Ultimate Self Realization

Just as the taste of a small child who loves playing marbles gradually transforms as he grows older into a taste for playing other sports such as baseball or basketball, similarly those who take to the transcendental self-realization pathway will find that their sporting propensity gradually and naturally evolves into a taste for what can be described as the ultimate sport.  So, what is that ultimate sport? Most sports involve one party competing with an opposing party to try to exert the most control over a ball. Whichever party can succeed at doing that emerges from the game as a winner. In this regard the ultimate sport is no exception. At the present moment the gigantic ball, planet earth, is being controlled by those who are in the darkness of ignorance. Because of this the present world society has been plunged into a very, very precarious situation. Therefore, the ultimate sport is to enlighten the world with transcendental knowledge. The Vedic injunction in t...

These past few days of associating with the devotees of Krishna in Sydney have been some of the sweetest and happiest days of my entire life. There is such a wonderful devotee community here. Simply by associating with the devotees here one dives into an ocean of unlimited nectar that keeps expanding more and more ad infinitum. This same mood can be created anywhere in the world where there is the congregational chanting of the holy names. If you do not have such a community in your area to plug into, you can create one by inviting everyone to join with you in the sweet kirtan: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: Brain Audit?... I am very grateful to you that because of your order I am getting up in the morning and chanting the rounds now at 4:00am. But when I chant I remember my previous day activities and what wrong thoughts I had thought in the previous day. ...

The modern day society has made tremendous advancement in so many fields of technological knowledge. But in spite of such much impressive progress there is one area in which it is completely in the dark ages. In spite of so many rapidly advancing fields of knowledge, we still do not know who we are. The most basic foundational understanding of reality on which everything else is based is nothing but a big question mark. Who am I? I don't know. When a student enrolls in the university he is asked what he wants to major in. But if he doesn't even know who he is, how can he possibly make a meaningful of what he wants to do with his life? No wonder people are so frustrated and confused. The time has come now for the world population to become educated in the science of the self. We have the knowledge and are prepared to teach them. Now it is up to them to become eager to hear. Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: How to Attain Transcendental Bliss?.. Wha...

If one seriously takes up Krishna consciousness as his only business, he will taste the sweetest nectar at every minute. Not only will the nectar be sweet. It will be ever-increasingly sweet for all of eternity. So how do we do that? How do we enter into the state of complete, total absorption in Krishna consciousness? The key is the association of the Lord's devotees. The more we associate with the Lord's devotees, the more we will experience the sweet taste of Krishna consciousness. This means that we have to arrange our lives in such a way that we can associate with the Lord's devotees as much as possible. If we do this, the bliss will just keep on coming wave after wave after wave. Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: How to Please Krishna?... My dear Prabhuji, you always tell that one must always act for Krishna's pleasure. Could you kindly tell us how to act for Krishna's pleasure? With all respects, Kishan Answer: Follow His Instr...

Srila Prabhupada one time stated that the ISKCON centers are not in this material world. They are not in Los Angeles, New York, etc. They are in Vaikuntha, the spiritual world. We are experiencing this practically here in Sydney where we are presently intensely engaged 24 hours daily in the service of the Lord. Even while living in the material world the devotee experiences living in the spiritual world at every moment because devotional service and the spiritual world are non-different. One of the wonderful qualities of devotional service is that there is no shortage of its supply. There is plenty of it to go around. If every man, woman, and child on the planet Earth decided to immediately absorb themselves 24 hours daily in devotional service, we could supply them enough of it to completely fulfill their desires. Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: What Should I Believe about God?... I am a believer in God. I believe that there is a power that is controllin...

Here in Sydney Mataji and I are being driven from one preaching engagement to another day after day. This is the greatest opportunity to share the mercy of Krishna with many, many souls. Lord Krishna is desiring very strongly that all the living beings who are trapped here in this material world should come back to Him as soon as possible. Therefore there is no easier way to please Him than to enlighten these trapped souls in the science of Krishna. This is the greatest service that can be rendered to the fallen souls, the greatest service that can be rendered to the Lord, and the greatest good we can do for ourselves.. What a perfect situation! Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: Can't We Simply Rely on the Direction of God Within?... If you say that God exists within all of us, then we can take guidance from Him at any moment. So isn't it true that we don't need a guru? How do we explain that study of the Vedas is not for armchair speculators, th...

