Avoiding Regret: A Daily Practice
When you act in the world against your own conscience your mind becomes disturbed. The action rebounds and hurts you. You feel sorry for having acted thus. In reaction to your own action you suffer regret and remorse. An action creating (more…)
I, Fanatic
The trouble with most folks ain’t so much their ignorance, it’s their knowing as many things which ain’t so.1 Moral development involves shedding immature, inaccurate beliefs and values, and growing into more mature and accurate ones. Consider an analogy. In elementary school, students (more…)
Change Starts from Within
When asked how to spread Vedanta, Swami Parthasarathy quoted the words that are said to be written on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in the crypts of Westminster Abbey in London, England. When I was young and free and my imagination had (more…)
Self-control & Self-development
Acquiring the skills necessary for successful emotion regulation constitutes a profound developmental achievement. By adulthood, however, emotion regulation is no longer simply desirable, it is absolutely necessary for daily functioning.1 Discriminate vs Indiscriminate Living Intelligent, healthy self-control is a mark of human maturity. (more…)
Self-respect, Self-confidence
Self-confidence and self-respect are indispensable qualities in human life. Without them life seems dull, oppressive, or threatening; and we lack the initiative and enthusiasm to fulfill our potential. Although different, these two qualities are inextricably linked. Self-respect To understand self-respect we can (more…)
Hit Me Again: The Value of Being Offended
The feeling of being offended or hurt by another’s opinions, beliefs, or values is something we can all identify with. It’s an unsettling and unpleasant experience, and rarely leads to healthy or appropriate responses. However with just a little intellectual training, (more…)
Happiness & Higher Values
Throughout life, humans seek pleasure, peace, satisfaction. All of our activities target an inner sense of completion and contentment, of being in harmony with circumstances and oneself. However, observation of our own experiences reveals that the sense of contentment and harmony (more…)
Self-Development: Critical Thinking Matters
In our discussion of social evolution we need sometimes to remember that the very perfection of society must always appear as imperfection; for a highly developed society is dynamic. … A static society … is in a condition of arrested development; (more…)
Gratitude
The Practice of Gratitude Self-development is the reduction of ego and egocentric desires. It traces our human maturity, bringing a greater sense of autonomy and enhanced empathy with others. Ego reduction is achieved through personal development practices. They are the integrated disciplines (more…)
Success Without Ego
How do you have success in life without expressing your ego? We need to define ego first. Ego has different meanings and connotations depending upon context. Let us start with a working definition of ego. The discussion and examples below will help (more…)