Question: What are the differences between the needs of the body and the needs of the soul?
Answer: They are two distinct levels of reality. Just as a car and a driver have different needs, the body and the soul also have [...]
Help me see the summit of spirituality is not peace, but love
Bhagavad Gita 18.54 brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām One established in spirit, serene and free, Neither grieves nor [...]
Protect me not just from the pleasures that seduce but also from those that sedate
Bhagavad Gita 18.39 yat agre cānubandhe ca sukhaṁ mohanam ātmanaḥ nidrālasyapramādotthaṁ tat tāmasam udāhṛtam From start to end, it makes the soul numb, And leaves [...]
Please deepen my determination with devotion and strengthen my devotion with determination
Bhagavad Gita 18.33 dhṛtyā yayā dhārayate manaḥ-prāṇendriya-kriyāḥ yogenāvyabhicāriṇyā dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī That determination which sustains; Mind, life-breath, senses—all it restrains; Through yoga practice [...]
Gita 07.30 – Explanation
Gita 07.30 – Teacher’s incomprehensible statements test student’s interest and attentiveness Audio Link: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/gita-07-30-teachers-incomprehensible-statements-test-students-interest-and-attentiveness/ sādhibhūtādhidaivaṁ māṁ sādhiyajñaṁ ca ye viduḥ prayāṇa-kāle ’pi ca māṁ te [...]
Gita 06.30 – Explanation
Gita 06.30 – The perception of Krishna everywhere takes one beyond the reach of illusion Audio Link: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/gita-06-30-the-perception-of-krishna-everywhere-takes-one-beyond-the-reach-of-illusion/ yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra sarvaṁ ca mayi [...]
Focus on our availability for God, not God’s availability for us
Stop worrying whether God is there for us; start working on whether we are there for God. When facing difficulties, we may sometimes expect support [...]
Help me to both look away and look through illusion (10.41)
Bhagavad Gita 10.41 yat yat vibhūtimat sattvaṁ śrīmad ūrjitam eva vā tat tad evāvagaccha tvaṁ mama tejo-'ṁśa-sambhavam Whatever holds great charm or might, Splendor [...]
Help me be spiritually dedicated, not materially diverted (5.20)
Bhagavad Gita 5.20 na prahṛṣyet priyaṁ prāpya nodvijet prāpya cāpriyam sthirabuddhir asammūḍho brahma-vid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ "Getting the desirable, one who is not elated, Nor [...]
How bhakti is much more than worship of some being
Devotion is not just about worshiping some being; it is about finding our own small story within the larger story that is the divine plan [...]
How devotion simultaneously fulfills our deep needs for belonging and participation
Devotion fulfills our twin needs of universal belonging and personal participation in a reality bigger than ourselves. As social creatures, we naturally desire interaction, but [...]
When we feel forgotten by God …
We are never forgotten by God, even when we have forgotten God. When we go through life with many tests and trials, it is natural [...]
Needing Krishna to fix us
Meditation begins in earnest when we realize that we need to change from the inside out. We generally turn toward God when things are not [...]
Seek more to connect than to correct
Seek more to connect than to correct - On the brink of the Mahabharata war, Arjuna was overwhelmed by misdirected compassion and was about to [...]
How purification can empower us all
Purification is often equated with being puritanical, which may evoke images of holier-than-thou people morally policing everyone else. Influenced by such images, we may not [...]
When the distance between us and God seems unscalable …
We sometimes succumb to such improper actions and succumb so frequently and so grievously that we may feel that there is an unscalable distance between [...]
When we are praying, know that God is hearing us better than we are speaking
Suppose we are speaking with someone and we sense that they aren’t really hearing us, that they aren’t offering us either an attentive ear or [...]
To perceive God, we don’t need any instrument; we only need to become his instrument
On seeing impressive scientific instruments, we may wonder, “Can science develop an instrument sophisticated enough to perceive God?” That’s like asking: will a future telescope [...]
Whatever we are surfing for, we are ultimately surfing for Krishna
Whatever we are surfing for we are ultimately surfing for Krishna Our mind is constantly surfing for something enjoyable. While surfing referred traditionally to a [...]