That all of us are in the same boat is a treacherous comfort when the boat is sinking
Our mortality is perhaps our best-kept secret. It’s a secret not in the sense that it’s not known, but in the sense that it’s hardly [...]
Don’t waste extra thought on people for whom you are extras
“If I do that, what will people think of me?” Such concern over the world’s opinion can sometimes protect us from unworthy actions but it [...]
Life may push us into the company of problems, but it cannot force us into their control
While traveling, sometimes the people sitting next to us are less than pleasant. We may not be able to avoid their company, but we don’t [...]
The road from beauty to reality can be seen only by purity
Some people ask, “When God has created the beauty of this world, why do scriptures decry it as illusion?” Firstly, scriptures don’t decry beauty itself [...]
Nonviolence that allows exploiters to become rulers is violence
Many people feel uncomfortable with the idea of a religious book, the Bhagavad-gita, urging war. They would probably be surprised to find their feelings echoed [...]
The different yogas are essentially similar with minor dissimilarities, not essentially dissimilar with minor similarities
The Bhagavad-gita calls humans to rise from the material mortal level of reality to the spiritual immortal level of reality. For this ascent it offers [...]
When we steer by stars that are in motion, our motion simply causes commotion
Just as ships steer by the pole star, we all during our journey through life steer by some guiding stars – ideas we have learnt [...]
The Gita teaches not about a distant past but about the eternal present
Some people ask Bhagavad-gita students, “Don’t you people live in the past – spending so much time on an ancient book?” No, Gita study is [...]
The last thing on the mind of the materialists is the first thing on the mind of the spiritualists
Materialistic people hardly ever think of Krishna except when they conceive him as a facilitator of their plans for self-centered enjoyment. But thoughts about Krishna [...]
Progression can become stagnation when there is misconception about destination
Gita wisdom offers an inclusive spiritual program that allows people with varying spiritual drives to choose a path that suits their level of commitment. Thus, [...]
Life’s supreme success is not to conquer everyone but to be conquered by the lover of everyone
Many people think of success in terms of power – they think that the more people they can conquer, the more successful they have become. [...]
The freedom offered by ignorance of freedom is the tightest bondage
Whenever people are enslaved, they sooner or later try to break free. They get motivation for their freedom struggle by seeing the privileges enjoyed by [...]
Don’t think things to death; think of the thing called death
Thinking things to death refers to spending so much time analyzing a problem that the time for applying any solution runs out before one decides [...]
Peace bought at the cost of justice can be the worst violence
Some people ask, “The Bhagavad-gita is said to be a spiritual book, yet it endorses violence. Isn’t that anti-spiritual?” No, because the Gita is a [...]
Envy is degrading; esteem is ennobling
Envy is a typical human response on seeing others better than us. But it’s not the only possible response – esteem is a healthier alternative. [...]
When generic envy becomes specific envy, it becomes doubly dangerous
Generic envy refers to the general negativity that one class of people feel towards another better-endowed class, say, the lower class towards the middle class [...]
Envy and devotion are both levelers – envy levels downwards; devotion, upwards
We like to have a level playing field. Yet the world hardly ever offers a level playing field. Some people have more wealth, better looks [...]
Be conscious that what you are conscious of is Krishna
The Bhagavad-gita (07.06) explains philosophically how everything in existence is a manifestation of the energies of Krishna. As his energies are non-different from him, everything [...]
Work on mind control enthusiastically while Krishna works on mind conversion expertly
We all have first-hand experience how the mind impels us to self-defeating actions. So when the Bhagavad-gita (06.05) warns us that the mind can be [...]
Bhakti transforms our solitary struggle with the mind into a cooperative conquest
“What is the best way to control the mind?” To this universal question of all spiritual seekers, the Bhagavad-gita answers: bhakti-yoga. Let’s see how and [...]
It takes great intelligence to recognize that intelligence is not great enough
Some people feel that the path of bhakti is too simplistic: “If we just do what Krishna tells, then how are we doing justice to [...]