The epitome of sweetness is to reconnect with our original pure spiritual nature. Here at Govinda valley during our weekend Soul Revival Retreat from 22-24 December we have had a fabulous opportunity to dive deep into the nectarean ocean of transcendental bliss. What a wonderful feeling to rise early in the morning, take bath, and fully absorb ourselves on the absolute platform of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. By chanting and hearing of the unlimited names, fame, forms, and pastimes of the inconceivably beautiful Lord in the association of devotees we experience the choicest, most pristine nectar. This stimulates the revival of our original spiritual identities. In such a state of mind stress and anxiety become conspicuous by their absence. Here's a video clip from the last session of our ecstatic Soul Revival Retreat: http://www.backtohome.com/video/retreat.wmv Beautiful, serene Govinda Valley just over the hill from the Pacific Ocean. Farewell session of Soul R...

23 December 2006--This weekend I am here in serene Govinda Valley in a beautiful forest near the ocean south of Sydney at a wonderful retreat center where I am taking 25 young people on a spiritual journey to revive the dormant enlightened consciousness within their hearts. This event has been advertised as a soul revival retreat. We arrived here yesterday by car and after a comfortable night's rest began a rigorous day of seminars, classes, workshops, and personal meetings. This morning I presented a japa meditation workshop followed by a class on how one can practically apply the principles of the Bhagavad-gita in one's daily life. Then after breakfast we had another session in which I described what kind of bliss is experienced by one who is situated on the transcendental platform and how to be situated on that platform in all times, places and circumstances. Whenever there was a break between sessions I would met with persons who wanted to meet with me personally. T...

22 December 2006--We are now in Sydney's ISKCON center, having just spent the night here. Just as I described yesterday, we are now in a sublime transcendental atmosphere of pure goodness staying in a wonderful ashram full of devotees who are 24 hours daily engaged in the service of the Lord. There is wonderful kirtan (congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra) happening regularly here, uniting everyone in ecstatic celebrations of transcendental bliss. Gorgeous deity worship of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna is being conducted around the clock to inspire the mood of bhakti within the heart. Delicious vegetarian foods are prepared with love and devotion and then offered first to Radha and Krishna. Because they are offered to the Lord, by His mercy the foodstuffs are transformed from material energy into spiritual energy and then distributed to the devotees and guests to nourish the body and revive the spiritual consciousness of the soul. There are classes twice daily also...

21 December 2006--I am writing this in the back seat of a van that is being driven by Caitanya Das from New Govardhan to the Goldcoast airport, from where we will be catching a flight to Sydney. It has been so wonderful to be in New Govardhan in the peaceful, serene mountains with the fresh air, wide open spaces, breath taking views, and a beautiful flowing river. It is certainly very enlivening to spend some days in God's country. But there is nothing less auspicious about our next stop, a Krishna temple in Sydney, even though it is in a crowded, congested city. How can that be? An enlivening peaceful country setting is in the mode of goodness. A city scene where people are running here and there for making and spending money is in a lower mode of nature, the mode of passion. And a derelict skid row type atmosphere where everyone is trying to dull themselves out with alcohol and/or drugs is in the lowest mode, the mode of ignorance. But a temple of the Lord where the devo...

20 December 2006--Every day spent in this sweet transcendental abode, New Govardhan, becomes more and more relishable. Therefore it is with pangs of sadness that we will be leaving here tomorrow for our flight to Sydney. Of course an endless road of transcendental adventure awaits us. But still who would want to leave behind such a wonderful place as New Govardhan--a place of saintly devotees, stunning deities, a beautiful temple room, cows, peacocks, flowers everywhere, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, rainbows, a river, and much much more?  Scenes from New Govardhan, Australia Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: How Can New Govardhan be in Australia?.. Kindly explain how New Govardhan can be created in Australia? Lord lifted Govardhan in Vrindavan, and that is the original Govardhan. He did not lift it in Australia so how can New Govardhan be recreated in Australia. Kindly excuse my absolute ignorance Your servant Anupam Answer: By Celebrating the L...

