Regrettable but not regretted decisions
Just because a decision is regrettable doesn't mean that it will be regretted. Our life is filled with decisions—some small, some big, some good, some [...]
Going beyond spiritual dumbness & numbness
Overcoming our numbness and dumbness toward spiritual things, including ultimately God, involves addressing two ways in which we become spiritually deadened. As indicated in the [...]
The Dual Vision of the Yogi: Seeing Krishna in Everything & Everything in Krishna
In the Bhagavad-gita (6.30), Krishna describes the vision of the enlightened yogi. Such seers have a dual divine perception: they see Krishna in everything, and [...]
Seeing divine benevolence with the eyes of knowledge
The Bhagavad-gita (15.11) urges us to use jnana chakshu, or the eyes of knowledge, to understand the relationship between material reality and spiritual reality. Such [...]
Shifting Focus from Illusion to Reality
In the Bhagavad-gita (13.22), it is stated that our consciousness gets caught in matter. Due to this, we experience the dualities of material existence and [...]
Unmanageable Emotions and Temptation: Seeking Relief Through Indulgence
Our vulnerability to temptation comes not just from unmanageable desires but also from unmanaged emotions. Whenever we succumb to temptation, we tend to think that [...]
Transforming Mindset: Focusing on Krishna Not Just Mind Control
In Bhagavad-gita (7.1), Krishna introduces the chapter and the section extending from chapters 7 to 12. This is known as the bhakti section, with the [...]
How to be unaffected by temptation
In Bhagavad-gita (2.70), it is stated that when our consciousness becomes like an ocean, it remains unaffected by external stimuli. These stimuli are compared to [...]
Is Krishna with me? Am I with Krishna?
Devotion centers on arriving at an affirmative answer to two questions: Is God with me? And am I with God? The Bhagavad-gita (6.29) and (6.30) [...]
Understanding Krishna’s Supreme Attractiveness
The Bhagavad-gita (7.19) describes a person who is enlightened and understands that Krishna is everything. What does “everything” refer to? Does it refer to the [...]
Spontaneous attraction to Krishna
In the Bhagavad-gita (6.43-44), Krishna talks about how yogis who have failed to complete their spiritual journey in one life continue it in the next. [...]
Turn to God not just for answers; turn to God as the answer
The Bhagavad-gita (7.19) declares that the enlightened surrender to Krishna, knowing him to be the ultimate reality and the embodiment of the fulfillment of all [...]
When an action triggers fear…
The Bhagavad-gita (18.30) states that intelligence in the mode of goodness is able to view actions holistically in terms of their consequences, whether they are [...]
Navigating the inner marketplace
Introspection is meant to tune out the louder voices inside us so that we can tune in to the wiser voices inside us. Suppose we [...]
Transform our wandering into a pilgrimage
In the Bhagavad Gita (18.61), Krishna states that he is directing the wanderings of all living beings from his strategic vantage point, which is within [...]
From ‘what if’ to ‘what is’: steadying the mind through spiritual focus
Bhagavad-gita (6.18) depicts how the mind of a purified yogi becomes steady, like a lamp in a windless place. We are often confronted with the [...]
Needing Krishna to fix us
Meditation begins in earnest when we realize that we need to change from the inside out. We generally turn toward God when things are not [...]
How to dump emotional bumps and slumps during meditation
Life is filled with ups and downs, or alternatively, life is filled with bumps and slumps. Things go up and down at times. If we [...]
How to sustain our determination in meditation
We can consider meditation to be like any other skill that we seek to learn. Sometimes, we think that to become more determined, we need [...]
Can we stop the flow of temptation into our consciousness?
Even if we can't stop the flow of temptation into our consciousness, we can certainly stop that flow from becoming a flood that takes over [...]
Are nostalgia or utopia distracting us from meditation?
Meditation is essentially about connecting with a timeless divine reality that resides and presides beyond the mundane reality, which is constantly subject to change due [...]