Understanding the relationship between love and freedom
Love is founded in freedom: Suppose a boy proposes to a girl saying, “I love you. Will you marry me?” Suppose she declines. And he [...]
Love is founded in freedom: Suppose a boy proposes to a girl saying, “I love you. Will you marry me?” Suppose she declines. And he [...]
The Bhagavad-gita’s conclusion contains a disarming declaration: Krishna is determined to love us (18.64: ishto ‘si drdham iti). This is no empty claim — he [...]
When we make resolutions for self-mastery, we are often thwarted by our emotions and desires. Emotions are largely reactive, arising from the things we perceive [...]
The Bhagavad-gita concludes, in one sense, with Arjuna agreeing to do Krishna’s will (18.73). Yet the Gita continues for five more verses describing the realizations [...]
Suppose a person dear to us is sick and in great pain. Suppose further the only available doctor is in a noisy, filthy, smelly place [...]
The future can be better than the present and we can play a part in bringing about that future — this hope empowers us to [...]
Suppose we pray to God for help amid difficulty but the difficulty remains. Does that mean God doesn’t care? God does care. However, any care [...]
While practicing bhakti, we may sometimes become discouraged, thinking, “I can’t make any worthwhile contribution.” To avoid such discouragement, we need to get our priorities [...]
Suppose we see someone speaking Krishna’s message attractively and getting a lot of appreciation and glorification. Feeling inspired, we seek to do the same service. [...]
Devotees sometimes think, “If I can’t do a particular service successfully, that’s because I am insincere; if I had been sufficiently sincere and pure, I [...]
We are in concluding section of 4th ch, Shri Krishna has talked about various forms of Yajna by which once can acquire knowledge and knowledge [...]
A functional car needs to have both an accelerator and a brake. While driving, when we are on the right track, we can press the [...]
In today’s educated circles, doubt is celebrated as an intellectual strength. Whenever thoughtful people encounter any claim, especially any claim connected with religion or spirituality, [...]
We often equate pride with respect-demanding and self-congratulatory hubris. But it can appear much more subtly when it corrupts our two tools for seeking knowledge: [...]
# BG 5.25 Last portion of the 5th Chapter! In the last section Sri Krishna told how a yogi can attain liberation by [...]
When we try to do something worthwhile, if external situations hamper us, we may lament our lack of freedom. Or if internal conditionings hamper us, [...]
Suppose someone is starving. We may help them by giving some money. If they are starving because a recession has left them jobless, they will [...]
The Bhagavad-gita repeatedly talks about knowing Krishna — those who know him attain his abode (04.09). What does such knowing mean? To understand, let’s compare [...]
Suppose a country’s intelligence agency needs to do a vital mission for which they need a particular spy. Suppose further they suspect that spy to [...]
Pleasure and misery are opposites — how, then, can there be any pleasure in being miserable? Because the mind is a peculiar thing; it can [...]
Some people argue, “Past people who believed ancient texts were irrational — that’s why they accepted various fantastic elements found in those texts.” Consider the [...]