Elizabeth Elson

What obligation do we have to someone who comes to us seeking shelter? An ancient story from the Bhāgavatam offers a surprisingly direct answer—and raises important questions about morality, leadership, and asylum.

AI, biotech, and the latest self-improvement trends promise to help us become better versions of ourselves. But before we optimize the self, it may be worth asking a deeper question: Who—or what—is the self we’re trying to improve?

Deep in a Himalayan meditation cave, it’s easy to imagine yoga as a solitary pursuit. But what if self-realization isn’t something we achieve alone? A visit to Vasiṣṭha’s Cave raises an important question about the role of community on the path of yoga.

A bridge that led nowhere taught me something about yoga. Everything has a dharma—a defining purpose—and yoga’s purpose is connection. The question is: what happens if we don’t finish the journey in this lifetime?

When New York City went dark in 1977, something deeper than the power grid collapsed. From a Hare Krishna rooftop in Midtown, I watched tamo-guṇa descend over the city. Yoga has a name for that kind of darkness—and a way through it.

Star Trek imagined a future where technology ended scarcity and freed humanity to evolve. Yoga imagines the reverse: inner evolution creating outer abundance. Which vision gets cause and effect right?

I first visited the Washington Monument as a kid. This week, I returned as part of a “No Kings” protest—and started thinking about the yogic idea of the philosopher king. What would truly sattvic leadership actually look like today?

A ridiculous anti-drug film turned cult classic—and a case study in misinformation. What it reveals about truth, expertise, and the stories we choose to believe is still playing out today. Yoga has something to say about that.

“Modern yoga is inauthentic.” It sounds airtight—until you inspect the premises. Here’s a cleaner, more accurate argument that honors yoga’s roots without collapsing into bad logic.

What if “do unto others” isn’t advice—but physics? Yoga reframes the Golden Rule through karma: what we do comes back, sooner or later. Here’s why nonviolence is less about virtue—and more about intelligence.