1750: The Distracted Mind | Obstacle or Opportunity?

0:00But here we go, right, this idea that William James, who's someone who's not just absorbed in studying the mind, but like is considered like the father of modern psychology, so someone with deep insights in how the mind works. And he's recognizing something that we were never taught, that was taught in the Bhagavad Gita, right? What is it called? Yatoh, Yatoh, Nishalati, Manas, what is it called? Yatoh, Yatoh, Yatoh, Yatoh, Yatoh. Atmanyeva, Vashamnayyat, that whoever the mind wanders due to flickering and unsteady nature, one must, you know, Niyama, right? Just like in the, you know, the Yama, Niyama, that you have to regulate it. You have to regulate, you have to bring it back in place of where you want it. Why? Well, because you're, what does he say? He was saying that your judgment, your character, you will, are dependent on you flexing that muscle, rather than just letting it wander wherever it goes. And that's kind of like how we were raised. It just goes where it goes.

1:00You don't have to bring it back. Just try to put something in front of it that's entertaining. It's kind of like what we were taught, right? Yatoh. Life from Super Soul Farm in upstate New York, this is Wizz When the Sage is a Bok De Yoga podcast with your host, Rakhanaath. And co-hosts and senior educator at the Bok De Center in New York City, Kos stupid ass, welcome to the show. It's Tuesday, March 31st, 2026. Episode 1750 and guess who's back in town. because Sue is back in town. Thank you, thank you. Welcome back, Mr. Kay. We miss you. Special Kay.

2:01Oh, good to be back. Good to be back. You made it. You just beat the frigid cold. It's been like sort of hot and cold. And hot and hot, cold and hot and cold. And getting me in front of Priya neurotic in yesterday, the crocuses came up over the first time. It's very exciting, giving us hope. That spring has arrived. Spring has arrived. I walked out of the airport with 70 degrees. Perfect. Really? Yeah. Very nice. Well, we're glad to have you back. And we're glad we're in the great part of the bog of a tomb. And you got some adventures for us. You want to share? Well, you know, I had a wonderful few days there in Brindalman. Nice. Yeah. Let's see. Damn, I got there. It was really, you know, I got, well, we went down to Lloyd Bizarre and took care of whatever we needed to do quick. And then came back and spent some time in the temple. And on the last day, no, day before the last day, we, uh, no, it was the last day. We went to go over there. We're going to myself, Tarpegu, Trapu, Tima, Abma Vidya.

3:09We met up with the Votes. We first went to Rada Kun early in the morning. You know, sun's coming up. That's really nice. Oh, it's beautiful. We're all going to happen. We read Chaitanya Charter. We went to a nice little spot where you're, like, you're elevating your overlooking Rada Kun. Perfection of life right there sitting in Rada Kun, reading. It doesn't get better than that. Right in the very place where Krishna's Kaviraj Goswami wrote the Chaitanya Charter. The most incredible piece of literature ever composed, Bradley. And, and you're sitting right there in that very spot overlooking Rada Kun, and, you know, this, you know, it's kind of like the golden hour kind of thing going on, you know, it's just beautiful. People are there, but it's not too crowded. And you hear the sounds of the chanting and the sounds of prayers and the, you know, the sounds of pooja's going on. And we're reading a beautiful chapter of Chaitanya Charter and Rita. Just sharing each other's Sangha, Naisaru's taking interest monkeys. Also taking interest, you know, hanging out with us,

4:11taking interest in the hearing. Not ordinary people, those monkeys. They're not ordinary. And then we went to Hari Dave Temple and devotees were doing kirtan there. Really nice. You know, devotees are doing things. It's just a subject, such a, you know, a subject such a, you know, as far as I do. So he just came up with a strategy. You know, a lot of times you go to a temple and, hey, let's face it, you know, the Goswami's or the priests in the temple are kind of like struggling just to keep the place going and, you know, and so they, we're talking about this the other day. This is a little bit from the other side. It's like, you know, some of these priests are just like, hey, we have a very special temple and nobody's supporting us really. Yeah, they don't have like huge congregations. I mean, yeah, Hari Krishna movement has congregations coming in from all over the world from China, you know, from, you know, South America, from Germany. And they got like nobody, a few handful of disciples. Right. And so sometimes the mood is there kind of like saying, come on, I give something. And so what history as you was rather than feel that you go

5:11there and you give them, you go there with lots of flowers, lots of garlands, lots of sweets and lots of food to offer to the titties. We were thinking about money. Well, thanks for the garlands. No, no, no, they're really grateful. And the responses, they're like, oh, this is so nice. And then you sit down and you do kirtan for hours. And the priests are really happy. I saw it there. I saw it. And then they start giving everything back. They give all the garlands back and they give all the prasadam back, you know, as prasada haven't been offered to Hari Day. That temple is, you know, ancients. And, you know, Lord Chaitanya went there and chanted dance. So we chanted and danced there. And it was pretty cool. Lord Chaitanya went to Hari Day. And you can just go there. And I tell you, I like how you said, you know, we had to, for those who haven't been to Brindavan before, Kostu has said this point where you got to get your stuff done. Like for devotees, sometimes like for me, I had to go to Brindavan to get my deity painted, right?

6:15My little deity. I had to go to Loy Bizarre. Loy Bizarre is the Bizarre in Brindavan downtown. And the holiest place on the earth, right? Yeah, it's like at where the Rasa Lila took place. So it's not like an ordinary place. And it's filled with shop, little tiny shop after shop, filled with things that sell Tulsi beads. It's like it's the Tulsi bead guy. Then there's like the Dodian Sari guy. Then there is the, whatever, the lemonade guy, you know. And then all these sort of shops selling sort of spiritual things you would find at a Harry Christian gift shop. But there's millions of little shops. And if you run a temple, that's where you shop for your temple, for your gift shop. Oh, if you have a little temple in your home. But we know that, you know, if you, yeah, or if you own a temple in your home. So, but we know that like when you're in a holy place, you don't want to spend your time shopping. So we, Kostu, and myself, and Pran Priya, we regulate. Okay, we're going to go here for this amount of time, get this out of the way. And then get back to hearing and chanting and going deep into life.