Krishna kindly appears as Nama Avatar, the name incarnation. He fully manifests Himself in the form of His names to enable the lost souls of this age of Kali to easily attain spiritual perfection by chanting His names with love. We become realized in the Absolute Truth to the extent that we are able to chant His names with purity. Therefore the most essential aspect of the self-realization process is to be able to perfect our chanting of the holy names. This is easy to say but not always so easy to do. So how can it be made easy? What is the secret of success in regards to chanting purely the holy names of the Lord? In this regard Srila Prabhupada would often quote the English maxim, "If you love me, love my dog." Srila Prabhupada explains that the devotee of the Lord is like the dog of God. The Lord is more interested to see how much we are loving His devotee than He is seeing how much we are loving Him. Therefore the insiders' secret in regards to perfecting...

There is one thing that nobody likes. That is suffering. So how to get out of the suffering conditions that are being constantly hurled at us by the material energy? How can we enter into the state of pure bliss free of any inebriety? This requires a purification of consciousness. Just as water in is original state is pure but becomes contaminated by coming in touch with a contaminated atmosphere, the original pure consciousness of the living being becomes contaminated by coming into contact with the material atmosphere. It is this contamination which the actual cause of whatever sufferings or miseries we undergo in this material existence. Hence all we to do to get free of the suffering is to be from free contamination. This is why it is so important to regularly chant the Holy Names of God: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: Connecting with You... How do I c...

17 December 2006--One of my readers objected that I sometimes describe what I am doing in "Thought for the Day". But Krishna consciousness is not dry philosophy. It is wisdom, practical application of the topmost knowledge. In a chemistry course we go to the lecture and learn that H2O equals water. And then we go the laboratory and in a test tube we actually do it. We combine 2 parts of hydrogen with one part of oxygen and sure enough we get water in our test tube. So when I describe practical activities in Krishna consciousness this is simply to demonstrate its sweet transcendental nature in action. This is the proof of its authenticity. Yesterday we were blessed with the sublime opportunity of coming to New Govardhan in the beautiful mountains near the Australian coast south of Brisbane Here there is a wonderful community of devotees who come together every day to chant the Hare Krishna mantra, to worship the beautiful deities Sri Sri Radha Govardhandhari ...

Why live an ordinary bland existence full of so many anxieties, when we can live on the cutting edge of adventure at every minute? We are not meant to suffer. Suffering is an artificial imposition on the all-blissful consciousness of the living being. It is simply due to the ignorance of bodily identification. Simply by realizing that we are not these bodies and by engaging in the activities of our actual selves as eternal spiritual beings we will taste the true ananda or bliss of spiritual existence at every minute. Of course, it is not always as easy as it sounds. This is because we have become very much accustomed to being in illusion. For millions of lifetimes we have identified ourselves as being the particular material body that we were inhabiting in that particular lifetime. So it takes time to come out of the illusion. We have to be patient. However if we are determined and always remain enthusiastic, then our perfection is guaranteed to manifest in due course of time...

15 December 2006, 8am -- This morning when I arose in the early predawn I was on a flight from Mumbai, India to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The stewardess noted the Vaisnava tilak on my forehead and said, "Hare Krishna." This is what I like to hear. She told me that she sometimes visits ISKCON temples in India as well as in Malaysia. As soon as we utter this great chant for deliverance the atmosphere becomes transformed from material into spiritual. Therefore we should always be chanting these holy names of God: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: Crossing Over to Different Religions... I am a humble devotee of Lord Sri Krishna by the grace of our Acharya Sri Madvacharya, and I have been receiving your course Ultimate Self Realization for the past few days. I feel very happy that your path of devotion also matches with the Dvaita(duality) principle which is th...

