Author Archives: Karnamrita

GREAT LIFE REVERSES CAN REVEAL GOD’S GRACE AND SHOW WHAT WE MOST NEED, WHAT WE CHERISH, GREATLY VALUE, AND OUR HIDDEN STRENGTHS
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[Originally published, 3-28-16 at the beginning of my cancer healing journey]
HOW CAN WE USE OUR SORROW, PAIN OR GREAT LIFE REVERSES TO INVOKE GOD’S GRACE THAT IS HIDDEN BEHIND IT: To be human is to experience pain, betrayal, disappointment, and vario…

KEEPERS OF THE FLAME OF BHAKTI
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

(photo by Laura Fasulo) KEEPERS OF THE FLAME: Although this expression is most often used by our Christian brothers and sisters, I totally relate to its exclamation in relationship to what or who I am, or at least, aspire to be: A Keeper of the Flame of Bhakti, or A Keeper of the Flame of Spirituality. Personally, I see this as a responsibility for all followers of Shri Chaitanya and those who represent him. I visualize a flame burning brightly in my heart, or raising a torch in my hand to dispel darkness. To me, this is inspiring! “Lead me from untruth to truth! Lead me from darkness to light! Lead me from death to immortality.” [Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad 1.3.28] This is my meditation and affirmation on being a keeper of the flame.

More than ever before in my life, this is what I want to stand for, and share, and be, and promote. Though admittedly this has waned in the last year, I keep being reminded of it, and now this is the direction I want to take. With this new year, I am reaffirming my commitment. Thus, I write and speak with the prayer to do this service of giving light and encouragement to deal with our worldly desires and nature in the context of spiritual growth—transforming our human life into the life of the soul. Easy to say, I am well aware, yet for me, I need to keep high aspirations always in mind and in my prayers for my highest prospect. Otherwise I may just settle to get by as I have for so many years.

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Success—What it is, and How to get it!
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Karnamrita Das

[reposted from 2011-01-26] SUCCESS, WHAT IT IS, AND HOW TO GET IT: To make the claim of today’s title, which might be promised by motivational speakers or writers, I would have to give a universal definition of success. Though I honestly don’t think this is possible, I could do my best to say that in general, success means to be happy—though even here, at different times, people would disagree for various good and bad reasons. In any case, if we can agree for the sake of this blog, that in general people want to experience happiness and avoid distress, we might still argue over the best way to reach this sometimes illusive state.

For some people happiness or peace of mind can seem like the carrot before the donkey—always seeming to be within reach, but never quite obtained. We might have an ever-increasing list of things required to come to our ideal state of happiness—got to have that IPad, and this app, and then that app! To our motivational guru, this would sound terribly negative, since they believe that we can have anything we want if we want it badly enough.

Although the Vedas and Krishna devotees might agree that one can have most anything desired either today or in some lifetime they would caution us that although one may be temporarily happy, it can’t last. The nature of the world is constantly changing, including our body, senses and mind. For instance, toys or dolls no longer are objects of happiness for an adult, or as an old person our ability to enjoy certain foods is lost—though we may still desire them!

Besides this, and fundamentally more important, since our identity is not material but spiritual, worldly things can’t bring the soul happiness.

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Near Death Experiences
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

[I originally wrote this in 10-08-2007 and included it in a chapter on death and dying in my book, “Give to Live.” Such topics can help us be a better person, by informing or reminding us, that whatever we do to others, we do to ourselves. During the life review, as explained in what follows, we see our life from both our perspective, and that of others we have impacted, either positively or negatively. This goes along with what I am currently teaching in my talk, “Facing Death, to Live More Fully Today,” which I created in response to my cancer diagnosis, which continues, though it hasn’t worsened.

To me, the life review, which is taught not only in the near-death experience literature, but also in Vedic and Buddhist texts, is one reason we need to “Die Before Dying,” or review our life to now, before we are dying, to make amends, forgive, or seek forgiveness from others–basically cutting karmic cords, and praying to improve our character and actions. Truly, “what goes around, comes around,” which is one explanation of karma. We receive what we give, or what we do to others, we do to ourselves. Please reflect on this fact as you review your life, and as you interact with others ask yourself, “what am I giving to to them?” I lament that more of us don’t practice loving kindness and less negative harsh judgement with other devotees and people in general!]

