Saint Lalleshwari

Why does one have ego?
Why does one have ego?
4 min

Probing inside, I came Seeking the moon within me: Sifting the chaff from the grain. I went seeking The Like, Alike, Thou art Narayan. Thou art Narayan, then, Why this will-of-the-wisp?

~ Saint Lalleshwari

Question: Acharya Ji, Why do I have ego?

Acharya Prashant: Do not ask why does the

Why does one have ego? || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari (2019)
Why does one have ego? || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari (2019)
4 min

Probing inside, I came

Seeking the moon within me:

Sifting the chaff from the grain.

I went seeking

The like, Alike,

Thou art Narayan.

Thou art Narayan, then,

Why this will-o-wisp.

~ Saint Lalleshwari

Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, why do I have ego?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Do not ask, “Why

Who needs devotion and who does not? || On Saint Lalleshwari (2017)
Who needs devotion and who does not? || On Saint Lalleshwari (2017)
2 min

Life is given. Nothing is earned. So, learn to serve others, not your own desire, greed, and ego. They steal your energies. Whereas devotion builds your strength and protects the intelligent flame that leads to the Truth within.

~ Saint Lalleshwari

Acharya Prashant: So, the Questioner is asking, ‘Is the

Finding without effort, and drinking without the drinker || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari
Finding without effort, and drinking without the drinker || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari
29 min

Acharya Prashant: Lal Ded is the most remarkable name not only in Kashmir, not only in India. She defies being confined to a particular area, or time, or category. Physically, she was born in thirteenth century Kashmir. An ordinary girl, as ordinary as all of us are. Medieval India, she

The craziness that begins and ends in God || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari (2016)
The craziness that begins and ends in God || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari (2016)
8 min

At the end of a crazy moon night

the love of God rose.

I said, “It’s me Lalla.”

The beloved woke. We became That,

and the lake is crystal-clear.

~Lal Ded

Acharya Prashant: “At the end of a crazy moon night, the love of God rose.” There is nothing in

Dance, and dance naked || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari (2016)
Dance, and dance naked || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari (2016)
15 min

DANCE NAKED

Dance, Lalla, with nothing on

But air: Sing, Lalla,

wearing the sky.

Look at this glowing day! What clothes

Could be so beautiful or

more sacred?

~Lal Ded

Acharya Prashant- what does it mean to dance with nothing on?

L1- No causes.

AP- What does it mean to

From nothing to nothing and why? || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari (2014)
From nothing to nothing and why? || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari (2014)
14 min

They kept coming, they kept coming, now they’ve got to go.They’ve got to keep moving, day or night,and where they came from, there they’ve got to go.From nothing to nothing to nothing and why?

Lalleshwari

There is nothing called the ‘world’. What you call as the ‘world’, what you call

Before you chase goals, become goal-less || Acharya Prashant, on Lalleshwari (2014)
Before you chase goals, become goal-less || Acharya Prashant, on Lalleshwari (2014)
25 min

Impart not esoteric Truth to fools, Nor on molasses feed an ass. Do not sow seeds in sandy beds, Nor waste your oil on cakes of bran. -Lal Ded

Speaker: The question is, ‘Why is a compassionate saint speaking such words? They look more like coming from a result oriented

The saint is not obliged to conform to your expectations || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari
The saint is not obliged to conform to your expectations || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari
11 min

‘In what direction am I going, how shall I find that road? I hope they will send me a map before it’s too late, or it is all over for me. My breath all gone to waste.’ ~ Lalleshwari

Questioner (Q): Lalla had surrendered all her life to That. Now

What is sweet at first, is poison in the end || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari (2014)
What is sweet at first, is poison in the end || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Lalleshwari (2014)
10 min

Question: ‘What is bitter at first is sweet in the end, What is sweet at first is poison in the end. To everyone is given the choice. It all depends on the effort put in, and the unflagging determined will; for whoever strives must soon arrive at the city of

