Desire — curbed or cured?
Our desires sometimes get us into big trouble, as when we get lured into an addictive indulgence or a toxic relationship. On being thus misled, [...]
The more we consider others’ need the more we can free ourselves from our greed
Suppose we come to our home and are starving. We see some food in our fridge and devour it all, even though it is more [...]
Gita 5.22 explained
Now Sri Krishna will talk about on what basis a person will become bāhya-sparśeṣv asaktātmā. Why one should give up outer pleasures Sri Krishna says [...]
Gita 17.20 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan So first Krishna talked about [...]
Gita 06.10 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya 6.10-32: From practice to perfection in [...]
Even if we fare well in life, we still have to say farewell to life
Even if we fare well in life we still have to say farewell to life We all wish to fare well in life; we seek [...]
Detachment is absence of emotional dependence not absence of emotion
Detachment is absence of emotional dependence not absence of emotion Some people fear, “If I become detached, will I become emotionless, uncaring, stone-hearted?” No, detachment [...]
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 [...]
Sensuality erodes both our tendency and our capacity for spirituality
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 [...]
Hyper-stimulation leads to desensitization
Indulgence in porn has become rampant nowadays, largely because of unfiltered net access becoming widely available through portable, concealable gadgets such as smartphones. Sociological surveys [...]
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 [...]
Be detached from results, not goals
People familiar with the Bhagavad-gita often question the practicality of its instruction (02.47) to work without attachment to results: “If we are detached from results, [...]
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?” [...]
Spiritual perfection requires detachment from our own body, what to speak of others’ bodies
Contemporary culture revels in glamorizing sex through myriad mind-grabbing means. This pervasive glamorization sometimes even seeps into spiritual circles, wherein appear slogans such as sambhoga [...]
Information puffs us up; application builds us up
Devotion requires not the rejection of our material side, but its harmonization with our spiritual purpose. We can use our material abilities and resources in [...]
Be not a passive observer – be a detached observer and a devoted doer
Some people misunderstand the Bhagavad-gita’s recommendation to be detached as a call to be passive. However, the Gita concludes with Arjuna’s resolve to give up [...]
The mind may replay, but we don’t have to play
Sometimes some nasty images come in our mind and make us feel appalled at ourselves: “What kind of devotee am I to be thinking such [...]
Detachment is not hard-heartedness, but clear-headedness
Some people ask: “When the Gita (13.10) asked Arjuna to become detached from family members such as sons, why did he become so distraught after [...]
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 [...]
Devotees left with nothing are right with Krishna
Some people believe that material prosperity is a sign of God’s pleasure and material adversity, a sign of his displeasure. Such beliefs are typical of [...]
When generic envy becomes specific envy, it becomes doubly dangerous
Generic envy refers to the general negativity that one class of people feel towards another better-endowed class, say, the lower class towards the middle class [...]