Ultimate Self Realization

Because we live in a world full of anxiety, it is natural that we will sometimes feel anxiety. The way to conquer over anxiety, to permanently eliminate it, is therefore to move our consciousness to a different world, the spiritual world which is completely free from anxiety. How to do this and at the same time function within our daily duties here in this material world? This requires the expert guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, who teaches us how to begin our day every morning by deeply absorbing ourselves in chanting the holy names of God, how to spiritualize our eating by only taking Krishna prasadam, and how to then offer everything we do throughout the day as an offering of love unto the Supreme Lord. In this way by always connecting all of our thoughts, words, and deeds with the Supreme Personality of Godhead we can factually enter into the Vaikuntha world, the anxiety-less world by our full absorption twenty-four hours daily in Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das A

This material life is really hell, if we try to be the enjoyers, because no matter how hard we try to enjoy we are forced to undergo so many miserable conditions. Even if we are highly successful in this world, we still must face the ultimate condition of failure at the time of death. The timeless Vedic wisdom, which has been followed in India for thousands of years, teaches us that through loving devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead executed under the expert guidance of the bona fide spiritual master we escape the misery of this material existence and enter into an eternal existence, which is full of bliss and full of knowledge. Those who are fortunate and intelligent therefore adopt this path of devotion for attaining the supreme destination in the Lord's eternal spiritual kingdom. Sankarshan Das Adhikari P.S. I am currently blessed with the auspicious opportunity to reside for several days here in Melbourne in the same house that Srila Prabhupada stayed in w

It's time to really get serious now about revolutionizing this planet with a tidal wave of bhakti, devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Kali yuga is getting fiercer and uglier every day, so it is time to amp up our counter attack by first of all improving the quality of our chanting and secondly by becoming much more aggressive to enlighten the illusioned souls in the science of the Supreme Reality. Burying our heads in the sands of sense gratification will not help us or help anyone. Only a dedicated, concerted effort to counteract darkness with light will be effective in uplifting the global consciousness. As above indicated, that upliftment must begin with ourselves by a staunch determination to root all of the impurities out of hearts and become fully absorbed twenty hours daily in pure devotional service. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Our 2009 Govinda Valley Japa Meditation Retreat Was a Powerful, Enlightening, Ecstatic Experience Plan Now to Attend our 2010 Govin

Sometimes I wonder why I take so much trouble for regularly travelling all over the world for teaching the science of Krishna consciousness. It would be so much simpler, cheaper, and less of a strain on my health to remain comfortably situated in my ashram in Austin, Texas. But when I see how much people all over the world are encouraged and enlivened in their Krishna consciousness by my humble attempts at leading kirtan and giving Krishna conscious lectures I can understand that the best way for me to serve the mission of my most beloved spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, is to continue traveling and presenting the science of Krishna consciousness all over the world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Our 2009 Govinda Valley Japa Meditation Retreat Was a Powerful, Enlightening, Ecstatic Experience .Plan Now to Attend our 2010 Govinda Valley Retreat 24-26 December 2010 in Otford, Australia For further information or to make a reservation please contact Adi

We have been sleeping in the lap of maya or illusion for countless millions of lifetimes. Now in this human form of life we have the rarest opportunity to awaken our dormant enlightened consciousness, our Krishna consciousness, and return to our original home in the spiritual world. There is no reason for us to suffer any longer here in the repetition of birth, death, old age, and disease. All we have to do is take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and sincerely follow his instructions. The bona fide spiritual master is very merciful towards his disciples. He blesses them with pertinent instructions which empower them to make steady progress step-by-step back to home, back to Godhead. Therefore there is nothing more important for us than seeking out and surrendering to a bona fide spiritual master. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why Do We Remember Bad Things Better? Guru Maharaja, I remember the kissing scenes in movies and the po

