Wisdom of the Sages

we have 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day, 80% are negative, 95% are repetitive / Bhagavatam predicted Kali-yuga minds would be always disturbed - the National Science Foundation confirms it / technology has created a bizarre world, and it's driving us mad / yogis are in the business of retraining our thoughts / the senses are channels to the mind / we can consciously design our mind's programming / the mind can be the cause bondage or liberation / we need a game plan, otherwise the team of the mind and senses are going to crush us / swipe right for Krishna

SB 5.11.8-10

"We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge." - John Naisbitt / do we have the cognitive ability to distill information into wisdom? / we're not asking all the most important questions / mental stability through knowledge of matter and spirit / the materialistic mind covering the living entity's soul carries it to different species of life / we're trying to find our tribe at a costume party / wrapping our heads around the idea that we could take birth as an animal / Prabhupada's distinction between Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma / your mind is a pond and your emotions are the fish / Mara's mind stretch

SB 5.11.6-7

Why is there conflicting information about the practices and regulations in Bhakti-yoga? / How to root out "false Bhakti" in oneself?

Bhuta Bhavana Das (Ed Anobah) graduated in Philosophy and Economics at the London School of Economics and is currently responsible to training 47,000 leaders in a global financial organization. He's also been practicing Bhakti-yoga for over 25 years. In this episode he discusses parallels in leadership from both modern and Vedic sources, especially regarding the importance for leaders in developing unity while honoring diversity. Ed Anobah Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ed-anobah-podcast/id1520006462 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edanobah/

"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." Marcus Aurelius / "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." - F. Scott Fitzgerald / our minds have been corrupted (made unreliable by alterations) / how the 3 gunas corrupt the mind / Without yoga, we're helpless / Don't get pulled into a bird body

SB 5.11.4-5

"In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank / this world moves in cycles / the remedy for hate is spiritual insight / material awareness is like a dream - when we realize that material happiness is insufficient we begin to wake up

SB 5.11.1-3

release the ego and sing with the devotees / functional identity vs fundamental Identity / we've got to simultaneously hold both the conventional perspective and the transcendental perspective / seeing the world through the perspective of what we hear from Bhagavatam / Bhagavad-gita's formula for receiving spiritual insight / spiritual insight = seeing all living beings as part of the Supreme

IG: keshava_rgm

SB 5.10.23-25

"Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you." - Walt Whitman / "Kṛṣṇa is compared to sunshine, and māyā is compared to darkness." - Sri Caitanya / "Whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness." Sri Krishna / seeing everything (family, money, property, responsibility) through it's relationship to Krishna is the key to the code / seeking clarity between alternating conventional and transcendental contexts / material attachments lead to material suffering

SB 5.10.19-22

"The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you." —David Foster Wallace / do we point the truth only at others, or can we point it at ourselves? / Jada Bharata accepts karmic responsibility for his own circumstances / "Is everything going well in your endeavor to conquer the repetition of birth and death?" / King Rahugana bows down / Rahugana's only fear, offending a truth speaker

SB 5.10.14-18

Raghunath and Kaustubha ask each other…..

• When did you know that you had to commit your life to Bhakti? • What were your biggest doubts in the beginning? • What are your biggest doubts now?

What's the difference between love and Love? / Should we sing mantras glorifying the demigods? / What is the importance of studying verses in Sanskrit?

"Men are not punished for their sins, but by them." - Elbert Hubbard / karma is a natural law designed to foster a disposition of kindness, compassion and generosity / karma helps us own the consequences of our choices and actions / a little suffering can be healthy for our evolution / our desire for stability is indicative of our eternal nature / lust is nothing but love transformed / a real friend walks hand in hand with you toward divinity / we're not naughty by nature

SB 5.10.13

I Love Mayapur / our material positions are merely conventional / externally operating according to material convention, internally thinking on the spiritual level / king today, dog tomorrow / for some time we play as master or servant, as actors play / do extraordinary things for an extraordinary life / stage dive into reality

SB 5.10.11-12

https://www.youtube.com/@IloveMayapur

"Affirm the spirit, the Eternal I" - Ella Wheeler Wilcox / children can break your attachment and the knot in the heart / externally - operate according to convention, internally - think beyond convention / we are gathered together like straws floating in the waves of an ocean… inevitably separated by the laws of the waves / every living being can be a channel of love /the reflection of the spiritual real shows itself when the turbulence of the mind is quieted / the ant's soul is important too / the keys exist even if they aren't under the lamppost / the soul is never tired / austerity and penance is meant for seeing the distinctions between body and soul / you're not ripped! You're not this body.

