Ultimate Self Realization

The material world promises us the real nectar but does not deliver the goods. Instead we end up getting dished out heaping portions of birth, death, old age, and disease. Intelligent persons ask why. They understand that there is something inherently wrong about so much suffering when the natural tendency of every living being is to enjoy. They understand that somewhere like the Garden of Eden real happiness must exist in its original pure form, and they seek to realize that happiness. When they are fortunate they come into contact with a bona fide spiritual master, who takes them back to that garden. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: What Does "Godhead" Mean? Please explain what is mean by "Godhead." While reading Bhagavad-gita As It Is, I come across it many times, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Naren Answer: Bhagavan Godhead is the English equivalent of the Sanskrit word "Bhagavan." Godhead mean

In any field of activity one must be very enthusiastic if he wants to be successful. It does not matter whether one is a businessman, a politician, an artist, an athlete, a scientist, or a scholar. Without enthusiasm one cannot not be successful. The same principle applies on the path of devotional service. Unless one is very enthusiastic for realizing the supreme truth he will not able to break out of the drab, hum drum so-called comfort zone of this material existence. So what does it mean to be enthusiastic? In this connection Srila Prabhupada explains, "Enthusiasm means action, but action for whom? The answer is that one should always act for Krishna." So we should always stay active in Krishna's service by engaging in any one or any combination of the nine different types of devotional service: 1. hearing the name and glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead 2. chanting His glories 3. remembering the Lord 4. serving the Lord's feet 5. worshiping the Deity

The other day while reading that most enlightened of all treatises, Srila Prabhupada's edition of the Srimad Bhagavatam, I came across the simple solution for every single difficulty being experienced by the modern day society: "Now this sankirtana movement has already been started by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. People should take advantage of this great sacrifice and join in the Society's activities; then there will be no scarcity. If sankirtana-yajna is performed, there will be no difficulty, not even in industrial enterprises. Therefore this system should be introduced in all spheres of life -- social, political, industrial, commercial, etc. Then everything will run very peacefully and smoothly." --from purport to SB 4.19.7 It's too bad the modern day leaders are missing out on this point. Every single obstacle can easily be overcome through the wide scale introduction of the sankirtana yajna, the congregational chanting of the holy nam

Now in the USA the leaders are planning a $700 billion bailout of the devastated US banking system. But their proposed solution is a band aid solution only. It does not deal with the underlying cause of the economic chaos. Their idea is to prop up valueless paper money with even more valueless paper money. The modern day economic system is based upon putting our faith in valueless paper money. We are willing to work hard in exchange for it because we have faith in its future purchasing power. In other words, we have faith that in the future others will also have faith in this valueless paper money to give us something of value in exchange for it. But if somehow or other that faith is disrupted, the entire global economic system will be greatly endangered. And if that faith is destroyed, the world's economic system will experience a complete collapse leading to a total break down of the world civilization. Mere anarchy will be loosed upon the world. So what is our protection against

In this world our consciousness is brutally being spammed on a daily basis by the material energy. In order for us to function peacefully and happily a highly effective spam filter is required. That spam filter is Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness empowers us to see things as they are beyond all the illusions, deceptions, and hype that we are being bombarded with at every minute. It is learned and mastered through contact with authorized scriptures, bona fide spiritual masters, and genuine devotees of the Lord. The more one takes advantage of these three types of association, the more his spam filter will become powerful until it becomes so powerful and perfect that it is finally able to block out 100% of the spam. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: What are Transcendental Senses? Please tell me, what are transcendental senses? Do humans have them? If so, what are they called? And how do they operate? Thank you. Love always To

Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-gita how the knowledge of the Absolute Truth is understood through the system of disciplic succession. This means that if we want to understand this knowledge, we must take it as it has come down perfectly to us over the ages through an unbroken line of spiritual masters beginning with Krishna Himself. To most people this principle will seem archaic and old fashioned because we live in the modern age of scientific advancement. But it should noted in this connection that science is still not perfect. All science is doing is allowing us to amplify our already imperfect senses. Thus we end up with little more than amplified illusions. It is not able to give us perfect knowledge. This is the why the science textbooks are constantly having to be revised. Practically they are obsolete by the time they make it into the hands of the students. Thus it is better that we take the unchanged perfect knowledge coming from Krishna, that person Who is the source of ev

