The Mystery of Agency: Why You Are Not Your Brain
In modern neuroscience, there is a strong tendency to reduce our entire identity and consciousness to the physical brain. However, pioneering studies suggest that our [...]
In the world’s distress, let me see not your disregard for my well-being, but your respect for my will
Bhagavad Gita 9.9 na ca māṁ tāni karmāṇi nibadhnanti dhanañ-jaya udāsīna-vad āsīnam asaktaṁ teṣu karmasu By none of the world’s mess or distress, Am [...]
2.14 We can’t change our destiny–and we can.
When something bad happens in your life due to factors beyond your control, have you ever wondered: Was this destiny? Could I have done anything [...]
If we lack freedom or willpower what can we do?
If we lack freedom or willpower what can we do? - When we try to do something worthwhile, if external situations hamper us, we may [...]
Free will is the distance between impulse and response
Free will is the distance between impulse and response On seeing addicted people relapsing despite their best intentions, we may wonder, “Do they still have [...]
To bear the weight of freedom we need big shoulders
To bear the weight of freedom we need big shoulders Suppose someone has to carry a huge weight. If they don’t have shoulders big enough, [...]
God determines the scope of our actions not our actions themselves
God determines the scope of our actions not our actions themselves Some people ask, “If God is the supreme controller, does his controllership mean that [...]
The commonality of the source doesn’t imply the similarity of the effect
People sometimes ask, “When everything comes from God, why can’t we enjoy everything? Why restrict our enjoyment of some things?” Because though everything comes from [...]
Krishna doesn’t cause our worldly wandering – he frees us from the cause of that wandering
Some people claim, “ The Bhagavad-gita teaches that we humans have no free will, being just puppets in God’s hands. They often quote the Gita [...]
Evil arises not from Krishna’s intention, but from the soul’s volition
People often ask, “If God, the creator of world, is good, why does evil exist in the world?” Evil arises not from Krishna’s intention but from [...]
Are we rejecting the eternal because the temporary has rejected us?
When we face misfortunes that seem impossible to cope with, we may get the question: “I am trying to be a good person and a [...]
We are our own devils
Some traditions have the conception of the Devil, an intrinsically evil being who is independent of and almost as powerful as God. He wants to [...]