Ultimate Self Realization

Srila Prabhupada wonderfully describes who is a nitya-siddha (eternally liberated) devotee of the Lord in his purport to Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya 11.89 as follows: "A devotee is always thinking of how better to serve Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and how to broadcast His name, fame and qualities throughout the world. One who is nitya-siddha has no business other than broadcasting the glories of the Lord all over the world according to his ability. Such people are already associates of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore Narottama dasa Thakura says, nitya-siddha kari' mane. One should not think that because Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was personally present five hundred years ago, only His associates were liberated. Rather, Srila Narottama dasa Thakura says that anyone is a nitya-siddha if he acts on behalf of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by spreading the glories of the holy name of the Lord. We should respect those devotees preaching the glories of the Lord

There is nothing sweeter than to be in the association of the Lord's devotees engaged in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord and serving Him. This is the secret of happiness, which the entire world is lacking. Therefore we must dedicate our lives to waking them up from their deep, dark slumber of illusion and delusion. On Thursday 28 October 2010 we were about to depart from Riga, Latvia on our way to Kaunas, Lithuania. Many devotees had assembled to give us a transcendental send off and were enthusiastically chanting Hare Krishna. Our departure was delayed while we waited for our driver, Damodar das, to finish taking prasadam. I saw this as golden opportunity to lead a fired up kirtan. So I got out of the van to lead the devotees in kirtan. It was so ecstatic and so sweet! Vraja Kishore captured this on his camera as pictured below. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Leading Kirtan--28 October 2010--Riga, Latvia Hare Krishna Kirtan is the Epitome of Sweetness. It Can Solve

There is no reason to continue suffering in this material existence for even a moment longer. By engaging the body, mind, and activities in the service of Krishna, one attains the supreme nirvana, which abides in Krishna. Since everything exists within Krishna, we cannot find peace outside of Krishna conscious activities. The supreme nirvana begins immediately as soon as you offer yourself to Krishna as His eternal servant. Simply you must trust in Krishna that if you fully surrender unto Him, He will take perfectly good care of you in all times, places, and circumstances. This faith is gained by the association of those who have already fully surrendered themselves unto Lord Sri Krishna. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Does It Take Time to Reach Pure Devotion? Dear teacher: Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Once you said that the order of the spiritual master carries in itself the potency for its succ

In this material world we experience a constant barrage of ups and downs, the nice and the not so nice, victory and defeat, honor and dishonor, etc. The key to always being happy is to not base our happiness on our immediate situation, which is always subject to the above mentioned dualities. Our happiness should be based instead on the underlying reality of existence, that we are the eternal emanations of the Supreme All-Loving Personality of Godhead and that all we have to do to be unlimitedly happy is to always be engaged in loving service to Him with all of our thoughts, words, and deeds in all times places and circumstances. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to Inspire Family Members to Chant? I am a regular reader of your powerful daily mail "Thought for the Day." I was always thinking to see you and impatiently waiting for your visit to Pune, India. Today (October 16) morning I attended your kirtan and lecture here in Pu

Recently we were very sad to lose one of our subscribers when he dropped out of our course. He stated his reason for leaving as follows: "I have gained all knowledge and don't want anymore." What he does not realize is that those who are full in knowledge become so much in love with God that all they want to do is hear and chant about Him twenty-hours a day without any cessation. There is so much to know about God that one can never know it all. The more one knows about God, the more he is hungry to know more about God. One who doesn't to know any more about God does not know God. I replied to this gentleman as follows: "Thank you very much for trying our course and honestly revealing why you are leaving. I beg to inform you that if you had actually gained all knowledge that you would want to go on expanding your knowledge unlimitedly to ever more deeply engage yourself in hearing, chanting, and remembering the unlimited glories of the all powerful, all beauti

While the "I am God" philosophy may have some benefit to bring an atheist away from the total denial of divinity to at least accepting the divinity of himself, it still falls short of the philosophical understanding that is required for one to gain relief from the cycle of birth of death. The reason is that whether we deny God or consider ourselves to be God, we are still being selfish or self-centered. It is this self-centeredness which keeps us entangled in this material existence. Therefore in order to become liberated from the cycle of birth and death we must come to God-centered platform on which we realize that we are the eternal servants of God. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why We Worship Krishna Only as Human? Why do we worship Krishna in human form only? Regards, Vibhor Answer: He's Worshipable in All 8,400,000 Species It's not that we worship Krishna only as a human. Even though Krishna's original

