How the mind is not like a computer
The mind is like a computer in the sense that just as a computer operates based on its programming, the mind operates based on its [...]
Surprise gifts: Delighted or disoriented?
Surprise gifts: Delighted or disoriented? When a surprise is truly surprising, appreciate the fact that it is surprising, not the fact that it is disorienting. [...]
Emotions: not commanded but cultivated
Even though emotions can't be commanded, they can still be cultivated. Suppose someone is feeling cold. We can't command them not to feel cold. But [...]
Let emotion inform, but not form, your decision
Our emotions are a big part of who we are, but they are not all of us. We are bigger than our present emotions, most [...]
Enlightenment ends the mind’s search for alternatives to Krishna
We are all searching for some object as a source of love and pleasure. Gita wisdom explains that we are actually searching for Krishna, the [...]
The Gita calls for not emotionless living, but purposeful living
In cricket, fielders sometimes use sledging to unsettle a batsman. If the batsman lets their nasty words agitate him, he will in a rush of [...]
Emotional restraint paves the way to emotional enrichment
Some people ask, “The Bhagavad-gita wants us to stay unaffected amidst pleasure-pain, success-failure, honor-dishonor. Won’t that make for emotionless living?” No, because the Gita’s prescription [...]
Monumental triviality is still a triviality
Some sports fans become so manic that when their favorite team loses, they feel as if it is the end of the world. A few [...]
Emotions come from reality and return us to reality
Emotions are the central feature, indeed the driving force, of our present existence. Many spiritual paths, especially impersonal spiritual paths, consider emotions as distractions, even [...]
Study pastimes not to swoop down on their meaning, but to be swept up by their emotion
When we come across something intellectually challenging such as a crossword puzzle or a riddle, we feel stimulated and thrilled to “crack” it. We may [...]
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 [...]
Krishna sees not just our feelings but also our feelings about our feelings
During our spiritual journey, we sometimes find ourselves assaulted by non-devotional feelings such as boredom or nonchalance or, worse still, by anti-devotional feelings such as [...]
The resolution to the confrontation between reason and emotion lies in purification
Whenever we have to make choices in life, we usually turn to two courts: the court of reason (“That makes sense”) and the court of [...]
The ceiling of impersonalism is the beginning of transcendental personalism
Impersonalism is the notion that ultimate reality is without any personal attributes. It conceives of spiritual perfection as freedom from all emotions and reciprocations, the [...]
Devotion expands meditation to include emotion and action
Many people think that meditation is primarily a way to still the agitated mind. So, they think that any object such as a candle or [...]
Take emotions into account but don’t let them be the only thing in the account
At the start of the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna is overcome by myriad complex emotions that bring him on the verge of an emotional breakdown. By the [...]
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 [...]
Spiritualization of emotions raises us from duality through equanimity to ecstasy
The Bhagavad-gita repeatedly urges us to view worldly dualities with equanimity. Why? Because our emotional attachments for worldly things bind us. When our emotions run [...]
To grow in devotion, focus not on emotion but on dedication
The Bhagavad-gita features an intriguing paradox. On one hand, it repeatedly urges seekers to stay unaffected amidst emotions such as pleasure and pain (02.56, 12.19, [...]
Don’t get back at God – get God back
When people hurt us, we often want to get back at them, hurt them the way they have hurt us. When things go wrong in [...]