Ultimate Self Realization

If we consider that we are all eternal spiritual beings with wonderful, unlimitedly blissful identities in the spiritual sky, it's really uncanny that so many of us could end up in such a mess in this material existence in the repetition of birth and death. Why in the world would we trade absolute peace, bliss, and security for this hell we are going through now? It seems unbelievable that we could do such a thing. But yet this is in fact what we did. We rejected eternal lives, full of bliss and knowledge for this inferior grade existence of temporality, ignorance, and misery. Because the Supreme Lord is unlimitedly independent and because we are part of Him we share His quality of independence to a minute degree. Since independence is indeed independence it can be misused. And when it is we end up here. Now we can use that same independence to get back to our original position in the spiritual sky. Are you willing? Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version:

In all of history there is no one more famous, powerful, or influential than Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna is the topmost super star in all of history. The superstars of this material world come and go like the tides of the ocean. Even the biggest, most famous superstars of today will in the future be completely forgotten in the pages of history. So instead of running after the world's so-called superstars, who are actually no more than shooting stars which make a bright light in the sky for a few seconds and are then destroyed, we should instead take shelter of the real superstar, the greatest superstar of all time, Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Krishna, the Supreme Superstar Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why Only India? I believe totally in religion and I have total faith in Lord Krishna but I have some questions as follows: 1. Today we are finding so many countries in the w

On Saturday 26 September 2009 in Riga, Latvia an entire house full of fortunate souls dipped into the unlimitedly nectarean ocean of Krishna consciousness. The atmosphere there created by kirtan, a sumptuous prasadam feast, and a presentation of Krishna consciousness philosophy was so exhilarating that the house became like a amazing transcendental spaceship that carried us beyond the miserable dimension of time and dimension into that unlimitedly blissful and wondrous paravyoma, the spiritual sky. What an astounding ride it was! Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Guidance for Psychiatric Patient What guidance can you give me since I am a psychiatric patient? Your student Answer: Engage Your Mind in Krishna Consciousness Being a psychiatric patient means that you are suffering from mental disturbances. The first step to become liberated from these disturbances is to understand that you are not your mind, that the mind is simply a tool tha

There is no reason for the world civilization to continue struggling in its suffering condition on the edge of total disintegration. If simply the people are taught how to love God in a real, practical manner through the science of bhakti, the ever-increasing downward trend of human civilization will be completely reversed. A new age of peace and prosperity will be experienced by everyone in every part of the globe. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Is Jesus Jealous If I Love Krishna? Hare Krishna. After all my spiritual journey in self realization I have come back to the basics and returned to bhakti yoga. I am happy chanting, although I only chant two rounds daily. I'm married with two children and I beg Sri Krishna for the grace to stop eating meat. I'm making adjustments to keep in the path. Thank you for your free internet course on the Bhagavad-gita. I receive it in Spanish. Even though I was born and raised as a Catholic, I f

You must always maintain strong faith that Krishna will never let you down under any circumstances. Things do not always go well in this material world. Sometimes life is fantastic, and sometimes it is absolutely hellish. But if you detach yourself from the ups and downs remembering that everything has a wonderful, divine purpose by the arrangement of the Lord, you will always remain of steady mind in all circumstances, and thus you will never lose your enthusiasm or your Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Argument: You Nullify Reality If you don't accept that only that which can be empirically demonstrated is objectively real, that implies that anything, in essence, can be objectively real. And if you accept that, then, "reality" has no meaning at all. In which case, everything is a delusion, and there is no purpose in pursuing knowledge whatsoever. Seems like a "good idea." A reader Answer: We Libe

In this material world we are very proud of being independent. Just like in the USA every year the 4th of July is celebrated as a national holiday, Independence Day, the day that the American colonists declared their independence from Great Britain. But in spiritual life there is a different conception. On the path of spiritual perfection the more we can increase our feelings of dependence on Krishna and give up our feelings of independence, the more we advance. Actually we are fully dependent on Krishna at every step because not even a blade of grass can move without His sanction. So our idea of being independent from the Lord is simply a mental concoction. That all-merciful Lord appeared 5,000 years ago and delivered His teachings, which are called the Bhagavad-gita. Those who are fortunate will take advantage of His sublime teachings and finish up their business in the repetition of birth and death. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: I

