Chapter 02

Suppose a town is situated on the banks of a river that floods repeatedly. Whenever floods come, everyone endeavors to rebuild. But then the river [...]

Purification is often equated with being puritanical, which may evoke images of holier-than-thou people morally policing everyone else. Influenced by such images, we may not [...]

Why does Krishna want us to be detached from the fruits of our work? (Bhagavad-gita 02.47) Because he wants to ensure that our care and [...]

Whenever we achieve something special, we may feel elated. Yet often achievement turns out to be anticlimactic; the thrill is short-lived.  Why achievement may not [...]

Treasure the treasure of time  Suppose we get a huge inheritance, but with a peculiar stipulation: an inescapable expiry date. If we squander it, it [...]

Suppose someone who has lived in darkness suddenly encounters light. They may naturally ask, “How did the darkness give rise to light?” Actually, darkness did [...]

Some people believe that humanity can attain immortality if we just understand what causes the aging process and then reprogram the genes that cause that [...]

At the start of the Bhagavad-gita, when Arjuna is confronted with the prospect of fighting a brutal war against his venerable elders, he pauses. Throughout [...]

Suppose someone is living in a pandemic area. If they have developed immunity to that disease, they may think they are safe. However, if they [...]

Why we do something determines how we do it and how long we do it.  Suppose we study a subject such as philosophy to impress [...]

If we are to study any subject, we feel more motivated if we understand the purpose of that study. For example, if we are told [...]

We all are prone to temptation, especially to the temptations that we have indulged in the past and that we are habituated to. If we [...]

Suppose we give a bag full of warm clothes to someone traveling to a cold place. If they somehow believe that their destination isn’t all [...]

We all sometimes get caught in small desires that delude and distract us. These desires are small in the sense that they are about trivial [...]

The state of being alive is associated with activities such as growing, reproducing, preserving one's existence. The state of being aware is usually associated with [...]

  When we succumb to some wrongdoings, if they are minor, we may downplay them by considering them mere indiscretions. And we may do those [...]

Suppose we have an ability, but don’t have any forum for expressing it. Becoming discouraged, we stay silent. In general, we are often discouraged and [...]

If we leave our house empty while we go elsewhere, some squatters may occupy it. When we return, they refuse to go or even let [...]

Suppose we are looking at the ground level of a skyscraper building. If we look up, we may be either impressed or intimidated to see [...]