1791: Parents, Teenagers, Codependency and Mercy / Q&A Vol. 298
Release Date: 07/08/2026
1835: Can You Love Without Possessing? | Siddhartha and the Art of Letting Go
Wisdom of the Sages
A sage who has found peace beside the river is suddenly undone by love for a son he never knew he had, and Time, in the form of the river, laughs at him. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha read from Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and ask whether we can love without trying to own. As Siddhartha struggles to let go, he catches a reflection that changes how he sees his own past. It opens a conversation about attachment, the pain we keep repeating until we learn from it, and why laughing at ourselves may be the first real step toward freedom. Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha • Bhagavad-gītā 9.4 ...
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1834: Hurt Others, Hurt Yourself | The Web of Mutual Obligation
Wisdom of the Sages
“I’m independent. I don’t owe anybody anything.” It’s the modern dream: happiness without obligation. Moral teachings answer that we’re woven into a web of mutual obligation. Deeper spiritual teachings explain why: in a real sense we are one, parts of one whole, made of the same divine energy, so you can’t hurt another without hurting yourself. The deepest teachings add that we are also eternally distinct, and that difference is what makes love possible: a love so intimate that God lets himself forget he’s God, just so his parents can hold him on their laps. In this episode...
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1833: If You Don’t See God in All, You Won’t See God at All | Beyond Religious Ritual
Wisdom of the Sages
You can attend every service, perform every ritual perfectly, but if you’re unkind to the people around you, then you’ve missed God entirely. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha explore why seeing God in every living being is the real heart of spiritual life, and why cruelty to others cuts us off from the very God we’re trying to reach. They draw on the Bhagavad-gītā’s thirteenth chapter, Kapila’s teachings to his mother, and a striking 500-year-old commentary by Vallabhācārya. They also explore the aftermath of Kaṁsa’s death in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where his...
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1832: Adapting Ancient Wisdom Without Losing It / Q&A Vol. 302
Wisdom of the Sages
How does an ancient wisdom tradition survive for thousands of years? It needs teachers who hand it down unchanged, and yet each generation has to hear it in a new way. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha take questions live on the final day of the Wisdom of the Sages retreat and explore that tension: what a true teacher must preserve, and what they’re free to adapt to time, place, and circumstance. Along the way they look at what a deeper initiation is really for, why devotees sing so many songs if one mantra contains everything, and whether the great spiritual teachers of the future...
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1831: Living Bhakti Among People Who Don’t Share It / Q&A Vol. 301
Wisdom of the Sages
There’s a sticky note in Ashley’s refrigerator that reads “meat section.” She’s the only devotee in her home, and between a loving family that doesn’t share her path and a day with too few hours, her spiritual practice has started to come with a side of guilt. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha take questions live from the Wisdom of the Sages Autumn Retreat, exploring how to walk a spiritual path among people who aren’t on it: when to be flexible, when to be firm, and why love matters more than getting every rule right. Also: who is “Rāma” in the Hare Krishna...
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1830: Bhakti Doesn’t Grow in a Hard Heart / Q&A Vol. 300
Wisdom of the Sages
Someone on the street asks you for money, and you’re fairly sure where it will go, and it’s not good. Can walking past be compassion, or is it quietly hardening your heart? Raghunath and Kaustubha take live questions at the Wisdom of the Sages retreat at Supersoul Farm: whether saying no can ever be an act of love, what to do when the charity work you’ve done for years no longer sits right with your conscience, and how to keep a sense of spiritual urgency when life is going well. ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY...
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1829: A Field Guide to Your Inner Demons | Bhaktivinoda Thakur Decodes Krishna's Pastimes
Wisdom of the Sages
In the 19th century, British colonial scholars dismissed the pastimes of Krishna as primitive and immoral, and a generation of educated Indians began to believe them. The brilliant bhakti theologian Bhaktivinoda Thakur answered with a book called the Krishna-samhita. His response: look closer. Raghunath and Kaustubha explore how the stories of Krishna can be read as the soul's path to restoring its original capacity for love. Each demon Krishna defeats stands for a specific obstacle in the heart, and together they form a remarkably precise map. Some obstacles are easy to spot, such as cruelty,...
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1828: We Never Learned the Power of Our Thoughts | You Become What You Think About
Wisdom of the Sages
Be good. Behave. Behave yourself. Growing up, most of us heard plenty about our actions and almost nothing about the thoughts that produce them. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha begin with Earl Nightingale's 1956 claim that history's great thinkers agree on one point: we become what we think about. They trace that idea to the Bhagavad Gita and the practice of mantra meditation, then turn to the Srimad Bhagavatam's most startling example, a tyrant who thought of Krishna constantly, in sheer terror, and what became of him. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.44.32–43 ...
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1827: The Emptiness of Peace and the Fullness of Love | Meditation Beyond Stillness
Wisdom of the Sages
Most of us long for a quiet mind. But what fills it once the noise is gone? On a solo bike ride across upstate New York, Raghunath finds that solitude alone doesn't bring peace. Left to itself, the mind drifts to its default setting. Raghunath and Kaustubha explore why the path of bhakti points beyond stillness to something fuller. Amid the violence of Krishna's wrestling match in Mathura, the women in the crowd make a startling claim: the greatest yogis aren't hermits on mountaintops, but village women whose hearts are absorbed in love while churning butter and caring for their children....
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1826: Why the Comment Thread Is Killing Your Soul | Speaking Truth to Power
Wisdom of the Sages
When something is wrong and we say nothing, our own inner light begins to fade. But speaking up only heals when it comes from a place of love. Raghunath and Kaustubha draw on an old Quaker insight: love endures and overcomes, while hatred destroys, starting with the one who carries it. Online comment threads can drag out our lower nature and cloud our spiritual clarity, and posting is cheap. The more meaningful, illuminating path is not only to speak truth to power, but to live it. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.44.1–13 ******************************************************************** LOVE THE...
info_outlineQ&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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