The first of the Four Practices (sādhana-catuṣṭaya) is discernment (viveka). What does it really mean? What does it do? How do I practice it? How does it help my spiritual life?

Is the world that we see a “material” entity made up of atoms and molecules—or is there something more to it? Is the world alive in some way or form? Is it conceivable that the world of the living and the nonliving could itself be a living entity—perhaps a Cosmic Person (virāṭ)?

There are many ways to understand the world-phenomenon (saṁsāra). One way is to see it as a Cosmic Play, or līlā. What does līlā mean—and what can it do to rejuvenate my spiritual life? In this Cosmic Play, who is playing? What is the play all about? When does it begin and when does it end?

What is the significance of Sri Ramakrishna’s cryptic statement: যত মত, তত পথ, “As many faiths, so many paths”? It is possible to visualize a room with windows looking out at the vast expanse outside. The windows are small but the view they reveal is vast. The windows are many, but the view is one and the same. What do we learn from all this?

The only permanent solution to the problem of suffering is to get rid of the ego once and for all. Good luck doing that!—as it is easier said than done. Since it is so tough to get rid of the ego, Sri Ramakrishna’s practical advice was: “Let the rascal be God’s servant.”

When Nārada falls in love with the princess Viśvamohinī, he feels the need to get a divine form to impress her. When he prays to the Lord to grant it to him, why does Śrī Hari give him a monkey’s face? How would that help Nārada? What lessons are we learning here?

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?

Does God have form or is God formless? Is God compassionate and loving? Or is God beyond all such qualities? Is God a person—or is God impersonal? How do we determine this? Does it even matter?

What is the third eye? Where is it located? What does it do that our two eyes don’t? Should I try to get one? (Don’t try Amazon, unless you are looking for a bunch of New Agey books on the subject.) It is time to take the mystery out of the third eye.

“A man once fed a peacock with a pill of opium at four o’clock in the afternoon. The next day, exactly at that time, the peacock came back. It had felt the intoxication of the drug and returned just in time to have another dose.” What lesson does this story have for you and me?

When does service become sacred? How does serving others become a spiritual practice? Who is the one who serves and to whom is service offered? If ultimately everything is really one, what purpose is served by service?

Shakespeare was onto something when he wrote: “All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and women merely players.” Sri Ramakrishna was onto something as well when he said: “This universe is Divine Mother’s play.”

Which mother can keep away for long when her child begins to cry? We cry for so many things. Why not learn to cry for the Divine Mother? Let every one of us be a child whose cry cannot be silenced by any worldly toy, for it is only to such a child that the Mother comes.

The kalpataru grace is not limited to the few devotees that had gathered at Kashipur on January 1, 1886. It is as valid and true today as it was then. And it is to recapture that mood of participation in the inspiring event at Kashipur that the 1st of January holds a special meaning to a Ramakrishna devotee.