Ultimate Self Realization

Today is the most sacred appearance day of Srimati Radharani, the dearmost of all of Lord Sri Krishna's devotees. On this day devotees fast until noon and then break their fast by partaking of a prasadam feast of varieties of foodstuffs offered with love and devotion to Srimati Radharani. This topmost of all devotees is very kind upon the other devotees. When she mercifully recommends to Krishna to notice the service of a particular devotee, He will immediately bestow His mercy upon that most fortunate soul. Therefore we should always beg her merciful blessings that she may tell something good about us to her beloved Lord, Sri Krishna. In this mood we should always call out for her mercy first before uttering the name of Krishna. We first of all call out to Srimati Radharani by uttering "Hare." And then we say, "Krishna." Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: Why Do Different Religions Exist... Why do these different religions exist? Why

There has been some confusion in the minds of some of our readers lately how God can manifest different degrees of His potencies in His different incarnations. They find it undemocratic that one form of Godhead would display more qualities of Godhead than another form of Godhead. But the Supreme Lord is not obliged to be democratic. As the supreme controller and as the original fountainhead of all that exists, He has the free choice to distribute His qualities in varying percentages to His various forms as He sees fit. It was mentioned several days ago in the "Answers According the Vedic Version" section of "Thought for the Day" that the four-armed Vishnu (Narayana) has 97% of the qualities of God. (This was a mistake of our typist. The actual number is 93.75%.) This distinction between Narayana and Krishna has become a controversy for some of our readers, who have protested against our making such distinctions. They think that we are arbitrarily making som

Do you know why you exist? You did not manifest yourself out of nothing. You exist because Krishna or God is emanating you from His transcendental body. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita. Why is He emanating you? He wants the pleasure of having a loving relationship with you. So the very purpose of your existence is to have a loving relationship with God. This is why unless you develop love of God you can never be happy, no matter how much material success you may enjoy. And this is why if you purely, totally love God you will be unlimitedly happy, no matter what is your situation in this world. Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: How Can You Award Percentage Marks to the Great Personalities?... It is interesting to read your answer to the question of a 14 year old boy awarding percentage to great personalities like Lord Shiva and Lord Narayana, that they possess only a certain percentage of the qualities of God. How can you as the spiritual master, a hu

Hearing my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, singing the prayers to the six Goswamis I am carried away into another dimension of existence far, far beyond the crazy, confused sufferings of the modern so-called advanced civilization. I am reminded that right now the eternal pastimes of Lord Sri Krishna and His pure devotees are going on in the Spiritual Sky. Anyone and everyone can taste this sweet bliss of Krishna consciousness right now, if they will simply submissively hear from Krishna's pure devotee. Why does the general world population have to continually dragged on and on deep in the sleep of maya? There is so much unnecessary ignorance and suffering going on at every minute all over the world. May everyone now awaken from their deep slumber of illusion and realize the eternal truth of the self and the Supreme Self. Answers According to the Vedic Version Question: Isn't Lord Vishnu the Ultimate Godhead?... I read all your daily thoughts for the day. I am a bi

The present world population is presently very much in the depths of illusion regarding the actual nature of the self. Practically everyone misidentifies themselves with their gross material body. Because of this misidentification they invest their entire energy in serving their own body and the bodies of their near and dear ones. Such bodily service, although required, does not satisfy the actual need of the self. Therefore in spite of all material advancement people are very frustrated and confused. If we want actual happiness we require genuine spiritual enlightenment to awaken us from the false platform of bodily consciousness. Such enlightenment cannot be concocted or imagined. It must be taught to us by a person who has actually attained it. This person is known as the bona fide spiritual master. Because so many cheaters nowadays are falsely posing themselves as spiritual masters, it has become very difficult to find a bona fide spiritual master. And because we have be

I have been inconceivably blessed by Lord Krishna, by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, and by the followers of His Divine Grace. They have truly saved me from a hellish, extremely depressing existence and brought me into the realm of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. I am therefore eternally indebted unto them. Srila Prabhupada has ordered me that just as I have been saved, it is now my duty to fully dedicate myself to saving others. Somehow or other, by Lord Sri Krishna's grace, I stumbled onto the idea of spreading Krishna consciousness on the internet and been experiencing amazing success far beyond what I could have imagined. Tasting this most sublime nectar and seeing how much everyone in this world is entrapped in so many varieties of suffering conditions I am feeling very, very sorry for them. I am therefore very happy that I have been blessed with the means of reaching out to everyone and gifting them with the ultimate happiness, Krishna consciousness. Therefore on