We are now gathered in sublime Govinda Valley, Australia for the most auspicious purpose of increasing our absorption in Krishna's holy names. Sometimes people inquire, "What does it mean to be absorbed in the holy names?" It is not difficult to understand. Just like someone may be so deeply absorbed in watching a movie that the imitation reality portrayed on the screen takes on a reality which seems more real than the actual reality which is going on outside of the movie theatre. Similarly the consciousness of the expert chanter of Krishna's holy names becomes so deeply absorbed in Krishna's names that the transcendental sound vibration takes on more significance than the entire material existence, which the chanter experiences as a mere manifestation of the Holy Names. The advanced chanter directly experiences the Holy Names as the Supreme Reality, the original source of everything in existence. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Sometimes people wonder why a guru is required when they can directly approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But when we directly study the words of Krishna what does He say? He says that we should become the devotee of His devotee. He says that we should submissively inquire from and serve the bona fide spiritual master. Therefore if we want to be devotees of Krishna, we must obey His order to become the devotee of His devotee by surrendering ourselves at the lotus feet of His representative, the bona fide spiritual master. If we do not agree to become the devotee of Krishna's devotee, Krishna does not accept that we are His devotees. Therefore if we sincerely desire to become Krishna's devotees we must seek out and take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, one who is coming in disciplic succession from Sri Krishna. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada with His Disciples Brooklyn, New York in the Early 70's Answers According to the Vedic Version: Ques

Sometimes we are asked, "Why doesn't God stop the evil in the world? If He really loves us, surely He would do something to put a stop to all of this evil and suffering that is going on everywhere all around us." The answer is that as our loving father He has already done something to stop the evil and the suffering in this world. He has manifested Himself in the form of the Krishna consciousness to save the suffering humanity from its distress. Now that He has done His share, it our turn to do our share for stopping the evil and suffering by our dedicated, enthusiastic participation in the missionary activities of ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Chanting and Dancing Hare Krishna in the Streets Counteracts the Evil Influences of this Age of Kali Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: The Form of the Soul I attended your class in ISKCON's Pune, India temple recently along with my three non-devotee

If we are going to dedicate our lives to a cause, why not dedicate them to the most noble cause of rescuing the entire human population from the clutches of death? This Krishna consciousness movement was personally inaugurated by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself in His most merciful manifestation of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu specifically for the purpose of saving the suffering humanity from its entanglement in the cycle of birth and death. May all those persons who are serious about doing the highest good for all beings join with this Krishna consciousness movement. This will bring the greatest blessings upon them and upon the entire human society. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: What Happens to the Atma in Heart Transplant? Srila Gurudeva, in a response to a recently posted answer you stated that that atma resides within each person's physical heart. Respectfully, how can this be? Modern medicine can now replace one's he

Recently in Pune, India I became very ill with what seemed to be a heavy chest cold. After getting a chest x-ray it turned out that I have a mild case of pneumonia. I have a good facility for recuperating here in Australia with a long stop both in Sydney and in Melbourne. The weather here is also very pleasant, as the summer is just beginning. Due to so much traveling and preaching recently combined with the down time from this sickness my emails are now quite a bit behind. So if you have written me in the last couple of weeks and have not gotten an answer, kindly be patient. I can only answer one email at a time, and there is quite a long queue waiting for reply. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How Can a Porous Heart Hold the Atomic Soul? Srila Gurudeva, one of my relatives questioned me, "If the atma, the atomic soul, is so small, smaller than the tiniest point on the tip of a hair, how is it able stay in the heart when the heart

We are traveling now via automobile to a home preaching program somewhere in the Sydney metropolitan area. Along the way we just passed through downtown Sydney where we saw a sightseeing bus with an observation deck on top full of gaping gawking tourists. The sign on the side of the bus advertised 30 stops for only $35. As I looked out the car window at downtown Sydney I was thinking, "What is there here that is so much worth seeing?" Someone may accuse me of being overly negative. But I seriously wonder if there is anything here in this material world which is worth traveling a great distance to go see. Is there anything here that can free us from the clutches of birth, death, old age, and disease? If there were, such a thing would truly be worth seeing. But we do not such a thing here even all the way up to the topmost planet in the universe, Brahmaloka. But then my mind jumps to the beautiful transcendental forms of Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha here at our North Sydney ISKCON

