Don’t think things to death; think of the thing called death
Thinking things to death refers to spending so much time analyzing a problem that the time for applying any solution runs out before one decides [...]
Thinking things to death refers to spending so much time analyzing a problem that the time for applying any solution runs out before one decides [...]
One of the Gita’s most-quoted verses (04.08) describes how Krishna descends to establish dharma. Less quoted, but no less significant is the next verse declaring [...]
The Bhagavad-gita’s flow contains many leaps of thought that when understood using the commentaries of devotionally adept Gita teachers provide precious insights into life and [...]
The Bhagavad-gita (04.09) asserts that those who understand Krishna’s pastimes in truth attain liberation. How can liberation, elusive even for renunciates performing prolonged austerities, be [...]
People new to the Bhagavad-gita often ask: “Does it endorse war?” At one level, the Gita does indeed urge a virtuous warrior to fight against [...]
Bhakti-yoga with its injunction that disciples serve the guru may seem to promote a personality cult. What bhakti actually endorses is a personal culture. This [...]
Thoughtful people often dislike sectarianism of any kind due to the divisiveness it fosters. As religions have been known to foster sectarian feelings (“the good [...]
“My way is the only way.” This is the exclusivist credo of some religionists. In disarming contrast, Krishna declares in the Bhagavad-gita (04.11): “All people [...]
Some people ask, “The Bhagavad-gita was spoken thousands of years ago. Doesn’t that make it outdated?” Not at all. Gita wisdom cannot be tied down [...]
The fear of failure often gnaws us whenever we contemplate any challenging endeavor. The same applies to the prospect of spiritual life, wherein, to attain [...]
The Bhagavad-gita (1.1) begins with Dhritarashtra’s inquiry to Sanjay about the events on the Kurukshetra battlefield. Sanjay responds by narrating the conversation between Krishna and [...]
Suppose a patient has been fleeced by a doctor and so can’t trust any doctor. That cynicism imprisons the patient perpetually in disease. A far [...]
‘Motion’ refers to the movement of unconscious things, whereas ‘action’ refers to the movements of conscious people. The waves flowing in a river are in [...]
Many people see spiritual life as a pious recreation, as an elective break from the stresses of daily living. Whatever be our initial impetus for [...]
Many Bhagavad-gita readers are puzzled by its repeated declarations that knowledge about Krishna grants liberation: “So many people know Krishna, but they aren't liberated. Are [...]
When things go wrong in our life, doubts may assail us: “I am trying to be a good person, a good devotee. Why isn’t Krishna [...]
The Bhagavad-gita (04.09) states that those who know in truth the divine birth and activities of Krishna become liberated and return to his eternal abode. [...]
Monarchy. The idea of one person monopolizing political power alarms us. So, when the Bhagavad-gita (04.02) refers to monarchs positively as the primary recipients of [...]
Krishna’s love for all of us is so encompassing that he accepts us wherever we are. And he invites us to come towards him from [...]
Superstitious or suspicious – these are the two approaches many people have towards spirituality. Some people adopt an anti-intellectual approach to spirituality, basing everything on [...]
“I am a skeptic.” Today’s intellectuals often see skepticism as their badge of honor, as the evidence that they are freethinkers, unbound by other’s beliefs [...]