Don’t divorce who you are from whose you are
“Who we are” is the first philosophical message of the Bhagavad-gita. It explains that we are at our core eternal souls. Understanding this can free [...]
Check the train before you check into it
Suppose an inattentive person on a huge, noisy, crowded railway station boards a wrong train. Some trains may stop after a few minutes, but some, [...]
Gita 13.25 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Now Krishna will talk about [...]
Resist the temptation of confusion
Sometimes life’s challenges leave us confused. Devotee-seekers may face such confusion when deciding, say, which spiritual master to take initiation from or which ashram to [...]
Gita 13.24 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Summary verse which concludes whatever [...]
Anxiety is caused not as much by outer uncertainty as by inner instability
Sociological researchers have consistently found that people in the developed world tend to be more anxious than people in the developing world. This finding is [...]
To seek shortcuts is to be shortsighted
Shortcuts promise to take us to our destination quickly. But in our search for pleasure, sensual indulgences are shortcuts that actually take us away from [...]
Rise from sentimental bhakti to the sentiments from bhakti
Sentimental bhakti refers to the practice of bhakti that is dependent on sentiments: “When I feel like practicing bhakti – when it feels good – [...]
Don’t just push the mind towards the spiritual – let the spiritual pull the mind too
Suppose we were pushing a heavy trolley uphill. It would be a demanding exertion. If we became lax even for a moment, the trolley would [...]
Don’t equate the confusing with the confused
When we hear someone speaking something confusing, we may infer that the speaker is confused. Such a situation though possible isn’t probable especially if the [...]
Gita 13.20 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan We will discuss Prakriti and [...]
What is not eternal is eternally inconsequential
Success in any field requires focus on the important things while putting aside the unimportant things. When we understand our eternal spiritual identity and strive [...]
Gita 13.19 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Bg 13.19 iti kṣetraṁ tathā [...]
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. [...]
At death, we don’t have to leave home; we can go home
If we have to leave our home for a long time, we feel agonized. That agony is multiplied manifold when we have to face death, [...]
Gita 13.17 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Bg 13.17 avibhaktaṁ ca bhūteṣu [...]
If we don’t recognize the mind, it will make us unrecognizable to ourselves
Recognizing the mind means to recognize the voice coming from within us to be the voice of the mind and not our own voice. When [...]
Absorption is a function of not just attraction but also determination
Sometimes during our devotional practices we may find our mind slipping away to other things that we are more attracted to and may wonder, “How [...]
Gita 13.15 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Bg 13.15 sarvendriya-guṇābhāsaṁ sarvendriya-vivarjitam asaktaṁ [...]
Don’t obstruct bhakti with an intellectual filter – or with an anti-intellectual filter either
An intellectual filter in bhakti refers to giving our intelligence the role of arbiter in deciding what is acceptable and what isn’t. But the intelligence [...]
Reflect on time’s cyclicity to reduce the mind’s imbecility
The mind’s imbecility is to believe that the things that haven’t provided fulfillment till now will provide fulfillment next time round. It imagines that the [...]