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.” [Bhagavad Gita 8.6]

I have thought about exploring the topic of near-death experiences for some time. One of my Krishna.com friends has requested me to do so, as she recently also had one.

I have not kept current on my near-death readings, but there are a number of books I have read in the last fifteen years that I found fascinating, and good for sharing with people who may not accept the Vedas, or any scripture, as authority.

Some people accept the personal testimony of fellow human beings living at this time as meaningful. The fact that most NDE’ers have similar experiences is compelling to them, whereas they think religious people can be dogmatic.

I am not suggesting that you should buy every book on the subject. Knowing about these experiences is useful, for they share some viewpoints also expressed in Vedic texts. And some people like me, read many books outside our tradition which they feel have benefited them. Not everyone has to, or should necessarily.

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DISAPPEARANCE DAY OF SHRILA PRABHUPADA
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

DISAPPEARANCE DAY OF SHRILA PRABHUPADA (adapted from my book, “Give to Live,” which also appears many years ago in my blog here ) :
The disappearance or appearance (birth) day of great souls are equally honored. The pure devotees live for Krishna or God, and die for him. The famous prayer by Saint Francis, states that by dying we are born into eternal life. Although we lament that we will not have the physically manifest presence of our guru or a certain saint in this lifetime, we also feel happy that they are with Krishna. Prabhupada “left his body” (as we refer to death) in perfect Krishna consciousness and lived his life like that as well. We have no uncertainty about his auspicious destination, and we pray to for that same perfection by following his example!

“He reasons ill who says that Vaishnavas die,
When thou art living still in sound!
The Vaishnavas die to live, and living try
To spread the holy name around.”
[Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakur]

Today is Shrila Prabhupada’s disappearance day from this mortal world and his return to the nitya-lila (Krishna’s eternal pastimes). It is the fortieth anniversary. Wow—that is over half my life! How things have changed for me, for so many devotees present then, and for the movement.

On that day, forty years ago, I was a young man of twenty-seven years old. I became a devotee when I was nearly twenty, so really I had seven years of his presence. During those years, most of us never considered that he could leave us at any time, though he did remind us of the possibility. Somehow we just expected him to always be present with us. If only I would have known!

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The Power of Saintly Association: My Personal Asssociaion with my Guru, Shrila Prabhupada Part II
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

As I flew to L.A. from Hawaii, I brought a very fragrant flower garland. When I arrived at the Temple, I wanted to personally garland him, but a devotee guard downstairs from his room stopped me. I thought about going into his room anyway, though I was too hesitant and fearful. Eventually Prabhupada came down to give his lecture—it was the disappearance day of his guru, Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. I was introduced by the local GBC and gave him the garland. He didn’t seem to really notice me, which upset me a bit. I was able to consider that he likely was absorbed in other thoughts, perhaps of his guru. This was the year he gave a famous talk about his guru where he became choked up with tears saying how we were all helping him serve Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta.

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JANMASTAMI OBSERVANCE BY HEARING KRISHNA LILA: AKRURA’S ARRIVAL IN VRINDAVANA
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

[reprinted from August 8th, 2009] JANMASTAMI OBSERVANCE BY HEARING KRISHNA LILA: AKRURA’S ARRIVAL IN VRINDAVANA:

Bhakti-yoga, or Krishna consciousness, means quite simply being conscious of Krishna. When we love someone we naturally think of them, so when we love Krishna it is natural to think of him and want to hear or read about his lila or divine activities. Those of us who want to love Krishna—or even believe in him if we are new—will make progress in knowing and loving Krishna by reading about his pastimes in the Shrimad Bhagavatam or in Shrila Prabhupada’s Krishna book which is the summary of the 10th Canto.

We are advised to read with the desire to understand and in the mood of service, humility and reverence–at least with that ideal in mind. Just like in Shrila Prabhupada’s introduction to the Gita he recommends a new person to at least theoretically accept Krishna as the Supreme Lord, because that will help create the right mood to enter into the book. Though we want to use our intellect to understand as far as we can, our spiritual heart needs to come out, since that is the real way to understand the inconceivable Lord.

