It is also a precarious time we live in. The world is under severe threat from climate chaos due to large-scale abuse and misuse we humans have inflicted on the planet. Any informed person now knows one the largest causes for this is the livestock industry, which emits more green house gas emissions than all the cars and planes in the world.

As Christmas day approaches, 10 million turkeys will be killed in England. It is hard to imagine killing on this scale. Multiply this by the other countries in the world that celebrate Christmas, and I highly doubt the turkeys feel much peace or goodwill. Does it not seem ironic, that to celebrate the birth of Jesus – the personification of love and compassion – tens of millions of animals around the world are slaughtered each year?

I wonder if that is how Jesus wanted his life to be celebrated.

The image of a monk conjures up images of men living very simple and austere lives. They take vows of silence, eat simple food devoid of taste, and tend to gardens, or other such menial work to fill their days.

During my tenure as a “monk” I sang and danced daily in kirtan (a form of worship from the bhakti tradition of India), my meals were wholesome and very tasty (I particularly liked the pizza and chips), and I regularly travelled around London conducting seminars at Universities on spirituality.

So there you go. For those who think the periods in my life when I was a “monk” must have been difficult for me – they weren’t. Those 2 years were actually the best years of my short life so far.

Below: Addressing a group of University students on a yoga retreat to Bhaktivedanta Manor in my “heyday”.

For 5 of the 8 months I stayed in a town called Mayapur whilst studying various Vedic texts – the Bhagavad Gita being but one. 4 hours north of Calcutta in West Bengal, Mayapur is lovely rural town. It is famous for being the town where Sri Caitanya, an avatar of Krishna, appeared in the 16th century. Caitanya was regarded as a social reformer, poet and learned scholar. His greatest contribution, however, was to establish a form of worship known as harinam-sankirtana – congregational chanting of names of God.

The principles and practices as taught by Sri Caitanya are what led to the formation of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) – more commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement. ISKCON was established in New York in 1966 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, a renunciant from India. Prabhupada had arrived in America one year earlier upon instruction from his spiritual master to spread the teachings of Caitanya around the world. In the years that followed, up until his passing in 1977, Prabhupada opened over 100 temples world-wide and had a following of thousands.

One night whilst in Mayapur, two friends and I decided to sit on the flat-roof of our apartment to meditate. I looked around as we sat down under a blanket of stars. As I looked to my right I could see the tall spire of the temple marking the birthplace of Sri Caitanya. To my left I could see the large temple (samadhi) erected in memory of Prabhupada. The river Ganges, flowing only half a mile away, provided a cooling breeze.

My friends and I sat there for 30 minutes quietly chanting the Hare Krishna mantra to the accompaniment of traditional Bengali musical instruments. In that moment I felt a complete sense of happiness and contentment. It was, perhaps, the most perfect moment of my life.

It is easy, almost our default nature, to play the victim. When faced with adversity we cry “Why me?”. We envy those who come into fortune, exclaiming “I’m a good person, why doesn’t something good happen to me!”.

The paradigm is changed, however, when we see all events in life as a gift from God. Adversity becomes an opportunity to grow and increase our faith in Him. Fortune is a chance to thank God for His presence in our life. As was mentioned in our discussion, “If the world throws you a lemon, make lemonade [and in appreciation] offer it to Krishna”.