How to see desire as a blessing, not as a burden?
On the spiritual path, we often think of desire as a burden that needs to be shed. And yes, many of our desires do impede [...]
On the spiritual path, we often think of desire as a burden that needs to be shed. And yes, many of our desires do impede [...]
We all long for happiness. Today’s culture declares that we can become happy by gratifying our senses. The more gratification we have, the happier we [...]
When contemporary culture tempts us with addictive indulgences such as drinking, it often offers a common rationalization, “Just drink once. It’s no big deal.” However, [...]
If we are to travel from place A to place B, we need the tendency and the capacity to make the journey. Tendency refers to [...]
Yogis begin their meditation by using various objects as initial points of concentration. The Bhagavad-gita mentions that they may focus on the space between their [...]
Desires are often thought of as enemies for seekers because they entangle us in material things. The Bhagavad-gita (13.22) stresses that the desire to enjoy [...]
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 [...]
The mind often sabotages us by making us do foolish things. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.06) cautions that the mind can be our enemy. The mind [...]
When germs infect us and we start feeling sick, we take treatment for driving out the germs. However, healing requires not just the driving out [...]
Some people think that those people take to renunciation who have become frustrated with material life, especially with their inability to become successful in material [...]
We all want to be special. Materialistic culture directs our longing for specialness towards material things. It makes us believe that we will stand out [...]
Towards the end of the Bhagavad-gita (18.64), Krishna announces that he will share the most confidential knowledge (sarva guhyatama). Confidential knowledge (guhya) refers to the [...]
Some people think that everything in scripture is the teaching of scripture. But scripture gives the thoughts, words and actions of not just God and his [...]
“To avoid karmic bondage, renounce the world.” This widespread notion governs Arjuna’s reasoning at the start of the Bhagavad-gita. However, the Gita recommends an alternative [...]
Yogis, specifically dhyana-yogis, start meditation by focusing on some point, such as the tip of the nose or the space between the eyebrows. As such [...]
The distance between two people in any relationship is a function not of bodily location but of emotional disposition. Family members living under the same [...]
Emotions are the central feature, indeed the driving force, of our present existence. Many spiritual paths, especially impersonal spiritual paths, consider emotions as distractions, even [...]
Tolerance and transcendence comprise our twofold defense against temptation. Tolerance refers to the capacity to endure the presence of unwanted temptations without succumbing to them. [...]
The yoga of the heart refers to bhakti-yoga, the yoga that centers on spiritualizing our heart’s central force: love. The heart of yoga refers to [...]
“Eat this; see this; touch this – and you will enjoy.” The world glamorizes sense gratification thus. In striking contrast, the Bhagavad-gita (05.22) asserts that [...]
“Go from darkness to light, from illusion to truth, from mortality to immortality,” exhorts a celebrated aphorism from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28). The Bhagavad-gita, also [...]