The mind makes the easy seem difficult and the difficult seem impossible
When we have to do something, we often assess how easy or difficult it is. For example, if we are traveling, we use a weighing [...]
Intelligence means to understand how the mind makes us misunderstand
Suppose we are driving a car and our rear-view mirror gives us a distorted picture, making a proximate car appear distant. If we turn around [...]
Don’t go behind the mind, go beyond the mind
To go behind the mind means to follow the mind, to do whatever it does. To go beyond the mind means to seek something higher, [...]
Ditch the road that ends in a ditch
Suppose we are driving along a road, and we find that it ends in a ditch. We would immediately look for a way to avoid [...]
Focus on the mind’s track record, not on its sound track
Our mind frequently repeats a soundtrack within us: “Eat this, watch this, touch this, enjoy this.” This soundtrack, by sheer repetition, can overwhelm us. For [...]
Whatever snags our attention sabotages our intention
Suppose a student is driving along a road to their college. Along the way, their attention is caught by a theater playing a recently-released attractive-looking [...]
Tap the mind’s power – don’t be trapped by the mind’s power
We all know of powerful things that can help or harm. Consider electricity, for example. It can heat, cool, cook, transport and illuminate. But if [...]
Let introspection be for fact-finding, not fault-finding
While striving to live according to principles, if we falter, we become disheartened. Even if we introspect to find out why we fell, that introspection [...]
What is craved within gets carved within
We sometimes feel cravings for things that we would normally never indulge in real life. Yet we entertain those cravings mentally, thinking that the mental [...]
Even in paradise, the mind will say, “Yes, but …”
We may know people who are habitual faultfinders. No matter how well a thing is done, they harp on some wrong that is irrelevant, insignificant or even imaginary. Being with such people is a recipe for misery. Unfortunately, we have to live with one such inveterate faultfinder: our own mind. It finds faults with the things we have, with the way people treat us, with the way life turns out.
Just because something is persistent doesn’t make it pertinent
Advertising blitzes that repeatedly expose us to particular products exploit an innate weakness in human psychology: familiarity is the gateway to credibility. That is, when [...]
Worry is the interest we pay on loans we haven’t yet taken
Suppose a friend is worried about paying the interest on a loan. On enquiry, we come to know that they haven’t yet taken that loan. [...]
To be distracted is to be disempowered
Whatever power we have to do anything depends on our foundational power to focus. For example, a batsman may have phenomenal talent, but if he [...]
Don’t just be active – be aware
Some people question the utility of meditation: “Why spend so much time sitting at one place doing nothing except thinking? Why not use that time [...]
No enemy is as dangerous as the one we are blind to
An army would be endangered by an invading enemy, but it would be far more endangered by a spy in its own ranks, for the [...]
Focus on your steps, not your sidesteps
While walking on a road, suppose we keep worrying about all the slippery spots that we will have to sidestep. The resulting fear that we [...]
In worrying about what all may go wrong, we go wrong
Worrying hurts us even before things go wrong, while things are going wrong and after things have gone wrong. Consider a student with a decent [...]
Don’t hold on to the things that hold you back
If a person were bound by ropes and were struggling for freedom, we would expect them to break the ropes, not hold on to them. [...]
The difference between confidence and overconfidence is vigilance
Suppose some soldiers are guarding the national boundary from infiltration by terrorists. If the soldiers are diffident that too many terrorists may attack, they may [...]
To be awake is to be aware of our wake
Suppose a person is sleepwalking. They flail their arms and hit a loved one – something they would never do when they were awake. Being [...]
Not everything that comes in our vision is worth our attention
Suppose we are driving a car. In the path of our vision come so many objects: trees, houses, passers-by, billboards and landmarks. If we pay [...]