Ultimate Self Realization

 I have just read this from the news on 30 October 2020: "The United States has shattered the daily coronavirus record, with almost 90,000 new infections reported on Thursday (29 Oct) and close to 1,000 deaths, as the country surged past a world-topping 9 million cases and experts warned of death rates more than doubling by mid-January." So things are not getting better. Things are getting worse. What is the cause for this epidemic, and what is the real cure? One who understands the law of karma can easily answer these questions. The manifestation of such things as coronavirus is a natural result in a world in which evil has become predominant and virtue is greatly diminished. Thus to get rid of the such disturbances we have to flip the balance over to making virtue prominent and evil greatly diminished. How to do this? Spread Krishna consciousness to every town and village all over the world. That will solve the coronavirus problem and so many, many other problems that

If you are already shopping on Amazon.com or need to do some online shopping, our temple in Austin is registered to receive donations from Amazon.com from whatever purchases you make. Click here to Engage Amazon.com in Krishna's service You Shop. Amazon Donates. Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to ISKCON Austin (Sri Sri Radha Damodar Temple, Inc.) whenever you shop on AmazonSmile . AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service. Support ISKCON Austin by shopping at smile.amazon.com Note: This may work only for customers in the USA. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Is Soul Personal or Impersonal? Hare Krishna!! Please accept my respectful obeisances unto your lotus feet.  I wanted to know whether the soul has senses. I mean, is the soul personal or impersonal? If it is personal, can one be happy by satisfying the senses of the soul? Mrutyunjay Mallik Answer: Personal My Dear Mrutyunjay,

If you are ever depressed, here is the sure cure. Narottam Das Thakur has taught how to pray to Lord Nityananda in such situations: hā hā prabhu nityānanda, premānanda sukhī kṛpābalokana koro āmi boro duḥkhī "My dear Lord Nityānanda, You are always joyful in spiritual bliss. Since You always appear very happy, I have come to You because I am most unhappy. If You kindly put Your glance over me, then I may also become happy." Click here to hear a nice melody for this prayer. If we get depressed but sincerely pray or sing these words, our depress ion will go away. Call out for the Mercy of Lord Nityananda Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: What Shall We Ask from God? Hare Krishna Prabhu, Dandavat Pranaam 🙏. Can we deny to go in heaven for our good karmas done on earth, or is it inevitable" What shall we ask from God? And what if we are unable to ask for "na dhanam, na janam, na sundari" (no wealth, no followers, no beautiful women)? How shall we

We have to always be careful that we are not fooled by Maya into taking this temporary material body that we are presently wearing to be our actual self. It is nothing more than a highly sophisticated garment which is in a constant state of flux with the old blood corpuscles and dying and new ones are taking their place. When we misidentify with this body we base our happiness on satisfying the senses of this body. But because the body is not us we can never be factually satisfied in this way. We can only truly be happy when we engage in serving Krishna or God. Because are part of Him (just like the hand is part of the body) when we satisfy Him by our thoughts, words, and deeds we become fully satisfied. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Why "Ultimate Self Realization"? Why do you write "ultimate self realization"? As I understand, there is only one self realization. When you write "ultimate self realization: does it not imply that there is more

Becoming Krishna conscious means to conquer our minds. To achieve that platform of equanimity is the perfection of our existence. In such a state of mind we no longer ride the rollercoaster of elation and depression, honor and dishonor, poverty and wealth, etc. We always remains solidly situated in perfect transcendental bliss in all situations. Krishna describes this most wonderful state of mind in Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 6, Text 7 as follows: jitātmanaḥ praśāntasya paramātmā samāhitaḥ śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu tathā mānāpamānayoḥ "For one who has conquered the mind, the Supersoul is already reached, for he has attained tranquillity. To such a man happiness and distress, heat and cold, honor and dishonor are all the same." This state of mind is automatically attained when we surrender ourselves fully to Lord Krishna. Those are actually intelligent embrace this principle. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Accumulate Good Karma? Can you accumulate good karma by not

  When I was a young brahmacari monk blessed by my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, with a vision and a mission to deliver the world from illusion I was distributing Back to Godhead magazine on a shopping mall parking lot in Leesburg, Florida. The police came and arrested me for solicitation without a permit and put me in jail. I spend 36 hours in a solitary jail cell, and I did not eat even one morsel of their rascal food. Instead my food was: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. I chanted my daily quota 16 rounds of japa by a special technique of counting on the sections of my fingers. Because I was chanting God's holy names I was on the liberated side of the bars. As I gazed through the bars and through a window to the outside world I could see that it was rather the whole material world that was behind the bars, not me. I was on the liberated side of the bars while the whole material world was on the prisoner s

One of our beloved students has recently expressed to us her confusion about what to do with her life. It is proper that she has done this because when one is confused they should inquire from a spiritual authority. She has done a very good thing. This is the perfect example shown to us by Arjuna when he was confused and inquired from Lord Sri Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The simple equation for dealing with such confusion is to pray to Krishna in this mood: "My dear Lord Krishna, my eternal existence is totally dedicated to you. Therefore, my dear Lord, I am begging you to guide how I can live my life in such a way to give you unlimited pleasure with my every thought, word, and deed in all times, places, and circumstances. Please bless to understand what are Your desires for me, and give me the spiritual strength to be fully surrendered unto you for always fully satisfying your desires." If one sincerely prays in this mood hankering for Krishna's guidance

