Pilgrim Heart with Krishna Das

Discussing how to work through afflictions like addiction, heartbreak, and self-hatred, Krishna Das gives spiritual guidance to listeners. 

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This week on Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das explains:

• Learning to chant the Hanuman Chalisa 
• Working with addiction as a part of the spiritual path 
• Developing the ability to stop hurting ourselves 
• Looking within, not without, in order to do spiritual work in all parts of our daily lives
• Comparing Hanuman with the Holy Spirit 
• Remembering that nothing lasts in this world
• Relationships as a neurotic need rather than true, deep love
• The universal experience of heartbreak and all situations as impermanent 
• Opening the heart, quieting the mind, and connecting to a deeper place within ourselves 
• Considering others and doing what we can to help 

About Krishna Das:

Layering traditional Hindu kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Grammy nominee Krishna Das has been called yoga’s “rock star.”  With a remarkably soulful voice that touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener, Krishna Das – known to friends, family, and fans as simply KD – has taken the call-and-response chanting out of yoga centers and into concert halls, becoming a worldwide icon and the best-selling chant artist of all time. His album ‘Live Ananda’ (released January 2012) was nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Age album category.

KD spent the late ’60s traveling across the country as a student of Ram Dass, and in August 1970, he finally made the journey to India, which led him to Ram Dass’ own beloved guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known to most as Maharaj-ji. Krishna Das now travels the world sharing his kirtan practice and wonderful stories of his life, of Maharaji-ji, of his life on the Path and discusses bringing chanting into our lives through retreats and workshops. To date, KD has released 15 well-received albums, most recently Trust in the Heart released in October 2017.

MORE INFORMATION and OFFERINGS VISIT: https://krishnadas.com/ KRISHNA DAS ON SOCIAL: FACEBOOK: facebook.com/KrishnaDasMusic INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/krishnadasmusic YOUTUBE: / krishnadasmusic X: @krishnadas #KrishnaDas

“We have to develop the ability to stop hurting ourselves because we have the soul. If we’re just hurting ourselves and engaging in addictive, dangerous, destructive behavior, it’s like we’re beating ourselves up. This program that’s running, this self-hatred program that’s causing this behavior, it is spiritual work to try to free yourself from that.” – Krishna Das

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Revealing the true Buddha nature, which rests beyond ego, Krishna Das shows how regular practice can unveil the inherent purity within us all.

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This time on Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das gets into

• Desireless action and other teachings of the Gita
• The ‘evil’ within us all (selfishness, greed, anger, etc.)
• How our ego tries to protect itself from others
• The ways we feed our hungry desires at the expense of anything in our way
• Buddha nature and finding the pureness within each soul
• Developing both internal and external repetition of the name
• Balancing ultimate and relative reality in our daily lives
• Finding faith in the stories of the great beings that came before us
• Making the world a better place through practice
• The Hungry Hearts Prayer and working to relieve suffering

MORE INFORMATION and OFFERINGS VISIT: https://krishnadas.com/ KRISHNA DAS ON SOCIAL: FACEBOOK: facebook.com/KrishnaDasMusic INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/krishnadasmusic YOUTUBE: / krishnadasmusic X: @krishnadas #KrishnaDas

“It’s not that we're intrinsically evil. Actually, it’s the opposite. We’re intrinsically good. Our essence, our Buddha nature, is within everyone. The soul is absolutely pure, it is untouched by all this stuff.” – Krishna Das

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Providing mantra and mentorship, Krishna Das explores how we can heal our heavy hearts and manage both personal and global suffering.

In this episode of Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das explores:

• Mantras to use during wartimes or other painful experiences
• Hanuman, the remover of all difficulties and negative energy
• Tibetan philosophies of the transition between life and death
• Best wishes for all who are suffering across the globe
• Keeping our hearts open and available to all beings, all the time
• A story of how KC Tewari saw Maharaj-ji as Shiva
• The extraordinary beauty of the devotee and the beloved
• Escaping from the habit loop through regular practice
• Managing a heavy-heart and freeing ourselves from suffering
• Committing to being a good human and caring for others

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“These practices free us from all negative emotions, ultimately. They free us from the very things within us that cause us suffering, whether it’s the way we react to the outside world or the inside world. One has to commit to wanting to be a good human being and to care about others.” – Krishna Das

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Explaining the fruits of dedicated practice, Krishna Das urges listeners to move past instant gratification and artificial forms of awakening.

This episode is brought to you by Dharma Moon. Join Buddhist teachers David Nichtern and Professor Robert Thurman for a free online event on Tuesday, March 4th at 6pm ET. Together, they'll explore the power of lineage, tradition, and the evolution of mindfulness practices. They’ll also discuss Dharma Moon’s renowned mindfulness meditation teacher training program. Visit dharmamoon.com/lineage for more info and to reserve your spot for the free online event with David Nichtern and Professor Robert Thurman!

