The Only Time I Failed an Exam
“I just can't believe that I failed.” A distraught student at the University of Toronto said this to me after my talk there on September [...]
Birthmarks and the Memories of the Soul
The Bhagavad Gita explains that the soul transitions from one body to another, just as a person progresses from childhood to youth to old age. [...]
Consciousness Outside the Body
A common assumption in modern science is that the physical brain generates consciousness. However, scientific evidence regarding near-death experiences (NDEs) poses a significant challenge to [...]
The Three Longings That Biology Cannot Explain
From a purely biological perspective, human beings are often identified simply as biological machines. Biology suggests that survival and reproduction are the primary drivers of [...]
Why You Need a Metaphysical Orientation
Just as our bodies require physical nutrition to survive, our minds require a metaphysical orientation to thrive. Metaphysical orientation provides us with a profound sense [...]
The Mystery of Agency: Why You Are Not Your Brain
In modern neuroscience, there is a strong tendency to reduce our entire identity and consciousness to the physical brain. However, pioneering studies suggest that our [...]
The Biological Illusion of Equality
Few things agitate the human heart as much as discrimination and unfair treatment. The aspiration for equality—the deeply held belief that everyone should be treated [...]
Question: What are the differences between the needs of the body and the needs of the soul?
Answer: They are two distinct levels of reality. Just as a car and a driver have different needs, the body and the soul also have [...]
We talk frequently about death without actually talking about death
We talk frequently about death without actually talking about death “Ten things to do before you die” – such lists are often found in self-help [...]
Spiritual knowledge makes us far-sighted and deep-sighted
Spiritual knowledge makes us far-sighted and deep-sighted To be far-sighted means to prepare for our long-term future. To be deep-sighted means to address issues at [...]
The claim that consciousness is an illusion proves that it is not an illusion
Some fanatical materialists claim, “Matter is all that exists — the idea of consciousness is an illusion.” However, their very assertion of this claim proves [...]
Go beyond excusing yourself and accusing yourself to realizing your self
When something we are doing goes wrong, our mind often pushes us towards two broad thought-patterns: excusing ourselves and accusing ourselves. In the first, we [...]
Gradual destruction is as destructive as sudden destruction
When sudden, huge destruction occurs because of, say, an earthquake, we are jolted out of our routine complacency. Being confronted with the brittleness of our [...]
Treat life like a movie that you don’t have to always watch
Suppose we were watching a movie and suddenly discovered that it is a horror movie filled with ghastly scenes. We would naturally stop watching it. [...]
Suffering defines the human condition, but the human condition doesn’t define us
Suffering is an undeniable reality of the human condition, as the daily news of death and disease and destruction demonstrate. And these are just the [...]
The rest of me is no rest for me
The "rest of me" refers to our physical and mental side – the two other levels of our present three-level existence as embodied souls. Our [...]
Ego is not the problem – false ego is
In normal parlance, ‘ego’ refers to arrogance and carries negative connotations. The Bhagavad-gita uses its Sanskrit equivalent, ahankara, in this sense (16.18), but also in [...]
The soul is bulletproof, fireproof, waterproof, windproof – and time-proof
“Waterproof!” Declares the ad of a trendy gadget. Ads like these tap our apprehension that such gadgets may get inadvertently damaged. These apprehensions stem from [...]
Materialism makes the materialist non-existent and materialism meaningless
People sometimes object to spirituality, saying, “It requires so much faith.” Actually, everything requires faith. Even materialism requires faith – the faith that we ourselves [...]
Those who mistake the route to be the root stay uprooted
Many people confuse the mind with the soul because both are inside. However, the soul and the mind differ cognitively, constitutionally and functionally. Cognitively, the [...]
Focus not on being known – focus on knowing
We want to be known. Living in a world filled with nameless masses in its mindless metropolises, we sense subconsciously the threat of obscurity looming [...]