In this material world we are besieged regularly with an onslaught of miseries. There are adhyatmic miseries caused by the mind and body, adhibhautic miseries caused by other living entities and adhidaivic miseries caused by natural disasters. At any given moment we are under attack by at least one of these three types of miseries. Therefore Krishna advises us to be tolerant, not to be disturbed by these miseries that come and go like the changes of the seasons. If we fix our minds in Krishna consciousness, we will transcend the plane of miseries and gain eternal residence in the plane of transcendental bliss. The miseries will be still be happening on the material plane, but we will no longer be effected by them. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Freedom from Sex Desire I know a person who has a dependence on sex. But he is trying to become anti-sexual. He is gay. I like this friend and want to help him. Maybe you can advise me what to do

Our arrival in Riga on 21 September 2009 was super ecstatic as usual. There is truly nothing more wonderful than the loving exchanges between the devotees. This is how we unlock the love of Krishna within our hearts. The more we love the devotees of Krishna, the more our dormant love of Krishna becomes reawakened. Here is a video clip of our arrival in Riga: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBR0kMVd3Po Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Request: Help Me Get Out of Suffering Dear Gurudeva, Please accept my deepest respects for your love and devotion to God and for delivering the human race from suffering. If I can be granted any mercy or favor in your sight, please respond with patience and understanding for my ignorance and gross darkness; I am not a devotee. 1. I have the most difficult time trusting God since my prayers don't get answered. 2. I gather that He is aloof and that there is no guarantee for salvation unless I earn it, and still there

At the present moment our minds are polluted with the dirt accumulated over millions and millions of lifetimes of sense gratification. Even though our original pure nature is eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss, due to our mental contamination we are presently suffering in the realm of temporality, ignorance, and misery. By the purificatory process of chanting the holy names of God we can revive our original, pure nature and thus relish the sweetest happiness at every minute. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Convincing Members of Other Religions Gurudeva, why are there so many different religions on this planet? How can I convince a person from another religion about the truth of Krishna? Your servant, Dinesh Answer: First Convince Them That Religion is One As I have many times explained, this concept of many religions is a man made conception. It does not come from God. When the one true pathway of developing pure love for

After an enlivening five days of my giving the morning and evening lectures at our ISKCON center in Tallinn, Estonia we are heading out today for Riga, Latvia where I will be giving a seven day lecture series. One of the wonderful qualities of the philosophy of Krishna consciousness is that the more you speak it or hear it, the more you realize it. This means that one can get newer and ever more exciting realizations simply by presenting it again and again. In other words, the philosophy of Krishna consciousness never becomes old, hackneyed or stereotyped. It remains an ever-increasingly fresh and voluminous ocean of transcendental nectar. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Is Accumulation of Material Wealth Good? Wealthy people have more probability of turning to spiritual side as they have access to the knowledge. Poor people are unaware of the spiritual knowledge and hence will never get to the spiritual side. Therefore, making people we

If we assume as modern science does that only things that can be empirically demonstrated are objectively real, where does that leave us philosophically? The first point is that the above statement cannot be empirically verified and therefore according to itself cannot establish objective reality. So just consider the tenuous, shaky position of modern science which is built upon the foundation of the above premise. And then consider the similarly tenuous, shaky position of the modern day civilization which is based on the tenets of modern science. It's no small wonder then that we find ourselves presently in the midst of an extremely chaotic, unhappy human civilization. After all it is built upon philosophical quicksand. Therefore instead of putting our blind faith in such a flimsy system of knowledge we should openly seek the Absolute Truth which by the philosophical impossibility of its nonexistence must necessarily exist. In other words, we must reject flimsy pseudo-science, an

In the material world everyone faces a dark future. No matter how successful and happy one may be in this material world he must face the gloomy future of old age, disease, and disease. This is why Krishna consciousness is of the utmost importance for the human society. Through Krishna consciousness one can enter into the brightest of all possible futures by reviving his eternal, all blissful, all knowledgeable nature. And this revival is not even difficult. All one has to do is take guidance, inspiration, and blessings from those who already situated in Krishna consciousness. It is for this purpose of transcendental association that Srila Prabhupada founded ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in New York in 1966. Sankarshan Das Adhikari 26 2nd Ave, Manhattan, New York ISKCON was formed here in July of 1966. Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How Do I Find a True Guru? I cannot believe that your holy self has replied to my mail. Please gui