"We are very good lawyers for our own mistakes but very good judges for the mistakes of others." Anonymous / Raghunath is not the spiller! / yoga creates space between stimulus and response / condemn activities, not people / don't forget your principles, even when times are tough / ants are people too / distinction between rajo-guṇa and sattva-guṇa

SB 5.10.1-8

In the Western world there is no equivalent to texts like Ramayana and Mahabharata, which are universally loved, from childhood till death, and chock-full of wisdom on many levels. Dr. Shubha Vilas was raised in the tradition of the Ramayana and in this interview he shares this ancient text's relevance and how it can best be understood.

Learn more at http://www.shubhavilas.com/

How to understand dementia in a Bhakti context? / Is Krishna real?

Radha is the para-shakti, the origin of all the shakti's including Laxmi, Durga, Kali, etc. / Krishna protects those who - never identify with the body, are liberated from the knot in the heart, always engaged in welfare activities for all living entities, and never contemplate harming anyone / mental discipline in the morning / what does Krishna mean when He says "My devotee never perishes" / the protection of Jatayu the vulture

SB 5.9.20

For episode 1,000, Radhanath Swami shares his thoughts on friendship, aging, money, forgiveness, raising children, prayer and bhakti.

when we keep our minds simple, it all starts to click / religion can be a distraction from spirituality / Narada's confession to the hunter Mrgari- "If you must kill, then please….." / Vaisnava's respect Kali and worship Radha / Kali protected Krishna's devotee, and killed her own

SB 5.9.12-20

we all have the potential to achieve the goal of yoga, in this lifetime / what's the real measure of success? / fight the demons within - "Not Today Satan!" / make your life mission to uncover and experience your true spiritual nature / doing small things with great love is a perfect success / Jada Bharata was beyond the dualities of happiness and distressed caused by respect or disrespect - we can't imitate it, but we can draw principles from it / good & bad are mental speculations (this is not about ethics - it's about the relativity of material pleasure) / our minds are programed to see some things as attractive and others as repulsive - this programing can be changed

SB 5.9.7-11

"Spirituality is about awakening the eyes, the ears, the heart, so that you can see what's always happening right in front of you." / the external life of the brahmana / the internal life of the Bhakti-yogi / we can't let ourselves be distracted by external prestige or material blessings / we may forget death, but death never forgets us

SB 5.9.1-6

• What is your favorite chapter or passage the sacred texts? • Who is your favorite kirtan leader? • Share a story of a memorable kirtan • What is your favorite temple?

Is there any kind of basic ritual I could perform to offer food? / How to respond to a narcissist's criticisms? / How to understand Bhagavad-gita 12.18? / What are the death rites for Bhakti-yogis?

"Discipline yourself, and others won't need to." - John Wooden / to the extent we don't discipline ourselves, life will discipline us / observe nature and follow the clues / an important part of any wisdom culture is how it helps us to voluntarily accept what nature will otherwise force us to accept involuntarily / "You have practiced how to bark in the legislative assembly. Now become a dog and go on barking." - Srila Prabhupada / repentance precedes reconciliation / if we slip from our yogic discipline we may wake up with hooves!

SB 5.8.28-31

Narayanam namaskryta

Naram caiva narottamam

Devim saraswatim vyasam

Tato jayam udirayet

Before reciting this Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is the very means of conquest, one should offer respectful obeisances unto the Personality of Godhead, Narayana, unto Nara-narayana Rishi, the supermost human being, unto Mother Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, and unto Srila Vyasadeva, the author.

nasta-prayesv abhadresu

nityam bhagavata-sevaya

bhagavaty uttama-sloke

bhaktir bhavati naisthiki

By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.

oḿ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaḿ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

