When the mind becomes peaceful, we become joyful
Seekers sometimes ask, “Bhakti is supposed to be joyful. But I don’t get much joy in practicing it. Why?” Because the mind interrupts our practice [...]
Krishna is not just a solace from the world – he is the substance of the world
Many people come to God to gain relief from the wounds incurred while battling for the things of this world. What they find too difficult [...]
Our past explains our inclinations, but it doesn’t excuse our actions
Imagine a computer used by a child primarily for playing games. From the moment it is turned on, it repeatedly gives prompts for playing. Such [...]
What is a source of trouble for the possessor can’t be the source of pleasure for the beholder
Lust makes temporarily good-looking bodies seem sources of immense pleasure. We know from our own experience with our body that it can be, indeed it [...]
When the mind accepts the impure to be impure, we become pure
Impurity is essentially a perception-distorter. The impurity of addiction to alcohol makes alcoholics think that the very alcohol that is the cause of their suffering [...]
Infatuation with form is not the problem – infatuation with temporary form is
We are often attracted to good-looking worldly forms. Such attraction keeps our consciousness at the material level and thus ties us to worldly existence. Understanding [...]
Don’t just change perception – change perspective
“Change your perception – think positive,” urge many self-help books. It’s good to think positive, but the best positive thinking comes by changing not just [...]
Expect not the absence of the shadow; embrace the presence of the light
Devotee-seekers sometimes ask, “I am devoting myself to Krishna – why then am I still getting miseries in my life?” Because misery is an intrinsic [...]
Go beyond the blindness caused by shortage of light – and by its surfeit
Whenever our surroundings go dark, say, due to a power failure, we become as if blind. Something similar happens to us as souls in material [...]
Choose to act your way to feelings, not feel your way to actions
“Acting our way to feelings” means choosing conscientiously to act based on our intelligence, even when our feelings don’t agree, till eventually those actions engender [...]
See sense gratification as spiritual deprivation
“You are depriving yourself of so much pleasure,” the mind whispers when we practice spiritual life seriously and regulate sense gratification. We may neglect the [...]
Don’t just read the Gita – heed the Gita
The Bhagavad-gita is a profoundly philosophical book, yet it is also an eminently action-calling book. This pragmatic nature of the Gita is seen in its [...]
The Gita is a book of theology for the purpose of therapy
“I am not interested in God,” so say many people while turning away from the Bhagavad-gita. What they don’t understand is that the Gita is [...]
Spiritual perfection requires detachment from our own body, what to speak of others’ bodies
Contemporary culture revels in glamorizing sex through myriad mind-grabbing means. This pervasive glamorization sometimes even seeps into spiritual circles, wherein appear slogans such as sambhoga [...]
Information puffs us up; application builds us up
Devotion requires not the rejection of our material side, but its harmonization with our spiritual purpose. We can use our material abilities and resources in [...]
Devotion frees us from living life inside a shell
The Bhagavad-gita (02.58) uses the example of tortoise safe inside its shell to recommend that we keep ourselves spiritually safe by withdrawing our senses from [...]
Say nothing doing to doing nothing
The idea of doing nothing often catches the fancy of those who want a retreat from the rush of materialistic life. And our culture does [...]
We are not to be the doers, but we are to do
The Bhagavad-gita’s teachings on doership are paradoxical. Initially, it (03.27) deems as deluded those who think themselves to be doers. Yet it (18.63) concludes by [...]
Enter the war, but don’t let the war enter you
“How can one act without being bound?” This is Arjuna’s essential question at the start of the Bhagavad-gita. And the whole Gita addresses it at [...]
Restraint is not repression – it is the roadway to real expression
Many people champion self-expression and deride restraint as repression. But is it really repressive? Consider musicians wanting to express themselves. Do they go on stage [...]
Things are not what they seem, but they are not a dream
Materialists often take things at face value. If something looks attractive, they assume it will be a source of pleasure. Even when it doesn’t give [...]