Gratefully ambitious
While most people acknowledge the importance and even the necessity of gratitude for a happy life, some people fear that if they are grateful for [...]
Are you someone you would want to live with lifelong?
If our partner is someone we can’t live with, that would make our life miserable. How much greater would be our misery if we had [...]
Four stages in self-transformation
How can we assess our progress toward self-transformation? By noting the process we go through before making choices, both healthy and unhealthy. If we identify [...]
Are we being ‘nonjudgmentally’ judgmental?
Most virtues, when taken to an excess, end up becoming vices. Such is the case with the virtue of being nonjudgmental which protects us from [...]
Krishna’s verbal slaps to Arjuna (Exploring Gita chapter 2)
Krishna’s verbal slaps to Arjuna - The Gita’s second chapter begins with Arjuna in tears (02.01). Till this point, Arjuna has treated Krishna as a [...]
From honor-culture to honorable action (Understanding Gita 02.34 – 6)
From honor-culture to honorable action - The Bhagavad-gita’s call for honorable action (02.34) reflects a characteristic of most traditional cultures: a concern for honor. People [...]
The difference between honor and pride (Understanding Gita 02.34 – 5)
The difference between honor and pride - Synonyms aren’t always interchangeable. They can have connotations that may lead to meanings that are differing or even [...]
Does how others perceive us matter? (Understanding Gita 02.34 – 4)
Does how others perceive us matter? - The Bhagavad-gita (01.34) states that for those who have been honored, dishonor is worse than death. This verse [...]
How fear of dishonor can motivate us (Understanding Gita 02.34 – 3)
How fear of dishonor can motivate us - Dishonor or shame can motivate us to desist from a wrong choice or persist in a right [...]
Is dishonor really worse than death? (Understanding Gita 02.34 – 2)
Is dishonor really worse than death? - The Bhagavad-gita (02.34) declares that for respectable people, dishonor is worse than death. This verse raises the question: [...]
Why be bothered by dishonor? (Understanding Gita 02.34 – 1)
Why be bothered by dishonor? - The Bhagavad-gita (02.34) declares that for those who have been honored, dishonor is worse than death. This verse raises [...]
How sorrow points us toward spirituality (Why the Gita’s first chapter matters 5)
How sorrow points us toward spirituality - Loss and the resulting sorrow are unpalatable yet unavoidable experiences during our life-journey. When we lose something desirable, [...]
From the specific to the universal (Why the Gita’s first chapter matters 3)
From the specific to the universal - We learn best by an expert combination of the specific and the universal. Specifics catch our attention as [...]
The QUEST acronym (Why the Gita’s first chapter matters 1)
The QUEST acronym - The Bhagavad-gita is widely known as a book of profound philosophy. Why does such a book start with an entire chapter [...]
How devotion leads to dynamic intelligence (Chatur-Shloki Gita analysis 11)
How devotion leads to dynamic intelligence - Our destiny is determined by our decisions; the choices we make can radically alter our life’s trajectories. Unfortunately, [...]
How devotion encompasses our entire being (Chatur-Shloki Gita analysis 9)
How devotion encompasses our entire being - In the Chatur-shloki Gita, the second verse (10.09) describes the characteristics of the devoted in terms of their [...]
How Krishna addresses Arjuna’s concerns empathically (Balancing independence and guidance 6)
How Krishna addresses Arjuna’s concerns empathically - In the Bhagavad-gita’s sixth chapter, Krishna outlines the process of dhyana-yoga. This process for attaining self-realization centers primarily [...]
Respecting others while refuting their misconceptions (Balancing independence and guidance 5)
Respecting others while refuting their misconceptions- When Arjuna surrenders to Krishna, seeking guidance about dharma, Krishna begins his response with words that can seem like [...]
How Krishna respects Arjuna’s independence before giving guidance (Balancing independence and guidance series 4)
How Krishna respects Arjuna's independence before giving guidance - Suppose we can give good advice to someone whom we are not officially or relationally obligated [...]
How to give guidance while respecting people’s independence (Balancing independence and guidance series 3)
How to give guidance while respecting people’s independence - Suppose a student seeks career guidance from an older relative. If that relative has previously been [...]
Why we may provide guidance without respecting independence (Balancing independence and guidance series 2)
Why we may provide guidance without respecting independence - Whenever we offer guidance, we act based on our implicit conceptions about what guidance is meant [...]