"Some people regard discipline as a chore. For me, it is a kind of order that sets me free to fly." - Julie Andrews / Better to pay now than pay later with compound interest / yoga means gaining ground in the battle of the mental algorithms / we can consciously choose our mind's direction and direct your own destiny / keep chanting and it will get sweeter / Bharata takes his next birth as a deer

SB 5.8.26-27

struggles are an opportunity to walk the walk / rationalizing your illusion is a bad look / justice and mercy / this world will make you cry / we're all gonna fall in love and get killed / stimulus for spiritual feelings / this world is an upside down reflection / our spiritual friendships are so important

Check out Dani's art at www.stillwatercraftco.com

SB 5.8.20-25

Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be attained only by someone who is detached. - Simone Weil / we are just here to love without caveats / we're so attached to the jello that we're unwilling to leave our jail cell / love every living being the way you love your dog / Shankara's 5 Stanzas on the Loin Cloth / every material attachment will be pruned / our wrinkles are okay / you're not the most anything / wisdom cuts out our big fat ego

SB 5.8.15-19

"Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live."- Marcus Aurelius / improving the world and improving oneself are not diametrically opposed to each other / seek the commonality, not the difference / Although Bharata's compassion seemed noble, it was really all about him / the Vedic cultures stages of life / rationalization is intelligence in service of the false ego / the Bhagavatam is right again!

SB 5.8.9-14

How to teach yoga to a primarily Judeo Christian population without offending? / How to overcome fear of death? / What's a simple "Bhakti pitch" to a Christian? / Should we risk our spiritual bank account for material security?

genuine intimacy is based on truth, not illusion / is my intimacy with others facilitating my remembrance or my forgetfulness of God's presence behind everything? / In my roles of maintaining others do I act in the awareness of being a representative of The Supreme Maintainer, or as an artificial maintainer? / What was it, about the form of the fawn, that drew the attention of Bharata?

happiness comes simply / animals are people too / we crave service for meaning in life / Vishnu is in the sun / all of our heat and light can be traced back to the sun, and the sun can be traced back to Krishna - the cause of all causes / Everything is in Krishna, and Krishna is within everything

https://divyas.com/?ref=6799

SB 5.7.13-14

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller / Bhakti is about preparing the heart to melt / what if we were all taught from childhood that God is within the heart of every living being? / peace of mind comes from giving not taking / the devotees have Krishna always etched within their hearts / the progression in Bhakti-yoga - faith, association with advanced practitioners, purification through regular practice, freedom from unwinding things in the heart, becoming firmly fixed, gaining taste, addiction to the taste, the sprout of pure love, pure love

SB 5.7.8-12

mundane world views based on the limited perception of our senses / messengers exist to wake us up and reveal the wonder that lies beyond our perception / life is meant for self discovery and everything happening in the universe can be interpreted and applied in that context / compassion and love lie at the heart of the self discovery / Can there be spiritual form? / the difference between matter & spirit / we're getting caught in the laundry cycle of the mundane / am I perpetually annoyed? / self-discovery and empathy emerge together / ethics open the door to perceiving truth

SB 5.7.7

In this interview Brighupada shares some fascinating insights on the role of the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan and how they presented innovative ideas and practices of Bhakti within the context of an ancient tradition.

Brighupada Dasa (Dr Måns Broo), is a senior lecturer at the Department of Comparative Religion, Åbo Akademi University, Finland. His recent publication "Haribhaktivilāsa of Sanātana Gosvāmin" describes the normative ritual life of a Krishna devotee.

https://brill.com/edcollbook-oa/title/63760?fbclid=IwAR1kkEziqOu8fhXIEexTcLv_1QOrt7_WKynUoLoqxibIh-KLfPe8gzki5rc

How do we make amends when we have wronged someone? / Is there a problem with the impersonal conception of God?

sometimes we need a loving nudge / gratitude liberates us from the prison of self–preoccupation / the less we are preoccupied with ourselves, the happier we are / if you don't feel loved or cared about, start loving & caring for others / in witnessing the cruelty of others, and feeling the hopelessness in it, the cruelty in yourself is diminished / speak your blessings and gratitude / gratitude is being fixed in reality / thank you death / Vedic rituals were communal expressions of gratitude / the maturation of gratitude