On 16 September 2009, in a small university town named Tartu in Estonia, I gave a presentation at the public library to an almost full hall of interested seekers on how one can attain unlimited happiness. The fact is that the modern day leaders are cheating the people by not giving them the education they need for becoming truly happy. I am most fortunate to have been given this formula by my beloved spiritual master. And my greatest joy is that I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel regularly all over the world to share this supreme science with everyone who is wiling to hear about it. My only regret is that not everyone is interested. We have to try to change that now. We must present this Krishna consciousness science in such a way that everyone in all corners of the globe will desire to cultivate Krishna consciousness within their hearts. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Are the World Leaders Subscribers? Do members of the

After flying last Tuesday from Copenhagen to Helsinki and then taking a ship across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia we were wonderfully greeted by an ecstatic group of chanting devotees both at the boat dock when we landed and at the temple when we arrived. At the temple we were even showered with flower petals. It was beautiful. When we are being given so much love by the Vaisnavas we cannot feel that we are deserving of such honor. We can only feel that we are most undeserving. But still it is our duty to accept such respect on our beloved spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada explained to us in New Vrindavan in 1972 why the spiritual masters accept such worship. He compared this to India's British viceroy during the time of the British rule of India. Wherever the viceroy went in India he would be offered all honor and respect as the king would be honored. But he never thought that he was the king. He simpl

A Krishna conscious person has no interest in worldly affairs. He simply wants to peacefully absorb himself in Krishna consciousness. But when he sees that the entire human civilization is being dragged through countless miseries due to the misguidance of materialistic, greedy men, his spirit of compassion impels him to exert his influence as much as possible for bringing about positive change in the world. It breaks his heart to see people needlessly suffering, and he therefore fully dedicates his life for enlightening the general population with the liberating knowledge of the ultimate self-realization science, the science of Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Pray Away the Swine Flu? My obeisances to you! If everyone in ISKCON prays, will the swine flu go away? Your eternal servant Gayathri Answer: Pray Our Way Back to the Spiritual World Our Hare Krishna prayer, the mahamantra, is not a material cure for gett

Although I have been very sick and mostly bed-ridden during the several days we spent in Copenhagen, I still attended all the morning temple functions and gave my full lecture schedule of two lectures daily on the science of Krishna consciousness. It is especially important to preach Krishna consciousness forcefully in countries such as Denmark, because according to a 2005 study by Phil Zuckerman, Denmark has the third highest proportion of atheists and agnostics in the world, estimated to be between 43% and 80%. I did not want to miss this golden opportunity to defeat atheism with the wonderful science of Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Denmark Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to Engage Sex for Krishna? In "The Science of Self-Realization" Srila Prabhupada has said to engage all the senses in Krishna. My question is: How to engage sex desire in Krishna's service? Regards, Vishnu Answer: Produce Krishna Conscious Children Sex

Those persons who are thoroughly honest will admit their lack of perfect knowledge regarding the source and origin of all existence. And those persons who are puffed up by their so-called erudite knowledge, their degrees, and their titles do not hesitate to put forward their speculative theories as if they were facts. The speculative thinkers are like the proverbial Dr. Frog who could not understand that the Atlantic Ocean was much, much bigger than his well. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Dr. Frog in His Tiny Well Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Peace When in Anxiety for Krishna? When I was doing my Bhagavad-gita assignment I got this doubt. In Chapter 5 verse 12, the Lord says "The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the results of all activities to Me". Srila Gurudeva, but there is anxiety when the activity is going on that the final result should be pleasing to Sri Guru and Krishna. I am also reading Srila Prabhupada's

The material nature is very powerful. Just as pirates hijack valuable cargo ships and demand huge ransoms for their being returned to their owners, the material energy is always looking for an opportunity to hijack our consciousness and steal it away from Krishna. So we have to be very careful. This is why it is prescribed that we should chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day on japa mala beads. This chanting along with the avoidance of illicit sex, meat eating, intoxication, and gambling will fortify us against maya's attack and allow us to cross over this dangerous material ocean safely arriving at the port of the spiritual world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Pirates in Nigeria Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Did Prabhupada Fully Realize the Self? Did Swami Prabhupada fully realize "the self"? If so, did he say when and how? Ray Answer: Prabhupada Never Forgot Krishna A spiritual master is always liberated. In any condition

