Abhishek means bathing, and pushpa means flowers. Thus, Pushpa Abhishek refers to bathing Sri Krishna with flowers . Vedic wisdom teaches that everything comes from the Lord and finds its perfection in serving and glorifying him. Flowers are among the most beautiful gifts , and we offer them to express affection and appreciation. This worldly…
Diwali is not just a festival of lights; it’s a festival of insights. Each day in this sacred season carries its own spiritual message— guiding us from outer celebration to inner illumination. Below are six reflections, one for each of Diwali’s sacred days, inviting us to rediscover how every light outside can awaken the divine light within. Naraka Chaturdashi…
Imagine waiting your whole life for someone you’re not even sure will come. That was Shabari. Every day, she cleaned her hermitage. Every day, she gathered berries. And every day, she waited for Rama. Years passed. No word. No sign. But she never gave up. When Rama finally arrived, her joy wasn’t in recognition—it was…
Mandodari: The Power of Unheard Wisdom Not all leaders wear crowns—and not all dissenters seek rebellion. Mandodari, the queen of Lanka and wife of Ravana, stands out in the Ramayana as one of the most tragically overlooked voices of reason. When Ravana abducted Sita, Mandodari repeatedly warned him: “Return her. This path will only bring…
We all know Hanuman as the mighty hero who leapt across the ocean. But do you know who reminded him he could? Before that legendary leap, Hanuman was hesitant. Unsure of himself. It was Jambavan, the wise elder of the Vanaras, who stepped forward—not to fly himself, but to ignite belief in Hanuman. “You have…
India has recently witnessed a tragic train accident near Balasore, Orissa, leaving several hundred dead and many more maimed. In the face of such a devastating event, we offer our heartfelt prayers for those who have lost their loved ones and friends, as well as for the welfare of the departed souls. During times of…
During the Durga-puja festival in Bangladesh this year, posts appeared on social media claiming that the Hindus had disrespected the Koran by placing it on the floor before the Durga deities. A subsequent investigation found CC TV evidence showing that the Koran was placed there by a Muslim – it seemed to be a ploy…
The Kashmir Files movie has shocked and enraged Indians — not only because such a horrifying ethnic cleansing occurred in our own country just a few decades ago, but also because the systematic brutality was allowed and concealed. Worse still, the reality was distorted by a nefarious nexus of corrupt politicians, inept law enforcers, negligent…
Prabhupada — the transcendentalist who integrated the best of the traditionalist, the existentialist and the utopianist Traditionalists live for the past, existentialists live for the present, utopianists live for the future. Religious teachers are often presumed to be traditionalists, but Prabhupada was a transcendentalist: he lived for the supreme transcendental reality, Krishna. And in his…
On the occasion of World Hypertension Day 2021 Chaitanya Charan has written an article for The Financial Express on how to overcome hypertension, anxiety and depression during the pandemic https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/health/world-hypertension-day-2021-how-to-overcome-hypertension-anxiety-and-depression-during-the-pandemic/2253345/
Late into the night, while the world slept A light was being lit by a spiritual adept That light would illuminate humanity for generations Showing a spiritual pathway to people from many nations. After just a few hours of sleep, Prabhupada arose and contemplated, Working tirelessly at an age when most people vegetated Blessing us…
I certainly don’t want to minimize Krishna’s position in any way. Simultaneously, it’s important to bear in mind that: 1. There’s no such convention of upper case pronoun for God in Sanskrit or most of our traditional languages (these languages don’t have the idea of upper and lower cases at all). 2. Using upper case…
Recently, a movie about the grotesque reality of abortion, named “Unplanned” has become a surprise niche hit. It is the conversion story of Abby Johnson who was the Clinic Director of the Planned Parenthood clinic at Brian, Texas, America. What makes this story especially riveting is that it describes how a person who had facilitated…
