In this second episode of Nārada’s story, the focus shifts to Kailāsa—and we get to see what transpired during Nārada’s meeting with Śiva. What are the lessons we learn from this meeting? What were the lessons Nārada had not yet learned in this unfolding drama?
The Razor's Edge 1
God—Personal or Impersonal?
Three Rare Blessings
In Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, Śaṅkarācārya’s masterly manual of Vedanta, we read of the three rare blessings which are received only through God’s grace. What are those blessings? What do we do with them?
Trinity of Freedom
Swamiji Vivekananda asks: “What is this universe? From what does it arise? Into what does it go?” And this is his answer: “In freedom it arises, in freedom it rests, and into freedom it melts away.” Swamiji’s words on the trinity of bondage and the trinity of freedom are useful springboards for our own personal reflections on the subject.
Trinity of Bondage
Spiritual Maturity
Creation – Gradual or Sudden?
Did the world come about gradually or did it manifest all at once? When a disciple asked this question to Holy Mother Sarada Devi, her answer was direct: “Everything came into being at once, not gradually.” What are the implications of that answer, keeping in mind the theory of evolution and the religious stories about creation?
The World of "Many"
To Forgive or Not to Forgive?
A Reunion Story
Change and the Changeless
Study of Great Lives
The Mysterious Snake
This, That, and Me
Looking But Not Seeing
When I look at a person, do I really see the person? When I look at myself, do I really see myself? Considering how little I know about others and about myself, I am not really seeing anything and anyone as they truly are. What’s the point of living a superficial life, skimming the surface and ignoring the truth that lies within?
Worldliness
The Last Day
God Is Seeing Me
We visit a temple to have darśan and we stand before the altar to see the Deity. Are we aware of the fact that the Deity is seeing us too? In fact, God is seeing us everywhere, all the time, even when we are not even thinking about God. If I make it a habit to always remember that “God is seeing me”—how will that change my life?
"Where Shall I Stay?"
When Śrī Rāma was exiled to the forest by his stepmother, he first went to the hermitage of Sage Vālmīki and sought his advice about a good place to stay in the forest for the next fourteen years. Vālmīki’s answer to Rāma’s question has become a luminous guide to devotees seeking to fill their hearts with God’s presence.