Ultimate Self Realization

When I realized how unlimitedly merciful Srila Prabhupada is in bestowing the unlimited bliss of Krishna consciousness upon those who take shelter of him, I naturally wanted to reciprocate with his inconceivably sublime mercy by becoming his disciple. In this connection I have composed the following verse: Srila Prabhupada, I pray for the mercy That I can please you unlimitedly. For I've got to try to repay the debt For the unlimited bliss you're giving me. In the material world every experience I had ever tasted of love was frustrating and incomplete. But when I experienced a reciprocation of love in relationship with Srila Prabhupada by offering myself to him as his eternal servant I experienced a love that was completely pure, devoid of the lust and greed which contaminates the so-called love of this world. There is truly nothing sweeter than this. You can taste it too. You simply to do the same thing that I did. You have to surrender yourself at the lotus feet of the bona

The whole world is out there waiting to be inundated by the sublime mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's nama sankirtana movement. People are beginning to wake up more and more and realize that the old stereotypical answers to questions regarding reality, the universe, our purpose of existence, etc. are not sufficient any more because they do not satisfy the intelligence. More and more people are realizing that the old paradigms do not work and that new more enlightened paradigms are required. This is why the Krishna consciousness movement now needs to focus on training up as many men and women as possible who can act as highly qualified teachers for the education of the world population. With the specter of an ever-increasing myriad of crises hanging over the heads of the human population, people are willing now more than ever to abandon the old reality models and embrace new more practical and enlightened models of reality. There has truly never been a more opportune moment for sp

The Vedic civilization flourished on this planet for 3,888,000 years. This is the time span from the beginning of the Satya yuga up until the end of the Dvapara yuga when the Kali yuga began 5,000 years ago. Especially since the beginning of the Kali yuga the human society has been becoming more and more godless. The result of such godlessness is ever-increasing chaos. This is leading us closer and closer to the collapse of the world civilization. In the absence of Vedic civilization we have seen throughout the Kali yuga a series of empires, none of which has endured because they have all been based on the false conception that the body is the self and that happiness is derived from material sense gratification. No amount of legislation, military might, or diplomacy can insure sustainability for our modern civilization. Without God consciousness it is sure to gradually disintegrate into total chaos and slither like the sinking Titanic into the ocean of oblivion. If we want to save the

When the spiritual master gives the disciple his prescribed duty the disciple must embrace that duty accepting it as very his life and soul. By doing so, within the execution of that duty he will gradually fully realize God. The constant danger for the disciple is that the voracious senses are always there screaming that the disciple should abandon his duty and indulge himself in sense gratification. Therefore the disciple must be on constant guard 24 hours daily to keep himself fixed in carrying out his prescribed duty. Without being attached to success or failure, the disciple simply remains attached to sticking to his duty. In this way his ultimate success is guaranteed. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada Instructs Disciples Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to Abolish Sex Desire Forever? Thanks a lot for sending such a nice and very useful article "Beyond Sexism" in your "Thought for Day" for 26 April 2009. Sometimes I wonder why

The term sexism usually refers to prejudice or discrimination against women. But it can also refer to discrimination or prejudice against men. Sexism is based on the false conception that the self is the body. Some of the opponents of sexism want to establish equality between the sexes on the material platform. But this is not possible. If it were, a wife could make her husband pregnant, and he would have to bear the child in his womb. Physically men are stronger than women and are therefore meant by nature's way to protect them from exploitation. Psychologically there are also distinct differences between men and women. Women generally have a more softhearted nature than men. This gives women an advantage on the bhakti yoga path. So it is artificial to say that men and women are physically and psychologically the same. Each gender has certain advantages over the other. One gender is strong and weak in certain ways and the other gender is strong and weak in different ways. So if i

Krishna consciousness is astounding in the way that it gets ever-increasingly ecstatic the deeper and deeper that you dive into in it. Of course to experience it like this requires that you remain steady in your practice. One who is not steady in his practice will also taste nectar, but it will be intermittent, not the same kind of ever-increasing nectar experienced by the steady devotee. So the key is that just as you eat every day to nourish your body, you should chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra every day to nourish your soul. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Diving into the Krishna Bhakti Ocean Riga, Latvia Home Kirtan--April 2009 Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Is it Right to Fall at Guru's Feet? Is it right for a person to fall to feet other than Krishna? I never feel to. Even if he is a spiritual master, he is below God. Why should I fall at his feet? Are they equal to Krishna? They never can be. Then why should one do like this? I'm ignorant. Please give

