Let the misdirection of my determination inspire its redirection to you
Bhagavad Gita 18.35 yayā svapnaṁ bhayaṁ śokaṁ viṣādaṁ madam eva ca na vimuñcati durmedhā dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī That determination, dark and blind, Clings [...]
Make me determined to not just pursue the desirable but also determine what is truly desirable
Bhagavad Gita 18.34 yayā tu dharma-kāmārthān dhṛtyā dhārayate ’rjuna prasaṅgena phalākāṅkṣī dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha rājasī That determination which holds on tight, To pleasure and [...]
Please deepen my determination with devotion and strengthen my devotion with determination
Bhagavad Gita 18.33 dhṛtyā yayā dhārayate manaḥ-prāṇendriya-kriyāḥ yogenāvyabhicāriṇyā dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī That determination which sustains; Mind, life-breath, senses—all it restrains; Through yoga practice [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Gita 06.05 – Explanation
Gita 06.05 – The responsibility for controlling the mind rests on us Audio Link: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/gita-06-05-the-responsibility-for-controlling-the-mind-rests-on-us/ uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur [...]
Help me tolerate the desires that are just my body’s reactions (5.23)
Bhagavad Gita 5.23 śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṁ prāk śarīra-vimokṣaṇāt kāma-krodhodbhavaṁ vegaṁ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ "Tolerating while in this bodily frame, Desire and anger's [...]
The dual defenses against self-destructive impulses
Whenever we struggle with conditionings that impel us toward actions we know we shouldn't do, two defense mechanisms can protect us: conscience and intelligence. Conscience [...]
How to keep our promises
Fear not the promises that we think we can't keep. Focus on the promises that God makes that he can keep and that he can [...]
How to get the will to say no
To get the will to say no to something, focus on the thing that we are saying yes to. Whenever we have to say no [...]
Resist the temptation to quit
Resist the temptation to quit on ourselves by recalling the Lord who never quits on us. When striving for self-improvement and facing repeated lapses and [...]
Gita 03.39 explained
Bg 3.39 āvṛtaṁ jñānam etena jñānino nitya-vairiṇā kāma-rūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca Word for word: āvṛtam — covered; jñānam — pure consciousness; etena — by [...]
How accountability can save us from humiliation
How accountability can save us from humiliation We all may have some unhealthy habits that we grapple with. We may overcome them temporarily, but eventually [...]
Begin each day by putting on our armor
If we were fighting a war, we would begin each day by putting on our armor. Actually, we all are at war internally against negative [...]
Sensuality + Technology – Spirituality = Recipe for self-destruction
Sensuality + Technology - Spirituality = Recipe for self-destruction Sensuality: When we are consumed by sensual pleasures or even sensual fantasies, we become oblivious to [...]
How free pleasures are not free …
Today’s culture often dangles many pleasures that seem free. For example, the Internet offers loads of entertainment, apparently free. But are such pleasures really free? [...]