Speak Inside Out

I did the unthinkable and took a temporary break from Facebook around five weeks back, it was premeditated and I felt it was a good time; the festive period was fast approaching, which for me meant three exciting weeks of giving spiritual literature to friends, family and even strangers on the street; this is something I am trying to do annually with many friends in the lead up to Christmas. When I mention these three weeks to people, I can't help but translate the puzzled look on their faces to visions in their minds of a bunch of fanatical, religious extremists bible bashing (or Bhagavad Gita bashing in this case) through the streets of England. It couldn't be further from the truth, but trying to clear any misconceptions by trying to explain, usually comes across as defensive, so I don't bother and just get on with it. So, what is the connection between this time away from Facebook and distributing spiritual books? I hear you ask... ...

Today was the beginning of an auspicious month called Kartikka, an opportunity for making a pledge to increase our spiritual activities in either quality and quantity, or both.  Over the past few months I have been contemplating what meditations I should adopt leading up to the month of Kartikka.  While wracking my brain a thought came to mind, I reflected that simply being affiliated with a spiritual path for a few years does not infer that I am no longer a beginner and that it’s in taking to spiritual life in the humble mood of a beginner that real purification takes place. In the Purport to Bhagavad Gita 12.9 Srila Prabhupada writes: “This love of God is now in a dormant state in everyone’s heart. And, there, love of God is manifested in different ways, but it is contaminated by material association. Now the heart has to be purified of the material association, and that dormant, natural love for Kṛṣṇa has to be revived. That is the whole process.” ...

Last week the movie - Dawn of the planet of the apes was released, as much as I acknowledge it was a fictional story, some very relevant lessons could be taken from it. The central character, Caesar was the leader of a community of intelligent apes who had made their home in muir woods above the San Francisco area, meanwhile the humans in the city were recovering from a virus which had wiped out the majority of their population. As the movie progresses, the inevitable scenario develops where the two species run into conflict and on both sides they had peacemakers and elitists.  Caesar, being the central character and leader of the apes was a peacemaker but he had his opposition in the form of his right hand ape - Koba. This takes us up to the climax of the movie, where human is fighting human, ape (Koba) is fighting ape (Caesar), elitism vs peace. It prompted so many thoughts... Being an ambassador for our particular faith is just as much about compassion for people...

I landed in India at 3am after a five and a half hour flight to Dubai, a three hour hold, and a further 3 hour flight to Ahmedabad. The airport experience was surprisingly efficient; I guess times have changed. India is slowly but surely ridding herself of the stigma attached to her airports. Of course, the blank, expressionless look and the dismissive throw to return your passport at immigration is something that hasn't changed. The drive from the airport was refreshingly peaceful, not a rickshaw or lorry in sight. As we approached our destination the driver decided to take the wrong side of the dual carriageway for 30 seconds to save himself having to drive an extra 10 seconds on the "legal" side of the road... Only in India! I got to bed by 6am and had a much needed 6 hour rest, but I was feeling a little dazed and my subtle body was probably still somewhere over the Arab Emirates. That afternoon, a car and driver had been arranged to drive me to my...

Our aspirations in life are generally governed by the perspective we have at any particular point in time. When we are happy we behave in a certain way and when we are sad we have default remedies which provide a temporary fix to those flickering negative emotions. We can wake up on all seven days of the week feeling different; and for many of us, our perspective in life is usually a puppet, with the hand of our ever-changing desires and emotions playing puppeteer. Introspection can give us a little insight; is our perspective on life properly situated to enable us to transcend the temporary and flickering nature of our desires and emotions; or maybe even transform them? And how can we curb this constant change of perspective? One of the initial struggles we go through in spiritual life is the constant battle between satisfying our senses on a daily basis; and the desire to be spiritually grounded. We desperately want them to coexist, but it’s a fruitless aspiration, we ...

Is there ever an excuse for bad behaviour? Should good behaviour be relative according to the people we have interactions with? In spiritual circles we often speak about care, love; appreciation and respect; and we have heard the saying many times - "We are so humble and respectful in the beginning of our spiritual journey", but as we 'advance' and the years pass by, these values can become a secondary consideration; whereas so called renunciation and detachment seem to take the drivers' seat. An unhealthy understanding like this develops if we allow ourselves to be drawn into the bubble of superficiality caused by a subtle conviction that we are the centre of the universe; and yes this belief can also exist in our spiritual life, where ironically, we are striving to rid ourselves of this mentality. Ok... So we may theoretically understand that we aren't the centre of the universe, but how often does this understanding reflect in our actions? ...