Taking Your Karma With You

There is a saying, "You can go to Bengal but you will take your karma with you". We can't escape our karma, our destiny caused by our past actions, by leaving one place for another. The best course for us is to act in Krishna Consciousness, or bhakti-yoga, especially by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra: HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE/ HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE; at all times and in all places. Bhakti-yoga destroys past karma and bestows spiritual happiness.

Our Net Worth

The material assets that we possess such as houses and bank accounts are all titled to our material body. We leave all these behind at the time of death. The only permanent asset that we can own is accumulated bhakti or devotional service to Krishna.

Hare Krishna Maha-mantra

To become gradually freed from slavery to the material senses, dedicate your time at hand to chanting the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

We Should Avoid Criticizing Devotees

While cultivating the practice of spiritual life in Krishna consciousness, we should not have a habit of criticizing other devotees of the Lord. A devotee may have some defects, but he/she will be gradually reformed by the process of bhakti-yoga (devotional service to Krishna). It is not our business to criticize, and it will in fact hamper our own progress. There are 10 offenses in chanting the holy name of the Lord, and the 1st offense is to vilify a devotee who has dedicated his life to propagating the holy name of the Lord.

Material Progress is External.

The essential purpose of human life is to advance in Krishna consciousness. Material progress is external. Of course, that's a truism, because external is one synonym of material. In many parts of the world we see that there is a lot of material prosperity. Nice houses, apartment buildings, office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, cars, airplanes, etc., etc., are features of material advancement, but such advancement is superficial. If a person does not have any Krishna consciousness then his/her life is futile. Material posessions are temporary, whereas advancement in Krishna consciousness is permanent. If a person makes 10% advancement in Krishna consciousness in this life, then in his/her next life he/she will begin from 10%. All the while such a person enjoys an increasingly enlightened state of existence. In this life or after many lives, when one reaches 100% progress in Krishna consciousness, then the next life is in Goloka Vrindavan where there is no more repeated birth and death.

You're the person I've been waiting for...

Everybody is looking for happiness in a relationship. Man and woman; parent and child; friend and friend; etc. But sometimes these relationships are a source of misery instead of being a source of happiness. And since everything in this material world is temporary, the relationships are temporary. As it is said, "till death do us part". If we want a relationship that will bring us unending happiness, not even interrupted by death, that can only be found in a relationship with Krishna. We can immediately begin this relationship by taking up devotional service to Him. As we continue to pass our life in His service we can ever-increasingly experience His presence in our lives. But to actually attain Him we will have to be patient because Krishna is definately not a cheap thing. The best thing in all existence is worth waiting for and that best thing is Krishna.

:)

Black, white, yellow, or red; fall in love with Krishna before you're dead.

The Onslaught of Kali Yuga

So we can see that as the kali-yuga (era of quarrel and hypocrisy) progresses, the standard of religiosity and morality as set by the Vedas as well as other traditions is under full attack. Various agendas that are contrary to vedic principles are widely promoted and supported even by leaders of great nations. On the path of the search for truth one finds, in addition to hypocrisy, new brands of atheistic so called spirituality. All of this was anticipated in the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.1.10):  "O learned one, in this iron age of kali men have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed."  Considering the circumstances  we should accept the advice also given to citizens of kali-yuga. From the Brhan-naradiya Puraṇa (38.126)  "In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way"  And from the Kali-santarana Upanisad  in  Krishna Yajur Veda: "The sixteen names of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra: hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare, hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare destroy all the inauspiciousness of the kali-yuga. This is the conclusion of all the Vedas."

Body is Temporary; Soul is Eternal.

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, false ego, spirit soul, Supersoul. The first eight are the total ingredients of our material body. We are all individual spirit souls separate from yet within our respective individual material bodies. As spirit souls we are not material and cannot be seen by material eyes or any material instruments. We are the conscious entity within the material body. The Supersoul, God, is with the spirit soul in the heart. There is one God and there are an unlimited number of individual spirit souls called jivas (in the original Sanskrit language). Although God is with us in our hearts, He is always free, whereas we are in material bondage. It is possible for us to be freed from this bondage and transferred to the superior nature, the Kingdom of God. We will remain individual persons but with an eternal body composed of the spiritual nature. The path to this freedom is called bhakti-yoga or devotional service to Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. 

Kali, Consequently

In this present age, the age of kali, the moral grade of human society is gradually descending. What was perverse must now be accepted as normal. Furthermore, it is considered that there is something wrong with you, if you do not accept the perverse as normal. 

Love

We already have the proclivity to love. We love people in our family; we love our friends; we love our pets; we love our house; we love our car; we love our money; etc. Now we have to learn how to love Krishna (God). Actually love for Krishna is present within us but dormant. The ultimate accomplishment in life is to awaken our love for Krishna. Love of Krishna gives happiness and pleasure to our soul that is millions of times greater than that found in this mundane world. The ultimate type of yoga, bhakti-yoga, is the sublime process for reaching this goal. In this present age of kali, the principal practice in bhakti yoga is the chanting of the maha-mantra consisting of the holy names of Krishna and His Divine Energy: HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE / HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE.