23 September 2008-Skopje, Macedonia--Yesterday I finally got connected to the internet by going to a cafe with a free internet zone. As I had no vehicle, Jordan, one of the local ISKCON members, had to take time off from his job to take me to the cafe. Today my normal system, using a Blackberry as a modem, which is supposed to be always operable according to T-Mobile, my service provider, is even worse. Yesterday we could connect with the emails although the speed was so slow that we could not download one. Today I cannot access my emails at all. This is one of the austerities of traveling and preaching all over the world. At our home base in Austin I have no trouble. But getting online on the road can sometimes be the most daunting challenge. It pains me knowing that although so many of my students and disciples have written me seeking spiritual guidance, I am restricted by internet problems from being able to reply to them in a timely manner. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers Accord

Although the preaching has been really sweet here in Skopje, the internet connections have been a real nightmare. Even though I have five or six options for connecting to the internet, none of them have been panned out. Hours and hours of time has been spent trying to find some way to download my email and upload "Thought for the Day". It's been uncanny to see how I have met with one failure after another failure after another failure. In Krishna consciousness we do not allow ourselves to become disturbed by such situations because we know that nothing can happen without the Lord's sanction. We simply continue in our efforts to be successful in the Lord's service and depend on Him for the results. If this message has come to you at the normal time, you can understand that by Krishna's grace the problem was solved. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: When is the Time for Self-Realization? Is there a way to find our pa

It's 6:15am on Sunday 21 September. We have just returned late last night from Sliven, Bulgaria where I gave three lectures in conjunction with the wonderful Ratha Yatra festival that was celebrated there yesterday. We did not get to take rest until midnight, but still we were up this morning by 4am to attend mangala arati and do the daily puja for Sri Sri Radha Damodar. Later this morning we head out for Macedonia where I will be delivering the Sunday Feast lecture at the ISKCON center in Skopje. Traveling and preaching is not always easy. But it is very spiritually rewarding to be sacrificing all comforts for the sake of pushing forward the sankirtana movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Accepting a Guru For Sake of Having a Guru What is the difference between the siksha guru and the diksha guru? Can only serious persons choosing the path of nirvana take diksha? Or can a worldly person who want

Our first program in Sliven, although sparsely attended, was very much appreciated by those who did attend. A very sincere lady inquired about how to conquer over anger. I explained to her that anger is the result of wanting things for ourselves. As long as we base our happiness on getting the things that we want we are sure and certain to face frustration and anger when we do not get what we want. But if instead of being "me centered" we become God centered, then we no longer become frustrated and angry. All we have to do is always try to please the Lord by our every thought, word, and deed in all times, places, and circumstances. Then our minds automatically become peaceful and happy. No matter what happens we can always act for the Lord's pleasure. It does not matter whether we face gain or loss, victory or defeat. We can always think, speak, and act for the pleasure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in all situations. This is the secret of how to never be over

It's 2:45 pm on 19 September 2008. We are now on a four hour drive from Sofia, Bulgaria to Silven, Bulgaria where I will be giving a lecture in a public hall tonight, and there will be a Ratha Yatra festival tomorrow. It's very enlivening to be traveling all over the world to present the science of bhakti for the benefit of everyone. We've got to try our best to revolutionize this planet. Because it is lacking in Krishna consciousness it has become an unbelievably crazy mess. Krishna consciousness can solve all the problems of the world if the people can learn about it. Therefore we must try our level best to teach everyone this sublime science. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Writing Thought-for-the-Day En Route to Silven Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Krishna's Descent is Not Its True Being? I have read from one book of Radha Soami Beyas in India that in the Bhagvad-gita Krishna descends by his divine prakriti and that this descent is not its true b

When we landed the other day at the Sofia, Bulgaria airport we proceeded as usual to passport control to get our passports stamped in order to legally enter into Bulgaria. Some of the agents were handling EU passports and some were handling non-EU passports. So we dutifully got in the queue for non-EU passports. But then we noticed that a young woman who was working an EU-only booth was calling us over to clear customs at her desk. After we handed her our passports I was thinking how amazing it was that she was smiling at us so nicely. Traveling regularly around the world we have cleared customs literally hundreds of times. The agents are sometimes nice and sometimes not so nice. But this one was exceptionally nice, and I could not figure out why. After she finished stamping our passports she handed them back to us and said, "Hari bol", and I could immediately understand how nicely our movement is spreading in Bulgaria. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic

After sleeping on an all-night flight on Malev Airlines from New York to Budapest on an airline seat which did not recline to a proper sleeping position I woke up with excruciating back pain. Even though my sleep was deep, because my posture was not proper my back was thrown out of alignment. And now, as I write this, even more than 24 hours after my arrival in Sofia I am still feeling pain in my back. Such difficulties could make me doubt why I take such time, trouble, and expense to travel all over the world when I am already reaching a global audience every day from the internet. But such doubts were allayed when we experienced the loving greeting of the Bulgarian devotees at the airport. And my desire to travel and preach all over the world in spite of all difficulties was reconfirmed. As the sweet holy names of Rupa Manohar Prabhu's kirtan vibrated throughout the airport terminal we felt how we entering into the spiritual world. The entire scene became Krishna conscious as t

Our modern day society is very expert in the philosophication of disgrace. While engaging in the most abominable activities in flagrant disobedience of the laws of nature and the laws of God they justify their inauspicious deeds by inventing so many "isms". In the name of capitalism socialism, communism, etc so many abominations are wreaked upon the poor suffering humans and animals of this world. The time has come to cut through the hard knot of bogus philosophy and establish firmly that philosophy which distinguishes realty from illusion for the welfare of all. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to Escape Black Magic? You informed me in the last mail that black magic does exist. Then why doesn't God destroy it completely from this world? Does this black magic affect the unfortunate souls? Is there no escape from it? Does one come under the influence of black magic due to his karma? Roma Ahhuja Answer: Come Under t

Five hundred years ago in what is now West Bengal, India Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in this world. He is none other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna Himself, Who manifested Himself in the form of His own devotee in this material world for the deliverance of all living beings from the clutches of birth and death. The process of deliverance that He taught is very simple. One simply has to sing and dance in transcendental ecstasy the holy names of God and feast on the delicious remnants of multi-varieties of foodstuffs which have been offered with love and devotion to Krishna. What could be easier and more enjoyable? What powerful, self-controlled austere yogis take many, many lifetimes to attain can be attained in one lifetime through this sublime process of singing, dancing, and feasting. Who will object to taking advantage of this amazing powerful system for quickly and easily attaining spiritual perfection? Until 1965 Lord Caitanya's movement was on

Today my wife and I are flying out from Austin, Texas as we begin our fifth around-the-world spreading Krishna consciousness tour. Personally I have no qualification for promulgating Krishna consciousness all over the world. But I am making this humble attempt on the order of my most beloved spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. I know that by his grace even an illiterate fool can deliver eloquent, potent, and inspiring Krishna consciousness lectures. Therefore humbly submitting myself at his lotus feet and begging for his mercy I embark on this humble attempt to serve the mission of Lord Sri Krishna. I pray that many, many souls all over the world will be inspired to fully surrender themselves at Krishna's lotus feet. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: All Techniques or One Technique? I enjoy reading your "Thought for the Day" and the question and answer part. They enlighten my way and enrich

Saturday Morning 13 September 2008: Here in Austin, Texas we are close to but just outside the periphery of Hurricane Ike, which is, as I am writing these words, slamming into Texas with high water surges and high velocity winds of great destructive power. In a day or two the weather will be back to normal, but the storm of this material existence, Hurricane Samsara, will continue raging on with no abatement. Just as one can escape the flood waters of a hurricane by moving to higher ground, onne can escape the hurricane of this material existence by the process of Krishna consciousness, which permanently situates the devotee on the higher ground of the spiritual platform where life is eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Hurricane Ike Ravages Texas Coast Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Is Agni My School's Leader? The leader of the so called spiritual school, in which I've been initiated as a healer, says that he is A

My spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami circled the globe fourteen times for spreading the Krishna consciousness movement all over the world. This is an incredible accomplishment considering that this was done when he was in seventies and eighties. On April 2nd, 1972 in Sydney, Australia he told us, his disciples, that if we were to be actually considered his disciples we must do three or four times as much as he has done. This means that if I am actually to be considered his disciple I must do from forty-two to fifty-six around-the-world preaching tours. My upcoming world tour commencing on 15 September 2008 will be my fifth tour. This will leave another fifty-one to be done. If I can do two every year, I will be in my mid-eighties by the time I will be able to fulfill this instruction I have received from my spiritual master. Feeling myself most unfit and incompetent all I can do is to bow down at his lotus feet and beg for his empowerment that I can actually

