Wisdom of the Sages

Raghunath and Kaustubha interview their longtime friend, Yogi Charu, about the importance of maintaining a daily sadhana and other practices for physical, spiritual and mental health. Check out Charu's book, https://a.co/d/3L4z0zB Learn more about Yogi Charu and his latest offerings at https://www.yogicharu.com/

How to explain Bhakti to a concerned spouse? / Why is religion the cause of so much war? / How to react when through serving others you feel like you are being taken advantage of? / How to explain Bhakti to skeptical family members?

you need your WHY to wake up in a good mood / Meaning comes from serving others / If you're waking up in a bad mood most days, it's not normal / if we're trying to squeeze enjoyment out of sleep we're missing the excitement of spiritual life / Engage your body as an offering for higher purpose / Prabhupada lived it / Bhagavatam is keying into the bhakti disposition / The body must be engaged for the benefit of others, or else it will be the source of tribulation and misery / Give your body give your breath give your blood SB 6.10.1-12

"… either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course." - Martin Luther King Jr. / the lives of heros inspire us to make the most of our own / walk through your hell without spite, resentment or revenge / creating a devotional disposition / attachments cloud truth perception / Krishna is easily accessible to the pure and truthful / exclusive yogic focus on Krishna / the beautiful Bhagavatam continually turns stereotypical dharma paradigms upside-down / the world is designed to prune and prod us to become unconditional lovers SB 6.9.45-55

we've been marked by great souls / 'A good disposition is a virtue in itself.' - Ovid / ignorance causes the negative cycle, knowledge breaks it / 1 weekend with devotees can recalibrate your compass / the anxiety of the Devas vs the peace of Vritrasura / the anxiety of the Devas vs the peace of Krishna / Dear Krishna, we love you but….. could you please annihilate our enemies? / Don't ask Krishna for things, just glorify him / when the demigods are utterly helpless, they approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead in grief and with tears in their eyes / the fully evolved disposition SB 6.9.40-44

"Time and reflection change the sight little by little 'til we come to understand." - Paul Cezanne / with time and steady reflection for wisdom will take root / Striving For the Bhakti Tipping Point / Bhakti carries the potential to transcend all religious differences / No one has a monopoly on God / incessant transcendental bliss flows in the minds of those who taste a drop of Krishna's glories / happiness of sense gratification is merely a reflection / how to become they the real friends of everyone / the beggars may be the experts at achieving the real goal in life SB 6.9.38-39

'We cannot attain the presence of God. We're already totally in the presence of God. What's missing is awareness.' - David Brenner / spirituality means trying to see what's holding it all together / the Vishnu stereogram / letting go of the externals for awareness of Krishna / Raghu and Kaustubha have documentary dreams / the polluted eagerness for knowledge / external happiness comes with a dose of external distress / God's rage is bliss, and his bliss is bliss SB 6.9.34-37

• How does our Bhakti practice influence the greater good in this Age of Kali (the Age of Quarrel)? • What do the scriptures say about the duration of Kali-yuga? • Is it just something that we must endure while staying focused on our own spiritual practice or is it possible that conflict will diminish as the tradition spreads?

as we mature, we stop fighting (and start laughing at) the ego / Give up the race- we're destined to lose / laughing at who we've tried to present ourselves as / the demigods have knowledge but not wisdom / eradicating the darkness in the heart / we are all pure souls covered by our mind's conditioning / open your eyes and just see (and be seen) SB 6.9.26-33

"I prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural gardens where the voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling of mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers." - Zitkala-Sa / we're a healthy blend of pagans and theists / here's a postulate - that there is much to see that we are not seeing / What's standing between me and my ability to see God? / the center of the universe is everywhere / If we move through the world harming others, we become callous and blind / we are trying to be separate independent Gods / the centrifugal force in the act of sex / if you wanna enjoy the flavors of power and opulence, you're choosing illusion / the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love SB 6.9.25