How self-destructive desire corrupts our intelligence
The Bhagavad Gita (3.43) exhorts us to use our intelligence to fight against self-destructive desires but simultaneously warns (3.40) that even intelligence can be corrupted [...]
Amid a fiasco, when is the passive voice appropriate?
Is the passive voice used to avoid blaming or evade taking responsibility? In situations where something unfortunate has occurred, people often use the passive voice. [...]
Supervise vice or It Will Catch Us in a Super-Vise
Vice refers to the impure, dishonorable, and destructive desires within us that can lurk in the background, loom in the foreground, or leap into a [...]
Three ways to differentiate between punishing and scapegoating
The difference between finding a criminal and scapegoating someone can be broadly defined by three main aspects: Method: In the case of scapegoating, the accused [...]
Focus on who will be responsible not on who was responsible.
Whenever things go wrong, finding someone to blame is a default human tendency. When there isn’t anyone clearly to blame, we tend to presume that [...]
How NOT to respond to mistakes
Pondering our mistakes is helpful if the focus is on how we can learn, but pondering our mistakes can be harmful if the focus is [...]
How to keep our promises
Fear not the promises that we think we can't keep. Focus on the promises that God makes that he can keep and that he can [...]
Taking responsibility for the effects of our speech
When a doctor gives a medicine to a patient, the doctor's intent may be good: to help the patient heal. Though the doctor may carefully [...]
Should we expose things that don’t work?
Suppose we have a sense of social responsibility and a zeal for social reform — we will naturally observe things in the world around us [...]
What is karma meant for
The Bhagavad-gita (04.17) states that the workings of karma can be incomprehensible. This speaks to our experience – we all are sometimes faced with adversities [...]
Pointing the finger or pointing the way? (Anger management series 4)
Pointing the finger or pointing the way? - When people point a finger, it is often to show others who is at fault. Sometimes, they [...]
Two ways to deter ourselves from wrongdoing
Two ways to deter ourselves from wrongdoing - Suppose a child wants to sneak into the kitchen and eat all the cookies there, but doesn’t [...]
Who is at fault = who is responsible?
Who is at fault = who is responsible? - Suppose while we are working from home, we see from a window our neighbor’s son playing [...]
How accountability can save us from humiliation
How accountability can save us from humiliation We all may have some unhealthy habits that we grapple with. We may overcome them temporarily, but eventually [...]
Discreet Indiscretions?
When we succumb to some wrongdoings, if they are minor, we may downplay them by considering them mere indiscretions. And we may do those [...]
We can’t foresee every consequence of our actions but we can foresee their probable consequences — and we should
We can’t foresee every consequence of our actions but we can foresee their probable consequences — and we should Suppose we are driving a huge [...]
To be responsible means to stop blaming the outer trigger for the inner trouble
To be responsible means to stop blaming the outer trigger for the inner trouble Suppose we feel tempted by someone who wears revealing clothes. Or [...]
The choices you make make you
The choices you make make you During our life, we constantly make choices. Even when we know that our choices are consequential, we may not [...]
We may forget gravity but gravity won’t forget us
We may forget gravity but gravity won’t forget us Suppose an intoxicated person forgets about gravity and steps off a ten-story building. Gravity won’t forget [...]
Liberty from responsibility is not liberty – it is slavery to irresponsibility
Liberty from responsibility is not liberty – it is slavery to irresponsibility We all long for liberty. In today’s uncommitted age, we may conceive of [...]