The Wrongs of Being Right

We are surrounded by imperfection. Sages rubber-stamp the world as an ocean of faults, where hypocrisy hits an all-time high. In this climate, you don’t have to look far to catch someone doing something amiss, though they’re often completely oblivious to it! I guess it’s difficult to see the picture when you are inside the…

Spiritual Health Check

Arrived in Sweden yesterday. The silence is deafening, the stillness makes me restless, but it’s the ideal setting to hear the unheard. Though we live in times of chronic movement, we must pause for thought, reflect, and carefully examine our desires and motivations. In a society where life’s success factors tend to be external and…

New Book – Gita Life

Download “Gita Life” by clicking here (right click and “save link as…”) The Bhagavad-Gita is a theological and philosophical classic. If we had to choose a single book to represent the spiritual and cultural traditions of India, we would certainly choose the Gita. In 700 beautiful verses it summarises the philosophical conclusions of the Vedas,…

Good to Talk

The average person spends 23 days a year on the phone. Ironically, we seldom use them for the purpose they were invented – to audibly speak to people. Messaging, social media, browsing and entertainment apps have officially taken over. It’s another development in the impersonalism of the information age; not only are our interactions faceless,…

Vision of Eternity

On 13th July 1966, exactly 50 years ago today, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. It was a humble beginning with a grand vision. Dear Srila Prabhupada, I often look at your photos and wonder what you were seeing. What does the world look like through the lens of a…

Hear the Unheard

Looks can be deceiving, and often far from the full story. It is said that one who laughs too much, even at small and insignificant things, may well be harboring dissatisfaction and sorrow within. A person who feels impelled to keep talking and communicating, could be experiencing loneliness and lack of meaningful camaraderie. The insensitivity…

The Inside Job

The ungrateful, inappropriate and irrational ways in which people act can infuriate us to no end. We deal with our anger by letting it loose (passionate and vengeful outbursts) or locking it up (emotionally disconnecting). Both expressions, however, are indicative of our own shortcomings. Allowing someone else’s negativity to displace our own consciousness, means there…

Friendly Fire

With genuine spiritual advancement comes the capacity and capability to have friendly relationships with one and all. Equipped with spiritual vision that penetrates beyond externals, one remains undisturbed by annoying idiosyncrasies, ideological differences, unpredictable personalities, and sticky character traits. We’re able to see something deeper, see the spirit, the underlying sincerity. We can see the…

Comparitive Religion

It seems a natural instinct to measure success by comparing and competing with others. When Swami Prabhupada met a top Japanese manager at the Dai Nippon Press, he asked him what his goal in life was. Without saying a word, the corporate cat looked at a stack of business cards of all his acquaintances, carefully…

Divine Intervention

On recent travels around the country I met a lady who expressed frustration in her attempts to find God. She told me her story: two years of spiritual travels, countless nights of prayer, careful scriptural exploration and persistent introspection, but still no sign! “Will I ever find Him?” she asked. “I’m beginning to question whether…

Mechanics of Spirituality

At 4.30am each morning the monks commence their 4-hour spiritual workout. Each and every day, 365 days a year. To an onlooker it may seem like a monotonous and mechanical regime; somewhat of a holy ‘boot camp.’ Seasoned practitioners, however, will testify that these tried and tested external practices open up an internal world of…

The Missing Link

Last few days in India. With no local SIM card and patchy internet access, I’ve been ‘off the grid’ for the best part of the month. A blessing indeed. When the external world becomes a distant reality, it helps bring the internal life back into focus. Re-aligned and refreshed; reminded of what really matters, where…