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…

COVID to Kovida

KOVIDA 2020 #1 Latest: COVID has hit 200,000 cases worldwide, triggering over 8,000 deaths. In Sanskrit, the word “Kovida” refers to one who is intelligent, wise and philosophically inclined. To appropriately respond to COVID, we each have to become Kovida. Positive affirmations, optimistic propoganda and comforting words are appreciated… but only go so far. We…

Intensity!

Lessons on the Road #6 Yesterday I parked my book box outside the festive merry-go-round. From morning to evening I heard the same 4-song playlist over and over again. These jingles hijack your mind! By the end of the day I found myself singing the line, “I wish it could be Christmas everydaaay,” in between…

Cold Showers

Lessons on the Road #5 It’s Monday morning. It’s cold, wet and windy. It’s time to face the world. It’s another day on book distribution! I remember returning from my first day on book distribution and being advised to do the unthinkable – “go and have a cold shower!” What! I’d already been standing in…

Great Expectations

Lessons on the Road #4 It’s the marathon! Scores, results, league tables and the seasonal time for (transcendental) competition. All of a sudden your performance, proficiency and position is in the spotlight, and it feels like everyone is watching, sizing you up. For some it’s entirely unnerving, for others it’s positively motivating. Some of us…