The war against lust is a war of attrition
A war of attrition refers to a war in which victory requires wearing out the opponent. As spiritual seekers, we need to wage war against [...]
Surrender to Krishna is difficult, but surrender to the body is doomed
Surrender is a word that often brings negative connotations, making us imagine that it involves forced submission to an aggressor. But surrender is simply a [...]
The journey to realizing “I am not the body” begins with living “I am more than the body”
The Bhagavad-gita’s fundamental teaching (02.13) is that we are not material bodies but are spiritual beings. Even when we understand this intellectually, we can’t abruptly [...]
Even when Krishna is in the universe, the universe is still in him
When Krishna descends to the world, he appears to be just like any other person, someone who is limited to one place and needs to [...]
Humiliation is false ego frustrated, humility is false ego rejected
The Bhagavad-gita (13.08) lists humility as the first of the twenty qualities that comprise wisdom. Significantly, the Gita mentions humility in a negative way to [...]
Stop running away from Krishna – run down the mind instead
The Bhagavad-gita (06.44) indicates that those who have tasted the sweetness of Krishna, even if they subsequently get deviated from the path to him, are [...]
Searching for the villain can’t help us in finding the hero
When things start going wrong in our life, our false ego goes into a default defensive, scheming to find a villain on whom to lay [...]
Krishna is everything, but everything is not Krishna
The Bhagavad-gita (7.19) states that the wise surrender to Krishna, understanding him to be everything (vasudevah sarvam iti). Does this verse describe a naïve pantheism [...]
Are we desiring the worthy or the trendy?
Our capacity to desire is our most powerful resource, second only to our capacity to access Krishna’s grace. Our desires shape our life’s direction and [...]
A game that we can’t win and can’t quit
We may get the question: “Why do we need to give up material desires like lust and greed?” Because of their two deadly characteristics: insatiability [...]
Let temptation trigger an alarm bell, not a welcome tune
The Bhagavad-gita (03.41) urges us to recognize carnal temptation as a symbol of sin (papamanam) and to curb it as soon as it rears its [...]
Krishna’s love is unconditional yet conditional
The Bhagavad-gita (09.30) urges us to recognize as saintly a devotee who, though guilty of grievous misconduct, is still determined to serve Krishna. The next [...]
Love is in the SOUND
The Bhagavad-gita (09.14) states that advanced devotees engage constantly and determinedly in speaking and singing about Krishna. The fact that they focus so much on [...]
Let’s keep our intelligence FIT
The Bhagavad-gita (5.22) states that those who are intelligent never delight in sense pleasures because they understand how it always ends in misery. This verse [...]
Grasp the sense, the nonsense and the trans-sense of worldly mania
Our world is beset by various manias: filmstar-mania, sportstar-mania, musician-mania, to name a few. Some of us may have wondered: why do people spend so [...]
Love for Krishna is a love that doesn’t appoint to DIS-appoint
Whenever we love anyone, we hope fondly that the relationship will make us happy; we fix an appointment with fulfilment. Sadly however, worldly love promises [...]
Matter points to matters that matter more than matter
Most of us usually remain preoccupied with our material needs and desires, and consequently with the material world where we hope to fulfill them. When [...]
Living the Gita is not about turning back the clock, but about turning on the compass
Some people ask, “To practice the Gita, do we need to turn back the clock to the time thousands of years ago when it was [...]
Krishna is ever-waiting, ever-willing and ever-working
The Bhagavad-gita (15.15) states that Krishna personally resides in the hearts of all of us so as to guide us to our ultimate good. From [...]
“Seeing is believing” drags humans to the animal level
The Bhagavad-gita (15.10) reproaches as deluded (vimudha) those materialists who are blind to the soul due to their overdependence on their undependable senses. “Seeing is [...]
Time expresses Krishna’s tough love
The Bhagavad-gita (10.33) identifies time as a manifestation of Krishna. Time is one of the most forceful teachers about the temporary nature of worldly existence. [...]