Gita 12.09 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Below 12.8 is12.9, practice Sadhan [...]
Through discipline to the stage beyond discipline
Self-discipline can seem to be a constant struggle between our far-sighted intentions and our short-sighted emotions. We may morosely ponder: “Will the struggle ever end?” [...]
What’s wrong with desirelessness? — Desire management series 6
Desires often make us do things we regret. On understanding how desires sabotage us, we may seek to become desireless. However, desirelessness is self-contradictory in [...]
How desire is both the lock and the key — Desire Management series 5
Suppose we are locked in a prison. Suppose further that the lock doubles as a key — say, it is touch locks that if operated [...]
How remembrance of Krishna is the ultimate spiritual superfood
Superfoods provide multiple benefits, which fall into two broad categories: increasing our energy and decreasing our vulnerability to diseases. Let’s understand how remembrance of Krishna [...]
Two ways to gauge our devotion
When we strive to grow on the devotional path, we may wonder, “Are we actually advancing?” To know, we can consider the change in two [...]
How to see desire as a blessing, not as a burden?
On the spiritual path, we often think of desire as a burden that needs to be shed. And yes, many of our desires do impede [...]
What happens to our desires when we become enlightened?
Some people hold that the enlightened are free from all desires; they perceive that desire is often the cause of illusion, degradation and bondage. Because [...]
Is our body fast becoming an ego feast?
Suppose we fast strictly on sacred days, abstaining even from water. When we see others eating normally, we may look down at them, thinking, “These [...]
The test of success in bhakti is taste for bhakti
When we practice bhakti, we may wonder, “How do I know if I am progressing and succeeding?” On the spiritual journey, our destination is Krishna, [...]
Devotion is not just emotion – it is conscious continuous cultivation
Many people conceive of devotion as a pleasant, pious emotion that they experience occasionally. However, devotion is much more: it is conscious continuous cultivation. To [...]
Even if we can’t be transfixed, we can still be fixed
To be transfixed is to be captivated, mesmerized, absorbed. The purpose and perfection of devotion is to be transfixed by our love for Krishna. Pure [...]
To tune out the mind, tune in to Krishna
Suppose we are hearing a radio program that is transmitting unpleasant noise. We would naturally tune out from that station to some other station. We [...]
Bhakti practice leads to attraction to Krishna through repetition, purification and revelation
Some people ask, “Bhakti practice involves doing the same activities again and again. How does such practice make us attracted to Krishna?” Bhakti practice leads to attraction for Krishna through repetition, purification and revelation.
Bhakti-yoga takes our relationship with Krishna from familiarity to comfort to desire to need
Suppose we wish to learn how to drive a car. Initially, we try to become familiar with a car by riding in it. After riding [...]
Obsession isn’t just a distractor from absorption; it is also a demonstrator of absorption
Some bhakti seekers ask, “My mind gets so easily distracted by worldly things. Is it possible to become absorbed in Krishna?” Yes, it is. If [...]
Bhakti has to be a choice before it can become a calling
Some people say, “I will become devoted to God when I feel his call from within.” The problem with such thinking is that we are [...]
For getting Krishna, forgetting Krishna is fatal
When we seek anything valuable, we usually desire it and strive for it. Such desiring and striving naturally center on remembering. A person who wants [...]
Contemplation is the natural result of attraction and contemplation naturally results in attraction
When we are attracted to something, we naturally think of it and even mentally live with it. Cricket lovers, for example, often live in their [...]
Catch the current of emotion – don’t be caught by it
In an ocean, there are often multiple currents moving in different directions. To give a somewhat simple example for a complex phenomenon, in the Indian [...]
We need a starter of desire more than a stopper of desire
Spiritual seekers often worry about how to restrain their desires so as to adhere to the principles of sadhana. Yet quite often this worry is [...]