Is Krishna with me? Am I with Krishna?
Devotion centers on arriving at an affirmative answer to two questions: Is God with me? And am I with God? The Bhagavad-gita (6.29) and (6.30) [...]
Understanding Krishna’s Supreme Attractiveness
The Bhagavad-gita (7.19) describes a person who is enlightened and understands that Krishna is everything. What does “everything” refer to? Does it refer to the [...]
Transform our wandering into a pilgrimage
In the Bhagavad Gita (18.61), Krishna states that he is directing the wanderings of all living beings from his strategic vantage point, which is within [...]
How to see desire as a blessing not as a burden?
On the spiritual path, we often think of desire as a burden that needs to be shed. And yes, many of our desires do impede [...]
Happiness is not a product of gratification, it is a byproduct of dedication
We all long for happiness. Today’s culture declares that we can become happy by gratifying our senses. The more gratification we have, the happier we [...]
What we initially indulge in casually, we eventually indulge in compulsively
When contemporary culture tempts us with addictive indulgences such as drinking, it often offers a common rationalization, “Just drink once. It’s no big deal.” However, [...]
Sensuality erodes both our tendency and our capacity for spirituality
If we are to travel from place A to place B, we need the tendency and the capacity to make the journey. Tendency refers to [...]
Krishna is not a passive point of concentration – he is the proactive fount of compassion
Yogis begin their meditation by using various objects as initial points of concentration. The Bhagavad-gita mentions that they may focus on the space between their [...]
Devotion defangs and domesticates our desires
Desires are often thought of as enemies for seekers because they entangle us in material things. The Bhagavad-gita (13.22) stresses that the desire to enjoy [...]
Gradual destruction is as destructive as sudden destruction
When sudden, huge destruction occurs because of, say, an earthquake, we are jolted out of our routine complacency. Being confronted with the brittleness of our [...]
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 [...]
Healing requires not just the expelling of germs, but primarily the boosting of immunity
When germs infect us and we start feeling sick, we take treatment for driving out the germs. However, healing requires not just the driving out [...]
Renunciation is not a function of frustration – it is a fruit of realization
Some people think that those people take to renunciation who have become frustrated with material life, especially with their inability to become successful in material [...]
Be special above the ordinary, not among the ordinary
We all want to be special. Materialistic culture directs our longing for specialness towards material things. It makes us believe that we will stand out [...]
The heart of knowledge is the knowledge of the heart
Towards the end of the Bhagavad-gita (18.64), Krishna announces that he will share the most confidential knowledge (sarva guhyatama). Confidential knowledge (guhya) refers to the [...]
Don’t equate what is in scripture with what scripture teaches
Some people think that everything in scripture is the teaching of scripture. But scripture gives the thoughts, words and actions of not just God and his [...]
Without devotion, renunciation comes painfully; with devotion, even liberation comes joyfully
“To avoid karmic bondage, renounce the world.” This widespread notion governs Arjuna’s reasoning at the start of the Bhagavad-gita. However, the Gita recommends an alternative [...]
Krishna is not just a point for meditation – he is the person for supplication
Yogis, specifically dhyana-yogis, start meditation by focusing on some point, such as the tip of the nose or the space between the eyebrows. As such [...]
We may be far away from Krishna, but Krishna is always close to us
The distance between two people in any relationship is a function not of bodily location but of emotional disposition. Family members living under the same [...]
Emotions come from reality and return us to reality
Emotions are the central feature, indeed the driving force, of our present existence. Many spiritual paths, especially impersonal spiritual paths, consider emotions as distractions, even [...]
Bhakti bestows the intelligence for tolerance and the taste for transcendence
Tolerance and transcendence comprise our twofold defense against temptation. Tolerance refers to the capacity to endure the presence of unwanted temptations without succumbing to them. [...]