madopaśamanaṁ śāstraṁ khalānāṁ kurute madam cakṣuḥ prakāśakaṁ teja ulūkānām ivāndhatām madopaśamanam — removers of arrogance; śāstram — scriptures; khalānām — for the wicked; kurute — they increase; madam — arrogance; cakṣuḥ-prakāśakam — eye illuminating; tejaḥ — brilliance [of the sun]; ulūkānām — for the owls; iva — like; andhatām — blindness. “The arrogance of the…
ajñaḥ sukham ārādhyaḥ sukhataram ārādhyate viśeṣajñaḥ jñāna-lava-durvidagdhaṁ brahmāpi taṁ naraṁ na rañjayati ajñaḥ — the ignorant; sukham — is easily; ārādhyaḥ — convincible; sukhataram — even easier; ārādhyate — is to convince; viśeṣajñaḥ — the expert; brahmāpi — but even Lord Brahma; na rañjayati — cannot convince; tam — that; naram — person who is;…
aśanaṁ me vasanaṁ me jāyā me bandhu-vargo me iti me me kurvāṇaṁ kāla-vṛko hanti puruṣājam aśanam — this food; me — mine; vasanam — this cloth; me — mine; jāyā — this spouse; me — mine; bandhu-vargaḥ — these relatives; me — mine; iti — thus; me me kurvāṇam — while uttering the sounds ‘me’,…
gopāla iti matvā tvāṁ pracura-kṣīra-vāñchayā śrito mātuḥ stana-kṣīram api labdhuṁ na śaknuyāt gopālaḥ — protector and herder of cows; iti matvā — thinking; tvām — you to be; pracura-kṣīra-vāñchayā — with a desire to attain profuse milk; śritaḥ — I approached you; mātuḥ — of mother; stana-kṣīram — breast milk; api — too; labdhum —…
An Indian Union Minister of State recently triggered a furor by stating that evolution is unproven scientifically and shouldn’t be taught in schools. Before examining the tenability of this statement, we need to understand what is implied by the word evolution. It refers to different things in different contexts. In today’s public discourse, evolution is…
khalvāṭo divaseśvarasya kiraṇaiḥ santāpite mastake vāñchan deśam anātapaṁ vidhi-vaśāt tālasya mūlaṁ gataḥ tatrāpy asya mahāphalena patatā bhagnaṁ sa-śabdaṁ śiraḥ prāyo gacchati yatra bhāgya-rahitas tatraiva yānty āpadaḥ khalvāṭaḥ — a bald man; divaseśvarasya — of the sun; kiraṇaiḥ — by the rays; santāpite — on experiencing burning; mastake — of the head; vāñchan — desiring;…
Sometimes you can’t see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others. – Ellen DeGeneres When we want to know how we look, we need a mirror. Similarly, when we want to understand ourselves better, we need an appropriate mirror. One such mirror is others who know us well. Of course, just…
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle – Albert Einstein Video: Podcast: Article: The notion of miracles is often seen as antithetical to science. Miracles connote sudden, arbitrary and even disorderly events that go against the…
“Merely having an open mind is nothing; the object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.” – G K Chesterton Video: Podcast: Contemporary ethos exhorts us to be open-minded and excoriates the follies and perils of close-mindedness. Given that many people with narrow-minded, black-and-white view…
In the last few weeks, the online game called the Blue Whale challenge has triggered consternation and alarm as it has prompted several teenagers in India and the world over to commit suicide. In this online game, some unknown, often untraceable, moderators challenge kids to do various unpleasant and self-injurious tasks such as marking their…
It is never too late to be what you might have been – George Eliot Sometimes we feel that life has passed us by, that it is now too late to do many of the things we wanted to achieve in our life. Such thoughts demoralize us and prevent us from taking the small incremental…
My favorite place in Vrindavan is the Kusum Sarovar. During my recent Vrindavan visit, I savored the beauty of the Sarovar in the early morning hours. A local caretaker took us inside one of the buildings to have darshan of Vishnu’s lotus feet there. He explained how the Rajput kings who had built the Kusum…
While I was in Delhi, I had the fortune of meeting HH Gopal Krishna Maharaj. Though he had returned from a tour of the West just the previous day and was exhausted, he kindly agreed to meet me at his quarters at the Radha Partha Sarthi temple. I gave him a copy of my latest…
