When living in the present helps, and when it harms
“Live in the present” is valuable advice to counter our mind’s tendency to wander off into the past or the future. That wandering can rob [...]
“Live in the present” is valuable advice to counter our mind’s tendency to wander off into the past or the future. That wandering can rob [...]
When we try to follow moral standards to live purely, we sometimes feel harassed by temptations that keep coming upon us. And if we compare [...]
Suppose we experience a craving that runs contrary to the principles we hold sacred. Faced with this unwanted emotion, we may react by becoming judgmental [...]
We all sometimes experience negative emotions such as loneliness, dejection, resentment, anger or fear. When such emotions arise, we may let ourselves get carried away [...]
Now, after describing this, Krishna will again come to the point of how this attainment of anamayam (2.51) is beyond even the Vedas. It is [...]
The Bhagavad-gita (02.53) cautions that our intelligence can get lost in the forest of illusion created by words. Consider two striking points in this verse. [...]
Suppose we have to decide about complex and consequential issues such as choosing a career, a life-partner or a spiritual teacher. We may be told, [...]
Many regularly used words have nuances that we rarely ponder. Consider the word “heart.” When we say, “He suffered a heart attack,” we refer to [...]
When we strive to become God conscious by doing various devotional practices, we often start evaluating the God consciousness of those around us. We strive [...]
To understand, consider an analogous question: do sensations reside in the body? Suppose a 20 kg dumbbell is placed in our palm, and we feel [...]
Thoughts and emotions are sometimes seen as sequential — when we think steadily about something, we feel emotions in relationship with it. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita [...]
At one level, yes. Because thinking is also a form of activity, and every activity comes under the jurisdiction of karma, we are accountable for [...]
The word “thing” has multiple meanings. It can refer to an object, especially an inanimate object, as in: “There wasn't a thing in sight.” If [...]
The law of attraction holds that we attract positive and negative things respectively by cultivating positive or negative thoughts. Is this law true? Why does [...]
When a person having unhealthy habits is told to imagine the disasters that may result if they continue with those habits, they worry, “Won’t such [...]
BG 2.63 krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smriti-vibhramah smriti-bhramsad buddhi-naso buddhi-nasat pranasyati SYNONYMS krodhat -- from anger; bhavati -- takes place; sammohah -- perfect illusion; sammohat [...]
Biologically, we are wired more to fear pain than to savor pleasure. In most enjoyable situations, there’s a self-evident limit to how much pleasure we [...]
We sometimes resolve to not do something, yet end up doing that very thing. For example, we may resolve to avoid binging on food, entertainment [...]
How we conceive God determines how we relate with him. If we conceive of him as a being who exists far away, high in the [...]
Suppose we discuss spirituality with a loved one whose conceptions differ from what we have learnt in sacred texts like the Bhagavad-gita. We may feel [...]
Love is founded in freedom: Suppose a boy proposes to a girl saying, “I love you. Will you marry me?” Suppose she declines. And he [...]