In Prabhupada’s translations of Vedic literature, we have the scripture with a commentary by a pure devotee. Many people have become devotees by reading these books. As wonderful and powerful as these books are they don’t ask us if we have understood, nor do they personally interact with us to show us how to be Krishna conscious. For that we need advanced devotees we can observe and serve with.

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JANMASTAMI OBSERVANCE BY HEARING KRISHNA LILA: AKRURA’S ARRIVAL IN VRINDAVANA
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

[reprinted from August 8th, 2009] JANMASTAMI OBSERVANCE BY HEARING KRISHNA LILA: AKRURA’S ARRIVAL IN VRINDAVANA:

Bhakti-yoga, or Krishna consciousness, means quite simply being conscious of Krishna. When we love someone we naturally think of them, so when we love Krishna it is natural to think of him and want to hear or read about his lila or divine activities. Those of us who want to love Krishna—or even believe in him if we are new—will make progress in knowing and loving Krishna by reading about his pastimes in the Shrimad Bhagavatam or in Shrila Prabhupada’s Krishna book which is the summary of the 10th Canto.

We are advised to read with the desire to understand and in the mood of service, humility and reverence–at least with that ideal in mind. Just like in Shrila Prabhupada’s introduction to the Gita he recommends a new person to at least theoretically accept Krishna as the Supreme Lord, because that will help create the right mood to enter into the book. Though we want to use our intellect to understand as far as we can, our spiritual heart needs to come out, since that is the real way to understand the inconceivable Lord.

In Prabhupada’s translations of Vedic literature, we have the scripture with a commentary by a pure devotee. Many people have become devotees by reading these books. As wonderful and powerful as these books are they don’t ask us if we have understood, nor do they personally interact with us to show us how to be Krishna conscious. For that we need advanced devotees we can observe and serve with.

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Tears of My Father
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Karnamrita Das

(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer)

[reposted from 6-25-13] Two days after my birthday was my fathers’, or June 24th. This year I wanted to share some snapshots in my relationship with him, in the hope that it might be useful to you in your journey of self-exploration, making peace with your past (if required), or in general, having a balanced psychology so favorable for spiritual practice. Dear reader, I am indebted to you for taking the time to read this, and to think about your own relationship with your parents. What does it tell you about the nature of the material world of (re)birth, disease, old age, death and disappointment, and the importance of receiving the saving grace of spiritual knowledge and bhakti practices to uncover the eternal life of the soul?

I was running a preaching center on O Street in Washington D.C. in 1986. After leaving Baltimore with Maha-nidhi Swami to travel and preach, I gradually felt it would be a natural move to stay there. I had a small staff which fluctuated between 1 or 2 devotees. I also received some morale boosting, and financial support from the near-by Potomac MD, Temple from which devotees sometimes visited to chant, preach, or help cook. We held three feasts a week, mainly attended by college students and young people in the area. All was going fine for a few months after I settled in, and then, one afternoon between feasts, I felt like something ominous was in the air. It was a typical August sunny, muggy day, nothing unusual but this feeling. Although I couldn’t put my finger on the possible reason, I prayed for clarity to understand. As I was lost in thought, the ringing of the phone startled me. It was Barbara, my father’s current wife. She told me that my father had committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

A long silence ensued. I didn’t have a personal reaction, being in shock, and besides, I wasn’t very good at dealing with others in such matters of intense sorrow. I was at a loss for words, thinking more about her, than for myself. Even today, it seems so inappropriate and trite to say things like “sorry for your loss,” or any number of socially correct statements. Finally, I was able to thank her for letting me know, and told her how sorry I was. Our conversation was awkward,

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When I’m Sixty-Four: Aging Gracefully with a Spiritual Purpose–or Not
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player is needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer; if you are using Google Chrome it will automatically play, so if you don’t want to listen, mute your speakers.)

