Don’t base identification on sensation
Some people argue, “How can I be anything other than my body? When it gets cut, I feel pain; when it touches something soft, I [...]
Better to look stupid than to act stupid
Sometimes when life’s complexities perplex us, we may hesitate to ask others for help because of the fear of looking stupid. But by letting such [...]
Don’t let imagined problems become real
Suppose a person worries excessively about future financial problems, thereby becoming emotionally paralyzed and unable to work and earn in the present. If we were [...]
Even arguments against design require design
The design argument for the existence of God posits that the complexity and intricacy of various things in the world underscore the necessity of a [...]
Charity that expresses vanity ends in vanity
Charity is usually a noble expression of the human virtue of compassion. Few joys in life are as sublime and fulfilling as the joy of [...]
Bhakti redefines desires as doorways to the divine
Desires are recognized in spiritual circles as dangerous – they can drag seekers into the darkness of illusion in the vain pursuit of worldly pleasures [...]
Let repetition be a re-petition
Chanting mantras is a standard religious practice based on the philosophical understanding that sacred sound is packed with power. Different mantras are meant for different [...]
The point is not to get it right, but to get it across
Scripture is not merely to be learned, but to be lived – a truth that every translator of scripture needs to constantly remember. Getting scriptural [...]
Matter is not just foreign – it is alien
Foreign refers to that which despite its differences is essentially similar to us – foreigners are, after all, humans like us; they breathe air, eat [...]
Doubting is a self-deluding form of believing
Skeptics often deride believers for not being sharp enough to doubt questionable ideas. Though skeptics may have sharp intelligence that is well used to doubt [...]
The Merciless Microscope of Maya
The Bhagavad-gita (7.14) gives two striking characteristics of Maya, the force of illusion: it is divine (daivi) and it is formidable, if not irresistible (duratyaya). [...]
Free love is a self-contradiction
Some people advocate sexual licentiousness by touting it as free love. As we cherish both freedom and love, their combination sounds irresistibly appealing. Consequently, we [...]
Prayerfulness is not the replacer of prayer, but its reinforcer
Some people say, “Prayer is a state of being – it’s not something that you do; it’s something that you are.” Actually, this state refers [...]
There’s more to devotion than rules, not less
Some people claim, “There’s more to bhakti than rules – it’s a matter of the heart.” Yes, it is. But presently our heart is much [...]
If God had wanted you to be someone else, he would have made someone else
One of our greatest mental energy wasters is the craving to be someone else, “If only I was like that person who has better looks, [...]
“Seeing is believing” requires unbelievable believing
Atheists sometimes argue, “Seeing is believing. Only if you show me things like the soul will I believe in them.” The belief underlying this slogan [...]
Choosing doubt as the means for knowing is like choosing immobility as the means for traveling
Some contemporary intellectuals are proud of their skepticism. They delight in their capacity to doubt and discredit any belief they encounter, even if that belief [...]
Knowing begins with believing
Atheists often decry belief as something undesirable that should be wiped out by science. Yet they overlook the reality that science too is grounded in [...]
The God of terrorists is not the God of transcendentalists
Atheists often blame religion and God for the evil of terrorism. But their blame game suffers from a fundamental blunder – a simplistic equalization of [...]
What is violence for the infectant is benevolence for the infected
Suppose a doctor neglected treating a patient, despite having the necessary capacity. Such negligence would be culpable – in doing nothing, the doctor would be [...]
The soul wears out the body and the body wears out the soul
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA The soul wears the body in the sense that the body is like a dress for the soul, as the [...]