Ultimate Self Realization

I was a miserable, always depressed college student who wanted more than anything to know what is the meaning of life. But my professors and my text books did not and could not answer this question. Then in my third year of college I heard that there was something called "self-realization" which solved all of life's riddles. So in pursuit of self-realization I followed the teachings of a "guru" who had me staring at a candle in a darkened room to become self-realized. After a prolonged endeavor when his teachings didn't work I finally got a little bit of bliss by burning all of his home study lessons to ashes. Another "guru," who made money off of me by charging me an initiation fee, had me silently meditating twice a day on the syllable "Aing." When my repeating "aining" did not work I abandoned that scam also. But then one fateful evening in the fall of 1968 in Denver, Colorado USA in my apartment at 1271 Lafayette Street a f

There is no reason to let anxiety get you down because anxiety here in this material world is the special blessing of Krishna to help us remember that this anxiety-ridden material world is not actual home. Our real home is in the spiritual world, which is completely free from anxiety. If we accept anxiety as a blessing instead of a curse, it will not bring us down. Rather than disturbing ours mind it will be an impetus for increasing our transcendental bliss. So now it is our choice how we decide to deal with anxiety. I hope you make the right choice because I do not like for anybody to be miserable. Don't Be Crippled by Anxiety Nothing is Not the Origin of Everything Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Is Nothing the Origin of Everything? Do you agree that in the beginning there was nothing, which then exploded? Matt Swedlow Answer: Nothing Comes from Nothing If in the beginning there was nothing, there would be nothing to be exploded and nothin

One of the four regulative principles for initiated devotees of Krishna is "No illicit sex." So what does that mean? Does it mean that one can only have sex with one's wife? Or does it mean something more than that? In this connection Srila Prabhupada has written n his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, Fifth Canto, Chapter 13, Text 4 as follows: "Those who strictly follow the rules and regulations of householder life engage in sex only once a month, at the end of the menstrual period." In this connection he also explained in a morning walk conversation on 17 February 1974 in Bombay: "You cannot have sexual intercourse with wife as you like, no. That is also illicit sex. Then... When the woman is in menstrual period, after five days, you can have once. As soon as she is pregnant, no more sexual intercourse. This is human being. Not that like animal." In the Vedic culture the act of begetting of a child is not done whimsically but is only done in conjun

In Mumbai, India on 7 January 1973 Srila Prabhupada confirmed that the whole world is now waiting to be awakened in Krishna consciousness. So let us perform our sacred duty of doing just that, awakening them to the transcendental world of Krishna consciousness, so that everyone can be restored to their original identities as the eternal servants of Krishna. This will bring a wondrous new era of peace and happiness to the entire earth, which will then amazingly become in many ways like a spiritual planet. Holy Names Tidal Wave Flooding Germany Lord Caitanya's Movement Will Completely Transform Our Planet Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Is There Hope for the Future? Is there hope for the future despite the ever-increasing spiritual and moral decline in mankind? Mike Castrova Answer: There is Great Hope! There is great hope of a spiritual revival on this planet. This is why I have dedicated the last half a century of my life for this purpose. In fact, i

On 24 September 2019 we traveled through dense forests to the remote village of Antakalne in Lithuania, which has a population of only one hundred. It was very enlivening to experience Hare Krishna kirtan in such a remote place with such an enthusiastic group of chanters. I am praying to Krishna that that day will come soon when the whole world falls in love with chanting Hare Krishna. If such a day can come, it will be the dawning of one of the most amazingly wondrous era in human history. May that day come soon. May that day come soon. On the return drive to Vilnius our driver, my disciple Damodar Das, had to be very careful because there were so many deer on the two lane highway. Kirtan in Antakalne, Lithuania There is No One More Beautiful Than Krishna Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Are You a Pure Devotee? Have You Seen God? Dear Guru Maharaj, Please accept my obeisances. We are told that we should believe in the scriptures and do bhakti (

On 2 May 1972 when Srila Prabhupada was in Tokyo he wrote to his disciple Karandhara Das stating, "If only 1% become devotees, that will change the world." This is a great encouragement for those who preaching the Krishna consciousness movement. Right now the world population is 7.7 billion. So all we need to change the world is to convince 77 million people to take up Krishna consciousness. If we can do so, a wonderful new atmosphere will be manifested on this planet. Just see the power and potency of the Lord's devotee on affecting the atmosphere around him. So let us now work diligently to get that one person out of every hundred people properly situated in Krishna consciousness. If we can do so, this will be truly revolutionary. The Caitanya Era will become fully manifested on this planet. The Most Merciful Lord Caitanya This is God Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Knowledge and Belief? What is the difference between knowledge and bel

