This is a time when people need to “stand up and be counted” – a time for active participation in the outer struggle of light against darkness.

What is needed today is a spiritual army of souls demonstrating — not militantly or aggressively, but with sincerity declared — their commitment to higher values, to God, and to a firm rejection of worldly values.

The Bhagavad Gita tells us that at the end of every day we should ask: “Which side won?” When you see that you made a mistake, admit it honestly to yourself. Don’t feel badly; just say, “I’m trying and I will do better.”

It is a mistake to think that you will ever find the perfect mate. Life, outwardly, cannot be other than a compromise between the ideal and reality.

Today anyone who is truly aware of human directions believes we’re in for very hard times. For devotees, such times present an extraordinary opportunity for service and spiritual growth, greater than any in recorded history.

Are moral values truly arbitrary and subjective? Can we really say people can just do what they like, and that there are no personal consequences they will have to suffer, outside of the need to maintain social order?

Courtesy is a healing balm; it can soothe troubled hearts, and win cooperation even from the hostile.