When to NOT take credit
Some people take credit for things that they have not done and others take credit as a result of their planning things that have just [...]
Chronic pessimism is covered atheism
When things go wrong or even when we do something wrong, we might start feeling negative emotions rising within us; that's an understandable response to [...]
Gita 09.10 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Then Krishna concludes by the [...]
How faith can make us open-minded
We live in a vast and complex world, wherein we seek safety and happiness by rearranging things according to our desires and plans. Our desires, [...]
If everything happens by Krishna’s will, was Duryodhana too doing Krishna’s will?
In the Bhagavad-gita’s tenth chapter, Krishna declares that material nature works under his supervision (09.10). Some may find this declaration similar to a common saying, [...]
When things don’t make sense …
Suppose in a forest, a huge fire suddenly breaks out for no apparent reason. Most people will flee in panic. When trained fire-fighters arrive at [...]
The environment is not ours to take or leave, it is ours to make
We are living in an age of considerable climate change. For the past several centuries, the mainstream cultural ethos was that the environment is ours [...]
Suspension of the natural order alone is not miraculous – the natural order itself is miraculous too
Some people consider as miraculous phenomena that involve the suspension of natural order – phenomena such as walking on water or lifting a hill. Such [...]
Nature’s regularity is not an intrinsic necessity; it points to an overseeing divinity
Suppose a poultry farmer puts food in the poultry enclosure every morning at 6 am. On observing this happening repeatedly, a cock declares, “Food comes [...]
See the providential in the accidental by being devotional
Newton’s seeing the fruit falling was accidental. He could well have been elsewhere at that time or the fruit might well have fallen at some [...]
Don’t just see the provision – see the provider
As eco-awareness is spreading, people are increasingly appreciating how dependent we all are on nature. Without nature’s provision of our basic necessities, we wouldn’t be [...]
Krishna is not an explanation for the unexplainable – he is the explanation for explanability
Some people conceive of God as an explanatory alternative to science: “There’s so much about the world that science can’t explain; we need God to [...]
Faith requires not the rejection of logic, but its subordination
Some people ask, “Faith in God requires believing illogical things such as his lifting a mountain. How can we reject logic like this?” Faith in [...]
Spirituality is the culmination, not the contradiction, of science
Atheists claim, “Science and spirituality are contradictory because science is founded on facts; spirituality, on faith.” Actually however, the bedrock of science is not facts, [...]
To ascribe omnipotence to the laws of nature is poor – and pure – fiction
Atheists often claim that the laws of nature alone have brought into existence the whole universe and all the life in it. But laws are [...]
Krishna is not neutral but reciprocal
What is Krishna’s relationship with the world? The Bhagavad-gita addresses this question repeatedly in its several chapters, especially in its ninth chapter. That discussion culminates [...]
Miracles are not against science; they are above science
Many scientifically educated people balk at the mention of miracles such as Krishna’s lifting of Govardhan hill. To them, such things seem blatantly unscientific, even [...]
Accidents are no accidents
The word ‘accident’ has become integral to our vocabulary, largely due to the many unfortunate crashes that beset our roads. Words, however, don’t just reflect [...]
The incomprehensible comprehensibility and the comprehensible incomprehensibility of the universe
“The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible,” wondered Albert Einstein. If the universe were just matter emerged by chance, why [...]
Attraction to the supernatural is natural
Supernatural stunts in cartoons and sci-fi movies attract not only common people, but also diehard skeptics who usually denounce anything supernatural. They happily suspend their [...]
Krishna’s pastimes are fantastic, but not fantasy
We may find Krishna’s pastimes of magically killing demons fantastic. Yes, they are fantastic, in the sense that they demonstrate his capacities to effortlessly accomplish [...]