Around the period of Balarama Jayanti, 2017, I went on a North India tour which was as much as a pilgrimage as it was an outreach tour. Over the last few years, I have travelled more in America than in India. I wanted to correct this imbalance and, more importantly, to visit Vrindavan and seek…
“Activism is my rent for living on the planet.” – Alice Walker Video: Podcast: The idea of activism – of being a part of some cause that helps makes things better in the world – is increasingly catching on. It has become much cooler than what it was a few decades ago, when greed ruled…
“Missing? Misplaced? Stolen!” I felt the blood rush to my head as I realized with horror that someone had sneaked into my room and taken off with my laptop. It was 3.45 am at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. I was at the guestroom of the ISKCON temple, waiting for the ride that would take me…
Respected Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to your divine self. Every year brings to me deeper appreciation of your unparalleled contributions to enriching my life and the lives of millions all over the world. This year, my enhanced appreciation centered on your extraordinary dedication amidst immense obstacles…
For me, the most encouraging part of traveling and speaking is meeting people who are already connected with me through my sites. In Houston, I met a young man who is not connected with any temple but has been regularly reading Gita daily articles. He told me that the articles have helped him better cope…
During my London visit, I stayed for nearly ten days at the house of Sunderanand P who is a powerhouse of energy. He is one of UK’s leading surgeons in his area of specialization and had operated HH Radhanath Maharaj – that’s how he became introduced seriously to Krishna consciousness. He is one of the…
My meeting with my Guru Maharaj, HH Radhanath Maharaj, was by far the most memorable meeting for me. I met Maharaja for over three hours in Chicago at the house of Balaram P, which was the house where Maharaj stayed in his childhood and youth. There, Maharaj lives in the same basement where he spent…
During my travels, I also got the association of many senior devotees who very kindly gave several hours of their time to discuss our philosophy and its practice. One recurrent theme was the challenge of presenting the personal philosophy of bhakti from within what seems like a highly institutionalized religion. Another theme was the strategies…
The most cringe-inducing question I faced during my entire tour was in Washington DC where, after my Sunday feast class on Reincarnation, a Latino devotee asked, “As scientists keep people away from God, can scientists be considered reincarnations of demons?” The question reflected a series of valid points linked together in a way that leads…
I can live for two months on a good compliment – Mark Twain Life can be disheartening. Things go wrong, people do wrong, we ourselves do wrong. Our best laid-plans can be wrecked by one massive upheaval or thwarted by a million tiny bumps. Either way, we end up feeling like giving up. Amidst…
Trans-gender discomfort After my hotel program in Panama, a couple of trans-gender devotees talked about the discrimination they faced because of their sexual orientation and asked how they could see it spiritually. I had addressed a similar question when I was in Detroit where after the Sunday feast a Vaishnavi Prabhupada disciple had asked, “How…
1. How does reincarnation matter to me? 2. Are there any scientifically proven cases of reincarnation? 3. If reincarnation is for real, why can’t we all remember our past lives? 4. Does reincarnation mean that we all have our soulmates? 5. Do animals have souls? 6. Can understanding reincarnation help address current world problems…
While I travel to speak on the Bhagavad-gita, I see myself primarily as a student of the Gita. And I have found that retaining such a learning mood helps me draw ideas and insights at even the unlikeliest of times. For me, learning from the audience doesn’t happen just during the class or after the…
At the Denver airport, a female wheelchair assistant greeted me in perfect Hindi, asking whether I was from Mumbai. I nodded and, as she was an African-American, I asked her how she knew Hindi. She had obviously expected that question and, with a pleased look, said that she had learned it by watching Bollywood movies….
