Author Archives: Chaitanya Charan das

Mahabharata Characters 22 – Kunti 03 – Successful amidst misery after misery
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Listen audio… This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

test podcast
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[podcast title=”Answer Podcast”]http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2014%20QA/06-14%20QA/What%20does%20the%20identification%20of%20Krishna%20with%20time%20mean%20practically.mp3[/podcast]

The vibhavas, prabhavas and anubhavas of Krishna’s para shakti
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Krsna  has  one  personal   energy called  svarupa sakti  or  para  sakti. This para  sakti has three  vibhavas, three  prabhavas and three  anubhavas by Krsna’s  will. The three  vibhavas are the cit sakti,   jiva sakti  and  maya  sakti.   The three  prabhavas are the iccha sakti, kriya sakti and  jnana sakti. The three  anubhavas are sandhini, hladini and […]

Mahabharata Characters 21 – Kunti 02 – The glorious mother sees the glory of her sons and her Lord
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Listen audio… This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Non-vegetarians healthier than vegetarians?
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– Chaitanya Charan das and Sukadeva das, PhD “Vegetarians are unhealthier than non-vegetarians.” So claimed a recent study: http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/04/01/study-vegetarians-less-healthy-lower- quality-of-life-than-meat-eaters/ The article stated: “Vegetarians were twice as likely to have allergies, a 50 percent increase in heart attacks and a 50 percent increase in incidences of cancer. The cross-sectional study from Austrian Health Interview Survey data […]

Safe, Danger and Relapse Zones in the War against temptation
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Lecture Podcast Lecture Outline: Safe Zone (shama) •Absorption in Krishna due to taste •Focus on something constructive due to liking or due to urgency Danger Zone (Dama) •Exposure to triggers •Ext triggers – billboards and Int triggers – boredom Relapse Zone (Papa) •What defines us is not how we fall, but how we rise •Don’t […]

The nine tensions in the Bhagavatam
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Lecture Podcast Outline Every book has a part of its concept development a surface tension and a substance tension. The tension in the Puranas is more difficult to understand than that in the Itihasas. The Bhagavatam progresses towards establishing the glory of pure devotion of the gopis in Vrindavan through various tensions Seekers’ material postion […]

How Maya can refer to both Krishna’s energy in general and to his inferior energy in specifice
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Krsna  has  one  great   energy,  which   is  called  maya   in  many   places   in  the scriptures.  Maya  means the  external manifestation of Krsna,  by the  definition “miyate anaya,”  –“that  by  which   things   are  measured”. Krsna  cannot   be  understood  except through the  agency  of maya.    Learned men  divide Krsna’s  energy  into  the  superior, spiritual energy  (cit sakti)  […]

Mahabharata Characters 20 – Kunti 01 – The blessing that made a nightmare and a dream come true
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Listen audio… This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Humility, not intellect, is the qualification for spiritual knowledge
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Krsna gives his mercy when a jiva shows  humility born of association with devotees. This is his qualification for  spiritual  matters.   It  is  impossible to  gain  spiritual  knowledge  by material  intellect. Chaitanya Shikshamrita, Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Mahabharata Characters 19 – Vidura 01 – A true friend, affectionate but not attached
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Listen audio… This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

The cause of the unfortunate position of science is overconfidence
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The unfortunate position of science is that  it tries  to know  truths which  are beyond is scope.   Though  it  has   no   qualification  for   spiritual  matters,  it  tries   recklessly to understand, and  ends  up  with  worthless conclusions and  a depraved mentality. Chaitanya Shikshamrita, Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Mahabharata Characters 18 – Dhritarashtra 04 – Losing Everything Before Losing Blindiness
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Listen audio… This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

How the less intelligence of impersonalists deprives them of krishna-prema
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The object of worship for the  less intelligent men  is but  a transformation of material sattva guna, which  has  qualities such  as formlessness. Out  of fear  of contamination by worship of human  forms   or  material  qualities,  the   less  intelligent  resort   to  the   formless and unchanging  concept, but  by  this  they  are  deprived of  Krsna  prema. […]

