Be grateful for everything we can live without
We often approach Krishna for getting some things and feel grateful on getting them. This utilitarian and businesslike relationship with Krishna can’t truly satisfy us. [...]
Are we praying for others or preying on others?
Our feelings about others are pointers not just to who they are but also to who we are. When we feel irritated by others’ faults, [...]
The enlightened vision and the benevolent disposition
Spiritual knowledge is a therapy for the soul. Just as medical knowledge brings with it the responsibility to help the sick, so does spiritual knowledge. [...]
Map changes – and change maps
When we take a treatment, we intuitively map changes; we evaluate whether our health improves. Similarly, when we practice spirituality, we need to map changes: [...]
Go beyond the beyond
Many people think that the goal of spirituality is to go beyond emotions and actions, and attain peace by merging in an impersonal light. However, [...]
Spirituality provides us our own inner sanctuary
We all need encouragement. The regular obstacles and occasional reversals that life brings our way tend to be discouraging. To regain our spirits, we need [...]
Navigating our way between the ideal and the real
Life frequently forces us to face the conflict between the ideal and the real: what we want to be ideally and how we are really; [...]
Krishna’s ladder of love helps us rise from wherever we presently are
Love for Krishna may sometimes seem a distant, abstract concept. But Gita wisdom offers a systematic pathway by which we can slowly but surely attain [...]
Change the stories you tell yourself about yourself
Our mind is rarely satisfied with the world and especially with our present position in it. Consequently, it frequently goes into flights of fantasies of [...]
Gita wisdom is explicitly descriptive and implicitly prescriptive
Good teachers give explanations; great teachers give explanations and examples. Thus a great sports coach doesn’t just explain to budding sportspersons what to do, but [...]
When we do what we can do, Krishna helps us to do what we can’t do
Spiritual life sometimes presents us with standards that seem impossible to meet. For example, we may feel that thinking of Krishna constantly is impractical. Certainly, [...]
Devotion kindles an inner drive that is beyond jeers and cheers
Our drives determine our destiny. Gita wisdom reveals our ultimate destiny: eternal, ecstatic love for Krishna. For realizing this destiny, we need to have a [...]
What is the Home of Our Thoughts?
When we are out in the rough-and-tough of the world, we often long to return to the security and solace of our home. All of [...]
Feeling is a springboard for chanting, but chanting is also a gateway to feeling
Some people doubt the benefit of daily mantra meditation: “What is the use of repeating the names of God mechanically and unfeelingly? Better to wait [...]
Be adept to adopt and adapt
Many of us may have suspected that the Bhagavad-gita being an ancient book might not be practical in our times. Some of us may have [...]
Loving as much as our heart longs
The Bhagavad-gita (12.13) indicates that a devotee who loves Krishna expands his love to the fullest potential by loving all living beings – as does [...]