14 December 2006, 3pm -- Last minute packing and meetings are going on. We leave for the Mumbai airport at 8pm for a late night flight to Kuala Lumpur followed by a second flight to Brisbane, Australia. What a golden opportunity I've been given! The whole world is a chaotic mess without enlightened consciousness, and I am so fortunate that I have been blessed with the knowledge than can liberate everyone from their suffering condition. Plus I have been given the opportunity to travel and spread this science all over the world for the ultimate benefit of all living beings. This is the great kindness of my spiritual master upon me. I cannot imagine any lifestyle more wonderful than this! Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: Difference Between Vishnu & Krishna... Explain in detail difference between Lord Vishnu & Lord Krishna. Abhijit Answer: Krishna is the Original Vishnu... Vishnu is the "Personality of Godhead" category. All forms of God ...

Late this evening we are flying from Mumbai to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a a brief transit stop and then on to Brisbane, Australia. India has, as usual, been a very enriching and enlivening experience for us. Here in the land of Krishna, even though rampant materialism is manifesting more and more everywhere, there is still a deep seated all-pervading presence of Krishna consciousness, like an underground river, flowing very strongly. One simply has to tap into it by seeking out and taking shelter of the association of realized transcendentalists. Then one can experience that beautiful, timeless culture that is India. Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: Does Spiritual Master Have Free Will?... I have read that the Spiritual Master waits in the universe, till the last disciple is delivered and he also states that only if the disciple is following the regulative principles seriously, he will remain as spiritual master for him, otherwise the disciple will not get...

The humble disciple never thinks himself the doer of whatever wonderful things he has accomplished in the service of the Lord. He always gives all credit to his spiritual master for his spiritual success. In transcendental circles credit is something that never stays in one place. The disciple gives all credit to his spiritual master. But his spiritual master also does not want the credit. He gives the credit to his spiritual master, who then gives it to his spiritual master, who then in turn gives it to his spiritual master, etc, etc. In this way the credit finally ends up being offered to Krishna. But Krishna also does not like to keep the credit. He gives the credit back to His devotees. In this way the credit never stays in one place. It always keeps dancing from one to another to another. Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: Vedic Evidence for Cycle of Birth and Death?... I was listening to one scholar's lecture about comparative religion and some ...

This material world is a place of unlimited difficulties. Therefore whether we pursue a life of material advancement or a life of spiritual advancement, we will be forced to deal with so many hellish situations. So what is the difference between material life and spiritual life?  The difference is that while on the material path the difficulties never go away, not even after millions and billions of lifetimes, on the spiritual path this is our last lifetime to face these difficulties. The spiritual path takes us completely beyond the confines of this rotten material world. In spite of all the difficulties a devotee undergoes trying to serve Krishna in this material world, he has one heck of a good time trying to revolutionize this misguided material world with the pure teachings of the Bhagavad-gita as long as he is here. Coming from the USA, I thought I knew what was the meaning of traffic jam until I experienced an "endless-nightmare" Mumbai traffic jam (as s...

Here in Mumbai ISKCON's world-transforming activities are flourishing so much that there are 25 different ISKCON centers scattered throughout the Mumbai area. No other city in the world can boast so many ISKCON centers. It is not surprising then that I am experiencing Mumbai as a gold mine of unlimited opportunities for sharing the ecstatic nectar of Krishna consciousness. Since we have arrived we have simply been going from preaching program to another preaching program to another preaching program. And we are only visiting a small percentage of the centers. I am simply thinking how wonderful it is that so many people here are so seriously taking this process of reviving their dormant Krishna consciousness. Every city of the world should be like this. Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: Overpopulation and What to Do?... Do the scriptures tell us why there is overpopulation? And what we are to do about it? John Answer: How to Relieve the Earth's B...

Somehow or other after suffering in the cycle of repeated birth, death, old age, and disease for countless billions of lifetimes I found myself at the right place, at the right time, with the right attitude. I was standing there in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, USA on Sunday 27 June 1971 hearing a public lecture given by the most empowered spiritual master in the history of the universe, His Divine Grace Om Vishnupada Paramahansa Parivrajakacharya Astotttara Sata Sri Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Since the beginning of my freshman year at college in the fall of 1965 I had been very seriously seeking spiritual enlightenment. However, for over five years I had been repeatedly disappointed in my quest because I had encountered so many false teachings and so many false masters, one after another. How did I know they were false? Because they did not give me any relief fr...