7:17But if you are there for the first time, you're just amazed at this bizarre. And it feels almost spiritual. You know, like I'm shopping for my deities. I'm shopping for little crowns and little flutes. And for Tulsi beads and chanting beads and bead bags. And it's like, it's, it's not pure devotional service, but it's like Karma Mishra Bhakti. It can be pure devotion. Yeah, it just depends where you're at. But it can be distracting from your work. It can be distracting because you know, you get into this sort of enjoying spirit. I certainly do. I'm, you know, because I, I'm from the old school. So they know when I come in, they're like, okay, Ragunasi, or bring him a nimbupani. Like in the old days, you used to sit down and bring your drinks. And then you wander over there to Bunky Vihari Bazaar. We're going to. Yeah, then I get a little goodies from there. Then I get some street food. Chila. Actually, that's a good loss. You're right there at Rasa Bihari Loh. Anyway, continuing on. So we had that last day.

8:18I mean, each day was really wonderful there, but that last day going to Ragunasi in the beginning was, and you know what, we're going to, you just walk around Krishna Balaram and Deer. And you have so many exchanges with different people that are meaningful and sweet, and important in different ways. So it was, I spent a little time in the home from my guru stayed when he was in Brindavan. You stayed there? You know, it's like a little museum. It's like a museum. Yeah, and so you can go right into the room where he used to sleep. I used to serve him in that room. I received guys from Hunter in that room. There's a big book, you know, like a big picture book of my guru, Marge, then his past times, and you can flip through it and go back in time. So that was really nice. And being with Krishna Balaram, Gratasham Sundar, Gornitai in the temple, Garbha's rooms, Garbha's Samadhi. So all of that, just so all of that was meaningful. We didn't stay for very long, but, you know, but you know what, I maybe enjoyed the most,

9:19was Mungalarti. Yeah, you know, it's, it's weather's hot. It's, you know, I'm used to being there freezing cold, Mungalarti's. And I would just go in the courtyard. I'm underneath the tamaltree in the courtyard, dancing and Channinghari Krishna, you feel like you're in Brindavan, dancing with Rod and Krishna. It's, it's, um, that was nice. You could bring that spirit back to Central Park. We see some man dancing under a tree. We know Kastubas in his Baba. I hope, too. I hope that we advance deeper and deeper in this understanding, Argonaut. And, but, you know, I'm happy, you know, I'm 60 years old now. I'm happy. It feels good to be 60, doesn't it? It's a whole new thing. It feels good to still be going back to those same places 40 years later. Yeah, I looked in the mirror today. I was like, I'm an old guy. I'm, I'm not, I'm not 50 anymore. I'm 60. That's a whole nother chapter. I got back, you know what, I got in the mail. Uh, your social security.

10:20Yeah, social security said you've qualified. I said, all right. I mean, so I can start collecting social security in a couple of years. Don't you have to work to get social security? I've been paying my dues, blah, blah. I'm really okay. And, um, and, uh, and I also got some card from, uh, AARP, right? Oh, that's, that's when you know you're over the hill. You get the AARP newsletter newsletter. It's so sad. So anyway, but I tell you something, it was a long trip home. It was, uh, door to door 32 hours. Because, you know, we, we're, we're rooted through Rome, just because of the whole situation, at least. Yeah. But, um, uh, I, it was a joy to be home to, you know, and I felt like I stepped in and never got one. I came into my apartment and saw all the ladies and all the books. I feel really good here. So, uh, you know, Shachar or French Shachar stayed in my apartment while I was away, came back.

11:21You trash it. Totally spotless. Really? You should have seen it three days ago. Ha ha ha ha. Just kidding. It's totally spotless. Um, a bunch of books waiting for me. I had ordered a bunch of books in, uh, in Louis Bizarre that had shipped back in December. There was books waiting for me. A couple of other books waiting for me. Um, he had some groceries here and you have no room in your apartment to put books went for. No, I can get rid of some books. So I can get rid of books and use this books. And, um, and, uh, yeah, it says, you know, this, uh, food here for me and, uh, nice, clean place. All the plants made it through the New York when he did a very, they're thriving. I was very impressed. Shachar's, um, plant care. So that was good to see. All right. And I'm happy to be back. Yeah. Well, all our birds are alive and strong. Don't get very good at that sort of stuff. It's more on the way. There's more. I'm getting ducks next week. Oh, okay. Very good.

12:22Um, I have an important announcement. And I'm going to, I want everybody to go to my Instagram stories because Thomas X Film, something divine is out on Apple TV. And that is a great, that is powerful because it's all about Bokti and pilgrimage. It is. It's great. It's amazing way to like reach the world. And he's, uh, one of these guys that, you know, he's got a talent and he engaged his talent in Christian service and he followed us around on pilgrimage for years and, um, it's a pilgrim himself. And he made it into a film and so it's called something divine. It's available on Apple TV and hoopla and even Amazon Prime. So I want you to bum bum bum. Go to my Instagram stories and share that with your community. And that's how we can, you know, that's how we can spread the word. Nowadays, it's just one. You don't have to go out into the streets and distribute books. We're into an airport. You can just sit there and press share and share it with people or put it on your, your own stories, tell people about it.

13:23Cause we really want to support him and that endeavor. And it really helps make our mission accessible to the world. And you never knew when you throw out a net who you catch in that net. And yes, as Pamela Garo and say, or Pamela M is saying, it is an amazing film. And he's here with us today too. Mary Bell. Okay. Hmm. It's pretty cool. Apple TV. Come on. I don't even know exactly what that means. But yeah, that means you can go to your phone, look it up and watch this whole film. Anybody that's got an iPhone, yeah, it's pretty amazing. Because I feel like a lot of people say like, oh, I would love to make a movie out of this. Like this would make a great movie, but whoever actually does it. And if you, I know, it's a lot to make a movie. I mean, he thousands of hours of stuff and piecing it together. Yeah. And then make it like, that was a good, that was good. Then now the music, get all the rights signed off from all the people, exhausting.

