martes, 1 de junio de 2010

Today's Thought - June 2010






Pensamiento-del-dia
Sankarshana Das Adhikari






An Appeal for Your Help

On the order of his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, Sankarshan Prabhu has dedicated his life for the most urgent work of spreading Krishna consciousness all over the world. The more that Krishna consciousness spreads, the more that the suffering, scarcity, and hate on this planet will be replaced with bliss, abundance and love. This is a golden opportunity for us to do the highest good for all living beings and receive the special blessings of the Lord. Therefore we should, as much as possible, sacrifice our time, energy, and resources to assist Sankarshan Prabhu in his most important work. If you would like to help out to any extent, little or big, kindly inform Sankarshan Prabhu of your desire.

Wednesday 30 June 2010

from Auckland, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Beware of False Gurus

A spiritual master who declares that he is God or allows his disciples to make propaganda that is he is God is a charlatan. He is not a bona fide spiritual master. Such so-called gurus will tell their disciples that they can also become God, that all they have to do is come out of illusion and realize that they are God. But God does not have to realize that he is God. God is always God with full realization. He is never covered by illusion. He cannot be covered by illusion because illusion is one of His energies. Such false gurus should be avoided because their association will create stumbling blocks on the pathway of self-realization. The bona fide spiritual master teaches us that we are the eternal servants of God, that we simply now have to revive our eternal loving relationship with our dearmost friend, the Supreme Lord.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
(Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness)
Teaches Us How to Become the Perfect Servants of God.


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Chanting, But No Ecstasy Yet

I chant 16 rounds of Hare Krishna japa mala every day, but I haven't ever felt any transcendental ecstasy. How can I increase my devotion? Please guide me.

Ritu

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Be Patient and Keep Chanting

Although chanting the Hare Krishna mantra opens the devotee's heart to an ocean of unlimited transcendental ecstasy, it is a gradual process of awakening. If we are sick and we receive a doctor's prescription to cure our sickness, it takes time for the cure to become fully manifested. We must put our faith in the doctor and carefully follow his instructions. In this way, even if we do not experience immediate results from the medicine, in due course of time, we will be cured of our disease.

Chanting Hare Krishna is the ultimate medicine to cure us of the heaviest disease of all, the endless repetition of birth and death. We have been suffering from this disease for millions of lifetimes. A severe chronic disease is not cured immediately. It takes time. So keep chanting, putting your full faith in the process. I promise you that if you will continue chanting at least 16 rounds daily and following the regulative principles under the guidance of the expert spiritual master you will become completely cured of the material disease and taste unlimited spiritual bliss at every minute.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Tuesday 29 June 2010

from Wellington, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Kingdom of God Without God

The modern day society is trying through the advancement of science to have the kingdom of God without God. This is the same attempt that was made long ago by the powerful demon, Ravana, who constructed a city made of gold in his capital of Lanka and who kidnapped Sita, the wife of the Supreme Lord Rama, to satisfy his lusty desires. But he was not able to satisfy his lusty desires and he was killed by Lord Rama.

The present day society is of the same mentality. They want all enjoyment, but they do not want God. They want sex pleasure without any restriction. And if a baby comes, kill it glossing their heinous act of murder over with the term "removal of tissue." Such a society greatly suffers the karmic reactions for its flagrant violation of the laws of God. The bona fide spiritual master can guide such a society how to become completely free from all suffering and live in perfect peace, prosperity, and happiness, if they would only take his advice. But if they do not want to hear from the bona fides spiritual master, what can be done?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Rama Kills the Demon Ravana


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Is Death Pre-Decided by God?

I wish to know about death. Is death pre-decided by God? If some one dies due to accident, was it decided by God or not?

Rahul

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Death is Determined by Karma

The time and means of one's leaving his body are determined by his karma. In other words it is determined by his previous and/or present pious and impious actions. However, for a pure devotee of Lord Krishna it is different. Because the pure devotee is completely absorbed in the Lord's devotional service, he is no longer under the influence of the material energy and the law of karma. The pure devotee is completely protected by Lord's spiritual energy. Therefore his time and means of departure are directly orchestrated by Krishna in loving reciprocation with the pure devotee's loving service to the Lord.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Monday 28 June 2010

from Wellington, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Using the Internet for Krishna

It is sometimes said that a transcendentalist should have no contact whatsoever with the material energy because if he does so he will be contaminated, that he must instead completely detach himself from the material world through the process of negating all material things. According to this view it would be completely wrong to have anything to do with the internet. Such a transcendentalist should totally cut off his contact with all material things and take up residence in a remote place such as a cave in the Himalayan mountains.

But this point of view fails to take into account the fact that everything in existence is the energy of Krishna and is therefore meant to be utilized in His service. While there may some merit for one who is addicted to material sense gratification to disassociate from all material things, the highest form of renunciation is to utilize all material things in the Lord's service.

If we find a missing wallet on the roadside, we can take the money out of it and spend it, we can leave the wallet lying there on the ground, or we can return it to its owner. Which is better? The material sense gratifier is like the person who takes the money and spends it on himself. The person who ignores the wallet is the like the transcendentalist who cuts off all contact with this material world. And the person who returns the wallet to its rightful owner is like the devotee who engages everything in Krishna's service. This is the highest form of renunciation.

So the conclusion is the highest form of renunciation is to engage everything in Krishna's service. If the internet can be used successfully to spread the Krishna consciousness movement all over the world, it would be completely wrong not to utilize it.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Writing Thought for the Day

Wellington, New Zealand--27 June 2010


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Does the True Self Has Personality?

Dear Teacher,

The Supreme Godhead has a personality. I have a false ego and a true self. Is my true self anything more than simple awareness. Do I have a personality as well? Are any of the things that I call my self (my humor for example) real at all or are they just part of my false ego?

It is a lonely prospect to think I am nothing more than awareness without a personality.

Please help me understand.

With respect,

Julianne

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Self Means Personality

Self means personality because there cannot be awareness without personality. Therefore your personality is just as real as Krishna's personality. This is confirmed in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad-gita.

Every aspect of your personality is real, but now in your conditioned state it is being filtered through the material energy. This can be compared to pure white light shining through a colored filter. What comes out on the other side is colored light. But the white light is always pure white light. It simply appears colored because it is shining through a filter. As soon as the filter is removed it regains its original pure white nature. So your personality in all of it aspects is eternally real. Now you simply need to purify your consciousness by regularly chanting the holy names of God. In this way your original divine personality will become completely revived.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Sunday 27 June 2010

from Wellington, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

With the Touch of an Expert

Srila Prabhupada said that a devotee does not walk around with his head in the fog, that he instead works well with the touch of an expert. This will undoubtedly be surprising to those whose image of a transcendentalist is someone whose head is up in the clouds and is spaced out in material dealings. This image is not at all befitting a devotee because a devotee sees the entire world as being the energy of Krishna and because of his love for Krishna expertly tries to utilize it as much as possible in Krishna's service.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Why Do I Need a Guru to Realize God?

I was learning about the Conference of the Birds, a story in the Sikh religion. They were searching for their God, only to realize in the end that what they are searching for they already had and was nothing new. Is this what "self realization" is like with Vaisnavism?

You mentioned in "Thought for the Day" that one needs a spiritual master who is already self realized, in order to attain self realization. But didn't the Buddha and many others find this on their own? Isn't following the Gita and chanting Hare Krishna enough to find the true self?

