The summit that reaches down to the trenches
Love is the emotion that underlies all our emotions. When fulfilled, love can take us to the highest peaks of ecstasy. When frustrated, it can [...]
Are we drinking poison to quench thirst?
When infants feel thirsty, they cry, not knowing what’s wrong. Mothers understand and give their babies water. As the toddlers grow up, they too understand [...]
Are we meant to be characters in a cartoon show?
Entertainment. That’s the most eagerly awaited part of life for many people. Movies, soap operas, spectators sports, novels, cartoons – that’s the stuff most people [...]
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, [...]
Fighting vices is like fighting weeds: we are always slightly behind
In gardening, each time we pluck weeds out, they grow again; in fighting them we are always slightly behind. The same applies to the garden [...]
Love of words in the words of love
The Bhagavad-gita is essentially Krishna’s words of love for all of us. From its setting, the Gita may appear to be words of counsel directed [...]
The sacrifice of life, the life of sacrifice
Those who become martyrs for a noble cause often awe others. For most people, nothing is as dear as life. So, martyrs inspire awe. We [...]
Don’t massage or pinch the false ego; pat it onwards
The Bhagavad-gita treats our bodily misidentification paradoxically. It analyzes cogentlythat we are not our material bodies, but are souls. Yet out of the 25 names [...]
The human talent for misery
We often use our talents to make ourselves miserable. Not intentionally of course, but creatively nonetheless. Addictions are a classic example. Individually, an addicted person [...]
Forgive the unavoidable, avoid the unforgivable
Gita wisdom is eminently practical. It reveals lofty levels of devotional consciousness as our ultimate goal, but also outlines a down-to-earthpath for getting there. Let’s [...]
Are we seeking counsel from our fears instead of from Krishna?
Suppose in a boxing match a boxer gets knocked down by his opponent. Disheartened by the power of the opponent, the fallen boxer starts doubting [...]
Be cruel to be kind
Suppose we are sick and need a painful treatment. If we undergo that treatment, it may appear as if we are being cruel to ourselves. [...]
The blows that break the shell of our isolation from Krishna
When life moves along smoothly, when we successfully use our talents and our plans to achieve our goals, we frequently build a shell of complacency [...]
Increasing willpower – The only way and the best way
When we fall short while doing something challenging, we often wonder: how can I increase my willpower? The factors that determine our present level of [...]
Conviction and purification take us from the poison to the nectar
As devotees who wish to rise from the material level to the spiritual level, we often face the question, “How do I sustain myself during [...]
Devotion takes us beyond being hunted and haunted
We sometimes face problems that seem to hunt us externally and passions that seem to haunt us internally. Hunted: We may feel attacked by problems [...]
Ending the perpetual u-turns in our quest for happiness
We sometimes strive for spiritual enjoyment and sometimes indulge in material enjoyment. Thus, we keep taking perpetual u-turns in our quest for happiness. To end [...]
Don’t give up the intelligence; go beyond the intelligence
Intellectuals sometimes feel alienated from scriptures due to what they feel are its inconsistent or illogical statements. As their intellect has been their guide and [...]
Don’t let information overload make relevance irrelevant
Our culture bombards us with irrelevant information. The attack on an embassy in Africa, a tennis tournament in America, an election in Europe – does [...]