This time on Pilgrim Heart we hear Krishna Das explain:

• Following our hearts and praying for guidance
• Fully giving ourselves to practice
• Letting go of the need for immediate gratification
• How Krishna Das started chanting with others
• Krishna Das’ experience almost being drafted into Vietnam
• Psychedelics and getting out of our self-imposed jails
• The transient and artificial nature of substances
• Developing our consciousness overtime through practice
• Opening our hearts to all beings
• Spiritual practice as the path to love within us all

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“We’re so scattered and fragmented and distracted. It’s so hard to focus on something other than immediate pleasure. If it’s a movie or a good meal we seem to be able to focus, but when it comes down to doing something that doesn’t get immediate gratification, it’s very hard.” – Krishna Das

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Sharing insight from Maharaj-ji, Krishna Das discusses reaching higher states of consciousness through service, repetition, and purification.

This episode includes wisdom from Krishna Das on:

• Shedding our belief system of ego and separate self
• The importance of regular practice and finding time everyday
• Learning from Maharaj-ji through dreams and meditation
• Finding Maharaj-ji in our world
• Reaching higher states of consciousness through service, mantra, and purification
• Doing spiritual work in our daily lives and seeing it all as God
• Looking at humanity with honest eyes and letting go of how we think things should be
• The book Love Everyone by Parvati Markus

“Higher states of consciousness can’t be created by your own personal will. But, through service to others, repetition of the name, and purification of the heart, those states will arrive and arise when you’re ready.” – Krishna Das

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Through devotional chanting and conversation, Krishna Das offers guidance on living out our practice both on and off the mat.

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In this episode, Krishna Das answers questions on:

• The deep intuition that develops over time
• Making our practice a way of life
• Rebirth and ensuring we create positive karma
• Dealing with conflict in parental relationships
• Accepting others fully as an act of pure love
• Widening our hearts and noticing when we are being judgmental
• Struggling with thoughts that haunt us
• Continuously letting go of our experiences
• Showing up in our practice to work with our emotions
• What happens when the body passes on
• A mantra to Maharaj-ji

“Love means letting someone be who they are. We can’t change people. Our parents, we don’t know what made them the way they are. We know them only as our parents. We don’t see what life was like when they grew up, what they went through, their hearts being broken. We don’t understand what brought them to this moment. All we know is that they’re our parents and most of the time they just piss us off. We have to develop a little compassion. If you really love someone, you don’t need to change them in order to love them.” – Krishna Das

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Closing the year, Krishna Das explores the transformative power of deepening our awareness and how practice helps us navigate life’s challenges.

This time, on Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das speaks on:

• Going within and deepening our awareness
• Subjective versus objective experiences
• Advice that Krishna received from Maharaj-ji
• How repeating the name gives us strength
• Practicing awareness and breaking bad habits
• How to work through heartbreak
• Coming back into an object of concentration
• Learning to trust your own heart

“There’s really no within and without except in the sense of physicality. Consciousness is not within or without. It permeates everything. Everything exists inside of awareness, of pure being.” – Krishna Das

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Krishna Das teaches listeners all that is possible through total sincerity of the heart and self-awareness.

This week on Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das holds a talk on:

• How Krishna Das’ bar mitzvah transformed his outlook on organized religion
• What initially struck Krishna Das about Zen Buddhism and Indian philosophy
• Sensing an ongoing connection to Ram Dass
• Sitting down and chanting without over-intellectualizing everything
• Having sincerity of heart and being kind to ourselves
• The inner and outer blanket of Maharaj-ji
• The difficult process of forgiving those who have hurt us
• Letting others be who they are and learn their own lessons
• Recognizing that the problems we have with others are often about ourselves

“Try to be kind to yourself. That’s all. You don’t need a mantra to be kind to yourself. You just need to recognize what that means and try to figure out why you’re not kind to yourself. You don’t need magic for that, you just need to pay attention. You need sincerity of heart. That’s what we need.” – Krishna Das

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Contrasting the physical, impermanent world with the ever-present spiritual world, Krishna Das shares insights from the heart space.

This time on Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das shares insights on:

• How each situation has its own parameters
• Practicing the principle of non-harm
• Giving yourself 100% to whatever you are doing
• Conceptualizing our approach to religion
• The love that exists in the non-physical reality within us
• Real love versus conditional love
• Allowing people to be who they are
• Remembering the impermanent nature of pleasure
• The pressure from the times we live in

“Everything in your life can serve the spiritual side if you are ripe enough to pay attention. But most of us, including myself, we just want what we want when we want it and if we don’t get it, we don’t like it. We’re not going to learn a lot in that state of mind.” – Krishna Das

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Krishna Das guides listeners to develop the strength to overcome painful situations through regular practice and surrendering to what is.

Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.

This week on Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das dives into:

• Chanting for a balance between light and dark
• The inner strength to not identify with negative emotions
• Working through fear surrounding death of a loved one
• Krishna Das’ hot spring story
• Being kind to ourselves and allowing situations to normalize in due time
• Finding out ‘what is’ instead of just ‘want we want to be’
• Coming back to the chant to be in the present moment
• The continuous process of letting go

For more on Krishna Das events, music, and other offerings visit: KrishnaDas.com

“When somebody that we know and love is very ill and soon to leave the body, it brings up a lot of stuff in us. If you’re not doing regular practice, those moments are going to knock you out. They’re going to roll over you like a steam roller. You’ve got to be doing regular practice over time. That’s the only way to develop the strength to deal with these situations.” – Krishna Das

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