After four flights and two days and nights of travelling, we finally completed our journey from Pune, India to North Sydney, Australia. There was not much time to spare because as soon as we arrived it was time to initiate some new disciples. Even though there was hardly enough time to take a meal, a nap, and a shower and then change clothes, I did not mind the inconvenience a bit because there is nothing more auspicious than a conditioned soul becoming transformed into a liberated soul by initiation, i.e. solidly committing himself to an eternal life of bhakti under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. I initiated Bhakta Steve as Satrughna Das (servant of Satrughna) and Madhav Rao as Madhvacharya Das (servant of Madhvacharya). Satrughna is one of the brothers of Lord Rama, and Madhvacharya is one of the greatest Vaisnava acharyas in history. Also participating as a new initiate in the ceremony was Hari Caitanya das, a new disciple of Gopal Krishna Maharaja. I gave the initi

Just imagine if a person was surrounded on all sides by a blazing forest fire that was closing in on him from all sides. And no matter which way he turned he could see that there was no escape and that his situation was absolutely hopeless. It was certain that within minutes he would meet a fiery, excruciatingly painful death. I realize that this is not a very pleasant example. What makes it even less pleasing is that describes the situation each of us here in this material world face at every minute. We are trapped in a place where death is relentlessly closing in on us step by step, minute by minute and we have no escape. Now back to the forest fire example. What if just minutes before the flames consumed our poor friend who was trapped in the fire, by the arrangement of Providence a tremendous rain cloud appeared on the scene and proceeded to drown those scorching flames in tons of cooling water. This of course would be the cause of the most greatest, must exuberant gratitude, jubi

In this material world we are dazzled by so many dazzlingly beautiful things: an attractive young woman, a melodic song, a picturesque scene of natural beauty, etc. We take it as a facility for our enjoyment to relish these beautiful things. But just image if we could be dazzled instead by the ultimate source from which all dazzling beauty emanates, how much more nectar we could then relish. Through the sublime process of Krishna consciousness we can indeed do that. We can be dazzled twenty-four hours a day by Krishna the Supreme Source of all dazzling beauty and can thus relish unlimited oceans of the sweetest nectar experiencing Him in all times, places, and circumstances. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Now Relish the Dazzling Beauty of Krishna Now relish it even more in a larger image through this link: http://www.backtohome.com/images/Krishna_gopis.jpg Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to Control Lust? I am really not able to control my lust, Maharaja! Please gu

These few days here at the ISKCON temple in Pune, India have been simply wonderful. The devotees here have manifested so many wonderful saintly qualities in their dealings with us. Their mood of service is of the highest standard. Even though Mataji and I have both been very sick, the devotees have treated us with so much love and have so much appreciated my humble attempt to share the love that I am receiving from Srila Prabhupada that is easy to transcend our suffering bodies and relish nicely the ever-increasingly sweet taste of Krishna consciousness in their association. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Our Responsibility of Karma I have a confusion for a very long time, and would request you to please enlighten me on this... As it is said that all that goes around in the world is His lila and nothing moves without His will. We all are here to play our role as per His wish. In that case how we become responsible for our karma? Is it n

Even the most miserable person in the entire world can become the most blissful person in the entire world if he takes to the pathway of Krishna consciousness. This pathway has such amazing immense power. In this connection it is stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam as follows: ato vai kavayo nityaṁ bhaktiṁ paramayā mudā vāsudeve bhagavati kurvanty ātma-prasādanīm "Certainly, therefore, since time immemorial, all transcendentalists have been rendering devotional service to Lord Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, with great delight, because such devotional service is enlivening to the self."--Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.22 So all you have to do to experience great delight is serve Lord Krishna. And that is not difficult. Even if you are poor man, you can serve Him by offering Him some water or a tulasi leaf. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Is Krishna the Cause of Evil? In reply to the question "Problem of Evil" you mentioned

This material existence is a nightmare because everyone is being dragged to the slaughterhouse of death by the stringent wheel of time. In spite of all of our technological advancement the death rate is still 100%. The way out of the nightmare is to wake up and realize that you are not that body, that you are an eternal spirit-soul qualitatively one with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna. In this way by realizing that you are God's eternal servant and fully absorbing yourself in His service under the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, you will completely throw off the nightmarish shackles of death by reawakening your eternal deathless nature. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why Did Krishna Choose Vishnu? I may kindly take a moment of your time, I humbly submit the following questions. 1) Why did Krishna choose Vishnu out of the Hindu trinity for His incarnations as opposed to Shiva or Brahma? 2) I don't

