Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/What%20happens%20to%20our%20accumulated%20karma%20when%20we%20surrender%20to%20Krishna.mp3
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The post What happens to our accumulated karma when we surrender to Krishna? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Why%20do%20some%20pious%20people%20face%20prolonged%20suffering%20before%20death.mp3
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The post Why do some pious people face prolonged suffering before death? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/What%20is%20the%20destination%20of%20those%20who%20have%20died%20too%20young%20to%20have%20done%20any%20good%20or%20bad.mp3
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The post What is the destination of those who have died too young to have done any good or bad? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Does%20the%20soul%20of%20those%20who%20die%20prematurely%20come%20back.mp3
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The post Does the soul of those who die prematurely come back? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Do%20all%20the%20millions%20who%20commit%20suicide%20become%20ghosts.mp3
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The post Do all the millions who commit suicide become ghosts? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/How%20can%20we%20help%20the%20souls%20of%20those%20people%20who%20have%20committed%20suicide.mp3
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The post How can we help the souls of those people who have committed suicide? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/10-16%20classes/Rasa%20Lila%20or%20rash%20lila%202-%20The%20historical%20misunderstanding.mp3
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Rasa lila or rash lila
The post Rasa Lila or rash lila 2- The historical misunderstanding appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Seminar at College of Vedic Studies, Bhaktivedanta Manor, London, UK
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/10-16%20classes/Rasa%20Lila%20or%20rash%20lila%201-%20The%20philosophical%20misunderstanding%20.mp3
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Sunday feast class at ISKCON Leicester, UK
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/10-16%20classes/Tap%20the%20triangularity%20of%20desires%20through%20good%20association.mp3
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Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/How%20to%20avoid%20getting%20distracted%20by%20the%20mind%20during%20our%20idle%20time.mp3
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The post How to avoid getting distracted by the mind during our idle time? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Does%20the%20soul%20age.mp3
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The post Does the soul age? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Is%20the%20form%20of%20the%20soul%20similar%20to%20our%20present%20form.mp3
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Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Is%20wanting%20to%20rise%20in%20the%20corporate%20world%20due%20to%20the%20mode%20of%20passion.mp3
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The post Is wanting to rise in the corporate world due to the mode of passion? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Why%20do%20distractions%20come%20more%20when%20we%20chant.mp3
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The post Why do distractions come more when we chant? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/What%20to%20do%20if%20we%20can’t%20contain%20our%20anger%20but%20expressing%20it%20will%20hurt%20others.mp3
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The post What to do if we can’t contain our anger but expressing it will hurt others? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Why%20is%20the%20atheistic%20West%20more%20prosperous%20than%20religious%20India.mp3
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The post Why is the atheistic West more prosperous than religious India? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/If%20we%20become%20too%20target-oriented%20while%20doing%20a%20service,%20should%20we%20give%20up%20that%20service.mp3
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The post If we become too target-oriented while doing a service, should we give up that service? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Bhagavatam class at Bhaktivedanta Manor, London, UK
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/10-16%20classes/Understanding%20why%20Rama%20banished%20Sita.mp3
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My first striking encounter with Srinathji Prabhu highlighted his extraordinary attention to specifics. About a decade ago, when I was a fledgling author, I would feel encouraged whenever anyone appreciated my writings. Once after a Pune yatra, while everyone was taking prasadam and preparing to depart, I happened to meet Srinathji Prabhu. And he spontaneously started appreciating my writings; he mentioned several articles by their titles and went into specific details of an article that had described how I came to Krishna consciousness. I was doubly astounded firstly because I was a little-known brahmachari and secondly because that story had appeared in BTG at least two years ago. And yet here he was, immediately remembering its specifics in just a chance encounter with me.
Over the years and my several encounters with Srinathji Prabhu, one image of him that has crystalized within me is that of an intellectual patron of intellectuals. He supported several of our movement’s authors, enabling them to focus on research and writing without having to worry about pecuniary considerations.
But he was not just a patron of intellectuals – he was an intellectual himself; he read widely and took intellectual responsibility for the tradition he had chosen to practice. He noticed that the version of the Hare Krishna mahamantra we chanted was different from its version chanted in the broader Hindu culture, which began with Hare Rama, not Hare Krishna. So, he embarked on an extensive research into manuscripts to support our tradition’s rendition of the mahamantra. After much searching, he finally found in a remote, little-known library the manuscript of the Kali-Santarana Upanishad that contained the mahamantra starting with Hare Krishna – and he published a book with that manuscript. His meticulous attention to detail during this manuscript research paralleled, if not superseded, that of a careful scholar.
He was a patron for not just intellectuals but also for many of our movement’s most important projects. And yet he wasn’t patronizing towards anyone – he maintained a humility that was inspiring and disarming.
His significance extends far beyond his lifetime. Over the last decade, I have been studying and contemplating ISKCON history. And I feel that Srinathji Prabhu represented the rich flowering of the bhakti tradition in modern India and particularly in ISKCON India.
He embodied the dream success chart for most Indians. He achieved extraordinary academic success, earning degrees from both England – which was the cherished educational destination for pre-Independence Indians – and from the USA, which is the cherished educational destination for post-Independence Indians. And he went on to achieve remarkable success not just as a white collar executive but also as a business magnate, pioneering several technological innovations in India in his companies.
Through all this dazzling success, he maintained his piety and bhakti, which he had acquired from his parents, both of whom were Vaishnavas – his mother from the Vallabha sampradaya and father from the Ramanuja sampradaya.
