Worry accelerates our imagination. When we face problems, worry paints dreadful pictures of the many further things that may go wrong, thereby sucking our mental energy into those gloomy possibilities. Saying that worry accelerates our imagination doesn’t mean that the problems we worry about aren’t real. They may well be real. But we can live…
Falling down means that due to our past conditionings or present circumstances, we succumb to temptation. In contrast, falling away means that we give up devotional service and go away from Krishna. Falling down is something akin to a child’s falling while learning to walk. It’s undesirable, but it’s often unavoidable – that’s just the…
We want to make things better, to make our life better, to make the world better. This urge for betterment drives our various activities – economical, social, cultural, political, and even religious. Gita wisdom informs us that this urge is natural because we are meant for a better life than what we presently have. We…
Our daily life, with its many obligations, requires hard work. So, if we make time to meditate, we expect meditation to serve as a break, to de-stress us. Mantra meditation does indeed offer that break, but not in the way we expect. Let’s understand. Krishna is non-different from the mantras centered on his holy names….
Patients admitted in a hospital long to be discharged so that they can return home and be with their loved ones. Even while staying in the hospital for as long as the treatment necessitates, they long for the release date, looking forward to all that they will be able to do thereafter. Gita wisdom compares…
We may wonder: “Determination requires using our own willpower, whereas devotion requires depending on Krishna’s supreme power. How can we do these two contradictory things simultaneously?” By seeing our willpower is a means to access Krishna’s supreme power and thereby letting determination enthrone devotion in our heart. The Bhagavad-gita (09.14) points to this vision when…
Skeptics deride Krishna’s pastimes like lifting Govardhan hill: “How could anyone have lifted such a huge object? How could he have found its center of gravity?” Krishna doesn’t have to find the center of gravity because he is the source of gravity. Material nature with all its laws such as gravity work under his supervision,…
“That’s self-contradictory.” We may feel thus on reading some sections of the Bhagavad-gita. For example, the Gita (9.4) states, mat-sthani sarva bhutani “All of existence is situated in me.” And the next verse (9.5) states na ca mat sthani bhutani “Existence is not situated in me.” Is the Gita self-contradictory? No, it is self-revelatory. Being…
A boat in an ocean keeps bobbing due to the unending waves. To stay steady, it needs an anchor. Similarly, the waves of unending dualities – heat and cold; pleasure and pain; honor and dishonor – keep our mind perpetually restless. To steady it, we need an anchor. The best anchor is Krishna. To understand…
Our normal material tendency is to go by externals. We form impressions about people based on how they look, where they stay, what they drive in and what their designation is. When we carry this tendency into spiritual life, we judge devotees based on their positions within ecclesiastical hierarchies. What is worse than such judgment…
Sometimes life forces us to face so many problems that we feel we have no time left for Krishna. Not only that, the very presence of so many problems makes us disinclined towards Krishna: “If he lets so many problems come in my life even when I am serving him, what’s the use of turning…
Falling from moral standards is an ever-present danger for all devotee-seekers in this world of temptation. When others don’t live up to our moral expectations, it’s natural to feel disappointed, even devastated. Amidst such feelings, it’s easy to become judgmental and censure the fallen. However, Gita wisdom recommends caution and compassion towards such fallen devotees….
