Choose to be holy now – don’t wait for a holy cloud to form around your head
“Surely, but not now.” This is often our default response when saintly people urge us to make our relationship with Krishna a priority. We rationalize: [...]
Material letdown and spiritual breakdown: The Twin Troubles of Transgression
“What’s wrong with a bit of indulgence as long as one is not harming anyone?” This utilitarian-seeming rationale sometimes tempts us to transgress the moral [...]
Meditation is not a dulling duty – it is a thrilling opportunity
As devotee-seekers, we often begin mantra meditation with enthusiasm and anticipation. However, our mind soon starts coming in the way of our meditation with increasing [...]
Krishna walks with us, but not for us
When we strive to live spiritually, we often find ourselves succumbing to materialism, despite our prayers to Krishna for protection. At such times, we may [...]
Seek the true tool to your self before you seek to be true to yourself
The Bhagavad-gita (18.58) indicates that all of us have essentially two choices in making our life's decisions: to act according to the voice of Krishna [...]
Love for Krishna is a love that doesn’t appoint to DIS-appoint
Whenever we love anyone, we hope fondly that the relationship will make us happy; we fix an appointment with fulfilment. Sadly however, worldly love promises [...]
Lewdness is not “boldness”
“This movie is filled with bold scenes.” Sentences like these are common in movie reviews. It is now standard to use “boldness” as a rationalization [...]
With Krishna, we flourish; without Krishna, we perish
Life presents us with so many alternatives, all with their own complex and unpredictable implications, that the task of choosing among them can become overwhelming. [...]
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 is an intellectual adventure with an emotional climax
We have two essential faculties: the head and the heart. The head is our intellectual center and the heart, our emotional center. The Bhagavad-gita being [...]
Our fear of insignificance traps us in insignificance
“If I give up all my desires and just fulfill Krishna’s desires, won’t I be stripping myself of everything that makes me significant as a [...]
Gita insights for New Year resolutions
The Bhagavad-gita (18.33)(18.34)(18.35) describes resolution or determination in the three modes of nature: goodness, passion and ignorance. The modes comprise subtle cosmological forces that exert [...]
Questioning our questions
The Bhagavad-gita begins in its first chapter with Arjuna asking a series of rhetorical questions meant to justify his views and choices. Lord Krishna responds [...]
Lack of devotional appetite is natural yet unnatural
As spiritual seekers, we may at times feel apathetic or averse to the spiritual practices like meditation or prayer that connect us with Krishna and [...]
Familiarity is not understanding
The Bhagavad-gita (4.9) describes that the result of understanding Krishna – his divine birth and his sublime activities – is liberation and reinstatement in his [...]
The Gita guarantees ultimate success
The Bhagavad-gita (18.78) concludes with the proclamation that success is guaranteed for those who harmonize their human will with the divine will. This proclamation is [...]
Ask not “Is God with me?” Ask “Am I with God?”
The Bhagavad-gita (18.73) expresses the summit of humanity’s faith in divinity when Arjuna declares to Krishna, “I will do your will.” Our faith in God [...]
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 [...]
A moment of indulgence can cause a lifetime of repentance – beware
The news periodically features stories of talented individuals who ruin their promising prospects by succumbing to immorality and greed. For the sake of quick gains, [...]
Stop the hurry, worry, sorry story – seek Hari
In youth, we are mostly in a state of hurry, having so many things to do and imagining that we can bend the world to [...]