The material is not spiritual, but it is spiritualizable
“Everything that devotees do is spiritual, so even their material life is spiritual,” we may hear statements like these in devotee circles. Naturally, we may [...]
“Everything that devotees do is spiritual, so even their material life is spiritual,” we may hear statements like these in devotee circles. Naturally, we may [...]
“You don’t have to be so serious about your spiritual life. You don’t want to become an abnormal person, do you?” Those of us committed [...]
The mind sometimes makes us do self-defeating, short-sighted, stupid things. How? By making us headless. The Bhagavad-gita (02.62) indicates that when the mind contemplates sense [...]
Our mind is rarely satisfied with the world and especially with our present position in it. Consequently, it frequently goes into flights of fantasies of [...]
“I fell from the scriptural standards yet again. What should I do now?” We often respond to such predicaments by either denial or dismissal. In [...]
A security provider who has protected us for millennia from ourselves has now been branded as outdated and unneeded; its very right to existence is [...]
Ours is an age that idealizes the equality of all human beings. The American Declaration of Rights which enshrines this equality is widely considered a [...]
Few things live as close to us as our thoughts; few things influence us as immediately as our thoughts; few things define us as much [...]
Some exclusivist religions claim that those who don’t accept their dogmatic beliefs will be sent by God to hell forever. In refreshing contrast to such [...]
“What we do” can refer to our specific behavior as well as to our general vocation. What we do in our specific behavior reflects on [...]
When we adopt spiritual practices seriously, we soon gain a bit of self-mastery. This self-mastery may create within us a sense of moral superiority that [...]
The Bhagavad-gita is a profoundly empowering book. To tap its power, we need to develop our relationship with it through four progressive stages: Veneration: Some [...]
We often worry about how the world sees us: “Do people notice me? Which way do heads turn when I arrive?” This outside-in approach seems [...]
Spiritual life sometimes presents us with standards that seem impossible to meet. For example, we may feel that thinking of Krishna constantly is impractical. Certainly, [...]
Good books are a joy to read. Great books are a joy to not just read, but also re-read. During the re-reading of great books [...]
Our desires determine and define us; we are, Gita wisdom indicates, dressed by and for our desires. Let’s see how: Dressed by our desires: The [...]
We see not with our eyes but with our knowledge. Where our eyes see a line graph curved sharply downwards, our knowledge of economics helps [...]
The Bhagavad-gita (06.08) shares a puzzling recommendation: see stone and gold equally. How is this possible? To understand, let’s analyze the statement at three progressive [...]
When life’s problems overwhelm us, our vision becomes distorted. We start feeling that the problems are ultra-big, bigger than even Krishna. Consequently, we become so [...]
When we are sick and seek treatment, we need to see eye-to-eye with the doctor. We need to understand and accept the diagnosis and the [...]
All of us are innately pleasure-seeking. How we seek pleasure is largely shaped by our external culture. As our present culture constantly glamorizes material pleasures, [...]