When we fail and fall while practicing the moral standards expected of us as devotees, we often feel discouraged, “I will never be able to do this; maybe it’s better that I just give up this whole struggle and accept that I can never be a good devotee.” For such times, Gita wisdom offers us…
In the Bhagavad-gita (09.31), Krishna asks Arjuna to declare boldly that devotees will never perish. Erudite Gita commentators explain why Krishna asks Arjuna to make this declaration instead of making it himself. Some people think that Krishna sometimes speaks untruths. For example, as a child, he would tell his mother that he hadn’t stolen butter,…
We may get the question: “Do I have to give up reason in order to put faith in the Gita?” Not at all, answers Gita wisdom. But we should ensure that reason is our minister, not our master. Let’s understand the difference: Reason as master: If we install reason as the ultimate arbiter of our…
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 the world without; they also reflect and affect the world within. Our frequent usage of the word ‘accident’ contributes to making the idea of ‘accident’ integral to the way we…
We normally don’t like pain. But when a to-be-mother undergoes labor pains, love shifts her thoughts from the present pain to the future child. Her loving anticipation doesn’t stop the pain, but it enables her to see beyond it, thereby tolerating even transcending it. Love makes the pain meaningful. Gita wisdom provides us the seminal…
“The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible,” wondered Albert Einstein. If the universe were just matter emerged by chance, why should it exhibit patterns that we can comprehend through scientific laws and mathematical equations? Yet the same Einstein when perplexed by the incomprehensibility of subatomic phenomena lamented: “It was as…
The daily news of natural disasters like hurricanes and human-made distresses like corruption show that the world is in a terrible mess. Seeing this, we may feel: can I, one small human being, make any significant difference? Gita wisdom informs that we can surely make a difference – provided we see things differently. We need…
Devotional advancement essentially means letting Krishna enter and rule our heart. This may happen in the following three progressive stages: Permeation: Just as water from the clouds permeates into a field through the top soil, Krishna through his external manifestations like the holy names, Deities and scriptures permeates into our heart through our senses. Just…
Some people ask, “God is complete and doesn’t need anything. As he never feels hungry, what is the need to offer him food?” This question is natural and valid, given the conception of God found in most world religions: as a self-satisfied Supreme Being. Gita wisdom acknowledges this conception, but also reveals a much higher…
The historical dating of spiritually significant events is often an exercise in irrelevance. Consider, for example, the mainstream academic opinion that characterizes bhakti as a cultural Indian movement that became widespread in medieval times. Such a cultural and historical characterization of bhakti misses its essence. Gita wisdom indicates that bhakti correlates with the innate nature…
Many spiritual neophytes get enamored on seeing virtuoso cultural skills in spiritual teachers. They often consider as spiritually advanced individuals with the ability to fluently recite complex Sanskrit verses or melodiously sing devotional songs or elegantly perform worship rituals. Why do they equate cultural ability with advanced spirituality? Because of their compartmentalized view of life,…
We usually long to prove our greatness to the world. Gita wisdom seems, at first sight, to repress this ambition for greatness; it informs us that we as souls are immeasurably small and are eternally servants of Krishna. If we are less than microscopic and are always servitors, then how can we ever become great?…
Ours is an age that idealizes the equality of all human beings. The American Declaration of Rights which enshrines this equality is widely considered a watershed in human history. Significantly a similar egalitarian declaration is made by the Bhagavad-gita thousands of years earlier. The Gita espouses the path of bhakti-yoga – the path of pure…
Many of us delay taking up spiritual life as a priority due to thoughts that run along these lines: “I need to improve my material life – my finances, my fitness, my family’s prospects. Then I will focus on spiritual life. But first I have to fix a few loose ends.” However, the process of…
Supernatural stunts in cartoons and sci-fi movies attract not only common people, but also diehard skeptics who usually denounce anything supernatural. They happily suspend their skepticism and enjoy watching stunts that are naturally impossible. Despite their commitment to naturalism, what makes them enjoy the supernatural? It’s the heart. Naturalism helps us see in the world…
The endless problems of life may wear us out and make us long for a problem-free life. Such a longing, however, is unrealistic and unfulfilling. Unrealistic: The Bhagavad-gita (9.33) declares that the entire material existence is an arena ridden intrinsically with temporariness and troublesomeness. Just as swimmers can never be dry in an ocean, we…
