Be cruel to be kind
Suppose we are sick and need a painful treatment. If we undergo that treatment, it may appear as if we are being cruel to ourselves. [...]
Suppose we are sick and need a painful treatment. If we undergo that treatment, it may appear as if we are being cruel to ourselves. [...]
Seasoned mountaineers who aim to scale a lofty summit avoid looking down unnecessarily. Of course, they stay aware of the terrain below so that they [...]
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 [...]
When we fall short while doing something challenging, we often wonder: how can I increase my willpower? The factors that determine our present level of [...]
With every passing moment time moves forward inexorably and irreversibly. The passage of time causes non-living things to rust. Living beings also age as time [...]
“My plans never work, so I have decided to give up planning.” We may think like this when our plans to balance our material obligations [...]
Attention is crucial for enjoying anything. When a reputed sports player is in action, fans enjoy by attentively watching all the action and even the [...]
As aspiring devotees, we may find the state of our consciousness oscillating up and down like a sine wave. We may feel sometimes attracted and [...]
Love for Krishna may sometimes seem a distant, abstract concept. But Gita wisdom offers a systematic pathway by which we can slowly but surely attain [...]
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 [...]
“Will these immoral thoughts ever go away?” Questions like these may trouble us devotee-seekers when temptations provoke us even after we have adopted purifying spiritual [...]
“Yet again the mind has gone astray. How many times can I keep struggling against it?” This is our common reaction when we try to [...]
Nothing glorious can be achieved without single-pointed, sustained determination. The Bhagavad-gita (02.41) indicates that determination (drdha-vratah) is essential for the most glorious achievement of life: [...]
As aspiring devotees, our devotional determination may waver when we are confronted with temptations of material pleasures. Often these temptations haunt us like ghosts; they [...]
Many of us feel strained by the pressure of having so many things to do. Actually, our strain frequently originates not as much in how [...]
We often feel strained by the pressure of having so many things to do. Even if we have a heavy workload, our strain frequently comes [...]
The Gita (2.62)(02.63) outlines the path along which illusion tempts us. This fall from virtue happens through a sequence of four d’s: we dwell, we [...]
The Bhagavad-gita (18.33)(18.34)(18.35) describes resolution or determination in the three modes of nature: goodness, passion and ignorance. The modes comprise subtle cosmological forces that exert [...]