Being So Inclined

[Samuel Johnson] said, that for general improvement, a man should read whatever his immediate inclination prompts him to; though, to be sure, if a man has a science to learn, he must regularly and resolutely…

Two Distant Worlds?

There is nothing in mere scholarship. The object of study is to find means of knowing God and realizing Him. A holy man had a book. When asked what it contained, he opened it and…

Get to Work

Work on reducing your likes and dislikes, not only in personal relationships but in everything….Try this with jobs and responsibilities: the nagging little things you have to do but just don’t want to.   It’s…

Scholars

1. “What will a pundit’s scholarship profit him if he does not think of God and has no discrimination and renunciation? Of what use is erudition if the mind dwells on ‘woman and gold’?”–Sri Ramakrishna,…

Another Long Classic

In 2021 thirteen of us spent seven months to read and discuss the long novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov. I’m interested to see if anyone would be up for reading The Gospel of…

With Unswerving Steadfastness

Swami Prabhavananda, The Eternal Companion: Brahmananda—His Life and Teachings   A while back, through reading the spiritual works of Christopher Isherwood, I became acquainted with his guru, Swami Prabhavananda, who was a devotee of Brahmananda,…

Darshan

The Power of a Photograph In the last couple of years I’ve read whatever books I could get my hands on Whose subject is Sri Anandamayi Ma (Her parents gave her the name Nirmala Sundari…

Now

1. Thoughts of the past and future spoil your time. –Dipa Ma, in Amy Schmidt, Dipa Ma: The Life and Teachings of a Buddhist Master    2. If I had to use one single word to…