Gita Daily

How to make judgments without being judgmental Making judgments is a functional necessity in life. We need to make judgments about the kind of people we want to befriend, the habits or interests we want to pursue, and the places where we want to invest our money. If we don’t make judgments, we may end up acting unwisely and hurting ourselves or, worse still, trusting untrustworthy individuals who may manipulate and cheat us. While making judgments is essential and desirable, what is non-essential and undesirable is being judgmental. The key difference between making judgments and being judgmental lies in the focus of evaluation. When we focus on what is constructive or non-constructive for us and choose our friends or social circle accordingly, we are acting from a position of healthy humility. We understand that we are influenced by our external factors and we aim to choose those externals that are conducive to our growth. Acknowledging our vulnerability to our externals is a sign of humility, and seeking environments that foster our growth is a sign of a healthy intent. Unlike the healthy humility associated with making judgments, being judgmental is associated with unhealthy and unappealing arrogance and condescension. When we are judgmental, our attention shifts from how others affect us to how others are in themselves. For instance, during a pandemic, suppose we see a person coughing and decide to keep a distance from them — we are not condemning that person; we are just protecting ourselves from infection. This is an example of healthy judgment. However, when we place ourselves in a superior position, as might a judge, and affix a permanent label on the other person, we become judgmental. While judgments act as a shield around us, protecting ourselves, being judgmental is akin to putting people in a cage. Ironically, the cage we place on them becomes a cage that limits our picture of them. What if our assessment of them was wrong? Even if it was right, what if they change for the better? Being judgmental prevents us from being open to these possibilities; it locks us in our past mental picture of them.  Making judgments is a sign of the mode of goodness, which brings clarity, while being judgmental is a sign of the mode of ignorance, where our knowledge about others only increases our ignorance. As the Bhagavad Gita (18.22) explains, we end up acquiring knowledge in the mode of ignorance. Summary: Making judgments acts as a shield that protects us from unhealthy choices; being judgmental becomes like a cage that unhealthily locks us in our past mental picture of others.  Think it over: Why is it necessary to make judgments?  What is wrong with being judgmental? Explain with an analogy the difference between making judgements and being judgmental? Audio explanation of this article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/how-to-make-judgments-without-being 18.22: And that knowledge by which one is attached to one kind of work as the all in all, without knowledge of the truth, and which is very meager, is said to be in the mode of darkness. From: https://gitadaily.com/how-to-make-judgments-without-being-judgmental/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Why self-discipline is essential nowadays … Our society offers us many avenues for self-destruction. Multiple technological developments have made the exercise of individual freedom much easier. Unfortunately, they have also made individual misuse of freedom much easier. Additionally, as cultural norms have changed and moral standards have loosened. Consequently, people are often technologically and culturally enabled to pursue paths that can well be self-destructive. For example, consider the increasing cultural and legal acceptance of narcotic drugs — and the increasing use of technology to manufacture, transport, store, market and promote such drugs. Consequently, people face far more pervasive and aggressive temptation nowadays than they did in the past. Or consider another example: the entertainment industry. While people have always sought entertainment throughout human history, the sheer volume and variety of entertainment available through omnipresent avenues such as mobile phones means that people today are constantly confronting temptations and succumbing to distractions. For many people, entertainment is no longer just a refreshing break from real life; real life is an annoying break from entertainment.  Undoubtedly, some efforts are being made culturally, legally and technologically to offset the worst effects of such exposure to temptation. Still, these initiatives to protect people pale in comparison to the initiatives to captivate them. Given this grave reality, the responsibility falls heavily on the individual to make wise choices. And if they lack the self-discipline to choose wisely, they will almost inevitably default toward unwise choices. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (02.59) cautions that without a higher purpose, vision and discipline, we will relapse into short-sighted and self-sabotaging indulgences. That’s why we absolutely need self-discipline to keep our vision fixed on the things that matter and away from the things that glitter.  Summary: Because society provides increasing pathways to self-destruction, self-discipline is a vital need for self-preservation.  Think it over:  How has society opened many paths to self-destruction?  Why is self-discipline not a casual choice but a vital necessity? Which are the paths to self-destruction you are vulnerable to? How can you use self-discipline to protect yourself?  