Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy Mayapur. I walk out of the ISKON compound on to the main road. I close my eyes and massage them for a few seconds to soothe them. They are allergic to something in Mayapur. I hail a ricksha. Haggle with the driver over the fare. Then drive north … Continue reading My Spiritual Glasses
A Meditation on Trees and Krishna
Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy Poems are made by fools like me But only God can make a tree (Joyce Kilmer) I came across these lines on the internet the other day. So God makes the trees? Well he does, doesn’t he? Hmm. Maybe Kilmer was on to something. After all, I had … Continue reading A Meditation on Trees and Krishna
Do We Need Salvation?
Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy “You’re doing it wrong,” said Joan, a Christian neighbor. I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes upwards. “Not again,” I thought. I had heard this from Christians a million times before. “Offering incense and ghee lamps to Krishna,” she went on. “You’re trying to earn your … Continue reading Do We Need Salvation?
Hugging the Soul
Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy The other day, an old friend came up to me, put his arms around me and started hugging me. Who can resist a big hug? Not me. I immediately put my arms around him. Then I began to wonder, What makes a hug so much fun? The pressure … Continue reading Hugging the Soul
Germs: Why Do They Do It?
Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy Have you ever wondered what motivates a germ to do the things it does? To make us sick? To digest our food for us? To turn milk into yogurt? No? Well neither had I till last week when I found all kinds of interesting things about germs on … Continue reading Germs: Why Do They Do It?
Krishna, My Therapist
Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy Did you know that men have worries? I didn’t either till I read about it on MSN. Yeah. Men worry about things like loneliness, difficulty making friends, being seen as weak or unmanly or maybe even violent. And old people have their problems too, but I knew that. … Continue reading Krishna, My Therapist
To My Spiritual Master, 2023
Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy The Gift of Pain A tribute to my spiritual master on the anniversary of his appearance in this world The other evening, a Christian song taught me something about Srila Prabhupada. As I sported in my favorite playground, the internet, I stumbled upon a site featuring Christian music. … Continue reading To My Spiritual Master, 2023
A Million-Dollar Ticket to Death
Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy One evening last June, I put down my Hare Krishna beads and logged on to the Internet. I held my breath as I saw news of a life-or-death drama unfolding on the high seas: five men locked in a small vessel lost somewhere underwater in the North Atlantic. … Continue reading A Million-Dollar Ticket to Death
An Easy Way to See God
Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy I was born and raised Jewish. Throughout my childhood I heard again and again that a Jew never bows to a statue or worships one. Never. Nor does a Jew bow to any man. I opened the Bible and read about the Hebrew prophet Daniel in Babylon. Instead … Continue reading An Easy Way to See God
Can You Show Me God?
Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy Summer 1965. I had just turned twenty-eight. My friend John and I wandered from shelf to shelf in the mystical section of Weiser’s Book Store in lower Manhattan. Maybe this time we would find it: the magic Zen book, the one we hadn’t read yet, the one that … Continue reading Can You Show Me God?