Express affection through recollection and attention

Suppose a husband who works out-of-station returns home for vacation. He tells his wife that, while he is away, he remembers her frequently. But then while she is speaking with him, he starts checking his phone messages. She will naturally ask, “If you don’t pay attention to me when I am with you, how can I believe that you remember me when I am not with you?” A similar dynamic applies to our relationship with Krishna – we need to express our devotion for him through both recollection and attention. Even while doing activities not directly connected with Krishna, we can strive to remember him as our Lord and goal. But such recollection requires strong devotion. Some people claim to remember Krishna constantly in their heart, but they don’t invest any time or effort in focusing on him directly. By their claims of constant recollection, they may well be flattering and fooling themselves. Avoiding such spiritual-seeming self-indulgence, we can express our devotion by offering Krishna full attention when he is manifest before us. He becomes manifest as, say, his holy name, his deities and his message when we do the corresponding direct devotional activities such as chanting, deity worship and scriptural study. If we are inattentive during these activities, recollecting him at other times will be nearly impossible. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (08.07) states that we can succeed spiritually by remembering Krishna internally and working in the world externally, provided our mind and intelligence are offered to him. This Gita verse implies that the same two actions – attention and recollection – that express devotion also provide access to devotion. We can focus on him when he is manifest before us and remember him when he is not manifest. By this combination of attention and recollection, we can nourish our devotion for him, and increasingly relish it too. 

Just because we can’t live without something doesn’t mean that we can live with it

Sometimes people may have some addiction such as alcoholism that they feel that they can’t live without. But their feeling that it is essential doesn’t mean that it is actually essential – the feeling simply means that their vision is locked in the gratification the addiction is giving, not the tribulation it is causing. They need to consciously shift their focus to the consequences of their addiction: “How long can I continue to spoil my time, my money, my health, my relationships, my reputation and my self-respect? How long will I waste my life like this?” They may get this realization that their present lifestyle is unviable, indeed unlivable, when the consequences hit them in some life-shattering manner. Pre-emptively contemplating such consequences can engender in them the conviction: “I can’t live with this – I must change.” We may not be addicted to gross things like alcohol, but we all have our attachments that can delude and degrade us. Thankfully, we don’t have to go through tribulation to become awakened to our predicament. Gita wisdom can awaken us far more safely and pleasantly. It (16.12) helps us understand that our desires can act like shackles – shackles that drag us towards immorality and depravity. More importantly, the Gita helps us understand that our innate longing for pleasure – the longing that makes us attached to worldly things – comes from our spiritual essence, our souls. And we can fulfill this longing perennially and perfectly by directing it towards Krishna, the eternal reservoir of the supreme pleasure. When we cultivate his devotional remembrance by practicing bhakti-yoga, we gradually and increasingly relish sublime fulfillment. Then we realize that what we truly can’t live without is Krishna – not the various worldly objects that we unwittingly held on to as sorry substitutes for him.

Observe your mental neighborhood just as you would observe your physical neighborhood

Suppose in a new neighborhood, we glance at a passerby with interest. They invite us to a hotel for a chat, and we go along. As soon as we come close to them, they pounce upon us, pin us down, and pummel and plunder us. Such self-induced victimization happens frequently in our inner world, wherein exist many thug thoughts that strive to catch our attention. When we focus on them, our focus energizes them to grow into a desire, an intention and an action. By undiscerningly going along with them, we may indulge in self-defeating actions. Usually, when we find ourselves in a new neighborhood, we check whether the people there are friendly or dangerous. In our physical neighborhood, we take such precautions naturally. But in our mental neighborhood, we frequently fail to take similar precautions because we think that everything inside me is me. Such self-identification with our inner world is incorrect and imprudent. Gita wisdom explains that we are souls, who are different from not just our bodies but also our minds. Thus, thoughts in our mind are like people in our mental neighborhood. And this neighborhood often changes rapidly – our thoughts shift shape speedily, frequently without our effort or even awareness. If without evaluating such changes, we let ourselves be led by whatever thoughts we find in our mental neighborhood, we might unsuspectingly walk into danger. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.26) cautions that we use our intelligence to bring the mind back under control whenever and wherever it wanders. In terms of the thug analogy, this caveat implies that we don’t let our consciousness wander off with any stray thought found in our mental vicinity. By thus staying watchful in our mental neighborhood, we can protect ourselves from self-sabotage and can act for our best interests.