Why do I need another human being to reach the Supersoul that is already in me? It just really feels like I'm being bamboozled into submitting to someone other than God. I don't trust humans, and I don't feel that any human who feels he should be submitted to is being totally honest with me. It's too easy to get sucked in to someone's game when you are searching so desperately for the Absolute Truth and are willing to give your material life for it. But then I'm being told I must submit to a human being to find my Spirit.

Kathleen

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: You Only Need to Follow God's Instructions

There is no such thing as different types of self-realization because self-realization is one, to perfectly realize one's individual self in relationship with the Supreme Self. And it is not that we are already self-realized. At the present moment we are misidentified with gross matter and are thus caught up in the miserable repetition of birth and death. The self-realized soul becomes re-situated in his original spiritual identity in which he was situated before he fell into the cycle of birth and death. There is no question that someone who is still caught in this cycle is self-realized.

Just as sometimes someone gets an honorary degree without ever having attended a university, sometimes someone may achieve spiritual perfection without taking shelter of a bona fide spiritual master. So does this mean that if I want a PHD degree I should just sit on my front porch in my rocking chair and wait for the postman to deliver my PHD degree to me? Or if I want a PHD degree, should I enroll in the university and work under the guidance of the expert professor?

If you would like to take your chances of becoming self-realized without taking shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, you are welcome to try. But the chances are very slim, just as the odds of getting an honorary PHD degree from a bona fide university are very slim.

Certainly everyone is welcome to directly approach God to become his surrendered servant. But when we surrender to God we have to surrender to Him 100% on His terms. If we come to Him with our own terms of surrender, we are asking Him to surrender to us. This mentality of our expecting God to carry out our orders is the reason we fell into illusion in the first place. So if we are serious about self-realization, we must be serious to fully surrender ourselves unto God on His terms.

So what will we do if God orders us to approach Him via the bona fide spiritual master? Will we refuse to follow His instruction?

He does order us so, as confirmed in all the revealed scriptures. So what will we do now? Will we tell Him that He is wrong?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Saturday 26 June 2010

from Auckland, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Turning Chaos into Paradise

The world situation is becoming more and more chaotic with each passing year because it has lost its connection with the very source of existence, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore it is the greatest good fortune that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has introduced the Krishna consciousness movement for the world's deliverance. If the human society can wake up and realize the futility of basing itself solely on material advancement and take advice from the bona fide spiritual master, the representative of Krishna, the world situation will be completely transformed, and the entire planet earth will become transformed into a paradise.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

The Inaugurator of the Krishna Consciousness Movement


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Meaning of "Life Comes from Life."

What does "Life comes from life" mean?

Your servant

Chitra Krishna Das

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Life Cannot Come from Dead Matter

"Life comes from life" means that living things can only come from living things, that no living thing comes out of dead matter. Even though no scientist has ever been able to produce life from dead matter, modern science is based on this dogmatic principle that life comes from dead matter.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Friday 25 June 2010

from Auckland, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Back to the Concrete Jungles

I have now left behind paradisial Fiji to continue my lecture tour in the concrete jungles of a confused and polluted planet. There is no doubt about it. This transcendental self-realization science is absolutely essential for the future sanity and survival of the human civilization. Without it we will see a complete melt down of the present day society. Somehow this message of Krishna consciousness has to be broadcast to everyone in every part of the world.

Lord Krishna, please bless us that we can be successful in awakening the entire world to your most sublime message. Only by Your mercy is it possible that the world can be delivered.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




From Paradise to Hell


The Beauty of Krishna's Creation--Viti Levu, Fiji


The Horror of Man's Creation


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: How to Recognize a Bona Fide Guru?

You probably answered this thousand times before but I beg you to answer one more time.

Several people claim to be spiritual master, nay, even God! How to know who is a bona fide spiritual master (and who is a quack)? What is his/her sign?

Thank you very much

Ankush

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Living Embodiment of the Scriptures

Nowadays many people claim to be gurus when in fact they are not at all qualified. Therefore it is most important that we learn to distinguish between who is a bona fide spiritual master and who is not.

According to the Vedic scriptures, for the spiritual master to be bona fide he must be coming in a bona fide disciplic succession from Lord Sri Krishna and he must behave and speak 100% in accordance with the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam. In other words he must be a living embodiment of the scriptures and thus completely Krishna conscious.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Thursday 24 June 2010

from Nadi, Fiji
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

The Underlying Divinity of Existence

23 June 2010--As I write these words I have just finished my three day lecture series in Suva, Fiji and we are on the road to Tavua where I will be meeting with some of the local devotees and having lunch at the home of Vrajanatha Prabhu before heading to Nadi, where we will be catching our flight tomorrow to go to Auckland, New Zealand. We are traveling on the King's Road going around the remote side of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. Seeing the natural beauty and the simple villages along the river, I am reminded of a time on the planet earth when everyone lived much closer to nature and were much more attuned to the underlying divinity of existence. The beauty of Krishna consciousness is that it allows you be fully connected 24 hours a day with the underlying divinity of existence, even if you happen to be living in a hellish, polluted, crowded, crime-ridden city. It's pretty amazing what the chanting of Hare Krishna can do to elevate your consciousness if you do it seriously on a regular daily basis. I keep hoping that we can get the whole world to chant Hare Krishna because this will transform the entire planet earth into a paradise.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Travelling the Remote King's Road in Fiji--23 June 2010



The Beauty of Krishna's Creation


Clean, Fresh Air and Open Spaces


Remote House on the River


Sriman Vrajanath Das, Our Host for Lunch


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: What is True Love?

What is true love?

Jatin

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Fully Give Yourself to the Supreme Person

True love is when you totally give yourself to someone else without expecting anything in return. The perfection of true love is to offer it to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the source of all existence. Because He is the root cause of everything, when you give true love to Him your true love goes to everyone.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Wednesday 23 June 2010

from Suva, Fiji
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

The Perfection of Happiness

The perfection is happiness is to be fully absorbed 24 hours a day in the service of the Lord. To whatever extent we are able to engage our lives in this way, to that extent we will relish true happiness. This the universal, eternal principle of happiness. No matter now much we may try to beat the system through selfishness and greed, we will ultimately find ourselves in a miserable condition. Therefore completely rejecting the happiness derived from selfishness and greed the intelligent person dedicates his entire life to becoming perfect in the devotional service of the Lord.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




ISKCON Temple--Suva, Fiji



Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Can Man Become God?

I know that we are small gods. But does ISKCON think man can be God? Is there a way that man can be a full representation of God by climbing? Or does God have to be represented strictly by a man who was appointed at a time and place? That might be full two questions!

Thanks,
Travis

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Can the Part Become the Source?

God means the origin of all existence. So it is not possible for someone who is part of existence to become the source of the existence. The source always remains the source and the part always remains the part.

There is no such thing as someone being appointed as God. If there were, the one who does the appointing would be God, not the one who is appointed.

