Others don’t endanger our liberty as much as do we ourselves
The news often reports people protesting vehemently against any law that seems draconian, that threatens their liberty. Dictatorial regimes that curtail individual rights often earn [...]
The claim that consciousness is an illusion proves that it is not an illusion
Some fanatical materialists claim, “Matter is all that exists — the idea of consciousness is an illusion.” However, their very assertion of this claim proves [...]
Don’t care so much for desire that it doesn’t care for the desirer
Suppose a person climbs on a horse, but the horse goes wild, endangering the rider. Something similar happens to us when we climb on the [...]
When we remember Krishna, we dismember illusion
Suppose a warrior is being attacked by an enemy who is charging in with an upraised sword. But before the enemy comes close enough to [...]
Don’t equate the essential with the exclusive
A person driving a car needs fuel, but if they carry with them nothing except fuel and if they imagine that fuel can satisfy their [...]
Those who don’t have money are poor, but those who have only money are poorer still
To be labeled as poor and be looked down at by others ranks among people’s most dreaded nightmares. Money is essential. However, when it becomes [...]
Money is one measure of value, not the only measure of value
We live in a materialistic, money-centered culture that is almost mercenary in its obsession with money. Money is essential for our survival, so it is [...]
If anything can mean anything, ultimately nothing means anything
A contemporary intellectual trend is deconstructionism, which some nihilists appropriate to invent all sorts of creative and destructive interpretations of things. Nihilists argue that there [...]
When we desert Krishna, our heart becomes a desert
The word desert can refer to both a place and an action. As a place, it refers to a region without water. As an action, [...]
The starting point of happiness is selflessness
We all seek happiness – and we all do various things to become happy. Today’s materialist culture, especially with its stress on advertisements, makes us [...]
Materialism reduces life to a disrelation of unrelated events
Suppose we are shown a movie in which events are utterly unconnected; characters pop in and out with no logic; and the story moves without [...]
Just because we can’t live without something doesn’t mean that we can live with it
Sometimes people may have some addiction such as alcoholism that they feel that they can’t live without. But their feeling that it is essential doesn’t [...]
We are not programmed machines – we are the possessors of programmable machines
Atheists often argue that we are just our neurons – our behavior is simply a function of our neuronal programming, and our belief that we [...]
Don’t let the wealth without wipe out the wealth within
Our thoughts determine our inner wealth level. When materialism drives us, our thoughts obsess over outer things, gradually impelling us to indiscriminate actions. The Bhagavad-gita [...]
The capacity to choose is itself not freedom – the maturity to choose wisely is
Today’s ethos exalts freedom as the supreme virtue. Anything that infringes on freedom is labeled dictatorial and unacceptable. But consider addicts. They do have the [...]
Temporary relief from self-inflicted torture is not pleasure
Suppose a person who is dragged by a noose around the neck feels relieved when that dragging stops, and mistakes that relief to be pleasure. [...]
Anger-aggravating religion is the antithesis of religion
Some people perpetrate terrorism in the name of religion. Being angry with others about past wrongs – factual, exaggerated or imagined – they misappropriate religion [...]
Freedom is most endangered by the illusion of freedom
When people feel that their freedom is threatened, they often protest – and protest vehemently. But if they are led to believe that they are [...]
To reject reality because it is not found in the map is absurdity
Suppose a person uses a map to travel to a friend’s house. At each step during the journey, suppose the map guides them well, and [...]
Happiness comes not by collecting the material, but by recollecting the spiritual
We live in a materialistic culture that aggressively propagates the notion that we will become happy by gaining more and more material things. Being seduced [...]
To convert a prison into a kingdom is a fool’s errand
When criminals are sentenced to a jail, they may, especially if they are driven by megalomania, attempt to convert the jail into their kingdom, by [...]