Audio explanation of article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/why-self-discipline-is-essential   02.59: Though the embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness. From: https://gitadaily.com/why-self-discipline-is-essential-nowadays/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Feeling mad — when it’s ok and when it isn’t Feeling mad in terms of feeling angry is a natural human emotion that arises when we see things around us going wrong or being done wrong. Such a natural emotion may even be an essential and desirable emotion on some occasions, as when we see a small being bullied by a brute. If seeing that doesn’t make us mad, then something essential is missing within us: we may have lost our humanity. Having said that, we need a holistic vision of things: we should be able to see not just what is wrong in life but also what is right. If our focus constantly gravitates towards what is wrong, we end up being wrong ourselves because we will soon find ourselves overwhelmed by negative, even toxic, emotions such as resentment and anger. Such emotions will keep sabotaging any positive intentions we have, thereby undermining our efforts toward any constructive solutions. Worse still, habitual anger leads to either moroseness and bitterness or intermittent episodes of deadly rage, making an already dangerous world even more perilous and subjecting our fragile bodies to greater vulnerability due to the emotional and physical toll of anger. For stable emotional health, we need to be able to recognize and appreciate the good in life. If there had been nothing good in our life, we wouldn’t even be alive. Considering the fragility of our bodies and the dangerousness of the world, the very fact that we are alive is a miracle. In fact, there is much that is good and right in our life and in our world — and it is that way without any efforts on our part.  By appreciating this encouraging reality, we can develop a foundation of gratitude, and positivity. Being sheltered and strengthened by that foundation, we can work to fix the things that are not right. Urging us toward building such a foundation, the Bhagavad-gita (17.16) recommends focusing on the positive and cultivating contentment as a discipline of the mind. Summary: Feeling mad occasionally on seeing what is wrong is not a big problem — feeling mad constantly due to not seeing what is right is a big problem.  Think it over: How can occasional anger be a natural and even desirable emotion?  What’s wrong with constant anger?  How can we counter the tendency to fixate on what is wrong in the world? Audio explanation of the article is: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/feeling-mad-when-its-ok-and-when 17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind. From: https://gitadaily.com/feeling-mad-when-its-ok-and-when-it-isnt/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Might mindfulness be more than just awareness? Mindfulness is often thought of as living in the present: being aware of the various stimuli around us and experiencing life fully. And being present in the present is definitely better than being lost in the past or the future, lamenting what might have been or dreading what might be. Still might there be more to mindfulness than simple awareness of the present?  Consider a situation where the present presents us with way too many stimuli, most of which are distracting, disorienting or even degrading — say, we are in a garish marketplace with sensually titillating objects. To process what we are experiencing in the present, we will need a filter that prioritizes the most relevant stimuli. Put another way, to be mindful, we need to be aware of the present not passively, but purposefully.  How can we be purposefully aware of the present? It implies that we can’t come into the present merely as a blank slate wherein anything and everything around us starts crowding into our mind. Instead, we come into the present with a tangible purpose centered on the things that are meaningful for us. To make our mind full of the things that are meaningful, we need to take time out to evaluate and concentrate on those things. For such a focus, we sometimes need to retreat from our external surroundings, including our present external environment and its associated stimuli. Being rejuvenated and animated by this focus, we can be purposefully mindful in the present, responding to it in ways that help us rise upward through whatever situations life sends our way. Prompting us toward such purposeful engagement, the Bhagavad-gita exhorts (06.05) us to elevate ourselves with ourselves; don’t degrade ourselves with ourselves.  Summary:  Mindfulness is not just passive awareness; it is purposeful awareness — to be mindful, make your mind full of the things that bring meaning into our life. Think it over: If we equate being mindful with being in the present, what’s positive about it and what isn’t?  How can we best approach the present?  To be mindful, why do we need to sometimes retreat from the present? Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/might-mindfulness-be-more-than-just 06.05: One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. From: https://gitadaily.com/might-mindfulness-be-more-than-just-awareness/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Forcing ourselves to be grateful? Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is primarily an internal endeavor, wherein we try to change the default direction of our thoughts. Still, such cultivation can be, and often needs to be, assisted by an appropriate external rearrangement. While externals themselves don’t change the internals, they can definitely aid in changing the internals.  A person trying to recover from alcoholism would be aided by ensuring that no alcohol bottles are in their visible vicinity, at home or in the workplace. What applies for distancing ourselves from negative thought patterns, also applies for bringing us closer to healthier thought patterns.  Change in externals can refer primarily to change in our external physical environment and secondary, to change in our schedules, which determine to some extent what external environments we find ourselves in during the course of our day. For example, an external change that could make cultivating gratitude easier would be to create in our home a small corner of beauty and joy. It could be a beautifully decorated altar or a tastefully arranged closet or a comforting corner for meditation or a small garden, where greenery and beauty reside and preside. Having our own special space like this and pre-adjusting our schedule, so that we can have time for a few minutes in this particular place, will immediately and vividly remind us that we do indeed have something nice to be grateful for. Thus, we can more easily cultivate the Bhagavad-gita guideline to practice the mental discipline of cultivating contentment.  Though our external situations may limit how much external change we can bring about, nonetheless, just a small external change can make cultivating gratitude easier.  Why not help ourselves in doing the desirable?   Summary: To aid the inner change toward a grateful consciousness, make an external change by creating a corner of beauty in our outer world for which we can easily feel grateful. Think it over: How can externals aid in your internals?  What external situation makes gratitude easier for you to experience?   How can you change your space and schedule to include that external situation in your daily life?  17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind. From: https://gitadaily.com/forcing-ourselves-to-be-grateful/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