Become conscious of Krishna in whatever makes you unconscious of Krishna

When we strive to become devoted to Krishna, we often face temptations that obstruct us. Tempting sense objects intrude into our consciousness and captivate it. The more they dominate our consciousness, the more they make us unconscious of Krishna. When battling such temptations, we strive to discern things as pro-devotional and anti-devotional. Yet Gita wisdom can help us see Krishna even in the anti-devotional things – not by indulging in them, but by meditating on the source of their attractiveness. The Bhagavad-gita (10.41) states that the attractiveness of all attractive objects reflects a spark of Krishna’s splendor. Applying this principle to seeing Krishna even in the things that make us forget him, Srila Prabhupada, the prominent modern Gita commentator, gives a striking example. He states that if a drunkard thinks that the taste of wine comes from Krishna and remembers Krishna while drinking, that remembrance will eventually make the drunkard a great devotee who will automatically go far beyond the urge to drink. We can extend this principle to the specific sense objects that allure us. By meditating that the attractiveness of those objects reflects Krishna’s supreme attractiveness, we can infuse consciousness of Krishna even into our phases of Krishna unconsciousness. Of course, we needn’t go out of our way to dwell on those objects, lest they captivate us. But when we do get captivated because of our past conditionings, we needn’t just berate ourselves for our falls. Instead of lamenting our folly, we can focus on the glory of Krishna: “How wonderful is his attractiveness that it is so irresistible even when manifested fragmentally and temporarily through a worldly object!” By thus shifting our consciousness from world-captivation or self-flagellation to Krishna-appreciation, we can progress towards Krishna even while battling with temptations that take us away from him 

Our mental inclination is not necessarily our personal intention

The word inclination refers physically to the slope of, say, a road in a particular direction. Mentally, our inclination refers to the direction of the habitual flow of our thoughts. Suppose a car is on an inclined road. It may automatically start moving down along the road’s slope. Yet just because the car is going that way doesn’t mean that the driver wants to go that way. If they intend to go elsewhere, they wouldn’t just abandon their intention and go along with the car’s motion. The driver would conscientiously exert to apply the brakes and steer the car towards their desired destination. Jus as the road’s inclination may differ from the driver’s intention, similarly, our mind’s inclination may differ from our – the soul’s – intention. That is, just because our mind’s thoughts tend to flow towards particular sense objects doesn’t mean that we ourselves want to and should indulge in those objects. Unfortunately, because this motion of thoughts occurs inside us, we misidentify with that thought-flow. So, we may naively go along with it or, worse still, may even passionately accelerate that motion and feverishly indulge in those objects – only to later bemoan: “Why did I do that?” Alerting us to such self-sabotaging thought-flows, the Bhagavad-gita (14.23) recommends that we situate ourselves on the spiritual platform and from that elevated vantage point observe dispassionately the flow of various thought-patterns. How can we situate ourselves at the spiritual level? Through scriptural study and devotional meditation. By studying scripture scrutinizingly, we can understand the difference between the mental and the spiritual levels. By meditating on Krishna diligently, we can realize the security and sweetness of spiritual reality. When we become equipped by such education and experience to differentiate between mental inclination and personal intention, we can make wise choices for our long-term well-being. 

