Wisdom of the Sages

When we first find the spiritual path, we imitate. It's natural. We put on the costume before we've done the inner work. We adopt the style before we've absorbed the substance. We copy what we see in the saints and the sages — the dress, the language, the mood. But it's been said: "No man was ever great by imitation. Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble." Raghunath and Kaustubha take that insight into one of the most important questions in the Bhagavatam: how could Krishna, the original speaker and guardian of morality, have a romantic relationship with so many girls? The answer extends to reframing who we are and what our purpose in life is. On the broadest level, the material world itself is the result of us imitating the Divine. That imitation produces absurdity and suffering. Returning to our natural position can be found through bhakti.

Srimad Bhagavatam 10.33.26-34
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"Love separates all things from the soul." Meister Eckhart — fourteenth century Christian mystic, so radical the Pope investigated him for heresy — arrived at the same place as the Bhakti Vedāntins. Both jñāna and bhakti dissolve material attachment. Jñāna does it through relentless intellectual negation. Bhakti does it through love. And love, as the Rāsa Dance shows, does it beautifully. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha continue through Canto Ten, Chapter Thirty-Three — Krishna caressing the tired gopīs' faces, the demigods showering flowers from their airplanes, Krishna and the gopīs entering the Yamuna together under the autumn moon. The highest object of meditation, delivered into this universe so we would stop looking for love and beauty in all the wrong places.
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.33.12-25
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A first reading of the Rāsa Līlā might suggest the gopīs' love is selfish, irresponsible, even unethical. But looking closer one can find the highest transcendence attained not through grinding austerity but through love so real and complete that everything else simply fell away. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha arrive at Canto Ten, Chapter Thirty-Three — the Rāsa Dance itself. Krishna expands between each pair of gopīs. The demigods crowd the sky. The gopīs sing, creating sixteen thousand musical ragas. Rādhārāṇī, tired from the dance, places her arm around Krishna's shoulder. His arm carries the fragrance of blue lotus and sandalwood. Her hair stands on end. She kisses his arm. This beautiful scene is what Vyāsadeva was told to meditate on and share with the world.
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.33.1-11
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Live from the Wisdom of the Sages annual Tuscany retreat, three questions that go to the heart of the practice. How do we deepen intimacy in bhakti without imitating it? How do you reconcile respect and resentment toward a teacher who gave you bhakti but also caused real harm? And how do we recognize what Krishna wants from us as our next step?
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Q&A Live from the Wisdom of the Sages annual Tuscany retreat. How does a bhakti practitioner maintain boundaries with a parent whose behavior has been harmful — without abandoning dharma or their own wellbeing? How do you help teenage daughters navigate comparison and self-worth in the age of social media? And how do we balance codependency with the aspect of mercy — in the context of the guru/disciple relationship?
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