1824: You're Not in Control | The Placebo Illusion and the Bhakti Reality

Our sense of security is based on illusion — confirmed by both modern science and the sages of the Bhakti Yoga tradition. A landmark psychiatric study reveals something startling about what actually determines whether we panic or stay calm. The Vedic sages were ahead of the curve, and put it plainly: we are living in two illusions — false terror and false security. The material energy is infinitely more powerful than us. True security comes only when we wake up from the dream and step into the spiritual truth, connecting with the power that is actually stable. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha explore what that looks like in practice. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.42.15-31 ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************

In the form of a beautiful teenager God enters a new city, meets a hunchback girl in the street, transforms her body and enters a romance with her. On the surface it sounds bizarre. But read with the right eyes, it is rich in ecological and theological depth. The girl is an expansion of Mother Earth herself, bent low under the burden of wicked rulers. Krishna straightens her out, indicates the value in loving nature personified, and demonstrates how God can reciprocate with all varieties of love. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.42. 1-18 ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************

Are we all like wounded animals caught in a fence, biting the hand of the person trying to help? Is spiritual grace something exceptionally rare — and most of us the unfortunate ones who never win the lotto? Or is grace all around us, and we just need to put down what's in our arms to receive it? Raghunath and Kaustubha explore that alongside Krishna's entrance into Mathurā — where two encounters show exactly what it looks like to resist and receive grace. Srimad Bhagavatm 10.41.40-52  ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************

The Bhagavad-gītā sings of Krishna as the Absolute Truth — complete in himself, independent and lacking nothing. He doesn't need anything we can offer him. And yet — he wants our love. Raghunath and Kaustubha explore that paradox through the narration of Krishna's entrance into Mathurā — and what two very different encounters reveal about the one thing that actually matters in our relationship with God. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.41.34-39 ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************

When Krishna and Balarāma entered Mathurā, the women climbed to the rooftops and showered them with flowers. They took him into their hearts through their eyes — embraced him, the embodiment of all ecstasy — and their bodily hair stood on end. And in that way, unlimited distress disappeared from their lives. That is the experience that the path of bhakti leads to. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha explore that moment alongside a special guest — Malani Devi Dasi — who shares the story of this year's extraordinary Bhagavatam distribution campaign: 100,008 sets going out to souls around the world. Srimad Bhagavatm 10.41.0-32 ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************

In the 1970s the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull became a bestseller. A parable about a gull who refuses to follow the flock and discovers that his true nature is limitless. It serves as an insightful description of the spiritual path. The masses mistake worldly objects for sources of happiness — and spend their lives chasing what can never deliver. And some brave few dare to fly higher, brushing aside the disapproval of the flock. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha explore that courage alongside Akrūra's extraordinary prayers — about chasing the mirage and missing the divine love in one's own heart. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.40.26-30 ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************

Voltaire — the greatest writer of the French Enlightenment wrote that there is a dim flame burning in every heart — an intuition that somewhere there is a home, a happiness that is real and lasting.  We spend our lives chasing it in bodies, children, homes, wealth, relationships. And it never quite delivers. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha explore that intuition, what covers that dim light, and how the sacred texts of the bhakti tradition say it can be uncovered. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.40.10-24 ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************

Westerners who take interest in Eastern Spirituality may be reacting to elements of exclusivism found in Western religion (we're right and everyone else is wrong). The swing to the East may carry all the way to Hyper-Inclusivism (everybody's right). In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha explore what it means to hold a vision of truth that is both inclusive enough to appreciate truth wherever it may come from, yet nuanced enough to recognize falsity, or gradations in truth. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.40.1-10 ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************

Most Vedic literature speaks from a perspective within this universe. But some reveal that this universe is just a tiny bubble among countless others — and invite us to view our place in existence from outside. Depending on which angle we look from, either Vishnu or Krishna will appear to be the origin of the Avatars. Raghunath and Kaustubha explore that question alongside Akrūra's extraordinary vision in the Yamuna — seeing Vishnu in the water, coming out to find Krishna on the chariot, going back in and seeing Vishnu again. When I am seeing you, what have I not seen? Srimad Bhagavatam 10.39.40-57 ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************

It is said that Krishna never takes one step out of Vrindavan. But it appears that he does leave, and breaks the hearts of the Gopis. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha explore that image the idea of how it is true that he never left, what A holy place is, how anywhere can become one, and the six lessons a bhakti-yogi can learn from dogs. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.39.32-39 ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************