Why some people love to be gossiped about
Some people love to be the topic of gossip and that reveals more about their own mentality than about the gossiper's mentality. Generally speaking, we [...]
Gita 06.32 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Now Sri Krishna will conclude this [...]
How to deal with differences of opinion
As each one of us humans is an irreducible individual, we all will have different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. This will sooner or later lead [...]
Boosting immunity, boosting humanity
When caught in a pandemic, we wisely seek to boost our immunity. Simultaneously, we need to boost something just as important: our humanity. Crises can [...]
How can we know when we are gossiping?
Most of us may agree that it’s not good to gossip. We may even believe that we never gossip. But to be sure about that, [...]
Has our technology become too strong for our morality? (The porn problem)
In five minutes, we can access more obscenity than what our ancestors could access in fifty years. And all that temptation is just a few [...]
Are all people really equal – how?
Today's culture cherishes equality – reports of discrimination often trigger outrage. Yet even cursory observation of people shows that they are glaringly unequal in their [...]
Condescension looks down at others while laughing at them; compassion lifts others up while laughing with them
Suppose someone walking on a road slips and falls into a manhole. If onlookers laugh without helping, that would be terrible. To laugh at others [...]
Boring people find people boring
We all probably know some people who bore us to death. Nothing they say or do interests us – and they keep saying and doing [...]
Spiritual vision sees people not as philosophical categories, but as conscious beings
When we gain spiritual knowledge, our zeal to share it with others may blind us to basic human courtesies. While interacting with people, we may [...]
Our pain is meant to be harvested, not wasted
Suppose we get a seed that tastes extremely bitter. Just when we are about to throw it away, if we learn that it can be [...]
To see ourselves as spiritual is good, to see others as spiritual is better, to see everyone as spiritual is best
See ourselves as spiritual: When we face problems in life, we can respond more maturely and resiliently on understanding that at our core we are [...]
Compassion needs to be felt as affection, not as condescension
When people are in need and are helped, they receive the help eagerly. However, when they are needy but don’t feel the need, they don’t [...]
The highest spiritual vision culminates in compassion, not inaction
Some spiritual seekers think that to avoid bondage and to grow spiritually, they need to reject the world and give up all action. While this [...]
The spiritual vision of all living beings is both saddening and gladdening
A foundational philosophical insight is that the material vision and the spiritual vision do not see alike. When we strive to gain spiritual vision through [...]
Absorption of consciousness in Krishna brings about expansion of consciousness through Krishna
Expansion of consciousness is an oft-used term in spiritual circles. People seeking deeper fulfillment in life intuit that they can do so by expanding their [...]
Caring means sharing
Suppose one person tells another, “I care for you.” But suppose the first person is having food and the second person is hungry. The claim [...]
Don’t just renounce the material for the spiritual – bring the spiritual to the material
The Bhagavad-gita in its sixth chapter analyzes the process of ashtanga-yoga. While such yoga is nowadays seen primarily as a tool for shaping and strengthening [...]
Philosophy should expand our human sensitivity, not shrink it
In the Bhagavad-gita (02.11), Krishna chides Arjuna for lamenting the imminent death of his relatives in the impending war. Yet, when Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu was [...]
See the sufferings of the attached with compassion, not condescension
Some spiritualists equate spiritual advancement with apathy towards all human emotions. When they see others afflicted by emotions such as agony at the loss of loved [...]
Cultivate compassion for the complete being of all living beings
“Aren’t spiritualists self-centered, being concerned only about their own liberation and not about the elevation of others?” Some people get this question when they see [...]