Kirtan is magic / Krishna will crush your desire to be the center / We just gotta let go…and then it all comes / a devotee's not interested in maintaining some position / Just when we need him most, the avatar appears / Indra recognizes that Vritrasura is a pure devotee SB 6.12.18-35
Is our path more about supporting others or should we be focused more on our own path? / In moments when doubts and hardships were overwhelming how are you able to turn it around?
After both being sick for 5 days, Raghu and Kaustubha squirrel away for a show about their experiences and thoughts while under the weather. Topics include... • the glory of the devotees of Alachua Fl. • the soon to be released Mahabharata from HD Goswami • Jahnavi Harrisons music descending from the spiritual world • and a dream about the future for Wisdom of the Sages listeners Check out Kaustubha's upcoming Vani course: The Sages' Insight MASTERCLASS WITH KAUSTUBHA https://courses.vanischool....
What does it mean to be an authentic person on a Bhakti path? / Could you share a little advice on raising a child in Bhakti? / Clicker counters vs tulsi beads for counting japa - is one method better than the other?
"the Matrix can remain our cage or it can become our chrysalis, ... To be free, you cannot change your cage. You have to change yourself." - Neo, The Matrix Screenplay / we lose our dignity and our focus chasing pleasures in the matrix / the world is a virtual reality designed to to train us to love purely / loving purely means entirely selfless, and encompassing everyone / 'Perform your duty equipoised, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.' - Bhagavad...
"What is life?… It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time." - Crowfoot / observe nature, reflect and journal / Vritrasura starts blowing Indra's mind! / What is the fruit of devotion mixed with material desire? Enmity, anxiety, mental agitation, pride and belligerence. / we've all got a Crazy Joe Davola / Vritrasura offers his body, words & mind to Vishnu / Vritrasura shares his tender, inner, feminine side / Vritrasura's desire to serve the servants / rooting out the inner tinder swi...
thoughts on kirtan / have faith the Maha-mantra will reveal everything / "Our bodies are just temporary vessels for our souls, which will go on forever. You really are an extension of the power that created the whole universe, no matter what drags you have on." -RuPaul / we wear many drags / note what we're leaning into to escape our pain / material focus keeps you on a rollercoaster of ups and downs / the material world is designed to humiliate us / devotees are awarded fearlessness / let the j...
we've gotta reject the aspects of religion that prevent us from uniting in kirtan / kirtan can lift us to the spiritual world / once you dress like a cowherd boy you've gotta own it / great personalities are not disturbed by insults / welcome insults as an opportunity / why should anything in this illusory world disturb our connection to Krishna? / let's be ready to die a glorious death / duels have umpires SB 6.10.13 - 6.11.5 Check out the Mayapur Kirtan that Kaustubha mentions at https://www.y...
Raghunath and Kaustubha interview their longtime friend, Yogi Charu, about the importance of maintaining a daily sadhana and other practices for physical, spiritual and mental health. Check out Charu's book, https://a.co/d/3L4z0zB Learn more about Yogi Charu and his latest offerings at http s://www.yogicharu.com/
How to explain Bhakti to a concerned spouse? / Why is religion the cause of so much war? / How to react when through serving others you feel like you are being taken advantage of? / How to explain Bhakti to skeptical family members?
you need your WHY to wake up in a good mood / Meaning comes from serving others / If you're waking up in a bad mood most days, it's not normal / if we're trying to squeeze enjoyment out of sleep we're missing the excitement of spiritual life / Engage your body as an offering for higher purpose / Prabhupada lived it / Bhagavatam is keying into the bhakti disposition / The body must be engaged for the benefit of others, or else it will be the source of tribulation and misery / Give your body give ...
"… either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course." - Martin Luther King Jr. / the lives of heros inspire us to make the most of our own / walk through your hell without spite, resentment or revenge / creating a devotional disposition / attachments cloud truth perception / Krishna is easily accessible to the pure and truthful / exclusive yogic focus on Krishna / the beautiful Bhagavatam continually turns stereotypic...
we've been marked by great souls / 'A good disposition is a virtue in itself.' - Ovid / ignorance causes the negative cycle, knowledge breaks it / 1 weekend with devotees can recalibrate your compass / the anxiety of the Devas vs the peace of Vritrasura / the anxiety of the Devas vs the peace of Krishna / Dear Krishna, we love you but….. could you please annihilate our enemies? / Don't ask Krishna for things, just glorify him / when the demigods are utterly helpless, they approach the Supreme Pe...
"Time and reflection change the sight little by little 'til we come to understand." - Paul Cezanne / with time and steady reflection for wisdom will take root / Striving For the Bhakti Tipping Point / Bhakti carries the potential to transcend all religious differences / No one has a monopoly on God / incessant transcendental bliss flows in the minds of those who taste a drop of Krishna's glories / happiness of sense gratification is merely a reflection / how to become they the real friends of ev...
