08.09 – Remembrance of Krishna’s immanence brings resilience on our march to transcendence
We naturally think of those close to us. People can be close physically or emotionally. Because our senses perceive the physical reality around us, our thoughts easily go to those in our physical proximity. And we think of those emotionally close to us spontaneously, even if they aren’t close physically. Rarely do we realize that…
08.14 – Seek not moments of devotion; seek momentum in devotion
In an elevator, what gets us to the destination quickly is the motion of the elevator, not our emotion during the elevation. Bhakti-yoga is like an elevator that takes us to the topmost summit of spirituality. It can grant us smoothly and swiftly, as the Bhagavad-gita (08.14: sulabhah) indicates, realization of Krishna, the highest manifestation…
08.15 – The world is a hospital; be hospitable to the doctor
Patients admitted in a hospital know that the doctor’s counsel is essential for their recovery. If some patients were inhospitable to the doctor, we would be appalled by their irrationality: is this a mental hospital? Yet, might we ourselves be acting like those patients? Gita wisdom indicates that the disease of misdirected desires afflicts us….
08.08 – To end our forgetfulness, let’s first commit to end our forgetfulness of our forgetfulness
We may sometimes become discouraged in our spiritual life: “I keep forgetting Krishna repeatedly even after practicing devotional service for so long. Is my practice of any use?” Yes, it definitely is. Because it ends our forgetfulness of our forgetfulness. And that’s the only way to progress towards ending our forgetfulness. When we drive a…
08.15 – We can’t change the nature of nature, but we can change the nature of desire
“And they lived happily ever after.” This is the common end of most novels and movies. That is the dream of all of us, isn’t it? Puzzlingly, the Bhagavad-gita seems to puncture our dreams. It declares (08.15: duhkhalayam ashasvatam) the world has two essential characteristics that are the polar opposites of the “happily ever after”…
08.08 – Leave no space to space out
Doing anything worthwhile requires attentiveness. A sportsperson has to be on high alert to perform in the sporting arena. This need for attentiveness applies all the more so in spiritual life, wherein we strive to do the supremely worthwhile thing – attain eternal love for Krishna and thereby do the highest good for ourselves as…
08.07 – Feed the heart a healthy diet, not a deadly diet
Just as we grow externally by the food we eat, we grow internally by the dreams that we cherish. The current culture fills us with dreams that are either trivial or sensational. Trivial like our favorite sports team winning a world championship – what difference is that going to make to the quality of our…
08.16 – Life takes off when we understand how soon life takes us off
Suppose we have a hired car for a day with us and need to go a long way to reach our destination. The more time we spend in tarrying and sightseeing, the less are the chances that we will get to our goal before our time runs out. Isn’t life like that too? We are…