Bhakti integrates our emotional and rational faculties
People whose emotional faculty is predominant tend to be hotheaded. People whose rational faculty is predominant tend to be coldhearted. Integrating both these faculties in [...]
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, [...]
Tolerance is the stopper between temptation and transgression
“I have been striving for selflessness and purity, yet I feel repeatedly tempted by selfish and impure pleasures. Will I never make spiritual advancement?” As [...]
If we have the capacity to worry, we have the capacity to meditate
Many people avoid meditating because they feel that meditation requires some extraordinary ability to concentrate that they don't possess. However, the fact is that all [...]
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 [...]
Don’t give up – grow up
Life’s inevitable reversals sometimes fill us with defeatist thoughts: “I have failed yet again. Maybe I should just give up”. At such times, Gita wisdom [...]
Ending our history of dissatisfaction
The Bhagavad-gita (02.66)(02.67) indicates that when we let ourselves forget Krishna, we lose access to the inner happiness that comes from remembering him. Consequently, our [...]
The Secret of Enlightened Enjoyment
“I want enlightenment, but I can’t give up enjoyment. What should I do?” This is the predicament of many of us as aspiring devotees who [...]
Divine empowerment makes mission impossible mission unstoppable
In the Bhagavad-gita (11.33), Krishna assures Arjuna of success in his battle against formidable ungodly forces, provided he just becomes determined to assist in the [...]
Be concerned but not disturbed by change
The world around us is subject to constant change, change that is often unstoppable, uncontrollable and unpredictable. The Bhagavad-gita (02.16) indicates that the best way [...]
The temporary is a means to the eternal – not the eternal a means to the temporary
The power of illusion often makes us mistake the means to be the ends and the ends to be the means. Even among believers, many [...]
Transform pains and strains into gains
During our journey through life, we sometimes feel disheartened by the pains of yesterday and the strains of today. The pains of yesterday are all [...]
The blend of encouragement and enlightenment brings empowerment
Life’s reversals can often be demoralizing. To regain our morale, we need both enlightenment (knowing what to do) and encouragement (feeling confident that we can [...]
Time is irrecoverable and unstorable
The great diplomat Chanakya Pandita pointed out that one moment of time is more valuable than wealth equivalent to millions of gold coins. Why? Because [...]
The cutting edge of discrimination
The word “cutting edge” refers literally to the sharp cutting side of the blade of a knife. Figuratively, it has come to refer to the [...]
When the good seems better than the best
When we strive to practice devotional service, the power of illusion is ever-waiting to thwart our efforts. If we are casual about our practice, this [...]
End your divorce from reality
Imagine a group of people who desire to play a virtual-reality video game. Their desire divorces them from the reality of their identity and propels [...]
Self-denial opens the door to self-fulfillment
Whenever Gita wisdom encourages us to perform any act of self-denial like fasting on certain holy days, the purpose is not self-torture, but self-fulfillment. Fulfilling [...]
Careless words can cause cureless wounds
The Bhagavad-gita (17.15) explains that speaking the truth in a way that is beneficial, pleasing and non-agitating is the discipline of speech. Neglecting this verbal [...]
Whatever catches our attention catches us
In contemporary culture, the advertising industry offers us visual confirmation of an important teaching of the Bhagavad-gita repeatedly, even constantly. The Gita (02.62)(02.63) describes how [...]
Devotion protects us from destruction by distraction
Just as weapons of mass destruction can destroy thousands of bodies, weapons of mass distraction – the mass media – can destroy thousands of minds. [...]