14:25And then to get it seen at film festivals and get it on, that's, yeah, that was cool. Yeah, it's very cool. I have a couple of other announcements. That's what our sage groups are almost full. We have 42 spaces left. Well, all right. Yeah. If people want to sign up for a second sage group, they can do that now. And registration is going to end this Saturday. I hear so many positive things about these star sage groups. Everyone's like, thank you so much. Rockin' off. I was like, actually, I had nothing to do with that. No, no, you do. There's all kinds of people together. I don't really do. You know, it's really, it's, it's really each for Sundry and Chi Rupa. It's all of them. And, you know, Burjbee Hari's always been a big support there too. Yeah, it's pretty amazing. I'm eating sage group people all over the world, wherever I go. Yeah. Yeah, I'm super happy. This is going. And truthfully, let's face it. In one sense, Krishna gets us into Bokti. In another sense, it's the devotees that get us into Bokti, isn't it? You know, it's the devotees that talk to us and we feel something from them.

15:29And, and we're like, wow, I want that too. They touch our heart, our heart changes and we're like, I want Bokti. And this is the way to get it. You get it together and everyone's like, boy, my sage group leader is so great. And that's what happens. You fall in love with the devotees. That's how we become deeper in our own Bokti. That's where you become closer to Krishna. You want to end up serving the devotees. You know, I was sharing a room with Tara Purgu in Bhandavan and both, you know, I think we only spent three days there. Yeah, but two of those three days, he was, even though this is in the non sage group time slot, like it's in between sage groups, there's a break between. So it's only like a two week break. But in that break, he had, he was having two separate sage group meetings with, with people that just wanted to keep going. Oh, well, so one day you had one, the next day had one and I could overhear the conversations. There's such great good conversations, you know, you know, it's like you and me. When we first would go to the temple, you'd find a devotee that you connect with.

16:29Yes, or out so many questions to that person. Everything that's been on your mind, everything that's been your heart, all your fears, all your excitement, and you make that magical connection. We've all had that romance of coming to Bokti and we can't forget it either. Always cherish those, those times too, cherish and keep them going and then pay it forward. Okay. They forward. I'm going to watch you next week and I'm doing a whole program out there. A little ego farm. You're moving around like crazy. This week, this Friday, this Friday, go to Friday. Okay. Saturday evening of 430, if you're from the Florida area, come, it's a free program. There's going to be a preshoved there. They have a little prana Priya's coming. I'll be there. Look at you. Okay. You know, we're getting out there. Wow. Yeah. Also, we still, oh, it's not free. It's not free, Henry. Okay. It's something. It's whatever. It's something small. Maybe, maybe some of the big, maybe it's a hundred bucks. I'm not sure we're going to get you on the list.

17:29I'm okay. Also, we have some spaces left in our Italy retreat, but they're about to pose registration. They're about to pose registration. If you want to do that now is the time to do it. It's always an incredible trip. It's a beautiful blend between sense gratification and pure devotional service. That's exactly the way you like it. Who said that was such a thing? It's like going to Loi Pizar. It's sort of like a lot of devotional service. And it is getting a lossy and a chill. And I'll, I'll look teaky. All right. Henry says it's $6. $6. Come on, people. That's like the old days, like the dinner donation. It's a dinner donation. That's good. And they really try their best there at that temple. It's a really great temple. And that little eco village in the back is wonderful. Yeah. I'm looking forward to checking that out more. Yeah. All right. All right, Kostuba. We are in a magical place. You missed the last time. I was going to nugget.

18:30I think it caught up. Okay. Okay. We're going to spend time with the nugget. I always do. I embrace the nugget. Okay. Just thank you. You don't have to check up on me. I'm okay. But thanks for caring. Well, he seemed to blow right past it. No, I did it. And I just forgot in my excitement for the bog of a time. This nugget comes from William James, who is an American philosopher and psychologist, widely considered the father of American psychology. Wildly, not wildly. Wildly, he said he's wildly considered the father of the father. He taught at Harvard for decades and wrote the principles of psychology, which became a landmark text. William James. All right. Wait a second. I want, okay. He must have, he's taught at Harvard. I wonder where he learned it. Maybe, I mean, well, we could look that up. I'd be like, like, the origins of psychology. I'd be interested in that. Like, who, who came off and first said my psychologist? You know what I mean?

19:31The goal standard of psychology, that's something I would do. I would say this is it. And I'm going to start a school. All right. Well, what does William James have to say? He says the faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will. Okay. All right. One phrase to say about that cultural appropriation. This is meditation. This is mindfulness. All stuff from the East, these psychologists. They take it off. I'll tell you some. They try to own it. Well, um, he, I heard a story about William James. And so he was, um, he was given some speech at some university or something like that. And there was a Buddhist monk in the audience. And the Buddhist monk asked a question or something. He said, you know what? You are more qualified to speak on this, the speaking on the mind than me. You're coming from a tradition that's been deep, delving deep into the psychology

20:35for so many centuries before we were. You come up here, you speak and invited him up in that person delivered a talk. And then afterward, William James says, this is the psychology that we're all going to be studying 10 years from now or something like that. So he wasn't trying to steal it. He was, um, he was really, he was paying a forward and trying to, uh, appreciate it. Okay. I'm going to read it again. What do you think about what? Look, why are we reading again? I'm going to read again. Yeah. I'm going to read again. I'm going to sink in the faculty, the faculty of the voluntary bringing the back, bringing back a wandering attention. Hmm. Yes. Prana Priya over and over again is the very root of judgment, character and will. So what I like about this quote is that he's not talking about some rare, mystical experience, you know, available only to Yogi sitting in caves in the Himalayas. He's talking to me, he's talking to us. He's talking to our ordinary, distracted, wandering, monkey mind, right? And he's saying that the simple act of bringing it back, bringing it back,

21:39doing it again, bringing it back, that is where our whole character is built. That's where our will comes from, right? So think about that as you think about that as practicing Yogi's, you know, we might spend so much energy beating ourselves up because of our mind. But James says, you don't understand, it's okay. The wandering, the wandering is not the failure. Coming back is the victory, looking at like that, every single time. This is the muscle we're building. And if you wrote this in the 1890s, right? Because we're distracted now, yes, okay, you just asked Mara. She witnesses me all day, right? No Instagram, no notifications, no algorithms, right? 1890s, yeah. But we tend to think like everything is great back in the 1890s away. They're struggling with the mind back then too. Yeah, not only that, if you think about, uh, yes, yes, they are.

