We introduce the notion of a Seshadri stratification on an embedded projective variety. Such a structure enables us to construct a Newton-Okounkov simplicial complex and a flat degeneration of the projective variety into a union of toric varieties. We show that the Seshadri stratification provides a geometric setup for a standard monomial theory. In this framework, Lakshmibai-Seshadri paths for Schubert varieties get a geometric interpretation as successive vanishing orders of regular functions.