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 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.
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.
"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.
Life and death seem separated by a thinner, more transparent space than usual, and no one knows what tomorrow may bring.
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
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.
The worst part of such entanglement is that we don’t even realize we are getting entangled.
Prabhupada opened my eyes to Christ’s real message, “What does it profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul?” I saw the truth of this.
Living in the material world can evoke a sense of pessimism. Yet unforeseen grace that arrives, beyond my plan-making or comprehension, exists as well.
A good chariot driver sees things others may not, can prompt the right moves, and be there to encourage and support as the warrior makes difficult fighting decisions.
“It seems you two might have another connection,” Devi-deva said. “Sir Ivan is the son of a Holocaust survivor. Maybe you two should meet.”
It seems many of us do not like the government telling us how we should conduct our lives.
Nature is kind and playful. And her beauty is powerful.
Mature spiritual understanding is not relinquishing responsibility, but assuming responsibility with wisdom.
"Calling Krishna together as we head home / Making others stop in wonder at our joy"
What if there was one simple solution for all your problems? Something so easy that even a child could do it? Something which costs nothing, is available to everyone and ultimately ends all suffering?
Beneath all apparent differences of race, nationality, sexual orientation or ethnic origin, everything that lives is a spark of that Supreme Being. Are we not, then, all family?
The spiritual world is not an impersonal place – it’s a place of wonderful exchanges, deep friendships and loving interactions.
According to the Bhagavad-gita, there’s no contradiction between cultivating an inner life of personal spiritual development and an outer life of active social engagement as long as that engagement is dedicated toward “the welfare of all living beings.
Not all conflicts are caused by misunderstandings alone; many are caused by malevolence.
I am now older and wiser in the practice of Krishna Bhakti and yet it still moves me, still delights, still informs.
One of the best ways to inspire people to take responsibility is to equip them with spiritual wisdom.
Often times we start on our spiritual journey with great enthusiasm, excitement and cheer. Yet, somewhere in the middle we come to a point where everything becomes known, monotonous and obvious. How do we steer back?
