Question: Lust, greed, anger, jealousy, pride etc torment us despite our best efforts to eliminate them. Why is it so? Swamiji: The reason why they have us in their grip is because we souls are under Maya. These—lust, anger, greed, hatred, envy, illusion—are the generals of Maya. God...
Surrender is a key concept prescribed by all religions. Why? What is so important about it that all religions unanimously discuss it? And how exactly does one surrender? Is it a physical ritual to be done daily or twice a day? Can we do 10% just as we are taught...
Question: In one of your recent lectures you mentioned that pranayam is 20 times more beneficial than asanas and meditation is 20 times more beneficial than pranayam. Please illustrate since this sounds so incredible to most. Swamiji: The Yog Vasishtha describes a conversation between Lord Ram and Maharshi Vasishtha. Once...
Nirantar means continuous, always, constant. So nirantar bhakti, by definition, means constant remembrance of Guru and God. This is the third criteria to be maintained if we are to perfect our love for Radha Krishna. The easiest way to keep Guru and God in mind is to do roop dhyan...
Leading through service, or service leadership, seems like an oxymoron at best. After all, how can a servant be a leader? Well, it turns out that individuals who view themselves primarily as servants make for very natural leaders, owing to the following characteristics they exhibit. First, they are empathetic towards...
Swamiji: There are different kinds of bliss. A drunkard gets happiness from alcohol; a businessman gets bliss from counting his fortune; a gyani experiences happiness from the cultivation of knowledge. However, none of these can satisfy the soul, for all these kinds of bliss are finite in quantity. If the...
Every four years, the Olympic Games inspire us with stories of champions – their struggle, perseverance and excellence. Some of these champions win medals, like ace shuttler PV Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik, both from India. Some miss out by a whisker, like gymnast Dipa Karmakar and Scottish swimmer Hannah Miley....
Nishkam bhakti is the second criteria in perfecting our love for Krishna. It means sacrificing or abandoning all selfish desires and becoming completely selfless. This is especially important in light of ananya bhakti discussed previously. If we are to remain exclusively devoted to Krishna such that no one or nothing...
As we learn more about the bhakti, the three criteria of ananyata, nishkamta, and nirantar keep cropping up repeatedly. Clearly, they are very important if we are to perfect our love for Krishna so let’s try to understand them in detail starting with ananya bhakti. Ananya bhakti was mentioned...