Most of us as spiritual seekers recognize that immoral sinful pleasures are obstacles on the spiritual pathway. What we may not recognize is that even innocent pious pleasures are also obstacles; the difference is largely a matter of degree. Whatever gives us pleasure occupies a place in our heart. When we seek pleasure in sins,…
Some people think of fasting as a means of achieving mastery over their body. They fast to increase their willpower by refusing to let bodily appetites control them. As spiritual seekers, if this self-centered motive seduces us, then we miss the devotional benefits of fasting, irrespective of whether our fast fails or succeeds. If we…
We may sometimes wonder: “Are the statements in the Bhagavad-gita about God’s existence and benevolence to be accepted on faith alone? Isn’t there any way to confirm them?” Gita wisdom answers: There is indeed; confirmation comes by conformation. The Bhagavad-gita (9.2) states that its message is pratyakshavagamam, directly perceivable by one’s own experience. Thus the…
When problems assault us unexpectedly, we generally feel that life has singled us out for a raw deal. A strong sense of indignation and resentment at this unsolicited “special treatment” scorches our mind. Close on the heels of this indignation is the haunting fear that the suffering connotes our inferiority. We dread the prospect that…
A Prize Beyond the Palliative of Peace Bhakti may sometimes contradict our preconceptions about spirituality as a state of peaceful withdrawl into oneself while seated in a good-looking yogic posture. This stereotype of spirituality fails to address our innermost need, which is not peace, but love. We act and interact in the world because we hope…
Emotions are one of our defining features that differentiate us conscious beings from unconscious things. As matter doesn’t have the capacity to experience emotions, the presence of that capacity in us demonstrates that there is more to our identity than matter; we are spiritual beings. Yet it is a sad irony that the very emotions…
All of us, at sometime or the other in our lives, feel a void within. This sense of incompleteness, even emptiness, in our hearts is due to our lacking a satisfying object for our love. We generally offer our love to the people and things of the world, but experience soon reinforces what we subconsciously…
Krishna’s pastimes of magically killing supernatural demons may seem fantastic to some of us. Yes, they are fantastic, in the sense that they demonstrate his capacities to effortlessly accomplish feats that would be impossible for us humans. Krishna’s deeds may be fantastic, but they are not fantasy. They are not figments of a mythological imagination…
Love is not just a feeling, but also a doing; not just an emotion, but also an action. In fact, love as a feeling is the root that grows and blossoms into the flower of love as an action. And, paradoxically, love as an action acts as the root that grows and blossoms into the…
The Bhagavad-gita (9.18) states that Krishna is present in the hearts of all of us as the witness. The word ‘witness’ often conjures the image of a person who gives testimony to prove the culpability of a wrongdoer. However, this negative connotation doesn’t apply to Krishna, because he is present in our hearts not to…
The Bhagavad-gita (9.30) urges us to recognize as saintly a devotee who, though guilty of grievous misconduct, is still determined to serve Krishna. The next verse (9.31) first assures that a devotee will soon get reformed and then proclaims that Krishna’s unfailing love will forever protect such a devotee. The first verse offers a glimpse…
The Bhagavad-gita (9.14) states that advanced spiritualists express their devotion by constantly speaking and singing about Krishna. This indicates that they plug in to the power of sacred sound to further their devotional advancement. In fact, sacred sound is one of the primary ways to express and experience divine love. Among all sacred sounds, the…
The Bhagavad-gita (9.29) states two paradoxical features of Krishna’s nature: He is equal to all and does not consider anyone to be an object of aversion or affection. For those who worship him with devotion, he offers himself to them and they offer themselves to him. These two features suggest that Krishna is both partial…
It’s relatively easy to love ideal people: those who have only virtues, no vices. And we do need to love them so that we develop the inspiration and aspiration to become ideal like them. However, as we live in a world where ideal people are few – even among spiritualists striving to become ideal, we…
When faced with financial challenges, we often worry, “What do I live with?” When the bottom line doesn’t look good for our lifestyle, that situation may be the impetus required for us to look at the top line of our life: “What do I live for?” The eleventh canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam describes the…
Many people feel that meditation requires some extraordinary ability to concentrate that they don’t possess, so they don’t even try to meditate. However, the fact is that all of us have the ability required for meditation, as is evident whenever we worry. During worry, we let our thoughts take us away from our circumstances to…
Many of us define success and failure in very narrow terms: when things work according to our plans, we consider that to be success; when things don’t work according to our plans, we consider that to be failure. When our plans don’t work, we often get frustrated and dejected, and start thinking of giving up….
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