There is truly no sweeter pleasure than being in the association of the Lord's devotees. And there is truly no more bitter poison than to be separated from the Lord's devotees. Not only is devotee association the sweetest thing in the entire universe; it also liberates us from the repetition of birth and death by enabling us to go back to home, back to Godhead. So who in their right mind would not want to associate with Lord Krishna's devotees? What this means is that we should structure our lives in such a way that we absolutely maximize the time we are privledged to spend in the association of devotees. This is called intelligence. And what will we do when are associating with devotees? We will engage in the activities of devotional service beginning with hearing, chanting, remembering, and serving the Lord. The devotees are not interested in any mundane relative topics or activities like baseball or football. They are simply interested to be 24 hours daily purel

23 August 2006-6:10am In this world we face many dangers. In the fact the Srimad Bhagavatam describes this as a world in which there is danger at every step. We can see this practically. This morning one hour ago while taking a morning walk I was run off the road by a driver who purposely harassed me. He was driving his truck straight at me at approximately 40 miles per hour driving down the wrong side of the road. I was forced to jump out of the way to save myself from possible death. I suspect that it was done out of hate because I dress differently than the average American citizen. This incident serves to illustrate not only the dangerous nature of this material world. It also shows the wicked mentality of the persons who inhabit this planet right now. This is confirmed as follows in the Bhagavad-gita: iccha-dvesa-samutthena dvandva-mohena bharata sarva-bhutani sammoham sarge yanti parantapa "O scion of Bharata, O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born int

We should never forget that this human form of life is very, very rare. It has been obtained after transmigrating through 8,000,000 different species of life. It is that rare form which affords us the opportunity to become self-realized and thus escape the cycle of birth and death. An intelligent person maximizes the golden opportunity of human birth by fully absorbing himself in Krishna consciousness at every minute even while he is engaged in performing ordinary duties such as working a job or running errands. Don't waste this opportunity by engaging unnecessarily in activities of material sense gratification. Simply take whatever sense gratification is required to keep body and soul together. Invest the balance of your energy in the awakening of your original divine consciousness. Live your life to the fullest extent at every second by intensely embracing the process of Krishna consciousness. I can assure you that you won't regret it. I gaurantee that you will attai

Simultaneously the Lord is present in everything and not present in everything. This is inconceivable for the common man. God is everything, but at the same time it is not that everything is God. When the sunshine enters our room we say that the sun has entered because the sunshine and the sun are the same. But yet they are different. Otherwise we would be burned to a crisp when the sunshine enters our room. So Krishna is different from this material manifestation, while at the same time everything is resting on Him. This is called, "yogam aisvaram", the mystic power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Answers According to the Vedic Version Challenge: You Have Not Proved that God Exists... You said (by way of proof) that the fact that we exist is proof that God exists. A little more thought would tell you that the fact that we exist only proves that WE exist, not that God exists. Sudeep Response: How Your Existence Proves God's Existence... The Vedic con

As long as we remain stuck in the exterior of religion we are bound to have conflicts. What is that exterior? "I am a Christian. I am a Jew. I am a Muslim. I am a Hindu." In other words, bodily consciousness. We have to go beyond the exterior trappings to the sublime mystical inner core of religion. "I am an eternal spiritual being qualitatively one and quantitatively different from the Supreme Lord." As long as we remain selfish and greedy we can never penetrate to the inner core. We will always remain entrapped in the external coverings. Therefore, if we want to truly realize God, it is of the utmost importance that we develop saintly qualities. What are the saintly qualities? A true saintly person does not maintain his body by the cruel slaughter of animals. He does not indulge in various types of intoxication. Nor does he waste his time in frivolous activities. He is not sexually promiscuous. He prefers to absorb his consciousness 24 hours daily

Do you want to remain in the repetition of birth and death, or would you like to be liberated from it? The choice is yours. If you want liberation you will have to give up some things you would rather not give up and accept some things you would rather not accept. This is called austerity or sacrifice. Just like, for example, if you want to take a dream vacation to the Fiji Islands, you will have to save every possible penny by cutting back on all of your unnecessary expenses. You will have to give up some of your usual petty luxuries in order to enable yourself to be able to set aside the money required for your excursion. If you are not willing to sacrifice in this way, the chances are that your dream vacation will always remain just that, a dream only. So in a similar way, if we want to make attaining the supreme spiritual perfection a reality, we will have to practice the art of giving the senses only what they need for keeping body and soul together and not a pinch more than t