The Vaishnavas, the devotees of the Supreme Lord, fully embrace Lord Caitanya's world deliverance mission accepting it as their very life and soul. Their hearts are full of anxiety for the deliverance of all living entities from the so-called enjoyment of this material world, which is nothing more than disguised misery. They are always anxious to give all the bewildered materialists the real happiness of spiritual bliss. They do not want to be liberated alone leaving the fools and rascals stuck in the cycle of birth and death. They know that unless the people of this world take shelter of Krishna's lotus feet they cannot be happy. Therefore they desire to bring all the fallen souls of this material world back to Krishna, even if they have to take birth after birth to do so. Spiritual world or material world does not matter to the Lord's devotees because having taken complete shelter of the lotus feet of Krishna they always feel happy and protected in any and all situati

Suffering is the pastime of fools. Those who are enriched with transcendental knowledge relish within their hearts at every minute the greatest happiness of pure love of God and for all living beings. This art of pure love is learned from the bona fide spiritual master, not one of the cheating so-called gurus who is simply after your money. In the beginning of my self-realization path I was cheated and misled by such so-called gurus who had a material agenda behind their so-called spiritual teachings. But a half a century ago after I was fortunate to find a bona fide spiritual master and was blessed by God with the intelligence to fully surrender unto him my life has been transformed into the most exciting, exhilarating adventure at every minute. Don't Be Misguided by a Bogus Guru Even If He Can Display Mystic Power Today's Depressed Youth Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Why 90% of Youngsters are Depressed? Today about 90% of youngsters are in depr

Why in the world would somebody want to become Krishna conscious when they could instead focus their lives on enjoying the things of this world as much as possible? The answer is that since we are not actually creatures of this material world all of our attempts to enjoy here are artificial. This is compared to a fish trying to enjoy himself on the land. No matter what facilities you give Mr. Fish on the land he can never be satisfied because this is not his natural environment. So instead of futilely try to satisfy himself on the land, Mr. Fish should ask someone to toss him back into the water. Then and only then will he be happy. A Fish Out of the Water... Is Miserable In Spite of All Facilities on the Land. But Back in the Water He is Happy Remembering Krishna or God is Pure Ecstasy Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Rule for All Humans? Is there any rule you think should be followed by all the humans, but that is not part of the mainstream?

Our mission given to us by Lord Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada is to now make the whole world Krishna conscious. Of course, seeing how materialistic the whole world is at the present time this seems to be completely impossible, a mere utopian dream. But by the grace of Lord Sri Krishna even the most highly impossible things can become possible. It is very encouraging to read in this connection what ISKCON's Founder-Acharya HIs Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has written in this connection. In his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, First Canto, Chapter 5, Text 23 he states: "The expert spiritual master knows the art of utilizing everything to glorify the Lord, and therefore under his guidance the whole world can be turned into the spiritual abode by the divine grace of the Lord's servant." This is why we must now flood this planet with Srila Prabhupada's books so that everyone can come to understand the great benefit of following Srila Prabhupada

Spirituality or materiality, which is your choice? Everyone has this choice. They can choose between a life dedicated to matter or a life dedicated to spirit. An intelligent person will open-mindedly consider the pros and cons of each lifestyle in order to carefully discriminate which is the best choice. Materiality has the benefit of giving instant gratification and the deficit of total defeat at the time of death with transmigration into the animal or plant species in one's next birth. Spirituality has the deficient of delayed benefit and the reward of an eternal life, full of knowledge and bliss. This can be compared with the decision of whether one should immediately get a job after graduating from high school or whether one should sacrifice earning money for a few more years in order to get a college education. In the long run who makes more money, the high school graduate or the college graduate? In the long who gets greater happiness, the spiritualist or the materialist?

