Love not just ideal people, but also real people

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...

Neither ritual, nor doctrine, but love affair

The Bhagavad-gita (18.66) concludes with the radical call to abandon all dharmas and just surrender to Krishna alone. What is the rationale for this radical call? To grasp the rationale, let’s first understand what the word dharmas may refer to in this context....

Utilize impoverishment as an opportunity for enrichment

When faced with financial challenges, we often worry, “What do I live with?” This worry is, no doubt, valid and important. At the same time, such situations are also invaluable impetuses for asking a more fundamental question: “What do I live...

Ever Flowing, Never Flooding – The Dynamics of Inner Peace

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 an ocean without flooding it or causing it to overflow, desires flow into serious spiritualists without...

How History is His-story

History, if seen from a purely materialistic perspective, seems to be nothing more than a list of names of dead successful people. Decade after decade, century after century, millennia after millennia, people come, people live, people die. What is the point of it all?...

Faultfinding – a temptation or an obligation?

The Bhagavad-gita (16.02) mentions that the godly are averse to faultfinding. Why averse? Gita wisdom explains the rationale. All of us have a godly side and a godless side. The godly side begets virtues and the godless side, faults. When we delight in finding...