Even after having this combination of material prosperity and religious piety, it’s telling that he found spiritual fulfillment in […]
The post Remembering Srinathji Prabhu – an intellectual, non-patronizing patron of intellectuals appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
At UDELAS, a university in Panama, I was asked to speak on Proactive Leadership. The audience included nurses, counselors and various other caregivers. The department head who had organized the program said that she wanted all her students to have a positive attitude despite seeing much distress in their respective fields.
The gist of my class centered on an example of power loss. When power suddenly goes off, we don’t just curse the darkness – we soon turn on whatever flashlights we have. When the darkness of problems in our life and in the world at large starts overwhelming us, we too can do much better than rant and rail at the state of things. We can all become agents of change – and our spirituality can empower each one of us to become significant agents of change.
After the talk, which was followed by several good question-answers, one participant who was a Colombian de-addiction counselor of Chinese descent said that she felt that the example of the mind as a corrupted software was like a light going off in her head – it helped her make so much sense of the cases she observed and would help her help those thus afflicted.
The talk audio is here: http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/…/proactive-leadershi…/
The post Proactive Leadership” talk at UDELAS Universidad Especializada de las Américas appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Initially,%20bhakti%20doesn’t%20give%20as%20much%20happiness%20as%20sensuality%20-%20how%20to%20persevere%20then.mp3
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The post Initially, bhakti doesn’t give as much happiness as sensuality – how to persevere then? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/As%20the%20spiritual%20is%20not%20visible%20or%20quantifiable,%20how%20can%20we%20know%20that%20we%20are%20not%20pursuing%20something%20delusional.mp3
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The post As the spiritual is not visible or quantifiable, how can we know that we are not pursuing something delusional? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Is%20dharma%20the%20same%20in%20all%20ages.mp3
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The post What can we learn from Yudhishthira’s gambling? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Why%20are%20there%20contradictions%20among%20different%20religions.mp3
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The post Why are there contradictions among different religions? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Can%20becoming%20spiritual%20make%20us%20lazy%20and%20unambitious.mp3
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The post Can becoming spiritual make us lazy and unambitious? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Why%20does%20Krishna%20in%20the%20hearts%20of%20terrorists%20allow%20them%20to%20murder%20people.mp3
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The post Why does Krishna in the hearts of terrorists allow them to murder people? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Was%20the%20Pandavas’%20killing%20Bhishma%20and%20Drona%20according%20to%20dharma.mp3
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The post Was the Pandavas’ killing Bhishma and Drona according to dharma? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Are%20the%20varnas%20applicable%20today.mp3
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The post Are the varnas applicable today? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Congregation program at Princeton, USA
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/10-16%20classes/Respond%20to%20adversity%20with%20dignity.mp3
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The post Respond to adversity with dignity appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
The highlight of my Panama visit was a program on Sunday, 16-10-16, at one of Panama’s biggest hotels, Hotel El Panama.
Nearly 300 people, most of them Panamanian, attended the talk on “The power of your mind” and asked many earnest questions. My host and trip coordinator, Shyamachandra P, the vice-president of ISKCON, Panama, did the sentence-by-sentence translation of my class into Spanish.
This was the biggest program of my trip to the West wherein I spoke directly to Western audiences – several temple Sunday feasts had bigger audiences, but those comprised mostly of Indians and mostly of devotees. The audience in Panama was ninety percent Panamanians and non-devotees.
Several in the audience like a point that I have been making repeatedly during this trip: “Anxiety is the interest we pay on loans we haven’t yet taken.” During the post-class QA, when a person asked what role acceptance plays in spirituality, I explained that bhakti-yoga helps us to accept the unchangeable as the will of God for our ultimate well-being and thereby focus our energy on the changeable – and when we do what we can, God helps us to do what we can’t.
The audio is available here: http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2016/10/tap-power-mind/
The post The power of your mind” talk at Hotel El Panama appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/10-16%20classes/Is%20dharma%20practical%20in%20this%20age.mp3
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Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/10-16%20classes/Do%20impersonalists%20who%20do%20jnana-tapasa%20attain%20liberation.mp3
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The post Do impersonalists who do jnana-tapasa attain liberation? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/10-16%20classes/How%20can%20we%20balance%20our%20material%20commitments%20and%20spiritual%20aspirations.mp3
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The post How can we balance our material commitments and spiritual aspirations? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/10-16%20classes/Did%20Krishna%20feel%20confused%20about%20which%20pure%20devotee%20to%20support%20-%20Arjuna%20or%20Bhishma.mp3
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The post Did Krishna feel confused about which pure devotee to support – Arjuna or Bhishma? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/10-16%20classes/Which%20aspect%20of%20the%20universal%20form%20did%20Duryodhana%20see.mp3
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Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/How%20does%20bhakti%20invert%20social%20hierarchy.mp3
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The post How does bhakti invert social hierarchy? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Talk at University of Panama, Panama
Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/10-16%20classes/Your%20enemy%20is%20inside%20you%20-%20and%20so%20is%20your%20friend.mp3
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Your worst enemy is inside you and so is your best friend from pustagopika26
The post Your enemy is inside you – and so is your friend – with Spanish translation appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/Is%20dharma%20the%20same%20in%20all%20ages.mp3
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Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/When%20we%20all%20lose%20everything%20at%20death,%20how%20does%20making%20better%20choices%20matter%20at%20death.mp3
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The post When we all lose everything at death, how does making better choices matter at death? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2016%20QA/10-16%20QA/If%20spirituality%20helps%20us%20make%20better%20choices,%20who%20decides%20which%20choices%20are%20better.mp3
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The post If spirituality helps us make better choices, who decides which choices are better? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.