It is not that God is represented by a man. No. Just as a goldless gold mine cannot produce gold, an impersonal source of existence cannot produce persons. Therefore God, the source of existence, must necessarily possess personality and thus factually be a person. It is not that we are representing something impersonal as a person. This is not the case. The original source of existence must be a person. And the perfection of spiritual life is to develop a pure loving, relationship with that original person.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Tuesday 22 June 2010

from Suva, Fiji
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

The Ultimate Lifestyle

There is truly no lifestyle which comes even close to comparing with the adventurous cutting edge existence of someone who has fully realized and reconnected himself with the Absolute Truth, the source of all existence, and who then fully absorbs himself 24 hours a day in trying to completely transform this dark age of materialism into an all-auspicious, all-peaceful, all-prosperous age of happiness for all by sharing his realizations with the widest possible audience and by always being a perfect living example in all times, places, and circumstances of someone who is fully connected with the Absolute Truth.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: How to Become Self Realized?

For four years I have been sincerely practicing Krishna consciousness. But still I have not realized the self (soul). Please suggest me what further practice is needed for self realization.

Chandra

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: You Need A Guru.

You need a spiritual master because self-realization always remains like an uncapturable, elusive butterfly, merely theoretical, until we agree to become the devotee of Krishna's devotee. This is why the Mundaka Upanisad emphatically declares:

tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet
samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham


"In order to learn the transcendental science, one must approach the bona fide spiritual master in disciplic succession, who is fixed in the Absolute Truth."
--Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12

Note the word "must", which is very emphasized in the original Sanskrit verse. It is not optional. One must have a spiritual master in order to become fully awakened in self-realization. There is no other option. It is only when we fully take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master that we can fully realize the self.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Monday 21 June 2010

from Nadi, Fiji
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Heaven or Hell?

With all the air and water pollution we experience while traveling the globe, coming to the Fiji islands for several days of lecturing on the ultimate self-realization science is certainly literally a breath of fresh air. But before getting too excited about being in a heavenly atmosphere, it is intelligent and expedient to note how much this place is polluted by the bodily conception of life, just like every place in this suffering world. Wherever the bodily concept of life is predominant, that place will be like hell even if in every other way it is heavenly. And even if we are in the most hellish material circumstances on this planet earth, if there is Krishna consciousness, we will be living in the supreme heaven untouched by the miseries of material existence.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Where Do I Find A Spiritual Master?

I need a guide, friend, philosopher, mentor, a spiritual master. Where do I find him?

Ashwin

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Wake Up.

Wake up. Why do you think that you have not already found one?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Sunday 20 June 2010

from Hamilton, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Why Drink Poison?

Why drink poison when you can taste the sweetest nectar at every minute? All you have to do is reconnect with your eternal, fully realized, and fully blissful nature through the time tested, authorized self-realization process. This process cannot be understood through the process of mental speculation or by hearing from the mental speculators. It can only understand by hearing from those who have fully realized the self in its eternal relationship as a subordinate servant of the Supreme Self. Those who teach that the individual self and the Supreme Self are one and the same are themselves deluded and are deluding others. Love means two. The Supreme Self and you. If they are merged into one, love cannot exist. And where is the question of happiness in a world without love?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Distributing the Sweetest Nectar

18 June 2010--Hamilton, New Zealand


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

One of Our Readers Claims that We Cannot Know the Soul

Salutations!

Thanks for your daily informative capsules on spirituality.

Lord Krishna is the eighth avatar (Supreme Being entering His creation with the limitations of the world) or incarnation.

Krishna in Sanskrit translates to dark, unknown, mysterious. atman/Paramatma i.e. soul/Supersoul are of the same characteristics. We cannot know them from the senses or physical methods. We know we are living. But do we know what or where our soul is? That is the mystery of the whole existence.

Krishna is not different from anything. It is the principle or root of existence everywhere. It is within you and without. This is the Upanisadic understanding. So it would be better to avoid superlatives like, "He is the Supreme Lord." Paramatma is a realization that dawns upon a person when there is deeper understanding of the existence in a soul.

In Chapter 2 of the Srimad Bhagavad-gita: Krishna says to Arjuna, "You and I have been through various births, you don't remember them, but I do. And I manifest as per my own will." So a realized person knows the essence of this creation, and if he willfully wants to take birth, he can choose to be born as per his desire for the greater good of the existence. But an unrealized soul doesn't have the awareness nor the viveka (power of discrimination) to do so.

Sadanand

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: You Do Not Know, But We Know.

Your thanks is greatly appreciated. It is our duty to pass on to our readers what we have imbibed from our spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and from the great acharyas who have preceded him in disciplic succession. So any appreciation you have of our humble attempt to pass on this message is actually for them. If I have any credit in this connection it is that I am honestly passing on the message that these great spiritual authorities have bestowed upon me without any addition, adulteration, or subtraction.

Since you have quite a few misconceptions which are not in accordance with the Vedic conclusion, I am humbly begging from you that I may allowed to point these out to you for your benefit.

The first point is that you mention that Krishna is the eighth avatar without mentioning that He is the source of all the avatars. Although Krishna makes His appearance after some of the other avatars, He is clearly described in the Vedic literatures as Avatari, the source of all the avatars. He is clearly described in the Srimad Bhagavatam as Svayam Bhagavan, the original Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Then you relegate Krishna to the realm of the unknown by referring to the literal meaning of His name as if the literary meaning of His name conclusively defines His position, which it does not. While Krishna certainly remains unknown to the non-devotees, He becomes fully revealed and known to His devotees. Thus the translation of His name derived by breaking it into two syllables as described in the Mahabharata is a more appropriate understanding:

kṛṣir bhū-vācakaḥ śabdo
ṇaś ca nirvṛti-vācakaḥ
tayor aikyaṁ paraṁ brahma
kṛṣṇa ity abhidhīyate


"The word 'kṛṣ' is the attractive feature of the Lord's existence,
and 'ṇa' means spiritual pleasure.
When the verb 'kṛṣ' is added to the affix 'ṇa,'
it becomes 'Kṛṣṇa,' which indicates the Absolute Truth."
--Mahābhārata (Udyoga-parva 71.4)

Although the atma and the Paramatma or the soul and the Supersoul share the same characteristics of eternity, knowledge, and bliss, there still remains a gulf of difference between them because the soul or atma is infinitesimal while the Paramatma or Supersoul is infinite.

While you are correct in understanding that the soul and Supersoul cannot be understood by physical means, you fail to note that they can understood by transcendental means.

You state that we do not know what the soul is. We accept that you do not know what is the soul. But this does not mean that we do not know. By the causeless mercy of our spiritual master we know what the soul is. It is a subatomic, indivisible, indestructible particle of anti-material energy, which is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and is currently animating the material body in which it is presently situated.

You state, "Krishna is not different from anything. It is the principle or root of existence everywhere. It is within you and without. This is the Upanisadic understanding." as if to indicate that Krishna is the impersonal root of existence. You openly refer to Krishna as "it". But kindly note in this connection that just as a gold mine must possess gold in order to produce gold, the root of all existence must possess personality in order to manifest personalities. You and I obviously exist as two distinct personalities. Otherwise, how could we disagree with each other? Therefore since within existence personalities exist, the source of all existence must possess personality and thus be a person. And that person, being unlimited, has unlimited millions of names of which the name Krishna is the most perfect and complete name.

Krishna is simultaneously non-different and different from everything. Since He is the ultimate source from which everything has come, everything is nothing but His expanded energy. In this sense He is not different from anything. But still there is a difference. The difference is that there is the emanated Krishna (this creation) and the emanator Krishna (the person Krishna who has produced all of this from Himself.) This is the sublime philosophy known as "simultaneously, inconceivably one and different."

