Our attention determines what we grasp and what grasps us
We often underestimate the pivotal role that attention plays in our lives. While we recognize its importance when we fail to focus—such as when we [...]
Get off the slippery slope of random inner desires
To get into a desire is far more difficult than getting out of a desire. Better to exercise our intelligence to decide whether to get [...]
Gita 02.62 explained
So after describing this Krishna describes if one doesn’t try to regulate his senses then one can fall down disastrously. So how one may [...]
Watch your mental input (Managing the mind series 1)
Watch your mental input - Suppose we are going on tour, riding a strong swift horse. Suppose the horse catches sight of a juicy vegetable [...]
How are thoughts and emotions related
How are thoughts and emotions related - Thoughts and emotions are sometimes seen as sequential — when we think steadily about something, we feel emotions [...]
Use imagination to reinforce resolution
Use imagination to reinforce resolution - We sometimes resolve to not do something, yet end up doing that very thing. For example, we may resolve [...]
Why gratitude is especially difficult in today’s world
Why gratitude is especially difficult in today's world - Even when we have enough of the things we need, we don’t always feel grateful for [...]
Discreet Indiscretions?
When we succumb to some wrongdoings, if they are minor, we may downplay them by considering them mere indiscretions. And we may do those [...]
What we contemplate mentally, we cultivate mentally
Suppose we have a garden. We will be careful about what we cultivate there. And we certainly wouldn’t intentionally cultivate weeds or toxic plants. Unfortunately, [...]
Even when we can’t avoid sensual perception, we can avoid sensual imagination
We live in a world rife with temptation. Such temptation can deceive and degrade us at any moment. Given that we can neither remove temptation [...]
Seek the association that warns us about our urges, not warms us to our urges
Suppose we meet a stranger belonging to a group that is hostile to us. Naturally, we would be reserved while dealing with them. But if [...]
Manage the garbage in your mind, and minimize the garbage to manage in your life
Garbage that is not cleared often tends to multiply – even if it is kept in a bin, the bin starts stinking or polluting the [...]
Careless contemplation turns tempting thoughts into time bombs
When a time bomb is placed somewhere, it may not even be noticed by anyone; it might seem just like any other innocuous object lying [...]
Just because a memory can’t be deleted doesn’t mean that it has to be recalled
When we strive to grow in our life, our memories may hold us back. These memories may be about distressing times when we were victimized [...]
The power of habit is terrible – and terrific
Habit can be terribly powerful. When people get caught in some bad habits such as smoking or drinking, they find quitting those habits almost impossible [...]
Whatever snags our attention sabotages our intention
Suppose a student is driving along a road to their college. Along the way, their attention is caught by a theater playing a recently-released attractive-looking [...]
Stop the snowball before it snowballs you
When a snowball is on top of a hill and is about to start rolling down, it can be checked and cracked with just a [...]
A timely pull can save us from a deadly fall
Suppose a horse carrying a rider spots a juicy vegetable in the rocky terrain alongside the road. If the rider is not vigilant, the horse [...]
Just because something is persistent doesn’t make it pertinent
Advertising blitzes that repeatedly expose us to particular products exploit an innate weakness in human psychology: familiarity is the gateway to credibility. That is, when [...]
The journey from contemplation to captivation is powered by imagination
When some self-defeating habit captivates people, that captivation is usually powered by imagination. For example, when students get hooked to drinking, such captivation doesn’t happen [...]
Our desires are not just linear, but also triangular
We usually think of our desires as linear, as connectors between us and our desired objects. The Bhagavad-gita (02.62) supports this linear view when it [...]