Smiling faces... Crying hearts...

In my youth I remember watching programmes like Children in Need, and seeing the daily suffering of people in this world. Famine, war, disability and disease - they were all heart-wrenching scenes. It had a huge effect on me. A tear would come to my eye, and I would feel quite guilty about the comfort and wealth in my own life. I wanted to do something to help these people... but what could I do? After all I was just a kid.

The ancient scriptures categorise suffering into three divisions: sufferings from nature, sufferings from other living beings and sufferings from one’s own body and mind. As the years have passed, I have now learnt that suffering is not just something that takes place on the other side of the world, but is something which pervades the lives of everyone living in this cruel world. Sometimes its strikingly obvious, and at other times it may be a case of ‘smiling faces, crying hearts.’

Just 5 days ago, I was distributing books in Leicester city centre with my partner for the month, Jigar Shah. It was late in the day and as Jigar turned around he stopped a young man who looked a little scruffy and disillusioned. As they spoke, he revealed his dissatisfaction with life and how he had failed in everything he endeavoured for. He told us he had come to a conclusion... today he wanted to commit suicide. He was convinced that there was nothing left for him in this world. We discussed whether success was simply the achievement of worldly objectives, or whether there was something more to strive for in life. We discussed everything he could be grateful for, and the wonderful opportunities available to him. Seeing some light at the end of the tunnel he happily took a book and walked away with some spiritual inspiration.

Two days later in Nottingham, I met a young university fresher. Although the son of a millionaire, he revealed his life frustrations to me, and the fear of an impending imprisonment for a gun crime. He confided... "I want to commit suicide". Again, we discussed the alternatives, and how there were solutions for all his problems. After an hour of discussion, he also received a transcendental book as a beacon of hope and walked away promising to contact me after reading it. Yes... smiling faces, but crying hearts... maybe we are searching for the right thing in the wrong place...

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Lessons on the road...

I will be traveling around the country for the month of December. Its the season of goodwill, and as monks we travel through cities sharing spiritual ideas with everyone we meet. We will be everywhere from Portsmouth to Ipswich and from Norwich to Nottingham.


Ofcourse we dont like to use the word preaching... it conjours up images of self-righteous religious practicitoners, claiming how much better they are, and forcibly imposing ideas and worldviews on others. We feel our lives have been deeply enriched by these wonderful scriptures, and naturally feel inclined to share that with anyone who is interested. If not, we wish everyone a good day and leave them with a smile.

The world is in dire need of a spiritual message. The teachings of the Bhagavad-gita are non-sectarian, scientific, extremely practical and beneficial for people from all walks of life. We will carry thousands of these wonderful books of wisdom with us, inviting people to delve into something they may have never thought about... the yoga of love and gratitude...

May bump into you on the street... watch out!

PS: Can you guess the famous actor I met last year (picture above)?

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Master Plan

I prayed for strength... you sent me obstacles to overcome
I prayed for wisdom... you sent me problems to solve
I prayed for love... you sent me people who wanted help

You answered all my prayers, but never gave me anything i wanted.

 We all remember "The Karate Kid". It was a classic. I probably watched that film over twenty times when it first came out. Along with the humorous impersonations of the Hare Krishna's, there was also a profound spiritual message. Strongly desiring to learn Karate, 'Daniel son' was engaged in household chores by his Teacher. He was patient, but became increasingly frustrated and finally challenged his teacher as to how this had any relevance to his goal. The genius teacher revealed to him how those seemingly insignificant tasks were the building blocks for his Karate prowess and ultimate success. Every exercise had a meaning behind it.

In the same way, there is a divine master plan in our own lives, which may be incomprehensible with our limited intelligence and perception. Everything happens for a reason. Instead of rushing through life and getting through the day, if we take quality time to reflect on our experiences we will see that there are deep life lessons to be learnt from everything we encounter. They are all divinely inspired events meant to refine our character and help us achieve our full potential.

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The Blame Game

"Everytime you point a finger at someone else, remember there are two fingers pointing back at you".

I'd heard that many times before but this time it really got me thinking. We always seem to point the finger, become the victim, and play the blame game. It’s so easy to ascribe failure and frustration to the situations and people around us. It’s clear that often we are our own worst enemies.

The people around me and the situations I am faced with are beyond my control - but the one thing I can control is my own consciousness and reaction to these things. Therefore, a much more progressive path in life is to focus on myself, rather than blaming everything around me. That way there is greater scope for improvement and progression.

I can treat every situation and every interaction as another opportunity to refine and fine tune my own character. In this way, life's obstacles (which previously we would complain about and blame for our failure), become life’s opportunities (since they allow us to grow and improve).

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Going Nowhere Fast

This year, Tattva is facilitating a Lifestyle Management course at various universities across the country. The aim is to take the spiritual concepts and practices of the Bhagavad-gita and apply them to the modern day context. On Monday, we had one of the sessions entitled 'Going Nowhere Fast' at Cambridge University. In attendence were about 25 people from various cultural and academic backgrounds. We had a thought provoking discussion on materialistic worldviews, the limitations that go with them, and the essential need for genuine spirituality in society.

Modern culture is so fast paced that often we may not get the chance to stop and think about our direction and deeper purpose in life. The demands and pressures that go with our various life situations invariably keep us very busy. It may necessitate us to take a step off the treadmill of life, and spend some time 'thinking out of the box' in terms of what success in life really is, and how we can achieve it.

One of our attendees studying theology at Cambridge, shared with us just before leaving - "its so refreshing to finally be with a group of people who are talking about real issues in society, and not just skimming the surface".

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Cult or Culture?