You object to superlatives being used to describe Krishna. But I beg to point out to that in the Rajasuya sacrifice envious Sisupala also objected to such superlatives being used to describe Krishna with the result that he got his head cut off. Arjuna on the other hand joyfully praised Krishna with such superlatives and became victorious on the battlefield. So we can follow the example of Sisupala or the example of Arjuna. This choice is up to each of us. Here is how Arjuna glorifies Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita:

arjuna uvāca
paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma
pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān
puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyam
ādi-devam ajaṁ vibhum
āhus tvām ṛṣayaḥ sarve
devarṣir nāradas tathā
asito devalo vyāsaḥ
svayaṁ caiva bravīṣi me

"Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala and Vyāsa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me."
--Bhagavad-gita 10.12-13

The Paramatma is the expanded form of Krishna dwelling within the hearts of all living beings. But beyond the Paramatma is the transcendental personality Lord Sri Krishna residing eternally in His own abode in the spiritual sky. In other words Paramatma realization is a lower level, less complete realization of the Absolute Truth than realizing that Krishna is the Supreme Absolute Truth.

A realized person knows that he is meant to fully engage himself in devotional service to the Supreme Lord. And he fully surrenders himself unto the will of the Lord regarding where he will take birth and what his duties will be.

As your humble servant I have submitted these truths to you for your edification and enlightenment. I hope that they are read by you in the same loving spirit in which I wrote them down for you.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Saturday 19 June 2010

from Auckland, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

The Epitome of Sweetness

For the most part in today's society the science of God is either completely rejected or grossly misunderstood. God is written off as a myth or taken as an order-supplier. Or sometimes the unenlightened even go so far as to imagine that they are God. Consequently practically no one realizes how to constantly relish 24/7 the epitome of sweetness, pure devotion to that all-attractive person who is the source of all existence. Thus there is no more important welfare work than to awaken the entire human society to the unlimitedly nectarean science of the relationship between the individual self and the Supreme Self.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Going Deep into the Epitome of Sweetness

17 June 2010--Auckland, New Zealand


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Krishna Consciousness and Other Religions

I was corresponding with a member who surprisingly mentioned that he did not know much about anything regarding Christianity. Do you acknowledge other faiths and their methods of praise and worship?

Also, Krishna wanted Arjuna to engage in fighting although Arjuna in his compassion did not want to at first. Is there anything that the society should take up arms over? How do you perceive a people who are willing to kill anyone in the name of God, including women, children and even people within their house of prayer?

Vernon

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Religion is One

Faith is one, to become a lover of God. Whether we address Him as Krishna, Allah, or Jehovah, faith in the Supreme Person is one.

Military action is never meant for aggression. To use it aggressively is most heinous and sinful. But because most men are impious, military aggression is a common occurrence in today's world. Therefore it is required for the government to maintain a competent military force to protect the nation against the unlawful aggression of others. In such situations violence can be utilized to protect the nation from attack.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Friday 18 June 2010

from Auckland, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Global Revolution in a Bead Bag

Srila Prabhupada states that if a devotee becomes completely pure in his chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, free from the ten offenses against the holy names, he becomes jagad-guru, the spiritual master of the entire universe and that under his influence the entire world will take up the wonderful enlightening process of Krishna consciousness. This means that you have a potential global spiritual revolution right there in your bead bag. All you have to do is become perfect in your chanting of the Hare Krishna mahamantra. By doing so you can save the entire world from its present darkness and misery.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Devotee Chanting Japa



Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Why is Krishna Superior to Impersonal Brahman?

I hope I can present this question respectfully. On June 17th's post you say that it is more intelligent to know Krishna is the Parabrahman than to think that the impersonal form of the Brahman is. I don't understand why this is so, but am endeavoring to understand. Any light you can shed on this will be greatly appreciated (the more the better). Either way I and many others applaud your efforts at trying to guide life to a higher platform for all.

Nicholas

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: He is It's Source

Thank you very much for your sincere inquiry.

The source of something is naturally para, supreme, or superior to its manifestation because the manifestation is dependent on its manifesting source for its existence. In this connection Krishna is clearly described in the Bhagavad-gita as both the Parabrahman and as the source of the impersonal Brahman.

He is clearly described as the Parabrahman, the Supreme Brahman, in the Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 10, Text 12. And it is clearly stated in Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 14, Text 27 that Krishna is the basis of the impersonal Brahman. Since Krishna is the origin of the impersonal Brahman, it is not para or supreme. Since Krishna is the origin of everything, He is the Parabrahman and His impersonal Brahman manifestation is not. The impersonal Brahman is the light or effulgence emanating from the Lord's transcendental body. Krishna is the source of that light or effulgence. This can be compared to a light bulb and the powerhouse. Of the light bulb and the powerhouse which is the supreme? The light bulb is dependent on the powerhouse for its illuminating power, therefore it cannot be the supreme.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Thursday 17 June 2010

from Auckland, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Sweet Malaysia Memories

The few days we spent in Malaysia were very blissful. The devotees took such nice loving care of us and arranged so many wonderful speaking engagements that it made our hearts melt. They have requested us to stay longer when we come back next year. Although the schedule on our around-the-world lecture tours is very tight, we will do our best to try to squeeze in some extra time for our Malaysia visit in 2011. It's the least we can do to try to reciprocate with the wonderful loving kindness of the devotees in Malaysia.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Final Questions and Answers at the Airport

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia--15 June 2010


Ecstatic Farewell at the Airport
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia--15 June 2010


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: A Fundamental Misconception

I have spoken to many Hindus about the Gita. They all tell me that the Me or I in the Gita does not refer to Sri Krishna but only to the Parabrahman within Krishna. How do I refute this?

First of all how did this representation or misrepresentation crop up? Does Krishna say anywhere that He is not referring to himself?

Thanks
Best Regards, Amar

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Krishna Is Both Within and Without

Their claim that when Krishna says "I" He is not referring to Himself is patently absurd. Krishna never says this. If I ask you to bring me a glass of water, who do I want you to bring the glass of water to? The answer is that obviously that I want you to bring the glass of water to me. If I had wanted you to give it to someone else, I would have explicitly told you to give it to that person. So when Krishna says, "Surrender to Me" He is saying that we should surrender to Him, not to someone else. If He had wanted us to surrender to someone else or something else, He would have directly named that person or thing. But He did not do so. When a statement is clear, there is no need for interpretation.

There is no question of the Parabrahman (Supreme Spirit) being within Krishna and separate from Him because Krishna is Himself directly the Parabrahman and the source of all existence. Because Krishna is the Supreme Absolute Truth, there is no difference between His within and without. Therefore this idea that Krishna is not the Parabrahman is complete and utter rubbish. Arjuna directly states in the Bhagavad-gita that Krishna is the Parabrahman.

