Why look at a mirage when heading to the oasis?
It’s bad to be lost in a desert. It’s worse to be chasing a mirage. But it’s worst of all to be nearing an oasis [...]
Why long for a pleasure that never stays for long?
We are all by nature pleasure-seeking. And the world promises us pleasure in so many ways. The most hyped among all these worldly pleasures are [...]
Scripture ends the hush-hush around the failed project of sense enjoyment
When a much-touted project of a government fails – and fails abysmally – the government often tries to save face by an overall strategy of [...]
We don’t have to defeat our lower desires – we can just let them lose
Tennis players don’t have to hit winners in each point; if they can just keep the ball in play, their opponent may tire and err, [...]
Don’t let etiology distract from therapy
Suppose a person infected with malaria refuses to take any treatment without first seeing the mosquito that bit him, and knowing when, how and why [...]
Don’t blame ignorantly – blame ignorance
Suppose a person suddenly falls sick and starts looking to assign blame – blaming others for transmitting that infection, blaming the doctor for not prescribing [...]
Don’t let the small picture blind you to the big picture
In the spiritual context, the small picture refers to the daily struggles that characterize our inner and outer lives as seekers. And the big picture [...]
The search for happiness is often the source of the greatest unhappiness
The very things we seek happiness in often sentence us to unhappiness. A pervasive yet tragic example is of addicts. Food addicts can’t live without [...]
Treat life like a movie that you don’t have to always watch
Suppose we were watching a movie and suddenly discovered that it is a horror movie filled with ghastly scenes. We would naturally stop watching it. [...]
Victory comes not just by courageously fighting our battles but also by cautiously choosing our battles
Often a machismo-filled notion of a hero is someone who fearlessly charges into some battle and single-handedly against overwhelming odds wrecks havoc in the enemy’s [...]
Focus not on God’s rules – focus on his purpose
Suppose a patient with an upset stomach is told by a doctor to restrict diet. If the patient focuses on all the foods that are [...]
Revelation is the foundation for the ultimate revolution
When social or financial conditions are felt as intolerable, people rise in revolution against the powers that be. Such revolutions can bring about dramatic political [...]
Tolerance means withstanding the presence without succumbing to the influence
Suppose we have a disagreeable neighbor. We can’t evict him, but we don’t have to waste our time quarreling with him. We do the needful [...]
When conviction is weak, determination can’t be strong
We often make resolutions to give up our self-defeating indulgences. And when we fail to stick to those resolutions, we often blame our poor determination. [...]
The essence of liberation is not transportation but transformation
Seekers sometimes worry whether at the end of their lives they will be liberated and thus attain Krishna’s abode. While such a worry is definitely [...]
Transcend duality by absorption in a reality higher than duality
The world is inevitably a place of duality – something that we can’t avoid just as a boat can’t avoid being moved up and down [...]
Temptations will come, we don’t have to welcome
Seekers sometimes ask, “I am practicing bhakti-yoga seriously, yet I feel tempted by worldly desires. Why is bhakti not working?” Bhakti is definitely working. The [...]
The concentration-point is not the point of concentration
The concentration-point refers to the thing on which we focus, whereas the point of concentration refers to the focus’s ultimate purpose. The Bhagavad-gita, in its [...]
Happiness comes from sameness – the balance between oneness and otherness
Oneness is a buzzword among spiritual seekers – they often want to feel one with the universe, with nature, with existence. As our lives are [...]
Gita 5.13 explained
Now Sri Krishna will talk about how one can stay detached further Bg 5.13 sarva-karmāṇi manasā sannyasyāste sukhaṁ vaśī nava-dvāre pure dehī naiva kurvan na [...]
Gita 5.5 explained
This will be clearer in next verse: Bg 5.5 yat sāṅkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṁ tad yogair api gamyate ekaṁ sāṅkhyaṁ ca yogaṁ ca yaḥ paśyati sa [...]