I vividly remember the first time I saw Hare Krishna devotees chanting on the streets. “You’ll never catch me doing that” I thought. My first impression was that the devotees were frustrated with life and couldn’t make it in the ‘real’ world. What really stunned me was that they would give up their study, their careers, their social life, and even their family life, in order to practice this religion. “That’s a bit drastic” I felt, “maybe even a little bit cultish!”
Now, nearly 15 years later, I look at myself as I write this article – orange robes, shaven head, tuft of hair, chanting beads… did I just get brainwashed into the cult as well? It’s a common doubt that many may have. Doesn’t this lifestyle isolate you from society? Aren’t these ‘spiritual’ practices simply different forms of hypnosis and mental control? Haven’t you lost your individuality?

Let’s look at some history. The Hare Krishna tradition has its roots in one of the oldest, most respected religious traditions of India. In the body of literature known as the Vedas, ancient teachers have documented a spiritual understanding of the self, the cosmos and our deeper purpose in the journey of life. They elucidate essential spiritual truths which underpin universal reality. Knowledge of these principles can help one to excel physically, emotionally, socially, and most importantly, spiritually.

You may be amazed to hear that most Hare Krishna practitioners are not full-time temple devotees, but are people who have families, jobs, and social responsibilities. Furthermore, a large proportion of full-time renunciates often decide to again live and work in the ‘normal’ society after a period of monastic training. The process is one of living in the world, but simultaneously remaining untouched by materialistic influence. Devotees enthusiastically work within society, but rather than becoming just another ‘face in the crowd’, they work for the spiritual enrichment of the world.

The dress, the lifestyle rules, the body markings – these are all elements of culture. Becoming a Hare Krishna devotee does not signify a termination of individual identity, and introduction into the life of a mechanical chanting robot. The individuality of a devotee goes deeper than blindly following socially and artificially imposed goals about what they should wear, how they should speak and what they should do. Krishna devotees have colourful personalities, unique character traits, and most importantly their own unique relationship with God. This is the real expression of individuality.

The core practice of all devotees is chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. ‘Man’ means mind, and ‘Tra’ means to free – essentially a sound vibration which frees the mind from all material impurity. Far from controlling and hypnotising the individual, mantra meditation helps one to make informed decisions about life and go beyond mindless materialism. It enables the individual to break free of social pressures, and do what is progressive for themselves and the world around them. Far from being a dangerous cult, the Hare Krishna movement teaches people how live a life of high morals and ethics and to respect the integrity of all beings.

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Cancer of the mind

Last year cancer claimed 7.6 million lives, and now accounts for 13% of all deaths worldwide. The Bhagavad-gita explains that we may be suffering from another type of cancer. It’s a type of cancer that cannot be detected through medical tests, and cannot be treated by conventional means. It’s called the cancer of the mind. The symptoms of this cancer are three in particular - Criticism, Complaining and Competition. While we still have these tendencies etched into our psyche we cannot claim to be in a 100% healthy state of existence.

To criticise and find faults in others is surprisingly easy. We often feel some emotional gratification in doing it – maybe it helps us feel better about ourselves. We sometimes cover up our own inadequacies and shortcomings by complaining about the situations and people around us. Instead of taking responsibility for our own lives we blame the world around us. And fuelling all of this is a deep rooted spirit of competition... to be better than those around me. We don’t just want to be good, but actually we want to be the best.

While plagued by this cancer of the mind, we can never feel the happiness and peacefulness we so eagerly seek. In the process of criticising others, we remain completely oblivious to any kind of self evaluation. To reverse this tendency and find the rough edges in our own character may actually help us improve. Instead of complaining about the world around us, we can develop an attitude of gratitude – appreciating all the wonderful opportunities we have been awarded in this life. Tempting as it is to compete with others, maybe we can focus of competing with our own unsteady mind to defeat out ‘lower nature’ and make progressive decisions in our life.

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Content of Character

In an ancient dialogue recorded in the Mahabharata, King Yuddhistira is asked a wonderful question: What does one have to give up to become loved by everyone? What does one have to renounce to become free of all distress?

He replies - giving up envy, one becomes loved by everyone, and by renouncing anger, one becomes free of all distress. The same teachings are echoed by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who teaches "one must become more humble than a blade of grass, and more tolerant than a tree". This is real character. Replace envy with humility, and overcome anger with tolerance.


As i expressed these thoughts in a lecture last sunday at the temple, it left a deep impression on me. People were attentive, seemed receptive to the philosophy, and even laughed at my jokes (atleast some of them :). Still, i came out feeling a deep dissatisfaction. I couldnt pinpoint the reason, but after sometime it became apparent. I was speaking of humility and tolerance but fall significantly short of imbibing such qualities in my own character. Do i want to be the stereotyped religious hypocrite, or should i start developing real character? Spiritual practice is not enough - it must run parrallel with saintly character and qualities.

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A Necessary Evil...

I was at SOAS last week. It really is the place of individualism... anti establishment. As i meet another student there the same issue arises - "I ain't into organised religion mate" - ofcourse, I try to laugh it off - "dont worry our movement is extremely disorganised!". But the issue remains and I have to admit, the thought has crossed my mind.

One of our great teachers explained - "a religious movement is a necessary evil". Evil because it can kill the very spirit of dynamic spiritual character, and become a conglomerate of 'yes men', quite satisfied to blindly follow along with ritual and tradition. However, its necessary because structure and organisation facilitates greater outreach to the spiritually hungry, and provides support and association for the advancing devotee.

Krishna Consciousness... an organised religion? I like to call it Synergistic Spirituality.

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Kick Off

Well... better late than never. I have finally entered the weird and wonderful world of internet blogging.

This blog is for me to go deeper in my own reflections and understandings about life. Its a chance for me to share the wonderful wisdom and insight given to me by the great spiritual personalities I meet (or have never met). Stay tuned...

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