22:41Okay. And even then the great challenge of human life was, can you hold your mind to what matters? I mean, I will say the very act of simple living and, um, it is very mindful, you know, when you're, you know, raking leaves or shoveling manure or tending animals or growing plants, it's a little bit more grounding, a little bit more. And in the name of evolution, our minds have become more scattered. And if the gold standard for happiness is a peaceful mind, we are so off course, right now, you know, right? We really think we're at the pinnacle of evolution because of what's the new thing? It's called the zooks. Have you heard about this? Zooks, zucchinis. No, I think it's ZOOX. They're these new taxis that just drive you around. Oh, like we saw in LA, like in LA, but now there's new ones that are like better than those. And these are, they're going to be in New York soon.

23:42And, and, and the Tesla is making these new cars that you can't even drive. They just drive themselves. You just sit in them, you send your kids to school in them. And if you can't park in New York City, you just say, keep driving around till I'm done. And then you bring it back. We're entering a whole new chapter of life, man. You know what that's going to do? We're going to, you're not going to get into New York City where they have the alternate side of the street parking. Look, you don't have to go down and do it anymore. The car will just do that itself. Like, you know how they pull over and then you let the street cleaner come and then you go and you grab a spot again. Sure people don't do that. How about all the people, how about the taxi drivers who bought medallions? They're going to be in a business. It could wreck our entire economy and make a few people very rich. Well, that's what they say about everything. No thing that comes along though. Yeah, calculators that wreck the economy. Advocates. Right. The abacus business went right down after that. Stocks and abacus forget it. I lost millions. So they're abacus dealers.

24:45Just like starving. We're going to jack our warehouses full of abacuses. This is abacus. It's called. You know, but being speaking of distracted minds, you know, it's funny when you go into Vindavan because it is like another zone. It is, you know, we, we, on the spiritual level, we accept this crazy thing. That most people will think that we're not for thinking that what that the Vindavan that you see there is like that, that it's a spiritual world that is manifest in that space, but you just can't see it unless you have the eyes to see it, but that when you're there, you're actually in a realm that's outside of this universe. You're in a vortex, but that's essentially our faith. And there, and there's kind of you feel a truth of it in the sense that the devotees that live there, they do live in a different space, you know, large. Right. And, but you know, the news of the world comes to them.

25:46And I think they tend to view it. I don't know, just like a little bit like some kind of outsiders. So I saw one, one devotee, I saw he just sits under this tree like all day, you know, like on the edge of the Christian ballroom temple in Brahmacharya. And, you know, I see him every year when I visit India. So I always say, hello, and he's, and, you know, he knows I'm from the states. And so he, you know, whatever news is coming to him, you know, it comes like, so we're about to have World War three, right? Like if I hope not, you know, but he's, you know, he's a Western Brahmacharya. No, he's an Indian Brahmacharya, you know, but, but like you tend to simplify your, your, your news intake, I suppose, and, yeah, and you just kind of, and, you know, whether for it may be more or less accurate that way. I mean, if you're a, if you are a devotee, the last thing you want to do is read newspapers. Yeah. So they, that, exactly, it gets kind of simplified.

26:47Like, well, I hear we're having World War three. Well, close. Yeah. But, but, but here we go, right, this idea that, that William James, who's someone who's not just, um, absorbed in studying the mind, but like, is considered like the father of modern psychology. So someone with deep insights in how the mind works. And he's recognizing something that we were never taught, uh, that was taught in the Bhagavad Gita, right? What do you tell your toe and his cellity? Manas, what is the job of us, you know, Tantala Masjidam, Tata Tata Tato, Naya Amyatad, at Manyeva, Shambnaya, that whatever the mind wanders due to flickering and unsteady nature, one must, you know, Niyama, right? Just like in the, you know, the yama, Niyama, you have to regulate it. You have to regulate, you have to bring it back in place of where you wanted. Why? Well, because you're, what does he say? He was saying that your judgment, your character, your will, are dependent on you flexing that muscle rather than just letting it wander wherever it

27:48goes. And that's kind of like how we were raised, it just goes where it goes. You don't have to bring it back. Just try to put something in front of it that's entertaining. It's kind of like what we were taught, right? Well, they're, yeah, it's very, very powerful. The fact that, you know, we used to tell our kids, if you have kids, you know, this, if you don't have kids, check this out. We, uh, in the old days, we're like, okay, you kids get outside, right? That was the idea. Get outside and then you're outside. You're playing and if you're bored, you're making up games, you're finding neighbors, stuff like that. Yeah. I think up to this point, we're like, the kids want to come and watch TV. Okay, we're like, okay, you can watch TV. But then we're trying to always chase them out of the house. Nowadays, kids, they, even to, they don't even watch TV. They watch clips of videos. They don't want to video games. Now they watch other people playing video games on TV. So that's what they're watching. The watching YouTube on the TV of other people playing video games.

28:49And I'm begging my kids, can you please just watch a movie? Just no more, no more watching video games or playing via just watch a movie. Just sit there for like an hour and a half and just watch a movie. We're trying anything to drag their minds back to some type of, you know, steadiness, where something, something nourishing on some level, educational, some damn level care to building. Yeah. Yeah, it's really out of control. And the Pandora's box is open. No doubt, no doubt. And the, the stakes are so high. You know, again, Bug of a Geeta, Krishna saying, you know, whatever you think of, that determines your next form, your next body, you're creating it by, by your focus. And, and you know, I just noticed yesterday, I was, I was reading Little Bug of a Geeta on the plane. We're going to, sure. And I noticed something I never noticed before that you get a line repeated two times in the eighth chapter. Uh, what is it?