To say that consciousness is unknowable is to say that consciousness is knowable

Consciousness is one of the biggest unanswered questions in modern science and in modern thought at large. For centuries, thinkers have agonized over questions such as “What is consciousness? Where does it come from?” Because intellectually satisfying answers have been so elusive, some thinkers have postulated that consciousness is too mysterious for us to comprehend. They argue, “Our human brain is wired for survival and sustenance – not for answering questions about the nature and origin of consciousness.” As they consider consciousness an unsolvable mystery, they are known as mysterians. But mysterians end up making self-contradictory assertions. After all, how can they know that consciousness is unknowable? If they do know that much about it, that means it is not unknowable. And if they don’t know that much about it, then how does their statement about its unknowability have any credibility? Rather than making self-contradictory knowledge claims about consciousness’ unknowability, Gita wisdom guides us towards a more coherent and experiential understanding. It explains that consciousness is the energy of the soul – it radiates from the soul and permeates the body without getting entangled with the matter that comprises the body. Using an example from the sankhya mode of analyzing the world, the Gita (13.33) states that just as ether permeates all of matter without mixing with it, so too does the soul stay disentangled. Still, mysterians do get something right – the soul is not so easy to know. The Gita deems it inconceivable. Gita commentators clarify that inconceivability doesn’t mean utter unknowability – it means unknowability by any means other than scriptural revelation and personal realization. By using our intelligence guided by scripture to practice the process of yoga, especially bhakti-yoga, we can realize ourselves as souls, thereby solving experientially the mystery that mysterians can’t solve intellectually. 

Spirituality is not about suppressing grief – it is about transcending grief

The Bhagavad-gita (02.13) states that the spiritually enlightened are not bewildered by death. Does this mean that spiritualists shouldn’t grieve the death of their loved ones? No, becoming spiritual doesn’t mean becoming stone-like – utterly unemotional. Consider the example of Arjuna, the Gita’s original student. He was spiritually enlightened, yet he grieved the death of his son Abhimanyu. When Arjuna vented his heart-wrenching agony, Krishna didn’t chide him for being unspiritual or sentimental; nor did he ask him to suppress his grief. He offered Arjuna a comforting shoulder to cry on and a consoling flow of words to restore morale. Thus, he helped Arjuna to transcend his grief. Suppressing grief can be unhealthy because suppressed emotions don’t usually go away – they fester inside and resurface in ugly forms at unexpected moments. So, instead of suppressing grief, we need to transcend it. How? By tapping an emotion that runs deeper than grief. The most potent deep-running emotion is spiritual emotion, emotion that links us as souls with our source and sustainer, Krishna. Transcending grief doesn’t mean that we suppress our natural emotions in our human relationships. It means that we find shelter in higher emotions coming from our spiritual relationship with Krishna. What made Arjuna special and spiritual was not that he didn’t feel grief – but that he didn’t wallow in the grief. By his philosophical knowledge and devotional purposefulness, he soon rose out of his agony. On the day after Abhimanyu’s killing, Arjuna fought with a ferocious determination, winning for Krishna’s cause one of the biggest victories in the battle. By steadily practicing bhakti-yoga, we can strengthen our eternal relationship with Krishna. And in times of bereavement we can transcend grief by seeking solace in his remembrance, and in the association of devotees who manifest his love in our life. 

Love first the creator to love best the creatures

Sometimes people think, “Will loving God make us neglect others? Will focusing on the one who is beyond this world make us uncaring towards those who are in this world?” Not at all, because when we love God, we understand the fullness of his divine greatness – he doesn’t just exist beyond this world; he is closely connected with this world as the ultimate creator of all the creatures living here. Loving the creator in his fullness means loving his creatures too. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (12.13) states that those devoted to Krishna become the non-envious friends of all living beings. When we love God and relish his love for us, we can love others better because we are no longer emotionally dependent on them alone for satisfying our need for love. As long as we are emotionally dependent on someone, we can’t speak strongly or act firmly for their benefit, for we fear losing the emotional support we get from them. Such was the blind king Dhritarashtra’s predicament in the Mahabharata – because of his attachment to his wicked son Duryodhana, he couldn’t do anything to stop that villain from his vile ways. He professed to love his son – and love him so much that he neglected even Krishna’s counsel for his sake. Yet his love ended up doing no good to either his son or to himself. Love that inhibits one from acting for the benefit of the beloved is at best the shadow of love and at worst a caricature of love. We can love others properly when we are not excessively dependent on them emotionally. And we gain such emotional independence when we are fulfilled in our relationship with Krishna. Gaining inner security and strength therein, we can act with courage and consideration in our relationships for everyone’s all-round benefit. 