Sometimes in this material world we have to go through hell. All kinds of things can go wrong. There are so many varieties of miseries that can attack us. We may suffer from a devastating disease. We can find ourselves in an impoverished condition. We may be seriously injured in an automobile accident. We may suffer the loss of a close friend or family member or even find ourselves on the verge of death. How should we deal with such circumstances in such a way as to not be carried away by lamentation and illusion? How we deal with such reverse conditions can either be a great boon for our Krishna consciousness, or it can be a great setback. The point is that we have to see everything as the arrangement of Krishna for our purification. We have to take everything in the most positive way possible. Then we will never lose our enthusiasm in any type of situation. We will always be solidly situated in sweet, transcendental Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According t

It was eight years ago today that there was a terror attack which brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York killing thousands of people. Such happenings are par for the course in the Kali Yuga, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy. If we want to counteract the inauspiciousness of this age, the Vedic scriptures recommend the wide scale performance of harinama sankirtana, the congregational chanting of the holy names of God. Such chanting has the power to uplift and purify the demoniac atmosphere that is being more and more manifested on this planet with each passing year. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Heavy Karma on 9 September 2001 Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why Krishna Allows Me to Fall? My question is: Why does Krishna let me come to material world? Would you please enlighten me why? Hare Krishna Your servant, Ali Answer: For Your Rectification Srila Prabhupada gives a nice a example of how Krishna facilitated our foolish desire to want

After two weeks of ecstatic preaching in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Romania we are today heading north for preaching in Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia. The entire world population is suffering greatly due its lack of Krishna consciousness. Therefore there is no greater or more important welfare work than distributing Krishna consciousness to the suffering souls of this planet. Because Krishna is greatly pleased to see the distribution of Krishna consciousness the devotees derive the greatest satisfaction in spreading His glories. The more we please Krishna, the more we become pleased. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: "No Mind" Concept on the Bhakti Path Some weeks ago you were writing about the state of no thoughts. Perhaps you were referring to what in Buddhism is called the state of "no mind." First I will try to describe what the state of "no mind" really is in the experience of the silent t

My dearest Lord Krishna, by the mercy of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, my most beloved spiritual master, and his followers I have been engaged in Your service. It is not easy to engage oneself purely in devotional service while living in a world which is 100% dedicated to material sense gratification. Nor is it easy to spread a movement of pure bhakti in such a world. Therefore feeling myself powerless in such a situation all I can do is fall down at Your lotus feet and beg for Your mercy that I may always be engaged in pure devotional service in all times, places, and circumstances, and that I may be successful in spreading this Krishna consciousness movement all over the world. I know, my dear Lord, that without Your mercy these will be impossible to accomplish. Therefore, kindly do not deny me Your mercy. Please shower Your rain of mercy constantly upon me. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Holy Name Has Taste Only

According to the Vedic wisdom, in which the concept of guru or spiritual master is originally presented, there is no such thing as a self-proclaimed guru. In other words, according to the Vedic wisdom, we can immediately understand that a self-proclaimed guru is bogus. He is not genuine. To become a spiritual master one must be a strict follower of the instructions of his spiritual master and he must also be ordered by his spiritual master to become a spiritual master. Only then can he act as a spiritual master. The bona fide spiritual master never considers himself to be qualified to be a spiritual master. He simply thinks that he is executing this duty on behalf of his spiritual master on his order. In this way, by his humility, he becomes duly qualified to purely represent his spiritual master and the previous acharyas and thus capable and competent because of his transparency to deliver his disciples back to home, back to Godhead. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the

We are here in Romania for a couple of days to assist the local devotees in Timisoara in trying to bring about the revival of Vedic culture in Romania. This former colony of the the Roman empire has a language which is very similar to the Latin, the language spoken in Rome during the days of the Roman empire. And if we trace history even further back, we discover that the Roman empire was founded by one of the sons of Maharaja Yayati, the grandson of the great Vedic world emperor, Parikshit Maharaja. We can see that the Romans were engaged in worshipping the demigods in accordance with the Vedic system for those who are materially attached. So now we are re-connecting these far removed descendents of the Vedic culture with their original cultural roots. It is very exciting and enlivening experience indeed! Sankarshan Das Adhikari Map of Romania Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How Will Disciplic Line Continue? Hare Krishna, Gurudeva, Lord Krishna taught the scie