29:52Oh, why is this live in my, it's live in my mind right now. Tasmat survey shoe college shoe, therefore all the time, right? Therefore, like what are you doing with your mind all the time? Krishna says Tasmat survey shoe college shoe, mom, Anus Marta, mom, Anus Marta. Think of me, right? Remember me, meditate on me. Tasmat survey shoe college, because what you meditate on you become, Tasmat, therefore, survey shoe college shoe, all of the time, mom, Anus Marta, be meditating on me, you know, to bring your mind to the, to the highest level content you can. And then he's going to say the same thing in, in, uh, at the towards the end of the eighth chapter. He talks about death a lot, and he talks about like the, how one, how yogis who have subtle refined yogic powers to choose when they want to leave their body to achieve like their goal. He says, you know what, my yogis, they know about that, they know when you pass away in darkness, where you go, they know when you pass away in light,

31:00where you go, they're not so concerned about the astrological calculations, because they're connected to me and do it in devotion. So, so then again, he says, uh, at the end of the eighth chapter, text 27, he says, Tasmat survey shoe college shoe, therefore survey shoe, all of college shoe, all of the time. Then, and then he says, yoga, yukta of Arjuna, be connected to me through yoga, you know, connect yourself to me through yoga. That means bringing your mind to this, you know, you told your tonus, childy, keep bringing it back, you know, our mind wanders here and that there's a ways, creative ways dynamic. That's part of the beauty of Bryndav and it's almost like you can't not think about Krishna because one way or another, everybody's, I tell you, we're going to, I'm, I, uh, I had, I was invited for lunch with this wonderful, there's these two devotees, they kind of serve a lot together in Bryndav and his name is Gadadhar. He's French, and I know you would remember him.

32:02It may be Gadadhar or something, I forget, but, um, I know you remember him because he used to come to like the VIG back in the early 90s. And, and there's an Italian woman named Sarah, who just loves to cook. And she's, we love Italian people who love to cook. She's the personification of it. I was like saying this lady. You know, what is the Krishna's Ladini Shakti? Well, you know, the pleasure potency, the feeling when it wells up inside someone, I want to serve, I want to please another being, you know, I want to serve Krishna, I want to serve Krishna's devotees. She's got it so deep that she just loves to cook for devotional, bring all her pots and pans and her whole setup and travel somewhere else just to like cook for people and then she's thanking you for the opportunity to cook. With like full honesty and integrity and genuineness, you know, like what are you talking about? You came here and you fed me so nicely, and you're thanking me.

33:05I'm supposed to be thanking you, but, you know, people are thinking of Krishna in Burndav and one way or another, you know, that's, that is Rubra Goswami's prescription. And one way or another, this, this object of meditation, Krishna, the root of all existence, if you bring your mind to him, one way or another, you benefit and you transform in beautiful ways. You know, it's interesting because it's the crazy distraction of Kaliyuga that can be counter acted. That's why Japa and Kirtam, these two things together are so powerful to drag the mind back. It's like Japa is like a machine gun of, you know, of devotion. It's like holding the mind. We have to like, and Kirtam, it gets carved into the mind. These melodies where we were, we're just singing all day long. This is the medicine for Kaliyuga. Huh? Oh, yes. Come on. Yeah, it's stupid. Yeah, what are we always going to say also Kaliyuga with all its faults as well.

34:09They're distracting and YouTube and kids watching videos of videos, videos of videos. You know, it's also, it's not like everything is bad here. We have a lot of great opportunities. Yes, where we are right now. We tend to think like a hundred years ago, everything was great. It wasn't great. It wasn't great. He himself was saying his mind distracted. But there's also crazies in 1890. There were a lot of crazies out there. There were kid, the lint, the limber baby was kidnapped. No one knows what happened to the limber baby. Come on. Good, right? There was kidnappers. There was violent murderers. Jack the Ripper was out there ripping people. That, that was happening, right? So we got to think about it like that. It's not like everything was, you know, riding on unicorns, handing canolis to each other. It wasn't that. There was also crazies out there, even when the, even when everything was organic. It was crazy. There was plagues. So whatever the time is. Whatever the service should call issue, therefore all the time,

35:09whether it's in the, you know, centuries ago or now. So it is different now, but you can just zone in. Just like you're doing in Vrndobben. Vrndobben. Did you out? Out. It's all, but you can, you find those places. You go to Rada Koon, you take the Chaitanya Charter and you lock in. That's all you have to do, right? Yeah. And I tell you some, now you just take for everybody that was there with us. If now all we have to do is take that Chaitanya Charter into wherever we are. And we'll feel like we're sitting at Rada Koon. Yeah. Yeah. That's a, that's a. I wonder if that's my idea of heaven, like unicorns and canolis. Okay, let's get to the bottom. Yeah, we are, we are taking up this whole show with. Staffer. Narayanam Namaskrtyanaram Chaiyavanarotamam Devam Saraswati Miyasamta Tocha Yama Deereya.

36:10Before starting the Shri Matbhagavatam, which is our very music conquest, when should offer its Veppala Basancies to the Supreme Lord Narayan, unto Narayan Rishi, the Supermost Human Being and some other Saraswati that got us of learning and the Shri Liyasadev, the author. Nasta Prayeshwabhadrishu Nitsyambhagavat Seva Yabhagavatu to Masloke. Bucked to your Bhavati Naishti ki by regular attendance in class on the Bhagavatam and by rendering service to the period of odies, all that is troublesome to the Haro become eradicated. And loving service to the Supreme Lord, who is praised with strange little songs, will be established as an revocable fact. Oh, my gannatamarandasya again, Anjana Shalakaya Chakshurun Mithatam Nena. Tazmaya Shri Gave Meha. I was born in the darkness of ignorance, my teachers are opening my eyes. With a torchlight of knowledge, I offer my obeisances at their lotus feet. Reading from the Shri Madhagavatam. Kanto 10, chapter 23, text 30. Okay, what's happening? We are in it. Oh, this is a very sweet chapter, actually.

37:11You read 30, right? We're in text 31, is that correct? We can start with 30, if you like. Well, that's the end of the conversation that the ladies, the wives of the Brahminers are speaking to Krishna now. They came running out to them, they prepared everything. They came running to exactly like this lady, Sarah, like, oh, this is what I want to do. I want to cook and bring this. I'm happy serving others. So they did that. And now they're saying, our husband, this theory, text 30. Our husband's father's sons, brothers of their relatives and friends will no longer take us back. And how could anyone else be willing to give a shelter? Therefore, since we have thrown ourselves at your lotus feet and have no other destination, please, O chastiser of the enemies, grant our desire. They want to stay with him. But and you know, there's a lot of parallels between this and when the, the gopis come out here and Krishna play the flute and they run away from home too. And they go meet him at night.