'We cannot attain the presence of God. We're already totally in the presence of God. What's missing is awareness.' - David Brenner / spirituality means trying to see what's holding it all together / the Vishnu stereogram / letting go of the externals for awareness of Krishna / Raghu and Kaustubha have documentary dreams / the polluted eagerness for knowledge / external happiness comes with a dose of external distress / God's rage is bliss, and his bliss is bliss SB 6.9.34-37
• How does our Bhakti practice influence the greater good in this Age of Kali (the Age of Quarrel)? • What do the scriptures say about the duration of Kali-yuga? • Is it just something that we must endure while staying focused on our own spiritual practice or is it possible that conflict will diminish as the tradition spreads?
as we mature, we stop fighting (and start laughing at) the ego / Give up the race- we're destined to lose / laughing at who we've tried to present ourselves as / the demigods have knowledge but not wisdom / eradicating the darkness in the heart / we are all pure souls covered by our mind's conditioning / open your eyes and just see (and be seen) SB 6.9.26-33
"I prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural gardens where the voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling of mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers." - Zitkala-Sa / we're a healthy blend of pagans and theists / here's a postulate - that there is much to see that we are not seeing / What's standing between me and my ability to see God? / the center of the universe is everywhere / If we move through the world harming others, we become callous ...
Kaustubha has a high bar for Krishna miracles / Miracles can shake us out of our skepticism / Figure out your offering and go full speed ahead / Krishna doesn't want one song- he wants every note of every song / Before reciting the Srimad Bhagavatam we must remove our tin foil hat / we think we've let go of the ego, but we haven't / Krishna chops away and sands us for pure bhakti / take your problems to Ganga devi and cry / When ya got nothing, you've got everything SB 6.9.23-24 Check out Page F...
What is the objective of Karma? / Given the state of the world, the corruption, greed, and the pervasive evil that has shown itself increasingly over the past few years do you believe Krishna has returned? / If we are all just playing roles, why marry?
How to help a victim of abuse? / How to keep up with the modern world without getting entangled? / How to understand the Impersonal feature of the Absolute?
recommit to your Bhakti / everything is a distraction from the holy name / Life is short, war is everywhere -get serious about Bhagavatam // The more pain we see, the more determined we need to be to see spirit soul within / To the degree we are moved by hate we've lost our spiritual way / we have to learn forgiveness because we're all fallible / positive attitude is a joke without spiritual substance / stop tripping over the same Maya SB 6.8.12-22
Indra's karmic proclivity leads to his next big mistake / Pure devotional service doesn't breed fear / Krishna accepts the mood, not our expertise / one who accepts Bhakti will never blunder on his path, even while running with eyes closed, he will never trip or fall / Krishna's not power hungry He's love hungry / Do it as an offering! SB 6.9.5-11
What are some ways that we can benefit the most spiritually during the month of Kartik? / How to respond to temple priests who seem like the "money changers" rejected by Jesus? / Is praying for the well being of a loved one like praying for material things?
Raghunath sits down with Krishna Murari Goswami and discusses the onset of the auspicious month of Kartik.
Chronic illness – how to know when to try to fix it or when to accept it? / If we don't forgive we will have similar difficult relationships with family members in our next life?" / What is the connection between Bhakti-yoga and Jnana-yoga? / How to see Krishna in your dreams?
"First things first … he's got three heads." / material existence is riddled with envy fear and worry / Indra blows it again! / freedom comes with a price / the gradual path of letting go / big opulence leads to big bewilderment / Laxmi belongs to Vishnu, not to our Maya / attachment creates humiliation / sadhu's gotta cut- don't be a dirty old man / Indra is the hero of the Vedas, but the buffoon of the Bhagavatam (because Vyasa want's to show us that mixed devotion is not the goal of life)...
you surrender and then you transcend to body and are in a totally different space / don't weaponize your opulences / anything we're proud of will be removed / pride sets one up for competition, anxiety, fear and humiliation / Krishna doesn't tolerate false pride / our bodies have a low ceiling for enjoyment and a high ceiling for pain / we are the enjoyed, not the enjoyer / don't try to adjust the world to your enjoyment - adjust yourself to be harmonious with the world / your devotion is everyt...
there's constant war everywhere / the jiva is at war with the time factor / now is the time to connect with spirit / Narayana kavacha is a comprehensive insurance policy / we are existing in God and God is existing in us at every moment / Be careful what you wish for / purify, refine and distill our desires / our goal is to have prema as our only desire
What does transformation look like? / How can I keep the peace I've been feeling pilgrimage when I return home to figure out my material life? / How to gracefully move through mental layers of cynicism, skepticism and fault-finding?
