Ultimate Self Realization

You, an eternal spiritual being, should not cheat yourself any longer by misidentification with your temporary material body. It is not you. It is simply a super-complex, ultra-sophisticated machine that you now have temporary use of. We tend to forget this. But when it breaks down or malfunctions Krishna is giving us a good chance to remember this. So do not be disturbed when you are pinched by the material miseries. Take this as a special blessing from Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to help you get back to being who you are really are, an eternal spiritual being, full of knowledge, and full of bliss, who is one of His associates in the unlimitedly blissful, eternal Spiritual Sky. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Tune In, Turn on Your Krishna Consciouness, and Deep Sea Dive in an Ocean of Unlimited Bliss You Are One of Lord Krishna's Associates Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Is Krishna Selfish? Prabhu, Krishna says that one should be selfless and re...

The first four dimensions are dharma (mundane religiosity), artha (economic development), kama (sense gratification), and moksha (impersonal liberation). The fifth dimension is devotional service. The Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.2 advises us as follows: dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastu śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate 'tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt "Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṇa propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhāgavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyāsadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one at...

While I was taking my usual pre-dawn morning walk I was especially awed by the beautiful full moon shining brilliantly over the forest that borders our neighborhood. This was not a ordinary full moon. This was the full mood radiating from Lord Balarama's appearance day. Seeing this full moon I reminded of and feeling a connection with Lord Balarama's pastime of dancing rasa dance with the gopis, which is described as follows by Srila Prabhupada in the Krishna Book Chapter 65: "Lord Balarama, of course, could understand the ecstatic feelings of the gopis, and therefore He wanted to pacify them. He was expert in presenting an appeal, and thus, treating the gopis very respectfully, He began to narrate the stories of Krsna so tactfully that the gopis became satisfied. To keep the gopis in Vrndavana satisfied, Lord Balarama stayed there continuously for two months, namely the months of Caitra (March–April) and Vaisakha (April–May). For those two months He kept Himself among the...

Our present day human society is very proud of its material advancement. But the real fact is that we are impoverished both spiritually and materially. We eat one time on paper plates and then throw them away. But formerly there was such great opulence that plates made of gold were used once and then thrown away. Srila Prabhupada explains this in a Srimad Bhagavatam lecture given in Los Angeles on May 16, 1973. Here is an excerpt from that lecture: Prabhupāda: Formerly the horses were used in military division. Horses, chariot, elephants and then infantry. So not one or two, but one division of military phalanx required sixty thousand horses. Akṣauhiṇī. So many horses, so many elephants, so many chariot, and so many infantry soldiers—that will compose one division of soldiers. So "so many" means the, I exactly remember now, sixty thousand horses. So all the horses, when they are required for procession or for going to the fight, were well-decorated with golden ornaments...

In the Krishna Book Srila Prabhupada describes the appearance of Lord Balarama as follows: The Lord also declared to Yogamāyā, “My plenary expansion Ananta Śeṣa is within the womb of Devakī. On account of being forcibly attracted to the womb of Rohiṇī, He will be known as Saṅkarṣaṇa and will be the source of all spiritual power, or bala, by which one can attain the highest bliss of life, which is called ramaṇa. Therefore the plenary portion Ananta will be known after His appearance either as Saṅkarṣaṇa or as Balarāma.” In the Upaniṣads it is stated, nāyam ātmā bala-hīnena labhyaḥ. The purport is that one cannot attain the supreme platform of self-realization without being sufficiently favored by Balarāma. Bala does not mean physical strength. No one can attain spiritual perfection by physical strength. One must have the spiritual strength which is infused by Balarāma, or Saṅkarṣaṇa. Ananta, or Śeṣa, is the source of the power which sustains all the planets in their different positions....

In a letter to Madhukara Das written by Srila Prabhupada on January 4, 1973 in Mumbai, India we find Srila Prabhupada's expert guidance on how to be happy in all circumstances: "One mistake of judgment often made by the neophyte devotees is that any time there is some disturbance or some difficulty they are considering that the conditions or the external circumstances under which the difficulty took place are the cause of the difficulty itself. That is not the fact. In this material world there is always some difficulty, no matter in this situation or that situation. Therefore simply by changing my status of occupation or my status of life, that will not help anything. Because the real fact is that if there is any difficulty with others, that is my lack of Krishna consciousness, not theirs. Is this clear?" Thus instead of blaming others or the external situation for our unhappiness we understand that the only reason we are unhappy is our lack of Krishna consciousness we ...

Does it make any sense to be suffer when you can instead be tasting unlimited bliss? This is the madness of our modern day so-called civilization. They have traded unlimited bliss for life of suffering through birth, death, old and disease, as well the sufferings caused by the mind and body, sufferings caused by other living beings, and sufferings caused by natural happenings like floods and forest fires. And they are so deluded that when tell them about the unlimited bliss of Krishna consciousness they have no interest. They are so deluded that they take their suffering to be enjoyment. This is called maya sukhaya, illusory happiness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Birth, Death, Old Age, and Disease Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Does Krishna Enjoy Rap Music? Hare Krishna Do you think Krishna enjoys rap music or any other type of music? Or He only enjoys prayers? Thank you. Catalina Mada Answer: He Only Wants Our Love and Devotion From: ISKCON Austin, Texas USA My Dea...