After an intense but ecstatic lecture series in Copenhagen along with an intense simultaneous two day marathon of replacing my computer's hard drive and reloading all its software, we are heading out today by air from Copenhagen (Denmark) to Helsinki (Finland) and from there by boat to Tallinn (Estonia). On Tuesday we will travel by car to Riga (Latvia). Why are we doing all of this austerity? We want to try our level best to push forward the Krishna consciousness movement for solving all of the problems of the world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: When Will Krishna Stop All the Evil? The world is getting more and more evil with the passing of time. Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita the He will come to protect the pious and destroy the miscreants. When will He do this? It's already very bad. People are trying to destroy our God-centered culture. When will Lord Krishna stop all the evil? I am eager to see Him doing it. Vi

It is sometimes said that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. And it certainly a fact that things sometimes get really tough in this material world. Such times are a great opportunity for us to get tough by becoming strong in our Krishna consciousness. This spiritual strength comes from taking complete shelter of the Lord in any and situations. This is on our only shelter. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Are My Parents My Creators? If I accept my parents as my creators before God then, am I right? Sangraam Answer: Krishna is Your Actual Father How can your parents can be your creators? You are an eternal spirit-soul who has always existed going back for unlimited millions and billions of years before you took birth as the child of the parents you have now. Krishna is the original source of everything. Therefore, Krishna is your actual father. You and your parents are all the children of Krishna. Sankarshan Das Adhikar

The entire human society is currently drowning deep in the dense darkness of delusion known as material consciousness. This is based on the false conception of considering the self to be the body. Instead of having a natural intuitive understanding of the reality that surrounds them, because of their having been grossly miseducated, they do not have a clue as to who they actually are and as to what is the purpose of their existence. Thus due to extreme ignorance, the entire human society has been plunged into a horrific suffering condition. By the mercy of the great enlightened sages we now have the knowledge by which to deliver them from their deeply seated ignorance and suffering and thus usher in a new age of unsurpassed peace and prosperity for all men in all nations. Therefore out mission is now to save the world by enlightening everyone in the science of Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Dealing with Anger Against

Even though the line between East and West is becoming blurrier as India becomes more and more westernized, there are still the wonderful vestiges of the ancient Vedic culture lingering on in India continuing to qualify it as the "holy land" of India. For this reason a visit to India is encouraging for anyone who wants to awaken their dormant Krishna consciousness. By the time you read this I will be back in the West, on my European lecture tour explaining the amazing wisdom that guided the human civilization for thousands and millions of years before the advent of the Kali yuga 5,000 years ago. Anyone who takes advantage of this knowledge will realize the supreme happiness and become the most fortunate person in the whole world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Explaining Bhakti Bliss to ISKCON Celibate Monks 20 October 2010--Juhu, Mumbai, India Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Who Is Qualified to Meet a Spiritual Master? It is said that when one is qualified

When disaster of any variety strikes the first thing to do is remember that Lord Krishna is the still the Supreme Controller and that therefore any disaster small or big is fully manageable if we simply take complete shelter of the Lord. In fact, disaster is our best friend because it gives us an unparalleled opportunity to realize how tiny and insignificant we are and how much we are completely dependent on the loving mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Today, my last day in India (20 October 2010), I was not able to boot up my computer properly and after running some diagnostics with the help of a technician I found out that my computer's hard disk was ruined and in need of replacement. For someone who uses their laptop computer constantly for answering emails and for writing and uploading "Thought for the Day" every day, a hard disk failure is a disaster. But by Krishna's grace my data was backed up and I am limping by still remaining engaged in answering

If you are attached to your misery, do not take to the pathway of Krishna consciousness, because if you do so in full earnestness, you will become completely free from all miseries forever. So now, you decide what you want. Do you want a temporary life, full of ignorance and misery? Or do you want an eternal life full of bliss and knowledge? So now, make your decision and do the needful to realize your goal. Sankarshan Das Adhikari ISKCON Temple, Juhu, Mumbai, India Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Is Pure Enjoyment Possible or Impossible? Is pure enjoyment possible or impossible in this material world? Is the struggle for survival compulsory? Avinash G. Answer: Pure Enjoyment is Possible in this World Pure enjoyment is possible in this material world, only if one fully surrenders to Krishna. If one does so, he will no longer be pinched by the struggle for existence. Even though he will continue working, his life will be transformed into a celebration o

