Wisdom of the Sages

Ishvara Pranidhana - completely surrendering to God / for one who gives everything there is no frustration / the relationship between self realization, seeing everything in Good & God in everything, and compassion for all living beings / be the bee (not the fly) / even the jerks are pure spirit souls, have compassion / Shiva fixes his mind on Vishnu and feels compassion for the haters / Raghu like...

spiritual fandom / why do we love this swing festival so much? / our senses are dragging us around with the hope to enjoy / the tremendous velocity of the wheel of time / if Kaustubha created a virtual reality for Raghu he would program it with time & karma, so that he would come back out / Vishnu expands & withdraws his energies like a spider and its web / enjoyment or enlightenment? what's the u...

Mara's leap of faith / we live in a world of hype / expectations make us suffer repeatedly / you're at the Coliseum, now what?! / every moment of the day, we get a fork in the road & can choose Krishna / Krishna is the root of everything / as Divine consciousness rises within us the externals become less significant / we're being dragged around like a bull with a ring in its nose / fearlessness th...

death doulas / saris are long / advice from sage Narada - waste no time with indecisive debate – put aside material happiness, distress, desire & false gain – cultivate nonviolence, truthfulness, cleanliness, compassion & faith – constantly worship the Krishna with all of your heart / by nature the heart is full of love / the vision of the yogi – God is in everyone & everyone is in God /Bhagavad-g...

the yogi Kardama Muni lived how long? / Kaustubha's trip to the waterfall / this podcast is NOT sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts / Prabhupada's disbelief at what Americans are willing to buy into / turn your entire day into yoga / is love an illusion? / love is intrinsic to the soul & is awakened through Bhakti-yoga / all the yoga paths are meant to go to the same place - but Bhakti goes there directly...

advancement in yoga is tapping into the frequency of God in the heart / GiGo principle - good in, good out, garbage in, garbage out / reduce the noise to hear the whisper within / God is our internal engineer dropping pebbles on our helmet as reversals in life / Srimad Bhagavatam teaches us to make lemonade of the lemons and offer it to God https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChkQ7Q6cEBQenwKugPjOVjA

How can material things mean nothing when Krishna's energy is in all material things down to the atom? / If the material world means nothing and is an illusion, why wouldn't we just stay in the spiritual realm from the beginning? / Why is chanting talked about as 'the only way' in this age? / Am I worthy of owning the Bhagavatam without being a full time Bhakti-yogi? / Karmically, how responsible...

we all need a spiritual mission / we're born to contribute / reprograming the mind through shloka memorization / drop your phone and hold the mind steady / you need a peaceful lifestyle for a peaceful mind / self knowledge frees one from body negativity & anxiety / smash your mirrors / phones are sickly addictive… turn it off! / climbing the 8 limbs of yoga SB 3.21.4

if I have an enemy, I have a problem / accepting illusion as truth in the material world / higher beings, lower being, snakes, angels, mystics, sages, demigods, demons, ghosts, fiends, sages & the father of mankind / the problem with counteracting bad karma - you don't get to the root of the problem / it was The Clash Raghu, The Clash, (not the Jam) / the Srimad Bhagavatam family tree SB 3.20.1-21...

continuous practice reframes all of life's challenges / 2 ways to see the world - it's meant for me to enjoy - it's meant for me to learn from / Kaustubha met a wild boar! / our bodies are unreal / what about stillness Raghu? / doubt your doubts / even alpha-male elephants need to cry for help sometimes / 5 potent practices SB 3.19.20-38

What to do when you catch your 15 year old smoking Marijuana in the house? / Is there a place for women renunciants in the Bhakti tradition? / Do the Bhagavatam or other Vedic scripture provide any direct insight on parenting or the development of the child in the first weeks and months?

happy birthday Mara! / create ripple effects of love / zoom the hell out - its over in a moment / worry is a lousy investment / you can love your enemies when you zoom the hell out / God is to us as the root is to the tree, or as the stomach is to all the limbs of the body / Raghu's Christian outreach method / when it comes to personalization - make that circle big / Vishnu's battle with Hiranyaks...

1. don't let hate make you hate / 2. don't let revenge, resentment or spite enter your heart / 3. step back and zoom out - its just a tiny moment in time / 4. we've got karma to burn / Bhagavatam works! / the words of the shaman / Krishna always saves us / we'll all be severely tested so that we can break the cycle of birth & death / by Krishna's grace we can pass over all life's obstacles / build...

checking in with the 3rd generation / listening to the Bhagavatam just makes my day better / I may have been a chicken in my last life / the appeal of Bhagavatam at all stages of life / Krishna's forgetfulness is part of his perfection / Krishna gets lost in play to taste love / when you displease great souls, you lose your beauty & luster / Krishna, looking like a puppet made of butter, gets lost...

Bhakti helps you deal with the pain of material existence / uproot & let go of the hurt / don't be petty back / Kaustubha's dentist chair prayers / Vishnu steals your victim card / taking radical responsibility / Guna, Purusha, Yuga, Shakyavesa & Lila Avataras SB 3.16.24-26

from the gangsters of Chicago to the Goswamis of Vrindavan / the renunciation of Raghunath dasa Goswami / family responsibility as exemplified by Gopal Bhatta Goswami / the loving dealings of Sanantana Goswami / madhukari - collecting one's meals like the bee / the vast contribution of Rupa Goswami / Jiva Goswami's humility /the tomb of esoteric books / Srila Prabhupada presented the teachings of...

can you recommend any strategies for me to use to help bring my mind to higher things and away from these carnal thoughts? / why are we given a number of rounds to chant, rather than a length of time? / beating ourselves up can lead to unnecessary amounts of guilt and shame, but so-called self-acceptance can lead to remaining attached to things that are holding us back - how can we continue making...

Celebrate Episode 500 with us as we hear testimonials from Wisdom of the Sages listeners about how the podcast, bhakti & Srimad Bhagavatam have transformed their lives.

reading wise things won't make us wise- we need to apply it / Vishnu is exceedingly attached to his devotees / 3 principles of spiritual culture - cleanliness, austerity and mercy / our nonsense got us here, we need wise people to lead us out / the need to honor the speakers of truth / live simply to be happy / frogs are dying / what's the news - everybody is burning / dharma is hidden in the hear...

Sherri's kirtan adventure / to be aloof from public opinion / Vishnu asks a favor / being bound by love / knowing the mind of the master / getting beyond religious superficiality / the most confidential knowledge is when God reveals His heart / the 4 Kumara's try to make sense out of Vishnu's love / Sanatana dharma - there is an eternal standard for what is good / Kaustubha's satanic friend SB 3.1...

the importance of routine / even people of the lowest behavior are purified by their interest in hearing about Vishnu / interest in Vishnu obliges Vishnu personally / Vishnu is glorious because he honors the Brahmanas / good fortune is always with Vishnu because he serves such devotees / Vishnu is more pleased by service to devotees than by ritual offered to him directly / ritual becomes void if y...

when there's no ego the heart dances / Sherri's kirtan adventure / there's more happiness in serving than in being served / nothing can harm you as much as your own thoughts unguarded / a brahmana is known by their qualities, not by their birth / God takes radical responsibility and apologizes / Vishnu is sacred because He serves his devotees / how social justice is woven into bhakti culture / how...

How does the bhakti community view the LGBT community? / Does hearing Raghunath and Kaustubha on a podcast recommending "chant the maha mantra" count as receiving the mantra from guru & does it make a difference if I haven't been personally directed by a teacher to set aside time each day to chant? / In this modern age of internet association, how can someone develop a real relationship with a tea...

kirtan at the Bhakti Center / our egos get in the way of everything / Krishna is like the sun, and I'm a stinky t-shirt / 3 approaches – karma, jnana & bhakti / engaging the mind, words and body / the devotee is fearless - heaven & hell are the same to them - externals don't matter / Krishna is my inner engineer SB 3.15.49-50

eagerness is everything / rapture / Dhruva / spiritual form /The Absolute Truth can be understood in three features — impersonal Brahman, localized Paramātmā, and Bhagavān / the personal feature is the last word in understanding the Absolute Truth / untie the knot in the heart / becoming materially exhausted / nothing in the material world will satisfy your heart / its what can I give, not what ca...