Even if we can’t be transfixed, we can still be fixed
To be transfixed is to be captivated, mesmerized, absorbed. The purpose and perfection of devotion is to be transfixed by our love for Krishna. Pure [...]
We may be distracted, but we don’t have to be disheartened
When we try to focus on purposeful service to Krishna, our mind frequently distracts us. On being distracted repeatedly, we may get disheartened. To avoid [...]
Emotion divorced from reason ends in tribulation
The Bhagavad-gita’s beginning demonstrates the devastating power of emotions. When attacked by negative emotions, Arjuna, a battle-hardened warrior, was reduced to tears (02.01) and could [...]
Everything is not relative – everything is related
Nowadays many people believe in the relativity of everything: “You stay happy with your opinion, I will stay happy with mine.” While we all are [...]
Just as wet clothes can’t dry us, an impure mind can’t purify us
Suppose we get drenched by rains. On rushing home, if we try to dry ourselves using the wet clothes we are wearing, we labor in [...]
Hearing is the heart of healing
Gita wisdom explains that we all are presently in a spiritually diseased condition. We are eternal spiritual beings, but are seeking pleasure in temporary material [...]
We may have to disagree, but we don’t have to be disagreeable
While interacting with others, we may find some people’s opinions utterly unacceptable. Their perspective and understanding may be so different from ours that we can’t [...]
When we become at home in Krishna, we go home to Krishna
When we start practicing spiritual life seriously, we aspire to attain the supreme spiritual reality, Krishna, by attaining his eternal abode, which is our ultimate [...]
Living the way our senses dictate is not living at all
Suppose a person is driving a car, but the car doesn’t move at all. Then whether what they are doing is driving is open to [...]
Spiritual growth requires rising from “either-or” thinking to “and” thinking
While driving through a fork, we have to choose one of the two roads. We often superimpose this materially useful either-or attitude on spiritual understanding. [...]
Obsession can make the covetous murderous
The greed that is present in all human hearts makes us covet for more and more things, way beyond what we need. Such greed, though [...]
Subtler joys aren’t smaller – they are just softer
Affection can be conveyed by both a long, tight hug as well as by a quick, gentle squeeze of the shoulder. To appreciate the affection [...]
Possessions can’t provide satisfaction – we need purification
Today’s culture indoctrinates us into believing that satisfaction lies in the possessions we don’t have. Indeed, the craving for such possessions is the fuel that [...]
Drive the mind’s chariot – don’t be driven by it
If a charioteer is inattentive, the horses will take the chariot where they want instead of going where the charioteer needs to go. The Bhagavad-gita [...]
If we neglect what we are saved for, we gravitate towards what we were saved from
Today’s sensual culture fills our mind with agitation, dissatisfaction and frustration. When we start living by the Gita’s spiritual wisdom, we become significantly free from [...]
Sensual pleasure is too fleeting to be fulfilling
Suppose we are tormented by thirst in a desert. If someone gives us water, they would appear to be doing us a great favor. But [...]
Within moments, the mind can change awesome to awful
When children get a new video game, they deem it awesome. But when they can’t win it the way they want, they deem it awful. [...]
No loss is as disempowering as the loss of faith in our free will
Our possessions such as properties and positions give us power to do things. Losing any such possession is disempowering. However, among all such losses, the [...]
Imprecision in identifying our enemies increases our enemies
In an area infested with insurgents, suppose the government indiscriminately bombs everyone. Consequently, even peace-loving people feel unfairly targeted and rise in rebellion. By failing [...]
Seeking more is often the cause of our problems, not the solution
Today’s culture propagates that we can solve our problems by getting more – more money, more possessions, more comforts. But does getting more make us [...]
Taking shelter of lust amidst problems is like taking shelter of kidnappers when threatened by thieves
Suppose we are being chased by thieves. While fleeing from them, those who we take shelter of turn out to be kidnappers. The thieves would [...]