Deep reflection questions based on Krishna's timeless teachings for spiritual transformation and self-discovery
Spiritual journaling transforms the Bhagavad Gita from ancient scripture into living wisdom applicable to your daily life. When Krishna spoke to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, he was addressing the fundamental questions every human faces: Who am I? What is my purpose? How should I act? How can I find peace amidst life's challenges? These same questions await your exploration through the contemplative practice of journaling.
Unlike casual reflection, Gita-based journaling uses Krishna's profound teachings as mirrors for examining your inner landscape. Each prompt invites you to apply timeless wisdom to your specific circumstances, relationships, and struggles. This practice bridges the gap between intellectual understanding and lived experience, transforming philosophical concepts into practical insights that guide your choices and shape your character.
The 30 prompts in this guide are organized into six themes drawn from the Gita's essential teachings: Self-Knowledge and Identity, Dharma and Purpose, Karma and Action, Attachment and Detachment, Mind and Emotions, and Devotion and Surrender. Whether used sequentially over a month or selected based on current needs, each prompt opens a doorway to deeper self-understanding. Commit to honest exploration, and these questions will become catalysts for genuine transformation.
Uncover patterns, beliefs, and motivations beneath the surface
Apply ancient wisdom to modern decisions and dilemmas
Track your spiritual evolution over time
Bridge understanding and practice through reflection
Find a quiet place. Light a candle if desired. Have your journal and the Srimad Gita App ready.
Study the referenced verse deeply before beginning. Let it settle into your awareness.
Set a timer for 15-30 minutes. Write without editing or judging. Let thoughts flow naturally.
Ask "why" repeatedly. Challenge initial answers. Explore beneath comfortable surfaces.
If you are not your body, who are you? Describe the "you" that has remained constant while your body has changed from childhood until now.
This prompt explores the distinction between the eternal Self (atman) and the temporary body-mind complex.
Describe a moment when you observed your own thoughts or emotions as if watching from a distance. What does this "observer" feel like? What is its nature?
Krishna teaches that the Self is the witness (sakshi) of all mental activity, distinct from thoughts themselves.
List all the roles you play (parent, employee, friend, etc.). If all these roles were stripped away, what would remain? Who are you without your roles?
Arjuna's crisis arose from over-identification with his role as warrior. What roles do you over-identify with?
Think of the most difficult experience you've survived. What in you remained untouched by that experience? What cannot be damaged by any circumstance?
Krishna assures Arjuna that the Self cannot be cut, burned, or destroyed. Explore your indestructible essence.
What false beliefs about yourself have you held in the past that you now see were untrue? What false beliefs might you be holding now?
Liberation begins with discriminating between what we truly are and what we mistakenly believe ourselves to be.
What activities make you lose track of time? What feels like your natural expression, requiring no effort to be yourself? This points toward your svadharma.
Svadharma is your unique purpose based on your nature (svabhava). It is the path only you can walk.
Where in your life are you living according to others' expectations rather than your authentic nature? What would change if you fully honored your own dharma?
Para-dharma (another's path) can never bring fulfillment, no matter how successful it appears externally.
Describe a responsibility you fulfill from genuine love versus one you fulfill from mere obligation. How do these feel different? Which approach does the Gita recommend?
Krishna transforms duty from burden to devotion by revealing action as service to the Divine.
What cause, issue, or need in the world calls to you repeatedly? If you knew you could not fail, what would you do to serve this calling?
Arjuna was born to be a warrior; his dharma called him to the battlefield. What battlefield calls you?
Describe a time when different duties seemed to conflict (like Arjuna's duty as warrior vs. family loyalty). How did you navigate it? What did you learn?
The entire Gita arose from dharma conflict. Learning to navigate such tensions is essential spiritual work.
Recall an action you took purely because it was right, with no concern for results. How did this feel different from actions driven by desired outcomes?
Nishkama karma (desireless action) is the Gita's central teaching on work. This prompt explores its experience.
What results are you currently most attached to? How does this attachment affect your peace of mind? What would change if you released this attachment?
Attachment to results (phala) creates anxiety before action and suffering after. Explore your attachments honestly.
How would your daily work change if you approached it as an offering to the Divine? What would shift in your attitude, quality, and experience?
Karma yoga transforms mundane work into spiritual practice by dedicating actions to Krishna.
Where do you avoid action out of fear of failure or imperfect results? What would Krishna say about this avoidance?
Krishna warns against attachment to inaction. Even attempting to do nothing is itself an action with consequences.
What negative patterns do you repeatedly enact despite knowing better? What is the root cause? How might yoga (skillful action) help break these patterns?
Yoga is defined as skill in action (yogah karmasu kausalam). Explore how skill can transform your patterns.
What possessions, relationships, or achievements would devastate you to lose? What does the intensity of this potential loss reveal about your attachments?
Attachment (raga) binds us to suffering. Examining what we cannot bear to lose reveals our deepest bondage.
What do you strongly avoid or resist? How is aversion also a form of attachment that binds you? What would freedom from this aversion look like?
Dvesa (aversion) binds as strongly as attraction. Both keep us reactive rather than free.
Describe something you enjoy without being attached to it. How is this experience different from enjoyments that bind you? What creates the difference?