23 April 2009. After an astonishingly enlivening five and half weeks of preaching in Europe and India we are now heading back to our home base in Austin, Texas for two and half weeks before resuming our around-the-world preaching tour with a lecture series in Bulgaria and Macedonia. There is truly nothing more invigorating and uplifting than living every day for the deliverance of all living entities in this material world from the cycle of birth and death. The whole world is suffering due to a lack of Krishna consciousness and in spite of my innumerable disqualifications by the unlimited mercy of Lord Sri Krishna and Srila Prabhupada I have been blessed with having just that thing which the entire world needs to solve all of its problems, the Hare Krishna mahamantra. I am just praying for Krishna's mercy that by His all-powerful blessings everyone in all corners of the world will become attracted to this Krishna consciousness process as soon as possible. Sankarshan Das Adhikari

For Krishna's devotee life in this material world is like being a kid in a candy shop because here he finds unlimited opportunities to be blessed with Krishna's special mercy by reuniting the lost souls with their beloved eternal Lord. Wherever he goes he endeavors to transform the non-devotees into devotees by introducing them to the unlimitedly sweet nectar of Krishna consciousness. This is not artificial because the original pure nature of every living being is to be Krishna's devotee. After turning them into devotees he reveals to them the confidential secrets of the science of bhakti. In this regard Lord Krishna reveals in the Bhagavad-gita: ya idaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati bhaktiṁ mayi parāṁ kṛtvā mām evaiṣyaty asaṁśayaḥ "For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me." --Bhagavad-gita 18.69 And in the next verse He further reveals: na ca tasmā

While the neophyte devotee experiences ups and downs in his Krishna consciousness, the devotee who is advanced in following the orders of his spiritual master experiences life as a never-ending stream of events which just keep getting sweeter and sweeter and even more sweeter. He never experiences a leveling out or plateau effect at any stage. Therefore it behooves the neophytes to become advanced by mastering the art of Krishna consciousness. How is this accomplished? This is done by associating with advanced devotees. When the neophyte devotees hear from and serve the advanced devotees, by the blessings of the advanced devotees they naturally progress in their Krishna consciousness and are gradually transformed into also being advanced devotees who experience never-ending ever-increasing sweetness on their pathway back to home, back to Godhead. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Sharing the Nectar of Krishna Consciousness in Riga, Latvia--April 2009 Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Krishna consciousness is so extraordinarily blissful that any sort of happiness you can experience in this material world even all the way up to occupying the post of Lord Brahma, the demigod in charge of this universe, pales into insignificance in comparison to the bliss of being Krishna conscious. Therefore a devotee has nothing at all to desire in this world except for inundating it with a tidal wave of Krishna bhakti for the sake of saving the poor suffering souls of this world from their entanglement in the cycle of birth and death. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Farewell Kirtan from Blissful Devotees Kaunas, Lithuania--19 April 2009 Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to Conquer Negative Thoughts? My dear teacher, How do I conquer fear, negative thoughts, and bad dreams? Help me. Your student Answer: Inundate Your Consciousness with Krishna Simply you must inundate your consciousness with Krishna consciousness as much as possible by hearing about Krishna, chan

Yesterday here in Kaunas, Lithuania we held an initiation ceremony. This was conducted in humble submission to the instructions of my spiritual master, our Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He told us, his disciples, that after his physical departure from this material plane that those persons coming forward to join this Krishna consciousness movement should become the disciples of his disciples. So on Srila Prabhupada's order in yesterday's ceremony I accepted six new disciples as well as giving Brahman initiation to three of my already initiated disciples. What is the the significance of initiation? Our first birth is the acceptance of the material body, which is provided for us by our mother and father. There is nothing extraordinary about first birth because all varieties of living beings in this world get their first birth automatically by the laws of nature. What distinguishes human life from animal life is that human life affords us

Would you like to be absolutely ecstatic tasting incomparable bliss at every moment? Incomparable bliss means a bliss which is purely spiritual, which does not depend on any material circumstances, and which goes on increasing unlimitedly forever. This divine state of happiness is so sublime that it cannot be compared with any type of happiness found in this material world. Therefore we describe it as incomparable bliss. This amazing absolute bliss can be yours today. All you have to do is henceforward renounce all self-centeredness and be purely God-centered in all of your thoughts, words, and deeds in all times, places, and circumstances. This transcendental art of devotion is best learned under the guidance a qualified teacher, a bona fide spiritual master. By thus realigning your consciousness back to its original, natural, healthy state you will no longer suffer. You will live constantly in a state of pure incomparable transcendental bliss. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Incomparable B

A devotee is not inimical towards anyone, even those who are inimical towards him because he sees that everything is acting, working under the arrangement and sanction of the Lord. Therefore his mind is always peaceful, even under the most trying of circumstances. He sees that everything has been directly arranged by His all-merciful Lord for his deliverance back to the transcendental kingdom of God as soon as possible. In this connection there is a wonderful verse in the Srimad Bhagavatam as follows: titikṣavaḥ kāruṇikāḥ suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām ajāta-śatravaḥ śāntāḥ sādhavaḥ sādhu-bhūṣaṇāḥ "The symptoms of a sādhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime." --Srimad Bhagavatam 3.25.21 The beauty of this process of Krishna consciousness is that even if one is the most degraded ruffian, if he will sincerely follow the path of bhakti, h

