In The Death of Tuomas Makinen, Tuomas’s decision to join a Californian Hindu monastery is carefully depicted through the eyes of his parents, the heart of his ex-girlfriend, and finally, his own experiences.

Lesson two in our Siksastakam classroom series discusses the significance of “cleansing the mirror of the mind”—ceto darpana marjanam, with text from Swami B.V. Tripurari’s Siksastakam commentary. Enter the discussion with comments and questions!

The tirtha is not a bathing place, it is a threshold from time to eternity, from the confines of space to the spiritual, from rite and ritual to reality itself.

Is Ekadasi auspicious or inauspicious? Do we observe Ekadasi because the stellar arrangement is inauspicious and we seek to counteract that, or is it simply auspicious to observe Ekadasi? If it is auspicious, why do we fast? Prabhupada answers, “Ekadasi is most auspicious. It is not about fasting; it’s about feasting.”