Westerners are booking flights to India—not for the Taj Mahal or butter chicken, but to chant Sanskrit mantras in rice fields, live in ashrams, and wake up at 4 a.m. for kirtan. What’s really going on here?

In this eye-opening episode, Raghunath sit down with anthropology PhD student Keli Lalita to explore a striking modern phenomenon: why so many people from the West are adopting spiritual practices rooted in ancient India. What begins as a yoga class in a Brooklyn studio often leads to life-changing pilgrimages and a search for something deeper than downward dog.

With warmth and wit, they dig into the cultural exchange between East and West, the rise of postural yoga, and the unexpected spiritual longing that’s drawing thousands toward Bhakti Yoga.

Key Highlights:
•⁠ ⁠Why a yoga retreat can feel more real than your “real life”
•⁠ ⁠The anthropology of coffee dates, family structures, and spiritual community
•⁠ ⁠How the Hare Krishnas—and other Eastern paths—captured Western hearts
•⁠ ⁠Modern yoga: more global remix than ancient export
•⁠ ⁠“It’s not just a vacation—it’s a return to something we forgot we were looking for.”

🎧 Subscribe now and discover why a growing number of Western seekers are trading their passports for prayer beads.

#BhaktiYoga #YogaPilgrimage #AnthropologyOfReligion #EastMeetsWest #SpiritualLonging #WisdomOfTheSages #ModernYoga #KirtanRevolution

*********************************************************************

LOVE THE PODCAST?

WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages

LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485

CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108

A neuroscientist lost a 25-year bet to a philosopher—and it may be one of the most revealing failures in modern science. In 1998, Christof Koch bet David Chalmers that within 25 years, neuroscience would identify the precise brain mechanisms responsible for consciousness. Research teams around the world launched ambitious experiments to track and measure conscious experience in the brain. The deadline came—and the mystery remained.

In this fascinating episode, Raghunath and Kaustubha unpack the implications of that failed wager. Why can’t the most advanced minds in science explain subjective experience? And what did the ancient yogis know that modern labs still don’t?

From Vedic insights to modern mind-benders, this episode blends laughter, science, and timeless wisdom in a way only Wisdom of the Sages can.

SB 10.3.15-22

*********************************************************************

LOVE THE PODCAST?

WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages

LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485

CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108

Just like a codebreaker working through symbols can gradually uncover a single unifying truth—a key that makes sense of everything—the spiritual journey can unfold in a similar way.

Raghunath and Kaustubha explore how a path of trust, focused attention, and turning inward can reveal a deeper coherence beneath life’s confusion. What at first feels chaotic and fragmented—like an unbreakable code—can suddenly click into place when one discovers the truth that pervades it all.

The great yogis found that key in the knowledge of Vishnu—the all-pervading presence within and behind everything. And once that truth is grasped, fear dissolves and life begins to make sense.

SB 10.3.12-14

*********************************************************************

LOVE THE PODCAST?

WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages

LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485

CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108