The search for happiness is often the source of the greatest unhappiness
The very things we seek happiness in often sentence us to unhappiness. A pervasive yet tragic example is of addicts. Food addicts can’t live without [...]
Performance matters, but performance is not all that matters
Sports players often have their pet superstitions. An Australian batsman would insist that all the pavilion commodes be covered whenever he went out to bat. [...]
To stop defeating yourself, stop deceiving yourself
Suppose a sick person denies their sickness not just to others but also to themselves. By their denial, they deprive themselves of the good health [...]
Treat life like a movie that you don’t have to always watch
Suppose we were watching a movie and suddenly discovered that it is a horror movie filled with ghastly scenes. We would naturally stop watching it. [...]
Events are not in our control, but experiences are
When things outside our control go wrong, we may get overwhelmed by feelings of helplessness. Such feelings can be crushing especially when things that matter [...]
Happiness comes not by collecting the material, but by recollecting the spiritual
We live in a materialistic culture that aggressively propagates the notion that we will become happy by gaining more and more material things. Being seduced [...]
Contemplation is the natural result of attraction and contemplation naturally results in attraction
When we are attracted to something, we naturally think of it and even mentally live with it. Cricket lovers, for example, often live in their [...]
Don’t let net surfing degenerate to suffering in the net
When we travel to an unfamiliar place, we are alert to dangers such as muggers. When we surf the net, our consciousness travels to whatever [...]
Don’t let the mind make you fight more battles than you need to
If soldiers while fighting a battle agonize about a reversal in yesterday’s battle or worry about the danger in tomorrow’s battle, they will undermine their [...]
Determination means to subordinate pleasure to purpose
We sometimes think of determination as a special gift that some people have and some don’t. And when the mind is faced with the prospect [...]
Admitting our weaknesses doesn’t make us weak – acquiescing to them does
Suppose a patient goes to a doctor and admits having some symptoms that correspond to a terrible disease. The admission doesn’t make the patient sick [...]
The best way to deal with temptation is to not deal with it
Temptation is unavoidable as long as we exist in material existence, just as salespeople are unavoidable when we live in a commercialized economy. When [...]
Our ability to tap our ability is enhanced by our spirituality
People sometimes ask, “How can spirituality benefit me practically? Can it help me improve my performance?” Yes, spirituality enhances our ability to tap our ability. [...]
The world determines our situations, but we determine our emotions
Suppose we get caught in a traffic jam and get late for an appointment. We may naturally feel irritated. Such an emotion is natural, but [...]
Out of sight is out of the mind provided the mind is out of it
“Out of sight is out of mind” is a common saying that embodies a sound principle for self-regulation. For example, if we are fasting and [...]
Accepting our powerlessness can be most empowering
When people fall sick, a lot of their misery comes from resenting their sickness, “Why am I suffering when everyone else is enjoying?” Such resenting [...]
Every trial is a teacher
In life, we all go through various trials. A trial seems especially trying is when it appears pointless, when it seems as if that trial [...]
Temptation can knock us down, but it can’t knock us out
In a boxing match, a boxer may be knocked down, but only when the fallen player fails to rise does the knock down become a [...]
Courage centers not on standing up to others but on staying true to your self
When a principled person stands up to a powerful person, especially when that powerful person is autocratic or atrocious, then that act of standing up [...]
We can’t avoid perceiving sense objects, but we can avoid pursuing them
The culture assaults our senses with perceptions of tempting sense objects and we often can’t avoid those perceptions. How then can we protect ourselves from [...]
Transcend duality by absorption in a reality higher than duality
The world is inevitably a place of duality – something that we can’t avoid just as a boat can’t avoid being moved up and down [...]