Majestic loneliness is still loneliness
People often want to rise to the top in their fields and to delight in being high above everyone else. Even if they attain a [...]
To mistake attention to be affection is delusion
When we enter a room, we often note how many people notice us. If no one notices us, we feel bad. If many heads turn [...]
Morality may be relativized, but the consequences of immoral indulgence can’t be relativized
Today’s culture revels in moral relativism. People reject the existence of objective moral principles; they argue that whatever makes them feel good is good, and [...]
One person’s diversion can be another person’s devastation
To relieve life’s monotony, we sometimes seek various diversions. While diverting ourselves, we may simply want some harmless entertainment. But diversions can easily degenerate from [...]
Give others as much benefit of doubt as we give to ourselves
If we oversleep, we often justify, “I was tired.” But if someone we don’t like oversleeps, we label them as “lazy.” If we overeat, we [...]
Those who don’t think philosophy don’t live without philosophy – they live with an unthought philosophy
Some people say, “I am interested only in the here-and-now, in the visible and the tangible. I am not interested in philosophy.” However, we all [...]
We need to know that which we can’t not know
We can’t afford to not have a map if we are on a road that ends in a free fall from a cliff into a [...]
We may be wired to explode, but we can change our wiring
Short-tempered people are sometimes said to be “wired to explode.” This expression draws metaphorically from technology to imply that our behavior is determined by our [...]
What is craved within gets carved within
We sometimes feel cravings for things that we would normally never indulge in real life. Yet we entertain those cravings mentally, thinking that the mental [...]
To think that we may become proud suggests that we may already be proud
Suppose we have some special talents by which we can excel in an important service. But we may hesitate to use those talents, fearing that [...]
Indiscriminate indulgence makes the impulsive compulsive
No one desires to become an addict. When people drink, they usually want to have a good time with their friends. However, each time they [...]
Those who obsess over what is wrong overlook what is right
Some people are industrious faultfinders. Whoever they are with, they zero in on the faults of that person. Such people who obsess on the wrong [...]
Go to the temple to take darshan, not to give darshan
Some celebrities such as politicians or movie stars often visit temples on special holy days such as Janmashtami. If they see such visits merely as good photo-ops [...]
Those who boast that they can do anything can do nothing as they should
Some people are versatile. With their multifarious talents, they feel they can do whatever they put their mind on. Even if they can, their actions [...]
All consciences are not born equal – nor are they bred equal
Conscience is the inner voice that guides us to do right things and avoid wrong things. Many thoughtful people make decisions guided by their conscience, [...]
The Gita is not an exhortation to war; it is an exposition on dharma
Some people feel alarmed by the Bhagavad-gita’s battlefield setting, especially in today’s world where many rationalize brutal violence against the innocent in the name of [...]
What defines us is what lies at the top of our being, not at the bottom
Some materialists argue that we humans are nothing but animals. Yes, we have much in common with animals: we all struggle for survival, and crave [...]
Those who anger us conquer us
Sports are sometimes marred by unwholesome practices such as sledging. In cricket, for example, fielders may provoke a batsman by taunting. If the batsman gets [...]
To see through everything is to see nothing
The purpose of seeing through something is to see to something. A see-through window in our car helps us see things outside the car. If [...]
Bring out the best within, not the beast within
We all would like to improve ourselves, become better – and yet we sometimes act regrettably, worse than ourselves. What makes us act like that? [...]
The emptiness within empties everything without
The world allures us with the pleasure of possession, gratification and exhibition. But such mundane pleasures titillate, never fulfill. They are like painkillers for our [...]