Ultimate Self Realization

Our greatest enemy is selfishness, our foolish tendency to serve only our own needs while neglecting the needs of others. Selfishness is mere foolishness because no man is an island. By our very nature we are meant to serve others. In fact, the more we make others happy, the more we become happy and satisfied. This is the law of nature. Therefore the very best service we can render is to give all others the ultimate happiness of delivering them from the cycle of birth and death. This is accomplished by reviving their original, dormant Krishna consciousness. Consequently, a life dedicated to inundating the entire world with Krishna consciousness is the most powerful and effective way for one to defeat selfishness, his greatest enemy. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How Can I Retain What I Read? I can't remember what I read in the Bhagavad-gita clearly . Is there a reason for this? How can I sharpen my memory so that I can explain Krish...

There is no reason for you to remain captured in maya, or the dreamlike illusory energy of material existence sometimes imagining that you are a king and sometimes imagining that you are a pauper, because the supreme source of all existence, the most stupendously astonishing person that you could ever hope to meet is ready to liberate you right now. All you have to do to bring about the total awakening of your original, all-knowing, all-blissful identify is call out to Krishna for deliverance in the mood of a small child crying for its mother. The great acharyas recommend this mantra as the most powerful and effective mantra for invoking the mercy of the Lord in this age: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare Utter these names regularly with all the feeling you can muster, and the dark night of ignorance and suffering will be dissipated by the rising sun of Krishna as you become more and more absorbed in His loving service. Y...

After a blissful stop in London to lecture on the Bhagavad-gita and to hold a Krishna conscious questions and answers session at ISKCON's Soho Street temple in London, we are heading out today for the Lord's most wonderful transcendental abode, Sri Vrindavana Dhama. A pilgrimage to this most sacred abode is an incredibly sublime opportunity for strengthening our Krishna consciousness and for regaining our original eternal identities as Krishna's eternal servants. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Vrindavan, the Wondrous Land of Krishna Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to Find Permanent Bliss? Hare Krishna, Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Day in and day out, I am trying very hard to become an ardent student of Krishna consciousness, but I always end up overwhelmed by miseries stemming from my work, people, corporate politics, mood swings, and other emotional disturbances. I am feeling very sick and tired of the...

Flying from Dallas to London on 26 March 2011 on the airplane we were offered many choices of films to watch. But because none of them were beneficial for my Krishna consciousness I did not want to watch any of them. This reminded me of the time back in 1969 when I was a young counter-cultural songwriter in Berkeley, California seeking spiritual enlightenment and spiritual revolution on this planet. Hare Krishna devotee Mukhanlal das brahmacari took me with him to spend the night at ISKCON's center in San Francisco at 518 Frederick Street. The next morning for the first time in my life I chanted one round of the Hare Krishna mantra on japa beads. Heading back to Berkeley later that morning I was feeling quite exhilarated. That evening in Berkeley I was visiting some people who were sitting around wasting their time watching some nonsense on television. Instead of wasting my time with them I went out on their front porch and wrote a song. The main line of the song was, "Do you...

To be initiated by any guru is not sufficient for going back to Godhead. The guru who can deliver you back to home, back to the spiritual world must himself be engaged 24 hours daily in Krishna's service and engage you also in doing that. Initiation means beginning. It does not mean that you are now delivered. It can be compared to registering as a student in a university. Registration does not mean that you are now graduated. It simply means that you are now formally beginning your studies. Would you want to enroll in a university that registers you but does not teach you anything? Being associated with such a university would be a useless waste of time. Similarly the association of any guru who does not teach you practically how to be engaged 24 hours daily in Krishna's service is a useless waste of time. Such a so-called guru should be scrupulously avoided. Find that guru who can engage you 24 hours daily in Krishna's service and take complete shelter of him as your ete...

