Let Your FOMO Be for the Divine | Saint Augustine and the Gopīs
5/21/202656 min
There is a restlessness in the human heart that nothing in this world can satisfy. Saint Augustine called it the clue to our true nature — we were made for God, and until we find that, the searching never stops. Every object has its dharma, its purpose. The sages of the Bhakti yoga tradition say the dharma of the soul is divine love. It's what we're made for. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha explore that human restlessness alongside the Srimad Bhagavatam's Rāsa Līlā — where the gopīs of Vrindavan surrender to the calling of what they were made for...
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsRaghunath· Host0:00
Kustu, you are squirrel master this morning, friend I know.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:02
Augustine of Hippo is one of the most important figures in the entire history of Western thought. Theologian, philosopher, and bishop whose writings shaped Christianity, Western philosophy, and even secular thought for over 16 centuries.
Raghunath· Host0:15
Wow.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:16
He's considered one of the greatest minds who ever lived, ranked alongside Plato and Aristotle in terms of his influence on how the Western world thinks about God, the soul, time, memory, free will, and human nature. Now, listen to this, Raghunath, his life story. Um, he was born in North Africa, modern-day Algeria, to a devout Christian mother and pagan father. He was brilliant from- Let's slow that down. Yeah He was born in northern Africa- Yeah ...
Raghunath· Host0:42
in Algeria.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:43
Yes. What, what is today Algeria.
Raghunath· Host0:45
Okay.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:46
He had a Christian mother, a pagan father. He was- Christian mother, pagan father ... brilliant from childhood- That- that's a mixed marriage. Yes.
Raghunath· Host0:55
Interesting, huh?
Kaustubha Das· Host0:56
Yes. He was brilliant from childhood, but spiritually restless and morally turbulent for most of his early life. He took a mistress at 17.
Raghunath· Host1:05
You know, it's good to know that Augustine was, what did you say? Morally turbulent. That will make me- He was mor- That makes me feel better about life right there.
Kaustubha Das· Host1:17
Okay.
Raghunath· Host1:18
Thank you.
Kaustubha Das· Host1:18
He was morally- I can stop the show right here and go on with my day and have a good day. Yeah, but he... But by the time he was, like, in his 20s, he, or his 30s, he got over it.
Raghunath· Host1:27
I know. So I'm saying that's good to know