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Have you noticed a marked difference between doing something because you want and feeling like you’re being forced to do it? It’s not just your imagination. There’s something very real going on that you should understand. Find out here what it is and why being true to yourself feels so good.

One of two things can happen: either you’re doing something because you really want to do it or you’re doing it because something or someone is forcing you to do it. In the language of psychology, it’s called intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation means the action is coming from you. You embrace it, you understand it and you want to do it to fulfill your goals. Feels good before, during and after you do it. In “The 3T Path” book I explain this in terms of living your dharma. When you’re living your dharma, you’re living your essence. Dharma is your essence in action.

Extrinsic motivation means that you’re being driven to do something for external reasons. Maybe it is your idea, but you’re doing it for money, or you’re doing it to fit in socially. Maybe you’ve got a job – you asked for the job, you need the job – but you have no joy in it and you’re just there to get the paycheck. So, you work, but your motivation is totally extrinsic. Not a happy place to be, right?

The experience is so different because, neuroscience shows, these two processes act on a different part of the brain! Two people can be doing the same thing, but different parts of their brain are more activated, because one is doing the thing intrinsically motivated and the other extrinsically motivated. This is serious stuff. When we’re doing something intrinsically motivated we’re being true to ourselves. It’s you really being you. That’s why it feels so good. This is how you want to live.

So, what can we do about this? First, be mindful and self-observant. Observe yourself and your feelings at all times. Be aware of how you’re feeling. Are you doing something you want to do, that you find meaning in doing, or not? If not, why aren’t you being true to yourself?

If you’re not doing something you want to do, something that’s intrinsically motivated, then you can do one of two things:

1. Adjust your attitude. Look deep for meaning in what you’re doing. Find the intrinsic motivation in your work, exercise routines and relationships. See in what way what you’re doing right now is actually important in fulfilling your goals and in being who you are.
2. Do something else. If you just can’t find meaning in what you’re doing, you have to change it. Don’t settle for living a life that’s not yours. Don’t sell you soul and have a job you hate, just for the money. Don’t be in a relationship that’s not for you, just because you think you have to or because you’re worried about the opinion of others. Sure, you can’t just quit your job, you have bills to pay, etc. But you certainly can seek to adjust things. Move towards a more meaningful life, career and relationships, towards being your true self.

Being true to yourself feels so much better and it’s physiologically a different experience. This is the basis of a good life. Every effort you put into making this happen is well worth it.

Here’s my video on this topic.

Check out what they are saying about my book, “The 3T Path”: “This impressive book from Giridhari Das makes it clear why he is a spiritual internet star. This systematic, eloquent book provides valuable guidance for those seeking serious spiritual progress.” – Hridayananda Das Goswami

Here’s a scientifically-proven technique, that requires no more than 60 seconds of your time a day, that will change your life: the gratitude diary. Here we’ll see what it is, how it’s done, and why it’s so powerful.

The greatest virtue you can express is gratitude. It’s a powerful catalyst for positive change. The spirit of thankfulness blesses you with the ability to see the best of everything and as a consequence fills you with contentment and joy. It’s a powerful tool for making your life better. The power of gratitude is recognized by ancient wisdom and proved by modern science.

Melody Beattie, author of several self-help books, sums it up nicely: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”

Robert Emmons, PhD, one of the foremost authorities in the study of the effects of gratitude, reports that people who practice gratitude experience benefits in many areas of their life, from mental well-being to physical health to social dealings.

And how do you cultivate gratitude? How do you harness its power? The most efficient and scientifically-tested technique is the use of the gratitude diary, also sometimes referred to as the gratitude journal.

What that entails is simply writing down, preferably once a day, as few as 5 things you’re grateful for in that day. That’s it. Ridiculous, right? It’s so simple. If you’re into the science of it, check out this long list of studies on gratitude found at the US National Library of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3010965/.

Why does it work? It’s all about the filters you create. In this blog post, I talk about the effect of our mental filters. You don’t live life as it is, you live it as you are.

