There is a saying:

‘If you lose your wealth, you lose nothing.

If you lose your health, you lose something.

But if you lose your values and your character, you lose everything.’

Today the world is in such a difficult situation – in the environment, the economy, and politically there are so many difficulties. It becomes increasingly evident that the root cause for many of these problems is a lack of personal character. When people exhibit arrogance, greed, or envy, there is no way to pacify them. The more you feed them, the more they grow. From a spiritual perspective, the most meaningful and fulfilling life is when we find a happiness within ourselves, rooted in love and compassion. Then, whatever we do and whatever we have, we use to express that compassion and love.

This essence resonates across cultures and faith traditions. In the Bible, there’s a beautiful verse: ‘What profiteth a man who gains the whole world, but loses his own soul?’ I had first heard this growing up in America and immediately thought, ‘This is what religion is! It’s not about what you call yourself. It’s not about how many pages you memorize from scriptures. It’s about how much we really understand this principle, to actually reconnect with our true self.’

The Bhagavad-Gita tells us, ‘na jāyate mriyate vā kadāchin‘ The nature of the true self, the living force within us (that which sees through our eyes and hears through our ears) is eternal. We are all eternal, full of knowledge, and full of happiness. Like a driver in a car, the Atma (the soul) is within this body. We cannot keep the same car for very long in this world; we have to trade it in. Similarly, the Atma or the soul does not die at the time of death.

The nature of the soul is that we are part of the Supreme Soul or God, who has many names across many religions. We call Him Krishna, but God is one, just as there is one Sun in the sky which has different names as it rises in different continents. One who is actually in connection with his or her own self will then see the divinity within everyone. We will see every living being as our brothers and sisters. We will see the environment as sacred property and we will respect people in that way. With this foundational conception of the mind and experience of the heart, we will then be far more motivated to excel and to do good, even more so than someone who is just greedy. Because love is a far greater incentive than greed. This is what the world needs: people who will really learn and become accomplished based on this higher purpose of making a positive difference – to their families, to their society, to the world.

If you water the root of the tree, naturally that water goes to every part of the tree – the leaves, the branches, the flowers. Similarly, when we understand the love of our own hearts and actually connect with the inner experience of God’s love, then naturally that love flows toward everyone. That inner fulfilment is really the best way to manage the mind.