Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/How%20can%20the%20mind%20be%20our%20friend.mp3
The post How can the mind be our friend? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Author Archives: Chaitanya Charan das
How can the mind be our friend?
Do we need to give up guilt and worry to practice bhakti?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/Do%20we%20need%20to%20give%20up%20guilt%20and%20worry%20to%20practice%20bhakti.mp3
The post Do we need to give up guilt and worry to practice bhakti? appeared firs…
If my office workload has decreased but I can’t chant or hear much, what should I do?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/04-18%20QA/If%20my%20office%20workload%20has%20decreased%20but%20I%20can%27t%20chant%20or%20hear%20much%2C%20what%20should%20I%20do.mp3
The post If my office workload has decreased but I can’t chant or hear much, what should I do? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Understanding how the mind acts as a mirror that distorts our self-conception
→ The Spiritual Scientist
[Saturday feast program at ISKCON, Richmond, USA]
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2018%20classes/04-18%20classes/Understanding%20how%20the%20mind%20acts%20as%20a%20mirror%20that%20distorts%20our%20self-concep…
How does bhakti shelter us amidst physical and emotional pain?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/How%20does%20bhakti%20shelter%20us%20amidst%20physical%20and%20emotional%20pain.mp3
The post How does bhakti shelter us amidst physical and emotional pain? appeare…
Gita 17.20 Give charity for purity, not popularity
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Gita%20verse-by-verse/Gita%2017.20%20Give%20charity%20for%20purity%2C%20not%20popularity.mp3
The post Gita 17.20 Give charity for purity, no…
How to reconcile the Gita – do your own duty, even if imperfectly – with the Gita – do what you are good at, according to your nature?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/How%20to%20reconcile%20the%20Gita%20-%20do%20your%20own%20duty%2C%20even%20if%20imperfectly%20-%20with%20the%20Gita%20-%20do%20what%20you%20are%20good%20at%2C%20according%20to%20your%20nature.mp3
The post How to reconcile the Gita – do your own duty, even if imperfectly – with the Gita – do what you are good at, according to your nature? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Screen what appears on your inner screen – Learn to manage the mind
→ The Spiritual Scientist
[Congregation program at Washington DC, USA]
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2018%20classes/04-18%20classes/Screen%20what%20appears%20on%20your%20inner%20screen%20-%20Learn%20to%20manage%20the%20mind.mp3
Podcast Summary
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2018%20classes/04-18%20classes/Summary%20-%20Screen%20what%20appears%20on%20your%20inner%20screen%20-%20Learn%20to%20manage%20the%20mind.mp3
Video:
The post Screen what appears on your inner screen – Learn to manage the mind appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
When our nature is to be spiritual, why are we not attracted to Krishna?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/When%20our%20nature%20is%20to%20be%20spiritual%2C%20why%20are%20we%20not%20attracted%20to%20Krishna.mp3
The post When our nature is to be spiritual, why are we not…
Gita 17.19 Slaving to get the whip that will lash us is stupidity
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Gita%20verse-by-verse/Gita%2017.19%20Slaving%20to%20get%20the%20whip%20that%20will%20lash%20us%20is%20stupidity.mp3
The post Gita 17.19 Slav…
If we move to a temple whose mood is different from that of our native temple, what to do?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/If%20we%20move%20to%20a%20temple%20whose%20mood%20is%20different%20from%20that%20of%20our%20native%20temple%2C%20what%20to%20do.mp3
The post If we move to a temple…
Science, Spirituality and The Search for Meaning
→ The Spiritual Scientist
[Talk at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia USA]
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2018%20classes/04-18%20classes/Science%2C%20Spirituality%20and%20The%20Search%20for%20Meaning.mp3
Podcast Summa…
How can we internalize the mood and mission of our teachers?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/How%20can%20we%20internalize%20the%20mood%20and%20mission%20of%20our%20teachers.mp3
The post How can we internalize the mood and mission of our teachers? appeared …
Is purification of the intelligence the same as purification of the mind?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/Is%20purification%20of%20the%20intelligence%20the%20same%20as%20purification%20of%20the%20mind.mp3
The post Is purification of the intelligence the same as purific…
Gita 17.18 The show of austerity without the substance of spirituality points to superficiality or even hypocrisy
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Gita%20verse-by-verse/Gita%2017.18%20The%20show%20of%20austerity%20without%20the%20substance%20of%20spirituality%20points%20to%20superficiali…
From possessions that dispossess to the possession that delivers
→ The Spiritual Scientist
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’, ‘me’; kāla-vṛkaḥ — the fox of time; hanti — slaughters; puruṣājam — the goat-like attached soul.
