Ekadasi Eve

Finding My Anchor: The Benefit of Daily Reading with Friends

I had no idea how auspicious my visit to see Śrīpāda Tridandi Mahārāja in his humble dwelling, nestled in the jungly forest beside Svananda-sukhada-kuñja, would turn out to be. Now, looking back on that meeting nearly 4 ½ years ago, I am just beginning to understand what an impact it made.

During that visit, Mahārāja generously gifted me an entire set of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatams with Śrīla Prabhupāda's purports. Holding those books in my hands, I felt a special warmth. These were the very purports I had grown up listening to—read aloud every morning before school by Brajendranandana Prabhu—and the ones Gopanandini Mataji was always immersed in, inspiring others to delve into them as well. Now, as an adult with a bit more understanding by the mercy of Śrīla Gurudeva, I would be able to appreciate these purports in a deeper way. They had nourished me as I was growing up, much like a mother’s homemade meals. Now, with Tridandi Mahārāja’s encouragement, I was inspired to return to that nourishment—like coming back to the warmth and comfort of Mother’s cooking—to sustain my spiritual life.

But, honestly, I doubted I'd ever get through the thousands of pages of Śrīla Prabhupāda's purports. Consistency had always been and still is a challenge for me. I've only ever succeeded in following most regular practices and vratas when doing them as part of a group. (That's why I started Nurturing the Seed to build a habit of daily journaling) It had been years since I lived in a community of like-minded, English-speaking devotees where we could have daily iṣṭa-goṣṭhī sessions going through various scriptures, and I didn't see how I could maintain the discipline to read through the many thousands of pages of Śrīla Prabhupāda's Bhāgavatam purports on my own.

That's when inspiration struck. It was just before Cāturmāsya in 2020, during the early days of the intense COVID lockdowns. While doing parikramā in my Gurudeva's samādhi, the idea came to me: why not start reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam online every day? I had never run any kind of online program before, but somehow, I knew this was the only way I could do it. So I began.

With the support of wonderfully encouraging devotees—who patiently tolerated my moments of nodding off and my sometimes monotone reading—this simple practice became my most dependable devotional practice. It has become an anchor in my life. No matter how I feel—uninspired, overwhelmed, angry, sad, distracted, sick, or lonely—I can forget about all those mind-born disturbances from 7–8 AM every day. That sacred, non-negotiable hour is always there, waiting to nourish and inspire me. Without this practice, the past few years would have looked very different with times that would have been a lot darker filled with negativity and self-doubt.

I can't count the number of times the topics we read in the morning turned out to be deeply relevant to situations or discussions later in the day. Over the years, by the mercy of Śrīla Gurudeva, we've had the privilege of reading an incredible wealth of devotional books and articles together. Here are just some of them:

The complete Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with Śrīla Prabhupāda's purports
The Tenth Canto with Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's commentary
The Eleventh Canto with Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda's Gauḍīya Bhāṣya
The complete Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata with Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda's Gauḍīya Bhāṣya
Biographies of our guru-varga, including "Volcanic Energy" about Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja by Śrīla Bhakti Vijñāna Bhāratī Gosvāmī Mahārāja and "A Life of Devotion" about Śrīla Bhakti Pramoda Purī Gosvāmī Mahārāja
A True Servant, A True Master — the letters from Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja
On the occasions of the many festival days on our Vaiṣṇava calendar, especially the appearance days and disappearance days of various ācāryas and associates of Mahāprabhu, we've read numerous articles and classes by Śrīla Gurudeva Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja, and Śrīla Bhakti Vijñāna Bhāratī Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's Navadvīpa-dhāma-māhātmya, Śaraṇāgati, and we're currently reading Jaiva-dharma
Books published by my Śrīla Gurudeva like Dāmodarāṣṭakam, Stava-kalpadruma, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-gannodeśa Dīpikā, Rasa-pañcādhyāya with our ācāryas' commentaries, Prema-sampuṭa, and others
Books by Śrīla Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja like Golden Volcano of Divine Love
Many Rays of The Harmonist articles and some issues of Dainik Nadiyā Prakāśa with Srivas
and many more

I am certain I wouldn't have even read a third of what we read if it was left to me figuring out how to make time on my own. I have been fully dependent on the kindness and support of so many devotees who show up each day.

I'm excited for the many more readings we will do in the future. We have so many books on our waiting list, including the rest of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's songbooks, the rest of Śrīla Prabhupāda's writings, the rest of my Śrīla Gurudeva's books, the numerous memoirs of Śrīla Prabhupāda, and so many more.

If you’ve been struggling to carve out time for reading, I highly recommend finding a friend to schedule regular sessions—if not daily, then at least weekly—to read and discuss together. Also, I've found the experience of reading with others is entirely different from reading quietly on my own.

And if you're interested in joining our daily reading sessions, you are most welcome. I share updates and the Zoom and YouTube links for the daily readings in our Bhaktivinoda-gīti-dhāra WhatsApp group.

I'll end this post with a quote from my Śrīla Gurudeva:

There may not be any taste for the holy name in the beginning stage, but this is not a matter for concern. Yet there definitely should be a taste for listening to hari-kathā, because by hearing hari-kathā from the lips of pure devotees, a taste for chanting harināma will certainly arise. And even if there is no taste in hearing hari-kathā, it should be heard again and again, and the pure devotees speaking that kathā should be offered proper respect.