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 [...]
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 [...]
Help me elevate my spiritual intention, not militate against social convention
Bhagavad Gita 9.32 māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye ’pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te ’pi yānti parāṁ gatim Those who come to [...]
Focus on our availability for God, not God’s availability for us
Stop worrying whether God is there for us; start working on whether we are there for God. When facing difficulties, we may sometimes expect support [...]
Let me focus on your will, not my skill (9.32)
Bhagavad Gita 9.32 māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye ’pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te ’pi yānti parāṁ gatim Those born in conditions [...]
How faith and surrender can empower us to face challenges
Faith enables us to realize that God is on our side, while surrender enables us to put ourselves on God’s side. When we practice bhakti [...]
Focus on our Lord not on our demons
Stop comparing ourselves with our demons; start comparing our demons with our Lord. We all have some self-defeating desires and drives within us, often referred [...]
The dynamics of the human-divine partnership
Our business is to do what is possible; God's business is to do what, to us, seems impossible. Stop taking over God's business, and stop [...]
How devotional surrender brings enrichment not resentment
How devotional surrender brings enrichment not resentment Devotional surrender means that what our Lord speaks, our heart seeks. The notion of surrender often doesn’t [...]
Make God both the defining center and the driving force of your life
Make God both the defining center and the driving force of your life - Devotion is not just about making God the defining center of [...]
How purification can empower us all
Purification is often equated with being puritanical, which may evoke images of holier-than-thou people morally policing everyone else. Influenced by such images, we may not [...]
How inner bridges and inner barricades can empower us
Our mind is sometimes a source of creative ideas and sometimes a source of destructive desires. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.05) urges us to elevate ourselves [...]
When we limit our challenges, we can challenge our limits
When we limit our challenges we can challenge our limits Suppose an army is fighting a multifront war against a formidable enemy. For the army [...]
Tolerance empowers us when we focus on our purposefulness, not on our powerlessness
Tolerance empowers us when we focus on our purposefulness not on our powerlessness Some people feel that tolerating makes them powerless. To know more about [...]
Humility frees us from dependence on our own power and grants us access to God’s power
Humility frees us from dependence on our own power and grants us access to God’s power Some people think of humility as weakness, “If I [...]
Don’t ask God to fix your problems, ask God to fix you so that you can fix your problems
Don’t ask God to fix your problems ask God to fix you so that you can fix your problems Some people think that if they [...]
No matter how bad things are we can always make them worse – we are never powerless
No matter how bad things are we can always make them worse – we are never powerless Sometimes, life puts us in so many difficulties [...]
From your place, at your pace, access the grace
From your place at your pace access the grace Suppose a wealthy person gives charity abundantly. Still, to receive that charity, we would have to [...]
We may be victimized but we don’t have to be victims
We may be victimized but we don't have to be victims We may sometimes be victimized. How can we deal with the resulting devastation? By [...]
Devotion transforms backbenchers into toppers
Devotion transforms backbenchers into toppers In every classroom, some students are perpetual backbenchers – they don’t like to study; they attend classes just because they [...]