To grow in humility, stay rooted in reality
Most of us have met egomaniacs who think that others have nothing better to do than hear them expound their glories. Such hubris stems from [...]
Focus on your steps, not your sidesteps
While walking on a road, suppose we keep worrying about all the slippery spots that we will have to sidestep. The resulting fear that we [...]
The more we comprehend Krishna’s transcendence, the more we cherish his munificence
Suppose a country’s president visits a jail for inspiring prisoners to reform and be released. But suppose the prisoners ignorantly mistake the president to be [...]
To not consider our capacity is to cripple our capacity
Suppose a child, on seeing an adult lift a heavy weight, tries to lift a similar weight. That child will end up injured, unable to [...]
Be faithful, but be watchful too
People ask, “Why should we believe in invisible things such as the soul and reject realities seen with our eyes?” Actually, we don’t need to [...]
Physical sensations cheat us of spiritual emotions
Suppose we are going to a place where a feast is on the menu, but someone takes us elsewhere, promising an even better feast. But [...]
Obsession isn’t just a distractor from absorption; it is also a demonstrator of absorption
Some bhakti seekers ask, “My mind gets so easily distracted by worldly things. Is it possible to become absorbed in Krishna?” Yes, it is. If [...]
Mercy transforms no man’s land into God’s land
The Bhagavad-gita was spoken in no man’s land. On the Kurukshetra battlefield, when the two armies had assembled just before the climactic Mahabharata war, the [...]
Suffering doesn’t have to be isolating – it can be integrating
When some adversity afflicts us, grief is natural and understandable. Still, after we have given our emotions the necessary vent, we need to counter the [...]
We can’t drive out darkness, but we can turn on the light
Suppose we find ourselves groping and stumbling in a dark room. We may feel irritated at the darkness, but cursing or punching it achieves nothing. [...]
Don’t just restrain the mind – retrain it
Suppose a horse-rider finds their horse going off in dangerous directions. They will have to restrain it, and restrain it forcefully if it is recalcitrant. [...]
Purification centers on channeling our nature, not suppressing it
Some people ask, “Don’t the many rules of spiritual life suppress our nature?” No, this apprehension comes from conflating two distinct senses of the word [...]
Between the extremes of pantheism and deism lies the holism of panentheism
Pantheism equates God with nature. It implies that whatever exists in nature is all that there is to God, that he has no self-existence beyond [...]
In worrying about what all may go wrong, we go wrong
Worrying hurts us even before things go wrong, while things are going wrong and after things have gone wrong. Consider a student with a decent [...]
Get serious about not taking yourself too seriously
People who are too stuck-up, standoffish, finicky are told, “Lighten up. Don’t take things so seriously.” Such people who take themselves too seriously make small [...]
Bhakti empowers us to use our free will fully and fulfillingly
Our free will is our most precious asset. It enables us to seek success and happiness. But we can’t pursue these aspirations effectively if we [...]
In mind management, find the balance between laxity and stringency through maturity
When our child acts mischievously, we can empathize if we remember how we too were restless at that age. Still, if they start doing something [...]
Be not tired of fighting against temptation – be tired of forgetting Krishna
If a shooter misses the target again and again, they may become tired of practicing, lose heart and give up. Or, they can resolve to [...]
Focus not on comfort or discomfort – focus on purification
Suppose we are sitting on a chair and studying. If the chair is twisted, the resulting discomfort may hinder our study. But if the chair [...]
Liberalism can be as intolerant as the intolerance it opposes
In today’s intellectual ethos, liberals often claim the high moral ground. They portray conservatives as intolerant for discriminating based on their own belief-systems. However, liberals [...]
Our words should open people’s hearts, not close them
Suppose a surgeon operates without considering the patient’s weak heart, and the surgery leads to a fatal complication. The surgeon would be considered negligent if [...]