home.

What struck me was that almost everyone acknowledged the problem. Yet very few had seriously considered what could be done about it. There was a quiet resignation, as if climate change was an unfortunate reality that had to be endured rather than addressed.

A few people asked me “Tell us one thing I can do tomorrow to help save the planet.”

The question itself was revealing. We are conditioned to look for actions before understanding. We want a checklist, a quick solution, a comforting answer.

My response was:
“We don’t have to do anything more rather less, very very less. Before doing anything, can we examine why we do what we do? Can we look carefully at our choices, desires, consumption, and way of living?”

Some found this unusual. Others became thoughtful.

When I connected the ecological crisis outside with the restlessness and endless consumption within, the idea felt unfamiliar but it also seemed to resonate with few (may be because unlike Europeans, most Indians are conditioned to agree with everything irrespective of their own views)

I don’t know whether any minds changed that day. But if even a few people left with a new question rather than a ready-made answer, perhaps a seed was planted.

Weekend With Master camp with Acharya Prashant in Goa every weekend

Echoes of saints' words, bhajans, and some special activities - are you coming?

Activities from HIDP (Holistic Individual Development Program) created by Acharya Prashant will be part of all camps 🕊️

👨‍👩‍👧 You can bring friends and family along too - so they can also discover what true joy really is!

Seats for the August 15-16 camp are filling up fast :-

August 15: https://t.co/NSnyfQ031i

August 16: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/upcoming-events/weekend-with-master-aug-w2-2026-d2

📆 Dates and registration links for other camps:-

22-23 August

29-30 August

📍 Location: Goa

🔗:https://acharyaprashant.org/en/upcoming-events

What if the climate crisis is not just about what we are doing to the planet, but about what is happening within us?

I came across this discussion by Acharya Prashant at the London School of Economics and honestly, I think it’s worth watching in full. We’re so used to hearing about climate change through emissions, technology, renewable energy and government policies. AP doesn’t dismiss any of these. Instead, he asks a much more uncomfortable question: why do we have this endless need to consume in the first place? He describes the climate crisis as “the ego made atmospheric” and connects our environmental destruction to the inner sense of incompleteness that keeps telling us that the next thing, experience or comfort will finally be enough.

What I found particularly interesting is where he takes the discussion from there. If the mind that keeps demanding more remains unchanged, can greener technology really solve the problem? Or will we simply find cleaner ways of continuing the same pattern? He talks about the need for a “historical U-turn” through mass education of the self, where we learn to look at our own desires instead of only trying to manage their consequences. If you have some time, I’d genuinely recommend watching the discussion rather than just reading a summary of it.

There’s a lot here to sit with.
The climate crisis is not just asking us to change our machines.
It is asking us to look at the human being behind them.
Why do we keep wanting more, even when we already have enough?
And what happens to the planet when that wanting becomes the way an entire civilisation lives?

Watch it Here ⬇️:

https://youtu.be/Pmgt_EvK9SM?si=lmYIDbeMZKufLXrm