Why Do We Fall Short When Trying to Change?
Even when we want to change ourselves by giving up unhealthy habits and developing healthy habits, why do we fall short? How can we overcome [...]
Should we be strict with ourselves and lenient with others?
Answer: First, there is no scriptural basis for the idea that we should always be strict with ourselves and lenient with others. It may be [...]
Release me from the voice inside my head that endlessly craves empty pleasures
Bhagavad-gita 6.6 bandhur ātmātmanas tasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ anātmanas tu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatru-vat A voice inside leads me astray; It steals my life day by [...]
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 [...]
Seek inner harmony through persuasion, not domination
If we consider our inner world as a territory where disputes occur, there are broadly two ways to address these disputes. The first approach is [...]
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 [...]