In today's world there is so much lying materialistic propaganda. This makes it all too easy to be carried away by illusion. Therefore it is recommended in the Srimad Bhagavatam that to get out of illusion and stay out of illusion we should study the Srimad Bhagavatam every day and serve that person whose life is completely dedicated to spreading transcendental knowledge all over the world. nasta-prayesv abhadresu nityam bhagavata-sevaya bhagavaty uttama-sloke bhaktir bhavati naisthiki "By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact." Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.18 This is my modus operandi, my method of operation. I hear or give a class on the Srimad Bhagavatam every morning, and I have fully dedicated my life to serve my

On the evening of 16 August 2006 at our ISKCON center in Imphal, Manipur, India terrorists wreaked havoc upon the appearance celebration of Lord Krishna by exploding a hand grenade during a dramatic presentation of Lord Krishna's Rasa Lisa, killing four devotees and injuring 36 others, including His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodar Maharaja, one of ISKCON's spiritual masters. Such actions are sickening and deplorable and are unfortunately becoming more and more common in today's rapidly deteriorating so-called world society. It is intolerable to see so much cruelty and suffering going on all over the world. Senseless violence and terror are being unleashed more and more upon the poor souls of this age. A thoughtful person will naturally question why such things are going on and what can be done to stop them from happening. In an animal-filled jungle we can always expect to find ferocious, dangerous animals like lions and tigers. Similarly in a world where 99.99% of the

Today is the most auspicious day. It is the appearance day of my most beloved spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. It is he who stands out in history more than any other spiritual master, for it is only he who has spread Krishna Consciousness all over the world. I am unlimitedly indebted to Srila Prabhupada for rescuing me from this quagmirish material existence and engaging my entire life's energy in pushing forward the Sankirtan Movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is Srila Prabhupada's unlimited kindness upon me. He has truly raised me from the dead. Were it not for him I shudder to think what sort of condition I would be in at this very minute. All I can do is to try to show him my appreciation by eternally engaging my every thought, word, and deed in service that pleases him. Questions and Answers How Can I Know I Am Expressing Myself as a S

Today is Sri Krishna Janmastami, the most holy appearance day of Lord Sri Krishna. He appeared about 5,000 years ago in Mathura, India. We say appearance day and not birthday because Lord Krishna did not take birth in this material world like an ordinary human being. He is eternally existing in His original form in the Spiritual World. Sometimes out of His causeless mercy He appears within this material world for the purpose of blessing the fallen souls who are entrapped here by displaying His divine pastimes to attract them back to their original positions as His eternal servants in the Spiritual World. Krishna is the most merciful personality in all of existence. Indeed love itself exists only because Krishna manifests it out of His infinite kindness. Janmastami is that most special day when we receive enhanced potency to connect with Sri Krishna's love and taste the unlimited bliss of reawakening our love for Him. We highly encourage you to observe Janmastami by spendi

The average materialist would consider the activities of Krishna consciousness to be a foolish waste of time. They would think that the time a devotee spends chanting Hare Krishna every day could be better spent by sleeping, reading the newspaper, or watching television. So why do we do this? Is it meaningful? Is it relevant? The fact is that there is nothing more meaningful and relevant than the activities of Krishna consciousness. The entire world civilization is plunged into the deep, dark ocean of illusion. Because they don't know the purpose of the human form of life practically everything they do is a royal waste of time. The only things that are really worth doing are those things which connect us with our actual identity. As long as we think, speak, and act in a way that is not consistent with the reality of who we actually are we must necessarily feel empty and frustrated. As soon as we do all of our activities for the pleasure of Lord Sri Krishna, we feel an immedi

Nowadays there is an ever-increasing interest in purity...pure water, pure air, a pure environment. But we should never forget that real purity begins in the mind. The mind is the subtle platform while water, air, and the environment are on the gross platform. The gross platform is simply a manifestation of the subtle platform. If our minds are polluted, naturally the environment will be polluted. And if our minds are pure naturally the world around us will become pure. The process for purifying the mind is simple and easy. All we have to do is regularly chant the holy names of the Lord with love and devotion: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare Dive into the ocean of nectar of today. Don't remain in the dense, dark Age of Kali for one minute longer. Questions and Answer Perfectly Distributed Love... 1. How do I practically give all my love to Krishna? 2. By doing so how will I purely love my family member

The present world society is very much besieged by terrorism, and people are bewildered to understand why this is happening. Anyone, however, with even a rudimentary understanding of the law of karma can easily understand what is the cause of terrorism and what is the actual solution. Because we are so much terrorizing cows and other animals in the slaughterhouses and because we are so much terrorizing our own unborn children in the abortion clinics, it it natural that our karma will be that we must also be terrorized. This is confirmed in the Bible: "As you sow, so shall you reap." It is also confirmed by the laws of physics: "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." If we want at peace at all, we have to completely revamp our modern day society. The only way we can put a stop to terrorism is that we have to stop committing it ourselves. Instead of cruelly murdering our four-legged brothers and sisters for devouring their flesh, we can sub

