What free speech means and what it does not mean
Free speech is not simply speaking whatever we want to speak. It is carefully speaking what needs to be spoken for a constructive effect. We [...]
Stay calm and carry on: grounding or denial?
When is such a motto keeping us grounded, and when is it keeping us in denial? Whenever things turn out to be different from what [...]
Loss, guilt, and despair: the trio of emotions that can make our inner world toxic
In the face of a problem, if all we can come up with is, "It's not my fault," then that is our fault. Life is [...]
Does devotion mean giving up on our dreams?
Devotion is not about giving up on our dreams—it is about giving our dreams to God and taking up the dreams He gives us. Some [...]
How hope, faith, and purpose can help us move toward a better future
Life sometimes places us in moments where the present seems unbearably dark, like an unbreakable prison, making it hard to envision a better future. Regardless [...]
Please enter into my world, so I may enter into yours
Bhagavad Gita 14.7 rajo rāgātmakaṁ viddhi tṛṣṇā-saṅga-samudbhavam tan nibadhnāti kaunteya karma-saṅgena dehinam Passion is craving—burning desire, Born of thirst that fans the fire; It [...]
Let wisdom prompt me to look up at you, not look down at the unwise
Bhagavad Gita 14.6 tatra sattvaṁ nirmalatvāt prakāśakam anāmayam sukha-saṅgena badhnāti jñāna-saṅgena cānagha Goodness, by purity, shines as light, Clear and healing, stainlessly bright; It [...]
Please bridge the divide between my outer persona and my inner personhood
Bhagavad Gita 14.5 sattvaṁ rajas tama iti guṇāḥ prakṛti-sambhavāḥ nibadhnanti mahā-bāho dehe dehinam avyayam Goodness, passion, ignorance—they all bind, Born of nature, they condition [...]
Even if I can’t find shelter in your love, grant me shelter in your wisdom
Bhagavad Gita 14.2 idaṁ jñānam upāśritya mama sādharmyam āgatāḥ sarge ’pi nopajāyante pralaye na vyathanti ca Sheltered in this wisdom bright, They attain my [...]
O pull behind all love, may I feel the pull of your love
Bhagavad Gita 14.4 sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā In every womb that forms appear, All shapes of [...]
You remain my best friend even when I remain my worst enemy
Bhagavad Gita 14.26 māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate One who serves me with devotion true, Amid the modes—steadfast, [...]
Lift my vision from the world’s casual cruelty to your consequential compassion
Bhagavad Gita 13.30 prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ yaḥ paśyati tathātmānam akartāraṁ sa paśyati All actions nature alone performs, In countless ways, in countless [...]
Let my sight lead me to insight, not away from insight
Bhagavad Gita 13.35 kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor evam antaraṁ jñāna-cakṣuṣā bhūta-prakṛti-mokṣaṁ ca ye vidur yānti te param Who see the field and knower clear, To them, with [...]
Mumbai–Pune Expressway Nightmare: The Sattvic Need for Negative Imagination
When a three-hour drive turns into a thirty-two-hour ordeal, it’s not just an accident. It’s a systems failure. A failure of imagination. A failure of [...]
Lead me to live like you: changing the world without being changed by it
Bhagavad Gita 13.34 yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ kṛtsnaṁ lokam imaṁ raviḥ kṣetraṁ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṁ prakāśayati bhārata As one sun lights the whole wide land, [...]
You are never far away from me, even when I am far away from you
Bhagavad Gita 13.29 samaṁ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhantaṁ parameśvaram vinaśyatsv avinaśyantaṁ yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati Seeing the Lord in every face, Standing equal in every [...]
Help me realize that you are in control and release me from my mind’s control
Bhagavad Gita 13.29 samaṁ paśyan hi sarvatra samavasthitam īśvaram na hinasty ātmanātmānaṁ tato yāti parāṁ gatim Seeing the Supreme Lord in all, everywhere, Equally [...]
From my sense of self that sentences me to self-inflicted suffering, set me free
Bhagavad Gita 13.25 dhyānenātmani paśyanti kecid ātmānam ātmanā anye sāṅkhyena yogena karma-yogena cāpare Some behold the self by inner sight, Attained by meditation, calm [...]
Bring me closer to realizing that you are close to me
Bhagavad Gita 13.16 bahir antaś ca bhūtānām acaraṁ caram eva ca sūkṣmatvāt tad avijñeyaṁ dūra-sthaṁ cāntike ca tat Outside all beings, yet residing within, [...]
You make the extraordinary ordinary—and can make the ordinary extraordinary
Bhagavad Gita 13.23 upadraṣṭānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ paramātmeti cāpy ukto dehe ’smin puruṣaḥ paraḥ Observer, monitor, permitter, Sustainer, enjoyer, sovereign mover; Known as [...]
Help me find a way back to myself—spiritually and materially
Bhagavad Gita 13.22 puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ’sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu The soul, situated in a bodily tool, Seeks pleasure in what [...]