Onward through the fog

Thought For the Day

The Ultimate Self Realization Course

"Godhead is light. Nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead there is no nescience."

Note: This is not written by artificial intelligence. It is
written by a real person who truly cares about you.

Onward Through the Fog

30 May 2025

When you find yourself in times of trouble when everything seems bleak and totally impossible you just have to keep moving forward step by step with full faith in your best friend, Lord Sri Krishna, that by His grace everything will be okay. There is nothing to fear when Krishna is here. Just keep repeating His name and you won't go insane.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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Transcendental Reply

Hare Krishna Srila Gurudev,
Please accept my humble obeisances

I have a hard time believing the words of shastra that claim that just by wearing kanthi and tilaka the Yamadutas (messengers of the god of death who take us at the time of death to the hellish regions for punishment) never even glance at such a person. This means that they are approached instead by the Vishnudutas who take us back to the spiritual world?

If one does not perform devotional service, how is it possible to go back home, back to Godhead if we die with simply by wearing tilak on our forehead?

Kindly guide,

I was astonished to see my sister reading the Bhagavad-gita out of sheer curiosity after she came across a verse online.

I gave her a copy of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, but after reading just a few pages, she put it aside and started watching lectures (unfortunately by a Māyāvādī). I’m genuinely happy about her excitement, but what she explained to me after completing the fourth chapter of the Gita was just a jumble of words, lacking a practical spiritual foundation.

In fact, the so-called “practical approach” she described seemed to lead only to subtle sense gratification and was focused entirely on this temporary material life.

Your hoping to be servant,
Jiya

Answer

From: Austin, Texas USA

My Dear Jiya,

Please accept my blessings.
All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

I understand that you have read this in The Nectar of Devotion:

"Persons who are decorated with tilaka, or gopī-candana, and who mark their bodies all over with the holy names of the Lord, and on whose necks and breasts there are tulasī beads, are never approached by the Yamadūtas.” and that you find it hard to accept.

But you should also read this in The Nectar of Devotion:

"So these statements are not overestimations, nor are they stories. They are actual facts, but are true for certain devotees and do not necessarily apply to all. These descriptions, even if considered overestimations, must be taken as they are, in order to divert our attention from the fleeting material beauty to the eternal beauty of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And for a person who is already in contact with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the described results are not unusual."

Thank you for trying to explain our philosophy to your sister.
Please continue trying to do this to whomever you meet whenever there is an opportunity and gradually you will become more and more expert in preaching.

I hope this meets you in the best of health
and in a cheerful mood.

Your ever well-wisher,
Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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My Spiritual Journey in a Nutshell

As an American youth I was taught to believe in the. "American dream": Study hard, get a good education and a good job to get a good wife some good kids in a good house to enjoy a good life. But when I got to college, I realized that this was not enough. I wanted to know what the meaning of life is, but no one could tell me. So, I took to the path of self-realization and was blessed in 1968 with the Hare Krishna mantra and the worship of Radha and Krishna. (I did not know about ISKCON.) This inspired me to drop out of college and renounce the world to become a holy beggar in India. But on the way to India, I realized that to renounce everything I had to ultimately renounce renunciation itself and accept something transcendental Thus I embraced the mission of delivering the world from chaos. For this purpose, I adopted the life a singer/songwriter who in 1969 became recognized and very much appreciated. In 1971, seeking spiritual perfection, I followed the example of Lord Jesus Christ and prayed to God how I could become His perfect servant. Then God revealed to me path of pure Krishna bhakti as taught by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. On the most auspicious day of 12 August 1971, he accepted me as his disciple. Now on his order and under his most expert guidance I have fully devoted my life for awakening pure love of God within my heart and for making the entire world Krishna conscious.

To read about my journey in detail get my memoir:

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