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 [...]
Meditation minimizes inner friction and maximizes outer contribution
“I have so many things to do. How can I spare time for meditation?” This apprehension often troubles aspiring spiritualists. Paradoxically, it is when we have [...]
The fruit of meditation is taste for meditation
In worldly life, we usually do an action for some fruit other than that action – we may work not because we love the work [...]
When desires crowd the mind, dilemmas cloud the intelligence
We sometimes feel overwhelmed by the number of things that we need to get done. No doubt, we do have a lot to do, but [...]
As long as we mistake the irresistible to be essential, we deprive ourselves of the essential
Sometimes worldly desires, especially immoral and anti-devotional sexual desires, seem irresistible. No matter how much we try to resist them, they seem to keep returning [...]
As long as we desire to bring matter under our captivity, we remain in its captivity
Our bad habits, our attachments to base material things, are often extremely difficult to give up. The resulting struggle may raise the question: “I am [...]
When fulfilling desires doesn’t translate into fulfillment
We all have so many desires for so many worldly things. However, because we live in a world of finite resources and a body with [...]
A prison of promises and pretenses
“Purchase this and you will be happy.” “Wear this and you will enjoy.” “Own this and your dreams will be fulfilled.” Ads like these confront [...]
Are our desires locking us into a world of frustration or releasing us into the world of fulfillment?
We all may have experiences of how while dreaming and desiring something, we get transported somewhere into the world of our dreams, removed from everything [...]
Krishna is responsive; we are responsible
The Bhagavad-gita (15.15) states that Krishna gives us remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. Then when we forget Krishna, is he responsible for our forgetfulness? No, because [...]
Are we sending our intelligence on a vacation?
Imagine a person who has a priceless treasure carefully protected by a competent guard. Suppose a thief persuades the owner to send the guard on [...]
Is our culture preventing us from growing up?
Children desire toys and cry when thwarted and angered. Undiscriminating desire and unmanaged anger – these two defining emotions of childishness underlie many of our [...]
Are we like doctors who give medicines to everyone except themselves?
Doctors going to epidemic-struck areas are extremely careful to vaccinate themselves from the disease they intend to treat. Gita wisdom informs us that the entire [...]
We are just extras in others’ plots
We often worry what others think about us – without realizing how little they think about us. We are usually extras in their life-plots. Let’s [...]
Spiritual culture is the bridge from hypocrisy and perversity to purity
We sometimes get impure desires such as sexual attraction towards someone. Many people choose to fulfill these impure desires privately through various secret arrangements. By [...]
Anahankara = an + aham + car (I am not my car)
“You are your car,” claims a billboard displaying a person driving a flashy car. The ad indicates how one’s car determines one’s image in [...]
Place Krishna at the center of your secret life
All of us have a public life where we interact with the world and a personal life where we interact with our loved ones. Additionally, [...]
Materialism centers on gaining; spirituality centers on regaining
All of us have the drive to achieve, which we can direct either materially or spiritually. To aid us in choosing correctly, the Bhagavad-gita contrasts [...]
To get happiness, get the happiness sequence right
All of us want to be happy. The world makes us believe that fulfilling our material desires will make us happy. However, this makes us [...]
We are dressed by and for our desires
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 [...]
Cry, Vie, Lie, Die, Fie – Tie
The Bhagavad-gita (16.7-20) describes the mentality of the godless materialists who ruin themselves and those around them by their inordinate infatuation with temporary things. Their [...]