The mind may replay, but we don’t have to play
Sometimes some nasty images come in our mind and make us feel appalled at ourselves: “What kind of devotee am I to be thinking such [...]
By recognizing our identity and redefining our activity, we revolutionize our destiny
Our identity, activity and destiny are our defining features. But do our names, jobs and dreams actually define us? After all, we can change them [...]
Krishna is concrete, close-by and caring
“Always remember Krishna? That’s impossible.” This may be our understandable reaction on hearing the Bhagavad-gita’s central devotional recommendation. Thinking about Krishna constantly will naturally seem [...]
Krishna sees not just our feelings but also our feelings about our feelings
During our spiritual journey, we sometimes find ourselves assaulted by non-devotional feelings such as boredom or nonchalance or, worse still, by anti-devotional feelings such as [...]
The yoga of the heart reveals the heart of yoga
The yoga of the heart refers to bhakti-yoga, the yoga that centers on spiritualizing our heart’s central force: love. The heart of yoga refers to [...]
Sense gratification is a fascinating path to frustration
“Eat this; see this; touch this – and you will enjoy.” The world glamorizes sense gratification thus. In striking contrast, the Bhagavad-gita (05.22) asserts that [...]
Krishna descends to delineate, demonstrate and disseminate dharma
“God descends to establish dharma.” Those familiar with the Gita know this well, with some even quoting the relevant Bhagavad-gita verses (04.07 - 04.08). A careful [...]
To ascribe omnipotence to the laws of nature is poor – and pure – fiction
Atheists often claim that the laws of nature alone have brought into existence the whole universe and all the life in it. But laws are [...]
Stepping-stones can become sucking swamps if we don’t step over in time
“Go from darkness to light, from illusion to truth, from mortality to immortality,” exhorts a celebrated aphorism from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28). The Bhagavad-gita, also [...]
The defining characteristic of humanity distorted by ignorance is inhumanity
Both materialists and spiritualists consider humanity as the pinnacle of evolution. Materialists believe that humanity is the apex of a multi-millennia journey that began with [...]
Krishna descends to offer not just protection but also participation
One of the most quoted verses of the Bhagavad-gita (04.08) states the purpose of Krishna’s periodic descents: cosmic protection. He protects the social and spiritual [...]
Those who judge a horse by its harness can’t harness its potential
When people want to get a horse, they look at the pedigree of the horse – not the quality of its harness. The harness’s quality [...]
The illumination of devotion is the best protection from illusion
Illusion constantly tempts and torments us spiritual seekers, by making us imagine that pleasure is found – and found in abundance – in worldly things. [...]
The oneness of love rests in the twoness of the lovers
Many people conceive of spiritual perfection as a state of absolute oneness, wherein one’s sense of personal identity is dissolved in the impersonal absolute. This [...]
The idea to serve Krishna is far more important than the ideas to serve Krishna
The idea to serve Krishna refers to our broad understanding that life is meant for serving him. The ideas to serve Krishna refer to our [...]
Play the part of the part and the whole will fill the hole
We sometimes feel a hole within – a sense of emptiness that gnaws especially when we aren’t deadening ourselves internally with the racehorse pace and [...]
The resolution to the confrontation between reason and emotion lies in purification
Whenever we have to make choices in life, we usually turn to two courts: the court of reason (“That makes sense”) and the court of [...]
That which is unwillingly learned is willingly unlearned
When we practice bhakti-yoga, we frequently find ourselves relapsing to worldly anti-devotional indulgences. Why does this happen? Because in the school of devotion we are [...]
Let intelligence be a tool for spiritual resurrection, not spiritual insurrection
Among the different species, we humans are uniquely gifted with advanced intelligence. By using this intelligence properly, we can perceive life’s spiritual dimension and approach [...]
Life is meant to be not a race from birth to death but a raise from mortality to immortality
“Is life meant to be a race from birth to death?” If people were asked this question, they would probably reply: “Obviously not. Who [...]
Let our deficiencies be not sinking pits for depression, but launching pads for devotion
We are often plagued by deficiencies of some kind or the other. And given our materialistic culture that glamorizes idealized specimens of various material attributes, [...]