Devotion passes and surpasses the intellect
The path of devotion passes the intellect meaning that its explanation of life’s purpose can survive the scrutiny of the intellect. In fact, the Bhagavad-gita, [...]
Let intelligence be a tool for spiritual resurrection, not spiritual insurrection
Among the different species, we humans are uniquely gifted with advanced intelligence. By using this intelligence properly, we can perceive life’s spiritual dimension and approach [...]
Those who make pleasure the purpose of their life make their life purposeless
We are all innately pleasure-seeking. Gita wisdom explains that we being souls, eternal parts of Krishna, can find the supreme pleasure by serving him with [...]
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 [...]
Life may push us into the company of problems, but it cannot force us into their control
While traveling, sometimes the people sitting next to us are less than pleasant. We may not be able to avoid their company, but we don’t [...]
Live for Krishna; live through Krishna; live in Krishna
“How can we live spiritually in the material world?” This question often confronts devotee-seekers. The Bhagavad-gita (12.08 - 12.12) outlines multiple descending levels at which we can [...]
The point of the world is to point beyond the world
When we see the distress, destruction and death that characterize this world, we may get the question: “What is the point of it all?” But [...]
Anger makes our response to a problem a bigger problem than the problem itself
When someone wrongs us, it is natural to feel angry. Yet just because it is natural doesn’t make it desirable. Of course, neither is it [...]
Why sentence ourselves to meaninglessness, purposelessness and joylessness?
Skeptics often ask, “What is the use of devoting so much time to God?” Little do they understand that Krishna brings meaning, purpose and joy [...]
Are we drinking poison to quench thirst?
When infants feel thirsty, they cry, not knowing what’s wrong. Mothers understand and give their babies water. As the toddlers grow up, they too understand [...]
Religion is meant for God; God is not meant for religion
Some exclusivist religions claim that no one can access God except through them. Such reduction of God to a monopolized commodity in the religious market [...]
Accidents are no accidents
The word ‘accident’ has become integral to our vocabulary, largely due to the many unfortunate crashes that beset our roads. Words, however, don’t just reflect [...]
A package in which the best and the worst aren’t bound together
Pleasure, profit, success. We look forward to these in life. But they are only one part of the package. They are inevitably and inextricably bound [...]
Place Krishna at the center of your secret life
All of us have a public life where we interact with the world and a personal life where we interact with our loved ones. Additionally, [...]
The world is a station, not a destination
We may find the Bhagavad-gita’s injunction to stay equipoised amidst success and failure (2.38) perplexing: “Isn’t it natural to feel happy when we succeed and [...]
Might we be hitting the bull’s eye of the wrong target?
Cellphones, internet, robots – the technological advances in our society are impressive. Yet they haven’t made people happier, as the rising statistics of stress and [...]
Are we outsourcing our thinking?
We have outsourced our arithmetic to calculators, our grammar to spellcheck and our memory to google. This trend towards outsourcing can accelerate the atrophy of [...]
Inner resonance leads to outer coherence
“Why do things keep going wrong?” Life often vexes us thus due to its unpredictable upheavals. Gita wisdom suggests that we might be asking the [...]
We don’t have to stay suspended between the unknowable and the unavoidable
As we rush about on our daily routines, we periodically check the clock to see if we are on time. Yet we rarely check where [...]
Did nothing in life prepare you for life?
From middle-age onwards, the human body usually starts undergoing a miracle of the wrong kind. Unfortunately, many such miracle-afflicted people go into a denial mode [...]
Those who make donkeys the Gita’s role models sentence themselves to donkey-like roles
“Work is worship is the central teaching of the Bhagavad-gita.” So claim many people. If they were right, then wouldn’t it make the creature that [...]