Related Articles
What does love mean?
What does love mean?
1 min
You must know what is love. How it shapes your life.
राजनीति में अध्यात्म क्यों ज़रूरी?
What Would Today’s Buddha Look Like?
Does Acharya Prashant Dismiss Alternative Teachers?
Does Acharya Prashant Dismiss Alternative Teachers?
2 min
"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."
जल्दी से शादी करा के विदा कर दो || नीम लड्डू
जल्दी से शादी करा के विदा कर दो || नीम लड्डू
2 min

लड़की को पढ़ाई के लिए दो-सौ किलोमीटर दूर भेजना हो तो यही माँ-बाप और भाई कन्नी काट जाते हैं, और ब्याह कर वो दो-हज़ार किलोमीटर दूर जा रही हो इन्हें कोई फ़र्क नहीं पड़ेगा। और पढ़ाई के लिए जाएगी तो किसी यूनिवर्सिटी के हॉस्टल में रहेगी, सुरक्षा में रहेगी, हॉस्टल

Astrology: Science or Superstition?
Astrology: Science or Superstition?
2 min
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.
Who Is Women's Enemy?
Who Is Women's Enemy?
1 min
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.
गुरु के प्रति धन्यवाद कम क्यों हो जाता है? आचार्य प्रशांत (2017)
गुरु के प्रति धन्यवाद कम क्यों हो जाता है? आचार्य प्रशांत (2017)
7 min
अब देखिएगा, क्या हो रहा है। कोई कृतज्ञ कब अनुभव करेगा? जब पहले उसकी हालत ख़राब हो और कोई बचाए। आपके भीतर अभी यह इच्छा शेष है कि आप कृतज्ञ अनुभव करती रहें और कृतज्ञता अनुभव करने के लिए ज़रूरी है कि कुछ गड़बड़ हो और फिर उस गड़बड़ से आप उबार ली जाएँ। तो फिर आप कृतज्ञ अनुभव करेंगी कि, अरे, मेरा सौभाग्य कि मुझे किसी ने बचा लिया।
Test Articles (MD)
Test Articles (MD)
2 min

Now, mind is movement, right? Why does the mind move at all? The mind wants to reach somewhere. Where does the mind want to reach? Is that place within the mind? The mind wants to reach somewhere. Every thought, every action, every motivation, every emotion rides on a desire, is

Test KC 4
Test KC 4
2 min

How should one interpret the coming forth of Krishna when righteousness is on decline? Does this statement have any significance at an individual level, or is it said in the social context?

Also, in Christianity it is believed that Jesus will come again on the judgement day. Please help me

How to survive pain || Neem Candies
How to survive pain || Neem Candies
1 min
I had to unlearn a lot of things, and I am grateful to all the sources—the books, the people and the experiences that helped me unlearn. And I am grateful to that within me that had the courage to unlearn. A lot of unlearning is needed. I often say you need to learn love. By that what I mean is that you need to unlearn false love. And it’s one mighty task to unlearn false love, transactional love, the transactional love that both biology and society teach you.
हेमलेखा
हेमलेखा
2 min
जो कुछ बाहर से आ रहा है, वो भाग्य के अधीन है, उस पर आपका कोई नियंत्रण नहीं। सुख-दुःख, लाभ-हानि, जन्म-मरण — सब संयोग हैं। ये इसलिए बताया गया है ताकि आप इन पर नियंत्रण करने की व्यर्थ कोशिश छोड़ दें। जिस पर नियंत्रण किया ही नहीं जा सकता, उसे नियंत्रित करने में ऊर्जा और समय व्यर्थ करेंगे। इस झूठी सुरक्षा भावना से बचें और अपनी ऊर्जा वहीं लगाएँ जहाँ वह सच में फलदायी हो सकती है।
इन्द्रियों पर विजय कैसे प्राप्त करें? कर्म और अकर्म क्या?
इन्द्रियों पर विजय कैसे प्राप्त करें? कर्म और अकर्म क्या?
16 min

श्रद्धावान् लभते ज्ञानं तत्पर: संयतेन्द्रिय: | ज्ञानं लब्ध्वा परां शान्तिमचिरेणाधिगच्छति || ४, ३९ || जितेन्द्रिय, साधनापरायण और श्रद्धावान मनुष्य ज्ञान को प्राप्त होता है तथा ज्ञान को प्राप्त होकर वह बिना विलम्ब के तत्काल ही भगवत्प्राप्तिरूप शान्ति को प्राप्त हो जाता है। —श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, अध्याय ४, श्लोक ३९प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी,