After a spiritually invigorating two months hiatus at our home base in Austin, Texas we are back on the road again today to resume our travelling and preaching. Our first stop is in London where I will be giving the Sunday feast lecture at ISKCON's Hare Krishna temple on Soho street in downtown London. From there we will proceed to India to Sri Vrindavan dhama to purify our hearts in the Lord's transcendental abode and to New Delhi for a series of lectures at the ISKCON temples there. Then it will be back to eastern Europe for many ecstatic weeks of distributing the nectar of Krishna's mercy to many eager recipients there. If you would like to see the complete details of my lecture schedule for 2011 go to: http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/schedule Why do we do this at such great inconvenience? Srila Prabhupada describes that a sincere devotee after his initiation by the Lord or His bona fide representative, takes very seriously chanting of the glories of the Lord an...

Just as you are real and this world is real, the source of all existence is also real. And just as a gold mine must possess gold in order to produce gold, the existence mine from which everything is coming must have personality in order to produce so many personalities. That person who produces everything is supremely powerful because all of the characteristics that are found within existence must also necessarily be present in Him. It is not possible that you can possess something which the Supreme Person does not possess. Therefore just as you have names, that Supreme Person also has names. Just as someone who knows you can tell me your name, someone who knows God can also tell me what is His name. In this connection we have gotten information from Lord Brahma that God's name is Krishna or Govinda. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why is Krishna Really Blue? I found a article from last week which gave an impersonalistic interpretation...

The Vaisnava never considers himself to be a powerful controller. He always humbly, meekly feels himself to be very weak and insignificant. Therefore he always fully relies on the Lord's mercy in all times, places, and circumstances and always calls out to the Lord for protection knowing fully well that the Lord is his only shelter. In this way the Vaisnava although feeling himself to be very weak becomes so powerful that by the grace of the Lord he can transform human history by revolutionizing the entire universe with Krishna bhakti. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How Can I Make You Happy? You are so kind to me. That is way I always feel to thank you for your kindness to me. Can you please tell me how do you want me to make you happy? I want to make you feel, "Yes. This my disciple." Your servant, Didi Answer: Absorb Yourself Fully in Krishna Bhakti There is nothing that pleases the spiritual master more than seeing that...

Time and tide wait for no man. At any moment we can be ripped out of our bodies by the exacting law of death. So instead of foolishly dreaming that we will never die, we should intelligently face up to the inevitable reality and prepare ourselves for our eternal existence, full of knowledge and full of bliss, by immediately taking complete shelter of Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Do I Have to Chant "Krishna"? Dear Sir, Hare Krishna! Can you tell me please why the name of the Lord is now Krishna. For many years I have been chanting a different name. Do I have to change now? Dennis Answer: Any Name of God Can Be Chanted Since God is unlimited, there have always been unlimited names for God. Therefore can chant any one of the unlimited names for God and achieve the supreme perfection of going back to home back to Godhead. The name "Krishna" is one of the names and ...

Religion is grossly misunderstood both by its adherents and its detractors. The word "religion" comes from the Latin word "religio", which means to re-link or to reconnect. So the real meaning of religion is to re-link or to bring ourselves back into harmony with the complete whole, the source of our existence. Atheism means to deny that we have a source or an origin. But you can't show me anything that comes out of nothing. Everything comes out of something. Therefore we must come out of something. There is a complete whole of which we a part. The part of a thing is always meant to harmonize with the whole thing of which it is a part. That is its natural healthy state. Therefore in my natural, healthy state I must be in harmony with the complete whole, the origin of my existence. Therefore, I am a theist, a person who wants to be in harmony with the source of his existence. To not want to be religious or in harmony with the very ground of your being is sheer m...