This misinterpretation of the Vedic teachings was popularized by Sripad Sankaracharya many centuries ago for the purpose of defeating Buddhism. Then after he drove Buddhism out of India, He taught the principle that we should worship Krishna directly as the Parabrahman. Unfortunately his less intelligent followers did not accept his final message and have continued to this very day to hold on to the misconception that the ultimate truth is the impersonal, formless Brahman within. This impersonal Brahman is not the Supreme Brahman or Parabrahman. It is an inferior Brahman conception for those who are less intelligent to facilitate their gradually understanding the personal nature of the Supreme Spirit. Those who intelligently accept Krishna as Parabrahman immediately attain a higher platform of spiritual enlightenment than even the most advanced impersonalists.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Wednesday 16 June 2010

from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Supremely Blissed Out

There is nothing sweeter than being reconnected with the source our existence except for reconnecting others with that source of existence. Why? Because when we connect others with the source of our existence, Lord Sri Krishna, we become even more connected with Krishna. In this way we become supremely blissed out.

Recently one of our subscribers dropped out of our course complaining that I do nothing except serve my own purpose. After considering his complaint, I realized that I agree with him. It is a fact that I do nothing except serve my own purpose. And what is that purpose? I want to see that every man, woman, and child on the face of this planet can achieve the supreme happiness of being reconnected with the source of their existence, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I am hankering for that day when everybody on this planet will relish the supreme bliss at every moment.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Spreading the Supreme Bliss

at Hari Dass Giri Seva Samajam
Klang, Malaysia--14 June 2010


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: How to Attain Peace and Stability?

Will you please tell me how to achieve peace and stability in life?

Your servant,

Mahendra

Pune, India

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Know Krishna As He Is

It is not all difficult to achieve peace and stability in your life. All you have to do is always remember and implement the following instruction from Lord Sri Krishna:

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

"A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary
of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods,
and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities,
attains peace from the pangs of material miseries."

--Bhagavad-gita 5.29

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Tuesday 15 June 2010

from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Never To Be Bewildered Again

The supreme nirvana, the ultimate state of spiritual perfection is immediately accessible to those who know the secret of how to connect with it. All you have to do is know and understand your actual identity as a pure spiritual-soul servitor of the Supreme Person and then always think, speak, and act in terms of that actual identity. By practicing the self-realization science in this way according to the directions of great self-realized spiritual masters you will gain factual realization, tangible experience of your eternal identity, which exists completely beyond the confines of the present prison of time and space. The result will be that you will be completely ecstatic and never be bewildered ever again by the miseries of material existence.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Opening the Door to Spiritual Emancipation

Klang, Malaysia--13 June 2010


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Why Call God "Krishna"?

If God is God as you said, divine and beyond attributes and names, why such obsession with the name Krishna? We could be spontaneously liberated if we keep God just God without creating an Avatar or give a name to God.

Samir Ranjan Das

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Because "Krishna" Best Describes Him

When we say that God is unlimited we are are not saying that He is beyond attributes and names. What we are instead saying is that God has unlimited attributes and names. If God is unlimited, He cannot be limited in any way. He cannot not have a name because this would be a limitation on God. If He is truly unlimited, which He is, He must be simultaneously with a name or names and without a name or names. If He is unlimited, He must have unlimited names. And it is because He has unlimited names that we sometimes say that He is nameless. In other words, He is nameless in the sense that He has no one particular name. But if there is any one particular name that could be best used to describe Him, that name would be Krishna because Krishna means the All-Attractive One. Since all attractive things are emanating from God, He must be unlimitedly attractive. Therefore if we are to give Him any one name, the name Krishna, the All-Attractive One, is the most appropriate.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Monday 14 June 2010

from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Battling it Out with Kali

At the present moment the personality of Kali has taken charge of this planet in every nation around the globe. Therefore there is nothing more important for the welfare of the human society than to spread this Krishna consciousness movement all over the world so that Kali's influence can be counteracted and everyone can be happy. At the present moment we are very much blessed by the most auspicious opportunity to spread the Krishna consciousness movement in another one of Kali's capitals, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




We Are Presenting
Bhakti
in One of Kali's Capitals
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Should I Seek or Wait for a Guru?

Dear Sir:

I am sympathetic to the Krishna consciousness movement for about eight years, and though I have found some advanced devotees, I have been unable to find my spiritual master. How should I proceed? Should I actively seek a spiritual master or should I simply ask for Krishna to send him to me? I am wondering this because it is said that when the student is ready the spiritual master appears.

Respectfully

Carlos

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: The Bhagavatam Says to Seek a Guru

The best thing is that you should actively seek a spiritual master with great enthusiasm. This is recommendation is given as follows in the Srimad Bhagavatam:

tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta
jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam
śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ
brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam


"Any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master
and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that
he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able
to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken
shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations,
should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters."
--SB 11.3.21

If you will sincerely follow the advice given in this verse, Krishna will reciprocate with your sincerity and make it perfectly clear to you who should be your spiritual master.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Sunday 13 June 2010

from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Ecstatic Krishna Consciousness in Malaysia

In spite of being a suppressed minority in a Muslim country the devotees in Malaysia are so blissful that simply by being in their association one becomes ecstatic. This is the nature of transcendental association. It uplifts the consciousness enabling one to taste divine happiness at every minute. This is the way life should always be and the way it can always be if we stick tightly to the association of advanced transcendentalists. Money, sex life, prestige, and power can never give this kind of satisfaction to the self. Therefore we encourage everyone to awaken their original divine consciousness by taking enthusiastically to the pathway of self-realization.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Kirtan
at Devotee Relationship Seminar
12 June 2010--Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: When Is One Properly Set in Life?

Please explain when can a person call himself well settled in life. I mean at what stage in life is a person properly set in life?

Amit Gupta
Delhi, India

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: When He Wakes Up With Krishna

When a person leaves his present body in a state of pure consciousness and wakes up to find himself in the association of Krishna, he can then understand that he is perfectly well set in life. It is then that he has truly got it made. Until then he should continue endeavoring to achieve this, the ultimate purposeful end.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Saturday 12 June 2010

from Hong Kong Airport
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Gulf Oil Spill Madness

In horror we watch as now for 53 days millions of gallons of oil keep spewing out into the Gulf of Mexico making it more and more polluted by the hour. And still the gusher has not been stopped! Such outrageous anomalies are symptomatic of an age based on material sense gratification in which God is either denied or taken simply as our order-supplier. If we want to bring back balance and harmony to the human society, we must address the problems at the very root level instead of simply trying successfully or unsuccessfully to treat the symptoms. The root cause of all of difficulties is that we are trying to enjoy the property of our Father instead of doing our duty of engaging His property in His service. If we can simply start doing our duty, the anomalies will go away and we will have heaven on earth.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Catastrophe



Black Waves



Every-Expanding Oil Slick


Oil Soaked Bird


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: True Self Versus "I Am"

Just when I start to think I am understanding this, I get a knock-down. I just read in the Gita that the False Ego is the "I Am", but I thought the "I Am", apart from the material body, WAS the true self. (as in pure awareness).

This is SO FRUSTRATING! What to do?

Julianne

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Read Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Apparently you are not reading a bona fide edition of the Bhagavad-gita. You are right. The Gita you read is wrong. The real Bhagavad-gita spoken by Krishna to Arjuna confirms the eternal individuality of God and the living beings. This is why we recommend that you should read Bhagavad-gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada's Gita will not frustrate you. It will liberate you.

False ego is to identify the self with the body. Real ego is to identity the self as the eternal spirit-soul servant of God.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Friday 11 June 2010

from Lenasia, South Africa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Millions of Times Better Than Sex

In this material world sex is accepted universally as the ultimate pleasure. Sigmund Freud theorized that everything we do in this material world is based around sex and he was right So how is it that a Krishna conscious person can derive unlimited pleasure, energy, and satisfaction by completely focusing all of his energy on Krishna and totally giving up sex? The reason is that the pleasure of fully absorbing oneself in Krishna consciousness is millions and billions of times more enjoyable than any quality or quantity of sex pleasure. If one finds this difficult to believe, we encourage him to make the experiment of fully absorbing himself in Krishna consciousness and then judging from his own experience because as it is said the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: God Conscious Without Religious Dogma?

Respected Sankarshan Das Adhikari,

Can one be God conscious without being indoctrinated by any religious, sectarian dogmas or beliefs?

I do not accept Krishna as the God that I understand. My idea of God is the all pervading consciousness of which I am a part, an inseparable, homogeneous (to use a pragmatic word) whole. So the idea of surrender to self is irrelevant. Krishna is redundant. He is defined as an avatar of God as conceptualized by human mortals. It is mere belief, desperately wanted as true. He certainly could have been a great and enlightened individual. The Bhagavad-gita is both a synthesis and the essence of the Vedas, Vedanta, Puranas, etc. The Gita is a part of Mahabharata written by Vedavyasa or anybody for that matter. Krishna is a character, whether imaginary or real is anybody's guess. It is certainly a good belief system that one would definitely love to cling to. But it is not for an enlightened mind.

It is certainly through the mechanism of mind, thought, intellect, feelings, deep introspection, and meditation that one experiences God consciousness and not with the help of five senses. It is an experience beyond senses. It certainly does not require that one believe in Krishna to experience God consciousness.

S R Das

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: God Realization is Beyond All Dogma

Yes, one can be God conscious without be indoctrinated by dogma or sectarianism. In fact, to become purely God consciousness one MUST go beyond all dogma and sectarianism. Therefore we must approach the science of God realization with a completely open mind. We must always remember that as conditioned souls we do not yet know what is God, and we must carefully avoid any preconceived notions.

God is God. Whether we accept or do not accept, does not alter the position of God even to the slightest degree.

It is a fact that God is experienced beyond the realm of the senses. Thus to experience God we must awaken our powers of spiritual perception through the process of self-realization. But unless we are spiritually awakened we cannot understand properly or know how to implement correctly the process of self-realization. Thus the danger is always lurking in the shadows that we may delude ourselves into thinking that we are spiritually awakened when factually we are in illusion. This is why we require the guidance of a fully self-realized spiritual master. If we simply try to speculate with our imperfect senses about what is God and how to realize God, we will remain perpetually in darkness.

If we try to judge in our conditioned state Krishna's divinity or lack thereof, we are treading on very thin ice because until we have fully realized God we are not in a position to judge who is God and who is not God. Especially when we see that all the great Vedic authorities such as Narada, Asita, Devala, and Vyas have all accepted Krishna as the Supreme Godhead we should be very hesitant to throw in our two cents worth in this regard. When a conditioned soul dreams that he can perceive the Absolute Truth just like a liberated soul, he is killing his opportunity for genuine spiritual realization.

Therefore we should always remember that it is only when we lay aside all pre-conceived ideas and become like blank slates to hear open-mindedly from the person who has fully realized God that we can genuinely realize God.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Thursday 10 June 2010

from Solferino, Mauritius
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

From Heaven to Hell to the Ultimate Heaven

A few sublime days in Mauritius of fresh air, sunshine, beautiful views, wonderful varieties of locally grown fruit and vegetable prasadam, combined with my normal ecstatic routine of chanting and describing the glories of Krishna consciousness in the association of souls eager to hear--was a wonderful boon for both my consciousness and my health. Now we have left behind heavenly Mauritius to continue chanting and teaching the ultimate self-realization science in the hellish cities of the modern day material civilization. Our first stop is Johannesburg where our hosts live in a neighborhood filled with barbed wire like a battle front and houses protected with bars like fortresses. While externally the atmosphere is hellish, warning us of the violent crime that goes on regularly in South Africa, once you are inside absorbed in chanting and hearing the glories of Krishna you are back again in the heavenly atmosphere of Krishna's transcendental abode which exceeds by millions of times any heavenly atmosphere found on this earth planet.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Initiation of Prahlada Dasa

6 June 2010--Phoenix, Mauritius


Initiation of Madireksana Devi Dasi
6 June 2010--Phoenix, Mauritius


Ecstatic Krishna Consciousness Lecture
Rose Belle, Mauritius--6 June 2010


Appreciating the Serene Beauty of Krishna's Creation
Solferino, Mauritius--9 June 2010


Johannesburg, South Africa--9 June 2010
We Arrive in Suburban Johannesburg Where
Sign on Home Warns Intruders of Armed Response


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Non-Violence in the Bhagavad-gita

What is the place of non-violence in the Bhagavad-gita?

Nitin

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Distributing Real Knowledge

Non-violence or ahimsa is recommended in the Bhagavad-gita. Nonviolence is generally taken to mean not killing or destroying the body, but actually nonviolence means not to put others into distress. People in general are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of life, and they therefore perpetually suffer material pains. So unless one elevates people to spiritual knowledge, one is practicing violence. One should therefore try his best to distribute real knowledge to the people, so that they may become enlightened and leave this material entanglement. That is real nonviolence.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Wednesday 9 June 2010

from Solferino, Mauritius
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

You Can't Make a Horse Drink

Whether the world takes to enlightened consciousness or not, that is up to them. But at least we can taste the nectar of the ultimate in enlightened consciousness, Krishna consciousness. Of course we want that everyone else can taste the ultimate happiness. We cannot stand to see the entire human society unnecessarily entangled in so many varieties of suffering conditions. That is why we have fully dedicated ours lives to making the entire world Krishna conscious. But what can we do if the people in general prefer to remain in ignorance and misery? We can lead a horse to the water, but we cannot force him to drink. So whether they take to Krishna consciousness or they do not take to Krishna consciousness, that is up to them. It is simply our duty to present it to them to in the most pleasing, pleasant, and intelligent way possible. But if they still refuse to take it, what can we do? We will go on drinking the nectar and continue making vigorous propaganda to induce them to also drink the nectar.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Leading to the Water a Horse Who Doesn't Want to Drink


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Public Chanting Versus Private Chanting

Jesus told us in the New Testament that we should not pray in public places as if to gain attention for it, but to pray in our secret place. How does this apply to the "Thought for the Day" of 28 May 2010, where we are encouraged to chant in public? At what point does this become an egoistic display, rather than the main goal being a personal, transcendental connection with God?