38:13But Krishna is going to tell them something. He does tell the gopis, you should all go back now, but the gopis end up staying. But these ladies are going to go back, right? They're going to go back to their families. But let's hear what Krishna has to say to them, text 31. So Krishna said, rest assured that your husbands will not be inimical towards you. Nor will your fathers, brothers, sons, other relatives, or the general populace. I will personally advise them of the situation. Indeed, even the demigods will express their approval. Krishna's just a little boy speaking here, but he's like, I'm going to talk to the populace. They'll understand. This is like our people joining sage groups. They're right. They hear something about Krishna, then they're like signing and they're and they probably have friends relatives, you know, the spouses that are like, what are you doing now? You already watched this podcast every day. Now you're going to join some podcast group. Are you crazy? How much of the stuff can you take? And now you want to go to India? Now you want to go to some local Kirtan. All right. It's all absorbing.

39:14Oh, that you cook for this now and your time. Right. We want your very life. Okay. Right. For you to remain in my bodily association, what's certainly not pleased people in this world? Nor would it be the best way for you to increase your love for me. Rather. Yes. Fix your minds on me. Here we go. Very soon you will achieve me. What a lesson in Calyuga. You don't have to run to Krishna. You bring Krishna in. So no matter what you do in this world, Krishna is with you. Yeah, this is this is again, this is going right. This is all Bhagavad Gita. This sounds like a what are you laughing about? I had this great dream yesterday. Oh, I got to tell you this. I'm sorry. Squirrel hold it. Where's my? It's not squirrel, man. It's a very Krishna conscious. Oh, come on. That's not a bad thing. Squirrel here at first. Hello. Okay, let's hear it. Check this out. I'm laying in bed last night. And I was like, you know, you have one of those days. You're like, is Propod with me?

40:16Am I getting the blessings from Propod? There you are. I was like, Prop, and as my head hits the pillow, I was like, Propod, I told you I've been doing this lately. I was like, Propod, Propod, I need to know you're with me. And if you're with me, I don't want to challenge you like this. Hold it. Was this in the dream or this is praying? No, this is a real life, right? As I'm going to bed, I was like, Propod, I need to know. I'm good with you. I need to know I'm good with you. Well, you're not. You got a long one. I picked your frame, fell and landed on my head. Just kidding. No, I just, I just need to know I'm with you. And I close, but just, I said, please come to me in a dream. Come to me and check this out. It came to you. There was this thing. We were all on a ship together. Who? And then I heard this keertown going on and I ran downstairs and these disciples were down there with Propopod. As I propod, you came. I couldn't believe it. I haven't had a dream of Propod in a very long time.

41:17And I ran up to him and he gave me one of these like, like elated faces. And I said, Propod, you're here and I did full obeisances. And he put his little feet out, like pointed his toe, lifted his heels off the ground, pointed his heels towards me and I grabbed his feet and put him to my head. And that was my dream. Is that an amazing dream? Well, there you go. You asked and you, you asked, I asked, I asked. That's beautiful. Thank you. Isn't that a great dream? Come on. Yes. Oh, Krishna. Well, there you go. So similarly, in a way, these ladies are being asked to bring their minds. The important instruction, right? He's saying, he's saying, don't stay here with him physically. But, but always stay connected to me internally, right? This is, Krishna calls this the highest yoga of all, right? Yogi Namapisham. Of all the different varieties of yogis. Malkatane Antaramana, the those that are meditating on me, good-biting me, you know, abiding in me deep within.

42:19Sharaban with great faith, budgetate you, worshiping me, right? Internally, Simey Yukta Tamo, Mataha, they're the most connected with me and yoga. What does he say here? Yun jana, yun jana, yun jana, fixing, staying connected, right? It's all connected to this yukta, bringing two things together, staying and keeping it connected, keeping it fixed. So fixing your minds, mana, ma'i, yun jana, right? Keep your mind fixed on me. This is yoga. He's saying, you don't need to stay here with me. Go home. But the best way for you to increase your love for me, right? Anuragaya. For you to intensify your Bukti, intensify your love, is to just bring your mind to me. And then he says, very quickly, you'll achieve me this way. Very soon you will achieve me. Why don't we read the commentary?

43:20Okay. The screen, there it is. No way, you got to stop. What? What? Everything's okay. Okay, what number? 31, 32. I'm sorry, 32. Do you remember when your TV set used to say, we were experiencing operating difficulties. Please stand by. I do. Remember that? Your cartoon would just stop. Then there'd be kind of a target looking thing and some. Yes, we're experiencing operating difficulties. Please stand by before like they had their act together. Television was. Yeah, had breakdowns. Yes. The Lord pointed out, this is the purport. The Lord pointed out that people in general would not appreciate in loving affair between Lord Krishna, who superficially was appearing. As a coward boy, right? And the wives from the Brahman community, right? Who superficially was appearing as a coward boy and the wives from the Brahman community, they wouldn't appreciate that. Okay.

44:20Also, the Brahman's ladies own devotion and love would increase most efficiently in separation. This is a very deep happening and just in that sense. Right? Sometimes we're home. We're thinking, I want to go to Brindavan. I want to go to the Ganga. I want to see the Yamuna. I want to go to Holy places. I want to go to Maya Pura. In other words, it would be best if all around if they continue to fix their minds on Lord Krishna and thus went on with the process they had been practicing throughout their lives. Right? Because those ladies have never met Krishna. They had just heard about him. So when they finally did meet him, they were like, boom. Right? They had just heard from the other Brajjanas, the other village women. The Lord and his bona fide representative, the spiritual master expertly engaged the Lord's devotees in different types of service so that all of them can quickly return to his lotus feet. In that sense, could have said the Lord and his bona fide representative,

45:21the spiritual master expertly was as expertly engaged in expertly provide ways that one can keep their mind fixed on Krishna, that the mind keeps going back. Right? Keeps going back. That's what the Sadhana is for. That's what the, even all the advice someone's lifestyle is just so one way or another that mind keeps going back there. You know, William James was saying that there's something to this flexing, this muscle of of keep bringing your mind, he said over and over again to that focus, to that, to that point where you want to bring it, he says, that's the very root of judgment, character and will. And, and this is about changing our judgment or character and we're purifying our judgment or character in our will to the point where it's all Krishna centric. Right? It's all, it's all focused on the highest level content, not the crummy stuff that we get caught up and I'm like, God, but you know, I can't, well, I'm hearing this, I just can't help.

