Sharing personal stories of his time with Maharaj-ji, Krishna Das walks us down the path of recognizing grace, loving all beings, and keeping the heart open—no matter how hard it gets.

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"Grace is always here but we're too busy, too involved in our stuff, our thoughts and emotions. We're too identified with our negative emotions. From our side, it appears we lose contact with the grace. But, that's not the case. We just lose awareness of the presence. Maharaj-ji doesn't go, doesn't come, doesn't leave us. He never lets go. Once he takes your hand, he never lets go." – Krishna Das

This time on Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das responds to questions about:

• Hanuman’s favorite food and providing offerings from the heart
• The ever-presence of Maharaj-ji and his grace, even when we are too busy to notice
• The struggle to connect with others and find a community
• Loving everyone, regardless of their actions or if we like/dislike them
• A short retelling of the story of Hanuman’s birth
• Working through addictions and the avoidance of pain
• A memory of an almost-marriage in India, and how Maharaj-ji always saw right through Krishna Das’ ego
• How it took Krishna Das 21 years to begin singing to Maharaj-ji as his primary practice

"The big community is human beings, that's our real community. Our work is to allow our hearts to open to all beings, even the ones we don't like, even the ones that are doing terrible things. It's not our job to judge—it's our job to love everyone as best we can, and that's hard enough." – Krishna Das

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Krishna Das shares a realistic path for resting in the true nature of love that is always accessible to us all.

In this episode of Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das thoughtfully discusses:

• The many versions of The Bhagavad Gita from different lineages
• Figuring out which practice works for you
• How the soul/buddha-nature is always present, even when we aren’t looking
• Meditation practices that increase the awareness of being (I am-ness)
• Appreciating and accepting all the different parts of ourselves
• A mantra given to Krishna Das from Ram Dass, “When the sun is kept in the heart, all evils vanish from life”
• How relationships can help us see the work we need to do
• Calming down the mind via chanting
• The magnetic force and energy within in India
• Being in relationship with everything all the time
• How real love does not come and go, and is not conditional

“We're in relationship to everything all the time. We have relationships with this table, the computer, the harmonium, the iPad, the floor, the walls, the house, with other people. We're in relationship to everything in the world all the time. When we're in a romantic relationship, we feel loved in the way we want to be loved and we think it's coming from the other person—it isn't. It's coming from our own hearts.” – Krishna Das

Check out the harmonium tutorials mentioned by Krishna das to learn about playing KD-style chords and chalisas!

“If you don't love yourself, then what? Where do you sit? Where do you rest? Your self, your true self, is not different than God, not different from the guru. If you don't learn to appreciate and accept all the different parts of yourself, you can't find rest inside." – Krishna Das

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In this heart-led exploration, Krishna Das shares how mantra, willpower, and grace guide us from the illusion of ego and into the freedom of real love.

This time on Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das offers wisdom on:

• Inspiration from Maharaj-ji’s picture, dream visits, and more
• How the soul pulls us towards real love and freedom
• Why meditating/chanting/any form of practice is a good idea
• The jungle guru who helped Krishna Das with his will power
• Using our will in a constructive way to free ourselves from suffering
• Solving the problem of what is really holding us back
• Repeating the name of God as a gradual method to purify our minds and hearts
• Falling out of the ‘movie of me’ through mantra

“There's mantras for everything. There's mantras for robbing banks, for finding buried treasure, for controlling snakes, for becoming president of the United States, but kirtan is the chanting of the names, which is only good for one thing, finding real love. It's not good for controlling other people, getting rich, anything except finding real love and connecting deeply to our own true nature” – Krishna Das

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