We filter reality at every moment and those filters are usually created unconsciously. It’s all too easy to drift into a more negative filter, as life brings us challenge after challenge, and the disappointments and frustrations pile up. That means we create a negative filter. A filter which looks out for negative, disappointing and frustrating things. This, in turn, means we do in fact find more of those negative things, deepening our negative sensations. This is all going on below our awareness.

With the gratitude diary, we reprogram our filters. We essentially create a new filter: positivity. We tell our brain to be on the lookout for positive experiences, for the blessings in our life. That makes our brain filter out the negative and leave an imprint of the positive. A new filter is in place. We perceive more and more the good things in our life, most of which were there all along, but we just weren’t giving them notice, preferring instead to focus on the negative. As we perceive more the good things in our life, we naturally become happier, and reinforce our positivity filter, in a virtuous circle. That’s why the gratitude diary is one of the most powerful life-hacks out there.

Here’s my video on this topic:

Check out what they are saying about my book, “The 3T Path”: “Giridhari Das’ The 3T Path expertly bridges ancient yoga traditions and contemporary Western society. Giridhari makes philosophical ideas accessible to both curious beginners and experienced practitioners and gives us clear, practical directions on how we can apply yoga practices and principles to our everyday lives.” – Dr. Carl Herzig, Professor of English, St. Ambrose University

Are you constantly worried about the opinion of others? Are you feeling unmotivated and unsatisfied? Are you lacking direction? These are symptoms of a life without purpose. Here’s a little more on this topic and what we can do about it.

When we lack purpose in life, we default to playing the social game. We live enslaved by the opinion of others in an uncomfortable and empty existence. Our lives do not bring us satisfaction as it’s not really our lives. This type of life leads easily to depression and chemical abuse.

Having a purpose in life promotes physical and psychological well-being. “[Researchers] found that people who had a weak purpose or no purpose in life were 2.4 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than people who had a strong purpose in life. People with a strong purpose have been shown to live longer, to be less likely to get heart attacks and less likely to get a stroke,” says Dr. Strecher of the University of Michigan.  A life without purpose saps your energy and drives you to sickness and despair. Life becomes literally pointless. That’s no way to live. You need a purpose.

Using success markers as purposes doesn’t work. A success marker – money, a car, a house, a promotion, 100,000 followers on Instagram – is part of the fantasy paradigm, existential empty calories. It will not enthuse you for the simple reason that a success marker is not a true gain; it’s just a way to push back the goal line. Being accepted to a university, for instance – is it an end in and of itself? No – you just want a college degree so you can proceed to goal two, getting a good job. But is that it? No, you want the job so you can reach goal three: a good salary and social prestige. Is that it? Again, no. You wanted those so you could reach goal four: getting married and raising a family. Then what? Is getting married and having children the ultimate purpose of your life? That doesn’t work either. You will have a life beyond marriage, and your children will grow up. Then what? Goal five? Retirement? You get the idea. These goals are not purposes. They don’t define your essence or the meaning of your life.

A purpose is specific to your vocation, the first dharma category. If your vocation is teaching, for instance, your purpose may be “to transform the world by teaching children to discover their essence and to practice compassion.” If you’re into politics and human rights, it might be “to give a voice to the oppressed, fight inequality, and end the suffering caused by bad governance.” An entrepreneur might say, “to create something that will improve how my customers live.” These are lifelong lasting purposes. A purpose that is true to your essence will get you out of bed in the morning and fill you with enthusiasm, day after day, year after year, for the rest of your life. There is no retirement when you’ve found your purpose. It’s a joyful task, the quintessential labor of love, even with all the troubles, setbacks, and doubts you’ll experience along the way.

It’s great to find your purpose in life, but as a yogi you could go even further and ask yourself what is the ultimate purpose in life. After all, your vocation is just part of your current karma, who you are for this life only. When you die, whatever goal you have for this life will be finished. As a yogi, you could add an ultimate purpose to your life – something like “to become fully enlightened, achieve unlimited bliss, and meet God face-to-face.” Now that’s a truly spiritual and eternal purpose for the soul.

After all, if you’re going to die and everything will be destroyed in due time, what is the ultimate good of any material objective? If you cannot find a purpose that transcends not only your death but everyone’s death, which is inevitable, and even the end of the universe, you have not achieved your full potential. So it’s essential to go deep and embrace the ultimate purpose of life: self-realization, full awareness of reality, and pure love.