46:25But think of Krishna and Balaram in the Christian Balaram because I was just there, the two of them are so incredibly gorgeous. And they wear these beautiful outfits. You know, I got blessed, Raghunath. You are. I'm interested. He actually said you should wear this in the next episode, but it would have never made it home in my suitcase. But that, the day before Krishna and Balaram, they had these incredibly beautiful outfits where they had like these chudders that were going out very gracefully that were made of all flower buds. And they're wearing around their necks, these incredibly cool garlands. I could send you, maybe I can share a photo on the, maybe, maybe chopper, you could share that photo on the chat board. But of of these garlands that were made up of like pistachio shells,

47:25almonds and pumpkin seeds. And so they're made almost like something like in some kind of patterns or like they look like flowers. Oh, wow. And they're going down it and then a really big thing made with the almonds at the bottom. When you, when I saw them, I didn't even know what they were made out of, you know, from a distance, but they just looked like the coolest things. That's pretty cool. It looked like some special kind of like a ward kind of thing or something like that. I like garlands you can eat. That's a great idea. Banana seeds, grapes, nut butter, a messy garland. Have you ever seen those Guatemala's? Guatemala's no Guatemala's. They make garlands life for 100 months. All made out of those dried fruits, savoury donut things, nut fruits. What a, you know, what a, oh, oh, never seen those South India. I've seen what I'm so any case. Remember those little candy necklaces you get when you're a kid. Oh, yeah, yes.

48:27So that's that for our deity. So those candy necklaces. That's a good idea. You offer those and you can, then you can eat them. But in any case, Christian and Bollaram, the next day, they're wearing the most incredible crowns. You've ever, like on a cottage, they were in the silver crowns. They're stunning. They have a silver, they have special crowns on a cottage. They were, right? Like, don't they wear that cone, cone crowns? No, it wasn't a cone. It was, but it was so okay. Oh, that's maybe brought to go into where's the cone. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the cone. The cone of silence. But in any case, when these women are standing in front of Christian Bollaram, they're so beautiful. And you can't look at me. I'm thinking of Christian Bollaram now. You know, my mind is going back, you know. And so what to speak of them who just had this experience where their hearts were just deeply filled with love. They cried tears. They felt ecstasy. And he's saying, you don't have to be with me. But when you're remembering me, you're with me.

49:28And this is going to be, he said, this is a very powerful type of yoga. But you fix your minds to me very soon. You will achieve me very soon. And she fold up while you're always with me, right? You'll always have me internally. You'll always have me in your heart. You beautiful. Love it. Beautiful. Want to do one more? Yeah, it is by hearing about me, seeing my deity form. Yeah, they had deities of him back then. Yeah, look at the words that they're using here. This is all this yoga language again. Shravanad, hearing about me. Darshanat. Darshanat means. Yannat. Meditating on me. Maibhavah. I'm meditating on my love. Anukirtanat. Singing lovingly about me. Sanyakarsana. Sanyakarsana by literal proximity. But being close to. Pratiyatta. Returning. Returning. Right.

50:28Briha to your very homes. Don't you have a turn to your home, right? It is by hearing about me, seeing my deity form. Meditating upon me and chanting my names and glories that love for me develops. Not by physical proximity. Therefore, please go back to your homes. Wow. This is the verse. Beautiful. We should, let's say this, Pranapriya, getting your microphone, put your knitting down and like, read this verse again so we can all hear it. Me and Kasuba are just going to sit back and take it in. This is a very important verse for us today. Okay. It is by hearing about me, seeing my deity form. Meditating upon me and chanting my names and glories that love for me develops. Not by physical proximity. Therefore, please go back to your homes. Wow. That's Bhakti Yoga, right there. Wow. What a powerful. It's so reminiscent for me of for Chaitanya's instructions to Sanan Goswami. I heard a beautiful lecture, Raghunath. I was listening to it as it's coming home.

51:28I listened to it in Vrndavana and I loved it so much. It was a long lecture that Raghunath swami, like a two-hour lecture that he gave just on Ghor Pranima. Is it great listening to lectures on the plane? Yes, it's a great way to spend your time. It's great. You got like, I have three lectures, like knocked off that whole plane trip. There you go. That's when you got like a two-hour one, you know? Oh, yeah. And so he was, he, oh, it was an absolutely beautiful lecture about about oneness and difference, unity and diversity, you know? And he was speaking about the instructions. There's how Sri Caitanya dealt with people. How even people that he disagreed with, how he didn't compromise on the point of disagreement. But at the same time, he never compromised on his compassion and his sweetness of how he dealt with people. Sure. Everybody, right? Everybody. Everyone bought a chariot. He's not there. Listen. He quietly listened, didn't even when,

52:31when Saraboma's Buddhacharya's brother-in-law, who understood who Sri Caitanya was, got upset with Saraboma for dealing with Bhagavan as if he could help him. Sure. And Sri Caitanya said, why are you getting upset with him? He's been so nice to me. He's been, you know, he took care of me. He took me in. The dig Vijay. The dig Vijay. One after another. One after another. So sweet. Not argumentative and nasty and try to defeat somebody. He didn't compromise. He did speak the truth and he did ultimately defeat them, but with kindness. Yeah, respect. And so he mentioned there that Sanatana Goswami spent two months with Sri Caitanya, where he instructed me, in those conversations are there in the Madhya Lila of Caitanya Charitamita. And one verse is so important there. One of the most important verses. Nithya Siddha Krishna Pramah. Sadiya Siddha Krishna Pramah.