Test KC 3
Test KC 3
1 min
रमाबाई सरस्वती
रमाबाई सरस्वती
4 min

उन्होंने भारतीय स्त्रियों को दयनीय स्थिति से बाहर निकालने के लिए अपना जीवन समर्पित कर दिया था। उनका जीवन इस बात का प्रमाण है कि अगर व्यक्ति दृढ़ निश्चय कर ले तो गरीबी, अभाव, व दुर्दशा की स्थिति पर विजय प्राप्त करके वे अपने लक्ष्य की ओर बढ़ सकता है।

भीकाजी कामा
भीकाजी कामा
4 min

आज ही के दिन, 22 अगस्त 1907 को जर्मनी में आयोजित अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय सम्मेलन में इन्होंने भारत का झंडा फहराया था।

आज़ादी से 40 साल पहले, भारत का झंडा फहराने वाली वे पहली भारतीय बनी। अधिकतम समय उन्होंने भारत से बाहर ही बिताया लेकिन उन्हें आज भी 'भारतीय क्रांति की जननी'

फ़ातिमा शेख
फ़ातिमा शेख
3 min

इन्होंने पिछड़े वर्ग व महिलाओं की शिक्षा के लिए काम किया, लेकिन अधिकतर लोग इन्हें भूल चुके हैं। इन्होंने आधुनिक भारत के सबसे बड़े शिक्षा आंदोलनों में से एक को, फलने-फूलने की ज़मीन दी, लेकिन आज लोगों को उनका नाम भी नहीं पता। इन्हें भारत की पहली मुस्लिम महिला अध्यापिका

Feeling hurt? || Neem Candies
Feeling hurt? || Neem Candies
1 min

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

The child within us  || Neem Candies
The child within us || Neem Candies
1 min

Have you looked at kids playing? If you look at kids playing and if you look at animals playing, you won’t find much difference. In fact, human kids go along very well with animal kids. Later on, when we cover ourselves with a lot of acquired knowledge, with a lot

How to flip pain into pleasure? || Neem Candies
How to flip pain into pleasure? || Neem Candies
1 min

Welcome pain. You have no option. That’s the way life is meant to be. Life is suffering. Because not only are you designed to have pain, you are also designed to resist pain.

Have pain, and have a lot of depth in your being. So much depth that it can

The mass murder of women! || Neem Candies
The mass murder of women! || Neem Candies
1 min

A woman is murdered—even that is just a two-inch thing in some newspaper. But if it is a sensational rape case, then the entire country joins in.

Are we really concerned about women? Had we been concerned about women, how is it that the common man of this country is

Playing the victim card? || Neem Candies
Playing the victim card? || Neem Candies
1 min

Just as the ego loves to take credit, it also loves to play the victim.

If something good has happened, “I did it!”

If something bad happened, “It happened to me.”

“Good things I do, bad things happen to me”—this is astounding.

Playing the victim is a favorite pastime of

More important than happiness  || Neem Candies
More important than happiness || Neem Candies
1 min

Happiness and sadness are both wonderful, are both welcome.

But in some deep sense, sadness is a little better than happiness. It teaches us a little more than happiness does. It elevates us a little more than happiness does. It has a certain purifying effect that happiness does not quite

The true culprit behind your suffering || Neem Candies
The true culprit behind your suffering || Neem Candies
1 min

If you are suffering, there is nobody but you who is responsible. Unless you fully accept that responsibility, there is no freedom. If your suffering is just incidental, then how can there be freedom from it?—because incidents can happen any way, any day.