America was started by Protestant Christians, but over the years it has become increasingly multi-cultural, especially in its public square. Though I had visited several places that were part of the Bible belt – states with high concentrations of evangelical Christians – none of those places had the overwhelmingly Christian demographic as did Salt Lake…
The Christian-Vaishnava dialogue is the marquee achievement of the ISKCON Communications ministry and Anuttama P, who has been its insightful pioneer and my thought-provoking guide. He had invited, indeed insisted, that I be present for at least part of the conference. As I participated in the conversations, I was intrigued to see the level of…
My most attended program for a Western audience was at the Ohio State University. Naveen Krishna Prabhu, along with an inspired team, has been conducting a weekly vegetarian cooking class, which has over the years blossomed into a full-fledged program. Over one hundred and fifty students attended the program where I spoke on “Focus on…
“Opportunity may knock only once but temptation leans on the door bell” – Oprah Winfrey Podcast: Suppose we are busy working in our house. If someone knocks on the door, and knocks softly, we may not hear them, especially if we are not expecting anyone. But if that person keeps knocking and knocking, we may…
yad atra skhalitaṁ kiñcid vidvāṁsaḥ pūrayantu tat yad atra sauṣṭhavaṁ kiñcid tad guror eva me na hi yad — that which; atra — here; skhalitaṁ — is faulty; kiñcid — whatever; vidvāṁsaḥ — the learned souls; pūrayantu — may kindly correct; tat — that; yad — that which; atra — here; sauṣṭhavam —…
Most by college program organizers asked me to speak on “Spirituality in the age of science.” Not wanting to speak the same content again and again, I started approaching the topic from different angles in different talks. And I soon discovered that I had enough approaches to address this topic in a full book. One…
Vineet Chander (Venkat Bhatta P), who is the Director of Hindu Affairs at Princeton University and has become a close friend over the years, organized a talk on The Karma Conundrum – Does our destiny make us or do we make it? I have found that audiences all over the world are keenly interested in…
My tour to the West in 2017 was the longest till date, lasting for three months and extending across forty cities in five countries: USA, Canada, Trinidad, Panama and UK. During the tour, by Krishna’s mercy, I gave around 132 classes and answered around 1000 questions. Here I share some of the highlights of the…
Perhaps the most significant program during my Western trip was a seminar at Intel, in Phoenix, Arizona, on the topic “MIND the MIND.” It was attended by around 25-30 Intel employees, who were engrossed in the subject throughout the whole talk. I developed my talk using two acronyms MIND. How we defeat ourselves: Our mind…
My tour to the West in 2017 was the longest till date, lasting for three months and extending across forty cities in five countries: USA, Canada, Trinidad, Panama and UK. During the tour, by Krishna’s mercy, I gave around 132 classes and answered around 1000 questions. Here I share some of the highlights of the…
“If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” – Woody Allen Audio and Video: Podcast: This quote provocatively restates a universal truth, enshrined in sayings such as “Man proposes, God disposes.” We all have dreams and we make plans accordingly. We envision our life going along a smooth line leading to…
Vaishnava Seva Prabhu’s father, Shriman C K Shah, left his body on 17-7-17 at 11.03 pm. The day coincided with the disappearance day of Srila Loknatha Dasa Goswami and the Brahmotsava of Sri Sri Radha Gopinath. The auspicious moment of departure Three years ago, he had started developing dementia. And four months ago, his left…
How pleasant is the day when we give up striving to be young – or slender. – William James Audio and Video: Podcast: While navigating through life’s inevitable challenges, we often increase our burdens by uncritically accepting prevailing definitions of success as our life’s goals. One incessantly glamorized success-definer is an ideal figure, which…
“I told the doctor I was overtired, anxiety-ridden, compulsively active, constantly depressed, with recurring fits of paranoia. Turns out I’m normal.” – Jules Feiffer Audio and Video: Podcast: This paradoxical quote illustrates how abnormal mental conditions have become normal, how mental health problems have become mainstream, how though we have progressed technologically, we seemed to…
“Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts” – Buddha Audio and Video: Podcast: We live in a world of bitter competition wherein our rivals sometimes become enemies bent on destroying us. Amidst such external hostility, it is easy to forget that worse than the worst outer enemies is…
When an instructional point is conveyed in a straightforward way, people frequently dismiss it as, “Same old moralizing.” But when that point is made using humor or sarcasm, it registers far more strongly, deeply and possibly transformationally. This Subhashita uses sarcasm to convey the futility of the miserly mentality. Misers don’t want to give up…
Welcome to Reviews and Musings. Talking about your latest book Demystifying Reincarnation, how important it is for us to understand the deeper meaning of our lives in today’s times? Understanding life’s deeper meaning is especially important in today’s times because we have so many options to choose from. Just as it’s possible to spend a…
Thousands of cases of past-life memories have been documented by Dr Ian Stevenson and other researchers. When skeptics fail to explain away such cases, they resort to the fraud hypothesis. The parental fraud explanation holds that the parents spin the entire story of a past-life memory and drill the child to perfection to play the…
Demystifying Reincarnation is an engaging read that analyzes how one of humanity’s oldest questions – what happens after death? – is most coherently and empoweringly answered through reincarnation. ** “An intellectually stimulating and spiritually uplifting book that will expand the readers’ conceptions of life and its meaning” – Padma Vibhushan Dr Vijay Bhatkar, Chancellor,…
Today, religion is “something useful for weddings and funerals but otherwise dispensable.” – Cultural critic Christopher Lasch Audio Podcast: Nowadays, the question of ultimate meaning doesn’t occupy the minds of most people. And when religion is divorced from such questions, it degenerates into a set of rituals that are followed out of deference to culture…
I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. – Martin Luther King, Jr. Audio: Suppose a person is carrying a huge boulder on their back. When asked why they are carrying it, they reply, “I want to throw it on my enemy’s head.” If their enemy lives far…
“You may not keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” – Martin Luther Audio Podcast: We live amidst a culture of violence and indifference. Some people resort to violence at even the slightest provocation and others often just stand by, watching indifferently,…
While I was in Toronto, Anirudha P, one of my Canadian tour organizers, persuaded me to go to Niagara falls. Somehow , the idea of traveling to places just to see them doesn’t inspire me so much. But recently I have been meditating on the experiential genre of writing and speaking. So, I thought of…
Asia Today, an Arizona-based newspaper, interviewed Chaitanya Charan about his life and contributions, especially in sharing the Bhagavad-gita’s wisdom in today’s world. The interview is given below: Asiatoday got an opportunity to meet a young travelling monk, Chaitanya Charan Das, from ISKCON aka Hare Krishna group. Chaitanya Charan Das is an acclaimed author, scholar, mentor,…
I often talk about how theoretical knowledge is different from experienced knowledge, but we don’t always know what we are talking about. I was reminded of this when I spoke at Jacksonville, Florida to students from the University of North Florida on “Near Death Experiences – Has the white crow been spotted?” The title referred…
prāyaḥ prakāśatāṁ yāti malinaḥ sādhu-bādhayā nāgrasiṣyata ced arkaṁ ko ‘jñāsyat siṁhikā-sutam prāyaḥ — usually; prakāśatām — limelight; yāti — attain; malinaḥ — envious; sādhu-bādhayā — by harassing the saintly; nāgrasiṣyata — wouldn’t eclipse; cet — if; arkam — the sun; kaḥ — who; ajñāsyat — would know about; siṁhikā-sutam — Rahu (the son of Simhika) The only way envious people can bring themselves into limelight is by harassing the saintly. How would anyone ever know about the dark…
āḥ kim artham idaṁ cetaḥ satām ambhodhi-durbharam iti krudheva durvedhāḥ para-duḥkhair apūrayat āḥ — aargh!; kim — how; artham — much; idam — this; cetaḥ — heart; satām — of the saintly souls; ambhodhi-durbharam — unfathomable like the ocean; iti — thus thinking; krudheva — being angry; durvedhāḥ — the cruel creator; para-duḥkhaiḥ —…
“First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man.” – Japanese proverb The man takes a drink: No one takes their first drink with the desire to become alcoholics. They think that they are just having some fun; they are being cool; they are fitting…
