Dealing with your vices responsibly.

Don't be public and don't live in the dark - the sacred middle path that liberated me

"Vices should be kept private—not to avoid judgment, but to avoid normalising them. But they also shouldn’t be kept secret, because secrets breed shame, inauthenticity, and stunted growth. So what’s the solution?"

The Upadeśāmṛta of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī offers a powerful answer:

guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati
“One should reveal one’s mind in confidence and inquire confidentially.”
(Upadeśāmṛta, Text 4)

There’s a sacred space in bhakti culture where we’re invited to share our struggles—not with everyone, but with trusted devotees who can hold our hearts and help us grow. This allows for authenticity without exhibition.

In my own life, this has been a magic pill.
Opening up about my struggle with a certain habit—privately, to mentors and brothers who walk the bhakti path—has liberated me from the shame that secrecy was feeding. At the same time, I never made my struggle a public identity or normalized it through open display, which would have set a subpar example and possibly misled others.

This middle path—between silence and spectacle—is the real medicine.

Bhakti doesn’t demand perfection before participation.
It asks for sincerity, humility, and the courage to inquire.
When we reveal our hearts in confidence, shame loses its grip, and real growth begins.

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