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Suppose we are living with a moody person who has extreme negative mood swings — during those dark moods, they tend to be both deceptive [...]
Why Arjuna’s refusal to fight was like a mental knock-out blow for his army
War is not just a physical conflict between two armies; it is also a mental conflict between the fighting spirit of the two armies. And [...]
How the Bhagavad-gita’s first chapter spotlights the power of the Gita’s message
If a coach had given a good motivational talk to their team before a major match, we might be somewhat interested in what the [...]
Does Arjuna’s reluctance to fight show that he is irresponsible?
Some people, especially those of a martial orientation, think that by refusing to fight when his army depended on him, Arjuna was acting irresponsibly — [...]
Did Arjuna exhibit fight-or-flight response at the start of the Bhagavad-gita?
When we encounter something unfamiliar, we often try to make sense of it by placing it in some familiar conceptual framework. Using such an approach, [...]
How the Gita’s provocative setting tests the readiness of its readers
The Bhagavad-gita’s setting can seem provocative. A warrior, Arjuna, has second thoughts about fighting a fratricidal war. Arjuna seems so considerate, even compassionate. In disturbing [...]
How to raise the quality of our questions
Most of our questions arise from our circumstances — and therein, we usually find answers too. But some questions have no answers at the circumstantial [...]
Raising the quality of our questions
If we wish to improve the quality of our life, we need to begin by improving the quality of our questions. We may classify the [...]
Does gratitude decrease our motivation to make things better?
Some people fear, “If I keep feeling good about the present, won’t it take away my motivation for seeking a better future?” Not necessarily; just [...]
When the world is a place of distress how should we deal with distress in our life?
When the Bhagavad-gita (08.15) deems the world a place of distress (dukhalaya), what does this imply for our efforts to combat distress in our life? [...]
Responding to adversity — Resentful? Regretful? Or grateful?
When adversity befalls us, we don’t have much choice about what has already happened. But we do have a choice about how we respond. Our [...]
The difference between humiliation and humility
Humility is sometimes seen negatively because it is equated with humiliation. But they are hugely different – as different as are starving and fasting. Starving [...]
Thinking tanking thanking — moving from pessimism to optimism
At any given time in our life, we all can list several things that are wrong. And we often need to be aware of those [...]
When appreciating life’s good things doesn’t foster gratitude …
We may have heard that gratitude arises when we appreciate the good things in our life. But what if such appreciation doesn’t foster gratitude? We [...]
Why gratitude is vital for bhakti
Gratitude centers on appreciating the good things in our life. Such an attitude of gratitude is highly conducive to our emotional health; it fills us [...]
How our worldview shapes our capacity to be grateful
Many people recognize that gratitude is a quality worth cherishing, for it promotes emotional health and overall well-being. But not many people recognize that our [...]
How to feel grateful when we are not successful
When our endeavors don’t lead to success, how can we cultivate gratitude? By contemplating what really matters for us. Aiding such contemplation, Gita wisdom offers [...]
Dissatisfaction: cause and cure
We could divide the world around us into two categories: the things we have and the things we don’t have. Whenever we see something desirable [...]
Four stages in self-transformation
How can we assess our progress toward self-transformation? By noting the process we go through before making choices, both healthy and unhealthy. If we identify [...]
How to feel grateful when we don’t feel grateful
To cultivate gratitude, we need to expand our conception of what it is. Gratitude as an emotion: While gratitude is certainly an emotion, it is [...]
Gita 5.23 explained
Now Arjuna gets a question at this point, yes I know, even if I agree that material enjoyment leads to misery but still by knowing [...]