Ultimate Self Realization

Here is a Srimad Bhagavatam lecture I gave on 30 December 2020 in Austin, Texas USA. I was requested to make available a recording of this lecture. Srimad Bhagavatam Lecture--How to Attain the Supreme Nirvana Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: How Advaita Philosophy Can Deny the "I"? If according to Advaita philosophy, the 'I' or the ego is an illusion, then why is this realization itself not considered illusory as there has to be another 'I', to reject the false 'I'? Anonymous Answer: Advaita Philosophy Only Goes Half Way Advaita (oneness) philosophy is only side of the existential coin. The complete philosophy is simultaneous dvaita (twoness) and advaita (oneness). In this philosophy the false self, which misidentifies the material body as the self, is denied, and the real self, the eternal individual spiritual being who temporarily resides in the material body and who is a servant of the Supreme Being, is affirmed.  Sankarshan Das Ad

 Srila Bhaktivinode Ṭhākur has written a very nice song describing how Lord Caitanya is calling upon the entire world to wake up: jīv jāgo, jīv jāgo, gauracānda bole kota nidrā jāo māyā-piśācīra kole bhajibo boliyā ese saṁsāra-bhitare bhuliyā rohile tumi avidyāra bhare tomāre loite āmi hoinu avatāra āmi binā bandhu āra ke āche tomāra enechi auṣadhi māyā nāśibāro lāgi' hari-nāma mahā-mantra lao tumi māgi' bhakativinoda prabhu-caraṇe pariyā sei hari-nāma-mantra loilo māgiyā Lord Gaurāṅga calls, "Wake up, sleeping souls! Wake up, sleeping souls! You have slept so long in the lap of the witch Māyā. You came into this world saying, 'O my Lord, I will certainly worship You,' but having forgotten this promise, you have remained in great ignorance. I have descended just to save you. Other than Myself, who else is your friend? I have brought the medicine for destroying the illusion of Māyā. Now pray for this hari-nāma mahā-mantra and take it." Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda fel

When before eating we offer our food to Krishna (no meat, fish, eggs, onions, or garlic allowed) it becomes transformed from matter into spirit and is called "prasadam", which means "mercy." By eating such sanctified food we purify our existence. We awaken pure love of God within our hearts. The system is to have a separate very nice quality plate on which you place a nice sample of each preparation. You then put this plate on your altar on which you have a picture or deity of Krishna. Give Krishna a few minutes to enjoy His meal. Then transfer the prasadam from Krishna's plate and wash His plate. What is on Krishna's plate has been transformed into prasadam as well as what is still in the cooking pots. Here is a nice prasadam prayer glorifying Krishna prasadam: śarīra avidyā-jāl joḍendriya tāhe kāl jīve phele viṣaya-sāgore tā’ra madhye jivhā ati lobhamoy sudurmati tā’ke jetā kaṭhina saṁsāre kṛṣṇa baro doyāmoy koribāre jivhā joy sva-prasād-anna dilo b

When I was a young brahmacari monk back in the mid 70's one day I was distributing ISKCON's Back to Godhead Magazine at a shopping center in Leesburg, Florida USA. My distribution activities came abruptly to a halt when I was arrested by a policeman and put into jail. On my second day in jail I chanted by daily quota of 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra by counting on the sections of my fingers. I refused to eat any of their jail food because it was not Krishna prasadam. As I gazed through the bars of my jail cell at the outside world I realized that because I was Krishna conscious I was on the liberated side of the bars and the outside material world that I peered upon was indeed behind the bars, not me. In others words, I was not imprisoned. Rather it was the material world that was imprisoned. So my question to you, my dear reader, is "Which side of the bars are you on?". Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Why Do People Scam Other People? Dear

