VEDIC Youth Club

I’m sure you’ve heard of ‘mindfulness’ before. From mental health experts to professional athletes, it’s being touted as the next big revolution in psychology. The truth is that mindfulness has been around for centuries in the Eastern world, it’s just that the Western world is slow to catch on. But don’t worry, it’s not very complex. The main crux of it involves focusing your attention on the present moment with a non-judgmental and compassionate attitude. It can be a remarkable technique to help you cope with difficult situations in life. To practice mindfulness, here are 7 habits. They may seem difficult at first, but if you keep at it, they’ll benefit you for a lifetime. 1. Practice Gratitude Being grateful for the blessings we receive can be one of the most important habits you can develop, hands down. It reminds us to enjoy what we have, rather than desiring what we don’t. To practice gratitude, immediately write down 3 things you are grateful for when you wake up. Be as ...

There are many reasons why we sometimes don’t know what to do next. You may feel completely overwhelmed because you have too many responsibilities; you might feel vaguely uneasy for no apparent reason; you might feel that you can do better than your current career track, but you don’t know how. There’s a very simple trick you can follow to sort out your frazzled mind and deal with life’s endless demands and distractions that keep you from discovering how best to live your life. It won’t cost you anything and it requires no special effort. Here’s what you do: write everything down. Take a piece of paper and write everything down that’s going on in your life — things you are worried about, every task, large and small, all projects, social obligations, projects you have to do, promises you have to keep. From doing the dishes to doing presentations and everything in between. The trick is not to write things down in order to sort out your mind – just write everything down indiscrimina...

When an army is fighting a war, it depends on its intelligence – its information sources – to know the strength of the enemy. But if the army’s intelligence has been penetrated and compromised by that very enemy, then this untrustworthy source will give misleading information. For example, it may misinform that the enemy forces are far bigger than what they actually are, thereby demoralizing the army and thus defeating it mentally even before the war has begun physically. A similar misinformation campaign targets us internally when we battle against life’s inevitable challenges. In this inner battle, the misleader is the mind – it often misreports the size of the obstacle. It depicts the problem to be gargantuan, making us seem like ants utterly unequal to the task. And the more we listen uncritically to the mind’s assessment of the situation, the more we feel dwarfed and demoralized. Thus, our mind-distorted perception of the problem becomes a bigge...

The phrase ‘coming up with the truth’ indicates speculating and hazarding our own way to the truth. It implies that truth is something submerged and lost in a vast ocean of confusion and delusion. It thus propagates the misconception that the truth is something that needs to be retrieved by our gallant efforts and then brought up to the surface for being exhibited to the world. The notion of coming up with the truth makes us the hero in the quest for the truth. The phrase ‘coming up to the truth’ indicates raising ourselves to a higher level of consciousness so that we become able to perceive the truth. It conveys unambiguously who is floundering – we, not the truth. The truth stands eternally illumined and eternally capable of illumining everyone. We just need to raise ourselves out of the darkness of our own misdirected desires, desires that submerge us in the nescience of materialism. The principle of coming up to the truth underscores that in the quest ...

The Bhagavad-gita (06.05) enjoins that we elevate ourselves with our mind and not degrade ourselves with it. This intriguing verse indicates the volatile nature of our relationship with our mind. When we control our mind, our actions tend to be elevating. But when our mind controls us, our actions tend to be degrading. How can we understand who is in charge: we or our mind? One way is by introspectively examining our explanations of our actions. Sometimes, we may act in ways that are not in harmony with our words. When asked about the difference, we may explain, “I changed my mind.” This usage may represent our flexibility in the face of life’s changing situations, and flexibility does have a valid and valuable place in a principle-centered life. If our introspective examination reveals that our response was due to our flexibility, then we can infer that we were in charge of our mind. However, sometimes after resolving to act according to scriptural principles, we act impulsively in...

Life sometimes brings us to a dead end. In the face of overwhelming obstacles, everything seems lost. We feel as if we have lost our way completely, not knowing where to go or what to do. This was Arjuna’s predicament at the start of the Bhagavad-gita ( 02.08 ). He felt that all the much-touted goals of life – attaining an unrivaled kingdom on earth or even residence on the heavenly planets – were futile. They would bring him no joy or even relief in the face of the ominous emptiness that awaited him ahead. This utter disorientation made him not just receptive but desperate to receive Gita wisdom and thereby find his true way – the way of devotional activism for the well-being of all. That way is not just Arjuna’s way but everyone’s way. We are not material bodies meant for uncertain temporary enjoyment followed by certain permanent extinction. We are eternal souls meant for everlasting happiness in loving and serving Krishna Significantly, the way of devotional activism doesn’t nec...