You have to, first of all, clearly

Your beauty is your hell! || Neem Candies
Your beauty is your hell! || Neem Candies
1 min

A strange situation is that a beautiful woman’s life is perhaps more complex than an average-looking woman’s life, because a beautiful looking woman has a lot of men eyeing upon her, and she can get whatever she wants. And what you will get for your beauty, that is the real

You are cheating yourself || Neem Candies
You are cheating yourself || Neem Candies
1 min

Let nobody say that he or she is making the right choices in life because she does not know. We all know. We prefer to suppress the inner knowledge. It’s an inner conspiracy against ourselves, just because we want to continue enjoying certain privileges in life—certain physical privileges, material privileges,

Without high goals, a hormonal disaster awaits you || Neem Candies
Without high goals, a hormonal disaster awaits you || Neem Candies
1 min

Both the genders have become even more anchored to their physical identity. The more you do that, the more you are in misery because, really, the body is not who you are.

There are places better and higher than the place of your gender specific hormones. Why do you want

The emotion is the woman’s undoing || Neem Candies
The emotion is the woman’s undoing || Neem Candies
1 min
How to stop feeling sad and stressed? || Neem Candies
How to stop feeling sad and stressed? || Neem Candies
1 min

When you say sadness is just sadness, then you have gained freedom from sadness. It means being free from the obligation to label sadness as a loss of self-worth. If you let sadness go deeply into you, there is no way it is not going to touch joy.

It is

Justified anger || Neem Candies
Justified anger || Neem Candies
1 min

How do we justify our anger? We justify our anger by feeling short-changed, cheated, or victimized; by continuing to assert that we are incomplete, while simultaneously bemoaning the incompleteness. If you have grudges within, if you feel a victim of situations, or past, or persons, and if you lend credence

The huge problem with feminism  || Neem Candies
The huge problem with feminism || Neem Candies
1 min

The problem is, the usual feminism always proceeds keeping the man at the center. The woman is saying, “The man is alright, and I want to be like the man.” This is such a low standard to set. Whereas, true feminism would proceed keeping the person that the female is,

Keep the emotion aside, and see the truth || Neem Candies
Keep the emotion aside, and see the truth || Neem Candies
1 min

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

Teach this to girls || Neem Candies
Teach this to girls || Neem Candies
1 min

Teach the girls that their body is not an instrument to bear kids. Teach them that their self-worth is not at all linked to their motherhood. Teach them where the real fulfilment of life lies, and teach them that it is not in birthing or breastfeeding.

Teach them creativity. Teach

Self-help doesn’t really help || Neem Candies
Self-help doesn’t really help || Neem Candies
1 min

The approach of self-help is: “I am sad because my desires have not met fulfillment. So, the way to help myself is: fulfill desires.” It’s a dimensional difference. Therefore, self-help pleases but helps not. It is not then ‘self-help’; the genre should be more correctly called ‘self-gratification’.

And if you

The girl’s role is to be pretty || Neem Candies
The girl’s role is to be pretty || Neem Candies
1 min

Just watched this movie, Chichore. It is based on IIT Bombay. In the campus, there is one girl in a batch of forty boys. But the girl’s only contribution in the whole story is that she is extremely beautiful, and all the guys are after her. So, in the

Save the girl child—for the men? || Neem Candies
Save the girl child—for the men? || Neem Candies
1 min

‘Save the girl child’ campaigns, many of these campaigns say, “If today you kill the girl child, how will you find a bride for your son tomorrow?” So, the girl has no independent worth of her own, right?

If we go by the government propaganda, even if she is to

Go with the flow! || Neem Candies
Go with the flow! || Neem Candies
1 min

“Enjoy the moment! Go with the flow!” What is that flow? Where is it coming from? Why should I go with it? Why don’t you just pause and ask, which flow are we talking of?

The tsunamis are coming to take you away, and the great master is teaching you:

Listen, girl || Neem Candies
Listen, girl || Neem Candies
1 min

As a young woman, you must be open to going out, experiencing, seeing what the world is all about. Won’t you want to explore it—the rivers, the mountains, the people? Yes, you needed somebody’s hand to walk, but it doesn’t quite look nice now. Test your legs. And how will

Gurus as meat sellers || Neem Candies
Gurus as meat sellers || Neem Candies
1 min

The shopkeeper’s business is to sell his goods, and that’s what most gurus of today are: they have to sell their goods. When that is what you want to do, how can you afford to antagonize a big chunk of the population? And you would never, never do that if

Story behind the happy face || Neem Candies
Story behind the happy face || Neem Candies
1 min