“This food is mine; this cloth is mine; this spouse is mine; these relatives are mine.” Thus, the goat-like conditioned soul keeps uttering “Mine! Mine!” while the wolf of time pounces on it and devours it.”
Suppose a person driving a car to a shopping mall becomes infatuated with dreams of buying various things. If they become so infatuated that they don’t even notice that their car is headed towards a cliff with a deadly fall, they will soon meet with a disastrous end.
Similar is our fate when we become obsessed with worldly possessions. We can’t see the reality that our life-span is finite and is being depleted with every passing moment. While we live thus blinded, death suddenly comes upon us as a fearsome predator and dispossesses us of everything. A goat is often used to depict those unintelligently obsessed with small things while being oblivious to big dangers.
The Bhagavad-gita (16.13-15) outlines how the possessive mentality can make people ungodly, even demonic. We may not stoop to demonic actions, still the mentality of wanting more and more is obsessive and spiritually destructive – it deadens us to our spiritual potential and perpetuates our distressful worldly existence. What to speak of infatuation with future possessions, even infatuation with our present possessions can consume our consciousness. In fact, anything we possess can possess us. Just as a ghost may possess a person, driving them to act self-destructively, so too can our possessions infatuate us, making us act self-destructively.
As long as we are infected by the possessive mentality, our consciousness stays caught in the external things that we fantasize about getting or worry about losing. Thus, our obsession with possession of externals causes us to lose our most fundamental inner possession: our own consciousness. External possessiveness leaves us internally dispossessed.
When we detach ourselves from obsession with possessing things, we become possessors of our own souls – the Gita (02.46) refers to such people as “atmavan,” which translates literally as “possessors of their souls.” Our soul – its essential energy of consciousness – comes in our control so that we can intelligently choose where to invest it.
Most spiritual paths ask us to give up the possessive mentality. Devotional spirituality, however, is so inclusive that it channels even the possessive mentality. Bhakti wisdom explains that we are souls, who are eternal parts of Krishna (Gita 15.07). He is the all-attractive whole, and we are meant to delight eternally in pure spiritual love for him.
Love naturally means that the lovers possess each other; their consciousness stays absorbed in their object of love.
Of course, love is first and […]
The post From possessions that dispossess to the possession that delivers appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
How understanding destiny empowers
→ The Spiritual Scientist
[Talk at Hindu Temple, Delaware]
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2018%20classes/04-18%20classes/How%20understanding%20destiny%20empowers.mp3
Podcast Summary
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/…
While analyzing our mind, how to avoid paralysis by analysis?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/While%20analyzing%20our%20mind%2C%20how%20to%20avoid%20paralysis%20by%20analysis.mp3
The post While analyzing our mind, how to avoid paralysis by analysis? appeare…
When we are not the doers – material nature is – why are we held responsible for our actions?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/When%20we%20are%20not%20the%20doers%20-%20material%20nature%20is%20-%20why%20are%20we%20held%20responsible%20for%20our%20actions.mp3
The post When we are not the doers – material nature is – why are we held responsible for our actions? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Gita 17.17 The mode in which austerity is performed different from the mode with which austerity is performed
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Gita%20verse-by-verse/Gita%2017.17%20The%20mode%20in%20which%20austerity%20is%20performed%20different%20from%20the%20mode%20with%20which%20au…
Praising by criticizing – The paradoxical ways of expressing love
→ The Spiritual Scientist
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 — obtain; na śaknuyāt — I cannot;
“O Lord! Thinking that you are gopāla (the protector and herder of cows), I approached you hoping to get lots of milk. But you [cheated me in turn and] put me in such a condition that now I cannot even attain my own mother’s breast-milk.”
