Don’t treat others as a waste-basket for your words
If we have a lot of waste in our house, we wouldn’t throw it at any visitor. But strangely we sometimes throw our waste-words at [...]
Krishna is the stabilizer of material emotions and the stimulator of spiritual emotions
Our emotionality is an innate feature of our very being – it comes from the core of who we are, conscious, spiritual beings. A central [...]
Cultivate a tender heart, but cover it with a thick skin
The process of bhakti is meant to purify and soften our heart, to make it receptive to relish the subtle and sweet love of Krishna. [...]
Dedicate your external to the eternal internal, not the ephemeral internal
When authors write books, they often dedicate their book to some person – that person may not be much mentioned in the book itself, but [...]
Let dissatisfaction propel us vertically, not horizontally
If a person has fallen in an ocean and is floating in a stormy part, they may naturally get to a calmer part of the [...]
Closeness unites more than oneness
When two people share many common interests and deep mutual understanding, they often say, “We are close to each other.” This closeness is not physical [...]
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 [...]
See love in the expression of emotions – and in the concealing of emotions too
Our relationships can become dry or even break down if we don’t express the affection we have for our loved ones. As others can’t read [...]
Make God the center and the circumference of your life
To practice bhakti means to center our life on God. The Bhagavad-gita (12.19) substantiates this by indicating that Krishna is the home for the consciousness [...]
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 [...]
Change the home page of your mind’s browser
Suppose our computer browser has a particular site set as its default home page. If we don’t want to visit that page, we can close [...]
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 [...]
Love first the creator to love best the creatures
Sometimes people think, “Will loving God make us neglect others? Will focusing on the one who is beyond this world make us uncaring towards those [...]
Krishna is not a passive point of concentration – he is the proactive fount of compassion
Yogis begin their meditation by using various objects as initial points of concentration. The Bhagavad-gita mentions that they may focus on the space between their [...]
The kingdom of God is more than a kingdom
The kingdom of God is a phrase often used in religious circles to refer to the place where God resides, the place that is the [...]
Be not sentimental or judgmental – be transcendental
Sentimentality and judgmentality are two obstacles on the spiritual path. When we are sentimental, we become puppets of our feelings. While practicing bhakti, if we [...]
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 [...]
Gita 12.20 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan After describing these Krishna goes [...]
Gita 12.16 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Bg 12.16 anapekṣaḥ śucir dakṣa [...]