Life in Krishna Consciousness

People in general work hard to improve their material standard of living. Everybody is doing that. But it is rare to find a person who centers his or her life in activities of devotional service to Krishna. If someone is able absorb their life in Krishna consciousness they should by all means do so. Service to Krishna is so valuable that every moment spent in such service renders compounding eternal benefit to such a fortunate soul. And on top of that, Krishna provides His devotees with life's necessities. 

The Secret to Success in Krishna Consciousness

The secret to success in Krishna Consciousness is to take initiation from a genuine Vaishnava guru and please him by following his instructions and rendering as much service to him as possible.  

Try to Find the Absolute Truth

 Vyasadeva (The literary incarnation of Godhead) dictates the Vedas to Ganesh

Back in the 1970's many people were searching for truth. These days it seems not as many are searching. Also more part of the equation today is a concept of fake spirituality that has no connection with God. We accept that the Vedas teach the truth. According to the Vedas there is one eternal Supreme God (Absolute Truth; Bhagavan; the Supreme Personality of Godhead; the Supreme Soul; Krishna; etc.) There are an infinite number of living entities (spirit souls; jivas) who are also eternal. The one Supreme soul is eternally maintaining all other souls. He eternally maintains their spiritual existence; eternally maintains their personal spiritual identities; and eternally satisfies their desires. This is so for the living entities living in the eternal Kingdom of God (spiritual world; Vaikuntha; etc.) as well as the conditioned souls living in this material world. The material world is like a prison (Durga) for the living entities and by the cultivation of Krishna Consciousness the living entities can attain the spiritual world.

Srila Prabhupada

 His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). From 1966 to 1977 he created Iskcon;  produced dozens of books including translations and commentary on Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Sri Isopanisad, Sri Upadesamrta; opened over 100 temples around the world; initiated thousands of disciples, converting almost all of them from outside Vaishnavism; established the Bhaktivedanta Institute to counter atheistic scientists; inaugurated annual Ratha Yatra festivals in many major cities of the world, introduced ISKCON Food for Life food distribution; and much much more. I invite everyone to take advantage of the above mentioned gifts of Srila Prabhupada for their genuine eternal spiritual benefit!

The Wealth Of The Soul

Unlock the eternal treasure of love and bliss from your immortal soul by connecting with Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead and reservior of pleasure by chanting: 

Help People By Giving the Gift of Krishna Conscoiusness

There are many very nice people in this world. They help their fellow human beings to the best of their ability. I'll give just one example that comes to my mind. Once, in 1982 on the coldest day of the year, a plane crashed into the Potomac river in Washington D.C. One man, a bystander, dove into the icy water to rescue a woman. Another man, a survivor of the crash, helped others to grab the rescue line and finally drowned after saving others. These are inspiring examples of goodness in this world. Then there are some very rare persons, great souls, who come into this world to deliver people from the otherwise endless cycle of birth and death (karma samsara). Sometimes God Himself comes to deliver the fallen souls and sometimes his dear devotee comes. Around 5000 years ago Krishna Himself appeared with His personal expansion Balarama in Vrindavan, India. In 1486 A.D. Krishna and Balarama appeared again as Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda in Bengal, India. Great devotees who came include Madhvacharya, Ramanujacharya, Jesus Christ, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, H.D.G. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja and many others. They and/or their followers are still present giving the gift of Krishna consciousness to others.

Devotional Service To Krishna frees One From Sinful Reactions

We all have a karmic bank account, so to speak. We are suffering because of our past sinful actions or enjoying because of past good deeds. Devotional service to Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, frees the performer from past bad karma. Krishna is pure and powerful like the sun. The sun purifies a contaminated place by its powerful rays, and by Krishna's power we can be purified of sins. When we are completely free from sin then we can get out of this material world of repeated birth and death. So the process is to dedicate our lives to Krishna's service and avoid sinful activity.  As per the Vedas the 4 pillars of sin are 1]  meat eating  (meat, fish, and eggs)  2] intoxication, 3] fornication, and 4] gambling/cheating.

Protecting Freedom and the Right to go to Hell

Modern secular societies guarantee certain human rights and freedoms. This is very good, but according to the timeless Vedic wisdom, human beings also need to be protected from sinful life. People are acting sinfully, accumulating vikarma (bad karma), all of this being condoned by the state. The result is suffering in this life and after death also. Sinful actions result in suffering for the performer. Pious actions result in material happiness for the performer, but hapiness in the material world is temporary. All here are subject to aging and death. Action in Krishna consciousness (devotional service to Krishna), however, results in promotion from the material world to the eternal Kingdom of God. Under the circumstances it is in the interest of all sincere persons to accept the path of Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness means becoming situated in our constitutional position as eternal servant of Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna is the original source of everything and service to him brings about transcendental happiness and pleasure. This transcendental happiness of Krishna consciousness, or bhakti-yoga, is the natural alternative to sinful activities.

How I Came To K. C.