Krishna Das Kaviraja describes that the devotees of Lord Caitanya illuminate the entire universe: jaya śrī-caitanyacandrera bhakta candra-gaṇa sabāra prema jyotsnāya ujjvala tri-bhuvana "All glories to the moons who are devotees of the principal moon, Lord Caitanyacandra! Their bright moonshine illuminates the entire universe." --Caitanya-Caritamrita (Adi 13.5) For this wonderful verse Srila Prabhupada gives a purport as follows: In this verse we find the moon described as candra-gaṇa, which is plural in number. This indicates that there are many moons. In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says, nakṣatrāṇām ahaṁ śaśī: "Among the stars, I am the moon." (Bg. 10.21) All the stars are like the moon. Western astronomers consider the stars to be suns, but Vedic astronomers, following the Vedic scriptures, consider them moons. The sun has the ability to shine powerfully, and the moons reflect the sunshine and therefore look brilliant. In Caitanya-caritamrịta Krishna is des...

What to do when you are so completely and totally paralyzed and overwhelmed by maya that you cannot even begin to engage in any of nine different types of devotional service? The first thing you need to do is to remember is that there is no power anywhere in the universe that can defeat the power of Krishna consciousness. In other words, in the presence of Krishna maya's power dwindles away into insignificance. So all you really have to do to get out of maya is invoke Lord Krishna's presence by saying His name or by dong something, even a very small thing, in his service. By doing even one small devotional activity you will get strength to do something else. And then by doing that something else you will be blessed with even more strength to do something else. In this way if you keep the momentum going, you will very soon become a highly empowered devotee who can spread Krishna consciousness all over the universe. Sankarshan Das Adhikari When You Are Paralyzed with Bewilderme...

What day can be more auspicious than the appearance day of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu? He is Krishna Himself appearing in His most merciful manifestation to bestow freely upon all without any restriction pure love of Godhead. It is up to us to now take full advantage of His unlimited mercy and easily qualify ourselves to go back to home, back to Godhead at the end of this lifetime. The wonderful mercy of Lord Caitanya and His associates is described as follows in the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi Lila, Chapter Seven, Verse 163: ei pañca-tattva-rūpe śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya kṛṣṇa-nāma-prema diyā viśva kailā dhanya "Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates of the Pañca-tattva distributed the holy name of the Lord to invoke love of Godhead throughout the universe, and thus the entire universe was thankful." In his purport to this verse Srila Prabhupada writes: "Here it is said that Lord Caitanya made the entire universe thankful to Him for propagating the sankirtana...

It's all too easy to be caught up in selfishness, thinking only about our own happiness and neglecting the happiness of others. But since we do not exist alone, such selfishness has never made anyone happy. Our existence depends on Krishna. Therefore any attempts to be happy separately from Krishna will always prove in the end to be a failure. We can only be truly happy when we reconnect ourselves with Krishna and share His mercy with everyone. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: If I Don't Become Self-Realized? Your "Thought of the Day" is a great help to me. What happens if I do not become fully self-realized in this lifetime? I try to meditate but then after several days it is becomes hard to meditate My mind deviates from meditation. In the beginning I am able meditate for a week without a problem but after that I am not able to concentrate, and I am fall back into illusion. Please help me. How can I keep this fresh and l...

The unreality of this material existence becomes so complicated that it is very difficult to get out of it. It is something like having a dream within a dream, within a dream, within a dream, within a dream. In other words, even if you realize you are dreaming, it becomes inextricably confusing when you realize that you are dreaming that you are dreaming that you are dreaming, that you are dreaming. How to wake up and get out? This is why a bona fide spiritual master is required. With one full swoop he immediately cuts completely through the hard knot of the million-layered phantasmagoria and brings you back to the reality of who you really are. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada Cuts Through Illusion Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why the Supreme Personality? Please advise why you refer to Lord Krishna as the “Supreme Personality” of Godhead. We could just say Lord Krishna or the Supreme Lord Krishna. So why is it that many ISKCON books and devotees ref...