— Kuvalayānandaḥ of Appaya-dīkṣita (37.90)
This verse features the literary ornament (alankara) known as vyaja-stutih wherein affection is expressed through criticism.
The use of the negative to convey the positive is a rhetorical tool used in many traditions. In English, for example, the beauty of a diva may be described as devastating. Or the applause after a brilliant speech may be called deafening.
In expressing its veiled praise, this verse plays with the theme of milk – of seeking cow’s milk and losing mother’s milk. Krishna is celebrated as Gopala, the protector of innumerable cows. Cows supply milk, which is nutritious, delicious and precious. If we want wealth in the form of milk, we may naturally seek it by approaching the Lord of the cows.
Therein, the verse declares, lies the surprising twist. Approaching him and becoming attracted to him has an unexpected result: we lose even our mother’s milk. For a newborn, mother’s milk is immensely nourishing and satisfying; being deprived of it is a great loss. That privation is the negative used to poetically convey the supreme positivity of liberation – those who become attracted to Krishna don’t take birth again and so don’t need mother’s milk.
When we approach Krishna, his supreme attractiveness captivates us, especially if we approach him by associating with devotees and therein absorb their devotional mood. That devotional attraction grants us access to his supreme sweetness. When we relish that taste, our consciousness becomes increasingly elevated above mundane attractions and ultimately becomes liberated from the material world itself. Once we are freed from matter, we no longer need the mother’s milk that is necessary when we enter into a new body. Thus, the verse that seems to be a lament of deprivation is actually a celebration of liberation.
Similar verses that convey the positive through the negative are found in several other poetic compositions glorifying Krishna. One celebrated example is the Chauragraganya-ashtakam (eight verses in praise of the foremost of all thieves). In this endearing work, the great poet-saint Bilvamangala Thakura glorifies the supreme as the supreme thief. Its third verse declares Krishna to be such a deadly thief that he not only steals our home and leaves us on the streets, but also steals our knowledge of where to go when we are on the streets. Making us both homeless and pathless, he plunders us of everything.
Significantly however, when we are left with nothing, our heart […]
The post Praising by criticizing – The paradoxical ways of expressing love appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Cultivating Cooperation in Krishna consciousness
→ The Spiritual Scientist
[Class at ISKCON, Philadelphia, USA]
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2018%20classes/04-18%20classes/Cultivating%20Cooperation%20in%20Krishna%20consciousness.mp3
Podcast Summary
http://www.thespiritual…
Why we are sometimes wise and sometimes otherwise
→ The Spiritual Scientist
[Talk at The College of New Jersey, Philadelphia, USA]
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2018%20classes/04-18%20classes/Why%20we%20are%20sometimes%20wise%20and%20sometimes%20otherwise.mp3
Podcast Summar…
Gita 17.16 Austerity of mind transforms our inner disruptive enemy into a constructive friend
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Gita%20verse-by-verse/Gita%2017.16%20Austerity%20of%20mind%20transforms%20our%20inner%20disruptive%20enemy%20into%20a%20constructive%20friend…
If we feel more attracted to managerial services than scriptural study, are we in the mode of passion?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/If%20we%20feel%20more%20attracted%20to%20managerial%20services%20than%20scriptural%20study%2C%20are%20we%20in%20the%20mode%20of%20passion.mp3
The post If we feel m…
Will future scientific progress explain consciousness and spirituality in mathematical terms?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/Will%20future%20scientific%20progress%20explain%20consciousness%20and%20spirituality%20in%20mathematical%20terms.mp3
The post Will future scientific progress expla…
Net Surfing or Net Suffering?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
[Talk at Ohio State University, Columbus, USA]
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2018%20classes/04-18%20classes/Net%20Surfing%20or%20Net%20Suffering.mp3
Podcast Summary
http://www.thespiritualscientist….
