Don’t let the stray lead you astray
Suppose we are walking, and someone approaches and asks us to come with them somewhere. We wouldn’t just go along nonchalantly – we would first [...]
A lot is happening when nothing seems to be happening
When people meet each other, they often ask, “What’s happening?” And one reply may be, “Not much.” When people talk about happenings, they usually refer [...]
Surrender is expressed through not just helplessness but also readiness
The quintessential image of surrender is the chaste Draupadi, raising her hands in utter helplessness while being disrobed and calling out to Krishna for protection. [...]
You are no stranger to God
If we need to approach an important person for some help, we will hesitate if we had no prior relationship with him. But if he [...]
Don’t uproot in doubt what was planted in faith
Suppose a person carefully plants saplings in a garden. But, on seeing no fruits forthcoming and thinking impatiently that no fruits will ever come, that [...]
The best is not as important as the best for you
Suppose someone places a persimmon in competition with an apple and tries to make it the best apple. Not only will they fail, but also [...]
Our role in doing things is contributive, not decisive
We do things all the time, yet we don’t often think of the various factors that go into things working out well. The Bhagavad-gita (18.14) [...]
The notion of doership is not an illusion – the notion of sole doership is
An oft-quoted Bhagavad-gita verse (03.27) asserts that those who think of themselves as doers are deluded. But we all intuitively perceive of ourselves as doers [...]
Thinking is not just a matter of thinking
Self-help literature often exhorts people to avoid pessimism and to think positive. Such exhortations, even when well-intentioned, frequently overlook the reality that thoughts can’t be [...]
Asking who made God is like trying to draw a square circle
People often ask, “Who made God?” This question betrays a fundamental lack of understanding about the very definition of God. Every subject begins with certain [...]
Don’t let the small picture blind you to the big picture
In the spiritual context, the small picture refers to the daily struggles that characterize our inner and outer lives as seekers. And the big picture [...]
The conscience that dispenses with conscience is pseudo-conscience
Our conscience is the inner voice that guides us towards making wise choices. This conscience is in the pure state the voice of Krishna, who, [...]
Our attachments reflect our capacity for determination
When we are unable to give up our attachments, we may become disheartened, thinking, “I have read so many books, heard so many talks, made [...]
Focus on the mind before focusing on its focus
Suppose we were studying in a library and our neighbor repeatedly pointed our attention here and there, mostly towards unimportant things and only occasionally towards [...]
The search for happiness is often the source of the greatest unhappiness
The very things we seek happiness in often sentence us to unhappiness. A pervasive yet tragic example is of addicts. Food addicts can’t live without [...]
To make our mind grow up, we need to realize that we are grown-up
Suppose an adult were playing in the dirt with a child, doing whatever caught the child’s fancy. If occasional, such frivolous behavior might be funny; [...]
Meditation is defined by not just the mode of thinking, but also the object of thought
Some people think that meditation refers to deep thinking about any subject. While the word ‘meditation’ may be used thus in a conversational sense, meditation [...]
Learning is driven by purposefulness; lamenting, by pointlessness
We all can and should learn from the past. By reviewing what we did, we can analyze what we did right and what we could [...]
Don’t analyze the trash – just trash it
Suppose we inherit an old uninhabited house containing much trash. We might wonder where all that trash came from. But we wouldn’t spend too much [...]
Performance matters, but performance is not all that matters
Sports players often have their pet superstitions. An Australian batsman would insist that all the pavilion commodes be covered whenever he went out to bat. [...]
If Krishna is not our goal, we hit self-goals
We all want success and happiness. But just the desire or even the ability to succeed is not enough – we need to have the [...]