How we end up neglecting life’s important things
How we end up neglecting life’s important things -When people face sudden disaster or death, they often realize that they have wasted so much of [...]
When we feel worthless …
When we feel worthless - Suppose we find ourselves trapped in a dark dungeon. We struggle in vain to pry out the rocks from a [...]
Why seeking something worthwhile is better than seeking something wonderful
Why seeking something worthwhile is better than seeking something wonderful - Suppose we want to write a best-selling book. Suppose further we start worrying that [...]
When the urgent seems important and makes us impotent
When the urgent seems important and makes us impotent - Suppose we have ten urgent things to do that all seem equally important. If these [...]
Why imposing equality backfires?
Why imposing equality backfires? - Suppose a class teacher resolves to do away with all inequality in students’ marks. So they decide to average the [...]
Is hurt = harm?
We often equate hurt, the sensation of pain, with harm: injury or damage. And they do frequently correlate. If our hand goes too close to [...]
What do we need to be happier?
Many people think that to be happy, they need to become richer and thinner. By their wealth, they believe they can buy the things that [...]
How to endure phases of tastelessness in bhakti
How to endure phases of tastelessness in bhakti When we start practicing bhakti yoga, we may expect to relish great joy because we are connecting [...]
Without spiritual direction religious regulation seems like pointless restriction or even painful repression
Without spiritual direction religious regulation seems like pointless restriction or even painful repression Suppose we're walking along a road through mountainous territory toward a beautiful [...]
We can’t always go outside but we can always go inside
The outer world is subject to uncontrollable change that can limit our physical freedom. If we can’t go outside, we might go stir-crazy, becoming bored, [...]
If we wait till we feel inspired we will definitely wait indefinitely
Suppose we want to develop a good habit centered on doing something creative or constructive such as meditate, study wisdom-texts, journal or write. Even when [...]
See God’s love in the resources he provides for our spiritual evolution, not the resources he provides for our material gratification
Some people ask, “If God loves us, why does he interfere with our enjoyment?” God doesn’t interfere with our enjoyment; he helps us infer what [...]
The mind often recasts antipathy as inability – what it doesn’t want to do, it presents as if it can’t do
Suppose a child doesn’t want to study a particular subject, say, math. He may protest to his mother, “I can’t do this.” If the mother [...]
We have to risk going too far to know how far we can go
Suppose we are seeking something that requires effort and involves risk. When we start stretching ourselves, others may caution us, “You are going too far [...]
To savor what is most sweet, we often need to shed the most sweat
If we want to eat food, we need to earn it. If we want to eat sweet food, we need to pay more, that is, [...]
Learn to wonder and ponder, not wander and pander
Babies tend to wander and pander. They wander wherever they can without considering where they are going and why. They typically pander to their tongue, [...]
Even if we can’t close the door to temptation permanently, we can close it presently
Suppose we live in a thief-infested locality. We will want a strong, permanent lock for our home door. But if somehow we can’t have such [...]
Stop resenting your struggles, start habituating yourselves to them – and they will start hurting less
Suppose we have to do something difficult, be it physical such as push-ups or intellectual such as complicated assignments or spiritual such as mantra meditation. [...]
Sensual pleasure feels fine, but it comes with a fine
Youths often like to drive their bikes superfast, way above the speed limit. They get a thrill when they feel the wind whistling through their [...]
Fear not the loss of sensual pleasure – fear the loss of spiritual pleasure
We don’t like to lose things. If a choice entails some loss, we recoil from it. Such recoiling can make us miss out on choices [...]
Digging for gold requires dealing with dirt
Few activities captivate the human imagination as much as the hope of finding underground gold. However, such fantasies often overlook the reality that that gold [...]