Crying School

As we enter the post-Covid era, I’m back on the road. Well, more specifically in the air, flying from one terminal to another, making a small attempt to share spiritual inspiration in the urban jungle. On a recent flight to Cairo I managed to secure the sought-after emergency seat (when you’re over 6ft tall that’s…

Journey into the Unknown

Dear Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my humble obeisancesAll glories to you! At age 12 you climbed the bamboo scaffolding, 300 feet to the top of the Victoria Memorial. When devotees marveled at your courage you replied: “I was brave then, and I’m still brave – otherwise how could I have come to your country at…

The Last Time

Above: The last interaction with JD before he left the world. (Credits: Radha Damodara Das) I’ll cherish this picture… the final moment with JD in this chapter. He was thanking me and I was telling him it will all be OK. Now I feel like thanking him, hoping and praying I’ll hear him tell me…

The Monk who Loved Life

How many people can say they love life? How many jump out of bed, inspired and enthused, on a mission that has captured their imagination? How many people are so driven that no amount of complexity or challenge could deflate them? Janakinath Das, aka JD, was a rare soul who exhibited such hunger for life….

Living Saints

My eyes opened at 2.00am today. Unable to sleep, I showered and went down to the Patrons office. When I walked in I saw the smiling portrait of Srutidharma Das. On this day, one year ago, he left the world. He invested the entirety of his being into serving everyone and everything around him. Everywhere…

A Living Enigma

Dear Srila Prabhupada, Thousands of respects to you! You were the local sadhu, the unassuming resident of Vrindavana, humbly residing at your simple but tranquil quarters at Radha Damodara Temple. Then you travelled to the Lower East Side and lived alongside the bums of the Bowery. People were shocked that you had relocated to the…

Playground of God

Are you coming? It’s a magical and mystical land…Traditionally the place of saints and sages…Even today you’ll meet yogis and ascetics there…Every year, thousands go there to inspire their hearts…It’s a ‘tirtha’ – a bridge which connects you to the transcendent reality…It’s known as the playground of God… Are you coming? This year we’re taking…

FREE Download

Download Book Bhagavata for free: CLICK HERE You can’t solve problems with the same type of thinking that created them. Let’s bathe in wisdom that stands beyond space and time. Let’s become inspired by the bigger picture. Let’s enter a different world, separate from the chaos that surrounds us. Let’s use this time to build…

Restricted Freedom

KOVIDA 2020 #5: Freedom Latest: UK Lockdown intensifies – no social visits, no whimsical shopping, no unnecessary trading, no avoidable traveling, no public gatherings. Everything will be police-enforced. We’ve seemingly lost our freedom. But… consider this: When ‘freedom’ means that everything is so available that we become familiar and complacent, what’s the benefit? If ‘restriction’…

Kovida Compass

KOVIDA 2020 #4: Kovida Compass The word “kovida” appears in a celebrated verse from the Bhagavata-Purana: “Those who are intelligent and philosophically inclined (kovida) should endeavour for that which is beyond the material world. Happiness derived from material sources is obtained automatically, just as in course of time we obtain miseries even though we do…

Contradictions

KOVIDA 2020 #3: Contradictions Someone asked me if we should pray for the protection of our loved ones – of course we should! But it got me thinking. A deep fear about losing family and friends… but are we as worried about how we relate to them while their alive? A deep fear of disease…

Isolate, but don’t Stagnate

KOVIDA 2020 #2: Isolate, but don’t Stagnate Latest: Millions of people are lying low to limit the spread of COVID-19. Self-isolation and social distancing, they say, will help curb the crisis. Next problem: how do you cope with being cooped up for days on end? How do we use this time wisely? Consider the three…