Ways to Cope
Where do we go and what do we do for shelter and for relief?
When someone speaks harshly or acts cruelly toward us, how we respond depends primarily on their disposition.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
The Gita provides empowering spiritual practices that can enable us to control our desires, not be controlled by them.
"Almost a year gone | All personal life perhaps undone | Challenges on all sides | A time like no other"
"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"
