Absent-minded means not that the mind is absent, but that our control on it is absent
In common parlance, the word ‘mind’ refers to one’s attention, as in, “Give your full mind to what you are doing.” In the Bhagavad-gita’s philosophical [...]
Don’t give the mind power of attorney – and don’t let it grab it either
Power of attorney refers to the power given by the owner to someone else to act in a legal capacity on one’s behalf. As the [...]
The mind makes the exhausting seem exciting and the exciting seem exhausting
The mind is often declared in scripture to be an enemy, as for example in the Bhagavad-gita (06.06). One way the mind acts inimically is [...]
Spiritual happiness never goes away – it just pushes us on the way
Seekers sometimes ask, “It is said that material happiness is temporary, whereas spiritual happiness is eternal. But even spiritual happiness seems temporary – sometimes we [...]
Regulation is the road to realization
Some people ask, “Isn’t regulation deprivation? If we enjoy something, why should we check ourselves in doing it?” The purpose of regulation is not deprivation, [...]
Don’t give guidance alone – give confidence too
When we practice spiritual life for some time, younger practitioners may come to us for guidance in tackling problems such as the uncontrolled mind. The [...]
Don’t lobotomize ashtanga-yoga to ekanga-yoga
In today’s cultural imagination, yoga is often equated with physical postures meant for shaping and toughening the body. No doubt, practicing postures is better than ingesting [...]
Expand your horizons in vision, but concentrate them in implementation
“Expand your horizons” is a popular saying among the ambitious. The Bhagavad-gita takes this saying to a higher level by expanding our horizons from the [...]
The mind makes us unthinkingly do the unthinkable
The unthinkable refers to actions so bad, so shocking, so reprehensible that they are not even worth thinking, leave alone intending to do, and leave [...]
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 [...]
Don’t just hear the mind – mind what you hear
The mind often misdirects our energy. It makes us crave for trivial things or makes us worry about things that haven’t materialized and may never [...]
The mind is naughty and haughty
Naughtiness is an attribute frequently associated with children, who often restlessly move from serious things to frivolous things. The Bhagavad-gita (06.34) points to the mind’s [...]
Seek balance through dynamic determination, not frozen formula
We need to balance our various obligations and aspirations, material and spiritual. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.17) recommends regulation in attending to bodily needs. In seeking [...]
The art of living is to balance the self we are eternally with the self we are presently
The self we are eternally refers to the soul, part of Krishna – that’s our eternal spiritual identity. The self we are presently refers to [...]
The destructibility of the body is not a license for its wanton destruction
Some people ask, “The Bhagavad-gita teaches that killing is ok because the body is anyway going to die. Isn’t such a teaching a license for [...]
We can’t undo, but we can rebuild
There is a grim finality to life. Once a moment has passed, it has passed forever. Once an action has been done, it can’t be [...]
We are in the driver’s seat – but are we?
In the well-known body-car metaphor, the soul is the driver of the bodily car. Though we are in the driver’s position, we aren’t always in [...]
We can’t replace the mind, but we can re-place it
Suppose we have a careless colleague who keeps making a mess of things, but whom we aren’t allowed to replace. The best way to deal [...]
Don’t imagine good feelings – realize that there’s so much to feel good about
We all want to feel good. Some people try to feel good by imagining soothing things such as peaceful natural scenery. Such good feeling is [...]
Don’t be exhausted by the mind – be exhausted with the mind
We probably know people who exhaust us by their meaningless prattle or baseless grumbling or senseless demands. Knowing their nature, we often avoid or at [...]
Those who mistake the route to be the root stay uprooted
Many people confuse the mind with the soul because both are inside. However, the soul and the mind differ cognitively, constitutionally and functionally. Cognitively, the [...]