In this material world we must always be prepared for any and all kinds of uncertainties. At any moment our plans can be disrupted. As long as our happiness is based on doing exactly what we want to do when we want to do it, we will always find ourselves on shaky ground. We have to always be prepared to do what Krishna wants us to do, even if it is not what we want to do. This mood of being willing to do anything to please Krishna brings true and lasting peace to the devotee. Because there is no power greater than Krishna, no one can disrupt His plans. Therefore by submitting ourselves to Krishna's plans we become free from all uncertainties. We were supposed to be in Timisoara, Romania today, but after arriving from Sofia, Bulgaria to connect with a flight to Timisoara we found that it was cancelled. Therefore this morning we are in Budapest in a hotel room paid for by Malev Airlines instead of in Timisoara. Our Krishna consciousness is not disrupted because we found a Govinda

What could be sweeter than taking the holy names into a downtown park on the pleasant summer afternoon and broadcasting an ecstatic kirtan to attract the hearts of the fallen, conditioned souls back to Lord Sri Krishna, their eternal lord and master? That's what we did last Wednesday on Sofia, Bulgaria. To behold the souls who have been merged in forgetfulness of God for thousands and millions of lifetimes becoming attracted and uplifted by Lord Sri Krishna in the the form of His holy names has got to be the greatest feeling that you could ever have! If you want to taste the sweetest nectar join your local Hare Krishna chanting party as soon as possible.Check out the kirtan now through the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djnPOsyNyZI Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Difficulty with Vedic History Your Grace, I am currently in the US military and a part time college student, with a major in world history. I am doing my be

I recently appeared on radio station 102.7FM in Vancouver, Canada as the guest on a weekly yoga talk showed called Drishti Point. It has now been aired and made available for download. The interviewer, Farah Nazarali, asked me to describe the self-realization science. It was a very nice opportunity to describe the ultimate self-realization science of Krishna consciousness both for her benefit and the benefit of the listening audience. Now you can hear the radio show through the following link: http://www.backtohome.com/audio/2009.07.10_Radio.Show_Vancouver_Canada.mp3 Sankarshan Das Adhikari Vancouver Radio Show Interview 10 July 2009 Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Asking Krishna to Fulfill Material Desires If we have material desires, can we ask Krishna to fulfill them? Shaktisinh Answer: Why Pour Water on the Fire? Why pour water on a fire when you are trying to light it? Pure bhakti is like the fire and material desires are like the water. If you uncondit

We were originally in the spiritual world serving the Supreme Lord with love. Because He is supremely independent and because we are part and parcel of Him, we share to a minute degree his quality of independence. We therefore have the independence to decide whether we would like to serve Him or not. In order for us to truly love the Supreme Lord this free choice is necessary because without free will there is no question of love. If we use our independence wisely, we remain eternally serving the Lord in His wonderful transcendental abode. And if we misuse our independence and become envious of His position as the Supreme Person, we are given a place of residence where we can consider ourselves to be the Supreme, i.e. we are sent to this material world. However, the all-merciful Lord does not abandon us. He takes all care to rescue us from our fallen condition by always trying to convince us to return to our original position in His loving service in that amazingly wondrous spiritual

There is nothing like kirtan. It is the supreme nectar. If you want to know where you can get shelter from the pinches of Kali Yuga, simply go to where the devotees of Lord Krishna are engaging in Hare Krishna kirtan and dive deeply into that sublime ocean of nectar. You'll be glad you did. Your life will never be the same again. You will eternally transformed. Here is a kirtan we did the other day in Sofia, Bulgaria. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FjcT_JrLuY Participate in a Hare Krishna kirtan as soon as possible! Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Killing Plants Different From Killing Animals? While I am a strict vegetarian from birth, many times my colleagues, mainly in the western world, have taken a dig at me on this topic. They argue that killing plants is the same as animals. When I highlight to them that there is a gradation of life forms, they laugh it off saying that who decides which is a better life form to kill? I would l

Faith is the foundation of bhakti. Without faith one cannot make progress. So how does one get faith? We get faith in this process by associating with those who are advanced in it. In this way we are able to witness and experience first hand the wonderful saintly qualities and blissful consciousness that they have developed by becoming advanced in Krishna consciousness. This enthuses us and gives us great faith because we realize that if we do what they have done we will achieve the same amazing results. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Is the Material World Merely Symbolic? Srila Gurudeva The explanations of modern science regarding solar eclipse etc do not match what is stated in the holy text, the Srimad Bhagavatam. So is our world a duplicate or maya of the original spiritual world in which things are happening here symbolically only? Kindly clear my doubt. Your humble servant, Sudheer Answer: It is Real, But Temporary. This ma