Bhakti offers emotional liquidity that is above, not below, intellectual solidity
We may sometimes wonder how to harmonize the two aspects of our human personality: the head and the heart. A preponderance of the head makes [...]
Our heart deserves more than a consolation prize
Our heart is flooded with many desires for happiness. However, most of these desires are unfulfillable due to the limitations of time, financial resources, bodily [...]
Bhakti purifies, sanctifies and amplifies our emotions
Emotions differentiate us conscious beings from unconscious things. As matter doesn’t have the capacity to experience emotions, the presence of that capacity in us suggests [...]
Let’s make our memory our treasury
When the present presents us with difficulties, we often turn to our memories of past emotionally fulfilling moments for inspiration. As our culture bombards us [...]
Be a part; be not apart
Some people equate becoming spiritual with becoming unambitious. However, bhakti spirituality centers on ambitiousness, albeit of a kind different from the individualistic ambitiousness glamorized by [...]
When the immediate encroaches repeatedly on the ultimate, we need an immediate reality check
We often get caught in the exigencies and emergencies that keep coming up in our lives. Despite knowing the importance of developing our relationship with [...]
The Gita lives through those who live the Gita
Many people hesitate to apply the Bhagavad-gita in their lives because they doubt whether its guidelines given thousands of years ago are practical today. Their [...]
Cultivate the love that goes as far as the head goes – and also goes beyond it
To love anything in this temporary world, we need to suspend our head and close our eyes to the misery that will inevitably result because [...]
We can do better than to join the society of materialistic fanatics
Rampant corruption and blatant inequity characterize our current socioeconomic system. What is their cause? They are symptoms of the materialistic fanaticism afflicting humanity. Just as [...]
Go beyond rapidity and vapidity to clarity and serenity
Our current materialistic culture impels us to lead lives characterized by rapidity and vapidity: Rapidity: In the rapid mode, we are in a tearing hurry [...]
Can’t set things right? See things right
Whenever things go wrong in life, we can generally do something to set them right. But when death strikes, there’s nothing that we can do [...]
The way to say no to temptation is to say yes to devotion
We may hesitate to adopt authentic scripture-based spirituality because of the fear that we will have to give up too many worldly pleasures. Such fears [...]
Avoid a void within
In our introspective moments, we often sense a void within: a feeling of incompleteness, even emptiness. This void in our heart is due to our [...]
Don’t let parasites suck your mental energy
Sometimes we feel mentally tired even when we are not physically tired. What causes this mental tiredness? Among its various causes, a common, major, and [...]
Krishna’s pastimes are fantastic, but not fantasy
We may find Krishna’s pastimes of magically killing demons fantastic. Yes, they are fantastic, in the sense that they demonstrate his capacities to effortlessly accomplish [...]
Pride demands and blames, humility begs and waits
“Why am I not advancing fast enough?” This question sometimes troubles our hearts and makes us feel dissatisfied with our spiritual lives. This dissatisfaction can [...]
Be not dulled and lulled by TV
Few consumer products shape the contemporary home as much as a television. Few images represent a contemporary family better than a group of people, physically [...]
Transform your heart into a blossoming garden
Love is not just a feeling, but also a doing; not just an emotion, but also an action. In fact, love as a feeling is [...]
Devotion protects our values from being held hostage by our impulses
All of us have experience of times when our impulses overpower our values and goad us into actions that we regret later. How do our [...]
Attaining an unalienable wealth
We often presume that to become happy, we need lots of wealth. However, the pursuit of wealth as a source of happiness inevitably frustrates us [...]
Krishna is a coach, not a critic
The Bhagavad-gita (09.18) states that Krishna is present in the hearts of all of us as the witness. Fortunately for us, he is present there [...]