What we are is God’s gift to us; what we become is our gift to God – Eleanor Powell I first came across this quote many years ago and found it intuitively, inspiringly insightful. Over the years, I have contemplated it in the light of the Bhagavad-gita’s bhakti wisdom, wisdom that was probably unknown…
“Ultimately it’s the desire, not the desired, that we love.” – Friedrich Nietzsche This statement seems counter-intuitive: alcoholics desire a drink, not the desire to drink. Yet if a drink was all that they desired, taking it would satisfy them. But whatever satisfaction they feel is short-lived. Soon, the desire re-appears and goads them…
On the sacred day of Christmas, when Jesus Christ descended to raise human consciousness, I am humbled to see this significant landmark scaled by our small effort to share the wisdom of the Gita, which too is meant for raising human consciousness. I thank all those who have joined in the journey of delving into…
At the age of five was my first memorable introduction to the Bhagavad-gita. I participated in a Gita verse recitation competition in Chandrapur, Maharashtra. I remember feeling both happy and nervous: happy to have memorized several verses, and nervous about reciting them on stage in front of many people. However, that encounter with the…
“All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson This quote strikes us as paradoxical: If the thought is ours, how could it have been stolen by the ancients who existed before us and our thoughts? Yet Emerson’s point resonates with thoughtful people. We sometimes get a striking thought and feel…
vrajaty adhaḥ prayāty uccair naraḥ svair eva ceṣṭitaiḥ adhaḥ kūpasya khanaka ūrdhvaṁ prāsāda-kārakaḥ vrajati — slides; adhaḥ — down; prayāti — rises; uccaiḥ — higher; naraḥ — a man; svaiḥ — by his own; eva — certainly; ceṣṭitaiḥ — deeds; adhaḥ — goes down; kūpasya — of the well; khanakaḥ — digger; ūrdhvaṁ…
Rama’s forsaking Sita is the Ramayana’s most challenged and most challenging incident. A man’s abandoning his pregnant wife because of an unproven accusation seems troublingly wrong. Reputation Why did Rama do such a thing? Was he excessively reputation-conscious? Did he abandon Sita just because he didn’t want his good name sullied by having a…
For me personally, the most productive aspects of my visit to the Middle East were the talks I gave on, of all things, cricket. I, like most Indians, had heard the name of a Middle East city because of the cricket tournaments it hosts. In recent years, as I have been speaking and writing on…
During my last full day in the Middle East, on 25th, which happened to be Ekadashi and which also happened to be Friday (the weekly holiday in the Islamic world), it worked out that I had to give five classes in three different cities. For over a decade and a half, I have been fasting…
While in a prominent city in the Middle East, I stayed with a devotee whose house was on the seventeenth floor of a skyscraper. During my travels to Australia, USA, Canada and UK, the devotees who have hosted me have had houses ranging from one-room apartments to multi-story villas. But this house was the highest…
“To identify with the mind” means to accept its desires as our desires and unthinkingly act on them. “To identify the mind” means to recognize that the desires popping up inside us are the mind’s desires – “Aha! That’s the mind speaking” – and to intelligently evaluate whether to act on them or not. “Don’t…
During my five-day visit to Bahrain in 2016, I spoke a four-part series on the Bhikshu Gita, a section from the Uddhava Gita in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. This song of the mendicant contains penetrating insights about the nature of the mind and its pivotal role in aggravating our distresses. During the series, the discussion spontaneously evolved…
jaḍās tapobhiḥ śamayanti dehaṁ budhā manaś cāpi vikāra-hetum śvā muktam astraṁ daśatīti kopāt kṣeptāram uddiśya hinasti siṁhaḥ jaḍāḥ — fools; tapobhiḥ — through austerities; śamayanti — try to pacify; deham — the body and senses; budhāḥ — the intelligent; manaḥ — the mind; ca — and; api…
After one of my talks in an American university, a student who had heard attentively and asked good questions approached me and enquired, “What is your name? I couldn’t get it when you were introduced.” When I answered, she shook her head regretfully and said, “I will never get that.” Even just Chaitanya was difficult…
Moments of bhakti and momentum in bhakti – Weekday bhakti and weekend bhakti The major difference between ISKCON temples in India and in the West that struck me was the difference between weekday activity and weekend activity. As the Indian temples have vibrant monasteries associated with them, these temples are active throughout the week….
