Spiritual Warrior II:

Spiritual Warrior II:

Transforming Lust into Love

Dedication

I dedicate this book to three people

who taught me the magic

of transforming lust into love:

my mother, Mother Pearline;

my uncle, Nanda Maharaja;

and my spiritual father, Srila Prabhupada.

I can never thank each of you enough for your

unconditional love.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Without all of your hard work and love, this book could not have come into being. I love you all, because you are most lovable.

Foreword

It is with great pleasure that I offer my reactions to Swami Krishnapada’s unique, easy-to-understand presentation of the ancient, eternal teachings… His courage to speak the deepest truths and his wealth of knowledge have… The book’s combination of primarily, but not exclusively, Christian, Muslim and Vedic teachings is for serious…

Editor’s Preface

We would like to mention a few other stylistic considerations. First, although God as the Absolute Person encompasses both male and female, we use… This book is the second volume in our Spiritual Warrior series of lectures by…

Author’s Preface

The resolute material orientation of industrial culture has led us down a blind alley. Consumer society has encouraged us to indulge our desires to… The problem is that we have dedicated ourselves to satisfying our lust rather… Spiritual Warrior II: Transforming Lust into Love is an attempt to examine the topics of lust and love in depth. The…

Chapter 1: Sex and the Leadership Crisis

What is the reason for such a state of affairs? To find an answer, we must look beyond the surface of events and probe deeply into our own hearts.… Another way to describe our situation is to say that we have allowed lust,… Lust, Sex and Leadership

Chapter 2: What Is Love?

But something always seems to go wrong. Despite our constant search, we usually experience disappointment, finding that our experience of love is… The World Lacks Love Countless people in the world today have never felt truly loved. They have no idea what love really is, despite their…

Chapter 3: What Is Lust?

The ancient Bhagavad-gita takes the form of a long conversation between the Lord and the warrior Arjuna. As Arjuna inquires about the spiritual… Indeed, do we not all wonder at times what causes us to act against our better… In the next verse of the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord gives the answer, explaining to Arjuna that “lust only” is the cause…

Chapter 4: The Power of Sense Gratification

Our senses are extremely powerful. A simple little story taken from the Vedas illustrates the persistent attraction most of us feel to the material… Such is the power of the senses. Because they are so strong, we cannot easily… Developing the “Higher Taste”

Chapter 5: Sexuality in Everyday Life

Because today’s society does not properly understand the difference between love and sex, many of us do not acknowledge the importance of the soul… Sexuality is a powerful life force that is neither inherently good nor bad.… Importance of Deep Relationships

Chapter 6: Love between a Man and a Woman

Love is necessary for good health. Someone who is not part of a loving relationship is ten times more likely to experience chronic disease, and five… For many of us, love finds meaningful expression in a relationship with… Lack of Depth in Today’s Society

Chapter 7: Loving Our Neighbors

All around us we see the results of the industrial paradigm’s focus upon commodities and money, and its worship of fame, power and control. As a… Loving relationships are the way to counteract this negativity. Our personal… In society today, many people do not experience sufficient love in their families, schools or places of work. Love…

Chapter 8: The Practice of Compassion

In today’s world, we are surrounded by environments so hostile to our human and spiritual growth that higher truths cannot easily penetrate our… In all circumstances, regardless of any other remedies we may try, today’s… A Prerequisite for Returning Home

Chapter 9: Love of God

You will remember from Chapter 2 that the great Vedic scripture known as the Srimad-Bhagavatam describes an assembly of sages who were concerned… Longing for the Lord We are all ultimately looking for a relationship with God. In our day-to-day activities, as well as in spiritual life,…

Closing Reflections

Everyone wants love, yet few know how to find it. The world-view of modern culture is an incomplete one, because it fails to see beyond this… Of course we cannot be happy living this way, because we are attempting the… It is not that we must give up our longings. On the contrary, they are legitimate indications that we are meant for…

Glossary

Akincana: The Lord’s intervention in a person’s life to take everything away in order to clear the path for something greater. Archangel: A chief or principal angel. Asura: A person opposed to the service of the Lord; a demon.

About the Author

His Holiness has served as Assistant Coordinator for penal reform programs in the State of New Jersey, Office of the Public Defender, and as a… As the only African-American Vaishnava guru in the world, Bhakti-Tirtha Swami… In the United States, Bhakti-Tirtha Swami is the founder and director of the Institute for Applied Spiritual…