Ignorance is bad, but illusion is worse
A blind person walking on a street, being aware of being unaware of the path, will walk cautiously. But a person with cataract may see [...]
Don’t believe the phantoms created by the mind – believe Krishna
If children see a horror movie featuring phantoms, they may become fearful of, say, dark places, dreading that some deadly phantom may spring from some [...]
The mind can make us give up the wonderful for the dreadful
Suppose we are at a buffet meal in which one item is delicious and another is tasteless. If someone misinformed us and filled our plate [...]
We can’t fly in the sky without breaking our shell
When a baby bird tries to come out of its shell, it has to strain and stretch to crack the shell. When its wing comes [...]
Fear is not the problem – fear of what comes after fear is
Fear is a natural human response to danger. When seen as an impetus to be cautious, fear can check us from recklessly charging into danger. [...]
Ignorance makes people use reason unreasonably
Some people say, “Science is based on reason, whereas religion is based on superstition. So we should use scientific reason to drive out religious superstition.” [...]
To seek shortcuts is to be shortsighted
Shortcuts promise to take us to our destination quickly. But in our search for pleasure, sensual indulgences are shortcuts that actually take us away from [...]
Don’t obstruct bhakti with an intellectual filter – or with an anti-intellectual filter either
An intellectual filter in bhakti refers to giving our intelligence the role of arbiter in deciding what is acceptable and what isn’t. But the intelligence [...]
Every trial is a teacher
In life, we all go through various trials. A trial seems especially trying is when it appears pointless, when it seems as if that trial [...]
Enlightenment doesn’t terminate devotion, but culminates in it
Some impersonalists say, “Enlightenment terminates devotion. As long as we are conditioned and are habituated to thinking about forms, we can conceive the Absolute Truth [...]
Renunciation centers not on running away from the world but running towards Krishna
Some people say, “Those who can’t face the world’s problems run away from them by becoming renunciates.” Sadly, it’s true that some people do take to [...]
Surrender is not rejection of the intelligence, but its perfection
Some people perceive surrender to God as anti-intellectual, as an abandonment of the intelligence for an abject capitulation to God. However, that’s not the kind [...]
Even if we can’t get over things, we can still get on with things
Sometimes life throws at us devastating reversals that cause overwhelming grief, fury or frustration. Some losses may even make us feel that life itself is [...]
Forgetfulness of life’s emptiness is not happiness
Many people find their lives so boring that they consider as enjoyable anything which helps them forget that emptiness. The entertainment industry serves this purpose; [...]
Don’t beat yourself down – pick yourself up
When we make mistakes, we naturally feel annoyed, even infuriated, with ourselves. While these feelings can help if they prompt us to self-improvement, they can [...]
Inner calm activates the intercom to God
We often use intercom to connect with people with whom we cannot talk directly. The process of bhakti-yoga acts like a spiritual intercom to connect [...]
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 [...]
Make the mind wonder spiritually, not wander materially
The mind tends to wander to various worldly objects, going here, there and everywhere – except where it should be for constructive engagement. By its [...]
The world of love manifests through the words of love
The world of love refers ultimately to the spiritual world, Krishna’s personal abode where there is endless love. There, Krishna exists eternally, the soul exists [...]
Gita 18.75 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan How he has heard is [...]
Unity comes not by blinding oneself to differences, but by seeing beyond differences
Differences are often the cause of conflicts. Wanting to avoid such conflicts, some people try to wish away the differences by claiming that we are [...]