What is our greatest treasure is often not what we treasure the greatest
Suppose a child is asked to choose between a toy and a million-dollar-check. The child may grab the toy, not knowing that the check can [...]
Time can be a fire in which we burn or a teacher from whom we learn
Time is a formidable, inexorable force that pushes us all towards death when our body will be burnt in the funeral fire. Even if the [...]
Intelligence is meant to be the mind’s instructor, not its instrument
We all have within us something that is impulsive and something that is reflective. Gita wisdom identifies the impulsive part as the mind and the [...]
Don’t run from pain or rush towards pleasure – refocus on your purpose
Suppose we are driving on a road to a destination. If the road is filled with traffic moving at a snail’s pace, we may find [...]
Our intelligence is not like a fixed deposit – it is like a stock market share
Suppose we invest in stocks but think of such an investment to be as stable as a fixed deposit. If the stocks go down, we [...]
We are our greatest hope – and our greatest horror
We all sometimes act like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde; we act sometimes like a principled, selfless benefactor and sometimes like an opportunistic, self-centered malefactor. [...]
Intelligence means to know what to do when we don’t know what to do
Whenever we have to make decisions, we usually seek guidance from our intelligence. But life sometimes puts us in perplexing situations wherein our intelligence becomes [...]
When the ego says go, tell the ego to go
When someone disagrees with us, especially someone we expected would obey us unquestioningly, our ego flares up. It goads us: “Yell at them; lash out [...]
Why crave for any pleasure that makes us a slave?
If someone is enslaved, they would try to break free. If instead someone who is free tried to become enslaved, we would consider them insane. [...]
We are not products of our situations; we are products of our decisions
When difficult situations come in our life, we often feel negative emotions such as anger, resentment or self-pity. Though such feelings may be natural, even [...]
To offer our best, we need to discover our best
Suppose someone has a precious inheritance buried in their backyard, and they want to give a valuable gift to their loved one. Naturally, they would [...]
Willpower is a finite resource – use it wisely
We are finite beings, and finite are all our resources, including our willpower. That our willpower is finite means that we can fight only so [...]
Resign from illusion – don’t re-sign into illusion
We all have our illusory attachments because of which we succumb to self-defeating indulgences. When we realize the consequences of those indulgences, how they cause [...]
When we get out of ourselves, we find ourselves
Many people are eager to be themselves, to find and express their authentic self. This search for authenticity is good. But if not channelled properly, [...]
Our greatest power is not the power we have over others, but the power we have over ourselves
Many people hunger for power. Such power-hungry people usually define power in terms of externals, in terms of how much they can control others and [...]
Those who commit to nothing are distracted by everything
Distraction has been an ever-present bane for humanity. However, the present age is one of mass distraction. With technology and social media, news, updates and [...]
Compare yourself only with the person you were yesterday
A common human pastime is comparison: “My car is better than theirs; their house is better than mine; my phone is smarter than theirs.” Through [...]
Happiness comes not by maximizing our possessions, but by minimizing our attachments
Today’s materialistic culture makes us believe that the more possessions we have, the happier we will be. However, such “happiness” lasts only as long as [...]
Bring out the best within, not the beast within
We all would like to improve ourselves, become better – and yet we sometimes act regrettably, worse than ourselves. What makes us act like that? [...]
Desires go away not by gratification or repression but by purification
Desires that we know are undesirable sometimes impel us. If repeatedly impelled, we may feel, “Let me just indulge and get it over with. At [...]
If we let our imagination toy with temptation, we become toys of temptation
Few temptations are as tempting as the temptation to toy with temptation. When we encounter a temptation, we are often held back from physical indulgence [...]