April 26, 2016
Swami NIkhilanand
At the end of the third chapter, Arjun asks Shree Krishna a very practical question.  He wants to know why it is that we do wrong things, even when we know it is wrong.  What force is it that compels us to knowingly do wrong, almost against our will (chapter 3, verse 36)?Shree Krishna answers that kam (desire) is the cause of our sinful actions (chapter 3, verse 37).  How does desire cause us to do wrong things, seemingly against our will? He ...
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April 12, 2016
Swami NIkhilanand
 The previous article described Shree Krishna’s explanation to Arjun about how physical actions do not need to be abandoned in order to be freed from the bondage of karm – only the attachment to the actions needs to be abandoned.  He explained that there are two ways of freeing the mind from its attachment to actions:  karm yog and gyan yog. Finally he instructed Arjun to attach his mind exclusively to Him and offer all his actions to ...
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February 19, 2016
Swami NIkhilanand
 Shree Krishna provided three main explanations or reasons to Arjun to fight the war.  He started with the "Sankhya" explanation, telling Arjun that his true self is the soul, which is eternal and indestructible.  Death is only the end of the physical body - the soul goes on to another birth.  Thus, he should not fear that anyone is going to be killed in the imminent battle - he should do what is right regardless of the possibility of phy ...
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January 19, 2016
Swami NIkhilanand
In the last post, "Characteristics Of God-realized Soul", Shree Krishna explains internal attributes of an enlightened soul to Arjun. However, why did Shree Krishna not describe any external characteristics of a God-realized person? Because there are no reliable outer attributes which could be defined. Externally, the person is still the same as they were before they became God-realized - they have only changed internally (as described earlier ...
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October 13, 2015
Swami NIkhilanand
In the last article, "How to practice karm yog in our daily lives?", it was explained how it is possible to remember God all the time, even while engaged in worldly activities. Remembering God at all times sounds very ambitious, especially when one is engaged in worldly activities on a day to day basis.  However, if Arjun could practice it during a war, why should we feel discouraged? We will now learn some useful & practical techniques ...
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September 17, 2015
Swami NIkhilanand
  At this point in the discussion, it is very common for another doubt to arise in the mind: do we not need this world? After all, God has put us here. He created this world, He gave us 5 senses with which to enjoy the world – then why is it wrong to become attached in this world? This is a basic misunderstanding which affects all of us. Let’s clear it up here. The fact is we do need this world – but we need it for the maintenance of ...
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August 14, 2015
Swami NIkhilanand
In the past few articles we realized that performing action with mind in God is desirable over performing actions with mind in world. At this point in the discussion, it is very common for another doubt to arise in the mind: do we not need this world? After all, God has put us here, He has created this world, and He has given us 5 senses with which to enjoy the world – then why is it wrong to become attached in this world? This is a basic misun ...
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