Acharya Prashant, born Prashant Tripathi in 1978 in Agra, India, is a contemporary spiritual teacher, philosopher, and author renowned for his teachings rooted in Advaita Vedanta. An alumnus of IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, he initially embarked on a career in the Indian Civil Services but chose to resign during training to pursue a spiritual path.
In 2006, he founded the PrashantAdvait Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at disseminating spiritual wisdom and addressing societal issues through a scientific and spiritual approach. Acharya Prashant has authored over 150 books on topics ranging from love and parenting to authoritative commentaries on scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads. His teachings emphasize clarity, self-awareness, and living a conscious life, free from societal conditioning. Beyond spirituality, he is an advocate for veganism, environmental consciousness, and critical thinking. With a significant online presence, including over 56 million YouTube subscribers and billions of views, he continues to inspire individuals worldwide to seek inner transformation and live responsibly.
Habit: The Invisible Force Shaping Our life
As long as one is alive, habits will remain. The heartbeat continues. The breath continues. These are habits too — the deepest ones. Nature has given habits not as a trap, but as a support. Where only one right action exists, why waste time choosing? Let it happen automatically — that’s the function of habit.
But the trouble begins when habit takes over in places where clarity is needed. Where attention must act, we slip into automation. It’s not habit that needs to be removed — it’s misdirected habit that needs to be corrected.
Become habituated to the essential: Truth, Freedom, Simplicity. Let your reflexes support you there. Habits become sacred when they point toward the right. When you are habituated to listening to the inner voice, to doing the clear thing, to keeping it simple — that’s not bondage, that’s liberation.
Even procrastination — often called a weakness — can be turned useful.
The body delays what threatens it. You can delay what is unnecessary, what distracts, what disturbs. Don’t try to destroy your urges. They’ll return. Just keep telling them, “Not now, maybe later.” You cannot always say “No” — but you can always say “Later.”
Spirituality is not a fight with the ego. It is an intelligent dance. You don’t push the ego directly; you deceive it gently. If you are to be true to the Truth, you cannot be too loyal to your old self. To walk towards the real, you must sometimes trick the false.How to break habits? Don’t fight them. Build stronger ones.
Say an instant, unconditional “Yes” to the right. Make awareness your strongest reflex. Let response to clarity become your second nature. Let your very being become ready — like the disciple who, even in deep sleep, rises instantly when the Master calls.
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