Don't hold grudges. It will fill your heart with smudges. The transcendental nature of a Vaisnava is that he is always a very forgiving person. He holds no malice towards anyone. The Vaisnava always gives mercy to others whether they reciprocate with him or not. Therefore he has fully qualified himself to be the recipient of the unlimited mercy of Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this regard it is sometimes said, "Whatever goes around, comes around." and "You reap what you sow." The more we give mercy, the more we receive mercy. Therefore the devotee intelligently gives mercy to everyone in all times, places, and circumstances. The result is that he swims perpetually in the unlimitedly merciful ocean of bliss. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Sharing the Bliss of Krishna Consciousness in Riga, Latvia--5 April 2009 Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Forgive the Follies of Others? Is it true that a person interested in Krishna

Due to their strict adherence to the principles of the astanga yoga system, the yogis are able to develop eight types of mystic powers including the power known as anima siddhi, the ability to make oneself smaller than an atom. In that subatomic state the yogis can enter anywhere. They can enter a stone or pass through any obstacle. But in spite of their possessing this amazing mystic power, the yogis are not able to enter into the planets of the spiritual world. The devotees of the Lord, however, are able to easily enter into the spiritual world by dint of devotional service. Being thus more adept in mystic perfection than the yogis, the devotees are the topmost mystics. The devotees simply take shelter of the Hare Krishna mahamantra and fly on that mantra airplane directly into the wondrous spiritual sky, in less than a second passing through the trillions of miles of coverings of this material universe, crossing the Viraja and taking shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord in His tra

After millions and millions of lifetimes of sleeping in the lap of maya it is time now to wake up and be restored to your original pure identity as the eternal servant of Krishna. There is no need to suffer or struggle any longer in this material existence. Eternity, knowledge, and bliss can now be yours. Take this switch of the mahamantra and turn on your original identity as the eternal servant of the Supreme Person. You have got nothing to lost except for birth, death, old age, and disease, and an unlimited ocean of bliss to gain. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Eager Hearers in Kaunas, Lithuania Learning the Science of Bhakti Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Requested by Srila Prabhupada to Be Guru? Did Srila Prabhupada request you personally or were you appointed by your society to be a spiritual master? Bobby Answer: Yes, On His Order. I was personally encouraged by Srila Prabhupada that I could become a spiritual master. He clearly instructed us that after one&

Now I am back here in Lithuania for another ecstatic week of preaching, and I am carrying in my heart the sweetest memories the weekend I just spent with the wonderful Russian devotees. We go twice a year to Russia, and it is always a very sweet and unforgettable treat. There is truly nothing more wonderful, more enlivening than reconnecting with Krishna, the source of our existence, and reconnecting everyone else with Him. I am begging that Lord Krishna will kindly bless us with the mercy of being able to reconnect the entire world with Him. I pray to see the entire planet transcendentalized. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Teaching at Kaliningrad's Bhakti Yoga Club Ecstatic Russian Devotees (in front) Farewell Kirtan in Kaliningrad Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Are You a Bona Fide Spiritual Master? Are you a bona fide spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession of the Gaudiya Brahma Sampradaya? Bobby Answer: By the Mercy of My Spiritual Master Ev

Enduring the five hour ordeal at the Russian border to come here to Kaliningrad was well worth it. Now we are here with the Russian devotees relishing the sweetest of all nectar, the pure Hare Krishna kirtan inaugurated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and spread all over the world by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. This amazing pure Hare Krishna kirtan is so potent and powerful that it can conquer the entire material world by love. Anyone who even once relishes the sweet nectar of the Hare Krishna mantra will never again experience the material world in the same way that the population in general experiences it. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Relishing Kirtan Nectar in Kaliningrad, Russia For Video/Audio of Above Kirtan Use This Link: http://www.backtohome.com/video/Kaliningrad_Kirtan.wmv Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: I Need Your Mercy Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!!! I've been chanting my 16 rounds daily fo

Even though we had proper passports and visas, on Friday 10 April it took us five hours of waiting at the Russian border at Sovetsk to go through the process of being allowed into Russia. The entire planet is the property of our father, the Supreme Lord. So why have the modern day governments all over the world made these artificial boundaries restricting the sons and daughters from utilizing their father's property? Governments have a duty and a right to make sure that the Lord's resources are not used for sense gratification but are used instead for His service. But they are doing just the opposite. They engage the Lord's resources for sense gratification and restrict those who are trying to use the Lord's resources in His service. So what can be done? While tolerating the inconveniences and obstacles placed upon us by these modern day world governments, we must carry on with our work of trying to engage all of the Lord's resources all over the world in His servi