Human life begins when we inquire "Why am I suffering?". In this regard Srila Prabhupada writes as follows: The special reasoning power is to inquire, "Why am I suffering?" This is special reasoning. The animals are suffering, but they do not know how to remedy the suffering. But human beings are making scientific advancement and philosophical advancement, cultural advancement, religious advancement—progress in so many lines—because they want to be happy. "Where is the point of happiness?" This reasoning power is especially given to the human being. Therefore, in the Gītā, Kṛṣṇa says, "Out of so many men, one may know Me." Generally, the people are just like animals. They simply do not know anything beyond the necessities of the body: how to eat, how to sleep, how to mate and how to defend. And the Bhagavad-gītā says, out of many thousands, someone may develop this reasoning power: "Why am I suffering?" He asks this question: "Why

Here is a poem I wrote to Krishna on 25 December 2020: Krishna, You are Everywhere Krishna, You are here Krishna, You are there Krishna, You are indeed everywhere. So all I really need to do Is fully give my love to You. With my feelings so imbued All calamaties will be through. There's nothing greater than this. It's a life of eternal bliss In which nothing is amiss. And I'm saved from death's abyss. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Qualities of Krishna Devotee? Hare Krishna, Prabhuji 🙏🙏 What are the basic qualities that must be present in a Krishna devotee? Rajshree Singh Answer: Twenty-Six Qualities My Dear Rajesh, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. One is properly situated as Krishna's devotee will naturally manifest these twenty-six qualities: (1) He is very kind to everyone. (2) He does not make anyone his enemy. (3) He is truthful. (4) He is equal to everyone. (5) No one can find any fault in him. (6) He is

Today is Gita Jayanti and... the Appearance Day of Lord Jesus Christ Today is Gita Jayanti, the anniversary day of when the most wonderful Bhagavad-gita was spoken 5,000 years ago by Lord Sri Krishna to His beloved disciple Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukshsetra just before the fighting started. It is also the appearance day of Lord Jesus Christ, who appeared approximately 2,000 years ago, that great pure devotee of the Supreme Lord who inspired me to beg God for guidance on how to be the perfect servant of God. My prayer was answered when it was revealed to me by His Holiness Vishnujana Swami that I should fully surrender to Lord Sri Krishna by becoming a disciple of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. His Holiness Vishnujana Swami Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Can a Guru Be Rejected? My mother follows a guru who has been given a sentence of life in prison for engaging in sinful activities. But my mother says that after accepting initiation we cannot reject a guru

The entire human civilization is suffering like anything because they have all been captivated by maya or illusion. Therefore we declaring war against maya so that they can become rescued. There is no reason for the world to be in such a troubled condition. If the people can simply have their original natural consciousness of Krishna revived, this world will become full of bliss. It will become a paradise. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Can I Inquire from You? I have a book called "Know you are and be you are," and also "Truth works," which I believe were written by you. I have just started reading these two books. I found them very hard to understand. Should I have any questions, can I email you and ask you? Regards, David Lio Answer: Yes, You Are Most Welcome My Dear David, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Yes, you are most welcome to inquire from me. I hope this meets you in the best of health and in an ecstatic mood

Hundreds of media outlets all over the world have now released the following press release: Austin, Texas-based Sankarshan Das is a self-realization Guru who has thousands of followers worldwide and lectures as a motivational speaker all over the world. Due for release in 2021, his book details his life's journey and history of his own spiritual awakening; offers guidance to readers on their own spiritual awakening, and how the world can become awakened to a higher enlightened consciousness. His book will reveal how a simple formula will achieve perfect happiness and peace of mind, what we can do right now to bring peace and help tackle global issues. He said: "Lacking a common center, human civilization has been cast into chaos for many centuries. Life was not meant to be this way. We are meant to be peaceful and happy living in a flourishing global society." Das claims to have been blessed with the formula for a perfect global society and through his book "Conquer