Just as in wartime the front line soldiers remain constantly vigilant guarding against an enemy attack, which can occur at any moment, in a similar way the fixed up devotee of the Lord is always on guard against the attack of maya. He knows that he must always take shelter of Krishna at every moment and that even a slight amount of inattention can prove to be disastrous. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada is Always Alert in Krishna Consciousness Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Can We Change the Rules of ISKCON? Dear Spiritual Master, You are a person with lot of spiritual knowledge and years of dedication to ISKCON, and I am simple person who is worshipping Krishna and has spiritual knowledge gained after listening to saints in and reading books. Please forgive me if I am writing anything wrong but I need your point of view on these points. That's why I am writing this e-mail to you. Times has changed a lot. We are now in 21st Century. But ISKCON is n...

There is nothing worse than a cluttered brain because in such a confused state one cannot properly focus on anything, especially on life's ultimate goal of realizing God. Therefore the intelligent person regularly cleanses his mind by chanting God's holy names. Such regular chanting gradually clears away all the mental clutter and the devotee becomes solidly fixed in blissful, wise, and compassionate one-pointed Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada Deeply Absorbed in Japa Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How You Say Krishna is the Only God? Jesus Christ is the real truth. How do you say that Krishna is the only God? Where is the proof of His existence? Could God be dual characterized? Servant of God Answer: We Only Say to Purely Love God We are not trying to prove to you that Krishna is God. We simply desire that everyone should purely love God. That's all. There is a Supreme Being who is the source of all existence. This...

Don't be like a dumb animal in a slaughter house complacently accepting birth, death, old age, and disease, blindly accepting them as unavoidable, unchangeable aspects of existence. You can easily and permanently conquer over them if you will simply revive your lost loving relationship with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If you do so, you will enter into an eternal, all-blissful, all-wise, existence. So instead of blaming God for these miseries, be intelligent and blame yourself for foolishly accepting these miseries. In this way if you will take proper guidance from the bona fide spiritual master, you will conquer over them. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Can You Request Prayer for Japan? Respected Gurudeva, I hope you must be aware of the misery, in Japan. I am praying to the Lord that the nuclear reactor should not burst. Can you kindly request all the devotees to pray for the people of Japan? S. Kumar Answer: Why O...

On Friday March 11, 2011 one of the the most ferocious earthquakes in recorded history slammed Japan triggering a 30 foot high tsunami wreaking inconceivable devastation on many Japanese towns and villages and sweeping all the way across the Pacific causing substantial damage and even death on the west coast of the USA. Where is the security in this world? There is none. This is why there is a saying, "As sure as death." Therefore the only way to obtain true and lasting peace of mind is become immune from death by awakening your dormant Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Earthquake Triggered Tsunami Devastates Japan Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How We Fell from the Spiritual World? I find it hard to understand the fact that we are originally part and parcel of Krishna but we have fallen from the spiritual world. My question is: Who would get distracted or attracted towards material world when Krishna is all-attractive, all powerful and ...

Human civilization devoid of God consciousness is an ant civilization. The ants are running this way and that way simply to get food to take back to their anthill. A human civilization whose only focus is material sense gratification is no more of a civilization than an anthill. Real human civilization means self-realization civilization, not ant civilization. As long as they remain like ants simply pursuing material sense gratification, the stringent laws of material nature will dictate that they take birth again as ants. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Human Highway Less Congested Ant Highway Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why Can't Krishna Save A Fallen Devotee? Is is stated that Krishna is merciful and very kind. Krishna is very dear to His devotees. And those who glorify Krishna are very much dear to Him. So my question is: If someone renders service to Krishna, feels attachment to Him, and gradually become purified, why does he fall down and forget Krishna...

One who is solidly fixed in Krishna consciousness never falls down because he is constantly relishing within his heart a sweetness which surpasses by millions, billions, and even trillions of times the happiness derived from material sense gratification. Even if he were offered heavenly enjoyment in the upper planetary systems where the pleasure is thousands of times greater than the pleasure on this planet, he would still not be allured because even one drop of the ocean of transcendental bliss is more satisfying and uplifting than unlimited oceans of sensual pleasure. Sankarshan Das Adhikari The Pure Devotee Relishes Unlimited Transcendental Bliss Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Are Indian Gurus Superior? There are some devotees in ISKCON saying that the Indian gurus are more bona fide than the Western gurus. So can you please give some sastric proof that this is not a correct statement? Your servant, Gopati Krishna Dasa Seremban, Malaysia Answer: Hell's...