Just as food adds to our physical weight, thoughts add to our mental weight

In today’s culture with its largely sedentary lifestyle, people often watch what they eat as they don’t want to put on unwanted weight. Such watchfulness is good – and we need to extend it beyond the physical level to the mental level. The thoughts we take in add to our mental weight. Just as excessive physical weight drains our physical energy and leaves us lethargic, similarly, excessive mental weight drains our mental energy and leaves us dulled and dumbed, incapable of effective functioning. Just as we can’t stop eating food, we can’t stop thinking. But just as we need to take in nutritious food – food that brings strength without adding weight – so too we need to take in nourishing thoughts – thoughts that stimulate our inner world without burdening it. Just as fatty food is initially titillating but eventually troubling, so too with tempting thoughts – they may give some pleasure, but thereafter they will bring a world of trouble. Just as we don’t eat anything and everything that comes in front of us, we shouldn’t dwell on anything and everything that comes in front of us, be it physically as an object or mentally as an idea. By discerning, we can take in thoughts that promote our health. Pointing towards such discernment, the Bhagavad-gita (17.16) urges us to cultivate satisfaction as an austerity of the mind. This implies that we discipline our mind and focus it only on thoughts that engender satisfaction. The best such thoughts are thoughts about Krishna, for he is all-attractive and is the reservoir of all pleasure. Regularly taking in thoughts about Krishna makes us peaceful, cheerful and energy-ful. To the extent we are discerning in taking in healthy thoughts, to that extent our life will be joyful and fruitful.

See seeming scriptural contradictions as counterbalances, not counters

Some people argue, “The world is a place of entanglement that needs to be renounced to attain liberation.” Some others argue, “Our duties in this world are ordained by God – by doing these duties responsibly, we can please God.” Both sides can quote scripture to bolster their point of view. Indeed, the Bhagavad-gita (05.02) commends both such paths as conducive to transcendence. While the Gita recommends the path of engagement, it refers respectfully to the path of renunciation, deeming its proponents wise (18.03: manishinah) Such opposing arguments about engagement and renunciation are not counters, but are counterbalances. A counter-argument aims to refute the original argument. A counter-balancing argument, on the other hand, aims to restore balance by presenting the other side of the story. Counter-balancing presentations can be seen in the paths stressed in the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam respectively. The Gita is primarily world-affirming, whereas the Bhagavatam is largely world-renouncing. This difference demonstrates how the same spiritual principles can have differing, even opposing, applications in different contexts. When Arjuna desires to renounce the world, the Gita urges him to act in the world with a devotional mood. In his circumstance, with he being the foremost warrior on the side of virtue, he could best contribute by fighting to establish the rule of dharma in the world. On the other hand, when Parikshit was cursed to die in seven days, the circumstances were different – with Kali-yuga imminent, the king who had lifelong held that age’s influence back could now best serve the world in another way – he could demonstrate for all people the best process of holding Kali’s influence back: hearing about Krishna and absorption in Krishna thereof. By thus seeing varying scriptural stresses as counterbalances rather than as counters, we can detect the underlying consistent purpose that harmonizes apparently contradictory scriptural injunctions.

Krishna’s supervision happens by his super-vision

Supervision refers normally to overseeing, but it can also refer to a vision that sees far beyond the ordinary, just as the word superman refers to a man with superhuman abilities. Both these senses of the word supervision can be applied to Krishna’s mode of interaction with this world. The Bhagavad-gita (09.10) states that material nature works according to its laws under Krishna’s supervision. Modern science aims to discover the laws by which nature works – Gita wisdom takes our discovering spirit beyond such laws to the one under whose vigilant vision those laws work. The Gita (13.23) uses explicitly the word overseer (upadrashta) and permitter (anumanta) to describe how the Supreme interacts with the world. Though Krishna is not directly involved in the actions of the material energy, still its actions depend on his sanction. When we are not philosophically well-educated, we are often unable to perceive Krishna’s actions in this world. So, we may doubt whether he is aware of what’s happening when things go wrong in our lives. The Gita (13.14) assures that Krishna has his eyes everywhere, pointing thus to his super-vision. With his super-vision, or to put it in more familiar theological terms, with his omniscience, he knows and he cares. When things start going out of control and we start becoming panicky, we can remember that Krishna is always in control. Not only is he the supervisor of material nature, meaning that not a blade of grass can move without his sanction but also that his benevolent super-vision is watching us, envisioning and ensuring that everything will work out eventually for our ultimate good. All we need to do is to do what Arjuna did on hearing the Gita (18.73): do Krishna’s will with determination, thus doing our part – and he will by his perfect plan do his part