My life's goal is to see that the entire world becomes Krishna conscious. Critics may label this as foolish naïveté, that I should not waste my time dreaming about realizing such an impossible goal. But what can I do? The order has been given to us by our spiritual master, "Become guru and make the entire world Krishna conscious." My duty as a disciple is to always meditate upon, worship, and try to successfully execute the orders given by my spiritual master. So possible or impossible is not an issue for me. Even if it were impossible, my prayer to Lord Krishna would be, "My dear Lord, kindly make the impossible possible so that we can successfully carry out the order that Srila Prabhupada has given us." Success or failure is not in our hands. That is up to Krishna. But whether or not we absorb ourselves fully in trying to carry out the order of our spiritual master, that is up to us. And if we can absorb ourselves fully in this way, our lives are already a g

In this material world superstars come and go like shooting stars. They appear out of nowhere and enjoy their brief fame fling as the center of attention until they burn off their good karma and vanish into oblivion becoming completely forgotten. But there is a supreme superstar whose fame is ever-increasingly expanding for all of eternity, who is never forgotten. That supreme superstar is Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is said by Canakya Pandita that although life is certainly short for everyone, if one acts properly, his fame will remain for a generation. But when it comes to devotees of the Lord, there is a different principle. Just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, is everlastingly famous, so those who are connected with the Lord through loving devotional service, the Lord's devotees, are also everlastingly famous. So there is no need to strive for the fleeting fame which one can achieve in this material existence. One should s

Srila Prabhupada wonderfully reveals the future hope of the world: "The real success or fulfillment of the mission of human life can be achieved in India, Bharata-varsa, because in Bharata-varsa the purpose of life and the method for achieving success are evident. People should take advantage of the opportunity afforded by Bharata-varsa, and this is especially so for those who are following the principles of varnasrama-dharma. If we do not take to the principles of varnasrama-dharma by accepting the four social orders (brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sudra) and the four orders of spiritual life (brahmacari, grihastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa), there can be no question of success in life. Unfortunately, because of the influence of Kali-yuga, everything is now being lost. The inhabitants of Bharata-varsa are gradually becoming degraded mlecchas and yavanas. How then will they teach others? Therefore, this Krishna consciousness movement has been started not only for the inhabitants

Last night (14 October 2010) as we were enduring a hellish traffic jam to gradually make our way from Pune to Nigadi, where I was scheduled to give a lecture, we passed a movie theatre advertising a movie called "Crook--It's Good to be Bad." I could immediately understand that the world society has been transformed into a hell on earth because we are now thinking that it is good to be bad and bad to be good. We cannot expect a happy life in such a demoniac society. Formerly during the Vedic times, when good was highly celebrated on all levels of the society and bad was denigrated, the atmosphere was very pleasant on this planet. Therefore the Krishna consciousness movement is dedicating to turning the topsy-turvy world back into an upright position by establishing in words and actions the Vedic principle that it is good to be good and bad to be bad. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Hellish Traffic Jam Traveling from Pune to Nigadi 14 October 2010 Ad for "Crook-It's Go

Today, 14 October 2010, all over the world people are celebrating and appreciating the rescue of 33 miners, who were trapped for 69 days nearly a half-mile under the earth's surface in the San Jose Mine, a gold and copper mine in northern Chile. One by one they were hoisted to the earth's surface in a specially designed rescue capsule. But there is even a greater rescue operation which is currently delivering souls who have been trapped in this material world for millions and billions of lifetimes. The 33 miners are still subject to birth, death, old age, and disease. And most of them will probably return to working in the risky mine again. But those who are rescued by the greatest of all rescue operations will never again be subjected to the miseries of material existence. These most fortunate of all souls are exiting this material world in the protective capsule of Krishna consciousness. Just imagine what kind of joyous celebration happens in the spiritual sky each time a co