Having an ultimate, transcendental purpose to your life will push you forward, give meaning to your life and focus your determination, help you through dark times, and give you total clarity. You’ll know how to establish your priorities, what is useful and what is not, and what success really is.

In my book, “The 3T Path” (https://3tpath.com/books/) I explain in detail the concept of dharma, which means finding meaning in everything you do, aligning every moment of your day to your essence, to living your true nature.

Check out my video on this topic here.

Check out what they are saying about my book, “The 3T Path”: “A life saver!” – Ivan Llobet

Are you always getting angry? If you are, do you get angry because you want to punish others for their mistakes? Are you feeling an overwhelming sense of justice and feel it’s up to you to make the world a better place by correcting the wrongs of others? Maybe it’s time to reconsider your role and tactics for a better life and a better world.

Next time you get angry, take a beat and reflect on what’s behind it. Are you getting angry because the world is unfair? Does someone need to be corrected? Somebody didn’t behave as you think “they should”?

Road rage is a great example. You get cut off in traffic, but why did you get angry? Was it the act itself? Just having to slow down ever so slightly, or swerve to avoid getting too close? Probably not. Driving is all about adjusting speed and position of the car. So, what really made you angry? The injustice of it! The “crime” committed by the driver, which you, in milliseconds, have judged as being a menace to other drivers, incompetent and irresponsible. And in a flash, your amygdala takes over, your cortex is shut off. You’re no longer in control. You’re no longer a sane human being. You’re now a beast sent to punish the offender. You gesticulate, yell and, in some cases, get physical about it. You basically make a fool of yourself, put yourself and others in danger and achieve little of use.

The same goes for a misbehaving boss, someone taking your parking spot or your child being unruly. It’s not the act itself. It’s the need to correct the world. It’s a cry for justice!

Anger, however, is never the solution. When you’re angry, you’re stupid. It’s you at your worse operating conditions. It’s bestial and the results can be downright catastrophic.  Even if it really does befall upon you to correct the deviant behavior, doing it with anger is never the way to do it. Even those whose profession involves violence and punishment, such as soldiers, judges, martial artists and police officers cannot act with anger. Even if it’s your job to knock someone senseless or kill them, this must be done with a cool head, in full control of your senses.

There are laws, there are cops, courtrooms, internal rules in companies, schools, clubs, gyms, etc. There are people whose job it is to correct, reprimand and educate the waywardly. Let them take care of it. And, anyway, there is the law of karma (https://3tpath.com/teachings/what-is-the-law-of-karma/) and God. It’s pretty much covered. There really is no need for you to act as judge, jury and punisher in the streets, parking lots, office or at home.

So, work on that sense of justice. Don’t try to curtail the anger that results from it, because it’ll be too late by the time it flares up.  Instead, cut that source of anger at the root. Redirect your sense of justice, from useless flashes of anger, to intelligent action. Justice is needed. Justice is divine. But so is mercy, peace and kindness. Make your home a better place with education and patience. Make the office a better place with cooperation and mutual friendship. Make the world a better place by, first, being the best person you can be, secondly, seeing how to influence the political scene and nudge it towards greater fairness, equality and opportunity. There is so much you can do. And getting angry will only make the world a worse place, and your life more miserable.

In my book, “The 3T Path” (https://3tpath.com/books/), I explain in more detail the neuroscience of anger, how destructive it is, and how you can learn to quell its rise before you lose control of yourself.

Check out my video on this topic here:

Check out what people are saying about my book, “The 3T Path”: “Amazing book and life changing, full of good advice and philosophical timeless wisdom! I highly recommend it!” – Radha Krishna

Strange as it may seem, being too hard on yourself has been scientifically proven to be counterproductive. Understand here why this happens and how you should react to your failures.

When acquiring new habits or when trying to be a better person, if you’re reacting too harshly to your shortcomings, you’ll fail. This has to do with a curious but unavoidable fact of how our brains are wired.