This material world is a reformatory for those who consider themselves to be the center of existence, who think that everything revolves around them. Our having taken birth here indicates that we were guilty of this transgression of the laws of nature. So now if we want to regain our original position in the spiritual world, we must realize that we are not the center. We must realize the existence of a supreme person who is the actual center of existence. That person is described by various names in various scriptures. The Vedic literatures, which describe Him with the most precision and the most detail, especially refer to Him as Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Are We Like Images Projected on a Screen? Hare Krishna, Gurudeva, Many many thanks for your immediate kind attention and reply. However I am right now confused about our position. Does "Krishna is eternally emanating us from hims

Yesterday on 10 September 2008 CNN announced: Scientists cheer atom smasher success CERN, Switzerland (CNN) -- Scientists Wednesday applauded as one of the most ambitious experiments ever conceived got successfully underway, with protons being fired around a 27-kilometer (17-mile) tunnel deep beneath the border of France and Switzerland in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the universe. The Large Hadron Collider -- a $9 billion particle accelerator designed to simulate conditions of the Big Bang that created the physical Universe -- was switched on at 0732 GMT to cheers and applause from experts gathered to witness the event. --------------------------------------------- While we certainly admire the enthusiasm and expertise of these scientists we simultaneously lament that they do not take help from the Vedic wisdom, which has already unlocked the secrets of universe and which describes exactly what caused the Big Bang. If the scientists will simply humble themselves to le

We have to realize that we own nothing, that everything we possess is the property of the Supreme Lord. It we always keep this vision strong in our consciousness and utilize everything only for His enjoyment, we will be solidly situated on the pathway back to home, back to Godhead. In order to develop and maintain this vision we require the ongoing inspiration and support of a bona fide spiritual master, the Lord's devotees, and the sacred Vedic literatures such as the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam. Therefore we should fully surrender ourselves at the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master, always associate with and serve the Vaisnavas, and regularly study the most authorized presentation and explanation of the Vedic literatures, the writings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why Krishna? Whenever I am in discussion with my Indian friends of Hindu background about L

People are often puzzled why a soul who is situated in the spiritual world would trade his position of eternity, knowledge, and bliss for temporality, ignorance, and misery in this world of birth and death. The answer is quite simple. Every living being has independence to act freely as he chooses. For example, many people who are looking for spiritual enlightenment sign up for my e-course. In fact more and more people are joining every day from all over the world. Through this course they are being offered the greatest opportunity to attain the topmost spiritual perfection and return to their original position in the spiritual sky. But yet we see that sometimes for no good reason people drop out of the course. Why do they do this? Because they have independence they are free to do as they wish, even though they may be making the biggest blunder. In a similar way, sometimes a soul misuses his independence and enters this material world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to t

Whether in the spiritual sky or the material sky, the spirit-soul always remains an indestructible, indivisible, subatomic particle of eternal, full-of-knowledge, full-of-bliss anti-material energy. Just as in the material world that particle expands a material body, in the spiritual world that same particle expands a spiritual body. When we are in this material world we are like oil in a mixture of oil and water. But in the spiritual world we are like oil in oil. While the impersonalists want to remain as spiritual particles in the spiritual world, the devotees of the Lord want to develop spiritual bodies so that they will have full facility to serve their beloved Lord, Sri Krishna in many different types of relationships. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How Does Krishna Eat? My questions are: How does Krishna eat? How does He think? And how does He work? Mahendra Answer: With Great Delight Krishna is always relishing with great delig

Sometimes neophyte devotees think that being humble means to silently acquiesce to whatever is going on around them. But this is not at all case. Humility means to be fully submissive to the will of Krishna or God even if this means that you have to take a strong position relative to what is going on in this material world. A devotee speaks out strongly against those things which are happening in defiance of the instructions of Lord Sri Krishna as given in the Bhagavad-gita. This is real humility, not some of everything-is-okay mentality. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Who is God? In Bangladesh we see many gods. But who is the real God, and how can I know? Sanjay Answer: The Origin of all Existence, Sri Krishna Before we can know Who is God we first must understand what is the meaning of God. God means that person who is the origin of all existence. If we thoroughly research the Vedic wisdom, we will clearly see that the origin of all