Through the purificatory bhakti yoga system we can completely purify our consciousness of all selfish motivations. This is most essential for anyone who wants a fully happy life because as long as we remain materially motivated we cannot understand the highest truth, which is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries of material existence: miseries of the mind and body, miseries caused by other living beings, and miseries caused by natural disasters. As soon as one attentively and submissively absorbs his consciousness in this culture of knowledge he will re-establish his connection with the Supreme Lord who is situated within the heart. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Hare Krishna Kirtan Rocks the Universe Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: We're All One? I've recently come across a website where someone brought up the impersonalist point of view that we're all one and that God is a collection of all

There is nothing more blissful than being a devotee of Krishna. Even Krishna Himself, who is the supreme enjoyer, realizes upon seeing the ecstatic bhakti mood of Srimati Radharani that she is tasting more nectar by being His devotee that He is by being the supreme enjoyer. Therefore not to be outdone, Krishna becomes His own devotee. Krishna becomes Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to experience the supreme bliss of being a Hare Krishna devotee. So if you want really want to enjoy, if you want to taste the topmost bliss at every minute all you have to do is become a devotee of Krishna so you can relish the supreme Hare Krishna bliss at every minute. This is the pleasure that even God Himself hankers after. So who could be better situated than a devotee of the supreme person? Sankarshan Das Adhikari Ecstatic Lithuanian Hare Krishna Devotees Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why Doesn't Krishna Pursue Krishna Consciousness? The highest pursuit is Krishna consciousness.

If we have a first class lamp but it is not plugged in, it will give no light. It must be connected with the powerhouse by being plugged into an electrical outlet. Then it will give very nice illumination. Similarly, if we want to be spiritually illuminated, we must be connected with the primal powerhouse, the ultimate source of all energies, Lord Sri Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When we plug in our lamp we do not plug it directly into the powerhouse. We instead plug it into an electrical outlet that is connected with the powerhouse. Similarly, when we connect with Krishna we do so through the current link, the live spiritual potency outlet, the bona fide spiritual master. This principle is enshrined in the Bhagavad-gita in which Lord Krishna states that the knowledge of the Bhagavad-gita is understood through the principle of disciplic succession: evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ sa kāleneha mahatā yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa "This supreme science was

This material world is a dangerous place. Calamities can occur at any moment. So how is it possible to be happy and peaceful in such a fearful situation? The answer is that we have take complete shelter of our loving father, Lord Sri Krishna, understanding that not a blade of grass can move without His sanction. In other words whatever happens to us is all going on within His divine plan to attract us to come back to His wondrous transcendental abode. So we have nothing to fear, except for forgetfulness of Him. And that forgetfulness can easily be overcome by chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra at least 16 rounds as a regular daily practice and by associating with Lord Krishna's blissful devotees as much as possible. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Blissful Devotees in Riga, Latvia April 4, 2009 Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: 16 Rounds of Japa in One Session? Can you do a few rounds at a time to complete 16 rounds, or do you have to complete 16 rounds at one time

There is nothing more stupendous and more exhilarating than rising early in the morning before sunrise, taking bath, and then diving deeply into the Hare Krishna mantra by chanting it on japa beads. It is the perfection of the tongue, the ears, the mind, and the hand to be totally merged in producing, hearing, and meditating on the marvelous transcendental sound vibration of the Hare Krishna mahamantra while meticulously counting on the beads with one's fingers. By total absorption of his consciousness in this way, the japa chanter journeys from the material ocean of birth, death, old age, and disease to the wondrous spiritual sky where life is eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss. If he pays close attention to his chanting, his consciousness becomes so deeply steeped in Krishna consciousness that by the time he completes sixteen rounds of japa chanting he is fully prepared for total absorption in Krishna consciousness for the entire day no matter what his activities may

The world society is presently tottering on the edge of total economic collapse for one reason and one reason only. They are not engaging wealth in the service of the Lord. The goddess of fortune, Laksmidevi, who also appears in the form of money, desires to always be engaged in the service of her most beloved Lord Narayana. When she is not being engaged in the Lord's service she is known as cancala, which means restless. In other words when she is being engaged for sense gratification she will not remain for long in one place. This is why we see that none of the mighty empires of this world--such as the Greek empire, Roman empire, the Spanish empire, and the British empire--could permanently remain. If we want to bail out the global economy all we have to do is engage wealth in the service of the Lord, and then there will be sufficiently wealth for everyone to live peacefully and comfortably all over the world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Ecstatic Krishna Consciousness Home Program