This rare human form of life is not meant for material sense gratification (eating sleeping, mating, and defending). We are meant to use this form to reawaken our original loving relationship with Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. This real intelligence. Anyone who uses the human form for any other purpose is the biggest fool and rascal, no matter he may advertised in the material society as being a great personality. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Destination of Dedicated Vaisnava? Is it true that a Vaishnava who has dedicated his life for pleasing Krishna will surely enter into Krishna's transcendental abode. Arya Sarita Answer: Krishna's Abode My Dear Arya, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Yes, those who are fully dedicated to Krishna attain His abode at the time of death. I hope this meets you in the best of health and in an ecstatic mood. Your ever well-wisher,  Sankarshan Das Adhikari Sankarshan Das Adhikari is one of the spiritua

In this material world we are always being bounced on the waves of happiness and distress. In this way we can never find permanent peace of mind. But if we take complete shelter of Lord Sri Krishna as our eternal lord and master, we will no longer be affected by the dualities of happiness and distress. We will find unlimited peace and happiness within our hearts in our loving relationship with Lord Sri Krishna and His devotees. In this connection Lord Sri Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 12, Text 15 as follows: yasmān nodvijate loko lokān nodvijate ca yaḥ harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegair mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ "He by whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me." In this exalted state of consciousness we will naturally become the well-wishers of all living beings always striving to serve their highest self interest by giving them Krishna consciousness. Answers Acc

To make the world Krishna conscious seems to be the most inconceivably difficult and impossible thing that one could ever attempt to do. But when we remember that every living being in all of existence is factually, constitutionally a pure devotee of Krishna who has simply forgotten it, we can understand that such spiritual awakening is not really as hard as it seems. All we really have to do is facilitate everyone's remembrance of who they actually are. It is just like when one is suffering from amnesia all he needs to be revived is to be brought in touch with those things associated with his actual identity. This is why we want to flood with the world with the chanting of the Hare Krishna mahamantra. This will stimulate everyone's remembrance of who they are actually are. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Dying Without a Guru? Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Dandavat Pranaam 🙏. What if a person dies remembering Lord Krishna but is unfortunately not initiated? Will

My most beloved spiritual master, ISKCON Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, has so wonderfully written as follows in his purport to Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi Lila, Chapter 7, Text 83 as follows: "A sincere student aurally receives the holy name from the spiritual master, and after being initiated he follows the regulative principles given by the spiritual master. When the holy name is properly served in this way, automatically the spiritual nature of the holy name spreads; in other words, the devotee becomes qualified in offenselessly chanting the holy name. When one is completely fit to chant the holy name in this way, he is eligible to make disciples all over the world, and he actually becomes jagad-guru. Then the entire world, under his influence, begins to chant the holy names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra." This is my goal in life. I want to come to the stage of chanting Hare Krishna with such purity that I can influence everyone

Instead of feeling this... We can be feeling this... Sometimes we neophyte devotees become overwhelmed with depression. Our confidence and enthusiasm goes down the drain. In his purport to Narada Bhakti Sutra, Text 5 Srila Prabhupada very kindly rescues us from this depression with his wonderfully profound advice as follows: "The next item favorable for devotional service is niścaya, confidence. When one becomes disappointed in his service to the Supreme Lord, that disappointment must be rejected and replaced with confidence in attaining the ultimate goal, love of Godhead. The devotee should patiently follow the rules and regulations of devotional service so that the day will come when he will achieve, all of a sudden, all the perfection of devotional service. He should not lament for any loss or any reverse in his advancement in spiritual life. This patience (dhairya) is the third positive item for advancing in devotional service." If we take complete shelter of such prof

Here's the first Krishna that I worshipped. This was done in December 1968 when I was a young college student living in Denver, Colorado USA at 1271 Lafayette Street. Now even 52 years later this particular form of Lord Sri Krishna is especially dear to me. I beg Sri Sri and Krishna for their mercy that I can be their pure devotee and the whole world can now become Krishna conscious. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Initiation Required to Go Back to Godhead Hare Krishna Maharaja, Dandavat pranaam 🙏. Can a person go back home, back to Godhead without accepting a spiritual master if that person is conscious of Krishna at the time of death? Your servant, Suraj B. Answer: Yes My Dear Suraj, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada has written that without following the instructions of the spiritual master, no one is able to go back to Godhead. This is found in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, First Canto, Chapter 5, Text 24.