When we feel threatened, we naturally seek shelter. It so happens that when you are harsh to yourself, the brain interprets that just as if something or someone else is threatening us. It just shows how powerful are thoughts are. We can scare ourselves, hurt ourselves and also, equally, nurture and please ourselves – just with our thoughts. And with these thoughts will come physiological and neurological reactions.

The reaction to being attacked is to seek our comfort zone. And our comfort zone is where we are now, doing what we’re doing now. In other words, it’s certainly not the new improved version of us we’re trying to build, not the new habit we’re trying to make. As a result, we are less likely to change after harsh criticism.

Kelly McGonigal describes studies where this was confirmed. During the research, women trying to diet who were given self-forgiveness messages ate half as much candy as the women who were not given this message. The same applied to studies with people trying to overcome smoking, gambling and procrastination. Dr. McGonigal concludes that guilt and stress are an enemy of self-control, thus counter-productive for transformation.

Instead of being too hard on yourself, be kind. The simplest and best way to do this is to pretend you’re talking to your best friend, after he or she tells you about something they’ve slipped up on. For example, imagine you have a friend who is trying to meditate every day, just like you do. And he or she tells you that yesterday they failed to do so, or that they did, but their minds were super distracted. How would you react? With harsh criticism, shame and guilt trips? I hope not! You’d probably say something like, “hey, no big deal, what’s important is that you’re trying. You’ll get it. Just try again tomorrow”. Or, “yeah, that happens, we’re not perfect”. Right?

It turns out that’s how you should treat yourself. The term used is “self-forgiveness”. By being kind to yourself, you expand your comfort zone, you feel safe and encouraged to grow and transform. It’s a win-win. You feel good and you progress. Nice, huh?

In my book, “The 3T Path” (https://3tpath.com/books/), I explain many wonderful new habits and techniques you can introduce in your life to massively increase your well-being.

Check out my video on this topic here.

Check out my people are saying about my 3T Path book: “I loved the book… it helped me a lot.” – Rosana Ramos

It’s become popular to speak about listening to your heart and being true to your feelings. But what about reason? What are the dangers of listening to your heart, following your feelings, without thinking things through?

Sure, feelings are super important. It’s what you’re experiencing and it points to who you are. Things do indeed need to be done in harmony with what you’re feeling, with love and aligned with your values. Of this, there is no doubt. But there is one crucial problem with regards to feelings and following your heart.

Every sentiment is a result of who you are now. It’s based on the filters you have acquired, practically all of which unconsciously. It’s based on the mental map of reality you have today. And both your filters and your mental map can be wrong.

Here’s a rough example: what are the feelings and sentiments of a racist? He or she has created a mental map in which his or her race is superior to other races. This person has created filters to emphasize all the bad qualities in people of other races and all that’s good in people of his or her race, confirming their racial views every step of the way. So, what does a racist feel in regard to people of other races? Negative, hateful sentiments. Is this view correct? No. It’s a mistake. It’s an error in his or her mental map, which is distorting reality. But the sentiment is certainly true to that person. It’s the expression of his or her heart, it’s in synch with his or her values. Feelings, therefore, can lead you astray, when you’re operating on wrong ideas and facts.

Now ask this same racist what 2 + 2 is. Ask an atheist, a Christian, a psychopath or a saint… the answer is always 4. Reason operates on a different system of the brain, known as the deliberative system, or slow thinking process. It’s not influenced by subtle concepts and doesn’t go through filters, when purely engaged.

The same thing happens in regard to spiritual life. We can’t simply depend on our current feelings, we can’t just “follow our heart”. We have to use our brain. That’s why in the path of yoga it’s essential to cultivate knowledge – jnana. Spiritual yoga knowledge is rational and internally consistent. It explains the workings and experiences of life in a clear manner, in a way that makes sense. Enhanced by this knowledge we can improve our mental map and correct our filters, absorbing reality more intelligently. With this, then, we can feel these truths vibrating in our hearts. Perfected knowledge leads to perfected sentiments.

God gave us a brain and a heart and we should use both. Make use of reason and feeling, both, to maximize your human potential.

In my book, “The 3T Path” (https://3tpath.com/books/), there is a whole section on jnana, where I explain what this avenue of perfection entails and the most important transcendental knowledge you need to live a better life and appreciate how rational spiritual life is.

