Distraction is draining; concentration is energizing
When we practice meditation and strive to focus our mind on higher spiritual reality, the struggle to concentrate can be disheartening. But we don’t have [...]
Our material needs are like painkillers – necessary but not sufficient
Some people argue that our spiritual side is optional and superfluous – our material needs are what matter. Yes, material things are necessary, but they [...]
Material progress centers on having what we want; spiritual progress, on wanting what we have
Some people feel that taking to spiritual life means abandoning all efforts to progress in life. But their feeling stems from an unexamined assumption: progress [...]
When your mental expressway gets overcrowded, direct your thought traffic with your intelligence
Suppose we are caught in a traffic jam on an expressway. We honk and maneuver, but make little progress. But instead of staying vexed, we [...]
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 [...]
Observe your mental neighborhood just as you would observe your physical neighborhood
Suppose in a new neighborhood, we glance at a passerby with interest. They invite us to a hotel for a chat, and we go along. [...]
Asanas cannot free us from vasanas
Asanas (physical postures) are nowadays gaining popularity as means for improving fitness and figure. Bodily improvement, however desirable, is just a fringe benefit of the [...]
Maya is not just illusion in perception – it is essentially illusion in conception
Thoughtful people know that our perceptions can illusion us. Such illusions are, say, mirages or the apparent bending of a stick kept partially in water. [...]
Gita 06.46 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 46-47: The topmost yogi fixes his [...]
Use breaks to break the mind’s spell on you
Our mind is like a spell-casting magician. When a magician spell-binds a person, the victim simply does whatever the magician orders: “Stand, jump; walk on [...]
Gita 06.42 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 38-45: If the mind deviates the [...]
Gita 06.41 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 38-45: If the mind deviates the [...]
Our lack of confidence doesn’t choke us as much as our overconfidence in our hypercritical mind
When we get an opportunity to do something challenging – something that can help develop our God-given talents – we often shrink back in apprehension. [...]
Gita 06.39 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 38-45: If the mind deviates the [...]
Gita 06.38 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 38-45: If the mind deviates the [...]
Don’t let the mind play truant in the school of bhakti
Suppose a mother sends her child to school, but the child after wearing the uniform and carrying the satchel slips off to play instead of [...]
Gita 06.31 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Now there could be confusion between [...]
When the mind functions primarily as a mirror instead of as a window, we gain self-realization
Suppose a cosmonaut is in a spacecraft that has a window for seeing outside but is pitch-dark inside. Similar is our present position. We are [...]
Gita 06.29 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 10-32: From practice to perfection in [...]
Expansion of consciousness opens the self to the self
When we are so caught in watching a movie as to be oblivious to everything else, our consciousness shrinks to the movie screen. But when [...]
Gita 06.20-23 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 10-32: From practice to perfection in [...]