In the ultimate self-realization science, Krishna consciousness, we do not impose any dogmas upon you. Rather we give you the tools and techniques by which you can personally realize and experience the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At the present moment the conditioned souls are blinded by the covering fog of the illusory energy. But by the brilliant sun of Krishna consciousness the fog will be burned away and they will be able to clearly perceive the Supreme Person, Who is the source and maintainer of all existence. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: When Will You Accept Me as Your Servant? Hare Krishna All glories unto you. When will you be so kind as to accept me as your servant for ever? Ashutosh Answer: Now, On Srila Prabhupada's Order Actually I do not feel qualified to accept anyone as my servant because I am nothing more than the lowly servant of the greatest spiritual master in the history of th

Are you exasperated or enraged by the modern day society? If not, you should be because it is being conducted in gross violation of the laws of God. Even though a devotee of the Lord has found perfect peace and harmony in his relationship with God, and even though he is a very kind, loving, and tolerant person, he is completely intolerant of a world situation which is every day becoming more and more godless. He therefore dedicates his life for bringing about a revolution in this world's grossly misdirected human civilization. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: To Whom Should I Surrender? Thank you for your answer about question what is our duty. But now I would like to know about my case, I don't have a spiritual master. To whom should I surrender and what does it mean to surrender? Your servant, Vanja Answer: To Srila Prabhupada and His Representative It very nice that you are inquiring about how to surrender and to whom to s

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur once said, "The modern world is a society of the cheaters and the cheated." And we can see how true his observation is. Everywhere people are being bamboozled by pretentious so-called leaders into identifying themselves with their bodies. Thus misguided they waste their entire lives in service to their material bodies only to be rewarded with another material body after giving up the present one. They transmigrate from one set of suffering conditions to another set of suffering conditions. So instead of allowing ourselves to be cheated by the false propaganda of the materialistic bamboozlers, we should hear from the enlightened sages who are so kindly teaching us how to become free from our bodily entanglement and attain an eternal existence, which is full of knowledge and full of bliss. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Challenge: Can Pravritti Marg Take Us to God? I would like to know if the pravrit

If we want to be fully happy, the way to achieve this is pure Krishna bhakti. To whatever extent we mix sense gratificatory desires into bhakti, to that extent we will experience anxiety. Therefore those who are fully intelligence desire pure bhakti and nothing else. The Vedic wisdom promotes pure bhakti. And all the great acharyas, the great spiritual masters who have guided the Vedic civilization for thousands of years, have all promoted pure bhakti. So it is very clear from many different angles of vision that pure bhakti is the way to go for getting out of the cycle of birth and death, for achieving the perfectional stage of perfect spiritual enlightenment. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Challenge: Your Logic is Subjective This logic of your philosophy is subjective and personal. Just tell me it is not such, and I will be surprised. servant of the devotees and of the guru, Indu Answer: You Are In For a Big Surprise Subjective philosophy

Now we are making the final preparations for our next Krishna consciousness world tour. In this material world many people make world tours, but they usually do them for some sort of sense gratificatory purpose. Our mood is different from that of an ordinary tourist or businessman. We have no material motive for our tour. We are making our tour in a mood of humble service to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to assist him in his mission of inundating the entire world in a tidal wave of pure Krishna bhakti. This is the topmost necessity of the modern day human society. The whole world is suffering due to lack of Krishna consciousness. We want to help them to become happy. This is our mission. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: What is Perfection? Namaste. What is perfection? How can it be achieved? I have so many friends who say, "I'm not perfect and never will be." What a sad and sorry fate. With thi

We are seeking persons who want to make their lives spiritually perfect and are willing help bring about the deliverance of the suffering humanity from the clutches of illusion. The human society is currently heavily polluted by selfishness manifested in the form of lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, and envy. The Krishna consciousness movement is fully dedicated to turning the tide of the times, restoring the human society back to its former glory when the Vedic age was fully manifested on this planet. You can help us by serving through any one of or any combination of the following four ways: 1. Life 2. Money 3. Intelligence 4. Words Sankarshan Das Adhikari Atlanta Hare Krishna Temple Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Is Krishna Real? Greetings my name is Travis Gardineer. I love Krishna and the Gita, but I have read recently that He never even existed in real personage. What facts if any are there that can put my heart at ease that He was real? Warm regard