Gita 17.15 Speech is meant not just for commnication but also for purification
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Gita%20verse-by-verse/Gita%2017.15%20Speech%20is%20meant%20not%20just%20for%20commnication%20but%20also%20for%20purification.mp3
The post Gi…
How do we strengthen the intelligence?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/How%20do%20we%20strengthen%20the%20intelligence.mp3
The post How do we strengthen the intelligence? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
How do the modes correlate with an analysis of the mind’s functioning?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/How%20do%20the%20modes%20correlate%20with%20an%20analysis%20of%20the%20mind%E2%80%99s%20functioning.mp3
The post How do the modes correlate with an analysis of the mind’s functioning? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
QA session at Columbus 2018 Spring
→ The Spiritual Scientist
[QA session at Columbus, Ohio, USA]
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2018%20classes/04-18%20classes/QA%20session%20at%20Columbus%202018%20Spring.mp3
Video:
The post QA session at Columbus 2018 Spring …
From state of the art to state of the heart
→ The Spiritual Scientist
[Sunday feast class at Columbus, Ohio, USA]
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2018%20classes/04-18%20classes/From%20state%20of%20the%20art%20to%20state%20of%20the%20heart.mp3
Podcast Summary
http://www….
If meeting our expectations makes us over-confident, what can we do?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/If%20meeting%20our%20expectations%20makes%20us%20over-confident%2C%20what%20can%20we%20do.mp3
The post If meeting our expectations makes us over-confident, what ca…
Bhagavatam study 73 1.14.18.33 – When we apprehend the worst-case scenario, we look for alternatives
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Bhagavatam%20study/Bhagavatam%20study%2073%201.14.18.33%20-%20When%20we%20apprehend%20the%20worst-case%20scenario%2C%20we%20look%20for%20alternatives.mp3
The post Bhagavatam study 73 1.14.18.33 – When we apprehend the worst-case scenario, we look for alternatives appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
By engaging our material nature in bhakti, are we constructing our spiritual nature or reviving it?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/By%20engaging%20our%20material%20nature%20in%20bhakti%2C%20are%20we%20constructing%20our%20spiritual%20nature%20or%20reviving%20it.mp3
The post By engaging our mat…
Gita 17.14 Austerity enables us to use our bodily vehicle constructively, not destructively
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Gita%20verse-by-verse/Gita%2017.14%20Austerity%20enables%20us%20to%20use%20our%20bodily%20vehicle%20constructively%2C%20not%20destructively.m…
Is anxiety a disorder?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
[Congregation program at Columbus, Ohio, USA]
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2018%20classes/04-18%20classes/Is%20anxiety%20a%20disorder.mp3
Podcast Summary
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/…
QA transcriptions uploaded
→ The Spiritual Scientist
https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2017/03/doesnt-krishna-feel-bad-something-wrong-doesnt-make-unwilling-shelter-us/
https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2017/03/can-assess-service-not-pure-hearted/
https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2017/03/can…
How to go through dry phases in our chanting?
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2018%20QA/03-18%20QA/How%20to%20go%20through%20dry%20phases%20in%20our%20chanting.mp3
The post How to go through dry phases in our chanting? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Bhagavatam study 72 1.14.12.17 – Inversion of natural order prophesies inauspiciousness
→ The Spiritual Scientist
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Bhagavatam%20study/Bhagavatam%20study%2072%201.14.12.17%20-%20Inversion%20of%20natural%20order%20prophesies%20inauspiciousness.mp3
The post Bhagavatam study 72 1.14.12.17 – Inversion of natural order prophesies inauspiciousness appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.