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On the order of his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, Sankarshan Prabhu has dedicated his life for the most urgent work of spreading Krishna consciousness all over the world. The more that Krishna consciousness spreads, the more that the suffering, scarcity, and hate on this planet will be replaced with bliss, abundance and love. This is a golden opportunity for us to do the highest good for all living beings and receive the special blessings of the Lord. Therefore we should, as much as possible, sacrifice our time, energy, and resources to assist Sankarshan Prabhu in his most important work. If you would like to help out to any extent, little or big, kindly inform Sankarshan Prabhu of your desire. |
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Monday 21 May 2012 from Sofia, Bulgaria -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: Attain Deathlessness by Accepting Initiation On Saturday 19 May 2012 here in Sofia, Bulgaria I initiated two new disciples into Lord Caitanya's transcendental spiritual family and gave 2nd initiation (Brahminical initiation) to three devotees. It is most auspicious when someone accepts the initiation vows because by doing so they attain deathlessness. The initiates vow to obey the spiritual master's order to always chant at least 16 rounds daily of the Hare Krishna mahamantra on japa mala beads and to strictly avoid illicit sex, meat eating, intoxication, and gambling. Such a vow of surrender to the bona fide spiritual bestows immediate immortality upon the initiate who, if he strictly follows his vow, will permanently enter into his eternal identify as Lord Sri Krishna's servant. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Initiation Ceremony-19 May 2012--Sofia, Bulgaria: Initiation Lecture  Bhaktin Maria Becomes Madhavi devi dasi  Bhaktin Stefani Becomes Sumitra devi dasi  Initiation Fire Sacrifice Ceremony Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Should I Renounce Novels & Video Games? To go back home, back to Godhead should I renounce all material activities such as playing video games and reading novels, or should I only renounce things harmful to the Lord's service such as eating meat? Chaad -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Only Accept What is Favorable for Bhakti You should avoid anything which is harmful for your Krishna consciousness and do only those things which are favorable for your Krishna consciousness. Meat eating is not the only thing that is harmful for your Krishna consciousness. Mundane novels and video games also are not good for your Krishna consciousness and thus should also be avoided. Instead of wasting your precious time with such frivolous activities you should invest it wisely by chanting Hare Krishna and seriously studying Krishna conscious literatures such as the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the Srimad Bhagavatam, the Nectar of Devotion, and the Krishna Book. If you will engage every moment carefully in this way, you will make rapid advancement on the pathway back to home, back to Godhead. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Sunday 20 May 2012 from Sofia, Bulgaria -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: Nicely Doing One's Duty Makes Him a Karma Yogi? It is a common misconception, especially in India, that if one executes his material duties very nicely he is a karma yogi and will thus derive great spiritual benefit from his activities. This misconception shows how much people have misunderstood the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita. Karma yoga means that one does his duty and offers the fruit of his work to Krishna. One who keeps the fruits of his work for himself and his family is a karmi, not a karmi yogi. He will have to take karmic reactions for all of his activities by taking birth again here in this material world. On the other hand, he who engages the fruits of his activities in the service of Krishna is a karma yogi. He is free from all karmic reactions and will not take birth again here in this material world. He will attain the supreme perfection of going back to home, back to Godhead upon leaving his present material body. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Revealing the True Path of Liberation Bhagavad-gita Lecture--18 May 2012--Sofia, Bulgaria Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Is Krishna an Imagination of the Mind? Dear Gurudeva, Namaste. I would like to humbly ask the following question: Imagination of mind is always perishable. Is Krishna a reality or imagination of mind? Janardan M. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Only a Delusional Mind Could Think So Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita that the mind is one of His eight separated energies. Therefore it is only because of Krishna that your mind exists in the first place. Therefore only a madman, a lunatic, could think that Krishna is not real, that He is nothing more than mental imagination. Such delusional thinking is compared to a man who is sitting on a tree branch and sawing that branch off from the tree. The foolish man does not realize that by his sawing he will fall down and seriously injure himself. In other words when your mind denies Krishna His existence you are cutting off your mind's source of energy and causing it to thus become diseased. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Saturday 19 May 2012 from Sofia, Bulgaria -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: A Burning Need to Revolutionize the World Society At the present moment there is a burning need to revolutionize the world society. We need enlightened, qualified leaders to solve the onslaught of highly complex problems that are now besieging us. Our current slate of leaders in every sphere of human activity is completely incompetent. Factually they are nothing more that cartoon characters, who cannot control their senses and cannot do anything except lead us down the perilous road of the destruction of the human civilization. Because they are not enlightened with transcendental knowledge they are not even qualified to lead themselves, what to speak of leading others. It's time for people to wake up and stop electing such incompetent monkeys to lead us. We need real human beings as leaders. Human being means one who properly understands what is the self and what is the supreme self. