Beyond pat explanations for our unhealthy behaviors
Suppose an airplane crashes, leading to huge casualties and damages. When questioned about the cause of the crash, suppose the airline company reports, “The plane [...]
How to better manage our emotions
Our emotions are an essential part of who we are; without them, we would be reduced to a flavorless, robotic existence. Though they add value [...]
How curiosity can increase our self-awareness
We all are naturally curious: the many breaking news are just one among hundreds of things that cater to our curiosity. That universally present faculty [...]
How to deal with fear of failure
Whenever we try to improve ourselves by doing something challenging, such as giving up a long-held unhealthy habit or developing a long-sought healthy habit, a [...]
Creating safe zones in our war against temptation
Soldiers in a war zone can get burned out due to the stress of always being on high alert. To reduce such burnout, they need [...]
Two aspects of compassion as seen through our speech
Suppose a doctor sees a sick person and decides to offer free treatment in the form of an injection. Suppose further that the patient has [...]
What forgiving ourselves means — and what it doesn’t mean
Suppose we have made some grievous mistake that has hurt others terribly. Irrespective of whether others forgive us or not, we may refuse to forgive [...]
Why we need to forgive ourselves
Suppose we have mistreated others grievously in the past. We may resolve to never forgive ourselves as a way to make up for those actions. [...]
When contemplating our mistakes helps and when it doesn’t …
Humility, which is lauded as a prime virtue in the Bhagavad-gita (13.08), is often misunderstood. One such misunderstanding centers on how it can be developed: [...]
How can we admire without craving to acquire?
Whenever we see something attractive, we usually appreciate, even admire it. But when someone else has that attractive thing and we don’t, we often crave [...]
Becoming emotionally sober
Becoming emotionally sober - People who get intoxicated frequently act in ways that are short-sighted, stupid or even self-sabotaging. Consequently, we readily recognize the need [...]
How to be true to ourselves
We often want to be true to ourselves. Unfortunately, the way some people conceive of authenticity places it at loggerheads with discipline. If being authentic [...]
How to deal with the mind’s steady unsteadiness
The Bhagavad-gita (06.33) indicates that the mind’s steady situation (sthithim sthiram) is to be unsteady (cancalatvat). The mind likes one thing today, dislikes it tomorrow [...]
How purification and willpower relate with self-transformation
Whenever we try to change ourselves for the better, we often feel that we need willpower. And we may think of purification as something other-worldly, [...]
Why conserving the energy of our consciousness is difficult
While there is increasing social support, even social pressure, for conserving forms of energy such as fossil fuels and electricity, there is disturbingly little social [...]
Why we need to become consciousness-conscious
We live in a world where there’s increasing concern about conserving energy, especially because conventional sources of energy such as fossil fuels are finite. We [...]
Does self-improvement center on fighting against our desires?
Our desires often obstruct us in our efforts to improve ourselves; for example, we may resolve to regulate our diet, but may be sabotaged by [...]
How faith can make us open-minded
We live in a vast and complex world, wherein we seek safety and happiness by rearranging things according to our desires and plans. Our desires, [...]
How to distance ourselves from the wants induced by the world
By reflection, we can understand that many of our wants are actually the world’s inducements, not our core aspirations. Despite gaining this insight, we may [...]
The difference between what we want and what we want to want
Our wants often arise from external factors such as peer pressure, cultural glamorization or corporate-controlled media promotion. During our reflective movements, we may realize that [...]
Three levels of deception
When we strive to develop a virtue by disciplining ourselves, we may succumb to deception at three levels. Intention to deceive others: We may seek [...]