What does taking shelter of Krishna mean? We are often conscious of many things in life, and consciousness can be said to be the energy that enables us to become aware of things and even to become absorbed in things. When we grow in wisdom, we start trying to direct our consciousness toward things that truly matter, things that last, things that change us for the better in an enduring way.  As we evolve in spiritual understanding with guidance from wisdom texts like the Bhagavad-gita, we understand that Krishna is the ultimate reality, and taking shelter of him is the best way to protect our consciousness from life’s upheavals (Bhagavad-gita 06.22).  When we thus strive to become Krishna conscious, our journey begins with bringing Krishna into our consciousness, which means we make him a component of our consciousness. As we learn more about him and learn to love him more, Krishna starts becoming the primary content of our consciousness. And as we grow further in our wisdom and devotion, we increasingly appreciate that Krishna is not just the supreme reality that can enter our consciousness but also the supreme reality (07.19) that our consciousness can enter into whereby we become absorbed in him. Pertinently, the Gita declares that absorption of our mind and intelligence in Krishna enables us to live in him (12.08). Though we never lose our self-existence because we are eternal individual beings, we do lose our self-consciousness as our consciousness becomes absorbed in Krishna and thus we attain his shelter. Just as a person who is sheltered amidst a storm enters into a sheltering structure that covers them fully, similarly our consciousness becomes immersed in him and we become joyfully lost in him.  Thus, the journey toward Krishna consciousness begins with making him a component of our consciousness, thereafter making him the primary content of our consciousness and finally making him the container of our consciousness. Summary: Taking shelter of Krishna means that Krishna becomes not just in the content of our consciousness but also the container of our consciousness.  Think it over: What are the three stages in the journey toward Krishna consciousness? What does taking shelter of Krishna mean? Explain with an analogy. What activities enable you to take shelter of Krishna? 12.08. Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt. From: https://gitadaily.com/what-does-taking-shelter-of-krishna-mean/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

A mindful autopilot mode? We often go into an autopilot mode when the things we do during our daily routines don’t require much of our conscious attention — things such as doing dishes or laundry.  If we wish to cultivate mindfulness, does that mean we can never go into the autopilot mode? Does being mindful mean that we have to pay full attention to every single thing we do at every single moment?  Not necessarily; being mindful just means that we are aware of the times when we need not be aware and then we consciously choose to not be aware. For example, while doing laundry, we can consciously decide to let our hands go into auto mode so that we can focus our consciousness elsewhere: maybe on mentally reviewing recent events, listening to a podcast, or making some pending phone calls.  A caveat is needed, however. While the autopilot mode can free our attention from monotonous tasks, it can also become our default mode of functioning toward which we gravitate even while doing things that need attention and discretion. For example, after a hard day’s work, our autopilot mode may prompt us to pick up the television remote, instead of choosing a more uplifting form of relaxation: say, doing deep breathing exercises or meditating. To prevent such unhelpful choices we need to be mindful about our autopilot mode, consciously deciding when to turn it on and when to turn it off. Given how busy our schedules are,  it may be impossible for us to do the many things we would like to do if we have to give each one of them exclusive attention. Even when we divide our attention over two things, with one thing being done on autopilot, we can still do that attention division mindfully. By thus taking responsibility for our mind, we can ensure that our actions make us better, not worse (Bhagavad-gita 06.05) Summary:  Being mindful doesn’t mean that we can never go into autopilot mode; it just means that we consciously turn that mode on when it is helpful and consciously turn it off when it becomes unhelpful or harmful.  Think it over:  When is the auto mode of the mind helpful? How might that auto mode become unhelpful or even harmful? How can mindfulness and the auto mode of functioning go together? Audio explanation of article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/a-mindful-autopilot-mode 06.05: One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. From: https://gitadaily.com/a-mindful-autopilot-mode/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Three steps to mindfulness We may want to become mindful, but may not know clearly how to do so. Here are three tangible steps that we all can adopt according to our capacity:  Become aware of our actions: One way to achieve such awareness is to cultivate the habit of becoming observers of ourselves. To that end, especially empowering is the Gita insight that we are spiritual beings distinct from our physical bodies. In fact, the Bhagavad-gita urges us to look at ourselves from the perspective of a non-attached observer (14.23). Become aware of our intentions: When we become aware that our actions are not aligned with our intentions, this awareness prompts introspection. We examine our intentions to assess how sound and strong they actually are. Thus, we learn to distinguish between the nominal intentions we merely mouth and the serious intentions we truly treasure. Constructively bridge the gap between our actions and intentions: We can bridge this gap in two ways: first, by aligning our externals with our internals; second, by aligning our internals with our externals. Let’s consider the first scenario. On those occasions when we recognize that our actions are neither beneficial nor even enjoyable, we may decide to let go of them. For example, while watching TV, we may mindlessly consume fast food without even tasting or enjoying it, let alone considering the calories we consume or the impact of such consumption on our weight and health. If we just pause briefly, we will become more self-aware, which can prompt us to stop eating or at least turn toward healthier food.  