In this material world everyone is running after lusty pleasures thinking them to be the greatest enjoyment of life. The real fact is that all of these lusty dealings are simply making people and more miserable and turning this planet into more and more of a hell. Instead of being lusty to enjoy sex life Krishna's devotee transforms his lust into love by his intense desire to make the whole world Krishna conscious as soon as possible. Why make one woman pregnant when you can make the whole pregnant by planting the seed of love of God with their hearts, enlightening everyone in the science of Krishna consciousness? This is the greater sex life. Lust is the Doorway to Misery Under Krishna's Order Evil Was Destroyed Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: How Evil Could Come Back? In the Bhagagad-gita 4.7, Lord Krishna says, “Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion -- at th

My burning anxiety is see a world around me in which everyone is totally engrossed in material sense gratification and thus according to their karma is going down to the animal kingdom in their next births. We try to enlighten them in the science of Krishna consciousness to save them from this fate but sadly they are not interested. Somehow or other we must find the ways and means to attract the entire global society to regularly chant the Hare Krishna mantra and to mold their lives according to the most sublime teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada because his teachings, if followed sincerely, will usher a new age of unparalleled peace and prosperity all over the world. Srila Prabhupada's Teachings Will Transform Our World into a Paradise Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Attaining Inner Peace? How tough was it for you to achieve inner peace? Abhay Gupta Answer: Surrender to the Bona Fide Spiritual Master I went through ma

Maya's job is to keep us entangled in the cycle of birth and death drowning in the ocean of birth, death, old age, and disease. To attract us to remain in her clutches she gives us the allurements of material sex pleasure, intoxication, gambling, money, fame, and power, etc. Those who are foolish are duped by her tricks and remain prisoners of the material energy. And those who are intelligent and philosophically inclined take shelter of Lord Sri Krishna in order to return to their original home in the spiritual world far, far, far beyond all the sufferings of this material existence. The Spiritual World is the Land of Unlimited Bliss Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Spirituality for Overcoming Bad Habits? Is spirituality the only way to overcome bad habits? Gaurav Oberoi Answer: Spirituality Means No Bad Habits Since materiality is the root cause of all bad habits, as long as one is in material consciousness his bad habits will never go away. He mu

Taking to Krishna consciousness is the perfection of our existence. It is unlimitedly sweet and sublime.By taking seriously to this most enlightening process we have nothing to lose except for all of our anxieties and we have absolutely everything to gain. When the world population finally realizes how marvelously splendid is this ecstatic process of Krishna consciousness the whole world will join this movement. May that day come soon. May that day come very soon! Our Modern Day World is an Anxiety-Filled World Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Feeling Pity is Good or Bad? Dear Srila Gurudeva, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Is is good or bad for one's Krishna consciousness to pity the suffering of others? Sincerely,, Joe from Austin Answer: It is the Highest Good From: Sofia, Bulgaria My Dear Bhakta Joe, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Your question is very nice. Lord Ca

Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna appearing in the form of His own devotee. He has very wonderfully taught us as follows the art of how to always fully absorbed in pure love of God: tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ "One can chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking himself lower than the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and ready to offer all respects to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly." (Śikṣāṣṭaka 3) If we take Lord Caitanya's advice seriously, we will easily attain spiritual perfection. Lord Caitanya--the Golden Avatar Answers According to Vedic Wisdom Question: If Everything is an Illusion? If everything is Maya or illusion, then how about enlightenment? Bhadra Parekh Answer: Then That Concept is Also an Illusion Bhadra, if ever

It has been many times said that today's materialistic society is nothing more than a society of the cheaters and the cheated. Nothing could be truer than this. Everywhere we go we are being misguided and misled to embrace a life of material sense gratification in order to find the so-called true happiness of life. Those are fortunate realize that this simply a big sham and that there is no real happiness in sense gratification. And those who are most fortunate are blessed by the teachings of a bona fide spiritual master, who enlightens them how to quickly and easily awaken the state of pure transcendental happiness within their hearts by fully absorbing themselves in loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila Prabhupada Enlightens His Disciples Answers According to Vedic Wisdom Question: What is the Reason for Happiness? What is behind the desire for liberation from earthly existence? Zevi Weinberg Answer: Our Natural State of Consciousness Just a

Sometimes we hear the philosophy that it is dangerous to get too much into Krishna consciousness because it you make a failure in your material life. Krishna instructs us in the Bhagavad-gita to give up all other duties and simply fully surrender to Him. By doing so will one become neglectful and irresponsible in his family and occupational duties? One may think that anyone who gets too much into Krishna consciousness will not be materially successful, therefore it is better not to get too much into Krishna consciousness, it is best not to bring my children to any Hare Krishna programs so that it does not spoil their future careers. In this connection it should be carefully noted that one of the qualities of a devotee is daksha, expert. This means that the devotee becomes expert in every aspect of life, including his family and occupational duties. Just like Arjuna, for example, even though a great pure devotee was as a ksatriya, a warrior, by occpation. When it came to executing h

Things are developing so nicely now here in our Austin center that we feel that we should remain here full time to help things move forward even more. But I also have an obligation to nurture and strengthen my disciples all over the world. Hence we will continue with our program of traveling and preaching with the adjustment of spending more time in Austin. Neophyte devotees often go through various kinds of struggle and thus require the guidance of more experienced devotees to help them overcome the hurdles. This is I why I make myself fully available by email for anyone who needs help and encouragement in their spiritual life. Super Ecstatic Program at ISKCON Austin Answers According to Vedic Wisdom Question: Best Example of Success? What is the best example of success when no one believed in it? Suhaib Bin Younis Answer: Srila Prabhupada The best example of success when no one could have believed that it could be possible is the example of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.

