The Wisdom Park

We all have heard the saying "The grass looks greener on the other side". The mind by nature is never satisfied, always looking for "what others have that I don't have". It is always curious to find newer and newer ways of enjoyment and material nature seems to understand our mind by offering us unlimited varieties to enjoyment. There seems to be no end to the fascinations that are available in this world. Why is the mind always looking for newer ways to enjoy? Because it soon gets bored of what it has. It looks for release from this boredom through newer experiences. But the problem is that as soon as we get the new experience that we are looking for, it's not a long till that also becomes old and boring. The point we miss to understand is that " the newness that material nature provides in its variegated forms are all the same oldness packaged in new ways. " As they say - Old wine in a new bottle. But we never really believe this fu...

These are few questions which will put us in touch with our true self, our essential nature. The following can be a simple, but powerful daily meditation. - Are we the constantly changing life situations that we go through or are we the constant underlying life below the life situations? - Who are we? Who were we before this life, who will we be after this life? - Who are we without our names and our life stories? - Are we human beings with a spiritual experience or spiritual beings with a human experience? - Are we our feelings or the feeler of our feelings? - Are we our thoughts or the witness of our thoughts? Answers to these questions are beyond the grasp of the mind and intellect, they put us in touch with our true spiritual nature, our very soul.  As long as our sense of identity comes from our life situations, thoughts and feelings, we will be constantly tossed around, face constant anxiety and instability of mind. But if we derive our sense of identity...

Every festival be it Christmas, Janmashtami or Diwali should simultaneously be a day of celebration and a day of contemplation. Christmas is as much about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ as it is about remembering his life, his sacrifices and his teachings . I thought of sharing a few teachings of Jesus Christ which when contemplated, practised and applied can truly make our lives meaningful. What shall it profit a man, if he  gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his own soul? If God is all you have, you have all you need.  The kingdom of God is within your own hearts.  Knock and the door shall open, seek and you shall find. Don't build your treasures in this world - for it will be stolen by thieves, corroded by rust and rotten by time  If you have faith as much as a mustard seed and you tell a mountain to move - it will move. The meek and humble inherit the kingdom of God. Love God with all your heart and soul Love your...

The problem with many of us is that we have given way too much importance to our thoughts. Just think about it. How many thoughts we have in a day? Hundreds or thousands. How many thoughts we have had in our life up until now? Millions or quadrillions. The irony is that the mind makes us believe that every thought is important and we foolishly subscribe to our mind.  Just like in an ocean so many waves come and go, similarly we get so many thoughts. The problem is not the thought per se, but our attachment to our thoughts.  Interesting thing is that thoughts are harmless - they come in awareness and pass away. Just like clouds pass through the clear sky. Our thoughts can harm us only if we give importance to them and hold on to them. That's why in the Bhagavad-Gita when Lord Krishna is explaining the flowchart of how a living entity suffers. The first step, He explains is contemplation of sense objects. Contemplation is nothing but holding on...

In today's world, we are blessed to be surrounded by so much knowledge. In fact we are almost swimming in an ocean of knowledge. We have the best of spiritual books, best of the speakers who share deep wisdom still we feel there has been 'no' or 'very minimal' tangible transformation in our lives. Why? This could be one reason...We somehow inadvertently believe that just having access to knowledge will guarantee us success in spiritual life. But one may argue, Is knowledge not sufficient! True, knowledge is the first step to success. But it's not the only step. People say knowledge is power, but it is only potential power, latent power. Applied knowledge is power. Only when knowledge is applied in our lives can true transformation begin.  That means we need to put some internal effort to realise the knowledge. It's not an automatic process. There's a difference between theoretical realisation and actual, true realisation. Theoretical ...

We, ISKCON devotees are made from head to toe only by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and the Vaishnava's. We are products of mercy . Nothing actually belongs to us. So, how can we be proud of borrowed plumes! Think about it. When people applaud us for our classes, if we think properly none of the points we speak is ours. We are just repeating what we have heard or read. And even if we get some new insights it's by the mercy of Krishna in our hearts.  We should always remember that whatever respect, facilities and honor we get is only by the mercy of Krishna and the Vaishnavas. It's only because we have some connection with great souls, we are given respect. All great devotees live their lives in alignment with this fact. When Lord Krishna left this world to depart to His eternal abode, Arjuna remembers all the incidents in his life where he achieved extraordinary success. But he doesn't take an iota of credit. He is fully convinced that it is on...