Three levels of answers to the Gita’s driving question (Appreciating the Gita’s flow 1)
The Bhagavad-gita (02.07) is spoken by Krishna to answer Arjuna’s question, “What is dharma, the right thing to do?” To help us understand how we [...]
The Bhagavad-gita (02.07) is spoken by Krishna to answer Arjuna’s question, “What is dharma, the right thing to do?” To help us understand how we [...]
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 fall [...]
Suppose we are going on tour, riding a strong swift horse. Suppose the horse catches sight of a juicy vegetable in a ditch on the [...]
And after that Krishna describes give up that attachment. BG 2.44 bhogaisvarya-prasaktanam tayapahrita-cetasam vyavasayatmika buddhih samadhau na vidhiyate SYNONYMS bhoga -- to material enjoyment; aisvarya [...]
Suppose we are driving a car through dark, difficult, dangerous terrain. To drive safely, we need the car’s engine and front lights both to function [...]
BG 2.67 indriyanam hi caratam yan mano 'nuvidhiyate tad asya harati prajnam vayur navam ivambhasi SYNONYMS indriyanam -- of the senses; hi -- certainly; caratam [...]
Few technological advances have changed our daily lives as much as smartphones. Though phones have made many routine activities easier for us, we may have [...]
Suppose we are traveling by boat through a vast ocean and we hear a weather warning on the boat radio, “The water ahead is stormy; [...]
We all want to do something worthwhile, something that the world will notice and appreciate. Unfortunately, that isn’t easy. What is even more perplexing and [...]
A mirror helps us see how we look, or more specifically, see whether how we look agrees with how we want to look. We also [...]
Creativity is essentially divinity manifesting through humanity. When we are creative, we become channels for a wisdom far bigger than ours to manifest through us. [...]
Now, after describing this, Krishna will again come to the point of how this attainment of anamayam (2.51) is beyond even the Vedas. It is [...]
The Bhagavad-gita (02.53) cautions that our intelligence can get lost in the forest of illusion created by words. Consider two striking points in this verse. [...]
Thoughts and emotions are sometimes seen as sequential — when we think steadily about something, we feel emotions in relationship with it. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita [...]
BG 2.63 krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smriti-vibhramah smriti-bhramsad buddhi-naso buddhi-nasat pranasyati SYNONYMS krodhat -- from anger; bhavati -- takes place; sammohah -- perfect illusion; sammohat [...]
Biologically, we are wired more to fear pain than to savor pleasure. In most enjoyable situations, there’s a self-evident limit to how much pleasure we [...]
We sometimes resolve to not do something, yet end up doing that very thing. For example, we may resolve to avoid binging on food, entertainment [...]
When we make resolutions for self-mastery, we are often thwarted by our emotions and desires. Emotions are largely reactive, arising from the things we perceive [...]
Even when we have enough of the things we need, we don’t always feel grateful for them. Why is that? Because we don’t see the [...]
2.11-2.30: counters first argument – compassion In this context Arjuna says, I am concerned because my relatives will not be there with me, and I [...]
Suppose a medically well-informed person gets a disease with scary symptoms. If they know that those symptoms are an inevitable and non-lethal part of the [...]