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Teaching the Transcendental Science Bhagavad-gita Lecture--17 May 2012--Sofia, Bulgaria Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How to Stop Karmic Reactions? Gurudeva, when we kill an animal, in a future life we become the same animal and are killed. I have killed many insects in my childhood. So will I become an insect and be killed? Or can I become free from the karmic reactions from all these killings? If so, what is the method for becoming free from the karmic reactions. Kowsthub -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Fully Surrender to Lord Krishna There is only one way to become completely free from all karmic reactions. You must fully surrender to Lord Krishna by accepting the instructions that He gives in the Bhagavad-gita as your very life and soul. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Friday 18 May 2012 from London, England -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: Realize God Beginning With Your Tongue To become Krishna conscious is not difficult. You simply have to properly utilize your tongue. The tongue has two activities: tasting and vibrating. So instead of tasting and vibrating some nonsense, if you will taste Krishna prasadam and vibrate the Hare Krishna mahamantra, you will become a fully spiritually saturated self-realized soul qualified to meet the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, the source of all existence.. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Lecture at ISKCON London on Soho Street 16 May 2012--London, England Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Soul Doesn't Die. Why Killer Gets Karma? One question arose in my mind on the explanation that we are in a dream like situation. If we are just imagining birth and death, why does a murderer get a bad karmic reaction? Your eternal servant, Girish -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: We Suffer for Inflicting Suffering on Others Kindly try to understand that the conditioned soul is only imagining himself to be the material body. He is not the material body. It is only the material body that is born and dies. The soul is never born and never dies. He is only imagining that he is born and that he dies due to his misidentification with the material body. This is why his birth and death is compared to a dream. However, because the soul thinks that he is the body, it is very painful and devastating for his body to be killed. Therefore if someone kills another living being he is inflicting great pain and suffering upon that living being,nd he must therefore suffer a similar reaction. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Thursday 17 May 2012 from London, England -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: Vishnujana Swami: "You Have to Become Sober" One of the most poignant spiritual instructions I have ever received was from His Holiness Vishnujana Swami sometime in spring of 1971 in Austin, Texas USA. I was a young spiritual seeker attending an evening program that he was conducting at the home of Robin Ferris. In the middle of the program I left the living room to get a drink of water in the kitchen. Somehow or other he was in the kitchen too. Krishna arranged that it was just the two of us there standing by the sink. He told me very soberly and compassionately, "You have to become sober." That instruction has reverberated in my heart now for forty-one years as I realize more and more over these years the unlimitedly deep significance of this instruction. Sober means not to be carried away by the dualities: either good or bad. It means to always remain staunchly fixed in Krishna consciousness. Thank you, Vishnujana Swami, for being so kind and merciful to me. It is because of your loving kindness that I was able to join this Krishna consciousness movement and accept Srila Prabhupada as my spiritual master. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  His Holiness Vishnujana Swami in Pease Park Austin, Texas--1971 Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Who Goes Back to Godhead? Do you have to be in prema, pure love of God, to go back to Godhead? Or can some devotees in the lower stages of devotion go back to Godhead as well? De Pa -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: All of the Devotees Go Back to Godhead The process of Krishna consciousness is so wonderful that all of the devotees will go back to Godhead. Those who are 100% pure will go back to Godhead at the end of this lifetime, and those who are not 100% pure will take birth again in this material world to continue their spiritual progress so that they can go back to Godhead in a future lifetime. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Wednesday 16 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: Meaningless Sand Castle Civilization Without Krishna consciousness life can be very dreary, meaningless and monotonous. After all, what is the use of working so hard for things which are fleeting or non-permanent? Castles made of sand are washed into the sea. This entire global material civilization is like that. They have labored so strenuously to make a transitory civilization. If one wants genuine happiness, he must focus his energies on that which is permanent: his eternal relationship as a servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is not that they have to stop their material civilization. They simply need to give primary importance to their Krishna consciousness and secondary importance to their material civilization. Then everything will be very nice. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  The Material Civilization is Like a Sand Castle Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: What is the Secret of the Gita? All glories unto the devotees of the devotees, etc, of Krishna. There is a feeling of great curiosity about the text in Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 17. The lesson you gave about this verse and purport made the mind of this body ask: "What is the secret that Srila Prabhupada is talking about?" Can you answer this for me? René Waisvisz -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Krishna is God and You Are His Servant The secret is that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that you are His eternal servant. This is described as a secret because it is only understood by Krishna's devotees. It is not understand by outsiders, the non-devotees, no matter how learned they may be. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Tuesday 15 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: The Super Ecstatic Ultimate Journey Today we are on the road again on another circle-the-globe lecture tour. Our first stop will be in London where I will be giving a Bhagavad-gita class in the presence of Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara. While such travels in the service of Krishna certainly are ecstatic, meaningful, and significant, even more ecstatic, meaningful, and significant is the inward journey of the soul on the pathway back to home, back to Godhead. This is the journey that each of us should be making at every moment. Every day we should see how we can make progress on the ultimate journey, the inward journey. Every day we should endeavor to go deeper into transcendental meditation on the holy names of Krishna. We should strive for better, more loving relationships with our spiritual master and the devotees. We should try to improve our understanding of Lord Sri Krishna's transcendental teachings. And above all, each day we must strive to become more and more surrendered to Krishna. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Srila Prabhupada Takes Darshan of Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How to Resolve the Fall/No Fall Paradox? Nama Om Visnu-padaya Krsna-presthaya bhule tale Srimate Sankarshana das Adhikarin iti namine Dear Srila Gurudeva, Please accept my humble obeisances All glories to Srila Prabhupada! In reference to the "Thought for the Day" of 11 of May 2012, you gave nice evidence from Srila Prabhupada confirming that we were originally in the spiritual world but decided to try and enjoy separately from Krishna and thus came to the material world. Not as some say that we come originally from some place situated in between the material and spiritual worlds and that we chose to come to the material world instead of the spiritual world. I came across a purport of Srila Prabhupada's a couple of years ago and noted it to ask you for clarification. Just in the recent past it has come up in Bhagavatam class and the speaker used it as evidence that no one falls from the spiritual world, and that we do come from the in between place. Srila Prabhupada states in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 7.1.35: "It is a fact that no one falls from Vaikuntha." Can you kindly please kindly illuminate how we are to understand this? Your servant Rupa Manjari devi dasi -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Arrive Back in Goloka Just When You Left Prabhupada often states that we fell from the spiritual world, and he also has stated that no one falls from Vaikuntha. How to understand this? This is the fall/no fall paradox. Paradox means although it is apparently contradictory, it is nonetheless true. On one hand Srila Prabhupada states: "The original home of the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the spiritual world. In the spiritual world both the Lord and the living entities live together very peacefully. Since the living entity remains engaged in the service of the Lord, they both share a blissful life in the spiritual world. However, when the living entity wants to enjoy himself, he falls down into the material world." --purport to SB 4.28.54 And on the other hand he states, as you have pointed out: "It is a fact that no one falls from Vaikuntha." So how are we to understand that both principles, fall and no fall, can operate simultaneously? This is the question. The answer is that the living entity's fall down into this material world is only apparent. This is confirmed by Srila Prabhupada, who has stated, "So this dreaming condition is called non-liberated life, and this is just like a dream." The fallen jiva is simply dreaming himself to be something other than Krishna' servant and to be somewhere else besides Krishna's kingdom. He is imagining himself to be a king, a pauper, a demigod, a dog, or whatever in the 8,400,000 species of life. As long as he identifies with the dream he will suffer like hell. But when he wakes up from his dream, which seems to be going on for all of eternity, he will realize that his entire sojourn was a non-event, an imagination only, that he never really left Krishna's kingdom, and that it is now time for him to pick up where he left off in the transcendental pastimes of Krishna. A crude analogy to help us understand this difficult concept is flying from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles, USA on Qantas Flight #107. This flight departs from Sydney at 10:00 am and arrives in Los Angeles on the same day at 6:35 am. This is 3 hours and 25 minutes before it departed. How is this possible? How can one possibly arrive in Los Angeles before he even left from Sydney? This happens because Flight #107 crosses the international date line going east. In the same way there is another date line, a much more powerful date line that separates the material and spiritual worlds. When one crosses this date line returning to the spiritual sky, even though he has passed innumerable millions and billions of years in the material world as an eternally conditioned soul, he will arrive back in the spiritual world just at that moment when he left it without even the slightest gap. He will seamlessly pick up where he left off in Krishna's pastimes as an eternally liberated soul. So in this way he fell down and he did not fall down, and the fall/no fall paradox is resolved. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Monday 14 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: Vishnupriya Devi Dasi, the Unsung Hero After a brief hiatus here at Bhaktivedanta Ashram in Austin, Texas my wife, Vishnupriya devi dasi, and I are now preparing to hit the road again for spreading the wonderful teachings of Krishna all over the world. On this round-the-world trip I will be lecturing in the UK, Bulgaria, Mauritius, South Africa, Malaysia, Australia, and Los Angeles before returning to Austin at the end of next month. In regards to my preaching activities, the blessings of my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, and the loving assistance of my wife are my greatest assets. We always hear how important is the spiritual master. But we rarely hear how important is a Krishna conscious wife. Therefore in this regard my wife is truly an unsung hero. She always makes sure that I have the proper diet and living facilities, and she always gives me very pertinent and practical advice from her advanced Krishna conscious perspective on the best way to present these profound teachings to my audiences around the globe. My disciples and students all over the world affectionately address her as Gurumata. She constantly instructs and guides them as a loving mother teaching them how to always serve Guru, Krishna, and Vaisnavas in the best possible loving way. She gets a major chunk of the credit for whatever successes I am experiencing in my world enlightenment activities. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Vishnupriya Devi Dasi, Affectionately Known as Gurumata Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: What Happens to Cow Killers and Eaters? Most Respected Sir, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I would like to humbly inquire: 1- What happens to cow killers and cow eaters ? What are the advantages of serving cows for a devotee of Lord Krishna ? 2- How to respect women? I am the greatest fool, but fortunate enough to come in your contact. Kindly enlighten me. Aspiring to be servant of your servant, Gopal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: They Become Cows and Are Killed and Eaten Cow killers and cow eaters become cows in their next lifetime and are killed and eaten. Since the cows are very dear to Krishna, those who serve cows in the service of Krishna become very dear to Krishna. Women are respected by treating them as you would your mother. Therefore in Vedic culture every woman except for one's wife is addressed as mother. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Sunday 13 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: If You Want to Taste the Bliss If you want to taste the bliss, you must dovetail your consciousness with the supreme person, who is the source of everything. It is absolutely impossible that you will ever find permanent happiness if you are not connected with Him. So why waste time looking for happiness in this material world through so many millions of varieties of avenues, which are nothing but dead end streets because they do not connect to Krishna? The smart thing to do is to immediately come to the plane of transcendental bliss beyond all the miseries of material existence through the simple act of surrendering to Krishna. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Srila Prabhupada Relishing the Bliss of Krishna Consciousness Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Why this Opinion Circulating in ISKCON? My humble obeisances to Your Grace, All glories to Srila Prabhupada, Dear Gurudeva, I was delighted to read the contents under the heading, "We were originally in Krishna’s pastimes". This is because, a few weeks back, a visiting devotee was giving the Sunday morning lecture at the temple hall in ISKCON, Juhu, Mumbai. At the end of his lecture, during the question – answer time, one of the devotees asked him how we fell from spiritual world. He answered that we were never in the spiritual world, we came instead from the tatastha shakti. Then when he was asked that in various books of Srila Prabhupada it is mentioned that we were originally in the spiritual world, he denied that this information is in Prabhupada's books. Honestly, Gurudeva, I was a bit surprised by this statement of that devotee, who I presume is a very senior devotee. Anyway, I am very glad to receive the clarification, thru "Thought for the Day" dated 11th May ’12. I am only wondering why this new opinion is doing the rounds! Is this also a lila of Krishna? Your humble servant, Krishna Kumar, Mumbai. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Devotees Not Reading Prabhupada's Books Yes, the idea that we did not fall from the spiritual world, but instead fell from the tatastha shakti is incorrect. Lord Caitanya has taught us: jīvera 'svarūpa' haya—krsnera 'nitya-dāsa' krsnera 'tatasthā-śakti' 'bhedābheda-prakāśa "It is the living entity's constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Krishna because he is the tatastha-shakti (marginal energy) of Krishna and a manifestation simultaneously one and different from the Lord." --Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya 20.108 So it is not that we fell from the tatastha shakti. We ARE tatastha shakti or marginal energy. This is part of our constitutional nature. Tatastha shakti means the even though we are Krishna's eternal servants originating in the spiritual world, as confirmed by Srila Prabhupada in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 4.28.54, we have a borderline tendency that facilitates our either remaining in Krishna's pastimes or foolishly leaving Krishna's pastimes to try to enjoy separately here in this material world. This new opinion is making the rounds in ISKCON because devotees are not carefully and thoroughly reading Srila Prabhupada's books. This rumor mill is not a pastime of Krishna. Therefore our ISKCON managers should take care to only allow those devotes to give class who have properly understood Srila Prabhupada's books. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Saturday 12 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: May My Attraction Flow to Krishna A devotee does not want to be carried away by attraction to any personality of this material world because he prefers to be absorbed in the all-attractive Krishna. Just as the Ganges river naturally flows to the sea, the devotee wants to be only attracted to that incredibly amazing supreme person, Lord Sri Krishna, who is the source of all existence. This desire of the devotee is wonderfully expressed by Queen Kunti as follows: tvayi me 'nanya-visayā matir madhu-pate 'sakrt ratim udvahatād addhā gangevaugham udanvati “O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else.” Srimad Bhagavatam 1.8.42 Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Queen Kunti Prays to Krishna Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Can Envy Exist in Spiritual World? Dear Srila Gurudeva, Please accept my humble obeisances. Someone from the Gaudiya Sampradaya was discussing with me on the original position of the jiva soul. She was telling me that Prabhupada’s explanation is wrong and confusing. She said that the jiva originally was in the tatastha shakti and not in the spiritual world, since in the spiritual world, there is no question of envy of Krishna and hence there cannot be fall down to the material world from the spiritual world. Hence the jiva must come from the tatastha shakti. This conversation took place when I was a beginner in Krishna consciousness. I just brushed it off my mind, since I found it to be too trivial, and I found that this person was just trying to find unnecessary faults in a great personality like Prabhupada. But now since you have mentioned this topic on the mail, I would like to ask you as to how to counter this argument? Your servant, Tushar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Envy Only Exists in the Material World Countering her argument is very simple. This person is not well informed. It is she who is wrong and confused, not Srila Prabhupada. She assumes that the Lord's tatastha shakti (marginal energy) does not exist in the spiritual world. But this assumption is not correct. The jiva souls are the Lord's tatastha shakti. And since the jiva souls exist both in the material world and the spiritual world, the tatastha shakti is simultaneously present in both worlds. It's a fact that there is no envy in the spiritual world. This is why if envy of God arises in the consciousness of the living being, he is already in the material world. In other words, there is no delay not for even one yoctosecond (one septillionth of a second). Within absolutely no time when envy is there in the jiva, he immediately finds himself in this material world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Friday 11 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: We Were Originally in Krishna's Pastimes Some say that the soul did not originate in the pastimes of Krishna in the spiritual world. They say that the soul has originally come from the tatastha shakti which is neither in the spiritual world or the material world, and that the soul then had a choice of entering the spiritual world or the material world. They say that we here in this material world chose it instead of the spiritual world. This philosophy is not in line with teachings of Srila Prabhupada who has written in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 4.28.54 as follows: "The original home of the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the spiritual world. In the spiritual world both the Lord and the living entities live together very peacefully. Since the living entity remains engaged in the service of the Lord, they both share a blissful life in the spiritual world. However, when the living entity wants to enjoy himself, he falls down into the material world. Even while he is in that position, the Lord remains with him as the Supersoul, his intimate friend. Because of his forgetfulness, the living entity does not know that the Supreme Lord is accompanying him as the Supersoul. In this way the living entity remains conditioned in each and every millennium. Although the Lord follows him as a friend, the living entity, because of forgetful material existence, does not recognize Him." Lord Caitanya teaches us: jīvera 'svarūpa' haya--krsnera 'nitya-dāsa' "The constitutional position of the living entity is that he is the eternal servant of Krishna." Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Krishna and Cowherd Boys in Goloka, Vrindavan Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How to Disprove that the Supreme is Impersonal? What is not good with the Vaishnava point of view is this: I realized that you don't have to think about Krishna or think about something else. You don't have to do something or become someone else to be happy. Happiness is already here. The cause of that happiness is just BEING. Being "I", self. Miseries begin then you see something outside this self. How can you disprove that the Supreme is ultimately impersonal? R.D. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: There's No Happiness Without Love The impersonalists can find a temporary sense of satisfaction by negating the miseries of material existence and embracing in the impersonal conception of the one universal formless self. But because this is ultimately artificial after some time they come down again to the plane of material miseries. This is stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam, plus it is my own personal experience as well. Previously I was an impersonalist, and I experienced a great sense of happiness in the impersonal Brahman conception. But it did not last. It went away. And then I was miserable like anything. The depression was intolerable until I realized that the only permanent happiness is on the platform of Bhagavan realization or Krishna consciousness. Then I entered into on ocean of unlimited, ever-increasing bliss, which I have been tasting now for over 41 years. It is practical. Love does not exist in impersonal Brahman, and no one can be happy for very long without love. It is impossible for the Supreme or the original source of all existence to not be a person because every machine requires an operator. You cannot find anywhere a machine that does not require an a operator. Therefore we can logically deduce that the gigantic universal machine also requires an operator. If you want to disprove the personal conception of the Absolute, show me one machine that can function without an operator. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Thursday 10 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: When Anxiety is our Best Friend In this material world we take anxiety as our enemy doing everything we can to always be free from it. But in spite of all of our attempts to be free from anxiety, it still hounds us like an incurable disease. The greatest good news is that spiritual life or Krishna consciousness it is just the opposite. Anxiety becomes our best friend. When a devotee is in anxiety he takes it as the greatest blessing because it facilitates his taking complete shelter of Lord Sri Krishna, where the devotee experiences an ocean of unlimited, unadulterated, ever-increasing bliss. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Srila Prabhupada Reveals Ocean of Unlimited Bliss Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Is Unmotivated Bhakti Possible? Dandavat Gurudeva, It is true that you have to reach the platform of pure selflessness by serving Lord Krishna. But since most people are inclined to fruitive activities (and even those who have come to Krishna consciousness were inclined to fruitive activities earlier), won't serving Lord Krishna be infected subconsciously with some motive to get something in return? If yes, then is it ever possible to eliminate such a subconscious desire to get something in return for service? Your servant, Tushar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: From Motivated to Unmotivated Bhakti Devotional service, even if done with material motives, is so powerful and purifying that if one executes it strictly under the order of the spiritual master it will gradually transform into pure, unmotivated devotional service. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Wednesday 9 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: How to Always Be Fully Protected In times of trouble a devotee who has taken complete shelter of Krishna has nothing to fear because he knows that there is only one real danger in this world, and that is to forget Krishna. Therefore always taking shelter of Krishna by remaining in constant remembrance of Him the devotee is always fully protected, fully enlightened, and fully happy. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Srila Prabhupada Takes Shelter of Krishna by Offering Arati Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Is a Guru Required? Are you saying that you can wake up out of the cycle of birth and death purely by direct transmission alone? Or are you saying it is a spiritual master who leads the way? Roland -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Guru Transmits the Mercy of the Supreme Just as we receive the direct transmission of a radio broadcast through a radio, in a similar way the direct transmission of enlightening mercy coming through from the Supreme is delivered through transparent medium of the bona fide spiritual master. This is confirmed as follows in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 19.151): brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja "According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by whose grace he receives the seed of ultimate spiritual enlightenment, pure Krishna bhakti." Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Tuesday 8 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: If You Want to Know God-You Have to Taste God To the extent that we absorb ourselves in devotional service, to that extent we will realize God. In other words, God is not realized academically. He is realized experientially. One understands God by experiencing God. If one tries to understand academically what is the experience of eating pudding, he will never get a complete, perfect understanding. But if he simply tastes the pudding, he will get immediate perfect comprehension. So, if you want to know God, you have to taste God. In this way, and only in this way can you fully comprehend what is God. The tasting process is devotional service, serving the Lord with love, not begrudgingly or mechanically, but with warmth, with love and affection. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Experience this Beautiful Person through Love Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Difference Between Soul and Spirit? What is the soul? what is the difference between soul and spirit? Johanna -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: They are One and the Same The soul and the spirit are synonyms. Therefore the term "spirit-soul" has been used by great spiritual masters. That spirit-soul is an indestructible, indivisible, immeasurable, constitutionally steady, unborn, all-cognizant, ever-blissful particle of anti-material energy. It dwells within the body, seated in the heart, as the driver of the machine known as the material body. In conditioned consciousness one does not fully experience his spirit-soul identity. But upon being awakened by a bona fide spiritual master, the spirit-soul becomes fully re-situated in his original, eternal, constitutional glory and thus becomes liberated from the cycle of birth and death. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Monday 7 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: How to Achieve Unlimited Happiness Everybody wants to be happy. Nobody wants anxiety. Therefore everyone is living their life in such as way as to be completely free from anxiety. The difficulty is that hardly anyone knows the secret of how to become completely happy. Practically everyone settles for a mixture of happiness and distress. This mixture is problematic because as long as we are experiencing even a slight tinge of anxiety we cannot be happy. Therefore in this world almost everyone is in anxiety, and practically no one is happy. To become completely happy in such a world requires the guidance and blessings of a bona fide spiritual master. If we are willing to surrender ourselves to such a bona fide spiritual master, inquire submissively from him, and render him service--we can then by his grace achieve pure unadulterated happiness. Otherwise we are hopelessly lost in the quagmire of material misery birth after birth. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Srila Prabhupada Gives Us Unlimited Bliss Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Does Krishna Come Out of Nothing? I often use your example of the pot and popcorn, that just as we cannot pop popcorn out of an empty pot, in a similar way we cannot get this universe out of nothing. What is the best response when someone challenges this analogy by saying, "If something can never come out of nothing, how can Krishna have come out of nothing?"? Mathura Das -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: No. He Comes from Only Himself. The answer is that Krishna does not come out of nothing. He is self-manifested. He comes from only Himself. He is the original substance from which everything has come including Himself. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Sunday 6 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: The Ultimate Paycheck Why does one accept a job at a company and start working for it even before he receives his first paycheck? Because by seeing the other employees who work there and get paid regularly he has faith that he will also be paid for working there. Why does one take up the pathway of Krishna consciousness even before he tastes the sweet fruit of spiritual advancement? He has faith by seeing others who have advanced in Krishna consciousness and are constantly relishing its bliss that he will also make spiritual advancement and relish the supreme bliss of Krishna consciousness. If we can put our faith in a paltry paycheck of a few dollars, how much more faith should we have in the ultimate paycheck of pure Krishna bhakti? Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Explaining the Ultimate Reward, Krishna Bhakti 23 April 2012--Kaunas, Lithuania Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How is There Free Will to Love Krishna? I don't understand how our love for Krishna is free willed. It seems that our two main choices are either to surrender to Krishna or suffer the miseries of the material world. Yet, since no one wants to suffer, our only other option is to surrender to Krishna. So it seems like love for Krishna is forced by the lack of alternate choices that don't lead to suffering. But by definition love cannot be forced upon anyone, it has to be purely volitional and free. So how can we love Krishna in the truest sense? Your student, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Love Means Reciprocation Love means reciprocation. Therefore if you want to truly love Krishna you need to thoughtfully consider how much he is unconditionally loving you. He is so kind that even if you deny His existence or assert that He is not a person, He will still lovingly bestow you your necessities of life. It's true that for an intelligent person there is no other choice than to surrender to Krishna. But if someone wants to be a fool, Krishna will give him full facility. So the free will is always there. Perpetually one can choose between being intelligent or being a fool. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Saturday 5 May 2012 from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: Sometimes Difficult or Absolutely Impossible While on the neophyte stage, as we gradually develop our taste for Krishna consciousness and lose our taste for material sense gratification, spiritual life can sometimes be a little difficult, it is absolutely impossible to get any true happiness from material life because the all-devouring wheel of death is crushing everyone in its path and thus denying everyone the chance to find any real shelter here in this material world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Distributing the Ultimate Mercy-Prabhupada's Books 29 April 2012--Kaunas, Lithuania Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Ways of Devotional Service for Students Gurudeva, what are the ways of following devotional services on a daily basis for a student? Amritha -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Rise Early, Chant, and Preach The key for being Krishna conscious in student life is to rise early, take bath, and complete at least 16 rounds of Hare Krishna japa mala before you begin your studies. Plus you must strictly avoid illicit sex, meat eating, intoxication, and gambling as well as only eating Krishna prasadam. If you will stick solidly to these principles, you will be in the proper mindset to always remember Krishna in the midst of your material studies. And if you can arrange preaching programs for the devotees on your campus, this greatly enhances your ability to remember Krishna while you are going to school. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Friday 4 May 2012 from Dallas, Texas USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: Heart-Melting Memories of Lithuania Our recent visit to Lithuania was the sweetest we have ever experienced. We gave our love to the Lithuanian devotees by trying to do everything we could to help them enter into the mood of pure devotional service. And the joyful loving way in which they reciprocated with us was absolutely phenomenal. We were often awestruck by their unbounded enthusiasm for kirtan and devotional service. I lectured and led kirtan in five different cities, and everywhere we went the people opened their hearts to us and received us in such a way that our hearts were melted. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Relishing the Sweet Bliss of Krishna's Names 23 April 2012--Kaunas, Lithuania  Departing from an Evening Bhagavad-gita Class 24 April 2012--Vilnius, Lithuania  Devotees Give Us a Loving Send Off from Kaunas 1 May 2012--Kaunas, Lithuania  Final Bhagavatam Class in the Airport 2 May 2012--Vilnius, Lithuania  Blissful Devotees See us Off at the Airport 2 May 2012--Vilnius, Lithuania Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Very Attached to Intoxication & Illicit Sex Dear Srila Gurudeva, I am a very fallen soul. I do not follow any religious principles, and I am very attached to material sense gratification --especially intoxication and illicit sex. You are the only representative Krishna that I can communicate with directly. I cannot imagine myself having the strength to strictly follow the regulative principles of freedom and chant a bare minimum of sixteen rounds daily, but hopefully if you give just an infinitesimal drop of your mercy, I will at least be able to live by the minimum guidelines of a devotee. It is the only dream I have in this life to make you happy and serve you in any way you see fit. Sincerely Your student -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Renunciation's a Snap with Higher Taste You'd be surprised what can happen to your consciousness and thus your lifestyle, once you a get a even a slight taste for Krishna's holy names. In the sixties and early seventies thousands and thousands of hippies who were habituated to illicit sex and intoxication discovered that chanting Hare Krishna gave them a pleasure millions and millions of times better than their so-called material pleasures. Thus by becoming Krishna conscious they easily walked away from their lives of misery and entered joyfully into the wonderful world of unlimited bliss. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Thursday 3 May 2012 from Kaunas, Lithuania -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: Globally Establishing the Pure Bhakti Culture The devotee of the Lord is disinterested in material sense gratification. He only wants to accept as much sense gratification as is required for keeping his body healthy and fit. His only interest is to be absorbed 24 hours a day in pure devotional service to His most beloved Lord Sri Krishna and in solidly establishing the culture of pure Krishna bhakti all over the world. He cannot tolerate seeing a world around him that is not Krishna conscious because he is always hankering to be in the atmosphere of Goloka Vrindavan. Therefore he works diligently to turn all the conditioned souls of this material world to Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Public Hall Mantra Yoga Lecture 1 May 2012--Kaunas, Lithuania  Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How Can Karma Law No Longer Prevail? Dear Gurudeva, You have replied to one of your readers that we should surrender to Krishna and that by so doing we will be free from the karmic reactions of our past sins. So if a murderer surrenders to Krishna, will he get rid of the reactions of his past sins? Shouldn't he still have to pay for his sins? Can a person who has surrendered to Krishna feel that whatever he does is not under the law of Karma? I am not sure if I am clear on this. Kindly clarify my doubt. With deep respect, Sakshi -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Only For Those Who Are Fully Surrendered Krishna guarantees in the Bhagavad-gita that if we surrender unto Him, He will deliver us from all of our sinful reactions. This does not mean that a devotee will intentionally engage in sinful activities with the idea that he is now immune from the law of karma. If he acts sinfully in this way, he is not surrendered to Krishna and will in fact have to again accept the karma for his actions. A surrendered devotee strictly avoids all types of sinful activities because he is fully absorbed in loving devotional service to Lord Sri Krishna. Such a pure soul is freed by the grace of Krishna from the reactions to his past sins. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Wednesday 2 May 2012 from Kaunas, Lithuania -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: As Good as Being in the Spiritual World After an extremely exhilarating lecture tour here in the Baltic states we are heading out today via London for a short break at our home base, Bhaktivedanta Ashram in Austin, Texas. Then it will be on the road again lecturing in Bulgaria, London, Mauritius, South Africa, Malaysia, Australia, and Los Angeles until we again take a break in Austin. I can't imagine any life more joyful than this. Bliss like this in the material world is as good as being in the spiritual world. Actually it is a fact. Anyone who fully absorbs themselves in devotional service of any type in this material world is as good as being situated in the spiritual world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Ecstatic Send Off Kirtan after Sunday Feast Lecture 29 April 2012--Kaunas, Lithuania Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Difficulties on the School Campus Gurudeva, On the school campus a devotee faces: 1. Lots of harsh words that are rather unholy at times. 2. Loneliness from not being part of the group. 3. Depression from not being able to associate and not having the presence of like-minded friends. 4. An inability to chant Hare Krishna. How should I deal with this? Your humble servant -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Chant the Difficulties Away Do you not eat because of difficulties on the campus? No, you still eat in spite of the difficulties. But eating only feeds your body, which is a mere covering of the self. Does it make any sense to feed the covering of the self while you let the real self within starve to death? No, it does not make any sense. In other words, it is nonsense. So the first remedy for your campus difficulties is that you must chant Hare Krishna japa every day. The ideal time is to rise early, take your bath, and chant before sunrise. By the regular chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra the harsh words will simply bounce off of you without agitating your mind. You will not feel lonely because you will have the constant association of Krishna and His devotees within your heart. And, therefore you will not be depressed. So start chanting sincerely and feel the volcano of bliss erupting within your heart at every minute. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
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Tuesday 1 May 2012 from Kaunas, Lithuania -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Thought: Thank God for Srila Prabhupada! If it wasn't for Srila Prabhupada where would we be? We'd be hopelessly lost in the cycle of birth and death. Therefore the extent of our indebtedness to him is inconceivable. And because of Srila Prabhupada's unlimited mercy upon us we are now escaping the vicious cycle of birth and death and regaining our original spiritual identities in the transcendental pastimes of the Lord in His eternal transcendental kingdom. What could be wonderful than this? Therefore what can we say? Thank God for Srila Prabhupada! Sankarshan Das Adhikari  Our Supremely Wonderful Savior: His Divine Grace Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada  Special Class for the Brahmacaris Kaunas, Lithuania--27 April 2012 Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Why Someone is Gruesomely Murdered? Please accept my humble obeisances All glories to Srila Prabhupada Dear Gurudeva, Today a girl was murdered in a very gruesome way. Is death of a person predestined to be a certain way? Why do some people die under such terrible circumstances? Your servant, Atrisha -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: They Are Getting Their Karma If someone is murdered in a gruesome way, they are getting their fair karmic reaction for having murdered someone else in a gruesome way in the past. Since we do not know what kind of sins we committed in previous lifetimes, the safest thing to do is to surrender to Krishna and thus automatically become free from the karmic reactions of our past sins, even if we gruesomely murdered someone. Sankarshan Das Adhikari |