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“Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I’m sixty-four?” – PAUL MC CARTNEY; JOHN LENNON

When I was 64, I first published this blog. Today, June 22, is my 67th birthday, and I find the message I share here even more important, as over the last year and a half I have had to literally stare death in the face. Growing up in the 1960s I naturally remember the Beetle’s song, “When I’m Sixty-Four.” Yeah, after 47 years of bhakti practice those old songs (and ad jingles!) are still floating around in my subconscious mind. This Beetle’s ballad is a love song about staying together despite aging that Paul McCartney wrote at the advanced age of 16. As a person involved in marital and premarital education this is an important topic for me (and my wife of 24 years). When I was 16 I couldn’t even imagine being 25, what to speak of 64! I was an only child with very limited experience with older persons. After living in Berkeley, California for a few years and then moving into the temple, when we went to San Francisco for street sankirtan (group chanting), I was taken back seeing all the old people! Berkeley is a college town and I was hanging out with only the young, and when I moved into the temple, the oldest person was 23

In any case, on my birthday, I thought the subject of aging, suffering, and being 64–and now 67–would be a good blog topic. Of course, most anything can be grist for the writer’s mill (we usually notice those things we are focused on), but this one was a natural candidate. Thus I wanted to find the words to the Beetle’s song, but before I began my Internet search, my dear friend, Dulal-Chandra Prabhu, sent me the lyrics and wished me a happy birthday. I wished him a happy birthday back, since his birthday is the same as mine—with THE SAME YEAR! How interesting and rare is that—especially among close friends! In 2010 we celebrated our 60th birthday together, and amidst fun and games, we went around the room to compile a list of shared personality traits and devotional histories. Though we have a number of differences, our wives and friends found an amazing amount of shared traits and experiences.

My general thoughts when writing are to share what I am going through, experiencing, thinking about, or inspired by, in a way that I pray may have relevance to you, my readers. Birth, disease, old age, and death, being shared by all embodied beings, are very rich and important topics. Called the four-fold, or four, miseries of material life, they are listed in the Bhagavad-gita verses (8-12) from the 13th chapter, as part of understanding the process of spiritual knowledge.
Marital tips at a wedding reception photo 10441172_1428386277445084_436423200_zps91fa99eb.jpg
Since the soul is eternal and is never born or dies, speaking of these four miseries isn’t considered by devotees to be morbid or a topic to avoid in polite conversation.

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Die Before Dying—Move Before Moving: Parts 1 & 2
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

(this blog is recorded on the full blog page: quick time player is needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer; if you are using Google Chrome it will automatically play, so if you don’t want to listen, mute your speakers.)
Getting rid of stuff photo Throwing stuff away_zpswt7pvdct.jpg
Part 1[Republished from June 16th, 2015]

Devotee: “Hey! Haribol! How are you? I noticed that you haven’t written any new blogs on Krishna.com in quite a while. What have you been up to?”

Karnamrita: “I am good, thanks. Krishna is very kind! For the last two months I have taken a full time job, so I have been recycling, or reposting, my older blogs, which don’t usually don’t get read.”

D: Really, I thought you were retired?”

K: “I wouldn’t consider myself “retired” or tired, but it’s true that I haven’t worked a regular job in many years. My focus has been on my spiritual practices and writing. However, my new “job” over the last two months has been preparing our house for selling. In other words I have been repairing, painting, cleaning, getting rid of stuff, organizing or straightening what we have kept, making our house spiritually neutral, and doing a great deal of landscaping and gardening. While the lion’s share of the work is done thanks to my hiring a devotee neighbor, there are still many small actions that I continue to complete on a daily basis.”

D: “Organizing and getting rid of things. Hmmmm…that is really difficult for me. What was that like for you?”

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Writing as Life and Giving & HELPING ONE ANOTHER TO GROW
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After being inspired with a free verse poem as a way to check in with myself and my readers, I saw that it was very similar to a blog I wrote last year, so I am including it here. My intention, in addition to introspection and self-examination, is to encourage you in your own process of personal and spiritual growth. My prayer is to help you be a balanced human being and steady bhakti practitioner with the greatest likelihood of progress in serving and loving Krishna.
Got to serve somebody photo Serve Somebody_zps9j2gmmwl.jpg
Writing as Life and Giving

Even if my thoughts are not profound
or upon reading will change your life,
putting words on the page seems important,
a way of giving myself, my attempt to help,
as I so much believe in being a giver
even as I lack compassion and caring,
which I don’t like, yet don’t worry ‘bout,
since my nature is peaceful and accepting
sometimes to a fault, simultaneously frustrating

