Watch what you talk when you talk to yourself
When we are talking, especially in an important meeting, we watch what we talk, lest we speak inappropriately. Just as we watch what we talk [...]
Outreach is not just about expression of the truth, but also about impression with the truth
The Bhagavad-gita features Krishna, the Absolute Truth, speaking the Absolute Truth. Krishna’s speaking the Gita could be said to be the paradigmatic outreach initiative. It [...]
Sense control will make us not deprived, but relieved
Consider an alcoholic who has understood the gravity of their addiction and is struggling to break free from it. For such a recovering alcoholic, the [...]
The mind makes us serious about the frivolous and frivolous about the serious
Our mind often skews our sense of perspective – it makes us serious about the frivolous and frivolous about the serious. Serious about the frivolous: [...]
We are always directed, but we can choose our director
We often feel that we are free to act in whichever way we choose. Yet all of us are impelled by forces beyond our own [...]
We don’t need as much to collect as to be collected
Today’s culture and media goad us through aggressive ads to collecting – buy this, exhibit this, enjoy this. Goaded thus, millions become shopaholics, compulsive shoppers [...]
When we resent others, we drink poison and expect them to suffer
Suppose a person becomes furious with someone and decides to hurt them. So, they drink poison themselves. Ridiculous, we would say: Who would do anything [...]
Don’t just fight the mind – fight to get the mind to fight for you
Suppose a part of a country is afflicted by insurgency. To gain control, that country needs to not just crush the insurgents but to also [...]
Compare yourself only with the person you were yesterday
A common human pastime is comparison: “My car is better than theirs; their house is better than mine; my phone is smarter than theirs.” Through [...]
We know neither what we are, nor what we can become
Some people are undiscovered talents. A cricketer might be playing brilliantly, but at a little-known club. Somehow, if that player gets spotted, then those spotting [...]
The mind may be confused, but we don’t have to let it confuse us
Suppose while we are working we find a colleague suddenly starts mumbling something. If what they are saying doesn’t make sense, we might try to [...]
Sex is a bodily function – letting it become a mental obsession is illusion
Some people ask, “Sex is a natural bodily function. Why is spiritual life against sex?” Spiritual life is not against the natural bodily function of [...]
All consciences are not born equal – nor are they bred equal
Conscience is the inner voice that guides us to do right things and avoid wrong things. Many thoughtful people make decisions guided by their conscience, [...]
Restraint and renunciation are routes to detachment – bhakti is the fuel
While traveling, we need to know the routes to travel by as well as the fuel to travel with. If we know just the route [...]
Train yourself to hack the inner hacker
A major danger in today’s digital world is hacking, wherein unscrupulous people gain access to our confidential, valuable data. A similar danger plagues us all [...]
Faith is the reason for reason
Some people feel that faith and reason are incompatible. They argue that those who have faith in God are not thinking rationally and those who [...]
Renunciation is not for deprivation but for connection and satisfaction
Many people see renunciation negatively, as deprivation of enjoyable things. However, a dramatically different picture emerges if we shift our focus from the practice of [...]
We can’t choose our past, but we can choose our memories
When we meet someone who has an ugly scar, that sight may jar us. But once we get to know them and see their good [...]
The way of the body is the way of limitation and tribulation
People sometimes ask, “Why are bodily pleasures spoken of so negatively in the Bhagavad-gita?” The Bhagavad-gita recommends restraint in bodily indulgence not to deprive us [...]
Mental silence is more defining than verbal silence
Some people, especially those seeking to grow inwards, take a vow of silence, known in Sanskrit as mauna-vrata. The rationale for such a vow is [...]
Our connection with Krishna is both constitutional and cognitional
A fundamental insight of spiritual life is that everything is inter-connected. We are not isolated chance products existing temporarily, alone in the vast infinity of [...]