Just as the seasons regularly change, in this material world we are regularly faced with the dualities of happiness and distress. Just as the seasons cannot be changed, the happiness and distress of this material existence will continue to go on in a cyclical fashion. Therefore we should not allow ourselves to be disturbed in any situation and should continue to execute the duties given to us by our spiritual master in all circumstances. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Krishna Consciousness on the Job Gurudeva, many of Krishna’s devotees have normal everyday jobs. Therefore, can you please explain how the devotees transform their mundane employment into a Krishna conscious activity? Your humble servant, Li Di Answer: Offer the Results to Krishna The devotee makes his job Krishna conscious by engaging the income derived from it in Krishna's service. In this way his job becomes perfectly dovetailed in Krishna's service. In other wo...

The first qualification for a being a devotee of Krishna is to be kind. If a person is actually Krishna conscious, his heart will bleed with compassion to see the suffering condition of the human society, and he will fully dedicate his life to saving them in spite of all the criticism that he receives for doing so. Jesus Christ did not let anything stand in the way of the execution of his mission to save the people from their suffering. He was undaunted even in the face of crucifixion. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada is Unlimitedly Kind Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Who Can Become the Next Acharya? Do you deliver your disciple personally or does Srila Prabhupada deliver him? Did Srila Prabhupada give you the order to be the next acharya? I know he said for all his disciple to be guru. Of course, that does not mean acharya. You said "I was blessed with the greatest mercy of being accepted as a disciple of such an uttama-adhikari, His Divine Grace...

Even in material life we see that thinking outside of the box, in other words thinking beyond the mental stereotypes imposed upon us by the material society, has its distinct advantages. For example, normally it is considered that the road to material success is to get a college degree. But two of the most successful paradigm-shifting innovators in today's society, Bill Gates-the founder of Microsoft and Steven Jobs-the co-founder of Apple Computers, were both college dropouts. The point is that that we should not be blind followers of the material civilization. We should use our own intelligence to see that because every machine has an operator the gigantic cosmic machine must therefore also have an operator. We should not be blindly swept away by Darwinian atheism, even though it is being taught in the universities and regularly promoted in the mass media as gospel. Don't be a slave of the box. Use your intelligence, see things as they are, and act in full accordance and har...

As quoted by Srila Rupa Goswami, one gopi warned her gopi girlfriend: "My dear friend, if you still have any inclination to enjoy material society, friendship, and love, then please do not look at the smiling face of Govinda as He stands on the bank of the Yamuna at Kesighat. Casting sidelong glances, He places His flute to His lips, which seem like newly blossomed twigs. His transcendental body, bending in three places, appears very bright in the moonlight." This is reverse psychology. This gopi is giving the greatest encouragement to her gopi friend to go and behold the most beautiful smiling face of Govinda by advising her not to go. It is a fact that once we get a taste of Krishna's sublime beauty we will never again be attracted to or satisfied by the so-called attractive things of this world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Govinda on the Bank of the Yamuna River Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Survival Without Making Money? I totally agree that thi...

Why settle for ever-increasing chaos and confusion in this material world's cycle of birth and death when you can instead taste ever-increasing bliss by reviving the dormant love of God within you heart? While suffering is the pastime of the ignorant, those who are wise move up to a higher level of consciousness beyond the three modes of material nature and qualify themselves to regain their eternal identities in that wondrous spiritual sky where people never die. Sankarshan Das Adhikari The Amazing Spiritual Sky, Land of Immortality Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Godhead and Mayavadis My dear Srila Gurudeva, Why do we call God "Godhead"? And why does Your Grace talk about Mayavadi followers as people who do not worship well and do not understand, while we are asked to accept all religions and their way of expressing themselves? J. Answer: Head God and Formlessness Advocates The word "god" can refer to any controller such as the moon ...

