This statement is philosophically misleading and potentially dehumanizing
“This statement is philosophically misleading and potentially dehumanizing.” I looked in shock at the statement that had popped up on my computer. I had just [...]
Human life is too precious to be wasted in being human
“Human life is too precious to be wasted in being human.” The words came spontaneously from my mouth as I was speaking with a dynamic [...]
The True Result of Spiritual Practice
When we commit to practicing spirituality and understanding our true identity as eternal souls, what is the actual, tangible result in our daily lives? According [...]
Was Arjuna Overthinking?
I was asked this question after giving a short talk on overcoming overthinking at Thunder Bay, Canada, on September 14, 2026. The questioner continued, “I [...]
Let me treat unwanted temptations like uninvited visitors: even if I have to entertain them, let me neither embrace nor employ them.
My dear Lord, temptations sometimes enter my consciousness unsolicited, triggered by something I perceive externally or remember internally. Whenever possible, help me neglect and reject [...]
Birthmarks and the Memories of the Soul
The Bhagavad Gita explains that the soul transitions from one body to another, just as a person progresses from childhood to youth to old age. [...]
Consciousness Outside the Body
A common assumption in modern science is that the physical brain generates consciousness. However, scientific evidence regarding near-death experiences (NDEs) poses a significant challenge to [...]
The Three Longings That Biology Cannot Explain
From a purely biological perspective, human beings are often identified simply as biological machines. Biology suggests that survival and reproduction are the primary drivers of [...]
Why You Need a Metaphysical Orientation
Just as our bodies require physical nutrition to survive, our minds require a metaphysical orientation to thrive. Metaphysical orientation provides us with a profound sense [...]
Even Go-Getters Must Pause: Arjuna’s Ultimate Dilemma
When the Bhagavad Gita opens, the great warrior Arjuna develops a sudden case of nerves, putting down his weapons and stating, "I cannot fight." It [...]
The Battlefield Metaphor: Why Intellectual Shortcuts Fail
The setting of the Bhagavad Gita is inherently jarring. Just before the climactic war of the epic Mahabharata is about to begin, the leading warrior, [...]
Death is a Comma, Not a Full Stop
If we identify ourselves solely by our biology, our existence seems terribly fragile. We believe that birth is the absolute beginning and death is the [...]
Why We Must Not Reduce Ourselves to Our Roles
In life, we wear many hats and play many roles. We possess functional identities based on our gender, age, profession, nationality, and relationship status. While [...]
Adversity, Atrocity, and the True Source of Agony
We often face problems in life at three different levels of acuteness: adversity, atrocity, and agony. Adversity is what life naturally throws at us, such [...]
Question: Why exactly did Arjuna collapse at the start of the Bhagavad Gita? What made him so indecisive that he became paralyzed?
Answer: Decision-making is hard when there is no good choice. That was Arjuna's dilemma, because both fighting and not fighting were painful options. Fighting meant [...]
Why Do You Laugh at Your Own Humor?
This question came from a friend who had just attended one of my talks. He explained, “Normally, in executive humor—that which is appropriate for workplace [...]
The Same Words, Different Worlds
Today morning, on July 6, as I was leaving Delhi to catch a flight to Mumbai, I was in the car talking on the phone [...]
Why does Krishna tell Arjuna to be detached from the results when Krishna wants the result of establishing dharma?
Question: Why does Krishna tell Arjuna to be detached from the results when Krishna wants the result of establishing dharma and wants Arjuna to be [...]
Why did Krishna speak the Gita to Arjuna rather than to Yudhishthira?
As the Bhagavad Gita is a dharma-saṁvāda and Yudhishthira is known as Dharmaraja, why did Krishna speak the Gita to Arjuna rather than to Yudhishthira? [...]
Is burying the dead body more respectful than burning it?
Isn’t burning the dead body through cremation highly disrespectful as compared to the dignified burial of the body? The body is adequately respected during the [...]
Three reasons for burning the body after death instead of burying it
In the Vedic tradition, burning the body through cremation is the standard post-mortem ritual. The rationale for burning the body can be conveyed through the [...]