As I explained yesterday, the Krishna conscious preacher is out to save the world. But there's one thing that's even more important to him than saving the world, and that is saving himself. Why? This is so because unless we have saved ourselves by fully surrendering to Krishna, how much potency will we have to convince others to surrender to Krishna. It is practical. Therefore first save yourself by surrendering to Krishna and then dedicate yourself to saving the world. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Why this Sharp Contrast? In a lecture Srila Prabhupada asserts that a pure devotee does not even yearn for going back to Godhead, that he simply wants to serve the Lord wherever the Lord places him in the universe. But his entire literature is full of the motivational maxim: Go back to Godhead. Why is there this sharp contrast from such a great acarya? Goloka Das Answer: Encouragement for the Neophytes My Dear Goloka, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Sr

The mission of the great Vaisnava acharyas is to make the whole world Krishna conscious. The shining example of this is Prahlada Maharaja who prays to Lord Nrisimhadev, "I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Krishna consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy. Therefore I wish to bring them back to shelter at Your lotus feet." (Srimad Bhagavatam, Seventh Canto, Chapter 9, Text 44) Therefore the preacher of Krishna consciousness follows this mood of the great acharyas and dedicates his life for making the whole world Krishna conscious. He does not mind taking birth after birth in this material world if he can deliver the suffering souls of this rotten place back to home, back to Godhead. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Proof of God's Existence? Sir, I want to know the proof of existence of God, please give that proof to me. Tamada Anil Kumar Answer: Every

Krishna is unlimitedly kind. If we desire to associate with Him forever in a mood of pure loving service in His transcendental abode, He satisfies our desire. And if we desire to try to imitate His position by thinking ourselves to be the Supreme, He will gives us a world where we can do just that. But He will give this to us in such a way that we will eventually realize our mistake and qualify ourselves to return to our original position in His transcendental kingdom. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Goal of Life? What is the goal of life? Sanjay Singh Answer: Become a Pure Lover of God My Dear Sanjay, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. The goal of life is to become a pure lover of God. I hope this meets you in the best of health and in an ecstatic mood. Your ever well-wisher, Sankarshan Das Adhikari Krishna Awaits Your Return to His Transcendental Abode Sankarshan Das Adhikari is one of the spiritual masters of the worldwide Hare Krishna Mo

Kirtan on the River Yamuna Lecture on the Bank of the Yamuna Normally my wife, Gurumataji, and I travel twice a year to be purified and inspired by the powerful uplifting potency, of Sri Vrindavan Dhama, the holy place of Lord Sri Krishna's childhood pastimes. This year, however, we are not able to because of the coronavirus. This song, Sri Vraja Dhama Mahimamrita, by a great Vaisnava acarya, give us some solace. Click here to hear the song. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Why Study and Work Hard to Die? Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada🙏 I have been struggling with this value that why should we study, learn and work hard to achieve our goals when we are nothing but mortal beings bond to leave this abode, our body! This thought deprives me of all the motivation for life and leaves me self negating my needs and goals. Regards, Sparsh Sharma Answer: Ultimately They Are Not Very Important My Dear Sparsh, Please accept my blessings. All

Instead of this.... You can have this.... Suffering is the pastime of fools. The only reason we suffer is due to ignorance of our eternal all-blissful, fully cognizant natures as servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna. As soon as we realize who we actually are and engage ourselves fully in Krishna's service with all of our thoughts, words, and deeds in all times, places, and circumstances we will enter into that super ecstatic realm of ever-increasing bliss in which all miseries become conspicuous by their absence. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Are Women Subordinate to Men or Not? Hare Krishna, Prabhu Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Are women subordinate to men or not? In today's world men women both are working together. Women can be financially independent. I don't see any reason that she is dependent. Are they spiritually subordinate? Can women practice devotion without marrying? Please el

In 1971 I received the most encouraging letter from Srila Prabhupada which he wrote to me from London, England on 7 September 1971 and in which he instructed me as follows: "I can see also that you are a very sincere and enthusiastic boy and are anxious for spreading this movement. Those are first class qualifications for making advancement in Krishna Consciousness. So continue enthusiastically as you are doing and Krishna will surely bless you." This instruction is so potent that it has empowered my Krishna consciousness for half a century and it will continue to do so for all of eternity. This is the potency of the bona fide spiritual master! Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: How to Overcome Material Thinking? How to overcome overthinking of material issues? Khushi Gupta Answer: Always Think of Krishna My Dear Khushi, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. If you fill your mind with thoughts of Krishna, you will deal with all material

Today I want to share with you one of the most wonderful lectures of Srila Prabhupada that I every heard. Click here to hear "Become Very Eager to See Krishna." Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Comment: How this World is Still Livable Only because of such few devotees like you is the world still livable and we can look forward to constant Krishna consciousness. I hope now that the true devotees will multiply. My obeisances to you. B.N. Murthy Reply: I Am Nothing But Prabhupada's Servant My Dear B.N., Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I am nothing but a tiny servant of my beloved spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. But I thank you very much for your loving words of encouragement. Yes, our hope is that the whole world will now become filled up with devotees. This is our mission, to make the whole world Krishna conscious as soon as possible. You kindly assist us in this mission. I hope this meets you in the best of health and in an ecstat

Srila Prabhupada very wonderfully writes in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, Second Canto, Chapter 8, Text 5 as follows: "It is said that a single pure devotee of the Lord can deliver all the fallen souls of the world. Thus one who is actually in the confidence of a pure devotee like Narada or Sukadeva Gosvami and thus is empowered by one's spiritual master, as Narada was by Brahmaji, can not only deliver himself from the clutches of maya, or illusion, but can deliver the whole world by his pure and empowered devotional strength." Therefore those devotees who have fully dedicated their lives for spreading the Krishna Consciousness Movement constantly beg Lord Krishna to bless them with pure devotion so that they can make the whole world Krishna conscious. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Solution for My Depression? Dear Srila Gurudeva, Please accept my obeisances. In life whatever I do ends up in depression and frustration. In my school days also I got