Genealogy shapes mentality but doesn’t determine it

The caste system widespread in India operates on the notion that people’s caste is determined solely by their birth. However, birth didn’t define the original quality-based system of socio-spiritual division known as varnashrama. This system, mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita (04.13), acknowledges that people are irreducibly different. So, they all can’t be good in any one kind of work. Accordingly, varnashrama aims to match people’s vocations with their inclinations, thereby maximizing their personal satisfaction and social contribution. By thus harmoniously organizing people’s material life, varnashrama facilitated them in focusing on their spiritual growth – life’s ultimate purpose. People’s varna in varnashrama referred to not their birth-determined caste, but their quality-determined class. The word varna also means color, which in varnashrama refers to the color of their mind. That is, it refers to their mental disposition: their qualities and inclinations. Just as genealogy shapes our physical color, so too does it shape our mental color. For example, children of intellectually-oriented parents are more likely to be intellectually-oriented not just because of genes or upbringing, but also because of transmigratory attraction among like-minded souls. During conception, intellectually-oriented couples are more likely to attract as progeny souls who have cultivated intellectual interests in previous lives. Though genealogy shapes mentality, it doesn’t determine mentality. If we were products of nothing but genealogy, children would be clones of their parents. But they aren’t. Children of intellectuals, even after having favorable pre-natal and post-natal influences, don’t automatically become intellectuals; they do so only on using those influences for growing intellectually. By equating genealogy with mentality, today’s caste system inflates the high-born even when they are unqualified; chokes the talents of the low-born; and overall defeats varnashrama’s benevolent purpose. Nonetheless, by introspecting to understand our inclinations and by seeking socio-cultural milieus that nurture those inclinations, we can fulfill varnashrama’s purpose even today.

By looking further horizontally, we can’t see vertically

Suppose a person walking along a road wants to see ahead – and does so using binoculars. But as long as they are looking ahead, they won’t see the vast sky above them. Similarly, many people desire to know more about life. But as long as they are looking at material things alone, they can’t perceive life’s spiritual side. The Bhagavad-gita (15.11) contrasts two kinds of spiritually interested people: the first perceive the spiritual realm, the other don’t. The first redirect their vision from forwards to upwards. That is, they follow the disciplines necessary for detaching their consciousness from the material level and raising it to the spiritual level. The other category comprises armchair speculators whose inner vision stays horizontal. That is, they are internally looking only for life’s material pleasures, even if they talk about life’s spiritual side. Consciously or subconsciously, they deem material reality as life’s foundational reality. So, they end up reducing the spiritual down to the material. Such reductionism is evident in, say, contemporary neuroscience’s attempts to reduce consciousness to biochemical changes in brain cells. Modern science is like binoculars to observe nature and understand its behavior, thereby achieving better prediction and control. It increases our capacity to see ahead horizontally. But it refuses to look vertically because of its operational principle of methodological naturalism, meaning that it aims to explain everything in natural or material terms. As it binds itself to the material, science can’t learn anything distinctive about spiritual reality. To raise our vision from horizontal to vertical, we need to open-mindedly consider realities higher than the material. For such open-minded seekers, the Gita offers the process of yoga, especially bhakti-yoga. By steady yogic practice, we get the eyes of knowledge to perceive the spiritual not just as real but also as life’s most treasured reality.

