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 [...]
Change the question we ask ourselves
Whenever we are strongly attached to something and we keep doing that thing, even though we have decided we won't do it, frequently we ask [...]
Listening to my Lord who always has hope
When we feel, "What's the use of trying yet again?" Let's respond by asking the mind that is saying that statement, "What's the use of [...]
How the mind is not like a computer
The mind is like a computer in the sense that just as a computer operates based on its programming, the mind operates based on its [...]
How the mind is like a computer
The mind is often very mysterious to understand. One way to understand it is by comparing it to a computer. Just as a computer operates [...]
How sleeping can help spiritual realization
Generally sleeping is thought of as an activity in the mode of ignorance, which doesn't help us to grow spiritually: however, every night when we [...]
When self-talk is constructive and when destructive
Self-talk generally refers to the talk that is going on inside the self. This can go on in two ways.: our mind inside us can [...]
The mind’s running commentary on our life
Whenever there is a running commentary of an event, say a cricket match, then the event is happening at one place and a live commentary [...]
When the mind works overtime
Normally, if a person works overtime that person is doing extra work for their employer which pleases the employer and the employer will reward the [...]