Category Reflections

Can you be a meditator without practicing meditation?

When we hear the word meditator, we often imagine someone sitting cross-legged with closed eyes, chanting a mantra, or following a spiritual discipline. Jiddu Krishnamurti challenged this image completely. For him, a meditator is not someone who practices meditation. A…

The greatest pilgrimage is the one within

Every full moon, thousands of devotees undertake girivalam around Tiruvannamalai. Across India, countless others travel to famous temples, perform elaborate rituals, and undertake arduous pilgrimages believing these acts will erase their bad karma and ultimately grant moksha. Sacred places have…

The inner surgery that no ritual can replace

Across cultures and religions, places of worship draw millions of devotees every year. Some wait hours to secure the first glimpse of the deity. Others pay for special access, complete countless pradakshinas, or undertake physically demanding rituals with remarkable endurance.…

Why we become strangers to ourselves

Why do so many people remain unhappy despite living in an age of unprecedented comfort, convenience, and opportunity? This question has occupied philosophers for centuries. While their answers differed in detail, many arrived at a similar conclusion: human misery is…

There’s an artist in every profession

This month, we are leaving the house we lived in for nearly six years. During all these years, we managed the household work ourselves. We never employed a maid, and that included cleaning the washrooms. As we prepared to leave,…