While finalizing our air travel arrangements for our upcoming around-the-world lecture tour, we were informed that there was a terrorist plot to commit mass murder upon air travelers by causing a series of mid-air explosions on different jetliners flying over the Atlantic ocean from Britain to the USA. Such news is not at all surprising for those who are learned in the Vedic wisdom. That the material world is a dangerous place is confirmed as follows in the Srimad Bhagavatam: samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam mahat-padam punya-yaso murareh bhavambudhir vatsa-padam param padam padam padam yad vipadam na tesam "For those who have accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Murari, the enemy of the Mura demon, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf's hoof-print. Their goal is param padam, Vaikuntha, the place where there are no material miseries, not the place where there is dang

Just as a blazing fire and wet wood are incompatible, similarly material sense gratification and Krishna consciousness go ill together. We can't really mix them. Material sense gratification means to gratify the material senses beyond what is necessary to keep body and soul. In this connection it is stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam: kamasya nendriya-pritir labho jiveta yavata jivasya tattva-jijnasa nartho yas ceha karmabhih "Life's desires should never be directed toward sense gratification. One should desire only a healthy life, or self-preservation, since a human being is meant for inquiry about the Absolute Truth. Nothing else should be the goal of one's works." --Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.10 If we sincerely try our best to follow this instruction, we will have a peaceful, happy life and at the end of this body we will return to our original home in the unlimitedly sweet Spiritual Sky. Questions and Answers Love Only For Krishna?... In one of your emails y

On November 25, 1966 His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was just beginning his International Society for Krishna Consciousness. At that time it was only four months old. In his own written hand on that day he posted the following notice outlining to his original followers the basic rules and regulations that they should follow for the purpose of awakening their dormant Krishna consciousness. These basic principles are just as essential today as they were in 1966.  Notice: All initiated devotees must attend morning and evening classes. Must not be addicted to any kind of intoxicants including coffee, tea and cigarettes. They are forbidden to have illicit sex-connections. Must be strictly vegetarian. Should not extensively mix with non-devotees. Should not eat foodstuff cooked by non-devotees. Should not waste time in idle talks nor Engage himself in frivolous sports. Should always chant and sing the Lord's Holy names. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna

Struggling hard for nothing is the asinine quality of our modern civilization. There is so much completely unnecessary endeavor. God has given us everything we need to be happy. But because we have invented our own ideas of what we need to be happy, we struggle like anything to fulfill our artificial desires. We have constructed an entire world civilization based on the principle of material sense gratification, the philosophy that we can be happy by satisfying the demands of the gross material body and the subtle mind, intelligence, and ego. But nothing could be further from the truth, because the body is not us, nor are the mind, intelligence, and false ego us. The real self is the eternal spiritual being who dwells within the subtle and gross material bodies. It's only when we focus on satisfying the needs of the real self that our world culture will arise out of the present Dark Age into the light of the Krishna Consciousness Renaissance. Questions and Answers Can Go

In this world everyone is looking for enjoyment, the best enjoyment that they can possibly experience. But the fact is that no one is really satisfied. Everyone lives with a sense of frustration that they are not tasting the full nectar of existence. We invite all such frustrated souls whoever they be and wherever they be throughout the vastness of this universe to seriously take up the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. In this connection it is explained in the Kali Santarana Upanishad as follows: "At the end of Dvapara Yuga, Narada, after traveling the world, approached Lord Brahma and asked him: 'How may I overcome the (evil effects of) the Kali Yuga?' Brahma said: 'You have asked me an excellent question. I shall reveal to you the secret of all Vedas, by which you will cross over the (ocean of) samsara filled with the bad effects of the Kali Yuga. This secret must be preserved and protected. By merely uttering the names of the Primeval Purusha, who is Bha

Nothing is more mellifluous or full of sweetness than Krishna consciousness. Indeed it is the epitome of mellifluousness. Nothing is more full of sweetness. It is oozing with unlimited oceans of nectar enough to unlimitedly satisfy every one throughout the entire universe. Unfortunately at the present moment there is a great scarcity of Krishna consciousness throughout the world. It is very difficult to find it. It is the rarest commodity. If you somehow or other find yourself having access to Krishna consciousness, you are one of the most fortunate persons in the entire universe. Don't waste your opportunity. Dedicate yourself fully to complete awakening of your dormant Krishna consciousness while you have the chance. Then you will have first hand experience of just how mellifluous (full of sweetness) Krishna consciousness actually is. Questions and Answers How Can I Make Progress in My Chanting?... I want to know what we have to do while chanting the Hare Krishna Mah