SB 5.7.1-6

our respects to HH Kadamba Kanana Swami / "the last of one's freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given circumstance." - Victor Frankl / we all should become self-sufficient / the bodily conception creates unnecessary demands / what success looks like - freedom from hankering and lamenting / Satisfaction through self-realization is called svarūpānanda / to become happy by making material adjustments is impossible / the whack-a-mole principle / our remedies are often worse than our miseries / Chairman Mao's whack-a-mole policies / our material solutions need to be in the context of self-realization / the 4 noble truths

SB 5.6.19

"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson / letting go of hankering for things in the future, and lamenting things of the past / there's always going to be some sand in the sweet rice / Be Here Now (with Krishna) / to become happy by making material adjustments is impossible / Goddess Saraswati can revoke our intelligence at any time / Death holds a mirror before us / the best master is the best servant

SB 5.6.18

Is My Ladder Leaning Against the Wrong Wall? "If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster." ― Stephen R. Covey / the Bhakti-yogi has no interest in the mystic magic tricks / liberation personified waits at the door of the Bhakti-yogi with folded hands

Raghunath and Kaustubha discuss Sri Caitanya, the Krishna Avatar, in terms of his internal and external purposes of appearing, along with calling out danger of personality cults and false claims of being an avatar.

Why do we have to experience loss in this world … the loss of loved ones, and will we ever be reunited? / How to make one's life an offering to God? / How to improve at japa meditation?

authentic practice allows for individuality, imitation limits it / imitating the great saints doesn't help anyone / hippies were imitating Rsabhadeva / adjusting tradition, maintaining the compassionate purpose / it makes perfect sense to worship stones!

SB 5.6.9 - 14

the inevitable global influence of Bhakti / thinking about death can clarify your life / cemeteries are full of indispensable people / Yogamaya - Krishna voluntarily becomes influenced by illusion for play / What was Rsabdeva trying to avoid by living as an avaduta? (And how can it be applied in our lives?) 1. Prajalpa (gossip and unhelpful talk), 2. Entanglement in the regular material affairs, 3. Ego related thought, 4. Being seen as a saint

SB 5.6.6-8

Don't preach, be the example / We're being sold a false identity / Our identity is a divine spark of God and we're meant to reconnect with it / Let go of the excess baggage and scrub the window of the soul / Be cautious trusting the mind & following your instinct / don't offend devotees if you want to control the mind / mind your own business & Control your own senses & mind / Give love, inspire and assist others on their spiritual path / there's always a greater plan / Perfect randomness is part of a divine tapestry / Sometimes purification comes by fire

SB 5.6.3-6

Maya is a black out curtain / Call in the light and watch magic happen / What is my conditioning and what is real? / find your authentic self before Madison Ave sold you your looks / our vehicles have nothing to do with us / The world is a maze / Pruning enhances our growth / Cultivate knowledge to help understand tragedy / Weave knowledge in daily to cultivate wisdom / How can there be anything wrong when I've got Krishna? / We've been practicing anxiety for lifetimes / Krishna has dropped a bell over us for protection

SB 5.6.1-3

Nick Cave on the death in 2015 of his teenage son, Arthur / understanding of our vulnerability / step beyond the full force of the grief and experience a kind of joy that is entirely new / grief can enlarge the heart heart / in bhakti, not only do you survive, you thrive / better not to judge - you never know who you're dealing with / yogic practices of extreme renunciation / if this world is unreal, then in one sense there is no good and bad

SB 5.5.29-35

What is the Importance of Initiation / Is the desire for peer association in Bhakti due to ego or is it my true soul wanting to connect? / Any advice for the spiritually vacant? /

Raghunath interviews Draupadi and Vaishnava about Plenitud Farm, PR. They discuss water harvesting, SuperAdobe huts, permaculture, and more. For more info, check out https://www.plenitudpr.org/welcome

" The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Mahatma Gandhi / Get out of the bathtub! / even self reflection needs guidance / Mickey Mouse costumes won't satisfy us / don't hate the warden, take responsibility for your crimes / don't attach your worth to a false designation (upadhi) / engage your senses for the master of the senses / the senses are like apps, someone is maintaining their functioning / meditating on your own death

SB 5.5.27-28