Our intelligence needs to be wakened, not weakened
If a guard is protecting a bank vulnerable to thieves, he needs to be vigilant. If he happens to be asleep when thieves attack, he [...]
Our resoluteness rests on the readiness of our answer to the mind’s “Why not?”
When we make resolutions to stop doing something negative, we often relapse. Why is that? Because we usually don’t have a ready answer to the [...]
We can never have a bird’s eye-view – we can only have a human eye-view from a bird’s perspective
Getting a bird’s eye-view of something refers idiomatically to looking at the big picture, seeing that thing in a broader context – akin to how [...]
What begins as titillation can end as tribulation
We may sometimes titillate ourselves by, say, watching scenes depicting immoral indulgences. And we may rationalize such titillation by thinking that we have no intention [...]
Those who put themselves in a storm’s way are swept away
Suppose, while driving, we hear a radio warning that a storm is going to sweep across the road ahead. We would prudently delay or divert [...]
Every ending is also a beginning
When anything good ends, we often feel sad, “Why did this have to end?” Conventional wisdom reminds us that endings are also beginnings. Expounding this [...]
Willpower is a finite resource – use it wisely
We are finite beings, and finite are all our resources, including our willpower. That our willpower is finite means that we can fight only so [...]
What the uninformed see as restriction, the informed see as protection
A child playing in a courtyard sees a fence as a restriction that limits the area for playing. When that same child grows to become [...]
The search for security is ultimately the search for spirituality
Some people say, “I am not interested in any spiritual stuff.” They feel uninterested because often they don’t understand what spirituality is. In today’s culture, [...]
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 [...]
Those who commit to nothing are distracted by everything
Distraction has been an ever-present bane for humanity. However, the present age is one of mass distraction. With technology and social media, news, updates and [...]
Learn to avoid the stimuli that cause mental diarrhea
If we eat some food that causes us diarrhea, we learn to avoid that food in future. Even if other people enjoy that food, we [...]
We don’t need as much to collect as to be collected
Today’s culture and media goad us through aggressive ads to collecting – buy this, exhibit this, enjoy this. Goaded thus, millions become shopaholics, compulsive shoppers [...]
We know neither what we are, nor what we can become
Some people are undiscovered talents. A cricketer might be playing brilliantly, but at a little-known club. Somehow, if that player gets spotted, then those spotting [...]
Renunciation is not for deprivation but for connection and satisfaction
Many people see renunciation negatively, as deprivation of enjoyable things. However, a dramatically different picture emerges if we shift our focus from the practice of [...]
Use propinquity to grow in bhakti
Propinquity literally means proximity, the state of closeness to something. In psychology, propinquity studies analyze the effect of time and distance on human behavior. Suppose [...]
Doing things efficiently is good, but doing unnecessary things efficiently isn’t
Suppose we are traveling by a flight that allows us 50 pounds luggage. We meticulously organize the things that we need to carry, placing them [...]
Tolerance is meant to be the preventer of imbalance, not its perpetuator
Some people feel that tolerance perpetuates the imbalance of power – tolerating powerful wrongdoers simply makes them more brazen. Actually however, tolerance prevents imbalance in [...]
To see the big picture, ask the big questions
When life’s problems start overwhelming us, seeing the big picture can help us put first things first. However, we can’t even seek the big picture [...]
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 [...]
Learn to use the mind’s laziness for spiritual growth
Our mind often chooses the path of least resistance. This tendency impedes us whenever we need to do something effortful for our spiritual growth. But [...]