Two types of causes are essential for any creation: the material cause and the efficient cause. In the case of a pot, clay is the material cause, and the potter is the efficient cause. If both causes are the same,…

Traffic between an individual and the world involves receiving stimuli, having mental reactions and responding to the world. The regulation of these processes begins with Satsang, which means the company of good people. In a broader sense, Satsang encompasses good…

The survival and stable state of mind of plants and animals entirely depend on the world. A human being, however, is inherently designed to be independent of the world. Self-sufficiency in a human and his dependence on the world are…

Samsara is a term often used to describe one’s family or the world. Essentially, it refers to the terrestrial entanglement to which one mentally binds oneself. Although it is captivating initially, it becomes difficult to free oneself later. It even…

Religion serves as a tool for personal development. Spiritual growth happens when religion is practised with courage and conviction. Humans need to develop and apply their intellect through independent thinking and questioning life experiences. Often, religious teachers simply repeat ideas,…

The practice of knowledge involves negation and assertion, culminating in meditation. Meditation is the process of focusing the mind on a single thought to the exclusion of other thoughts. The question arises: How can the thought of the Self eliminate…

Verses 6, 7, and 8 of Bhaja Govindam highlight the negative effects of attachment at the levels of the body, mind and intellect. People mainly identify with their gross body, and concerns about its well-being are common as long as…

Verses 2 and 3 emphasize the importance of knowledge of Self. Action cannot eliminate ignorance because ignorance arises from it and is opposed to knowledge. Only knowledge can dispel ignorance, just as light can eliminate darkness. A single flash of…

Due to disease and egotism, a human being is prone to experiencing sorrow in his life, which is highly unstable and unpredictable. Life is compared to water on a lotus leaf, whose brief existence is fleeting and fragile. Verse 5…

Life is defined as Anubhava Dhara, which means the flow of experience. Experience, the basic unit of life, consists of a subject and an object. It arises when an individual (the subject) interacts with the world (the object). The individual…

Viveka is the discrimination between the eternal and the ephemeral. Vairagya is the dispassion you demonstrate toward the fruits of your actions. Shad-sampatti, or the wealth of six qualities, includes Shama (mind control), Dama (sense control), Uparati (withdrawal), Titiksha (endurance),…

The human mind often becomes involved in every experience. The subject gets entangled with the object, causing the individual to lose their objectivity. A strong intellect rooted in Self-knowledge allows one to experience life with disinterested interest. In the short…