How wonderful is this process of Krishna consciousness. By attaining Krishna we achieve the highest perfection of spiritual existence, the supreme state of spiritual enlightenment. It is called Bhagavan realization. It surpasses and includes all previous stages of spiritual awakening. In this stage of Krishna consciousness one becomes qualified to re-enter the spiritual world and never come back again to the material world, which is so full of suffering and in which we have to always be fearful of death. This is confirmed by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita as follows mam upetya punar janma duhkhalayam asasvatam napnuvanti mahatmanah samsiddhim paramam gatah "After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection." Bhagavad-gita 8.15 Questions and Answers Why Chant the Name of Lord Rama?... This movement is mainly about Krishna Consciousness.

In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna states: ananyas cintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate tesam nityabhiyuktanam yoga-ksemam vahamy aham "For those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form -- I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have." Bhagavad-gita 9.22 It's a fact that we face so many difficulties in this material world, one after another, after another. The key to completely conquering over this ocean of difficulties is to accept Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the only object of our affection. This is the meaning of exclusive devotion. I love Krishna and no one else. As soon as we agree to do this we will see how our love will flow perfectly through Krishna to all living beings throughout the entire universe. This is the perfection of love and the only state of being that will fully satisfy us. Questions and Answers How to Increase Faith and Conviction?... I want to know how a pers

This world is a place of ups and downs. Sometimes we are up and sometimes we are down. To always be buffeted by the waves of this material nature is not a very pleasant situation to be in. There is is a better way. It is called Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness places us beyond the ups and downs of this material world. The happiness of Krishna consciousness has nothing to do with the happiness and distress of this material world. It is completely transcendental. When one is situated in pure Krishna consciousness, he is completely impervious to all the variegated circumstances that are encountered in this world. He relishes sweet transcendental nectar at every step of his existence no matter what is going on around him. Questions and Answers Are We Responsible for Our Karma?.. Is our karma destined by the almighty? Are we responsible for our karma? Rima Yes, We Are Responsible... Man is the architect of his destiny. He has created his karma by his willful rebe

In this world of ignorance of the self it takes a great act of courage to step away from the mass psychosis of bodily consciousness and seek knowledge of the actual nature of the self. Except in very rare cases, our teachers, friends, and parents discourage us from putting time and energy into the pursuit for self-knowledge, thinking that making money is more important. But what good is all the money in the world if you don't even know who you are? It is far better to be a wise poor man than a rich fool because the wise man will live his life in such a way that he will not take birth again. The fool, on the other hand, even if he is rich, will squander his energy on useless pursuits that deepen his entanglement in the cycle of birth and death. Of course there is no harm in becoming materially successful if we engage that success in the Lord's service. The key of success is simply engage absolutely everything we have in the Lord's service. Questions and Answers How C

Krishna only rarely blesses a living being with pure love for Him. Why? Because anyone who develops pure love for God has the power to control Him. Therefore Krishna is very, very careful regarding upon whom He bestows the ultimate spiritual perfection, pure love for God. He only very rarely gives out this supreme benediction. But in His form as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He is far, far more merciful. As Lord Caitanya He breaks open the tightly restricted storehouse of love of God, plunders it, and freely distributes its contents to all the suffering, illusioned souls of this world. Lord Caitanya makes spiritual perfection easily within the reach of everyone. All you have to do to connect with the mercy of Lord Caitanya is to chant these names with great love and devotion: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare If you are not already doing so immediately add an hour or two of ecstatic chanting to your daily routine. You wi

Enough is enough. It's time to put a stop to bodily consciousness. It's the root cause of all the suffering that is going on in this material world today on all levels of the social strata. The rich are suffering due to bodily consciousness. The poor are suffering due to bodily consciousness. And the middle class is also suffering due to bodily consciousness. Everyone is suffering due to bodily consciousness. For the peace and prosperity of all we desperately need to replace bodily consciousness with Krishna consciousness, the understanding and realization that I am not this body and am instead a pure spiritual being servant of God, eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss. There is an urgent need for this awakening now to occur within the hearts of all. We must now vigorously introduce the Krishna consciousness paradigm in every town, village, and hamlet throughout the entire world. Questions and Answers Why Krishna in Different Colors?... I still have a ques