Kathleen

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Public Chanting Bestows the Greatest Benefit

A devotee's personal meditation of communing with God is done privately and not done publicly as a matter of show. For example Jesus would pray in private but preach in public. For Krishna's devotees private prayer is known as japa mala or chanting the holy names of God on prayer beads. Devotees spend 1½ to 2 hours daily chanting Hare Krishna privately on their japa beads. Besides this, kirtan or chanting in public is done to bless the people in general with hearing the holy names of God. There is nothing more beneficial for the purification of the material atmosphere than the public congregational chanting of the holy names of God. We have seen that even in Christianity the public chanting of the names of God is conducted for the spiritual upliftment of the people in general. I have fond memories as a boy when the Christmas carolers came from door to door singing Christmas carols on Christmas eve.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Tuesday 8 June 2010

from Solferino, Mauritius
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Crying in the Wilderness

Sometimes I feel like I am crying in the wilderness because it seems so hopeless to get this message through to the grossly illusioned human population. I have dedicated my life to bringing a higher consciousness to this planet, but I see that it is still completely engrossed in the three modes of material nature. I am now 62 and I know that my departure from this planet is coming closer and closer every day. I want so much that the leaders will open their hearts to the message of the Bhagavad-gita, but no one is interested. Still I push on as a matter of duty. My only consolation is knowing that because I am speaking Krishna's teachings of Absolute Truth, the teachings I am leaving behind are powerful seeds of bhakti that will one day sprout and bring about the global spiritual revolution that I so ardently desire.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




University of Mauritius



Planting Bhakti Seeds at the University of Mauritius


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: How to Measure Spiritual Advancement?

How do I know that I am spiritually advancing to higher and higher levels of Krishna consciousness?

Kind Regards

Uday

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: By Detachment from Sense Gratification

You can measure your spiritual progress by how much you are becoming detached from all forms of material sense gratification.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Monday 7 June 2010

from Solferino, Mauritius
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Broadcasting the Ultimate News

On Saturday 5 June 2010 I had the sublime opportunity to reach out to thousands of people all over Mauritius through appearing on the radio at Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation. There is truly nothing more satisfying than making this knowledge widely available because at the present moment the entire world is suffering due to a lack of this knowledge. The entire world population can live in perfect peace and harmony if the people can be educated to know who they are and are taught the practical techniques of fully reviving their original, natural consciousness.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation



Broadcasting the Highest Truth to the Mauritians
5 June 2010


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Predestination, Doom, Fate...

My Dear Srila Gurudeva.
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada and you, Srila Gurudeva.

I have one question, where I am little bit confused. One devotee was telling me that everything is predestined. Krishna knows everything. He knows what we will choose, what we will do, how and when we will come back to him. So according to this philosophy, we are only observers and nothing more. According to the viewpoint, which seems logical, because Krishna knows everything, everything already is predestined and our existence is only like watching movie. I can think that I have chosen Krishna, but Krishna knew when or whether or not I would choose him. So according to this philosophy everything is stage-managed. This topic is very important to me please enlighten me.

Your eternal servant,
Vraja Kisor das

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Krishna Gives Us Free Will

This is not the correct understanding. Free will always exists for every living being because without it love cannot exist. And since Krishna wants our love He always endows us with free will love. This is why He is manifesting us from Himself, to enjoy a loving relationship with us.

Krishna is so inconceivably omnipotent that He simultaneously gives us the full choice of deciding when we will come back to Him while at the same time knowing exactly when we will do that. This is not at all difficult for Him for He exists in a realm that is beyond time and space. Krishna gives us the full power to choose and at the same time knows exactly when we will choose Him. His knowledge of when we will choose Him does not take away our freedom of if and when we will choose Him. This is the inconceivable omnipotence of the Lord.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Sunday 6 June 2010

from Solferino, Mauritius
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Healthy Stop in Mauritius

Krishna has blessed me with a wonderful atmosphere for helping me to recover from pneumonia. We've left behind the winter of South Africa to spend a few days in Mauritius, a tropical island nation off of the east coast of Africa, where the warm climate, clean air, locally grown fruits and vegetables, and open spaces are all very beneficial for my health. Here I am giving a series of lectures, appearing on the radio, and initiating some new disciples. Krishna consciousness is very highly respected and successful here. In fact in 1975 the prime minister of Mauritius personally requested Srila Prabhupada to visit this country. So it is certainly not an ordinary place. And Mauritius has the highest per capita enrollment in our Ultimate Self Realization Course of any nation in the world.

We'll be here until next Wednesday, when we will return to Johannesburg, South Africa for one day to do an evening program in the home of Shyam Govinda Prabhu and then head on to Malaysia for several days of lecturing on the topmost science of Krishna consciousness. There is nothing more wonderful than Krishna consciousness. It will solve all of the world's problems. Therefore we have to keep spreading it until becomes known, understood, and accepted by all of the world's leaders. This is the beginning of a new age of spiritual enlightenment.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Mauritius



Approaching Mauritius by Air


Beautiful Mountain Near Devotee Farm


Picking Jackfruit on Devotee Farm


Cows on Devotee Farm Will Be Protected for Life


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Can God Create an Eternal Being?

In the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord says He is existing from infinite times and also the other living beings are existing from infinite times. If so, what is the greatness of God-almighty? If both God and the living beings are existing from infinite times, the living beings are not dependent on God-almighty for their existence. Is this understanding in accordance with or against the Vedic conclusion?

But as per Jagadguru Madhvacharya of Udupi, the living beings are just reflections of God-almighty, i.e. without the original source, the reflections cannot exist by themselves. He also claims that God-almighty was in yoga nidra (transcendental sleep) before this life's creation and He just had His will to do and so it was done. If so, don't the teachings of Madhvacharya come into direct conflict with the concept of the non-creation of living-souls, and their eternal existence not depending on God-almighty to sustain them?

Is there any aspect of the Lord in His whole infinite number of aspects or attributes in this cosmic reality, where nothing exists (i.e. absolutely nothing: no God, no soul, no time, no space, no energy, no matter), where nothing, nothing, nothing exists? Because if this aspect is one of God's aspects probably the question of non-existence of living-souls and their dependence on God-almighty to come in to existence can be defined. As He doesn't exist in this aspect, of course the time will not exist and relatively the question of infinite existence of living soul does not arise at all.

Praveen

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: He Eternally Does So

Even though Krishna and the living entities are both existing eternally, they are not the same. Krishna is the emanator and we are the emanated, something like the sun and the sunshine. In this way, we are eternally dependent upon Krishna for our existence. He is our creator. That is a fact. But His creating us is an eternal reality because He is eternally manifesting us from Himself.

The God who is in yoga-nidra or mystic slumber is an expanded form of Sri Krishna known as Maha-Vishnu. He is responsible for the material existence, and through His exhalations and inhalations He brings the material existence alternatively between a manifested state and an unmanifested state. He is not the original source of existence. He is an assistant of Sri Krishna for bringing about the manifestation and non-manifestation of the material existence. The living entities are spiritual in nature and are eternally existing in spite of the constant manifestation and non-manifestation of the material existence.

Non-existence does not exist. If it did, it would contradict itself. We do not need to bring in the concept of non-existence because God can be our creator while at the same time we are existing eternally along with Him. In short, He is eternally creating or emanating us by His desire that we should exist.
.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Saturday 5 June 2010

from Johannesburg, South Africa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Are You Spiritual But Not Religious?

In an article entitled "Are There Dangers in Being 'Spiritual' But Not Religious?" dated June 3, 2010 CNN correspondent John Blake writes:

"I'm spiritual but not religious." It's a trendy phrase people often use to describe their belief that they don't need organized religion to live a life of faith.

What Mr. Blake has written about above may be trendy nowadays, but it is nothing new. 5,000 years Lord Krishna was also encouraging spirituality without religious when he instructed Arjuna to abandon all varieties of religion and simply surrender unto the Supreme Lord. As soon as we forget the original pure essence of spiritual life, to become a lover of God, our tendency is to invent a system of rules of regulations for elevating ourselves into some kind of "holier than thou" consciousness.