This material world is a place of bad association. This is why you need the association of Krishna's devotees as much as possible. And this is why it is imperative that you take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master for being expertly guided along the pathway of self-realization. In other words, your consciousness is a mirror of those with whom you associate. By associating with materialists you become a materialist. And by associating with spiritualists you become a spiritualist. Since earning a livelihood means associating with materialists for many hours a day, your life should not be centered around earning your livelihood. It must be centered instead on awakening the dormant Krishna consciousness, which is currently sound asleep within your heart. This will give you a life of unbelievably stimulating happiness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Great Saint's Association Gives Unlimited Benefit Srila Prabhupada Walks With His Disciple Answers According to the Vedic Version: Q...

If you want to taste the real nectar of Krishna consciousness, you must master the art of regularly diving deeply into the sweet, nectarean ocean of Lord Sri Krishna's holy names. The deeper you go, the sweeter it gets. And all the miseries of material existence will gradually fade away into non-existence. In other words you will no longer be touched by them. You will awaken to your eternal, pure identity as a servant of Krishna, the most munificent, beautiful person, who is ever inviting the fallen conditioned souls to associate with Him in the ever-expandingly sublime rasa of devotion, the eternal serving mood. Sankarshan Das Adhikari The Most Munificent, Beautiful Krishna Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Suicide and Abortion? I would like to know your opinion about suicide. It's a very low act, but it is not like harming other creatures. After committing this act, after leaving the body and that particular unwanted life, where does the soul of the doe...

There's nothing like Krishna consciousness throughout the three worlds. Indeed, it is unsurpassable with no rival throughout the entirety of existence. It is the quintessence of sweetness, the epitome of knowledge, as well as the topmost perfection of love. And most wonderfully, it is readily available right now for all those who ardently desire it. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why Lord Shiva Smokes Marijuana? My dear Gurudeva, I beg to clarify a doubt. A Muslim friend of mine argued that Lord Shiva is considered as the greatest Vaishnava, but yet he contradicts Vaishnava principles by smoking marijuana. Why does Lord Shiva smoke marijuana, even though he is considered to be the greatest Vaishnava? Surender K. Answer: He Can Smoke It, While We Cannot. Just as the sun is so powerful it can extract water from urine without being polluted, Lord Shiva is so powerful that he can swallow an ocean of poison without being harmed. Similarl...

The Hare Krishna movement was started to save the world from degradation and devastation. We are requesting therefore that all thoughtful and sensitive persons throughout the world should now seriously investigate this movement to see how it can save the world and then join forces with this movement for bringing in a new age of peace and prosperity for all. Since, at least for now, this world is the home that we all share, we should make it the best place possible by flooding it with Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Devotees Singing and Dancing in Boston Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Rama and Hare in the Mahamantra My questions are this: In the mahamantra does the name 'Rama' refer to Lord Balarama, to Sri Ramachandra, the son of King Dasarath, or to Parsurama, who killed many ksatriya kings? Does the name 'Hare' in the same mahamantra refer to Radharani, the personified energy of pleasure of Lord Sri Krishna? Dev Answer: Any an...

Presently the world economy is based on oil, which is in limited supply and will eventually run out. Therefore to base the global economy on oil is artificial and not a very intelligent way of organizing the human society. We are told that there will be alternative sources of energy such as solar power to take the place of oil before it is gone. But where is the proof that alternative sources of energy can sustain the human civilization? We already have the time-proven Vedic economic system that is based on the land, cows and bulls. Why are the current world leaders not encouraging these natural energy sources for economic stability in this time of an ever-increasingly unstable global economy? It's time they wake up and start doing their jobs properly before it's too late. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Which is Better for Long Run Economic Stability? Ox Power or Oil Power? Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why Preference to Krishna? Please accept my humble ob...