I was recently away on a cruise to Norway. Our first day on the ship was a day at sea as we sailed across the North Sea to our first destination. As we sailed across the ocean I sat in my deck chair on the balcony chanting the Maha Mantra looking out at sea. My thought was, "Wow, look how vast the sea is. Look how big the ocean is. I am so small in comparison. I would perish if I fell in. I would be so cold. Would someone spot me and try to save me? I would be so insignificant by comparison...

Seva is a sanskrit word meaning "service". Being of service, serving other people is a core principle in the Hare Krishna movement. When I started being introduced to this spiritual path, I linked this word with words like volunteering, work and tasks, essentially doing something, with the focus of helping others. "Help thy neighbour", ran through my mind. Being honest, this sounded like a drag, "why do I need to help others?", "why can't they help themselves?", "who's going to help me?"...

Bhakti is a word you will often hear in Krishna Consciousness. The word Bhakti is simply defined as devotional service, but as I understand it, it is loving devotional service. It is this mood that is channeled when serving someone and mainly for a God. This Bhakti practice is a form of Yoga as it harmonises the body, mind and soul. Bhakti is not something best understood by reading and contemplating but rather by doing. In my early days of discovering Krishna Consciouness I approached this...