In the ancient Vedic wisdom, especially the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam, we have the seeds for bringing about the complete respiritualization of planet earth. This is not at all astonishing or extraordinary because these texts of revealed spiritual knowledge come to from a previous time when the entire earth planet lived in peace and harmony as one nation. Nothing new has to be invented. All we have to do is learn from the lessons of the past when the earth was like a paradise compared to what it is now. Therefore there is nothing more important that the wide scale reading of the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam. Such reading must be from editions that do not obscure the meaning with personally motivated interpretations. We must read from editions of these great books that simply present them as they are without any interpretation. Such pure editions are available by the mercy of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, my beloved spiritual master. ...

After an ecstatic week of tasting the sweet nectar in Sri Vrindavan Dham now we are relishing the sublime heaven-on-earth flavor of Hare Krishna Land at Juhu, Mumbai, India. This temple was personally established by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada after a great struggle which a business man who sold us the land and through clever cheating tactics tried to take it away from us. It is a thriving temple with spectacular deity worship, an auditorium for performing devotional arts, a popular restaurant, a guest house, and large number of resident brahmacaris (monks) who are very, very saintly in their behavior and very enthusiastic for sharing the supreme benediction, Krishna consciousness, with everyone. A pujari offers arati to Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari Original twin tower guesthouse Answers According to the Vedic Version Request: Tell All the Ways to Please the Lord... I am chanting 16 rounds for the last 1 year 9 months and following regulative pri...

With a natural transcendental melancholy in the heart, today I leave the Lord's transcendental abode, Sri Vrindavan Dham at 5:30am. We are catching a flight to Mumbai to spend a wonderful week with the devotees of Lord Krishna there. Of course, I am very happy for the wonderful Krishna conscious adventures that lie ahead. But there is always that desire in a corner of the heart to remain forever in Vrindavan. Even though Lord Krishna left Vrindavan to go to Mathura, it is described that He never sets foot outside of Vrindavan because His heart is always in Vrindavan. I am praying for the unlimited mercy of Lord Sri Krishna, Vrindavan-natha (the Lord of Vrindavan) that He will grant me eternal residence as the servant of the servant of His servants in His supreme pleasure grove. Even if He desires for me to serve Him in separation by always traveling and preaching throughout the world, I pray that my heart may always be totally absorbed in Vrindavan consciousness, Krishna co...

5 December 2006, 7:26pm--We have just returned to our quarters at Vrindavan's Bhaktivedanta Ashram after having completed Govardhan Parikrama. It was an amazing transcendental experience. It's a 14 mile sacred walk around Govardhan Hill, which we did barefoot out of respect for the sanctity of every square inch of the holy soil. Govardhan is gloried as follows in the sacred writings of Srila Raghunatha Das Goswami: O Govardhan, O king of mountains, O hill whose nectarean name-the best of Hari's servants flows from the moonlike mouth of Sri Radha, O hill that the Vedas declare to be the tilaka marking of Vraja, please grant me a residence near to you. Above is Govardhan Hill. This sacred mountain descended from the spiritual world to a place called Salmali Dvipa in the ancient, ancient times. And then millions of years ago, at the beginning of the Satya Yuga, Govardhan was brought to the Vraja Mandal, the Vrindavan Dham area, by a sage named Pulastya Muni....

Sri Vrindavan Dham is a very special place to engage in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. Here in this location where every square inch is permeated with the nectarean flavor of the Lord's transcendental pastimes all devotional activities take on deeper and richer dimensions of sweetness. Everything becomes enhanced. Sitting here in my quarters writing "Thought for the Day" I am thinking how fortunate I am to be staying in the exact location of the Lord's loving pastimes with His most intimate devotees. Every particle of dust in this most holy abode is more valuable than than all the wealth of the entire universe multiplied billions, trillions, and quadrillions of times. Srila Prabhupada expounds the glories of Sri Vrindavan Dham as follows: Vrindavan-dham is nondifferent from the Lord because the name, fame, form and place where the Lord manifests Himself are all identical with the Lord as absolute knowledge. Therefore Vrindavan-dham is as worshipabl...