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Writing as Life and Giving & HELPING ONE ANOTHER TO GROW
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After being inspired with a free verse poem as a way to check in with myself and my readers, I saw that it was very similar to a blog I wrote last year, so I am including it here. My intention, in addition to introspection and self-examination, is to encourage you in your own process of personal and spiritual growth. My prayer is to help you be a balanced human being and steady bhakti practitioner with the greatest likelihood of progress in serving and loving Krishna.
Got to serve somebody photo Serve Somebody_zps9j2gmmwl.jpg
Writing as Life and Giving

Even if my thoughts are not profound
or upon reading will change your life,
putting words on the page seems important,
a way of giving myself, my attempt to help,
as I so much believe in being a giver
even as I lack compassion and caring,
which I don’t like, yet don’t worry ‘bout,
since my nature is peaceful and accepting
sometimes to a fault, simultaneously frustrating

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A Mixed Bag of Material and Spiritual Tendencies
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player is needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer; if you are using Google Chrome it will automatically play, so if you don’t want to listen, mute your speakers.)
Benifited, but ungrateful photo Learningandungrateful_zps21ff6315.png[republished from 2014-05-04]
While the experience that prompted this free verse poem wasn’t planned, it was welcome, and seen as an occasion for reflection. Association with saints is desirable for developing good qualities, and yet being with people in general can also foster our personal and spiritual growth, because in their company who we are as a person is revealed and we may discover part of the spiritual work we have left to do. Anyone can be our teacher if we have the humility to be open to learn, either how to act, or how not to act.

Every day we have the opportunity to learn from life situations, which include dealing with or observing others, whether at work, running errands, attending school or college, or interacting with our family and friends. While it is essential to learn about others, in relationship to them we will learn much about ourselves since people are mirrors in which we project our ideals or see our faults. From another angle of vision, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also considers our heart a mirror. This mirror is covered by the dust of our conventional (physical) ego and material conditioning which obscures our spiritual nature (soul). In all our dealings we can pray to remember that we are all souls having a physical experience and in this way part of the same spiritual family.

When we have made the decision to give our life to the pursuit of loving and serving Krishna, our life is forever changed. This is true in spite of our inability to walk the path in the most ideal way. To help us have a humble attitude we can remember our life before we began the spiritual quest, or that we all begin life in ignorance. We should know and remember the spiritual goal, and where we are on the map of our spiritual journey, in order to adapt the path to our unique life situation. This is why practical guidance from

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The Currents of Life, Part 1 and 2
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Karnamrita Das

photo FSCN5090_zpsk0ex2g43.jpg
The Currents of Life, Part 1 and 2 (reposted from April 16th, 2013)

Part 1: Have you noticed the invisible currents of life? My experience currently, (using this as an excuse for my not writing for a few weeks), and upon reflection on past events, is that sometimes it is apparent that I seem to be swept along, lifted up as it were, beyond my will into the air of destiny, on some already decided course, which it is best if I accept, and not fight. I have come to see that our free will and power of choice though very small, can be applied, at least, to the attempt to be as present and introspective as possible.

Thus, I feel it is an important practice to develop the wherewithal to be as aware as possible, like a third-party witness, doing our best to accept what is beyond our control, with the hope to learn. Through “mistakes” or trials by fire, learning and growth are essential outcomes, regardless of external results. Furthermore, as an aside to the main topic here, as an aspiring devotee of Krishna, I know now to also add—or look for—Krishna to help me be present in the moment, by chanting the holy name, or remembering his form, pastimes, or instructions. This is “the life” for those on the path of bhakti.

I am applying this truth, which could be seen as awareness of destiny, or synchronicity, first to a recent, seemingly ordinary event, when I was volunteered, as is done in Facebook groups, to be part of an attempted reunion of Prabhupada disciples, and secondly to the events of my past life, which practically forced me to take up the path of bhakti. A few weeks ago I was implored upon visiting this FB site to share my devotional history. Fair enough, and yet, when I began attempting this, the scope of the writing took on a life of its own, as I have found is often the case, turning into more of a detailed autobiography.

