Watching TV while a cobra comes to bite?
Suppose a person watching TV sees a cobra slithering close to bite and still goes on watching TV. We would consider such behavior insane, won’t [...]
Learning begins with unlearning
None of us like to feel ignorant. That’s why we try to keep ourselves well-informed about things, even spiritual things. However, our information about spiritual [...]
A package in which the best and the worst aren’t bound together
Pleasure, profit, success. We look forward to these in life. But they are only one part of the package. They are inevitably and inextricably bound [...]
Have we become the slaves of our clothes?
Slaves. The word conjures images of miserable people forced into bonded labor, stripped of self-respect and denied life’s pleasures. That’s not an image we will [...]
Detect the storm of temptation when it is still a blip
For a boat a storm is one of the greatest dangers.No wonder trained boat drivers alertly look for signs that presage a storm. By identifying [...]
Are riches cutting us off from the richness of life?
We all need money for living. But neither our culture externally nor our mind internally allows us to stay satisfied with earning for living. Both [...]
Our problems introduce us to ourselves
Problems. We often dread them. We feel that we already have enough of them. And yet life keeps piling more. In and of themselves, problems [...]
Might we be running in the right direction on the wrong train
Suppose we want to go north, but somehow board a train going south. Will running northwards within the train take us to our desired destination? [...]
Are we trying to move up while looking down?
Seasoned mountaineers who aim to scale a lofty summit avoid looking down unnecessarily. Of course, they stay aware of the terrain below so that they [...]
Are we sending our intelligence on a vacation?
Imagine a person who has a priceless treasure carefully protected by a competent guard. Suppose a thief persuades the owner to send the guard on [...]
Are we using religion as a cloak instead of as an armor?
A cloak is often used to concealoneself; an armor, to protect oneself. When we use our religion as a cloak, we hide our weaknesses under [...]
When neither the summits nor the valleys matter…
The Bhagavad-gita’s recommendation(02.56) to stay equipoised amidst success and failure puzzles many people. It is antipodal to the modern sporting ethos, wherein the winner is [...]
A business that is more serious than business
We take few things as seriously as business. Moneyusually makes the lazy busy; the frivolous serious; the nonconformists conformists. In marked contrastto our zealous pursuit [...]
How can we be true to ourselves?
We live at the receiving end of a massive propaganda blitz from our materialistic culture. Most people simply blow whichever direction the cultural winds fly, [...]
Give Krishna his due to prevent death from taking more than its due
Death has a right on our physical body. We can’t stop it from consuming its due, but we don’t have to give it more than [...]
Are my attachments holding me or am I holding my attachments?
As aspiring devotees, we often find that our attachments abduct and drag our consciousness away from Krishna, as the Bhagavad-gita (2.44) outlines. Consequently, we may [...]
Don’t eternalize the present; contextualize it
When we face problems, they sometimes overwhelm us so much that we can’t think of anything else. We feel as if the problem will never [...]
Train yourself to avoid mental potholes
When we travel regularly along a pothole-filled road, we carefully avoid the potholes, thereby saving ourselves of unnecessary jolts. By analogy, when the Bhagavad-gita (02.58) [...]
Use technology – don’t be used by technology
In today’s society, living without technology is almost impossible. As aspiring devotees living in a techno-centric society, we usually think of technology as a neutral [...]
The world is a station, not a destination
We may find the Bhagavad-gita’s injunction to stay equipoised amidst success and failure (2.38) perplexing: “Isn’t it natural to feel happy when we succeed and [...]
Blunt the desire for enjoyment with engagement
The greatest obstacle on the spiritual path for most of us is the desire to enjoy material pleasures, especially anti-devotional material pleasures. Because most of [...]