53:31Nithya Siddha, eternally Krishna Pramah is Nithya Siddha. It's eternally established within one. It's not something that you get from outside, right? Pure love for Krishna is eternally situated in the hearts of living entities. It is not something gained from another's source, but it needs to be awakened, right? We have to remember it. We forgot it. It's in us. We don't have to bring it back to it. We don't have to learn to be it. We have to remember it. Right. So then it says Shravana, Shravana Adi. Right. So Shravana, which was just mentioned in this verse by hearing and Adi indicates in all the things that follow it. Right. Of course, there's the nine, right? Shravana Kirtana, smart enough, you know. Kirtana. I've been singing that lately. And so just like in this verse that we're hearing, but it says by Shravana Adi, Shuddha, Chiti, Karya Udaya. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, then this love naturally awakens. Here we're here in the same thing. He's telling these ladies, you don't have to be here with me all the time.

54:33But if you keep bringing your mind back to me, then you, you're very quickly attained me, right? It's, it's, it's, it's. What, what William James said is very important on any practical level. We're not going to be refined people. If we're not careful about bringing our minds back to higher level content, where it will improve our judgment, it'll improve our character, it'll purify our will, but the ultimate purifier, the ultimate full on transformational fact is when you take that same action of bringing your wandering mind as, as William James said over and over again, as, as the Bhagavad Gita also meant, right? Yatoh, Yatoh, Nishchalati, Manastan, Chalamastir, repeatedly bringing your mind back. But if you bring it back to Krishna, you get results that are entirely not of this world that are beyond the spiritual world. Beautiful, special K grad, glad to have you back.

55:34Good to be back, Hergo. Now, I want to see if Miss Pranapriya was aware, attentive, when she passed, or was she just mindlessly knitting in the background? One pearl, two pearls. Isn't that what you say when you're knitting? Pearl one, stitch one, pearl two. I was bringing my wandering mind back over and over again. Hey, guess what? Danny Kazakowski is doing the art work for my book cover. Awesome. For my six billion book. Get out. Yeah, she's the best. That's coming. Very excited. All right, ready for some takeaways? It's a big year because, too, it's a big year. Okay. It's really all right. All right. Cherish the romancing of Krishna and pay it forward. Pay forward. Pay it forward. Our character and will are from our focused attention. Keep it focused. Wandering monkey mind isn't the failure, bringing it back again and again is the victory. Speaking of monkeys, boy, it's been a lot of time with them.

56:39Your focus creates your next body. That's right. Oh, yeah. One way or another, just meditate on Krishna over and over again. Very good. Like it. Japan, Kirtan are prescriptions to hold the mind. That's what they do. That they're so good. They're so good. I mean, you don't realize that it's so simple. There's such a genius behind it. Yes. He's showing us a photo on the mug. Okay. Cute. You don't have to run to Krishna. Just keep Krishna in your mind and heart. You know, there's a great story behind that mug. Okay. Can I share it? Can I allow right now? Can I scroll out right now? It's a, it is a squirrel. All right. Check this out. You two squirrel. So there's this Indian man at the equal village when we're doing our teacher training. No, no, no, no.

57:40So every, every day, my daughter, who was like maybe 12 at the time, she would just be like a range that she could wake up early at like 5 a.m. and milk the cows. And so somebody would help her and show her how to do it. And she did that. And you know, because I'm a dad and we're doing our teacher training upstairs from the, from the barn. I would say, how is milking today? And so then being a little like careful, like, you know, because dad's care for their kids. I was just like, you know, was anybody in there? Are you doing that alone? Well, he goes, well, you know, they left me alone. I was milking, but there was a guy in there and my spidey sense is one of like, there was a guy in there. Yeah, what was he doing? I was just laying down. I was like laying down. What are you talking about? It's like laying down and laying down in the barn. I was like, what are you talking about? There's a guy laying in the barn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And what was he doing there? He was, he was just, it was weird. He was like covered in cow dung. I was like, what's that?

58:41I was like, are you really serious? She's like, yeah, yeah, he's covered head to toe and cow dung. And I was like, oh, all right. Anyway, it turns out there's a man who's like struggling walking. He is a team of assistants with him. He has a team of assistants with him at the breakfast table. And he came and they called me over and they said, yes, I saw your doctor. I saw your doctor. I saw her in the morning. I was like, yeah, what are you doing in the morning over there? He goes, this is special. He goes, I have problems walking. I have full, it was Indian man, an Indian wealthy Indian businessman. He said, I have full faith in Lord Krishna and the cows. So he has this cow dung therapy where he's covered. He goes, I will walk, I know I will walk. And so every day, I think for 30 days, he covered his body and cow dung. Did he walk? I don't know. I've never seen him again. But what he did do every day is trying to get you like, you know,

59:41the whole thing was sort of weird. You know, my daughter is in there and early in the morning, you know, I'm looking at sweet lady Kachy is like, I would have been weird if it was my daughter. It was weird. And then he started going, give me pictures of your family. And I was like, what kind of request is that? I want to picture my kids are lent too at that time. He was, please, give me pictures of your family. I was like, oh, okay. I was like, oh, I'm going to get pictures of my family. And why am I going to give this brand of man a covering myself with dung? Cow dung man. It's my family. And it just started getting weird. So I started like, okay, yeah, I got to get those pictures. Next thing I know, I come back a few weeks. And he's in the business of, you know, making calendars and mugs and post. And he went to Facebook, found me on Facebook, got all these pictures of Facebook of my family and made me like mugs and pictures. So this is the mug of me and my son is as rocket Christian of my son's name.

1:00:42And there was other various things and that was his business that he did. And it was just a very, just it was just a genuine sweet offering. There was nothing weird. Yes, he was covered in dung big deal. Yes, he wanted pictures of my family. Big deal. Not everything is like creepy and criminal. That is our lesson today. Not everything is creepy and criminal. That's good because the last time I was on this show, you're, you're getting a little on my case for being kind to the little bridge bossy kids. Yeah, yeah, it's not all creepy and criminal here. Yes, there are people who are trying to steal the Lindbergh baby. We get that. But not everybody is Prana Priya. Can you finish your takeaways? And that was a good squirrel, huh? Incredible. Give me something. Yes. And life wasn't all canolaes and unicorns. No, it wasn't.