5.22 To Overcome Attachment, Cultivate Curiosity
Have you ever tried to detach yourself from a guilty pleasure, only to relapse again? Surprisingly, the most effective way to fight attachment isn’t detachment— [...]
3.38 Three Signs That Desire Is Driving You Mad
The problem with desire isn’t that it’s bad— it’s that it drives us mad. Here, MAD is an acronym that shows the three things destroyed [...]
Two ways attachment torments us
Attachment sentences us to be taunted by our desires and haunted by our fears. During the routine course of our lives, we often get attached [...]
When we can’t give up an unhealthy habit …
If an unhealthy habit keeps recurring despite our best efforts, how can we progress in self-transformation? By changing our attitude toward that habit: we can [...]
How sensitivity differs from sentimentality
Suppose a doctor is treating a patient for a painful ailment wherein a boil needs to be cut. If the doctor is sensitive, they are [...]
How can Arjuna see everyone equally and still fight? (Exploring the Gita chapter 5 series – 2)
How can Arjuna see everyone equally and still fight? - An often-quoted Bhagavad-gita verse recommends equality of vision (05.18): see everyone equally, because we [...]
Thinking about worldly things is not attachment being unable to stop thinking of them is
Thinking about worldly things is not attachment being unable to stop thinking of them is Attachment is a state of mental bondage wherein our thoughts [...]
Our entanglement is caused not by our attachment, but by our detachment
As spiritual beginners, we may think that our attachments cause our entanglement. Such thinking doesn’t probe deep enough – it fails to ask: Why are [...]
Detachment from results culminates in attachment to something bigger than results
Some people ask, “The Bhagavad-gita recommends detachment from the results of work. But how can we work responsibly if we don’t care for the results?” [...]
Focus not on avoiding entanglement – focus on seeking engagement
When a person is traveling on a boat, they need to be aware of the dangers, but they needn’t become paranoid – otherwise, they will [...]
Stepping-stones can become sucking swamps if we don’t step over in time
“Go from darkness to light, from illusion to truth, from mortality to immortality,” exhorts a celebrated aphorism from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28). The Bhagavad-gita, also [...]
That which is unwillingly learned is willingly unlearned
When we practice bhakti-yoga, we frequently find ourselves relapsing to worldly anti-devotional indulgences. Why does this happen? Because in the school of devotion we are [...]
Take emotions into account but don’t let them be the only thing in the account
At the start of the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna is overcome by myriad complex emotions that bring him on the verge of an emotional breakdown. By the [...]
The bird may be encaged, but its desires stay engaged in the field
A bird may be physically restrained by a cage, but it can’t be mentally restrained from dreaming and craving about the grains it could have [...]
To go beyond thinking wisely and acting foolishly, strive for purification through devotion
“I knew that doing that would be stupid, still I ended up doing it. Why?” This exasperating question often confronts us when we succumb to [...]
To evaluate advancement, examine anxieties
Devotee-seekers often get the question: “How do I know whether I am making spiritual advancement?” One reliable way is: by examining our anxieties. The Bhagavad-gita [...]
When we demand Krishna’s protection on our terms, we deprive ourselves of his best protection
When we face problems, we often pray to Krishna for protection. He always protects, but not necessarily on our terms. If we demand protection on [...]
That all of us are in the same boat is a treacherous comfort when the boat is sinking
Our mortality is perhaps our best-kept secret. It’s a secret not in the sense that it’s not known, but in the sense that it’s hardly [...]
Be present in the present to receive Krishna’s present of purity
Purity is a cherished aspiration of serious spiritualists. When we become pure, we can relish Krishna’s beauty, please him with our service and enter his [...]
Attachment makes the absent present
Attachment has the power to take our thoughts away from our surroundings to our dreams. It can make those to whom we are attached seem [...]
Where is the glory in a backdoor victory over attachments?
In sports a backdoor victory is universally considered inglorious. If India deliberately schedulesa cricket seriesagainst Pakistan at a time when all the top Pakistaniplayers are [...]