We may be constrained by our past, but we don’t have to be contained in our past
All of us are affected by our past to varying degrees. Some of us may have incurred wounds so deep that we feel permanently damaged, [...]
Practice devotion for absorption, not achievement
Devotion is meant to be practiced in the mode of absorption, not in the mode of achievement. We live in a society that celebrates achievements [...]
Don’t let your mind become your dictator
The more we listen to our mind’s dictation, the more we let it become our dictator Our mind constantly speaks within us, commenting on what [...]
Hear to be here and be here to hear
The Bhagavad Gita concludes with Krishna asking Arjuna whether he was able to hear attentively and whether his illusions were thereby dispelled. This question points [...]
How pride blinds and brings as down
Pride doesn't just come before a fall; pride brings the fall -- we will be blasted for the very things about which we boasted. In [...]
When Attachment Turns Relationships into Burdens
When we are attached to someone, we become desperately dependent on their approval. We feel as if we cannot live with ourselves if they don’t [...]
Language in India: A Bottom-Up Approach, Not Top-Down Imposition
The language issue is becoming increasingly politically polarized in India. For example, what is being perceived as the imposition of Hindi on the rest of [...]
Mind your mind, or your mind will mind you—for its interests, not yours
Within each of us exists a power struggle: a dynamic between us, as spiritual beings (souls), and our mind. The mind serves as the intermediary [...]
Why thinking people are often uninfluential
It’s possible to win the support of every thinking person in a group and still be in a minority in that very group. We live [...]
When will you become the home of my thoughts? (6.47)
Bhagavad Gita 6.47: yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ "Among all yogis, the greatest is one, Whose immersion [...]
You arrange for spiritual awakening in the next lifetime (6.44)
Bhagavad Gita 6.44 pūrvābhyāsena tenaiva hriyate hy avaśo ’pi saḥ jijñāsur api yogasya śabda-brahmātivartate "By past practice, one is drawn along, By a pull [...]
Even when memory is lost, you preserve spiritual attraction (6.43)
Bhagavad Gita 6.43 tatra taṁ buddhi-saṁyogaṁ labhate paurva-dehikam yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ saṁsiddhau kuru-nandana "There he regains the wisdom past, From former lives that [...]
You ensure that even death can’t stop spiritual growth (6.42)
Bhagavad Gita 6.42 athavā yoginām eva kule bhavati dhīmatām etad dhi durlabhataraṁ loke janma yad īdṛśam "Or else, they’re born where yogis dwell, Among [...]
Let me not give up due to my lower desires (6.41)
Bhagavad Gita 6.41 prāpya puṇya-kṛtāṁ lokān uṣitvā śāśvatīḥ samāḥ śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yogabhraṣṭo ’bhijāyate "Reaching the realms where the righteous stay, Dwelling in celestial [...]
Let your words of assurance drive out my fear of failure (6.40)
Bhagavad Gita 6.40 śrī-bhagavān uvāca pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśas tasya vidyate na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid durgatiṁ tāta gacchati "Neither in this life nor in [...]
Please protect me from ambush by my lower desires (6.37)
Bhagavad Gita 6.37 arjuna uvāca ayatiḥ śraddhayopeto yogāc calita-mānasaḥ aprāpya yoga-saṁsiddhiṁ kāṁ gatiṁ kṛṣṇa gacchati "What happens to one who gives his all, To [...]
Help me to override and overwrite my mind’s programming (6.35)
Bhagavad Gita 6.35 śrī-bhagavān uvāca asaṁśayaṁ mahā-bāho mano durnigrahaṁ calam abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate "The Lord said: Without a doubt, the mind [...]
Release me from the mind that is restless, reasonless (6.34)
Bhagavad Gita 6.34 cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa pramāthi balavad dṛḍham tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye vāyor iva suduṣkaram "O Krishna, the mind is restless, Reasonless, ruthless, [...]
Let my spiritual growth increase my empathy, not my apathy (6.32)
Bhagavad Gita 6.32 ātmaaupamyena sarvatra samaṁ paśyati yo ’rjuna sukhaṁ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṁ sa yogī paramo mataḥ "Who sees all beings as their [...]
Let me see you with my body’s eye and my mind’s eye (6.30)
Bhagavad-gita 6.30 yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi sa ca me na praṇaśyati Those who see me in all [...]
You are always within me, and I am always within you (6.29)
Bhagavad Gita 6.29 sarva-bhūta-stham ātmānaṁ sarva-bhūtāni cātmani īkṣate yoga-yuktātmā sarvatra sama-darśanaḥ "The yogi sees the Supersoul residing in all, And in the Supersoul, residing [...]