A DEVOTEE OF SUBSTANCE

By changing our externals our internals is not going to change. By wearing dhoti - kurta, our desires are not going to change. By wearing a Vaishnava tilak, our desires are not going to change. Yes, the external appearance of a devotee is an important aspect of Bhakti and it does have some effect on our consciousness but it is not the all in all of being a devotee. The real challenge is to bring changes from within.

Donning the dress of a devotee externally is difficult but not that difficult - the real difficultly is in donning the attire of a devotee internally because who we are is not a product of our externals but our internals. God doesn't see our externals, He is more interested in our internals. The world may be impressed with the externals but God is impressed only by the internals. A devotee is not a person of form but a person of substance. Our internals change not by changing our externals but by working on changing our internals.

- Achyut Gopal Das

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THE POWER OF QUESTIONS

The quality of answers in our life depends on quality of questions we ask. Special prerogative of the human mind is that it can think and ask questions. Given a problem, we have the ability to find solutions. The ability for making inquiries is in-built in us. That's why one of the most important medium of knowledge comes through questions and answers. It's not astonishing then to understand why both the most important Vedic scriptures - the Bhagvat-Gita and the Srimad-Bhagvatam are in a question-answer format. But not everyone is interested to ask questions and find solutions to problems that they face. Most people prefer to embrace a life of unthinking - "of playing dead", they prefer to run away from problems rather than find solutions to them. Why? For the simple fact that the answers - the truth may not always be palatable and the more difficult part is that, it may be demanding of us. We may have to leave our comfort zone and tread an unknown path. The e...

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A few days ago, I was traveling from Mumbai to Govardhan Eco Village (GEV), our farm at the outskirts of Mumbai. While on the way I somehow remembered about a unique spiritual personality, Punchari ka Lota Baba. I don't know how I remembered about him, but sometimes Krishna gives sudden remembrances. This was of course a pleasant one. Just by remembering him, I felt elated. There is a fascinating story of this great soul from Govardhan Hill at Vrindavan. I had gone to his temple at least 14 years back. Something more interesting was that as I was walking in GEV, I came near the replica of Govardhan Hill which the devotees have made at GEV, and to my amazement, I was right in front of the replica shrine of Lota Baba. How Krishna fulfills spiritual desires is just amazing. This was nothing short of a miracle for me. I just thought of him a day back and now I am in front of his shrine having his darshan. I was in ecstasy seeing Lota Baba and remembering his life and example. I woul...

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