Tolerance is meant to be the preventer of imbalance, not its perpetuator
Some people feel that tolerance perpetuates the imbalance of power – tolerating powerful wrongdoers simply makes them more brazen. Actually however, tolerance prevents imbalance in [...]
Our vision is functional and valuable, but not necessarily factual
People often ask, “If the soul and God are real, why can’t we see them?” But the question begs itself: Do we really see things [...]
Those who stay upset about what they don’t have waste what they do have
Suppose a person with artistic talent craves and slaves to become an engineer. But if they just don’t get mathematics or physics and somehow struggle [...]
Gita 17.09 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Bg 17.9 kaṭv-amla-lavaṇāty-uṣṇa- tīkṣṇa-rūkṣa-vidāhinaḥ āhārā [...]
Transformational teaching conveys not just intellectual meaning but also emotional meaning
The most effective teaching methods touch not just the head but also the heart. When a message is meaningful not just intellectually but also emotionally, [...]
Spirituality enables us to stand tall without standing on others
To ascend to success in material life, winners often have to stand atop their competitors, causing the death of their dreams. For example, in a [...]
Transcendence means to go beyond testing Krishna to tasting Krishna
Testing God means questioning his existence or at least his benevolence. Whenever we face difficulties, if God frees us from those difficulties in response to [...]
To master your senses, make Krishna your master
Suppose our boss is a taskmaster. He promises us raises, but hardly ever delivers those promises; he just keeps demanding backbreaking work. If we are [...]
Prohibition can be a support for purification, not a substitute
Some governments recognize that alcoholism leads to various problems such as disease, domestic abuse and driving under intoxication. To curb such problems, they prohibit alcohol. [...]
Our individuality is meant to lead us towards our spirituality, not away from it
In today’s individualistic culture, people feel, “I want to be who I am. And no one should stop me.” The intention underlying this feeling is [...]
Socialization should be a spur for spiritualization, not a substitute for it
Many people find spiritual association a good place for socialization. As spiritually-minded people are often warm, gentle and thoughtful, their association can be a comforting [...]
Even for those who think God is the last thing they need, God remains the first thing they need
Most people are caught in materialism, in dreaming and worrying how they can possess and enjoy things in the here-and-now. Being thus obsessed, they feel [...]
External success may be a zero-sum game, but internal success isn’t
External success requires us to achieve worldly things such as positions and possessions that are considered markers of success. But such success markers are limited. [...]
God outgrows every frame through which we see him
Suppose we look at a person through a camera frame to click their photo. But just as we focus, they grow beyond the frame. We [...]
Those who anger us conquer us
Sports are sometimes marred by unwholesome practices such as sledging. In cricket, for example, fielders may provoke a batsman by taunting. If the batsman gets [...]
Gita 5.2 explained
Bg 5.2 śrī-bhagavān uvāca sannyāsaḥ karma-yogaś ca niḥśreyasa-karāv ubhau tayos tu karma-sannyāsāt karma-yogo viśiṣyate Word for word: śrī-bhagavān uvāca — the Personality of Godhead said; [...]
Spiritual surrender is not an admission of defeat – it is a vehicle to victory
In contemporary idiom, the word “surrender” conjures strong negative imagery. When a warrior is overpowered and has no way to resist or escape, he surrenders, [...]
The material and the spiritual can be competitive, but they can also be cumulative
When we start practicing spiritual life, our material and spiritual sides can seem to be competitive. Both require our time and energy. As these are [...]
The inconsiderate can be as injurious as the incorrect
A doctor who prescribes incorrectly hurts the patient. But so does a doctor who prescribes inconsiderately, who doesn’t consider the patient’s case history and prescribes [...]
To see through everything is to see nothing
The purpose of seeing through something is to see to something. A see-through window in our car helps us see things outside the car. If [...]
Bring out the best within, not the beast within
We all would like to improve ourselves, become better – and yet we sometimes act regrettably, worse than ourselves. What makes us act like that? [...]