Bringing Light and Life to Jonava, Lithuania

On 20 April 2011, by the nice arrangement of my disciple, Sankirtan Das, we had a wonderful opportunity to spread the light and life of Krishna consciousness to a hall full of sincere souls in Jonava, Lithuania. After an ecstatic kirtan and a lecture on mantra meditation I was amazed by the endless stream of wonderful questions asked by the various local people who were attending. One lady asked, "Since the people of Lithuania are Christians, why should we practice Krishna Consciousness?" I polled the audience to see how many Lithuanian people present were devotees of Lord Krishna and how many were Christians. There were more Lithuanian Krishna devotees than there were Christians. The audience laughed enthusiastically to see how I handled her argument. But then she countered that outside of this meeting the overwhelming majority Lithuanian people are Christians. To this I responded that actually everyone in Lithuania is already a devotee of Krishna, simply they have not realized it yet. She could not say anything in response. In this way I answered many questions one after another until finally I ended the lecture and many people purchased our books so they could continue learning more about Krishna consciousness after going home.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Revealing Secrets of Mantra Meditation Jonava, Lithuania

Many People Were Inspired to Buy Our Books

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Does Humility Breed Low Self Esteem?

Dear Srila Gurudeva,

Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I have a question about humility and low self-esteem. Both mean that one feels insignificant. What is the difference? Humility is considered good, but low self-esteem is considered to be very destructive. I have a friend also, who used to be a devotee, but now says that all religions only destroy your self-esteem and want you to feel guilty and indebted.

Your servant,

K.D.

Answer: Humility Brings the Highest Esteem

"Used to be a devotee" means that your friend never understood the full import of the sublime teachings of Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita. If he had done so, he would have never given up Krishna consciousness. He would also not be under the foolish misconception that there are different religions. Religion is one, to revive your lost eternal intimate loving relationship with the Supreme Person, the source of all existence.

One who misidentifies himself with his body, which is nothing but a bag of blood, flesh, stool, urine, mucus, and vomit, must necessarily suffer from low esteem. To be rescued from such a miserable life of low esteem and come to genuine high esteem one needs to understand and realize that he is not the material body, that he is instead an eternal spiritual being qualitatively one with God.

Those who are truly humble possess the highest possible esteem as confirmed by Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita. Although they personally do not seek honor and distinction, because their lives are fully dedicated to broadcasting the glories of the Lord all over the universe, they are personally given the highest recognition by the Lord Himself and are thus revered as the most esteemed persons in world history.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari