Our belief system doesn’t just shape our perception of reality – it becomes our reality
What we believe, that we perceive. This is a well-known principle in philosophical circles. When we observe the world, we don’t experience it in a [...]
Our clock may stop, but time doesn’t – don’t waste time
Suppose we are working on a deadline-driven project. While we are racing against time, suppose our clock suddenly stops, giving us the illusory feeling that [...]
More important than understanding what we observe is understanding what it is that observes
Every day, and indeed at every moment, many things pass through our visual range. If we observe such things carefully, we can understand a lot [...]
Education is meant to remove ignorance and restore innocence, not remove innocence and reinforce ignorance
Education is a central part of human society. We get educated for several decades early on in our life when we have the most energy. [...]
Covering our tracks thoroughly is not intelligence, choosing our tracks thoughtfully is
Our impure desires sometimes impel us to do something wrong. After such wrongdoings, we often cover our tracks thoroughly so that we don’t get caught. [...]
To make people suffer for the sake of making them suffer is the very essence of evil
Suppose we accidentally step on someone’s foot. We’ll immediately apologize. But suppose someone deliberately steps on someone else’s foot – and not just steps but [...]
Learn to wonder and ponder, not wander and pander
Babies tend to wander and pander. They wander wherever they can without considering where they are going and why. They typically pander to their tongue, [...]
The resilience of the human spirit reflects our longing for and our belonging to transcendence
Life is tough. The difficulties that befall us can be morale-sapping. One thing that inspires us to persevere is stories of people overcoming challenges. Their [...]
Everyone has values, but not everyone’s values reflect real value
Many people lament the lack of values in today’s world: “So many corrupt people sacrifice higher principles for petty pleasures.” Actually however, everyone has values [...]
We are not masters in our own house, but we don’t have to be slaves
Suppose we are living in a house where the doors suddenly creak open and bang shut, and lights randomly turn on and off. Suppose we [...]
Just because a wound is painless doesn’t mean it is harmless – even when we are not hurting, we still need healing
Suppose we had a painless injury. We would go on living normally, while the wound would worsen, eventually felling us. We all are souls who [...]
Arrogance keeps us not just in ignorance, but also in ignorance about the extent of our ignorance
Suppose someone swims in an ocean, knowing that the ocean is so vast that they hardly know anything about it. While swimming, they will be [...]
Science is the study of matter, spirituality is the study of what matters
We live in an age of science and technology. Technological advancement has increased enormously our knowledge of the world around us, especially our knowledge to [...]
Proving that we are right is not as empowering as probing if we are wrong
We sometimes think that we know a lot. Yet no matter how much we know, still, what we know is always lesser than what we [...]
Spiritual knowledge is meant to make us devotionally fit, not intellectually fat
Food nourishes our body, gives us energy and makes us fit to face life’s responsibilities. However, if eaten excessively or inappropriately, the same food makes [...]
Just as our body needs physical nutrition, our soul needs metaphysical orientation – a sense of place and purpose in the world
If we lack physical nutrition, we have no energy to do anything. We become similarly de-energized when we lack metaphysical orientation. Usually, we orient ourselves [...]
The human spirit is too big to stay satisfied within any material cage, however grand
Birds naturally long to fly. Even if kept in the most comfortable cages, they still look for ways to escape into the sky and fly [...]
Technology may change our world for the better, but let it not change our worldview for the worse
We live in a world that has been dramatically transformed by technology, be it through electricity, airplanes or net connectivity. Many places whose extreme weather [...]
Spiritual growth is defined not by the possessions we give up, but by the conceptions we give up
We live in a glamor-driven world; we tend to look at things externally, making inferences about their nature by their appearance. We may carry this [...]
What we know doesn’t define us as much as what we want to know
Suppose someone who is in a disaster-hit area knows the path to a safe, prosperous area. Naturally, they will be respected for their knowledge by [...]
Thinking that thinking is troublesome, is troublesome
Some people avoid thinking about life’s big questions such as: “What is life meant for? What happens after death? What really counts?” They deem such [...]