Four stages in managing desires — Desire Management series 9
To understand how desire management can progress in our inner world, let’s compare it with how people management may progress in the outer world. Both [...]
How can we develop both materially and spiritually?
We may fear, “If we become too spiritually serious, that will undermine our material prospects. Conversely, if we become too materially ambitious, that will undermine [...]
We feel stressed not so much because we are over-worked as because we are over-worried
Stress is rampant in today’s society. Why? One common explanation is over-work. But is over-work the only cause? At least three points suggest otherwise: Nowadays, [...]
Detachment from results culminates in attachment to something bigger than results
Some people ask, “The Bhagavad-gita recommends detachment from the results of work. But how can we work responsibly if we don’t care for the results?” [...]
Meditation shrinks our problems by increasing our awareness of Krishna’s greatness
Suppose in a cartoon when two characters are fighting, one character keeps becoming bigger; and the other keeps becoming smaller. For the dwarfed fighter, the [...]
The mind seduces us into doing wrong – and then scolds us for doing wrong
Suppose we have a tyrannical boss who tells us first to do something that doesn’t make sense and then castigates us for having acted senselessly. [...]
To beat problems, first beat the problematic mind down to size
When an army is fighting a war, it depends on its intelligence – its information sources – to know the strength of the enemy. But [...]
Purity is the key to freedom from misery
Suppose an alcoholic has become sick because of excessive alcohol indulgence. While the disease is a danger that needs treatment, an equal, if not greater, [...]
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 [...]
Surrender may frustrate our surface desires, but it fulfills our deepest longings
Some people ask, “Surrender to Krishna requires abandoning our desires and abiding by his will. Isn’t that frustrating?” No, it isn’t frustrating if we just [...]
When we make the sea our ground, how can we avoid being moved around?
When we stand on solid ground, the steadiness underneath us gives a sense of safety. In contrast, when we stand on a rocking boat, we [...]
Nonviolence that allows exploiters to become rulers is violence
Many people feel uncomfortable with the idea of a religious book, the Bhagavad-gita, urging war. They would probably be surprised to find their feelings echoed [...]
Peace bought at the cost of justice can be the worst violence
Some people ask, “The Bhagavad-gita is said to be a spiritual book, yet it endorses violence. Isn’t that anti-spiritual?” No, because the Gita is a [...]
The mind that is clean is serene
Our high-speed stress-filled urbanized culture makes peace of mind a wanted but elusive commodity. Many people think that going to a peaceful setting such as [...]
The fruit of meditation is taste for meditation
In worldly life, we usually do an action for some fruit other than that action – we may work not because we love the work [...]
Are our desires locking us into a world of frustration or releasing us into the world of fulfillment?
We all may have experiences of how while dreaming and desiring something, we get transported somewhere into the world of our dreams, removed from everything [...]
Imprisoned by circumstances, liberated by consciousness
Sometimes life pushes us into a tight corner from which we just can’t wiggle out. We feel imprisoned by our circumstances. Such imprisonment is an [...]
Ever flowing, never flooding is the state of the serene consciousness
How can spiritual seekers stay peaceful amidst tempting circumstances? The Bhagavad-gita (2.70) shows the way with a metaphor from nature: just as rivers flow into [...]