Is this progress? (Pause for Thought) Posted in: Broadcasts

My trip to India brought a few surprises. It’s been some years since I was last there and things are changing fast. The cities are still the same bustling mess of teeming madness, much like anywhere else I suppose, but it’s in the outlying rural areas that I was most shocked. In my many visits to India I’ve always headed straight for a small village called Vrindavan, the most sacred place for Hindus where Krishna…

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The Chaste Wife Posted in: Stories

There was once a wicked man of the lower classes. He abandoned all holy rites and gave himself to sin. He had a young wife but also kept a prostitute in his house. The wife, wishing only to please him, served them both. She washed their feet and ate only the remnants of their food. Although the prostitute tried to prevent her she continued to serve that woman in every way, along with her husband. When…

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Wasting my rare human birth. Posted in: Vaishnava songs

  DURLABHA MANAVA JANMA by BHAKTIVINODA THAKUR 1. durlabha manava-janma labhiya samsare krsna na bhajinu — duhkha kahibo kahare? Born in this rare human body, I did not worship you. Now Lord I am left lamenting. Who shall I tell this to? 2. ‘samsar’ ‘samsar’, ko’re miche gelo kal labha na koilo kichu, ghatilo janjal My time passed in wordly pursuits, without the slightest gain. My one and only profit was pure anguish and pain.…

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If I had a Time Machine (Pause for Thought BBC Radio 4 June) Posted in: Broadcasts

We seem to have something of a fascination for time machines, if the success of Dr Who, Back to the Future, and numerous other such shows are anything to go by. H.G.Wells started it all off many years ago, and maybe when we do finally work out how to do it, someone could pop back and tell him how well his book, ‘The Time Machine’, is still doing. Wells sent a man one million years…

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Courage (Pause for Thought. BBC Radio 2. May 28) Posted in: Broadcasts

I remember back in the sixties when the words ‘take courage’ were the ubiquitous advertising slogan for a beer of the same name. Quite a nifty publicity idea, I suppose, but a few years ago when it was resurrected in a TV campaign it was banned. The censors quite rightly concluded that encouraging us to drink beer to increase our confidence might not be the best example of social responsibility. Courage means standing up for…

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The greatest gift (Pause for Thought, BBC Radio 2, 21 May 2015) Posted in: Articles

When my children were small they pooled their resources one year to purchase for my birthday a fine looking tie pin in the shape of a golf bag and clubs. Actually I’ve never played golf in my life, and as far as ties go, since my schooldays when they were obligatory, I have made a point of avoiding them. Anyway, although the tiepin was of little use to me I was thrilled to receive it,…

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How to cheat death Posted in: Blog, Uncategorized

King Ambarish had a very sinful brother who could not be changed. The pious Ambarisha tried repeatedly without success. His brother, Paparaja, would not stop sinning and simply laughed at Ambarish. One day the saint Narada Muni came to see Ambarish and the king asked him to preach to his brother. “Perhaps, O great one, you can turn his mind.” But when Narada went to see Paparaja he simply hurled insults at him, so Narada…

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Journeys (Pause For Thought, BBC Radio 2, May 14, 2015) Posted in: Broadcasts

Life today is full of journeys, it seems. Most of us could hardly survive without our cars and think nothing of a fifty or sixty mile trip, a good two day walk in olden days. For many of us, there’s the daily commute which here in London where I live is less of a journey and more of a battle to the near death. Thankfully I only have to go twenty or so miles, but…

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What is Victory (Pause for Thought BBC Radio 2 May 7th) Posted in: Broadcasts

Over the years my idea of victory has changed somewhat. In my younger days, filled with the naïve certainty of youth, I saw myself conquering the world, acquiring vast riches, fame and all that sort of thing. That ambition has been rather tempered by reality, as it tends to be, but thankfully I no longer see world conquest as even a desirable victory. How I see success depends of course on  my values and as…

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