Mahabharata Characters 17 – Dhritarashtra 03 – Blaming destiny for irresponsibility
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Listen audio… This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Strive for nirbandhini mati even during vaidhi bhakti
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The mentality during vaidhi bhakti  of exclusive  cultivation of devotion with  the aim of achieving bhava  bhakti, and  the  mentality  during bhava  bhakti  of  intense cultivation with  the  aim  of achieving prema, is called  nirbandhini mati  or undivided attention.  If such  concentration exists,  then  very  quickly    the  devotee attains   perfection.  In other words the devotee […]

Mahabharata Characters 16 – Dhritarashtra 02 – How the attached get manipulated
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Listen audio… This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

When there are so many cases of past life memories, why don’t we find some people remembering their experience in heaven, hell or as animals?
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From Pankaj P
Answer Podcast

Isn’t it distasteful for brahmacharis to be watching and quoting movies when people come to them to hear about Krishna
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Answer Podcast

Isn’t violence against women in India, as in the Badaun rape case, caused more by the casteist society and not by the obscenity in the culture?
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From Paul John:
I read your article on the Delhi gang-rape and though well-written, I found it somewhat simplistic in its analysis of the cause of rape. In the UP rape case, the cause is clearly discriminatory Indian caste system that commodifies women…

Don’t be discouraged by material desires
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If there  is some  desire  in  the  heart,  then  the  devotee should continue his  chanting humbly recognizing it yet detesting it.  In a short  time the Lord will come into the heart, purify it of all desire,  and accept the devotee’s love. Chaitanya Shikshamrita, Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Is instantaneous forgiveness the characteristic of pure devotion and seeking retribution that of neophyte devotion
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Answer Podcast

Mahabharata Characters 15 – Dhritarashtra 01 – The blindness of attachment begins
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Listen audio… This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Is forgiveness practical?
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Lecture Podcast
Lecture Highlights:
Three trajectories:
1. Forgive and forget
2. Forgive but don’t trust
3. Forgive internally but be assertive and corrective externally
This lecture is based on this article: Is forgiveness practical?

Is forgiveness practical?
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(At the request of several readers and with the inputs from Back to Godhead editors and other senior Vaishnavas, I present this as an expanded and edited version of an earlier brief article with the same title) The great spiritual wisdom-traditions of the world often exalt forgiveness as a glorious virtue, indispensable for authentic spiritual […]

What is the use of writing insubstantial articles in newspapers that don’t even mention the name of Krishna once?
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From Amoghalila P In a times of high talked personality and related events many will read this article (This comment refers to this article published in The Speaking Tree, Times of India.). Though well intended, looks shallow and poor in KC perspective. As there is not even once the name Krishna is used. You may […]

Why are divorces more among devotees than nondevotees?
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Answer Podcast Answer Highlight: There are hardly any hard surveys on which to base such a big claim. Nonetheless, problems do sometimes arise partially because we let the philosophy make us more judgmental, not more understanding,  about each others’ physical, emotional, financial and social needs.  

Why are all forms of science not equally authoritative – why is evoluion less reliable than gravity when its all science?
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Answer Podcast
Answer Summary:
Three types of reasoning used in science: deduction (most authoritative), induction (reasonably authoritative), abduction (far less authoritative).
All scientific theories about the past and especially about origins are b…

Internal steadiness is more important than external show of steadiness
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The body,  house  and  objects meant for worship can all be used  in yukta vairagya.   All  that  is  necessary is  the  internal steadiness of  the  devotee to  achieve success.     An  external show  of steadiness is only  for others  to see.   If there  is internal devotion and  steadiness, very quickly  the bondage of the material world […]

Mahabharata Characters 14 – Drona 04 – Repaying deceit with deceit
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Listen audio… This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Modi Swearing-in Ceremony – The Substance underlying the Form
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This article was published on Sunday, 1-6-14, in the Speaking Tree weekly paper with the title “I promise to.” It can also be read here: http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-articles/science-of-spirituality/i-promise-to/147682   Millions watched with eager expectation as the new Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Damodardas Modi, took the oath of service to the nation. The grand ceremony centered on the […]

Krishna’s unique mercy on the Vrajavasis
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Though elsewhere he is worshipped and  revered by all as the  Supreme Lord, here [in Vraja], as the life of all the inhabitants, he sometime descends to the worshipper’s level and   sometimes becomes  his subordinate. If  it were  not like this, could  the  lowly  living  entity  have  a relation of  love with  God?   Can  the […]

Mahabharata Characters 13 – Drona 03 – The Blunder Under Pressure
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Listen audio… This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com