Let’s consider the second scenario, wherein we align our internals with our externals. Suppose we intended to rush from one part of the city to another. But along the way, we noticed a peaceful and colorful park that we were largely overlooking due to our haste. On contemplating briefly, we may recognize that our next engagement is not so important or urgent as to forbid us from investing a few moments to savor the park’s serenity and beauty.  Urging us to become mindful, the Gita (06.05) recommends choosing a prudent course of action that helps us avoid self-degradation and attain positive self-transformation.  Summary:  Mindfulness helps us become aware of what we are actually doing, contemplate what we actually want to be doing, and constructively bridge the gap between the two.  Think it over: How can we become more aware of our actions? How can we become more aware of our intentions? How can we bridge the gap between the two? Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/three-steps-to-mindfulness 06.05: One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. From: https://gitadaily.com/three-steps-to-mindfulness/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

See discipline as a fight for freedom If someone were to externally impose restraints on us, preventing us from doing something that is important to us, we would vigorously fight to regain our freedom. Even if we failed repeatedly, we would still keep trying; we wouldn’t see our efforts as a pointless drain of our energy, far from it we would become even more determined to fight for our freedom.  We need a similar positive, purposeful vision of our battle for self-transformation. Unfortunately, we are often hamstrung by an opposite, negative vision. For example, when we strive to break any unhealthy habits such as oversleeping, overeating, or excessive social media consumption, or even substance abuse, we tend to see it as a demanding and exhausting struggle where we have to give up something we enjoy. Worse still, we may even see it as a pointless struggle because our past efforts to give up that habit may have been repeatedly unsuccessful.  How can we reframe our endeavor for self-transformation so that it doesn’t seem so negative and energy-sapping? By envisioning our unhealthy habits as aggressors that have intruded into our consciousness and have severely curtailed our freedom to do the things that are important for us. Specifically, we can see our relapses as forceful impositions by a formidable intruder who has gained control over us. When we thus see the unhealthy habit as something separate from us, we can feel more convinced about re-envisioning our fight against it as a struggle for our freedom.  How can we see our unhealthy habits as separate from us when those impressions are inside us? By drawing from the Bhagavad-gita’s foundational insight that our core essence is spiritual — we are souls — and that the impressions associated with our unhealthy habits are external to our spiritual essence. Taking this vision further, the Bhagavad-gita (03.37) describes self-defeating craving as a vicious and voracious predator.  Our longing for freedom is one of our deepest longings. And this longing can generate one of the strongest emotional energies within us. When we tap into that energy, we will feel empowered to progress toward self-transformation much more steadily, strongly, swiftly.  Summary: See discipline not as a struggle to renounce the things we like, but as an adventure to reclaim our freedom.  Think it over:  Why do we often see the discipline for changing our unhealthy habits negatively? How can we reframe the endeavor for self-transformation more positively? How does Gita wisdom help us in such reframing? Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/see-discipline-as-a-fight-for-freedom 03.37: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world. From: https://gitadaily.com/see-discipline-as-a-fight-for-freedom/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Beyond stereotypes of a wrathful God Some religious groups portray God as a mighty and scary entity who sits above the clouds and casts thunderbolts to punish sinners. According to them, anyone who dares to step against God’s will or to even entertain thoughts contrary to his commandments will be condemned to burn in the fires of hell forever. Such a depiction is completely contradictory to the true nature of God, who is the embodiment of love, virtue, and mercy. Gita wisdom assures us that God is not angry with us. How could a God be considered loving if he deemed us all permanently tainted for some supposed sin done by some distant ancestor — as if wrongdoing were a genetic defect that is inescapably passed down to every successive generation for all of eternity? In categorical contrast with such a vision of a wrathful divinity, Gita wisdom reveals that God is eminently personal and personable. He is a divinity who is deeply passionate about us. He is madly in love with us and constantly seeks our well-being and upliftment. He repeatedly descends into this mortal and fallible world to restore order, offering us a clear and secure path toward him. He resides in our hearts as a loving super soul, constantly watching, waiting, and working for us. When we make even the slightest gesture of turning toward him, he immediately reciprocates and provides us with countless opportunities to connect with him. In spite of our turning away from him repeatedly   over multiple lifetimes, he never abandons us. He never loses hope in us; in fact, the Bhagavad-gita (18.64) states that he is determined to love us.  Indeed, God’s unflinching love is the basis of our hope for our elevation, liberation and reunion with him in his abode.  Summary: God is not mad at you; he is mad for you. Think it over:  Why do some people think that God is mad at them?  How does Gita wisdom provide a different vision of God?  How does understanding the Gita’s vision of a loving divinity change your attitude towards your relationship with God? Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/beyond-stereotypes-of-a-wrathful 18.64: Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you My supreme instruction, the most confidential knowledge of all. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit. From: https://gitadaily.com/beyond-stereotypes-of-a-wrathful-god/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Grateful for our weaknesses? When we strive to cultivate gratitude, one of the most disheartening pitfalls on our path may be our struggles with our weaknesses, especially if those weaknesses seem to triumph repeatedly. If we have issues around anger, craving, or addiction, and those behaviors keep recurring despite our earnest efforts to restrain ourselves, then we may start feeling resentful about why we are stuck with such crippling weaknesses. During such frustrations, gratitude often becomes the furthest thing from our mind. Thankfully however, we can cultivate gratitude even amid these situations. How? By shifting our focus from what these weaknesses have taken away from us, which generally centers on our capacity to function responsibly, to what these weaknesses have provided us: powerful reminders of how we need a strength beyond ourselves. Ultimately, those reminders can point us toward the attractive, purifying, and benevolent divinity, Krishna, who resides forever in our hearts. He can be not just our greatest rescuer from our worst weaknesses, but also the most fulfilling reciprocator of our deepest longing for love.  Thus, if we develop our relationship with the divinity within us, even if we were stimulated by our failed confrontations with our weaknesses, then that journey is still auspicious and will propel us toward a bright future filled with not just freedom but also fulfillment. This is a future we might have missed out on if we had not been hamstrung by our weaknesses. And this is a future that many others, who may not be hamstrung by weaknesses like us, still miss out on because of their illusory notion that they have no need to connect with the divine. When we thus see the blessings hidden within the seeming curse of our weaknesses, we can shift our focus to that blessing and thereby cultivate gratitude for the door toward spiritual growth that our weaknesses pushed us to perceive and pursue.  Summary: We can’t be grateful for our weaknesses, yet we can be grateful for how our weaknesses forcefully remind us of our need for a strength beyond ourselves. Think it over: When we are battling with our weaknesses, why is it difficult to cultivate gratitude?  Amid such battles, what shift of focus can help us cultivate gratitude?  Contemplate how any of your weaknesses has pointed you toward the divine source of all strength. Audio explanation of article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/grateful-for-our-weaknesses 17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind. From: https://gitadaily.com/grateful-for-our-weaknesses/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Gratitude for the past If we want to cultivate gratitude, we need to review not just the way we look at our present, but also the way we look at our past. Our past is mixed in the sense that both good and bad things have happened to us — we sometimes got more than what we deserved and sometimes got less than what we deserved. Undoubtedly, what we think we deserve is subjective, yet we generally have some expectations about what comprises just rewards for our efforts.  Whenever we look back, certain memories pop up, almost as if on their own. If the memories that pop up prominently are about times when we feel we got a raw deal, then it is understandable, natural, and even somewhat inevitable that we start feeling negativity, frustration, and resentment. And if that becomes the default direction of our thoughts, gratitude will become nearly impossible.  Thankfully, though our past is unchangeable, how we view our past is changeable. More precisely, what is changeable is what we choose to focus on in our past. If we consciously and conscientiously direct our attention toward those incidents when we got more than what we deserved, then we will be able to cultivate gratitude. If we seek further guidance from Gita wisdom, we can infer that the universe and its guiding divinity have not given us such a raw deal, and, in fact, that they have given us a fairly good deal.  When we thus carefully curate the memories that we dwell on, we will appreciate how a benevolent divinity has been shaping our life in the past. And we will develop the confidence that the same divinity is shaping our life in the present and will continue to do so in the future. With such a vision, gratitude will become much easier to experience. That in turn will transform the process of cultivating contentment as a mental discipline (Bhagavad-gita 17.16) into an activity that requires less discipline and rewards more joy. Summary: If we remember the times when we got less than what we deserved, we will be resentful. If we remember the times when we got more than what we deserved, we can be grateful. Think it over:  How is our past mixed? How may our vision for the past make us resentful?  How can our vision of our past foster gratitude? Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/gratitude-for-the-past 17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind. From: https://gitadaily.com/gratitude-for-the-past/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Revising what we feel grateful for When we decide to prioritize the cultivation of gratitude after understanding its importance, we may still run into a significant roadblock. That roadblock may center on not our conception of gratitude, which we may have appropriately elevated from an emotion that we sometimes have to a disposition that we conscientiously cultivate. Rather, it may center on our conception of what to be grateful for, which may also need to be reviewed and revised. Most of us function for most of the time in overall conformity with the broader culture’s purposes and priorities. And those rest on the presumption that the world and its pleasures are the primary purpose of life, even its defining purpose. As long as we have that material conception of happiness, we will find it difficult to cultivate gratitude steadily because the objects for which we seek to be grateful are unsteady. External material things are temporary at best and leave us in distress when our connection with them is terminated by the inevitable disruptive power of time. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (10.09) states that the wise delight in the all-attractive divinity, Krishna, and in his inexhaustible glories. Because the Lord is unlimitedly attractive and because his glories are ever available for us to realize and relish, he is a source of joy that once attained will be inalienable for us. The more we learn to delight in him and his glories by practicing bhakti-yoga, which is the time-honored process for connecting our consciousness with the Lord and redirecting our desires for pleasure from the world to him, then to that extent we can be steadily joyful and steadily grateful for having access to such a spiritual conception of happiness and the personal experience of that happiness, thereby applying the Gita’s guideline to cultivate contentment (17.16). Summary: To cultivate gratitude stably, seek to delight in God and His glories, not in the world and its pleasures.  Think it over:  If we want to cultivate gratitude steadily, what are the two things we need to elevate?  How does a material conception of happiness undermine our cultivation of steady gratitude?  How is that cultivation aided by a spiritual conception of happiness? Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/revising-what-we-feel-grateful-for 17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind. From: https://gitadaily.com/revising-what-we-feel-grateful-for/

The price for becoming wise When we have some questions, we may hesitate to ask them thinking that others may consider us foolish for having those questions. Such a fear may become especially pronounced if we are ourselves in a position of authority and are expected to have answers. Nonetheless if we do not have answers and we don’t ask questions then the only result is that we stay ignorant. And especially if we need the answers to make a key decision then our giving into the fear of appearing foolish may actually lead to our doing something foolish where we make a decision that is not just unwise or unproductive but even downright counterproductive and even catastrophic. To avoid such an eventuality and protect ourselves from a self-inflicted tragedy, we need to be willing to appear foolish so as to avoid acting foolishly.  At the start of the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna demonstrates the readiness to pay such a price when he turns to Krishna with a sense of urgency and fervency with the desire to know about dharma, the right thing to do (Bhagavad-gita 2.07). If Arjuna had not asked that question, not only would he have continued in a state of paralyzing indecision but also we would all have been deprived of the wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita which was spoken by Krishna in response to Arjuna’s earnest enquiry.  How did Arjuna risk appearing foolish? Three ways: Firstly, he was born in a dynasty of warriors who were all expected to fight when required. Secondly, he was not just one among the many warriors on that battlefield; he was the foremost archer and the entire army depended on his expertise for not just succeeding but even surviving given the highly unfavorable odds that they faced on the battlefield with their enemies having a far greater numerical strength.  And thirdly, Arjuna was in the middle of the battlefield which was the place of maximum visibility for   soldiers on both sides, thereby making his admission of his inability to decide especially embarrassing and even massively mortifying. Yet Arjuna paid the price of appearing foolish and became wise – and we all can follow in his footsteps. Summary: The courage to appear foolish is the price for becoming wise. Think it over: Why do we have to pay the price of appearing foolish and when does the price seem especially steep? How was the price extremely high for Arjuna? Is there any area in your life where you are hesitating to pay this price? How can you overcome that hesitation?  13.08: Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; … [ – all these I declare to be knowledge]  From: https://gitadaily.com/the-price-for-becoming-wise/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Greedy to be grateful We all have certain impurities within us that sabotage our attempts to live more holistically and wholesomely. One such inner impurity is greed, which fixates our consciousness on all the things that we don’t have. It induces within us a strong, seemingly irresistible craving to possess those things, no matter what the cost may be, even if that cost involves crossing serious ethical or legal boundaries. That’s why thoughtful people try to stay away from greed. And the Bhagavad-gita cautions that greed is one of the gates to hell. The more we give in to greed, the more we make our life hellish. While generally greed is considered to be unhealthy and sometimes even toxic, the underlying longing for more is itself not a bad thing. Every day when we wake up in the morning, if we look for something fresh to appreciate in our life, if we look for some fresh insight into the things that we already have, if we look for a fresh perspective by which to enhance our appreciation for the things that we have, then that very longing for more which is typified as greed can become not just our friend but also specifically our friend in our search for cultivating gratitude. When we look for ways in which we try to be grateful, as the Bhagavad-gita recommends (17.16), then we will find that the universe is filled with so many things of beauty and mystery. When we are feeling discontent or worried about something while walking back home at night after a long day’s work, we could look at the beauty of the night sky. By raising our eyes beyond our immediate preoccupations, we can find something of beauty to be grateful for even amid the turbulence going on in our life. And as our appreciation for that beautiful sky increases, we will find that the greed for gratitude will both open the doors externally for us to take our consciousness on pathways to see many many things that we can be grateful for. And it will open the door of our hearts internally to a treasury where gratitude can become not just an occasional emotion but a regular disposition, thereby steadily and strongly enriching our life. Summary: Greed is the enemy of gratitude, except when we are greedy to be grateful. Think it over: Why is greed unhealthy? How can greed become the friend of gratitude? How can you use greed constructively in your cultivation of gratitude? Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/greedy-to-be-grateful 17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind. From: https://gitadaily.com/greedy-to-be-grateful/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Grab opportunities to express gratitude Most of us understand the importance of expressing thanks to those who have helped us. And in the long journey of life, there are many people who have helped us, some more regularly than others. If a stranger does some favor for us, most of us will out of courtesy or habit immediately express thanks to them.  But suppose we are helped by an acquaintance, especially a close friend or a loved one. Further suppose that we are so frequently helped by them that we not only start counting on them, but start taking them for granted.  In such situations, we may consciously or often unconsciously postpone expressing our heartfelt thanks to them for the many ways in which they have helped us. Such postponement may not always be due to carelessness or busy-ness; it may even be well-intentioned — maybe we are waiting for some special occasion, such as their birthday or Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Undoubtedly, it is great to express heartfelt and profuse gratitude on special and memorable occasions. But given that life is uncertain, we can’t know for sure that we will get that opportunity on that future occasion, however close or distant it might be. Maybe the only opportunity we will be left with is on their memorial day. — or maybe we will be left with no opportunity, for we may ourselves have departed from the world.  That’s why it’s prudent and even urgent that we grab every opportunity that we have or can get to express thanks, especially where we know in our hearts that thanks is more than merited for all that the other person has done. When we become opportunistic in the healthiest sense of the word, we will not only enrich the hearts of those who have helped us by our warm expressions of gratitude, but will also sweeten and deepen our relationship with them, thereby making our shared journey through life better for both of us. Pertinently, the Bhagavad Gita recommends that we practice  not just the mental discipline of cultivating contentment by noticing the good things in our life, including the good things that have been done for us by others (17.16), but also express the corresponding verbal discipline by expressing gratitude through words that are truthful and pleasing (17.15). Summary: Never miss any opportunity to express gratitude because we never know when it may turn out to be our last opportunity. Think it over: Why might we delay expressing thanks to others? If we keep delaying such expressions of thanks, what might happen? If we grab the opportunities to express thanks, what can happen? Audio explanation of article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/ 17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind. From: https://gitadaily.com/grab-opportunities-to-express-gratitude/

How to be grateful when things don’t go our way? When things go our way, it’s relatively easy to feel grateful. But when things don’t go our way, not only is it difficult to feel grateful, but also it is easy to feel resentful. How can we avoid such feelings? By reminding ourselves that just because things are not going our way, that does not necessarily mean that things are going chaotically or destructively. The Bhagavad-gita (11.33) indicates that there is a higher purpose for which things move and that we always have an opportunity to play our part in that higher purpose. Even when things are not going our way, the all-benevolent divinity, Krishna, is still working to take things to a better place and, more importantly, to take us to a better place. We may not immediately understand how the things that seem to be going so wrong will eventually lead to something good. But we can surely understand that being resentful will never lead us to anywhere good; it will only blind us to any doors that might open for us to progress toward a better place.  That’s why when things don’t go our way, rather than fixating on the way things are presently going, we can use our intelligence and energy for striving to be a harmonious participant in the divine plan for universal welfare. If we prayerfully and purposefully seek insight about how we can make things better in whatever situation has befallen us, we may see a few simple and doable things that might make things better. If we keep taking those steps steadily, we will find ourselves moving towards firmer ground. Eventually we will see through the chaos a pattern emerging. And gratitude will enter and enrich our heart.  Pertinently, the Bhagavad Gita (17.16) urges us to cultivate contentment as a mental discipline, thereby avoiding resentfulness and progressing toward gratefulness.   Think it over: When things don’t go our way, what’s wrong with our default reaction? What Bhagavad Gita insight can help us to avoid resentment when our plans seem to be falling apart? How can we move from being resentful to being grateful? Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/how-to-be-grateful-when-things-dont 17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind.   From: https://gitadaily.com/how-to-be-grateful-when-things-dont-go-our-way/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Gratitude demanded is gratitude diminished Many virtues, like gratitude, are difficult to cultivate and easy to lose. One counterintuitive way we may lose gratitude is by our overzealousness in insisting others to cultivate gratitude — especially if we expect them to be grateful to us.  For example, if we are parents, we may naturally expect them to be grateful for all that was done for them during their upbringing. And while having such expectations, our intentions might be good: we may not want them to pander to our ego; we may want them to learn the virtue of gratitude from us — and the good things that we have done for them might just be the means to instill gratitude in them. Nonetheless, whatever be our motive, if we find that they aren’t grateful, we may feel resentful. And that resentment may blind us toward various good things in our life, including the good things that we passed on to our loved ones.  