Attachment makes us blind, arrogance keeps us blind
Suppose someone allures an unsuspecting passerby into a dark alley and then attacks them so brutally as to blind them. That would be terrible. But [...]
If we wait till we feel inspired, we will definitely wait indefinitely
Suppose we want to develop a good habit centered on doing something creative or constructive such as meditate, study wisdom-texts, journal or write. Even when [...]
Regret for wrongdoing reforms, regret for only the consequence of wrongdoing deforms
Suppose a teenager drives beyond the speed limit just for the thrill of it and gets caught. On being penalized, they may feel regret. But [...]
The mind makes us depressed and then makes us depressed that we are depressed
Life by its very nature is characterized by both good and bad. And when bad things happen, we naturally feel disappointed. But our mind starts [...]
Treating the mind as an enemy can be uncomfortable, treating it as a friend can be fatal — treat it as a patient
Suppose we are living with someone prone to wild mood swings. We will need to watch them carefully to understand their present mood and adapt [...]
If we start dwelling on whatever our mind is thinking, our thinking starts stinking
Suppose something is stinking in our home. We will immediately find and remove it. We need to do the same when our thinking starts stinking. [...]
Raised fists or linked arms don’t transform as effectively as folded hands
Suppose we see something terribly wrong in the world around us. It may impel us to raise our fists in shocked protest. Or it may [...]
Philosophical education teaches us how to think, ideological indoctrination tells us what to think
We all speak, but that doesn’t mean we know how to speak effectively. Similarly, we all think, but that doesn’t mean we know how to [...]
Even if we can’t drive away inner impurities, we can still drive away from inner impurities
Suppose an obscene billboard comes up in our neighborhood. If we want our locality to be family-friendly, we will want that image removed. But if [...]
Power needs to be kept out of the hands of those who worship power
To do anything at all, we need power, be it physical, electrical, political or whatever else. On seeing how much can be done with power, [...]
If we are defeated by temptation, it doesn’t mean we can’t win — it just means we can’t win alone
Suppose we resolve to reject a temptation, but fail, and fail repeatedly. We may become disheartened thinking, “I can never win against this temptation.” Our [...]
There is a purpose for everything we experience, even the things we don’t want to experience
Suppose we are forced to go through certain experiences that we just didn’t want to go through. When such things happen, it’s natural to feel [...]
Our individuality is defined not by what we wear, but by what we hold dear
We live in an age that urges us to ‘be yourself’. And such a call to affirm our individuality can be good, provided it is [...]
The more outer power we get, the more inner power we need
Today technology has increased enormously the outer power accessible to us humans. By a few clicks, we can change the temperature around us, talk with [...]
Even if others don’t take us seriously, still we can take ourselves seriously
Suppose we have an important suggestion that can improve a project we are a part of. But our inputs aren’t allowed or asked or acknowledged [...]
The more we become conscious of where our consciousness is, the more we can tap the power of our consciousness
We are always conscious, but we aren’t always conscious of where our consciousness is. Our consciousness is our most undervalued resource. Whatever we do, learn, [...]
To take the task of training the mind seriously, stop taking everything it says seriously
Suppose we have a child. If we take the responsibility of caring for and training the child seriously, we won’t take everything the child says [...]
Individuality breeds creativity and spirituality, individualism breeds self-obsession and self-destruction
We live in an individualistic culture. To understand its positives and negatives, let’s differentiate between two terms: individualism and individuality. Individualism refers to the mindset [...]
The world doesn’t need people with answers as much as it needs people who are the answers
Stress. Joblessness. Loneliness. Sectarianism. Climate change. Many such grave problems afflict the world. Thoughtful people everywhere are looking for answers. Some people believe they have [...]
Overlords are meant not to lord it over others, but to lead others over to the Lord
Whenever we get any leadership position, we gain the power to control others. And our ego may impel us to misuse that power to dominate [...]
If we gauge how good we are solely by how good we feel about ourselves, we rob ourselves of our goodness
We all want to feel good about ourselves. And wanting to feel good is in itself not a bad thing. It becomes bad when it [...]