The unborn takes birth to save us from rebirth
God is the source of everything. This foundational definition of God implies that he is the source of time too, for everything includes time. This [...]
Genealogy shapes mentality, but doesn’t determine it
The caste system widespread in India operates on the notion that people’s caste is determined solely by their birth. However, birth didn’t define the original [...]
The divine descent is meant to inspire the human ascent
Among the oft-quoted verses of the Bhagavad-gita are those describing God’s periodic descent (04.07-08): Whenever adharma predominates, he descends and re-establishes dharma, cosmic order. Still, [...]
The spiritual lies beyond both the logical and the psychological
The logical worldview accepts only those things that make sense to the intelligence’s logical faculty. So, it may, for example, dismiss the notion of God [...]
Our belonging is more important than our belongings
We often want to own more and more things. While those things may sometimes be functional necessities, we desire them not so much for what [...]
Rejection of all faith as blind faith is blind faith
Skeptics often deride all faith as blind faith – they hold that only by skepticism can one avoid being misled by false belief systems. Yes, [...]
Don’t be like soldiers fighting a past war
In wars, a strategy successful in one war may not be necessarily successful in a later war. For example, World War I saw the use [...]
The revelation of the revelation comes from the living tradition
Revelation is not just a one-time event that happened long ago. No doubt, at extraordinary moments in human history, God interacts directly with humans, without [...]
In scriptural dissemination, the problem is not in transmission but in reception
When we are watching TV and suddenly the image and sound goes off, we may presume that the problem is in transmission. But if we [...]
Learning according to leaning nurtures growing
We all have a natural leaning towards certain things. We often feel good about and are good at doing some things. Such comfort and competence [...]
Devotion brings knowledge into action and action into knowledge
In Vedic wisdom, two main paths are the path of action, karma-yoga, and the path of knowledge, jnana-yoga. Gita wisdom explains how the strengths of [...]
The spiritual in application leads to the spiritual in constitution
The multiple senses of the word ‘spiritual’ can be confusing. For example, the material body is said to be radically different from the spiritual soul, [...]
Caste by birth is the perversion of class by worth
The modern discriminatory caste system has been a source of great exploitation and misery. This regrettable state of affairs has resulted because some power-hungry people [...]
Enlightenment means to replace oneself with Krishna as the center
Different people conceive enlightenment differently – as experiencing peace, as perceiving a white light, as merging into a cosmic oneness, for example. However, the Bhagavad-gita [...]
Choosing doubt as the means for knowing is like choosing immobility as the means for traveling
Some contemporary intellectuals are proud of their skepticism. They delight in their capacity to doubt and discredit any belief they encounter, even if that belief [...]
Knowing begins with believing
Atheists often decry belief as something undesirable that should be wiped out by science. Yet they overlook the reality that science too is grounded in [...]
Krishna is not a dictator, but a benefactor
When we hear from scripture that we are meant to serve Krishna, we may resent, “Why should I serve him? Is he like a dictator [...]
Understand scripture through devotional dedication, not linguistic specialization
Some people think that learning the language of scripture is vital for understanding it. Thus, they feel that only Sanskrit scholars can understand the Bhagavad-gita. [...]
To remember to remember, refine your reminder
“Worldly pleasures are insubstantial, whereas devotional joys are substantial.” This scriptural insight is most relevant for us spiritual seekers because it empowers us to resist [...]
Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs
When we get doubts, the forces of illusion delude us further into thinking that our doubts are evidences of our intellectual superiority over believers: “I [...]
Krishna is the ultimate knight in shining armor
The knight in shining armor is a staple theme in fiction. Usually appearing as the savior of a damsel in distress, the knight fights to [...]