Seeking Forgiveness from God for All the Sins
Many times, we commit sins because of ignorance. But that is not an excuse. The laws of nature are very cruel. Whether we do things knowingly or unknowingly we have to face the consequences.
Poem: The Dark Light
"Can it be a good thing, this darkness? / A kind of light that shows me things / I like to hide from in broad daylight"
Why I Decided That Getting Vaccinated Against COVID-19 Was the Right Choice for Me
"I am no stranger to vaccines, or to put it bluntly: I am alive today because I got vaccinated."
When Helping Others Is Compassion and When It Isn’t …
While helping the deprived, we need to consider why they are deprived.
What We Get When We Take Shelter of Lord Rama?
This is the quality of the Supreme Lord, our eternal father. He is magnanimous. He does not hate anyone. He is the well-wishing friend of all.
Gaudiya-vaisnavism, a Tradition of Innovation
Tradition in Gaudiya-vaisnavism is not a process of cutting-and-pasting external practices from the past.
Poem: Last Night The Grim Reaper Came For Me
“You should remember that you may die today—or tomorrow, or before you turn 66, or in twenty years. / It matters not, if you live the life of the soul."
Seek More to Connect Than to Correct
Intelligence is a tool for thinking; it’s like a sword for cutting through confusions. Just
Ways to Cope
Where do we go and what do we do for shelter and for relief?
How to Respond When Someone Hurts Us?
When someone speaks harshly or acts cruelly toward us, how we respond depends primarily on their disposition.
Poem: Digging Out
"As we slowly dig ourselves out / of the gleaming deep casts of snow / I begin to think of what other parts of our lives / could be snowed under and need to be reclaimed."
Inclusivity, My Story
It is said of Srila Prabhupada that "He Built a House in Which the Whole World Can Live." My story is just one of the many stories of inclusivity told by the residents of that house.
Developing Spiritual Vision Through Books
Srila Prabhupada’s book gave me access to saints and sages, who at every step in my life ever since I’ve felt their presence and guidance through the instruction they’ve laid in these book for humanity.
Rising Up and Sinking Down
Personally, I was in awe hearing the 22 year old Amanda Gorman read her poem last week at the US Presidential Inauguration. To me, and to so many others, it was a profound milestone to see someone like her rise up, and be uplifted by eminent others.
How Depressed Desire Leads to Depression
The Gita provides empowering spiritual practices that can enable us to control our desires, not be controlled by them.
Poem: Lockdown
"Almost a year gone | All personal life perhaps undone | Challenges on all sides | A time like no other"
Poetry: Winter Rain
"It’s a cold rain on this cold morning / Raining cats and dogs they say / Why not raining birds and bees / Or better yet let it rain love and kindness."
There is a Quid Pro Quo in Honoring Our Leaders
There is a quid pro quo built into every relationship, every institution. Honor and tradition, the results of quid pro quo, are unifying principles which transform a group of individuals into a society of peoples. Recent events in Washington DC have shown how veering away from quid pro quo by denigrating political institutions can weaken the fabric of a nation, any nation, even the United States of America.
The Power of Truthfulness
Seekers of the truth would be wise to look beneath the surface of the social diseases to the spiritual amnesia that gives rise to the affliction of misidentification; the illusory perception of the eternal spirit soul as the temporary material body.
Monarcophiles of the World, Unite!
"Continue democracy"? But didn't Srila Prabhupada say that democracy was demon-crazy? He did; and more than once; but he said many more things.
Darkness in the Season of Light
Life and death seem separated by a thinner, more transparent space than usual, and no one knows what tomorrow may bring.
A New Year is Here – Are We Here?
A hard, hard year has just ended / Yet many normal things remain suspended / Leaving us with problems far greater than we’d conceived / Exposing our existence to be frailer than we’d believed
Culture Crossing: Krishna Kids in the Material World
We need to have good communication skills to be able to have conversations about tough topics and to maintain openness and trust in the relationship. Part of this means knowing when to stop talking.
Free Entertainment, Expensive Entanglement
The worst part of such entanglement is that we don’t even realize we are getting entangled.