How can we feel grateful even when we don’t get any reciprocal gratitude? Gita wisdom provides us two empowering insights. One, the good things in our life are not ours to claim credit for — they come by divine grace (07.08). Even if we worked hard to arrange them, those things wouldn’t have been ours to pass on if divine grace hadn’t manifested in our lives. It was God who gifted those things to us and enabled us to pass those gifts on to our loved ones. Two, the opportunity to pass those gifts to others is itself a gift (18.68-69).  Further, the Gita encourages us to work in a mood of selfless service without being attached to fruits — fruits that include expecting others to be grateful to us for what we have done for them. By drawing on such insights, we can hold on to gratitude by cultivating it as an austerity of the mind, independent of others’ reciprocation or non-reciprocation (17.16). Summary:  Gratitude demanded is gratitude diminished — the more we insist that others be grateful to us for the things we give them, the more we undercut our own capacity to appreciate that those things were gifts given to us. Think it over: Why might we expect gratitude from others? How may expecting gratitude from others diminish our own capacity for gratitude? How can Gita wisdom help us cultivate gratitude even in the absence of reciprocal gratitude? Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/gratitude-demanded-is-gratitude-diminished 17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind. From: https://gitadaily.com/gratitude-demanded-is-gratitude-diminished/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

Outer thanks, inner greed — how gratitude may be subverted When we strive to practice a virtue like gratitude, it is very easy to make it into a ritual that is done externally without holding onto the spirit that actually gives value to that external practice. For example, consider what can happen when we practice expressing gratitude merely externally by saying thanks to someone who has done something good for us. Not only can the internal motive be easily lost, but it can also be replaced by an unhealthy substitute, even its exact opposite: greed. When somebody does a favor for us, instead of feeling grateful to them for what they have done, we may become possessed by the desire, expectation or even demand for more. Though our mouth may be articulating words of thanks, the emotion that is being manifested in our heart is not gratitude, but greed. Thus, our words of thanks will come not from an inner place of enrichment and contentment with what has been given to us, but from an inner place of impoverishment and discontent about the many things we don’t have. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (17.16) analyzes the contentment which is intrinsic to gratitude, emphasizing that it is an austerity of the mind, not an austerity of the speech. This means that such gratitude is a state of mind that we need to seek through mental discipline, till it becomes our default mental disposition. Instead, if we settle for merely the words of gratitude, we will not only not be truly grateful to our benefactor, but also our heart will remain unfulfilled. Helping us cultivate such an internal disposition of gratitude, Gita wisdom reminds us that our inner life is our bigger life. To the extent we prioritize our inner life and strive to align our emotions with our values, to that extent our gratitude will become real and make our heart rich. Summary: When we express gratitude for a favor because we desire more favors, what we are expressing is not gratitude but greed in the garb of gratitude. Think it over: What happens when we merely go through the motions associated with a virtue? How might greed replace gratitude in our hearts? How can Gita wisdom help us in the earnest activation of gratitude? Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/outer-thanks-inner-greed-how-gratitude 17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind. From: https://gitadaily.com/outer-thanks-inner-greed-how-gratitude-may-be-subverted/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP

The pillow of gratitude Even when we understand that gratitude is beneficial for our well-being, feeling grateful constantly throughout the day is not easy, given how demanding and disorienting life can be. Nonetheless, when we are about to rest at the end of the day, we can take time out to contemplate the things that we are grateful for. If we do not cultivate contentment, as the Bhagavad-gita (17.16) recommends, we may be troubled by a sense of restlessness or even resentfulness about the many things that did not seem to go right during the day. And that troubling feeling will rob us of a good night’s sleep. Without proper rest, when we wake up, we will be irritable and may end up making bad things worse. To prevent such an eventuality, we can consciously cultivate gratitude before we rest. Indeed, we can compare the attitude of gratitude to a mental pillow that we carefully gather close to us before we rest. Let’s see how the pillow of gratitude can relax and rejuvenate us, especially when it is enriched with a mood of devotion. Devotional gratitude can reassure us that God is still in control and that, despite whatever negative events may have happened during the day, he still saw us through. Reviewing the day prayerfully, we can note how he arranged for some good things to be done for us and he empowered us to do some good things. By reminding ourselves that the same God who took care of our concerns during the day will also take care of them while we rest at night, we can sleep peacefully. And when we wake up, we will rise purposefully knowing that the same God will guide us during the upcoming day to do good things and to bring good out of whatever things come our way. Thus, the pillow of gratitude can improve the quality of our entire life. Think it over: What happens if we don’t cultivate gratitude at the end of a day? How can gathering the pillow of gratitude improve the quality of our life? For three days, consciously endeavor to gather the pillow of gratitude before you rest. Note how it transforms the quality of your sleep and of your wakeful state. Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/the-pillow-of-gratitude 17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind. From: https://gitadaily.com/the-pillow-of-gratitude/ To get short articles daily on the practical application of the Bhagavad Gita now on telegram, join the channel via this connecting link Gita Daily https://t.me/gitadailyCCP