Srila Prabhupada, you have instructed your disciples to become gurus and deliver the entire world. But how can we deliver the world when we cannot even deliver ourselves? It is only by your mercy, Srila Prabhupada, that we can become delivered. Similarly it is only by your mercy that in spite of our innumerable disqualifications we might be able to do something for delivering the suffering souls of this world. Therefore, since you have ordered us that we must deliver the entire world, the only thing we can do now is to bow down at your lotus feet and beg you with all the humility at our command that you kindly bless us that we can be delivered and that we can be 100% successful in carrying out your order to deliver the entire world. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that our movement will be successful when the high court judges all wear tilaka. So we are praying for that day, Srila Prabhupada, begging your mercy that such a wonderful, mellifluous day will come as soon as pos

Duty calls. Srila Prabhupada was called to depart from the sublime Krishna conscious atmosphere of Vrindavan to spread Krishna consciousness to every nook and corner of the world. Now I am also obliged to follow his order to give Krishna consciousness to the suffering people of this world. He instructed, "Become guru and deliver the whole world." Therefore I must leave Vrindavana for spreading this amazing science of Krishna bhakti all over the world. I must leave Vrindavan for the higher purpose of transforming the entire world into Vrindavana. This is a shared duty for all the members of the Krishna consciousness movement. If we are always in the mood of transforming the whole world into Vrindavana, we are always living in Vrindavana at every minute with no separation. This is the secret of how to always be happy in full Krishna consciousness. Because of the recent rains the Yamuna river is currently very wide and clean. I could not resist taking advantage of this auspicio

Every morning here in Vrindavan is the sweetest ecstasy. Rising early before 3 am. Taking bath. Dressing in devotional clothing. Sanctifying the body with sacred tilaka. Purifying my consciousness by Hare Krishna mantra japa meditation. Going to the temple to attending a nectarean mangala arati worship service diving deep into hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord and His pure devotees. Worshipping Srimati Tulasi devi. Waking, feeding and offering arati to Sri Sri Radha Damodar. More japa chanting. Meditating on the amazing transcendental name, fame, form, qualities, entourage, and paraphernalia of the all-perfect, all-beautiful, all-merciful, all-blissful, all-powerful unlimitedly sweet Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna. Studying verses from the ancient sacred Vedic scripture, the Srimad Bhagavatam. And then, top off the whole amazing six hours transcendental journey by honoring Krishna prasadam in the association of devotees. And this is just the start of the da

On 9 September 2010, our party consisting of eleven devotees headed out in two vehicles on a long drive to Kamyavan, one of the twelve forests of Vrindavana. Srila Prabhupada mentions Kamyavana in his Caitanya Caritamrita purport quoting from the Bhakti-Ratnakar: "In this Kamyavana, Krishna performed enchanting pastimes. Here you will be able to take darsana of many ponds and other transcendental spots. I cannot even describe in writing all the sacred tirthas found at Kamyavana." Our first stop was Bhojan Sthali. This is said to be, by the locals, a place where Krishna would take lunch with His cowherd boyfriends. There are imprints of the bowls and plates that are said to have been used by Krishna, embedded into the rock at this place. It is customary for one to bring a food offering when one comes here. I took advantage of this holy place of remembering Krishna's pastimes with the cowherd boys to personally make an offering to the Lord where the rocks are imprinte

Without God realization we are like a madman who doesn't know into which hole of his body to place his food. If we want taste, nourishment, and eradication of hunger from our eating, we must put the food into our mouths instead of into our eyes, ears, nose, or rectum. By putting the food into our mouth, every part of the body will receive the nutrition it needs. Similarly, the devotee knows that if he offers his loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it will then be wonderfully distributed to all living being throughout the entire universe. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Describing Where to Give our Love Sri Vrindavana Dhama--9 October 2010 Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question How to Realize that Krishna is His Name Please accept my humble obeisances. How we can increase our faith in the chanting of the holy name? Many times we hear in Srila Prabhupada's lectures that Krishna's holy name is non-different from Krishna Himself. Is it possib

By the amazing process of self-discovery or self-realization even the most miserable person in the world can become the most blissful, ecstatic person. This amazing transition can easily be accomplished simply if one taps into his original identity. The miseries of material existence are an artificial imposition on the suffering soul due only to his misidentification with the material body. All one has to do to revise his original, blissful nature is to engage regularly in the activities that are normal for the self in its liberated position, especially hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. In this way by gradually re-orienting his consciousness to it natural, original state, the most miserable person will in due course of time emerge as the most ecstatic person in the entire universe. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Teaching the Self-Realization Science in Vrindavan 26 September 2010 Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why Astanga Yoga is in Gita, Chapter 6? De