Check out my video on this topic here.

Check out what they are saying about my book: “I’m loving the book. Wonderful teachings!” – Simone de Morais

Though anxiety predominates our modern life, you don’t have to live with it. Here’s an immediate, scientifically-proven technique for lowering your anxiety and an overall take on it to help you lessen or avoid it altogether.

Anxiety is the fruit of illusion, of the mind out of the here and now, fantasizing about possible futures and their consequences. Studies show that you can lower your anxiety by simply writing out what it is that is bothering you.

Anxiety arises from “pre-occupation”, that is, from wanting to engage in an activity that has not yet begun and may not even exist. When there is, say, a trip or presentation that needs to be done, even though we have done everything we can to prepare for the event, we still dwell in anxiety, thinking we might have forgotten something or how something can go wrong. At other times, we are anxiously awaiting some event, be it the arrival of someone or the result of an examination, thinking frantically about the consequences of the event, the things we will have to do if we do this or that, or simply wondering what the result will be. All of this, of course, is crazy!

It does us no good to operate this way. In fact, it only makes things worse. It ruins our well-being without bringing useful results. We just need to do our best right now. Once we do that, we gain nothing from mulling it over again and again.

One of the secrets of the 3T Path is to understand that we cannot control the results. We can only do our best. There are innumerable facts and influences in any action, not least of which is God’s will. The laws of nature, the desire and influence of countless other living entities and providence overwhelm our efforts, making it impossible to predict the results, even in controlled situations, what to speak of general dealings in life.

And if an event has not yet happened, let it happen first. Sure, plan for it. But don’t stress over it. Don’t think you need a plan for every possible eventuality. You’ll go nuts doing this. You’ve experienced this over and over again: the future very seldom turns out the way you thought it would. Futurology is a very inaccurate activity. There is very likely something much more useful for you to do right now. You have other dharmas to enact, right now, without wasting your time planning for the unknown. Bring your mind back to reality, to the here and now, and immediately you’ll feel better, more grounded and useful. Back in the flow of life. Or as I say in the 3T Path, back to the reality paradigm, away from the fantasy paradigm.

So, write out your anxiety. Get it out of our head, in front of your in black and white. The act of writing it out engages the power of reason, which helps you diffuse the negative effects of worry and fear. Writing out your anxiety literally gets it out of your head. You can seriously consider if you’ve done what you can to deal with that concern and, if the answer is yes, then you can put it aside.

In my book, “The 3T Path” (www.3tpath.com/books/), I offer several other profound mindset changes to overcome anxiety, as well as proven techniques such as mindfulness and meditation to help you greatly reduce stress and anxiety in your life.

Here’s my video on this topic.

Check out what they’re saying about my new book: “Amazing book and life-changing, full of good advice and philosophical timeless wisdom! I highly recommend it!” – Radha Krishna

Jen Sincero, in her book “You Are a Badass”, which was a NY Times #1 bestseller, leads her readers astray in two crucial points. Why this is important for you today is because these two serious errors are committed by most people and are at the root of our suffering and of missed spiritual opportunities.

First, the good: Jen Sincero is intelligent, funny and motivated. Her book has helped thousands of people feel better and move towards self-empowerment. So, kudos for her in this regard.

Now, the bad: Jen Sincero is a Law of Attraction high-priestess. I say priestess because LOA is pretty much like a religion – the bad kind. It converts, seeks believers, is full of dogma and in the end only the high clergy really win out, cashing in on the naivety of its followers, just like Jen Sincero has. She just published a new book, “You are a badass at making money”, to make more money out of these followers.

I explain in greater detail the danger and lies of the LOA here: https://3tpath.com/teachings/why-the-law-of-attraction-doesnt-work/. Check it out before you drink their kool aid or to understand why it doesn’t work for you.

Not to repeat everything I wrote there, I’ll just focus on the killer problem with the LOA: it’s the how, not the what. Let me explain.

Life is not about what you have. It’s about how you live it. And the worse way to live your life is by focusing on the what, especially when that is something in the future. Even if you have the business you desire, the car you wished for, the dream house you planned and six-pack abs to show off – none of this will make you happy. Things don’t make you happy. It’s what you’re doing with your things, how you’re living your life, that makes you happy or not. So much so, that in the end you could be riding the bus, living in a one-bedroom and have a “dad bod”, and still be way, way happier and more realized than the folks in the Hamptons, Saudi princes and the jet set crowd. I call this “cartoon wisdom”, because it’s so obvious even children’s cartoons have explained this over and over again.

This is not only ancient wisdom, it’s confirmed by science. And you can experience it yourself. To tell people to chase after illusions in the future is to fill them with anxiety, low self-worth, fear, envy and, generally, make them unhappy and crazy. Sadly, Jen Sincero does that throughout the book, as do all the LOA clergy. Really bad advice.

Now, the ugly: Jen Sincero thinks God is just “source-energy”. She starts the book by nicely explaining how she broke through her crude vision of life and realized there was a higher power at work. She even calls it God. But then she limits herself and directs her readers to think of it only as “source-energy”.

To consider God as just a “source-energy” for all our selfish goals is pretty much the lowest conception you can achieve and so grossly misses out on who and what God really is, that it’s almost worse than just being a plain-vanilla agnostic. I guess philosophy and critical thinking are not encouraged by LOA types – otherwise they wouldn’t fall for that stuff. But here’s philosophy 101 to tackle this claim that God is just “source-energy”: if God is the source of everything, then he or she is also the source of personality, of feelings, intelligence, relationships and love. Obviously, if we have these traits, then God has them too, to the infinite degree. To treat a person as an object is ethically reprehensible: think of slaves, nyotaimori or those scenes of emperors or pharaohs stepping on people as a ladder or sitting down on them to rest. To treat the greatest person as an object, then, to use them only for their energy, is the greatest of all failings. It blocks you from accessing the infinite beauty and loving care of the Lord and makes you miss out on the ultimate purpose of life completely.

In my book, “The 3T Path” (https://3tpath.com/books/) you can understand in detail how you can live a wonderful life right now, regardless of your job, health or the things you own and how you can develop a much deeper, far more satisfying and more rational understanding of God.

Check out what they are saying about my book: “A great read! I absolutely enjoyed this book by Giridhari Das.” – Jengel

What to do when you’re ignored or when someone hurts your feelings? How can stop being so disturbed by other people? This can be an endless source of suffering for most people, but here’s a key practical change you can implement to finally overcome this problem.

If someone else’s behavior bothers or even hurts you emotionally, then what is that saying about you? We get so comfortable blaming others for our troubles, playing the victim card, that we seldom stop to think about what is really going on. So, let’s take a closer look.

For someone to bother you, you must have, at some point, mentalized a version of reality in which that person should have behaved in some other way. You looked to the world, saw its components, and decided, “yep, life to be good requires that person X behaves within these boundaries, or better yet, does exactly this…” and then you went on to further fantasize on just how you wanted person X to behave, perhaps lavishing you with attention, loving your ideas or just generally fulfilling your expectations.

I’ll be bold and venture a guess here: it wasn’t just about person X, was it? You probably came up with a script for just about everyone around you. Shakespeare move aside! You’re now the playwright and you’ve got a script for every actor on the stage of the world.

But lo and behold! They didn’t get a copy of your script! They’re just going about life as if it was their lot to decide what to do, without consulting you!

Seriously? Tell me this is not exactly what we tend to do. And, of course, it fails, time and time again. If your happiness depends on somebody else’s behavior you’re heading for a painful wake-up call.

Expecting people to behave a certain way is part of the fantasy paradigm, as I call it in my 3T Path. It’s the false and painful idea that happiness comes from the outside and depends on owning things, on situations and on people acting a certain way. In my book, available at www.3TPath.com, I explain in detail why this concept is such a failure and how scientific studies confirm this.

The solution is to live what I call the paradigm of reality. Bring your focus to your life, and how you’re living it. Control that which can, or at least should be, under your control – your own self. Focus your attention on how well you’re behaving, on the joy of living your nature, of being kind and, most intensely, on being spiritually connected. This focus on what scientists call intrinsic goals is what truly nurtures you and it’s the only real foundation on which to build your well-being.

If someone else’s behavior bothers you, take a deep breath, look inside and see how and why you’re living the fantasy paradigm. When and why did you sabotage yourself by attributing your happiness to somebody else’s behavior? Then with a friendly chastisement let that pain slide away and focus again on your behavior, on living your life. Take joy in being the best person you can be, the most dharmic, the most spiritual.

Check out my video on this topic.

Check out what people are saying about my new book: “Perfect background for all readers regardless of current knowledge level of yoga.” – Jill Baker

There are two things that really matter in life, which deserve your focus, because they’ll bring you the best of what life has to offer. I’m talking about dharma and bhakti. Understand what they are, and why they are important.

Dharma is a rich concept, and the word has many meanings, but my focus will be on dharma as that which needs to be done – essence and duty. Duty can be imposed; essence cannot. Dharma is thus that duty born of who you truly are, of your nature. It’s not an external or social imposition. It’s what you need to do at any given moment to be the best person you can be. It’s doing the right thing at the right time. Being dharmic is more than just doing good or avoiding hurtful or violent behavior, though that is certainly included in the concept, and it can’t be boiled down to a list of don’ts or things to be avoided. Dharma is fluid and alive and sensitive to different aspects of your life. Major changes to your dharma can occur from one second to the next. One way to understand dharma is to rephrase the classic line: “Don’t ask what the world can do for you, but ask what you can do for the world.”

There is immediate satisfaction in doing your dharma, because it means living your essence. When our actions are aligned with our dharma, we’re living life in its full potential, and this brings a deep sense of satisfaction. The passage of time in a life lived in dharma brings an unshakable sense of satisfaction, a profound feeling of having lived our purpose and of having done our best.

The final objective in yoga is love of God, divine love. Love is the purest and highest expression of the eternal individual self, the soul. And to love God the perfection of the ability to love. Yoga means “connection” and nothing creates a stronger and more beautiful connection than love. Connecting with God in love is called bhakti-yoga, or just bhakti. It’s not surprising that Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita that, of all kinds of yogis, those who connect to Him in bhakti are the highest. Chapter after chapter, Krishna emphasizes that bhakti is the topmost and essential ingredient to achieve spiritual perfection, and that without it, it’s simply not possible to do so. The sage Patanjali also describes in the Yoga Sutras that “the perfection of the perfection of yoga” is achieved by “iswara pranidhana”, which means dedicating oneself to God.

Bhakti is love and to love is to live life to its perfection, for nothing is better than love. Life is the symptom of the soul and the perfection of the soul is to love. Loving God, the infinitely lovable, means to achieve the supreme perfection of existence. It’s the flux of life at its highest.

Thus, dharma and bhakti are what really matter in life. These two bring profound feelings of satisfaction and joy as we live them and accumulate over time to give a supreme sense of well-being.  Everything else comes and goes, but these two provide long-lasting effects.

Sensory, superficial pleasures don’t last at all. That nice dinner you had, that cool movie, fun holiday, buying a new car, getting a promotion at work… none of these last. We can hardly remember them. Their pleasurable effects are ephemeral, and all too quickly fade away. To live life chasing these fleeting sensations of happiness which are gone in the blink of an eye is like trying fill a sieve with fine sand.

And, from the more esoteric aspect of revealed knowledge found in the sacred texts of yoga, we find that it’s precisely bhakti and dharma that we take with us beyond the grave. Bhakti is never lost, Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-gita, and dharma determines your next incarnation, if you haven’t yet practiced bhakti enough to become liberated from the cycle of birth and death.

So, be wise, and experience for yourself how good it is to invest in dharma and bhakti, at every moment of the day. In my new book, “The 3T Path – Self-improvement and Self-realization in Yoga”, I explain in detail the concepts of dharma and bhakti and how you can put them in practice in your life. You can find the book here: https://3tpath.com/books/.

Check out my video about this topic here.

Check out what they are saying about my new book: “I absolutely enjoyed this book by Giridhari Das. Enlightenment and Transformation: a good read!” – Jengel