In today's modern day stressed out society stress is taken as an enemy that somehow must be conquered. But Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-gita that this material energy, which is the cause of our stress, is insurmountable. This means that no matter what kind of material adjustment we may make to become stress free the stress distress will continue to hound us. Therefore a different approach must be adopted in order to attain stresslessness. The insider's secret for conquering stress is to see it as your friend instead of your enemy. By understanding the simple principle of karma you can immediately see that whatever stress is coming to you is the karmic reaction for your past sinful activities both in this lifetime and in previous lifetimes. So when stress comes it is for my purification of consciousness. It is for burning off the reactions to my previous sinful activities. By seeing stress in this light, it all of a sudden becomes a blessing instead of a curse. And as soon

Why suffer for another minute in this material existence when we can instead deeply dive into that sweet ocean of unlimited nectar which is there in the holy names of Krishna? It does not make any sense to go on foolishly punishing ourselves denying ourselves the supreme happiness, which is our constitutional birthright. The process of meditating on Lord Sri Krishna's holy names is so sublime that we can fully absorb ourselves in perfect Krishna consciousness in all times, places, and circumstances. In other words we can relish the peace of non-stop samadhi, ecstatic trance which goes on increasing unlimitedly forever. We must always remember that to do so we require to enter fully into the mood of devotion to Krishna. If we want to remain non-devoted and simply analyze the ecstatic trance of the pure devotees, we will be futilely trying to taste the honey while licking the outside of the bottle. Therefore we must sure to open the honey jar and dive into pure devotional service.

I am writing this on our last day in Vrindavana. We depart in one hour for Mumbai and Pune. Here in Vrindavana I have been tasting the sweetest nectar regularly meditating every day on Sri Sri Radha and Krishna, their holy dhama, their associates, and the places of their transcendental pastimes. There will be a bitterness to departing from this sweet wonderland. But the feelings of separation from Sri Vrindavana will give us increased remembrance of Krishna and in this way bestow upon us ever-increasing happiness. Here during our stay in Vrindavana I have taken advantage of a wonderful devotional song introduced to us by Srila Prabhupada by singing it every morning trying to go as deeply as possible into the meditation on the persons and places described in the song. To give you a little bit of the flavor of it yesterday afternoon I made a recording of it singing along with a harmonium. It's rough and not studio perfect. But I hope that you will find it inspiring for your Krishna

As we are now winding up our super enlivening sojourn in this most sacred place in the entire universe, we took advantage of being here to visit the most spiritually surcharged place from where Srila Prabhupada launched his preaching mission, his rooms at the Radha Damodar temple. He once stated, "Here from these rooms it all began." He first took up residency in these rooms in July of 1962 and remained here until coming to America in 1965. He wrote the translations and purports to the first canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam here, as well as other writings. He also said that he resides eternally in these rooms. There are two rooms across the veranda from each other. On one side is his living quarters where he slept, chanted, and wrote. And on other said is his kitchen where he cooked and honored prasadam. His presence is very strongly manifested in these rooms. It is the rarest treat to be allowed to enter these rooms and become drowned in the sublime waves of his all-merciful

On the evening of 7 December we traveled to B.M.A.S. Engineering College in Agra to present the highest technological knowledge to a gathering of its students. There is quite a large group of them there that study Krishna consciousness along with their engineering courses. This is very encouraging to see. This should be required for all engineering students throughout the entire world. After all, Lord Brahma, the original engineer of this universe, became perfect in his engineering work only after he became perfect in Krishna consciousness. The perfection of all activities is to dovetail them with the pleasure of the Lord. This will bring happiness to the devotee who is offering his activities to the Lord, and such an offering of love will bestow auspiciousness upon the entire world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Can't Religion and Evolution Work Together? Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Please accept my humble obeis

What can be more sublime than a Hare Krishna kirtan in Vrindavan while cruising in a boat on the Yamuna river? It's hard to imagine anything which could surpass this. Therefore having this wonderful opportunity fully available to us I thought that why not take advantage of it. So that's what we did after lunch on 7 December here in this most sacred abode, and it was indeed unlimitedly sublime! Here's how Srila Prabhodananda Sarasvati glorifies Sri Vrindaban dhama and the Yamuna River: "How can a person who has never seen Vrindavana's Yamuna river, which is filled with eternally blooming indivara, kamala, kahlara, kumuda, and other lotus flowers, all filled with the sweet humming sounds of bumblebees, and which displays the places where Sri Sri Radha-Muralidhara and Their friends enjoyed transcendental pastimes, remain alive?" "I bow before Vrindavana's Yamuna river, which is eternally splendid with a lotus of many jewels, which flows from an ocean o

If you are not absolutely ecstatic at every second, you are doing something wrong because the nature of the soul is to be constantly swimming in an ocean of unlimited transcendental bliss. In other words, to be unhappy or not fully joyful is an unnatural state of consciousness experienced only by those persons who are not fully connected with their original, pure spiritual natures as servants of Krishna or God. The neophyte devotee although greatly awakened and enlivened still sometimes experiences the residue of his previous unhappy material existence. But as he faithfully follows the pathway of sadhana bhakti under the expert guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, the clouds of illusion gradually clear away and the pure unadulterated sun of Krishna consciousness becomes fully and splendorously manifested within his heart. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Sublime Vrindavana Forest Site of Krishna's Eternal Pastimes Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why Krishna Cr

This material world is ultimately a confusing mess for those who are stubbornly holding on to the futile attempt to be the lords of all that they survey, because no matter how successful one may become in this material world he will in the end be a failure defeated by the insurmountable wheel of time. Therefore instead of foolishly wasting time in a utopian struggle to be the controller of that which one cannot control, one should be pragmatically situated on the pathway of emancipation from the cruel jaws of death by reviving his dormant enlightened consciousness, his Krishna consciousness. In short, don't be mixed up, be fixed up. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Meeting Krishna Higher Than Separation from Krishna? Dear Srila Gurudeva Please except my respects at your lotus feet There is a certain group of devotees who teach that meeting with Krishna is higher than the mood of separation from Krishna, and that separation only serve

5 December 2009--This morning at 5:00 a.m. after offering mangala arati to the most beautiful Sri Sri Radha Damodar here in this most auspicious transcendental abode of Sri Vrindavan Dham I feelingly prayed to my Lord Krishna to bless me that henceforward I can give all of my love to Him and no longer be the slave of my wicked senses. Since the benefit of any devotional service rendered in Sri Vrindavan Dham is magnified 1,000 times I am herewith humbly requesting my most beloved Lord that He will kindly accept my crude attempt to surrender to Him to be in the category of genuine devotional service so that I can cash in on the benediction of having rendered devotional service to Him in Sri Vrindavana Dhama and thus factually attain pure devotional service unto Him. Besides this there is no goal in all the three worlds worth striving for. To attain pure devotional service is the perfection of existence. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How

4 December 2009--Today we did the parikrama of Govardhana Hill. There is nothing more sublime to be treading on the very same sacred soil upon which Lord Krishna walked 5,000 years ago when He displayed His most intimate pastimes. Those same exact pastimes are still going on here at this very minute for those who have the eyes to see them. Five hundred years ago the six Goswamis of Vrindavana also tread this sacred earth in the constant mood of searching for Krishna. This beautiful verse of Sanskrit poetry by His Divine Grace Srinivasa Acharya accurately describes the mood of these six Goswamis as they wandered about in a state of awe searching for their beloved Lord: he rādhe vraja-devike ca lalite he nanda-sūno kutaḥ śrī-govardhana-kalpa-pādapa-tale kālindī-vane kutaḥ ghoṣantāv iti sarvato vraja-pure khedair mahā-vihvalau vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau "I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvāmīs, namely Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrī Sanātana Gosv

Sometimes it is said that ignorance is bliss. But ignorance is bliss only until it comes crashing down on your head. Just like the people who were enjoying the evening entertainment on the Titanic dancing in great jubilation in the ballroom. They were unaware of the impending catastrophic iceberg collision which was just a few minutes away. Had they known in advance they could have prepared themselves properly and would have thus been saved from an icy, miserable death. In a similar way if we can understand the temporary nature of this spot life, that death is nearby waiting to claim us, we can then focus our consciousness on the Supreme Reality and attain the perfectional stage of deathlessness, pure Krishna bhakti. In this way we will regain our original spiritual forms and never have to suffer birth, death, old age, and disease ever again. Sankarshan Das Adhikari It Was an Enjoyable Evening on the Titanic Until Disaster Struck Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: