The difference between outer achievement and inner achievement
The difference between outer achievement and inner achievement lies in where each seeks to bring our focus. Outer achievement aims to place us at the [...]
How to maintain humility while also having ability
Humility is the ability to remember that our ability is not actually our ability. When people have some extraordinary ability, it is very easy for [...]
Enthusiasm vs over-enthusiasm
When we find that our enthusiasm is overriding our manners, that is when our enthusiasm is becoming over-enthusiasm. We all are enthusiastic about certain things; [...]
Slowing down to go faster
Slow down to let go of the things that slow us down. Sometimes when we are feeling that we are going to slow, at that [...]
How to balance destiny and responsibility
When we face a difficult situation, to what extent do we accept that situation as destiny and to what extent do we take responsibility for [...]
How to balance destiny and responsibility
When we face a difficult situation, to what extent do we accept that situation as destiny and to what extent do we take responsibility for [...]
Ahimsa: Gita insights on nonviolence and deterrence
Ahimsa, frequently translated as nonviolence, is a concept drawn from the Indian tradition that has gained widespread resonance in today’s world. The Bhagavad-gita, India’s foremost [...]
How to get the best of both positive thinking and negative thinking
How to get the best of both positive thinking and negative thinking - Positive thinking works best when it keeps us focused on opportunities amid [...]
Go beyond both negative thinking and positive thinking
Go beyond both negative thinking and positive thinking - Life is filled with binaries of ups and downs. In the world outside, we encounter binaries [...]
When positive thinking affects our life negatively
When positive thinking affects our life negatively - “Think positively,” is an oft-circulated message in our self-help steeped culture. And it’s helpful to the extent [...]
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 [...]
Work to live – avoid work that eats you alive
Work is essential for survival, as the Bhagavad-gita (03.08) acknowledges. Yet the same work that is vital can become vitality-sapping if done excessively. When work [...]
See through the mind’s troika of denial, misdirection and self-victimization
The mind often sabotages us by making us do foolish things. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.06) cautions that the mind can be our enemy. The mind [...]
Resentment of reality can hurt more than reality
Suppose we plan to go for a picnic, but suddenly get fever and have to abandon our plan. And we lie on a bed resenting [...]
Worry more about inconsequential intentions than about unintended consequences
“What will happen if I practice spiritual life too seriously, neglect my material life and then things go wrong?” Such worry may trouble us when [...]
Balanced bhakti brings bliss
Some people fear that becoming too spiritual will make them apathetic towards everything worldly. Apathy towards the world is not the defining characteristic of spirituality [...]
Devotion enables us to strike a deal between the extraordinary and the ordinary
As spiritual seekers living in a material body and a materialist culture, our lives have two sides: the spiritual and the material. Given that materialism [...]
Ending the perpetual u-turns in our quest for happiness
We sometimes strive for spiritual enjoyment and sometimes indulge in material enjoyment. Thus, we keep taking perpetual u-turns in our quest for happiness. To end [...]
Find the balance between fidelity and flexibility by sincerity
When we try to live according to traditional devotional culture in our contemporary material surroundings, we face a constant challenge: “How much do I stick [...]