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Arjuna's Despondency: Quick Summary

Seeing his own people before him, Arjuna's body gives way: his limbs weaken and the bow begins to slip from his hand (1.29-30).

English 11 min Arjuna's Despondency

Article

Arjuna's Seven Steps: The Road Through a Crisis

Arjuna's road has seven steps: shock, freezing, arguing, asking for help, learning, doubting again and acting. None of them is a fault.

In Depth English 8 min Arjuna, Our Mirror

Quick summary

Arjuna, Our Mirror: Quick Summary

Arjuna's road has seven steps, and any person in a crisis walks the same road.

English 3 min Arjuna, Our Mirror

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Delusion Gone: I Will Act: Quick Summary

The Lord asks whether the teaching was heard with the whole mind and whether the delusion is gone (18.72).

English 4 min Delusion Gone: I Will Act

Quick summary

Karma Yoga in Practice: Quick Summary

Settle your intention before the work: the doing is in your hands, the fruit is not (2.47).

English 5 min Karma Yoga in Practice

Article

When Everything Falls Apart: Arjuna Shows the Way

Arjuna's hands shook, his mouth went dry and he said he would not fight (1.28-29, 2.9). The Gita does not blame him.

Simple English 4 min Arjuna, Our Mirror

Article

When the Confusion Clears: How to Tell, and How to Begin

The Lord asks whether the teaching was heard with the whole mind and whether the confusion has gone (18.72).

Simple English 5 min Delusion Gone: I Will Act

Quick summary

Who Is the Doer?: Quick Summary

All actions are done by the qualities of nature, but a mind deluded by ego thinks 'I am the doer' (3.27).

English 9 min Who Is the Doer?

Quick summary

Working Under Pressure: Quick Summary

Work pressure has three layers: the real demand of the work, fear of the result and inner panic.

English 13 min Working Under Pressure

Article

You Do Everything Right and God Still Feels Far: What the Gita Says

Study, austerity, charity and sacrifice are not the price of the Lord's nearness; he is found by undivided devotion (11.53, 11.54).

Simple English 5 min By Devotion Alone

Article

Must You Quit Your Work to Find Peace? What the Gita Says

Both leaving the world and carrying on can lead to the highest good, but carrying on with a loose grip is the better way for most of us (5.2).

Simple English 6 min Renunciation or Karma Yoga?

Article

Dreading Monday on Sunday Night: Three Weights of Work Pressure and How the Gita Lightens Each

Work pressure is three weights, not one: the work, the fear of the result and the wave of panic.

Simple English 6 min Working Under Pressure

Article

Praise Lifts You, a Sharp Word Drops You: Keeping the Mind Level, as the Gita Teaches

Pleasure and pain, praise and blame come and go like weather; the Gita asks us to bear them (2.14).

Simple English 5 min Equanimity

Article

The Gita on Work Pressure: Three Layers, Three Handles, and a Workday Practice (Gita 2.14, 2.47-51, 3.30, 5.12)

Work pressure has three layers: the demand of the work, the fear of the outcome and the wave of panic inside.

In Depth English 12 min Working Under Pressure

Article

Worn Out From Copying Someone Else? What the Gita Says About Doing Your Own Work in Your Own Way

It is better to do your own duty imperfectly than another's duty well (3.35).

Simple English 6 min One's Own Duty

Article

Action, Knowledge, Meditation or Devotion: Where Should I Begin? The Gita's Own Answer

The Gita names four ways, action, knowledge, meditation and devotion, and says they lead to the same place (13.25, 5.5).

Simple English 7 min The Paths: Action, Knowledge, Devotion

Article

Busy All Day, Yet Free Inside: What the Gita Means by Doing Nothing in Action

In the Gita, doing nothing in action means that nothing binds, and it does not mean that nothing is done (4.18, 4.20).

Simple English 5 min Karma and Akarma: Acting Without Being Bound

Article

I Want to Stop Doing Everything: What the Gita Says About Quitting

No one can do nothing, even for a moment. Breathing, sleeping and thinking are all action (3.5, 3.8).

Simple English 6 min Can We Simply Stop Acting?

Article

When Your Resolve Meets a Face: What Arjuna Saw Between the Two Armies

Arjuna arrived on the field ready to fight, then asked to stand between the armies and see whom he must face.

Simple English 4 min Arjuna on the Field

Article

Can Saying "I Am Not the Doer" Excuse My Mistake? What the Gita Says

'I am not the doer' is meant to lessen pride and dread, not to avoid a mistake (3.27, 5.8).

Simple English 3 min Who Is the Doer?

Article

Have I Done Too Much Wrong for God to Accept Me? What the Gita Says

A person of very bad conduct who turns to the Lord with his whole mind is to be counted as good, because he has resolved rightly (9.30).

Simple English 4 min Even the Worst Offender

Article

Is It All Right to Ask a Question? What Arjuna Teaches Us

The Gita runs on Arjuna's questions, and Lord Krishna turns none of them away (3.2, 3.3).

Simple English 5 min Arjuna's Questions

Article

Karma Yoga in Your Working Day: Four Moments for Every Task

Every task has four moments: an intention before, full attention during, handing over the result after, and three questions in the evening.

In Depth English 5 min Karma Yoga in Practice

Article

My Mind Will Not Stay on God: Where Do I Start? Gita 12.8-11

The Lord does not ask everyone to begin at the top; for the one whose mind will not stay He gives lower steps too (12.8-11).

Simple English 5 min The Ladder of Devotion

Article

Can You Stay Free While Working? What the Gita Says

Freedom from the bondage of action comes not by stopping work but by loosening the grip while you work (18.49).

Simple English 6 min Freedom Through Action

Article

Do I Have to Carry Everything Alone? What the Gita Says

For those who look to nothing else and stay joined to him, the Lord carries what they lack and keeps what they have (9.22).

Simple English 5 min The Steadfast Devotee and Divine Care

Article

Proud When It Works, Crushed When It Fails: Am I the Only One Behind It?

Your effort is real, but it is never the only cause of a result. Every action has five causes (18.14).

Simple English 6 min Who Is the Doer?

Article

Who Is the Doer? The Five Causes of Action and the Mistake of 'I Do It All'

The Gita does not remove the doer. It removes the belief that I do everything and that it is all mine (3.27, 18.16).

In Depth English 13 min Who Is the Doer?

Article

The Concept of Leadership in the Bhagavad Gita: A Philosophy of Duty, Self-Control, and Lokasangraha

In the Gita, true leadership begins with mastering one's own mind, desires and reactions.

In Depth English 16 min