The Gita does not advocate joylessness but enjoyment without bondage. True renunciation is internal.
What would you need to let go of to experience more peace? What fears arise when you imagine releasing this? Can you trust the process of release?
Vairagya (dispassion) is cultivated through practice. Explore your relationship with letting go.
Recall a situation where you received both praise and criticism for the same thing. How did each affect you? What would equanimity look like in such situations?
The sthitaprajna (one of steady wisdom) is unmoved by praise or blame. Examine your own equanimity.
In what ways is your mind your friend? In what ways is it your enemy? What determines which role your mind plays at any given time?
Krishna teaches that the controlled mind is our best friend; the uncontrolled mind, our worst enemy.
Arjuna compared the mind to wind - restless and difficult to control. Describe your mind's restlessness. What triggers it? What calms it?
Even Arjuna struggled with mental control. How do you experience and work with mental restlessness?
Krishna describes how contemplation leads to attachment, then desire, then anger, then delusion, then destruction. Trace a recent emotional spiral in your life using this framework.
Understanding the sequence allows us to interrupt it. Awareness is the first step to freedom.
Describe your experience of sattva (clarity), rajas (activity), and tamas (inertia) in a typical day. Which guna dominates? How does each affect your choices?
The three gunas color all experience. Awareness of their influence is essential for transcendence.
What most frequently triggers your anger? Using Gita wisdom, explore the attachment or expectation underlying this anger. What would release look like?
Krishna identifies anger as a gate to hell. Understanding its roots allows transformation.
What does surrender mean to you? Where do you resist surrendering? What would complete surrender to the Divine look like in your daily life?
Sharanagati (surrender) is the Gita's culminating teaching. Explore your relationship with surrender.
How do you relate to the Divine? As master, friend, beloved, or parent? How does this relationship affect your spiritual practice and daily life?
Bhakti yoga encompasses many forms of divine relationship. Explore which resonates with your nature.
Krishna says he pervades all creation. Where do you most easily perceive the Divine? Where is it hardest to see? What blocks your perception?
The advanced yogi sees Krishna in all beings. This prompt explores developing that vision.
Krishna promises to provide for those who worship him with undivided attention. Where do you trust this promise? Where do you struggle to trust?
Yoga-kshema (security and wellbeing) is promised to the devoted. Examine your trust in divine provision.
If you could only remember one teaching from the Gita for the rest of your life, what would it be? Why this teaching? How will you embody it?
After 700 verses, what is YOUR essential teaching? What has this month of journaling revealed?
Handwriting engages the brain differently than typing. The slower pace allows deeper processing and often reveals insights that rapid typing misses.
Set a timer for 20-30 minutes and write continuously until it ends. This prevents both premature stopping and perfectionist over-editing.
Your journal is private. Write what is true, not what sounds spiritual. Growth comes from acknowledging where you actually are.
Periodically re-read earlier entries. Notice patterns, track growth, and observe how understanding deepens over time.
End each session by identifying one concrete action or practice based on your insights. Journaling serves transformation, not just reflection.
For effective Gita journaling: 1) Set aside 15-30 minutes in a quiet space, 2) Read the associated verse before the prompt using the Srimad Gita App, 3) Write freely without self-editing, 4) Go deeper by asking "why" multiple times, 5) Return to entries periodically to observe growth. The goal is honest self-inquiry, not literary perfection. Let the prompt guide you into unexplored territory of self-understanding. Trust what emerges, even if it surprises you.
Spiritual journaling based on the Gita is a contemplative writing practice that uses Krishna's teachings as mirrors for self-examination. Unlike ordinary journaling that records events, Gita journaling applies ancient wisdom to personal experience. You explore your relationship with attachment, duty, action, and identity through guided reflection. This practice bridges intellectual understanding of Gita concepts with lived experience, accelerating both comprehension and transformation. It is svadhyaya (self-study) through the lens of sacred text.
Daily journaling of 15-20 minutes yields the best results for spiritual growth. However, even 3-4 times weekly creates meaningful progress. Some practitioners journal every morning as part of sadhana; others prefer evening reflection after the day's events. The 30 prompts can be used over one month (one daily), spread over longer periods, or revisited cyclically. Consistency matters more than duration - brief regular practice exceeds occasional lengthy sessions. Start where you are and build gradually.
Journaling complements but does not replace meditation. Meditation cultivates direct experience beyond thought; journaling processes insights through thought. They serve different functions: meditation reveals; journaling integrates. The Gita prescribes both jnana (knowledge) and dhyana (meditation). Ideally, practice meditation first to quiet the mind, then journal to explore what arises. Many practitioners find journaling after meditation particularly insightful, as the quieted mind accesses deeper material.
Resistance or blankness often indicates approaching important territory. When stuck: 1) Simply describe what you're feeling ("I notice resistance"), 2) Ask yourself what you're avoiding, 3) Write about why the prompt feels difficult, 4) Use the verse itself as starting point - copy it and respond to each phrase. Sometimes "I don't know" written repeatedly eventually gives way to knowing. Trust the process and keep the pen moving. The struggle itself is valuable material for inquiry.
The Srimad Gita App provides all 700 verses with multiple translations, audio recitations, and commentary to support your journaling practice.