Chapter 18

Some people think that jumping over the world, with all its problems and complications, is the way to reach God. Yes, spiritualists don't want to [...]

We sometimes feel, “Good things rarely happen to me, but bad things happen repeatedly. Things happen to me, never for me. If only [...]

When we speak with others, how can we make our speech persuasive? By appealing to both their head and their heart.  Such effective communication is [...]

Some people say they want to do good to others. But when others don’t cooperate, they use force to get others to do their will. [...]

We all need morality as a behavioral safeguard. If we indulge in some unhealthy pleasure indiscriminately and repeatedly, we become attached, even addicted. Over time, [...]

Today’s culture often dangles many pleasures that seem free. For example, the Internet offers loads of entertainment, apparently free.  But are such pleasures really free? [...]

Some people feel that if they start practicing bhakti spirituality, they will simply have to obey God and thereby suppress their individuality, creativity and initiative [...]

Some people oppose the principle of forbidding anything: “If God didn’t want us to take intoxicants, why did he create intoxicating substances in nature? And [...]

Suppose a person is driving a car on the road — then they are belonging to a whole bigger than themselves: the road transport system. [...]

We all have a certain frequency to our thoughts. Roughly speaking, this correlates with the thoughts that most often frequent our mind.  If we frequently [...]

Spoon-feeding someone means giving them so much information so pre-digested that it neither requires nor allows any further thinking or effort. Usually, the word spoon-feeding [...]

Atheism often parasitically draws on the prestige of science to take unsuspecting masses away from theism. How? By equating science with scientism.  Science investigates the [...]

Morality essentially centers on discerning which activities are acceptable and which aren't. If we can’t or don’t make moral evaluations, we may become worse than [...]

When we start practicing bhakti yoga, we may expect to relish great joy because we are connecting with the one who is the source of [...]

Whenever we face situations wherein our future seems dark and dangerous, our mind starts becoming paranoid. The Bhagavad-gita (18.35) cautions that fearfulness characterizes a mind [...]

As life’s uncertainties make us anxious, we often long to be anxiety-free. Curiously however, when we are relatively free from anxiety, as when we are [...]

We all stumble and fall at times. And sometimes our mistakes have serious, even grievous, consequences. On committing such mistakes, it's natural and necessary that [...]

We often find ourselves under constant pressure to do things: make calls, answer emails, finish chores.  How can we relieve ourselves of that pressure? One [...]

Intelligence and intellect are sometimes considered synonyms. However, they differ significantly. Before going into their specific meanings, let’s consider the underlying concepts.  We all have [...]

Our mind is like an inner screen. On it appear sensory stimuli from the outer world as well as recollections arising from past impressions in [...]

Suppose someone has had an accident while taking a sharp turn on a hilly road. Though they survive that accident, they get scarred — not [...]