How to see God (Pause for Thought BBC Radio 2 April 30th) Posted in: Broadcasts

In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, as Tennyson so delightfully said. Of course nowadays, bombarded as we are with suggestive images on all sides, it might turn the way of love rather more often than just in spring. Certainly though, spring is the season of reproduction, when nature renews herself and gives forth of her best. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, ‘Amongst seasons I am flower bearing…

Continue reading

What is Love (Pause for Thought, BBC Radio 2, April 23, 2015) Posted in: Broadcasts

I have mixed feelings about Shakespeare. Memories of my schooldays and the obligatory Hamlet studied from every angle left me with a bit of a jaded view. But since then I have grown a lot fonder of the Bard. His remarkable gifts aside, he made some astute moral and indeed spiritual observations. I am a great fan of his sonnets and particularly like the one, number 146 no less, where he describes love. There he…

Continue reading

Family breakdown brings societal collapse Posted in: Articles

Exactly echoing a message found in the Bhagavad-gita, a senior judge recently declared that “almost all of society’s social ills can be traced directly to the collapse of the family life.” In a speech in Brighton to lawyers from Resolution, formerly the Solicitors’ Family Law Association, Mr Justice Coleridge warned of a “cancerous” increase in broken families and said the government must take “comprehensive action”. He described his experience of handling increasing numbers of cases…

Continue reading

Who should be free to speak? Posted in: Articles

“It is by the goodness of God that we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practise either of them,” wrote Mark Twain. Wise words from the esteemed author, although it seems many of us may doubt their wisdom; especially in the wake of the terrible events just witnessed in Paris. Freedom of speech has never been more vigorously defended by so many. It is…

Continue reading

A moral madness Posted in: Articles

Every autumn for the last few years I have been subjected to a sad and harrowing experience. Living close to a livestock farm I have had to listen to the plaintive wails of distressed cows separated from their calves. Where the calves were taken does not bear mentioning, and the poor cattle respond by crying piteously day and night, exactly as any human mother would if she were to lose a child. It must be…

Continue reading

Merry Christmas? Posted in: Articles

At Christmas time the expectations for increased enjoyment are high, but how many of us actually experience more happiness during the holiday? Financial strain, endless shopping, the pressures of entertaining, and the general stress of the season can all contribute to a rather less than merry Christmas for many. Anyone who watches TV over the Christmas period will be used to seeing helpline details frequently flash across the screen. Depression is an all too common problem…

Continue reading

A Poverty of Spirit Posted in: Articles

Research figures just released reveal an alarming rise in the number of impoverished households in the UK. The Poverty and Social Exclusion project, based on interviews with more than 14,500 people in Britain and Northern Ireland has reported: • More than 500,000 children live in families who cannot afford to feed them properly • 18 million people cannot afford adequate housing conditions • 12 million people are too poor to engage in common social activities…

Continue reading

Ancient tale to a modern beat Posted in: Video

How do you compress 100,000 verses into a 4 minute song? You can’t. But we tried to hit some of the main points of the epic Indian work. Featuring clips from the Ravi Chopra TV series (1988).

Continue reading