Please help us promote this video on Facebook. We want it to go super viral so that the entire world can become Krishna conscious. You can find the video by clicking on this link: Take me to the Video. If we can awaken people to Krishna consciousness, their lives will become free from all anxiety. And if this goes viral we can turn the entire earth planet into a heavenly planet. Let's Make the Video Go Viral Right Now Answers According to Vedic Wisdom Question: ISKCON Scam? What is the ISKCON Scam? Anonymous Answer: We Cheat People Out of Their Suffering We cheat everyone out of their false material identity, which is the cause of unlimited suffering, so that they can realize their factual eternal, all-blissful, fully cognizant spiritual identity. If this is cheating, may the whole world now be cheated. Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Early this morning I made a run to the grocery store to buy a half gallon of milk for Gurumata's making some milk burfi for Sri Sri Radha Damodar. The milk department was stocked with a huge supply of milk as are millions of grocery stores all over the world. This milk is coming from the cow, who is considered to be our second mother according to the Vedic wisdom. Why our second mother? Just as we take breast milk from our first mother we also take the breast milk from our second mother, who produces far more milk than her calf can drink. But we are so cruel that when our second mother's breast milk dries up we kill her and eat her flesh. What type of civilization is this? It's a mother killing civilization. The karmic reaction from the mother killing is wreaking tremendous havoc upon the human civilization in so many ways such as the recent hurricane which recently devastated the Bahamas and thousands and millions of other difficulties. How Could Anyone Want to Kill Th

As young brahmacari monk back in the early 70's at a Krishna conscious festival in the question and answer session at the end of the lecture I asked the speaker, "How to overcome laziness?" I was afraid he was going to say, "By hard work." Still I was prepared to accept this answer, even though for me who had formerly been a lazy hippy who was still dealing with a tendency towards laziness it would surely be a bitter pill. However, the answer he gave me was so profound and so wonderful that I still remember it even though almost a half a century has passed. Instead of giving a long winded answer, he simply said, "By love." This makes a lot of sense. When you truly love someone there is no question of hard work. Ask a mother why she is working so hard to take care of her baby, and she will say that she is not working, that she is simply taking care of her baby. So if we love for Krishna, guru, and vaisnavas we can spend our entire lives working hard

If we put Krishna or God back in the center of our global civilization, it will transformed into a paradise. Unfortunately our modern day leaders have no such desire. Therefore they have this turned this planet into a hell. It's time that we have a new slate of Krishna conscious world leaders. When will the people wake up and demand such leaders? Our Modern Day Leaders Have Ruined the World Answers According to Vedic Wisdom Question: What Turned You Around? When did you stop looking for satisfaction in materialism and what turned you around? Tim Halloran Answer: Jesus Christ Dear Tim, Thank you very much for your nice question. I fully embraced the life of spirituality in 1971. I wanted to become a fully self-realized soul like Jesus Christ. I was trying to understand what made him spiritually perfect. One day I found it in the Bible. Christ says, “Father, not my will, but Thy will be done.” So I was praying every day to God, “Please guide me how to become your

Our duty in the Krishna consciousness movement is to to the lead the entire world of chaos. It is not difficult. If the people of the world will simply agree to hear the message of Krishna as revealed in Bhagavad-gita as it is, this can easily be accomplished. However, the difficulty is that they do not want to hear this. They are simply hearing so much rubbish and nonsense. So this is our big challenge: how to attract the people of the world to hear the message of Krishna, which He so mercifully reveals. Are Our Modern Day World Is In Great Chaos Answers According to Vedic Wisdom Question: Why Feeling Alone? Why do I feel alone? Uma Sharma Answer: Because You Are Forgetting Krishna From: ISKCON Austin, Texas USA My Dear Uma, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. You are feeling alone because you are forgetting Krishna. If you always remember Krishna, you will never feel alone because Lord Krishna will be with you at every minute bestowi