6 October 2010--While on parikrama today at the Sri Sri Radha Damodar temple in Vrindavana a monkey stole the glasses from Mr. Joshi, one of the members our of party. The monkey was so bold that he stole them from Mr. Joshi while he was wearing them. Sometimes the monkeys will accept bribes in the form of bananas or other foodstuffs to return the stolen goods, and sometimes they will accept the bribe and then not return what they have stolen. You may wonder why I am presenting such a topic where I normally present the science and philosophy of Krishna consciousness. The reason is that there is very nice simile here. One's mind is like a monkey. And that mind, if allowed to be uncontrolled, steals away one intelligence. One is no longer able to distinguish between illusion and reality. When one's mind becomes like a monkey one should feed it with the knowledge of Krishna consciousness. In this way one will be able to regain complete control over his mind and will have the cle

6 October 2010--Today we were blessed with the most amazing darshan of the Radharamana deity in Vrindavan. This deity appeared in a very amazing way. The story goes like this: Once in 1542, on Lord Narasimhadeva's appearance day a rich business man made an offering of clothes, crowns, and jewelry to Gopal Bhatta Goswami, who lamented that as he was worshipping a saligrama-sila ( which is round just like a stone), he could not utilize such articles like the other Goswamis were in dressing their Deities. Lamenting in this way, the Goswami took rest. Early the next morning, when he came to bathe his saligrama-silas, he discovered that one of the silas had transformed itself into the most beautiful Deity of Krishna, who had manifested Himself out of love, just to receive worship from Gopal Bhatta Goswami. Radharamana means "one who gives pleasure to Radha", and is one of the many names of Krishna. The altar is too far away from the darshan area of the temple room for one

What could be more ecstatic than rising early in the morning way before dawn in the holy place where Lord Sri Krishna enacted His transcendental pastimes 5,000 years ago and is indeed still enacting them today? This is Sri Vrindavana Dhama, the transcendental abode of Lord Sri Krishna. After taking bath, dressing in devotional clothing, and applying sacred clay on my body, I dive deep into meditation on Lord Sri Krishna's unlimitedly sweet and merciful holy names which are 100% non-different from Him. Then I proceed to Prabhupada's Samadhi which is abuzz with over a hundred devotees chanting their japa and drinking in the sweet nectar of Srila Prabhupada's mercy and Lord Sri Krishna's mercy. I prostate myself flat on the floor in front of the gigantic wooden doors behind which Srila Prabhupada regally sits in his deity form awaiting our worship. I then offer my humble obeisances to my eternal spiritual master with the following prayers: nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣn

4 October 2010--After finishing up a whirlwind three day lecture series of ten hours of teaching the science of Krishna bhakti in the New Delhi area, this morning we are heading back for more transcendental blissful purification in Lord Sri Krishna's transcendental abode, Sri Vrindavana Dhama. It was extremely gratifying to be able to explain the glories of Krishna consciousness to so many large receptive audiences here in greater New Delhi. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita that for one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed. Even though pure devotional service is only rarely achieved, it is assured by Krishna that those who teach it will definitely get. So I am very grateful that Lord Sri Krishna has given me so many nice opportunities to teach this ultimate science to so many receptive listeners here in greater New Delhi this past weekend. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Teaching the Highest Level of Meditation at ISKCON Noida, India--4

We keep thinking that our complete happiness and fulfillment is somewhere out there in the future because we are forgetting that liberation or pure Krishna consciousness is a state of being completely beyond the influence of time. In other words there is no amount of manipulation of the material energy even up to the point of becoming Brahmaji, the topmost energy manipulator in this universe, which can ever give us real and lasting satisfaction. Our only real happiness is to awaken our original, pure loving relationship with that supreme all-attractive person, who is the well-wisher of all, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Simply we have to resume our original relationship with Him as His eternal servants. This reality is fully available for us right now. All we have to do is enter into it. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Sankarshan Das Adhikari Teaches Pure Bhakti at ISKCON New Delhi, India--3 October 2010 Questions and Answers After the Class Answers According to the Vedic Version: