Let introspection be for fact-finding, not fault-finding
While striving to live according to principles, if we falter, we become disheartened. Even if we introspect to find out why we fell, that introspection [...]
The cunning combination of complacency, complicity and carnality consumes our conscience
Our conscience is our inner guard – it cautions us whenever we feel tempted to do anything unworthy. However, just as a carnivorous predator may [...]
The biggest battle is not around us; it is inside us
We are often enmeshed in various battles around us – political battles in our countries, corporate battles in our offices, and domestic battles in our [...]
We are all playing on different surfaces – don’t compare
Suppose two batsmen are batting in two different matches on two different pitches, with one pitch being a batsman’s paradise and the other a batsman’s [...]
If people don’t walk in, don’t slam the door on their face
When we start practicing spiritual life, our life becomes enriched with deep meaning and sublime joy. Naturally, we desire that others become similarly enriched. So, [...]
Stay aware of your triggers – and stay away from them
Recovering alcoholics are warned to stay away from things that trigger their desire for alcohol. If, for example, between their office and home lies a [...]
Outreach requires that we speak in the conceptual language that our audience understands
Suppose a speaker delivers an eloquent talk, but in a language that the audience doesn’t understand. The speaker’s effort gets wasted. Just as speaking to [...]
Aversion is as much a temptation as is attachment
On the spiritual path, we understand that attachments are temptations. When we are too attached to someone, we are always thinking about that person and [...]
Prohibition can be a support for purification, not a substitute
Some governments recognize that alcoholism leads to various problems such as disease, domestic abuse and driving under intoxication. To curb such problems, they prohibit alcohol. [...]
The inconsiderate can be as injurious as the incorrect
A doctor who prescribes incorrectly hurts the patient. But so does a doctor who prescribes inconsiderately, who doesn’t consider the patient’s case history and prescribes [...]
Let satisfaction be the basis of success, not success the basis of satisfaction
We all want success and we all want satisfaction. Unfortunately, these two sometimes seem mutually exclusive. The more we struggle for success, the more we [...]
Think with our sense, not our senses
Thinking with our sense means using our good sense to differentiate between the desirable and the undesirable. By such thoughtfulness, we see as undesirable the [...]
What someone is not telling can be telling
Suppose India is rocked by a war of global significance. If an Indian newspaper barely reports that war, that silence is telling – it highlights [...]
Reformation requires reformulation
Suppose we want to grow vegetables in a land where only weeds have been growing. We may uproot the weeds and plant the vegetables, but [...]
When we rationalize, we indulge in rational lies
To rationalize is to give some fallacious reasoning to prove as right something that is wrong and that we know is wrong. We resort to [...]
Don’t just eradicate the past – engage its product
When revolutionaries seize power from a tyrannical regime, they often go on a destructive spree, wanting to eradicate all reminders of the dark past. Their [...]
No enemy is as dangerous as the one we are blind to
An army would be endangered by an invading enemy, but it would be far more endangered by a spy in its own ranks, for the [...]
Regulation is the foundation for purification
Suppose we had to clean a water tank. We would need to do two things: clean the water already in the tank and regulate the [...]
What needs to be done needs to be done well
At the Bhagavad-gita’s start, Arjuna faces the unpalatable task of fighting against his venerable elders – a fight he would much rather have avoided. But [...]
Commitment is the complement of talent, not its replacement
A contemporary debate centers on the source of genius: Do geniuses become geniuses because of their inborn talent? Or can hard work make anyone a [...]
Lust doesn’t need a hideout – it has a hide-in
When soldiers near their target, they often look for a hideout. But if those soldiers have already penetrated into the enemy ranks and have therein [...]