Seek not just spiritual expression – seek a spiritual expressway
The word ‘spirit’ sometimes signifies a person’s driving essence, as in “he has an untiring spirit.” When we aspire to express our defining core, we [...]
Focus not on letting go of things – focus on taking hold of your thoughts
In spiritual life, we are often exhorted to let go of things. However, we viscerally resist because we feel as if we are losing the [...]
Bhakti is not a rejection of human values, but a progression above them
The Bhagavad-gita (18.66) asks us to give up all dharma, which contextually means ordinary conceptions of right and wrong, and just surrender to God. Does [...]
The Gita doesn’t reject dharma, but raises dharma to its summit
The Bhagavad-gita’s concluding call (18.66: Give up all dharma) often perplexes people. They ask, “Why does the Gita, a book on dharma, ask us to [...]
Focus not on freedom — focus on love
Today’s culture often enthrones freedom as the highest good, as an absolutely inviolable tenet. Undoubtedly, freedom is one of our innate longings, and it needs [...]
The Gita is a dharmic book that asks us to give up dharma – or does it?
The Bhagavad-gita (18.66) concludes with an intriguing call: Give up all religions (sarva-dharman parityajya). This begs the question – why would a religious book ask [...]
To endure karma, embrace dharma
To endure karma refers to dealing gracefully with the adversities that come in our life as karmic reactions to our past misdeeds. When such miseries [...]
Surrender is not giving up but letting go
The notion of surrendering to someone often jars us because we mentally associate it with giving up. Consequently, when the Bhagavad-gita (18.66) concludes with a [...]
The perfection of dharma is not to fall in line with cosmic law, but to fall in love with the trans-cosmic lover
The Bhagavad-gita (18.66) concludes with a surprising call to give up all dharma. Why is this call surprising? Because the protection of dharma is the [...]
We may be unqualified, but we are never disqualified
To be unqualified for something means to not have the necessary qualifications to do it. To be disqualified means to not be allowed to do [...]
The generosity of bhakti is in countering, not condoning, sin
“As I am a devotee, even if I sin, it doesn’t matter because Krishna will free me from all sins.” Some people argue thus while [...]
Krishna focuses on where we want to go, not where we have been
“My past has been so sinful. How can I possibly approach Krishna?” Such doubts may block us in our devotional journey. Gita wisdom reassures us [...]
Whatever karma may get us to, Krishna will get us through
Accidents, diseases, atrocities – when we see such tragedies befall people around us, we may become fearful: “What if something like that happens to me? [...]
Love values, but value love more
Values protect us from impulses. When we become angry or lusty or greedy, our values, especially our ethical and behavioral values, check us from acting [...]
Religion is meant for God; God is not meant for religion
Some exclusivist religions claim that no one can access God except through them. Such reduction of God to a monopolized commodity in the religious market [...]
The bond that sets us free
Surrender. The idea often conjures images of a warrior accepting defeat and being bound by the enemy. When the Bhagavad-gita (18.66) asks us to surrender, [...]
The Gita is Categorical and Rhetorical
Many people say, “The Bhagavad-gita is all things to all people; it recommends different paths for different people.” Does it? Reading the Gita shows that [...]
Surrender is not about giving up, but about going up
The Bhagavad-gita (18.66) concludes by calling upon us to surrender to Krishna. To some of us, the word “surrender” may conjure images of a defeated [...]
The Gita centers on neither rituals nor doctrines but on a love affair
The Bhagavad-gita (18.66) concludes with the radical call to abandon all dharmas and just surrender to Krishna alone. What is the rationale for this call? [...]
The Bhagavad-gita enthrones the path of love
Those familiar with the Gita sometimes raise the question: “When the Gita mentions various spiritual paths like karma-yoga, jnana-yoga and ashtanga-yoga, what is the need [...]