Why Do You Laugh at Your Own Humor?
This question came from a friend who had just attended one of my talks. He explained, “Normally, in executive humor—that which is appropriate for workplace [...]
From “Thank God” to “Thank You, God”
During one of my flights on my last tour of Australia, I found myself in the middle seat. As the departure time drew near, neither [...]
Gratitude Is a Gift
At a recent youth retreat in Mayapur, a devotee asked me, "When you became a brahmachari, how did you deal with fear about the future [...]
Two ways to know our attachments
To understand our attachments, we need to notice where our thoughts go when they have nowhere else to go. Our minds are always full of [...]
Why has God created our mind to act as our enemy so frequently and forcefully?
God has provided us with the mind as a functional tool to link our spiritual selves with our physical bodies. However, the specific way the [...]
Four meanings of consciousness
The many meanings of consciousness and how they matter Consciousness is a frequently discussed concept among those seeking personal and spiritual growth. Gaining a clearer [...]
Protect me from chasing the cause of my dissatisfaction as its cure
Bhagavad Gita 18.32 adharmaṁ dharmam iti yā manyate tamasāvṛtā sarvārthān viparītāṁś ca buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī Shrouded in darkness, it takes wrong for right, [...]
Two ways to deal with our past
Even if we can't escape our past, we can still outgrow it We all carry scars from our past—deep wounds that cause fears or impressions [...]
How self-destructive desire corrupts our intelligence
The Bhagavad Gita (3.43) exhorts us to use our intelligence to fight against self-destructive desires but simultaneously warns (3.40) that even intelligence can be corrupted [...]
Three meanings of ‘fire’ and how they apply to our inner world
The word fire has multiple meanings: a natural force that burns, the dismissal of someone from their job, and an energizing enthusiasm or motivation (as [...]
How the mind and the intelligence are to work together
The mind is meant to be the complement to the intelligence, let it not become the replacement of the intelligence We live in an age [...]
In pursuing self-discipline is our imagination working for us or against us?
Whenever we decide to discipline ourselves, we are often jolted into action by external situations. For instance, we may notice how much weight we have [...]
Do we have an inner deception detection mechanism?
As we go through life, we learn that we can't always take things and people at face value. Part of growing up involves realizing that [...]
Emotional intelligence: Knowing when to respond with equanimity and when with empathy
When someone experiences emotional turbulence, especially during difficult or potentially traumatic times, our response can significantly influence not only their emotional state but also their [...]
How purposefulness helps us move through complexity to clarity
Purposefulness helps us move through complexity to clarity Life is often characterized—and sometimes confounded—by complexity. Externally, the world around us offers an overwhelming array of [...]
How to avoid acting thoughtlessly
When we are thoughtless, it's not that we have less thoughts; it's that we give less thought to the thoughts that drive us. We all [...]
How to protect attention
How to protect attention If we don’t have anything to focus on, we will focus on anything. Attention is a complex and ongoing phenomenon. It [...]
When we feel tormented by desire, what can we do?
When we feel tormented by desire, what can we do? Indulgence in a desire may provide immediate relief from its torment, but it takes us [...]
Break up with our mind or a break from our mind?
Break up with our mind or a break from our mind? We can't break up from our mind, yet we need to have breaks from [...]
3.37 Self-discipline: the war within you, not the war with you
Discipline often feels like a fight with ourselves, like we are being robbed of pleasures that seem rightfully ours. But the Bhagavad Gita (3.37) flips [...]
17.16 From bitter thoughts to better thoughts
Have you ever felt that your life is not as successful as you had dreamt it will be? You may feel bitter because the world [...]