Two steps to stop feeling sorry for ourselves
Wherever we go, we will be carrying our sorry self with us; stop feeling sorry for ourselves, and stop being the kind of person that [...]
Countering invisible attacks on our consciousness
Just because we don’t see that we are being attacked does not mean that we are not under attack. The inner war is invisible, but [...]
The mind’s DIE – distraction, invention, exaggeration
Just because the mind's tendency for distraction, invention, or exaggeration does not die, does not mean that our tendency to trust the mind cannot die. [...]
The Dual Vision of the Yogi: Seeing Krishna in Everything & Everything in Krishna
In the Bhagavad-gita (6.30), Krishna describes the vision of the enlightened yogi. Such seers have a dual divine perception: they see Krishna in everything, and [...]
Unmanageable Emotions and Temptation: Seeking Relief Through Indulgence
Our vulnerability to temptation comes not just from unmanageable desires but also from unmanaged emotions. Whenever we succumb to temptation, we tend to think that [...]
Is Krishna with me? Am I with Krishna?
Devotion centers on arriving at an affirmative answer to two questions: Is God with me? And am I with God? The Bhagavad-gita (6.29) and (6.30) [...]
Spontaneous attraction to Krishna
In the Bhagavad-gita (6.43-44), Krishna talks about how yogis who have failed to complete their spiritual journey in one life continue it in the next. [...]
From ‘what if’ to ‘what is’: steadying the mind through spiritual focus
Bhagavad-gita (6.18) depicts how the mind of a purified yogi becomes steady, like a lamp in a windless place. We are often confronted with the [...]
How to sustain our determination in meditation
We can consider meditation to be like any other skill that we seek to learn. Sometimes, we think that to become more determined, we need [...]
The material realization that fosters spiritual immersion
Meditation requires us to turn our attention from the world’s promises of pleasure to a higher reality. Such turning away from the world requires a [...]
When food becomes our enemy
What we eat is meant to energize us, to help us break free from the forces that control us, not energize those forces to control [...]
Importance of intelligence in meditation
Our intelligence is meant to be our protector, akin to an inner guard. We need such a guard because inside us is our mind, which [...]
Hold a mirror to ourselves and feel satisfied
If we don't hold a mirror to ourselves, we may end up having no inclination or even an aversion to holding a mirror to ourselves. [...]
When efforts to concentrate just don’t work …
Whenever we are trying to meditate on Krishna, we may often be challenged by our mind’s wandering here and there. In the Bhagavad-gita (6.26), Krishna [...]
Are we in charge of our inner world?
The Bhagavad Gita (6.6) warns us that our mind can be our enemy if we are not in control of it. In politics, there are [...]
A better place even through a dark phase
In the Bhagavad-gita (6.30), it is said that for the realized yogi, Krishna is never lost to them, nor are they ever lost to him. [...]
Two dimensions of meditation
Meditation is a process of both taking in as well as going in. When we meditate on Krishna by chanting his holy names, we are, [...]
The mind needs to be cured not crushed
In the Bhagavad Gita 6.56, Krishna states that the mind can be managed only by an appropriate process. This emphasis on an appropriate process indicates [...]
The mind is to be parented not terminated
The Bhagavad Gita states that the greatest problem with focusing our mind is that it presently acts as our enemy. Interestingly, the Gita does not [...]
How to be present in the present
To be present in the present, we need to learn to focus gradually and incrementally. If our mind is wandering, we can bring it back [...]
How distraction cheats us
The problem with distraction is that it leads to a frustrating non-presence in the present. The present moment is an opportunity for us to both [...]