Spiritual knowledge transforms hopeless end into endless hope
Death is the hopeless end of all our aspirations of success and happiness at the material level of reality. At that final moment of our [...]
Transcend duality by absorption in a reality higher than duality
The world is inevitably a place of duality – something that we can’t avoid just as a boat can’t avoid being moved up and down [...]
Gita 14.08 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan We discussed how soul becomes [...]
Accepting our smallness requires greatness
Megalomania, the illusion of imagining oneself to be far greater than what one actually is, afflicts all of us, to smaller or greater degrees. In [...]
Gita 14.07 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Bg 14.7 rajo rāgātmakaṁ viddhi [...]
The more we crave, the more make ourselves a slave
We live in an age that cherishes freedom and abhors slavery. If anywhere we hear of anyone being enslaved, we often feel dismayed, if not [...]
To think we are beyond danger is the greatest danger
When a boat is at sea, the danger of a storm exists constantly. If the boater becomes lulled into complacency by, say, the calm waters [...]
Break the habits that can break you – before they break you
Some people say, “We drink, but we don’t get drunk – we drink moderately.” Such reasoning neglects the subtle and subconscious way habits become addictive. [...]
Gita 14.03 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Now the next subsection: 14.3-14.4: [...]
Hoping to cure alcoholism by improving wine quality is insanity
Suppose an alcoholic suffering from a hangover resolves, “I am suffering because I drank low-quality wine. Next time I will drink only high-quality wine.” Such [...]
Gita 14.02 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Bg 14.2 idaṁ jñānam upāśritya [...]
Circumstances are like carpets – keep them below, not above
Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by our circumstances. Not being able to respond appropriately to them, we may even feel as if we are simply being [...]
Rift with God makes us drift with the mind
We are pleasure-seeking beings. And we are intrinsically the eternal parts of Krishna, as the Bhagavad-gita (15.07) states. Because Krishna is the all-attractive reservoir of [...]
The world is a classroom, not a courtroom
Some religious people have a negative fear-centered conception of God as a judge waiting to catch them doing wrong. They also view the world darkly [...]
Gita 15.20 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Now Krishna concludes this chapter [...]
Renunciation centers not on running away from the world but running towards Krishna
Some people say, “Those who can’t face the world’s problems run away from them by becoming renunciates.” Sadly, it’s true that some people do take to [...]
Surrender is not rejection of the intelligence, but its perfection
Some people perceive surrender to God as anti-intellectual, as an abandonment of the intelligence for an abject capitulation to God. However, that’s not the kind [...]
Gita 15.17 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Bg 15.17 uttamaḥ puruṣas tv [...]
Act proactively, not reactively
Acting proactively means acting according to our principles and purposes in actions we initiate as well as the ways we respond to events. Acting reactively [...]
Gita 15.16 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan So now Krishna will talk [...]
While knowledge curbs the senses, devotion conquers the senses
Knowledge, specifically spiritual knowledge, helps us understand our spiritual identity and thereby recognize the necessity of controlling the senses that drag us towards material enjoyment [...]