During my stay at New Jersey, I was asked to speak at a psychiatric hospital, Carrier Clinic, in Belle Mead to the caregivers on the topic of “Discover your inner power.” While I had spoken on this topic several times during this trip to the West, in this case, I customized the content according to…
During the London leg of my tour of the West, the most memorable engagement was a talk show at Queens College, Cambridge University. The format was that the program coordinator acted as a host for a talk show entitled “Debunk the monk.” He shot a flurry of questions at me, challenging my beliefs and practices…
In acquiring knowledge, it is said that what we can know depends on what we know. On seeing pale fingernails, a layperson sees just the discoloration of the nails, but a doctor sees signs of anemia. As the doctor knows more about the body’s functioning than a layperson, the doctor can come to know more…
One of my programs in Panama was at a Christian school, San Miguel Arcangel School, Panama. This school is in what is called Zona Roja (Red Zone) area, where drugs, crimes and the like are rampant. My audience was mostly teenage kids who are particularly vulnerable to delinquency and worse in such areas. I had…
My first striking encounter with Srinathji Prabhu highlighted his extraordinary attention to specifics. About a decade ago, when I was a fledgling author, I would feel encouraged whenever anyone appreciated my writings. Once after a Pune yatra, while everyone was taking prasadam and preparing to depart, I happened to meet Srinathji Prabhu. And he spontaneously…
At UDELAS, a university in Panama, I was asked to speak on Proactive Leadership. The audience included nurses, counselors and various other caregivers. The department head who had organized the program said that she wanted all her students to have a positive attitude despite seeing much distress in their respective fields. The gist of my…
The highlight of my Panama visit was a program on Sunday, 16-10-16, at one of Panama’s biggest hotels, Hotel El Panama. Nearly 300 people, most of them Panamanian, attended the talk on “The power of your mind” and asked many earnest questions. My host and trip coordinator, Shyamachandra P, the vice-president of ISKCON, Panama, did…
On 9-10-16, in Canada, I spoke on science twice in the same day – and both at temples, and that too in Sunday feast classes. I spoke on “What near-death experiences mean for us” at ISKCON, Brampton, which is a suburb in Toronto, and on “Science vs Religion” at ISKCON, Toronto. Science vs Religion –…
Prabhupada’s quarters at the New Dwarka temple in Los Angeles are the place where Prabhupada spent the maximum time outside India. During my last year’s US visit, seeing the Matchless Gift center on the Lower East Side in New York had been the most poignant Prabhupada pilgrimage for me. This year, seeing Prabhupada’s quarters in…
During my 2016 US tour, I have been blessed with a lot of inspiring association of many senior Vaishnavas. While I was in Los Angeles at the lotus feet of Their Lordships Rukmini Dvarkadhisha in New Dwarka Dhama, I got more than two hours of association of the Temple President H G Svavasa Prabhu. He…
During my visit to Central New Jersey, on 18th September, 2016, Govinda Prabhu and I spoke at Princeton University on the topic of “Tragic Hero? Lessons from the life of the Mahabharata character Karna.” Vineet Chander (Venkat Bhatta Prabhu) serves as the Director of Hindu Affairs at Princeton University; and he had invited me to…
When I came to Alachua, Florida, USA, last year, I felt embarrassed to speak about Krishna to an audience primarily of senior devotees, many of whom are Prabhupada disciples. Still, they have been very kind to encourage me and appreciate my classes. This year, Janmashtami Prabhu, who had started the Mayapur Institute (MI) in Mayapur…
he hema-kāra para-duḥkha-vicāra-mūḍha kiṁ māṁ muhuḥ kṣipasi vāra-śatāni vahnau sandīpyate mayi suvarṇa-guṇātireko lābhaḥ paraṁ tava mukhe khalu bhasma-pātaḥ he hema-kāra! — O goldsmith!; para-duḥkha-vicāra-mūḍha — who is oblivious to others’ suffering; kim — why; mām — me; muhuḥ — constantly; kṣipasi — do you throw; vāra-śatāni — hundreds of times; vahnau — in fire; sandīpyate…
While returning by flight from Bangalore to Mumbai, I was allotted the window seat. I usually ask for the aisle seat so that I can get up and use the restroom when necessary without inconveniencing others. But on this day, the aisle seat was unavailable. My window seat happened to be in the last row…
(This article appeared at the beginning of the Srila Prabhupada Vyasa-puja book for 2016 ) Expression reflects and reinforces emotion. The celebration of Vyasa-puja is an expression of the gratitude that the disciple feels for the spiritual master. And that feeling becomes reinforced when a disciple expresses one’s own gratitude and hears other disciples’ express…
Recently a devotee told me that he had been fighting against a particular conditioning for a long time and was repeatedly relapsing into it despite having made many resolutions to give it up. He had become so disheartened that he said, “Maybe I should just stop practicing bhakti. What is the use of all my…
On Balaram Jayanti, I was flying from Mumbai to Bangalore for the evening Balarama Jayanti class. As is standard on this sacred day, I was fasting from water till noon. For my body type, fasting is not difficult. I fast every week, but I usually take water. On appearance days of the Lord and the…
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