We can’t reach new planets without leaving the earth
The prospect of traveling to new planets is both stimulating and unnerving. It’s stimulating because of the excitement ofexploring uncharted territory. And it’s unnerving because [...]
Increasing willpower – The only way and the best way
When we fall short while doing something challenging, we often wonder: how can I increase my willpower? The factors that determine our present level of [...]
Where is the glory in a backdoor victory over attachments?
In sports a backdoor victory is universally considered inglorious. If India deliberately schedulesa cricket seriesagainst Pakistan at a time when all the top Pakistaniplayers are [...]
Are we like doctors who give medicines to everyone except themselves?
Doctors going to epidemic-struck areas are extremely careful to vaccinate themselves from the disease they intend to treat. Gita wisdom informs us that the entire [...]
We are our own devils
Some traditions have the conception of the Devil, an intrinsically evil being who is independent of and almost as powerful as God. He wants to [...]
Better to be exhausted than rusted
With every passing moment time moves forward inexorably and irreversibly. The passage of time causes non-living things to rust. Living beings also age as time [...]
How humility boosts our self-esteem…
We often feel under-recognized by the world. We frequently think that we have far more talents and much greater potential than what others credit us. [...]
We are just extras in others’ plots
We often worry what others think about us – without realizing how little they think about us. We are usually extras in their life-plots. Let’s [...]
When life makes us emotionally seasick…
Seasickness is caused by the continuous up-down movement of the ship due to the sea-waves. Similarly, when we travel through life, its ups and downs [...]
When neither the summits nor the valleys matter…
The Bhagavad-gita’s recommendation(02.56) to stay equipoised amidst success and failure puzzles many people. It is antipodal to the modern sporting ethos, wherein the winner is [...]
Is our sight causing us to lose sight?
When we see a blind person struggling to find the way with a stick, we often feel compassion for that person’s condition. We consider our [...]
When a salesperson knocks at the inner door…
When a salesperson comes knocking at our door, we evaluate the proposal by merit. If the proposal is unreasonable or unnecessary, we usually say a [...]
Why life seems so complex…
Suppose each time we want to type an email the computer asks us to choose the font, the font size, the alignment, the indentation, the [...]
A business that is more serious than business
We take few things as seriously as business. Moneyusually makes the lazy busy; the frivolous serious; the nonconformists conformists. In marked contrastto our zealous pursuit [...]
Plans may not work, but planning works
“My plans never work, so I have decided to give up planning.” We may think like this when our plans to balance our material obligations [...]
Are we trying to live someone else’s life?
All of us are irreducibly individual. We all have our own distinctive looks, tastes and talents, which combine in a way that makes us unique. [...]
Spiritual culture is the bridge from hypocrisy and perversity to purity
We sometimes get impure desires such as sexual attraction towards someone. Many people choose to fulfill these impure desires privately through various secret arrangements. By [...]
On the value of judgments and the judgment of values
Some people oppose value-judgments of any kind: “According to one person’s values, a particular act may be wrong. But why should that person’s values be [...]
How can we be true to ourselves?
We live at the receiving end of a massive propaganda blitz from our materialistic culture. Most people simply blow whichever direction the cultural winds fly, [...]
Krishna is not just God; he is my God
The belief that God exists is good. But much higher is the recognition that Krishna is God in his highest manifestation. Still higher is Krishna’s [...]
Long to belong where we eternally belong
Few things define us as much as our longings. They occupy our thoughts, shape our words and determine our actions. Sadly however, most of our [...]