This is why none of the great saintly enlightened teachers throughout history have taught sectarianism. They have all simply taught their students the art of how to reconnect or relink themselves with the Supreme Person, the source of all existence through loving service.

In 1966 in New York my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, started ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, for this purpose. He founded an educational society, not a new religion. ISKCON was started to teach people the ancient, powerful, effective techniques for dovetailing their consciousness 24 hours daily with the Supreme Consciousness. So now on his order, his students are making this most powerful spiritual knowledge available to everyone all over the world so that the entire world can transcend the sectarianism and divisiveness of religion and attain true harmony and global unity through spiritual perfection.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: When a Devotee is Envious

In case one devotee becomes envious of another devotee's service to Lord and accordingly tries to disturb or sabotage his efforts to serve the Lord - how this mater can be sorted out ?

Please reply in "Thought for the Day" if possible, so that all of your 12,000 students can benefit from your reply.

Thank You.

With Regards,

Mukesh Doshi

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Be Non-Envious for Rapid Advancement

If we do not appreciate another devotee's service we are sabotaging our own spiritual progress. Therefore the intelligent devotee always appreciates the service of all the other devotees. In this way he is blessed with more and more spiritual advancement by the Lord.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Friday 4 June 2010

from Kyalami, South Africa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Play the Ultimate Soccer Game

Right now the entire world is focusing on South Africa because starting in one week it will be hosting the 2010 World Cup soccer games. Teams from all over the world will be competing to control the soccer ball better than the other teams. Millions and millions of dollars are being spent in appreciation of this sport. But what will be the final outcome of the games? For one year or so one team will be considered the world soccer champions until they are eventually displaced by another team. How will this have improved the condition of the human race? Will there will be less disease? Will people no longer get old and die? No. The wheel of material miseries will continue to roll on unabated with great force. Will there be no crime, poverty, injustice, or terrorism? No. These unwanted things will also continue.

So if we enjoy playing a competitive sport, why not play that competitive sport in which the stakes are the highest and the end result is the most beneficial? This sport is the most exciting of all sports. This ultimate soccer game is to compete to see who will control planet earth, those who are saintly or those who are materialistic. If this planet can be conducted under the guidance of the saintly men, this planet will become heaven on earth. All the anomalies that are torturing the human society will be reduced almost to nil and the entire human population will become happy. Try to get that from a soccer game.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




2010 World Cup Soccer Games--South Africa



Excitement on the Soccer Field


The Ultimate Exciting Soccer Game
Controlling Planet Earth


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: How to Pray to Krishna?

In our daily prayers to Sri Krishna what should we ask for? How should we pray? Is there a scripted prayer which we can recite everyday in front of Lord Krishna? What do you recommend?

Thanks and regards
Vivek

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: Give Yourself to Krishna

The best of all prayers is to pray to the Lord that we can be fully absorbed in His pure devotional service. In other words we should beg to fully give ourselves to Him without holding anything back, being prepared to do whatever He wants us to do. There is no need of any other prayer because when one becomes such situated in pure bhakti he is automatically blessed with everything that is desirable. Even Krishna Himself becomes the personal property of such a pure devotee. And the best prayer to beg for this pure bhakti or pure devotion is the Hare Krishna mantra:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हर
हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Thursday 03 June 2010

from Ermelo, South Africa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Waking Up from the Nightmare


In the ultimate analysis this material existence is a nightmare. Even though we do not want to suffer, so many sufferings are forced upon us by the material nature. The good news is that we actually have nothing to do with the material nature. All we really have to do to escape all the sufferings is wake up from the nightmare by chanting the holy names of the Lord with love.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Krishna Approves of Deity Worship?

How can we be sure that Krishna approves of devotees worshiping Him in Deity form? Thank you for your time.

N. Reyes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: He Instructs Devotees to Worship Deities

The Supreme Lord instructs us as follows in the Srimad Bhagavatam:

"The devotee should regularly see My statues in the temple,
touch My lotus feet and offer worshipable paraphernalia and prayer.
He should see in the spirit of renunciation, from the mode of goodness,
and see every living entity as spiritual."

--SB 3.29.16

Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Wednesday 2 June 2010

from Kyalami, South Africa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Spiritual Revolution Seeds

Our spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, has started in 1966 in New York the Krishna consciousness movement, a spiritual revolution to save the human society from imminent catastrophic collapse. In pursuance of his mission we are requesting all thoughtful, compassionate souls to join us in this movement for bringing about the total complete respiritualization of the human society. The success of this movement depends on how seriously we engage ourselves in planting and cultivating the seeds of Krishna bhakti all over the world in every town, village, hamlet, and community. In this regard we must always be enthusiastic, determined, and patient. Even though we would love to see the entire planet inundated by a tsunami of pure love of Godhead in our lifetimes, with such a heavily entrenched materialistic culture completely controlling the human population, it does not seem possible. But still we should undauntedly carry on with our mission of planting and cultivating the seeds of spiritual revolution everywhere because this is our duty. And who knows? By the inconceivable grace of Lord Sri Krishna the entire world civilization could at any day wake up from their sense gratification and decide to seriously pursue the pathway of Krishna consciousness. The more we plant and cultivate the seeds of Krishna bhakti everywhere, the more likely it will be that this supreme miracle of all miracles will manifest itself as the most amazing paradigm shift ever to be seen in human history.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari




Program at Priyesh Ramlall Home

31 May--Kyalami, South Africa


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Krishna Doesn't Stop Us from Doing Bad?

I have a question. If Krishna knows the future that means He knows what is going to happen. It may be good or bad. So if we are going to do that bad deed, why doesn't He stop us from doing it?

Satyajeet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: We Ignore His Mercy

Krishna has come to stop us but we are so stubbornly attached to our nonsense that we ignore His mercy and do the foolish thing anyway.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Tuesday 01 June 2010

from Lenasia, South Africa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Thought:

Pushing On Through Adversity

Things don't always go well in this material world. This is to be expected because after all this material world is by its very nature a place of misery. The way to deal with the inevitable adversities that we must face is to keep pushing forward with our loving service to the Supreme Lord in spite of all reverses and set backs. The key is to not let any situation dampen our enthusiasm for the process of devotional service. In this way, if we will stick constantly to our duties in the Lord's service without every allowing ourselves to becomes discouraged, we will be able to completely transcend all of the adversities and always be absorbed in blissful Krishna consciousness.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari


Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Where Does Krishna Live

I want to know: Where does Krishna really live?

Siddhi

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: In the Topmost Planet and Everywhere

Krishna has His abode called Krishnaloka, which is the topmost planet in the spiritual sky. He lives there eternally engaged in unlimited varieties of inconceivably blissful pastimes with His pure devotees. He is also situated everywhere within this material world because He is present in the hearts of all living beings, within every atom, and also in between the atoms.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari



















TABLA - FUENTES - FONTS


SOUV2BalaramScaGoudyFOLIO 4.2Biblica Font







free counters



Disculpen las Molestias



Sankarshan Das Adhikari - ANUAL

No hay comentarios:

Correo Vaishnava

Mi foto
Spain
Correo Devocional

Archivo del blog