Gita 09.30 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Now after describing this Sri [...]
Why focusing on relapse prevention can be unhelpful
When we seek self-transformation by giving up an unhealthy habit, we often assess our progress based on whether we can prevent relapses. However, such an [...]
How can grievous wrongdoing be reconciled with devotion?
The Bhagavad-gita (09.30) raises a serious question: How can grievous wrongdoing and devotion go together? To address this question, consider the ocean-anchor metaphor. We all [...]
The transformatory potency of bhakti yoga (Appreciating bhakti-yoga 4)
Every path expects certain abilities or qualities from its practitioners. For example, athletes need to be physically fit and agile; students need to be intellectually [...]
Are we holding others to an unrealistically high standard?
Suppose someone we know does something so shocking that we feel, “I don’t want anything to do with such a horrible person.” While our shock [...]
Respond to moral failure not by mental punishment, but by spiritual reinstatement
Life can be a constant moral struggle. We are prone to hundreds and thousands of temptation that incite us to immoral indulgence. We may resolve [...]
God focuses not on what wrongs we have committed, but on where our heart is committed
Suppose we strive to practice bhakti and live purely, but fail — and fail repeatedly. We may feel disheartened: “When I am so impure, how [...]
Just because we have drunk a sip of poison doesn’t mean we have to drink the whole cup
Suppose we accidentally take a drink that is poisonous. As soon as we realize what we are doing, we will immediately stop drinking it and [...]
Even if we can’t succeed in Krishna consciousness, we can fail in Krishna consciousness – not fail out of Krishna consciousness
When we practice bhakti and strive to become Krishna conscious, we are expected to follow some standards. If we fail to follow those standards, we [...]
We may be battered, but we don’t have to be shattered
Suppose in a boxing match one boxer is attacked and battered by an opponent. But if the battered boxer just keeps fighting, the attacker tires [...]
Be not distracted or disheartened – be devoted
Suppose a football player is approaching the opposite side’s goal. But someone suddenly distracts the player towards something unimportant and an opposing player seizes the [...]
Even if our attachments hold on to us, we can still hold on to Krishna
Suppose a person has fallen in a well and is held there by someone malevolent. When some benevolent person throws a rope down to help [...]
Use Krishna’s mercy to wash yourself, not whitewash yourself
When we start practicing bhakti-yoga, we get access to Krishna’s mercy. We gain intellectual understanding and devotional experience of his unflinching, unfailing love for us. [...]
Temptation can knock us down, but it can’t knock us out
In a boxing match, a boxer may be knocked down, but only when the fallen player fails to rise does the knock down become a [...]
Essential intention is more important than incidental action
To err is human. Whenever we attempt anything worthwhile, we usually go through failures before attaining success. Even children taking their first steps slip and [...]
Falling down is not failure – staying down is
Some devotee-seekers ask, “While striving to live according to devotional principles, we sometimes slip and fall. How can we best deal with such falls?” Not [...]
When we have a feeling of failure instead of a failure of feeling, we have a success
Failure in any field, be it academics, sports or work, often makes us feel disappointed, rejected, unworthy even. A similar distress may dog us when [...]
We may fall down, but we don’t have to fall away
Falling down means that due to our past conditionings or present circumstances, we succumb to temptation. In contrast, falling away means that we give up [...]
Might we be sentencing to the jail those who need the hospital?
Falling from moral standards is an ever-present danger for all devotee-seekers in this world of temptation. When others don’t live up to our moral expectations, [...]
What defines us as devotees is not how we fall, but how we rise
When we fail and fall while practicing the moral standards expected of us as devotees, we often feel discouraged, “I will never be able to [...]
Krishna’s love is unconditional yet conditional
The Bhagavad-gita (09.30) urges us to recognize as saintly a devotee who, though guilty of grievous misconduct, is still determined to serve Krishna. The next [...]