Asanas cannot free us from vasanas
Asanas (physical postures) are nowadays gaining popularity as means for improving fitness and figure. Bodily improvement, however desirable, is just a fringe benefit of the [...]
God is not one cause among many causes – he is the one cause underlying the many causes
When we cook something, say, sweet rice, we use ingredients such as rice, sugar, milk, camphor – and God. No, God is not one of [...]
Why look at a mirage when heading to the oasis?
It’s bad to be lost in a desert. It’s worse to be chasing a mirage. But it’s worst of all to be nearing an oasis [...]
Maya is not just illusion in perception – it is essentially illusion in conception
Thoughtful people know that our perceptions can illusion us. Such illusions are, say, mirages or the apparent bending of a stick kept partially in water. [...]
Direct your curiosity radar towards Krishna
Curiosity is natural to us as conscious beings. We all could be said to have a radar that zooms in on the things that we [...]
Ceaseless visual temptation causes pointless mental agitation
(This article is presented in a question-answer format as an experiment to increase accessibility of content. Please share your feedback about this content through comments. Thank [...]
Success in one field can’t compensate for failure in another
In today’s work-centered culture, some people achieve stupendous success in their professional lives – but often at great cost to their personal lives. Their relationships [...]
Krishna is the source, shelter and summit of everything
Some people conceive of God as a distant being who manages the world through some remote-controlling mechanism. Raising us beyond such preliminary notions of God, [...]
Tolerance prevents the inner sine wave from triggering an outer sin wave
Our consciousness in our present conditioned stage keeps moving up and down, akin to a sine wave. An elevated consciousness in the mode of goodness [...]
Don’t let the wealth without wipe out the wealth within
Our thoughts determine our inner wealth level. When materialism drives us, our thoughts obsess over outer things, gradually impelling us to indiscriminate actions. The Bhagavad-gita [...]
Gita 06.46 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 46-47: The topmost yogi fixes his [...]
Satisfying our longing for the infinite with finite pleasures ends in addiction
We all long for pleasure. And the world promises us pleasure through its myriad material objects. But materialist propaganda downplays the fact that even the [...]
The capacity to choose is itself not freedom – the maturity to choose wisely is
Today’s ethos exalts freedom as the supreme virtue. Anything that infringes on freedom is labeled dictatorial and unacceptable. But consider addicts. They do have the [...]
Use breaks to break the mind’s spell on you
Our mind is like a spell-casting magician. When a magician spell-binds a person, the victim simply does whatever the magician orders: “Stand, jump; walk on [...]
Bhakti is the treatment that transforms into a treat
When we are sick, we accept the prescribed treatment as an austerity necessary for our recovery. And we often dream about the various treats we [...]
Gita 06.42 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 38-45: If the mind deviates the [...]
When you shake an apple tree, don’t be blind to the falling of mangoes
Suppose a hungry boy goes to an orchard and starts shaking an apple tree. Nothing happens. He prays to God for help and shakes the [...]
Gita 06.41 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 38-45: If the mind deviates the [...]
Our lack of confidence doesn’t choke us as much as our overconfidence in our hypercritical mind
When we get an opportunity to do something challenging – something that can help develop our God-given talents – we often shrink back in apprehension. [...]
Our entanglement is caused not by our attachment, but by our detachment
As spiritual beginners, we may think that our attachments cause our entanglement. Such thinking doesn’t probe deep enough – it fails to ask: Why are [...]
Gita 06.39 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 38-45: If the mind deviates the [...]