Humility means to accept but not expect respect
We may sometimes wonder, “How can I stay humble amidst the devotional culture of respectfulness? If nobody would notice me, it would be easier to [...]
Bhakti is not just cultural or historical but also universal and eternal
The historical dating of spiritually significant events is often an exercise in irrelevance. Consider, for example, the mainstream academic opinion that characterizes bhakti as a [...]
Material nature is characterized by cyclic proces, not linear progress
Our mainstream culture makes us believe that life at the material level is linearly progressive; so, our efforts can make things better materially. This belief [...]
Do others have to pay for our enjoyment?
When we enjoy materially, we often fail to notice that others have to pay for our enjoyment. Here are a few examples: 1. When one [...]
What went wrong with the great materialist dream?
The great materialist dream is that happiness is found in material things:money, sex, TV, video games, 4G net connections. But today this dream finds itself [...]
We can’t create paradise, nor were we created in paradise – but we can go to paradise
Many technologists feel that hi-tech appliances will gradually provide necessities and luxuries for more and more people. Thus, they posit that we humans will create [...]
See spiritual advancement in overall dedication not ritual specialization
Many spiritual neophytes get enamored on seeing virtuoso cultural skills in spiritual teachers. They often consider as spiritually advanced individuals with the ability to fluently [...]
Krishna’s ladder of love helps us rise from wherever we presently are
Love for Krishna may sometimes seem a distant, abstract concept. But Gita wisdom offers a systematic pathway by which we can slowly but surely attain [...]
Sex is extraordinarily ordinary
Nothing fascinates the human imagination as much as sex. Pictures, articles, TV programs, movies, novels, websites and almost all conceivable means of communication are frequently [...]
The material is not spiritual, but it is spiritualizable
“Everything that devotees do is spiritual, so even their material life is spiritual,” we may hear statements like these in devotee circles. Naturally, we may [...]
Devotion enables us to strike a deal between the extraordinary and the ordinary
As spiritual seekers living in a material body and a materialist culture, our lives have two sides: the spiritual and the material. Given that materialism [...]
Ending the perpetual u-turns in our quest for happiness
We sometimes strive for spiritual enjoyment and sometimes indulge in material enjoyment. Thus, we keep taking perpetual u-turns in our quest for happiness. To end [...]
Our spirituality is a specialty, not an abnormality
“You don’t have to be so serious about your spiritual life. You don’t want to become an abnormal person, do you?” Those of us committed [...]
The goal of spiritual knowledge is not just discovery but also recovery
Some of us may get the doubt: “Science is exciting because therein we constantly discover new things. In spirituality, all the knowledge is already given [...]
Take a sage look at time management
“Time management” is a trendy word. The trend, though, is to focus on management, not on time. People value time for its utilitarian worth, as [...]
Devotion to the greatest soul makes the small soul a great soul
We usually long to prove our greatness to the world. At first sight, Gita wisdom seems to repress this ambition for greatness; it informs us [...]
The obnoxious is obnoxious because it is noxious
A prevailing intellectual fad sees all value-judgments as subjective: “If you think something is obnoxious, it is obnoxious for you – but not necessarily for [...]
Blunt the desire for enjoyment with engagement
The greatest obstacle on the spiritual path for most of us is the desire to enjoy material pleasures, especially anti-devotional material pleasures. Because most of [...]
Don’t give up the intelligence; go beyond the intelligence
Intellectuals sometimes feel alienated from scriptures due to what they feel are its inconsistent or illogical statements. As their intellect has been their guide and [...]
The present is all that we have – and all that we will ever have
We frequently lead life as if it were a practice run for next time. All of us want to do valuable, special, big things in [...]
Don’t let the mind eat your head
The mind sometimes makes us do self-defeating, short-sighted, stupid things. How? By making us headless. The Bhagavad-gita (02.62) indicates that when the mind contemplates sense [...]