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The Currents of Life, Part 1 and 2
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

photo FSCN5090_zpsk0ex2g43.jpg
The Currents of Life, Part 1 and 2 (reposted from FB on April 16th, 2013)

Part 1: Have you noticed the invisible currents of life? My experience currently, (using this as an excuse for my not writing for a few weeks), and upon reflection on past events, is that sometimes it is apparent that I seem to be swept along, lifted up as it were, beyond my will into the air of destiny, on some already decided course, which it is best if I accept, and not fight. I have come to see that our free will and power of choice though very small, can be applied, at least, to the attempt to be as present and introspective as possible.

Thus, I feel it is an important practice to develop the wherewithal to be as aware as possible, like a third-party witness, doing our best to accept what is beyond our control, with the hope to learn. Through “mistakes” or trials by fire, learning and growth are essential outcomes, regardless of external results. Furthermore, as an aside to the main topic here, as an aspiring devotee of Krishna, I know now to also add—or look for—Krishna to help me be present in the moment, by chanting the holy name, or remembering his form, pastimes, or instructions. This is “the life” for those on the path of bhakti.

I am applying this truth, which could be seen as awareness of destiny, or synchronicity, first to a recent, seemingly ordinary event, when I was volunteered, as is done in Facebook groups, to be part of an attempted reunion of Prabhupada disciples, and secondly to the events of my past life, which practically forced me to take up the path of bhakti. A few weeks ago I was implored upon visiting this FB site to share my devotional history. Fair enough, and yet, when I began attempting this, the scope of the writing took on a life of its own, as I have found is often the case, turning into more of a detailed autobiography.

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Lord Rama and Lord Chaitanya
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

One yet different
[Reposted from 3-24-2010] On Tuesday April 4th, in the USA we observed Ram Navami, or Lord Rama’s holy appearance day anniversary. Although Lord Chaitanya is the combined form or Radha and Krishna, coming to give Krishna prema for the fallen souls of Kali-yuga, he also contains all other incarnations of God within him, including Lord Rama. Therefore, Lord Chaitanya is Universal. Anyone desiring to make spiritual advancement and increase their devotion toward any real incarnation of God can obtain that goal by taking shelter of him—he is so merciful and accessible.

Devotees of Shri Rama can see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as the manifestation of Lord Rama for this age. Shri Chaitanya showed a six armed form to his devotees to demonstrate that he was also Lord Krishna and Lord Rama. At least two principles devotees of Shri Chaitanya were also devotees of Lord Rama. One of them is none other than Hanumanji, who in Chaitanya lila, is the Kaviraja (Ayur-vedic doctor) and great devotee, Murari Gupta. It is said that Murari Gupta cured people’s material and spiritual diseases. He was also one of Lord Chaitanya’s principle biographers. The stanch devotion to Lord Rama of these two devotees was tested in a similar way by Lord Chaitanya, and then he greatly praised their Rama Bhakti or devotion to Shri Rama.

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BLESSED BY SPRING’S INSPIRATION and my poem, LISTENING FOR SPRING
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Author: 

Karnamrita Das

Natural world photo Effulgent flower_zpsgefsaedz.gif
BLESSED BY SPRING’S INSPIRATION and my poem, LISTENING FOR SPRING: Stepping outside this morning around sunrise was so lovely, enlivening. The “spring thing” feeling in the air, subtle, yet palpable, encouraging me with thoughts of possibilities and new beginnings. Cool temps stimulate, yet hint at approaching warmness. The sun seems especially bright after yesterday’s dark clouds and torrential downpours.

That special morning spring light shining off the dew, with new grass and other tiny excited plants coming up. A few trees just begin to show their small intense green leaves, while most are still sleeping, but telling us they know their time is coming soon. The first robins showed up two weeks ago, while the crows come daily for leftover prasad.

In a hurry, running off to work, you might miss it, or if you did sense it, you could easily forget about it in the stress of the day. Krishna’s or God’s Material Nature—his “separated energy” no less—is so amazing. As I have written about before, living in the country can really change one and give a new awareness, like the wonder of sight after being blind. One slows down, or at least that happened to me, as I have never been a passionate person—as I shared yesterday, in good and problematic ways.

However, today, I am stressing the positive aspect of the mode/quality/energy of goodness which colors one’s perception, as would the other “gunas,” of ignorance and passion.

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