Navigating the inner marketplace
Introspection is meant to tune out the louder voices inside us so that we can tune in to the wiser voices inside us. Suppose we [...]
Gita 14.11 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Now activities will be described [...]
Why it is difficult to be broad-minded
When perceiving things, our mind routinely reduces reality to not just convenient categories but also judgemental labels. Because our mind is inside us, it is [...]
Why we need to become consciousness-conscious
We live in a world where there’s increasing concern about conserving energy, especially because conventional sources of energy such as fossil fuels are finite. We [...]
Go beyond virtue signaling (Beyond black and white conceptions series 4)
When we see someone doing something horribly wrong, we may feel driven to protest or correct. Nowadays when activism is often seen as cool, we [...]
We can’t foresee every consequence of our actions, but we can foresee their probable consequences — and we should
Suppose we are driving a huge truck and a drunk person suddenly comes in the middle of the road. If an accident occurs, the law [...]
If we don’t fix the broken doors to our consciousness, we will be robbed
Suppose our home has a broken door. If we don’t want to be robbed, we need to fix that door asap. Our inner homes often [...]
Engage with reality on your terms, not on the mind’s terms or the world’s terms
Suppose we want to watch some educational program on TV. If someone else had set the TV to a celebrity gossip channel, we would change [...]
Learn to see pause as an action
While watching a video, if we press the pause button, the action stops. Regularly operating such digital switches, we tend to think of pause as [...]
Unhealthy cravings are often unhealthy expressions of healthy needs
We are sometimes told to differentiate between desires and needs. However, just an intellectual differentiation is not enough. Sometimes, our desires are misdirected expressions of [...]
Scriptural study helps us differentiate our authentic needs from our artificial needs
We often feel we need many material things. But when we work to get them and even when we get them, they don’t satisfy us. [...]
See as much as you can while you can
Suppose we are walking at night on a dark road and our flashlight starts flickering. While the light is on, we will try to see [...]
Don’t just be active – be aware
Some people question the utility of meditation: “Why spend so much time sitting at one place doing nothing except thinking? Why not use that time [...]
Slow down to rise up
When a plane wants to take-off in its flight, it speeds up till it has acquired the momentum necessary for sustaining flight. In contrast, when [...]
To save time, we need spiritual elevation more than technological innovation
We are frequently over-scheduled, over-worked, over-stressed. So, we naturally feel eager for things that promise to save time. Catering to our needs, scores of apps [...]
Are we clearing the inner fog?
Driving through a fog is arduous and dangerous: arduous because we have to constantly strain to see what lies ahead and dangerous because despite our [...]
Go beyond rapidity and vapidity to clarity and serenity
Our current materialistic culture impels us to lead lives characterized by rapidity and vapidity: Rapidity: In the rapid mode, we are in a tearing hurry [...]