The heart is a nursery, not a factory
Some critics of bhakti, on seeing how devotees look similar, accuse that the bhakti movement mass-produces cultural clones, as does a factory. However, such a [...]
Faith means to take one step towards Krishna even when the whole path isn’t clear
Sometimes we face dark and disturbing problems in our life at the social, financial, physical, psychological or even spiritual levels. While faith can have many [...]
Don’t confuse “I can’t know” with “I don’t know”
When applied to the question of understanding God’s glory as is manifested in reconciling his paradoxical attributes, “I don’t know” is an admission of ignorance. [...]
Don’t just be mindful – make the mind full of Krishna
Many self-help teachers recommend mindfulness – cultivating awareness and living in the present. Certainly, mindfulness is better than absent-mindedness, but is it sufficient? Let’s analyze [...]
Even arguments against design require design
The design argument for the existence of God posits that the complexity and intricacy of various things in the world underscore the necessity of a [...]
Bhakti redefines desires as doorways to the divine
Desires are recognized in spiritual circles as dangerous – they can drag seekers into the darkness of illusion in the vain pursuit of worldly pleasures [...]
Bhakti redefines desires as doorways to the divine
Desires are recognized in spiritual circles as dangerous – they can drag seekers into the darkness of illusion in the vain pursuit of worldly pleasures [...]
See Krishna’s mercy not just in devotional flights but also in philosophical insights
“How can I perceive Krishna’s mercy?” We as devotee-seekers may get this question because we know how important his mercy is for our spiritual growth. [...]
Verbalization doesn’t limit God – it expands our access to him
Some people argue, “God is so great that his glory can’t be put in words – he is ineffable. Verbalizing his glory will limit him.” [...]
Enlightenment is not a static state; it is a perennial process
Some people conceive enlightenment as sitting motionless in a yogic posture, losing oneself internally, and eventually merging forever into a formless light. The Bhagavad-gita, however, [...]
Seeking God’s will in his word shows us our way in this world
Different people approach the Bhagavad-gita differently, seeing it, for example, as a historical, cultural or poetic book. Though the Gita has all these aspects, they [...]
Study the Gita not to inform the head, but to transform the heart
The Gita does inform the head, no doubt – and it informs about life’s meaning and purpose far better than does the best university education. [...]
The essence of the fire-sacrifice is not lighting a fire without but lighting the fire within
Fire-sacrifices seem quaint or queer to many: “What’s the point of lighting a fire and putting ghee, grain and fruits in it?” The point is [...]
AIM for Krishna to attain the ultimate absorption
When people do something they like, say, watching a sports match, they often get so absorbed that they don’t even notice discomforts such as sitting [...]
Reason is confounded not by faith, but by faithlessness
Does faith in God confound reason, as atheists argue? Not at all. Far from confounding reason, faith is the foundation of reason. The very idea [...]
Progress from questioning to understanding by patient hearing
While hearing philosophy, whenever we get questions, we often expect immediate and immediately intelligible answers. However, to understand the answers, we frequently need conceptual background – [...]
The perfection of devotional learning is not just learning but also learning to keep learning
Learning can refer to both the process and the product: the process of learning, and its product, becoming a person with learning. In learning about [...]
Krishna lights the world without and the world within
When we are caught in darkness and are struggling to find our way, if someone provides light to show the way, we naturally want to [...]
The heart of wisdom is attained by the wisdom of the heart
The heart of wisdom is pure love for the all-attractive Supreme, Krishna. Such love is the most cherished and most confidential fruit of wisdom, for [...]
The existence of Krishna is the necessity for the existence of anything else
Suppose an observer atop a skyscraper tracing downwards found that it had no foundation. Impossible, isn’t it? Without a foundation, there would be no skyscraper [...]
Bhakti bestows the intelligence for tolerance and the taste for transcendence
Tolerance and transcendence comprise our twofold defense against temptation. Tolerance refers to the capacity to endure the presence of unwanted temptations without succumbing to them. [...]