Here in Austin, Texas today is the appearance of Srimati Radharani. What can be more wonderful than this? Here is an excerpt of a lecture given by Srila Prabhupada in London on 5 September 1972 on Rādhāṣṭamī, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's Appearance Day — Today is Rādhāṣṭamī. You perform. Our yajña is saṅkīrtana, and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa. Rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmād ekātmānāv api bhuvi purā deha-bhedaṁ gatau tau, śrī-caitanyākhyaṁ prakaṭam adhunā tad-dvayaṁ caikyam āptam [Cc. Ādi 1.5]. When Kṛṣṇa... Kṛṣṇa is one. Ekam advitīyam. But eko bahu syāt. He can expand Himself. So when He wants to enjoy, so the pleasure potency is manifested from His personal body. That pleasure potency is Rādhārāṇī. Rādhārāṇī is not ordinary living entity. Rādhārāṇī is Kṛṣṇa's personal pleasure potency. Hlādinī-śakti. So just today is the appearance day of hlādinī-śakti. So if you want to please Kṛṣṇa... Because our business is to please Kṛṣṇa. Hari-t

Material life is like a blazing forest fire destroying everything in its path because material life, especially in this most degraded age of Kali in which are now deeply enveloped, destroys all the good qualities of the human being. This is why we pray every day with this following prayer by the great Vaisnava acharya Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur to our spiritual master to extinguish this forest fire that is blazing within our hearts in the world all around us: saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka- trāṇāya kāruṇya-ghanāghanatvam prāptasya kalyāṇa-guṇārṇavasya vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam "The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just as a cloud pours water on a forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual master delivers the materially afflicted world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities." This is sung

As someone residing in the state of Texas I am aware of how dangerous this place can be. President Kennedy was assassinated here in 1963. Then there was the famous tower sniper at the University of Texas who killed eighteen people in 1966 perched high above the campus in the Tower building. Over the decades there have been many more shootings. Just recently one month ago, 22 people were shot dead at a Walmart store here in Texas. And then four days ago there was the highway killer who got angry for getting fired from his job and drove down the highway shooting everywhere and killing seven people. Who knows? Today I could be the victim of another one of the Texas killers. This is a good reminder that I should live every day as if it could be my last day by fully absorbing in loving devotion to Lord Sri Krishna with my every thought, word, and deed. In this way, I am on the safe side if today happens to be the last day of my life in this body. Tower Building at the University of Tex

With winds of up to 185 miles per hour Hurricane Dorian has been wreaking tremendous damage in the Bahamas and is also threatening Florida and other east coast states in the US. According to the US National Weather Service it is the most powerful storm to make landfall in the Atlantic since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. The damage is estimated to be between 25 to 40 billion dollars. Regarding such things Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, Third Canto, Chapter Seventeen, Text 5 as follows: "When there are natural disturbances like blowing cyclones, too much heat or snowfall, and uprooting of trees by hurricanes, it is to be understood that the demoniac population is increasing and so the natural disturbance is also taking place. There are many countries on the globe, even at the present moment, where all these disturbances are current. This is true all over the world." These natural disturbances are karmic reactions for the sinful activities taki

Srila Prabhupada very wonderfully explains as follows: "A dog can swim in the water, but if a dog dives in the ocean and someone wants to cross the ocean by holding the dog's tail, he is certainly fool number one. A dog cannot cross the ocean, nor can a person cross the ocean by catching a dog's tail. Similarly, one who desires to cross the ocean of nescience should not seek the shelter of any demigod or anyone else but the fearless shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." So let us all now take Srila Prabhupada's advice very seriously and fully take shelter of Lord Sri Krishna. A Dog Cannot Swim Across the Ocean Answers According to Vedic Wisdom Question: Your Experiences With Chanting? Can you share your experiences with mantra chanting? Anonymous Answer: From Misery to Transcendental Bliss I have been chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra for more than a half a century. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama,

The world situation has become completely deteriorated. The present day world leaders are not qualified to lead us. They are simply interested in their own selfish aggrandizement, how much they can take advantage of their so called leadership positions to maximize their own personal sense gratification. Thus, if there is going to be any hope for genuine peace and happiness on this planet, we must have now a new calibre of enlightened leaders who are fully dedicated to Krishna or God. The Krishna consciousness movement is now offering this training all over the world how one can be a pure devotee of God and utilize his leadership propensity for rendering the highest service to all the living beings on this planet, even to the plants an animals. Let everyone take advantage of this movement right now and make their lives successful. We Are Training Enlightened Leaders Answers According to Vedic Wisdom Question: Everyone Only Wants Money? Is the world all about attaining money