Seek security not just in the soul but in Krishna

Life’s uncertainties often make us feel insecure. Our insecurities can be grouped into two broad categories: those related with providing for what we need and those related with protecting what we have. All material things are temporary, so they can’t provide lasting security. Therefore, the Gita urges us to seek security at the eternal spiritual level of reality. And while guiding us towards spiritual reality, it uses the dual compound yoga-kshema (provision and protection) twice at two progressive levels: the level of the soul and the level of Krishna. The Gita’s first usage (02.45) of yoga-kshema is in the context of its call that we become possessors of the soul (atmavan). As we ourselves are the souls, this usage of “possessor” is figurative, meant to convey our possession of the awareness of our spiritual identity. When we realize and remember that we at our core are non-material, we understand that material things are peripheral to our essential being. That understanding can substantially decrease our worries about gaining and retaining material things. The Gita’s second usage of yoga-kshema occurs in a more well-known verse (09.22), which assures that for those devoted to Krishna, he personally takes care of their protection and provision. When we seek security in the soul, we have to depend on our intellectual insight to stay fixed in spiritual reality. But when we seek security in Krishna, we are assisted by his omnipotent mercy. He mercifully grants us taste and faith: taste in absorption in his remembrance, and faith in his benevolence to take care of things by his supreme intelligence, which far exceeds our best intelligence. When we thus raise our consciousness from detachment arising from understanding our spiritual identity to devotion arising from understanding our spiritual relationship with Krishna, we can relish the best spiritual security.

If you can’t offer with a pure heart, offer to get a pure heart

Devotional growth is essentially the growth of our loving relationship with Krishna. To make this relationship mutually satisfying and spiritually liberating, we need to connect with him purely, without any ulterior motives for material gain. When we offer with a pure heart, he accepts even the simplest of things – a fruit, a flower, a leaf or just a little water – as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (09.26). This verse is profoundly reassuring: we don’t need material opulences to approach Krishna; just a pure and devoted heart is enough. Yet this same reassuring declaration can be disheartening when we don’t have much devotion. But Krishna mercifully accommodates even the impure-hearted. In the next verse (09.27), he states that whatever we eat, sacrifice, donate – essentially, whatever we do – we can offer him. The Gita commentator Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura underscores that this verse mentions the action first, the offering later – this sequence conveys the mentality of such seekers: Offering to Krishna is not their driving intention; it is an afterthought. Nonetheless, even such seekers receive Krishna’s mercy. Be we pure or not, he wants us to connect with him. And because he is all-pure and all-purifying, that connection will purify us. The act of offering to him with the desire for devotion will link our heart with him, thereby granting higher fulfillment and decreasing the craving for lower pleasures. This twofold change of our inner orientation is the essence of purification. The next verse (09.28) assures that those who connect with him thus will gradually become free from karmic bondage and attain the supreme liberation: loving union with him. Thus, relating with Krishna requires purity and also kindles purity. Whatever the state of our heart, connecting with him by offering him whatever we can is the path of supreme auspiciousness. 

The journey from contemplation to captivation is powered by imagination

When some self-defeating habit captivates people, that captivation is usually powered by imagination. For example, when students get hooked to drinking, such captivation doesn’t happen because of other students goading them – peer pressure can make them drink once or twice; it can’t make them hooked. They get hooked when their own imagination is triggered by fantasies of the supposed pleasures of drinking. And such imagination blinds them to the consequences – the hangover, the expense, the health hazards and so forth. Being thus selectively blinded by imagination, they keep seeing and seeking the pleasure, whatever the consequences. Outlining the general trajectory of degradation, the Bhagavad-gita (02.62-63) states that the journey beginning with contemplation on temptation goes through the stages of attraction, infatuation, irritation, delusion, oblivion and stupefaction down to the nadir of degeneration. What pushes us down the slippery slope from contemplation to captivation is imagination. To avoid being misled by our imagination, we need to seriously educate ourselves about the nature of reality – not just the reality of the specific temptation tormenting us, but also the reality of material pleasure in general. Such education is offered best by the comprehensive worldview delineated in the Gita. When we sharpen our intelligence by regular Gita study, we can function in the temptation-filled world without contemplating its many temptations. Even if we can’t avoid observing temptations, we can avoid imagining about them. More importantly, Gita wisdom educates us about our spiritual identity and destiny, thereby opening the spiritual avenue for redirecting our imagination. By associating with devotees who are absorbed joyfully in service to Krishna, especially in a service that attracts and inspires us, we can fuel our imagination to render similar service. Gradually, the purifying potency of bhakti-yoga will purify our imagination, which will thereafter propel us towards ever-deepening absorption in Krishna.

Asanas cannot free us from vasanas

Asanas (physical postures) are nowadays gaining popularity as means for improving fitness and figure. Bodily improvement, however desirable, is just a fringe benefit of the larger yoga tradition of which asanas are a part. Obsession with the body can blind us to the far bigger gifts available through holistic yoga practice – freedom from worldly miseries and attainment of lasting happiness. For attaining these gifts, we need to free ourselves of vasanas (selfish desires). Such desires drag our consciousness away from our spiritual essence wherein we can relish perennial fulfillment. Further, vasanas bind our consciousness to matter, whose temporariness makes all material pleasures disappointing and frustrating. Let’s understand how yoga counters vasanas and where asanas fall in this program. Asanas are one limb of an eight-stage process called ashtanga-yoga, which is one kind of yoga. Even within ashtanga-yoga, the regulation of vasanas is sought both before and after the asana stage: first by external discipline comprising prescriptions and proscriptions, and later by inner discipline that redirects our consciousness towards spiritual reality. The Bhagavad-gita (06.13) mentions asanas and immediately (06.14) moves on to yoga’s inner dimension by stressing that yogis make Krishna the object of their meditation. And the Gita’s sixth chapter that discusses ashtanga-yoga concludes (06.47) by declaring that the topmost yogis meditate on Krishna. When we fix our consciousness on Krishna, the all-attractive, all-blissful Absolute Truth, we relish a higher non-material enrichment that makes selfish desires initially resistible and eventually unappealing. Such meditation on Krishna is best done through bhakti-yoga, which the Gita (08.14) recommends as the easy path to spiritual perfection. Thus, what asanas alone can’t offer and what the larger ashtanga-yoga process can offer only in its culmination – freedom from vasanas – that bhakti-yoga offers efficaciously by directly linking our consciousness with the goal of yoga and of life itself: Krishna

Why look at a mirage when heading to the oasis?

It’s bad to be lost in a desert. It’s worse to be misled by a mirage. But it’s worst to be nearing an oasis and to then be allured and sidetracked by a mirage.

Material existence is like a desert. Herein, we are lost, not knowing how to quench our thirst for happiness. Worse still, we are allured by sense objects, which are like mirages. They promise immediate and immense happiness, but deliver very little pleasure that is preceded and succeeded by a lot of misery. Despite beguiling us thus, they brazenly promise that the next round of indulgence will fulfill our dreams. Thus, we end up chasing mirage after mirage after mirage – futilely. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (05.22) cautions that sensory pleasures are the wombs of misery.

Gita wisdom doesn’t just warn us about mirages – it also guides us to the oasis. It reveals our spiritual essence and the oceanic spiritual happiness accessible through a devotional connection with Krishna. When we approach him by practicing bhakti-yoga, we close in on the oasis that can quench fully and forever our thirst for happiness.

But unfortunately, despite being so close to destination happiness, our deep-rooted material conditionings divert our vision from the Krishna oasis to the sensual mirages. If we get thus sidetracked, then we end up subjecting ourselves to the worst misfortune – turning away from happiness towards misery. Protecting us from such misfortune, the Gita (05.21) assures us that those who detach themselves from sensual pleasures and strive for spiritual progress relish inexhaustible happiness.

By regularly studying the Gita, we can get the intellectual conviction necessary to pull our eyes away from sensual mirages and fix them on the Krishna oasis. When we thus absorb ourselves in Krishna, we progress swiftly towards satisfying perennially our long-unquenched thirst for happiness.