Here is a super powerful instruction that Srila Prabhupada gives us how to conquer over suffering. He gives this to us in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, Fifth Canto, Chapter 10, Text 14: "An exalted devotee of the Lord never thinks that he is a paramahaṁsa or a liberated person. He always remains a humble servant of the Lord. In all reverse conditions, he agrees to suffer the results of his past life. He never accuses the Lord of putting him into a distressed condition. These are the signs of an exalted devotee. Tat te 'nukampāṁ susamīkṣyamāṇaḥ. When suffering reversed conditions, the devotee always considers that the reverse conditions are the Lord's concessions. He is never angry with his master; he is always satisfied with the position his master offers. In any case, he continues performing his duty in devotional service. Such a person is guaranteed promotion back home, back to Godhead. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.8): tat te 'nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo bh

 We are most fortunate to be living in the 10,000 years Golden Era of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Even though we are living in the most inauspicious age of Kali, we are living in the most auspicious time when Lord Caitanya's movement is going to inundate the entire universe drowning everyone in the ocean of pure love of God. This is described in the Sri Caitanya Caritarmrita, Adi Lila, Chapter 7, Text 28 as follows: yata yata prema-vṛṣṭi kare pañca-jane tata tata bāḍhe jala, vyāpe tri-bhuvane TRANSLATION "The more the five members of the Pañca-tattva cause the rains of love of Godhead to fall, the more the inundation increases and spreads all over the world." PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada: "The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not stereotyped or stagnant. It will spread all over the world in spite of all objections by fools and rascals that European and American mlecchas cannot be accepted as brāhmaṇas or sannyāsīs. Here it is indicated that this process will spread and in

If you want to achieve real happiness, my best advice is that follow the instructions that Srila Prabhupada gives in the Nectar of Devotion regarding accepting the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master. Here they are: In the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Third Chapter, verse 21, Prabuddha tells Mahārāja Nimi, "My dear King, please know for certain that in the material world there is no happiness. It is simply a mistake to think that there is happiness here, because this place is full of nothing but miserable conditions. Any person who is seriously desirous of achieving real happiness must seek out a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of a spiritual master is that he must have realized the conclusion of the scriptures by deliberation and arguments and thus be able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, are to

Do not torture yourself unnecessarily. Your constitutional nature is to be full of bliss at every minute. It is only due to false identification or misidentification with your temporary material body that you find yourself to. be in anxiety. Your material body is not your actual self. It is simply a garment that you are temporarily wearing. Realize that you are an eternal spiritual being, servant of God and you will swimming in an ocean of unlimited bliss at every minute. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: If Everything is Predestined...? My dear Srila Gurudev, Please accept my most humble and most respectful obeisances ! All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumataji! All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Srila Gurudev, One senior devotee; His Grace Reviteja Govinda Das prabhu; requested me to submit a question before Srila Gurudev for enlightenment. He encountered this question; while in his preaching. The question is ; “ If everything is predestined; why should one pra

Chant the Hare Krishna mantra with love and devotion. By doing so you will unlock the reservoir of pure transcendental bliss that is presently sleeping within you. Why torture yourself for even one moment longer? Chant Hare Krishna right now and relish the transcendental nature of your sweet, loving, eternal relationship with Sri Sri Radha and Krishna, Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: How to Make Krishna Love Me? Dear Sir, What should I do to make Krishna love me? Regards, David Lio Answer: Put Away Your Umbrella My Dear David, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Krishna already loves you unlimitedly. He is showering you with His unlimited love at every minute. All you have to do is put away your umbrella. I hope this meets you in the best of health and in an ecstatic mood. Your ever well-wisher, Sankarshan Das Adhikari Sankarshan Das Adhikari is one of the spiritual masters of the worldwide Hare Krishna Movement. He has dedicated the last