When I was a young boy I used to wonder if there was a next life or if death was the end of my existence. Sometimes while thinking about it I would become distracted by opportunities for fun with friends etc. but the issue would always come back to my mind. I looked for the answer by listening to music lyrics; reading books; talking to people about religion; etc. I had not really embarked on a serious study of different philosophies as I was still relatively young. One Sunday in 1978, when I was 16 years old, my older sister asked me to come with her, dad and step mom to the Hare Krishna temple in Potomac, Maryland. I didn't want to go, but my sister smiled and insisted, so I went.

Rupanuga prabhu at Prabhupada's lotus feet

After the first visit I didn't know what to make of it. The temple served a free vegetarian feast on Sundays. I had recently become a vegetarian and the feast was delicious. My dad also liked the feast so we went again. On my second or third visit I was listening to Bhagavad-gita class by Srila Rupanuga prabhu, an early disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Rupanuga prabhu was making the point that the secular leaders of society are actually in ignorance of the fact that we are not our material bodies; we are eternal individual spirit souls each residing in a material body. And we are eternal servants of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Somehow his words entered my heart and my faith awakened. I started reading Bhagavad-gita As It Is and my faith and understanding increased. So with the help of my sister and by the mercy of Rupanuga prabhu and Srila Prabhupada, I was fortunate enough to find the truth and begin devotional service to Krishna.                                                                                                     

With my sister circa 1965

Imagine

 His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder-acharya of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness once discussed the following idea. I will look for the exact quote later but the following is the gist. He said he was ready to join with the Christians and Muslims to spread God consciousness throughout the world. That he would put pictures of Christ and Mohammed on the alter to worship along with Krishna.  -------   So I was thinking about this idea because there are many values that the Krishnaites, Christians and Muslims have in common. Belief in One Supreme God; Traditional  marriage and family values; Sobriety; Cleanliness; Austerity; Etc. These values are under attack by many so called leaders in government, media, entertainment industry, etc. So all the believers in One Supreme Lord can form an alliance to resist the onslaught of degradation in the world today.

Krishna Thesaurus

Krishna Consciousness noun    Synonyms: bhakti-yoga, devotional service, Vaishnavism, Hare Krishna, monotheism, pure knowledge, pure goodness, Vasudeva sattva, samadhi, spiritualism, love, redemption    Antonyms: materialism, atheism, ignorance, delusion, evil, hate, ruin

The Heavenly and Hellish Planets

 Shukadeva speaks the Bhagavatam circa 3000 B.C.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam and other Vedic scriptures, we get information about the heavenly and hellish planets in this material universe. In the heavenly planets there is an extremely high standard of material enjoyment. The denizens of the heavenly planets also enjoy a fabulously long (not eternal) duration of life. In the hellish planets there is extreme suffering. The term of suffering in the hellish planets may be profoundly long, though not eternal, according to ones individual adverse karma. 

Don't Miss The Chance of The Human Form of Life

On this planet Earth there are a great number of life forms such as plants, insects, aquatics, birds, animals, humans, etc. From the Vedic scriptures we find that a different individual spirit soul inhabits each and every living organism. As of 2014 A.D. there are around 7 billion human beings on this planet earth. That is only a small percentage of the total living beings on Earth. For example, by some estimates, the ants alone number 10 quadrillion on Earth. So the human form of life is very rare, and only the human has the intelligence to understand the science of God. The Vedas say that if a human does not use his/her rational intelligence for this higher purpose in life, then in the next life, he/she falls down to a lower species. Again, according to the Vedas there are 8,400,000 species of life, and the soul has to transmigrate through each one until he/she reaches the human form of life again. The concession is, as per the Vedas, that if one simply begins the process of Bhakti-yoga or devotional service to Krishna, then one is guaranteed at least another human form in the next life. If one completes the course then he/she is transferred to eternal life in Krishna-loka or Vaikuntha.  http://krishnaite.blogspot.com/2014/03/krishna-loka-and-vaikuntha.html

Can't Have The Kingdom of God Without God

According to the law of karma when a nation is very religious then prosperity eventually follows. But after achieving prosperity if the people give up religion then the prosperity will eventually fade. People who try to do good but endorse irreligious principles are not real friends of society because irreligious activities result in suffering.

Self Realization

At present we are imprisoned by the illusion that we are our material bodies which get old, diseased, and die. But we are not a material body. We are individual identities transcendental to matter. We are without beginning or end. But we are under the illusory energy of God, and therefore we are suffering. By Krishna's (God's) mercy we can be freed and realize our spiritual identities. The reality is that we are eternal servants of Krishna. Now we have to realize that, and that is self realization. In the present era the principal process for self realization is mantra-yoga, specifically chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Krishna-loka and Vaikuntha

Krishna-loka and the Vaikuntha-lokas are the eternal planets beyond the material world. In Krishna-loka, Krishna resides with his devotees; in the Vaikuntha planets, Krishna's various Vishnu (Narayana) expansions reside with their devotees. In these planets there is no birth, death, old age, disease, or any kind of misery. One can be promoted to this region by becoming a pure devotee of Krishna or Vishnu.