Author Archives: Chaitanya Charan das

Is the amount of grieving on the death of a loved one inversely proportional to one’s spiritual advancement?
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The post Is the…

Can you explain Brahman and Paramatma realizations in detail?
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Transcriber: Sharan Shetty

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: Can you explain brahman and paramatma realizations in detail?

Answer: There are different ways in which these realisations can be understood like the sac-cit-ananda progression perspective given by Srila Prabhupada in Sri Isopanisad and another perspective is -Energies of the Absolute given by Srila Jiva Goswami in the Sandarbhas. Srila Prabhupada explains that both – atma and Supreme Lord are sac-cid ananda. Brahman realisation is when one starts perceiving that everything in the material nature is temporary and tries to think about something that must be beyond this which is actually eternal because we all have a longing for eternity and if nothing were eternal then from where would that longing come from. Why would we long to live eternally if there were no such thing as eternal life just like a person who has never seen gold would never desire for gold.

When one starts looking for the eternal and comes to the level of perceiving the eternal then he has perceived the sat aspect of the sac-cid-ananda feature of the Supreme Lord. Thus, perceiving the sat aspect is the characteristic of those who have realised the brahman but the important thing is, it is not that Brahman has only sat feature because brahman, paramatma and bhagavan are non-different and so they all have sac-cit-ananda feature. But the seeker who has realised brahman has realised only the sat aspect of the Absolute Truth. Progressively, when one moves forward and thinks that there is order in this world and realises it is controlled by a conscious being who is overseeing everything and keeping this order then one comes to the cit level. Here, one understands that there is a being who is supreme and the controller. At this level, one’s focus is on God as the controller of the material world and this is the paramatma realization. Beyond this when one evolves, he starts to think about the activities performed by the Supreme Being (most people think of what God can do for them but not about what God himself does in his abode). When one understands that the goal of existence is to be happy and therefore the Absolute Truth must also have this opulence of happiness in full, at that time, one comes to the bhagavan realisation where one understands that God lives with his devotees and performs many pastimes and in those pastimes rejoices eternally.

Srila Prabhupada explains that the realisation of the all-pervasive spirit in the sense that beyond this ever changing matter, there is some substratum which is eternal, is brahman realisation. Progressively, the understanding of the localized expansion of the Supreme Lord who although is present everywhere and can control from anywhere still he is present within the universe and from there he co-ordinates and controls it as explained in Brahma Samhita Chapter 5 Verse 35,
andantara-stha-paramanu- chayantara-stham
(All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that […]

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Is it scientific to believe in weird things such as ghosts, hallucinations and near-death experiences?
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Transcription: Dr Suresh Gupta

Question: Is it scientific to believe in weird things such as ghosts, hallucinations, and near-death experiences?

Answer: Let us look at these many different experiences from a point-by-point perspective and analyze as to how they are scientific or not.
Today, science has adopted materialism as its default metaphysics. Science also considers that materialism should be the chosen philosophy of life for everyone as it is the result of linear studies extended over centuries. However, such a belief is unwarranted. Materialism is more of a pre-supposition than a conclusion. As far as scientific research is concerned, the father of modern psychology, William James, suggested that we focus more on the utility of psychological experiences than on whether they agree with current scientific orthodoxy or not. It means that from a pragmatic perspective if a particular experience has a beneficial effect then it should be considered seriously.

Initially, this line of thought was ignored. However, over a period of time, more and more scientific research started accumulating which suggested that actually people are benefitted from the kind of experiences that mainstream society may call weird or even pathological. For example, study on the experiences of the widowhood showed that a significant number of people who were recently widowed (men or women) actually became better when they had some kind of encounter with their deceased spouses. Through such experiences, they felt that it helped them to move on. Most of them reported not just the presence but also some tactile, visual, or audio sensation that seemed non-different from real-world experience. Only a small percentage said that they found these interactions disconcerting, but many found them to be healing, pacifying which enabled them to move forward. Over the years this line of study has caught up. Now in hospice care if people have some death bed experiences with some revered figures then that staff is trained to see such experiences positively because they help people to prepare for the impending arrival of death.

Such hallucinations can be considered unscientific but that raises a bigger question: What is science? Is science an objective evaluation of observed phenomenon to arrive at some conclusion? Or is science a world view that has to be sanctimoniously protected irrespective of the evidence? If we consider these observations or near-death experiences from the effect perspective, it has been observed that such experiences change the experiencers. This has been observed with a large number of people where there is a dramatic decrease in the competitiveness and consumerism of such people. There is a significant increase in empathy, altruism, and environmentalism. Basically, we could say that the higher values of life or sattva (qualities of goodness) increase and rajas (qualities of passion) decrease.

Now a skeptic may argue that just because some experiences feel good that does not mean they are right, e.g. intoxication provides some short-term feeling of high, but intoxication does not inspire people to take long-term positive changes in their life. Often it has a long-term negative consequence. […]

​Does Brahman always refer to the Lord’s effulgence?
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Transcriber: Sharan Shetty

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: Does brahman always refer to the Lord’s effulgence?

Answer: There are words which have multiple meanings, and, in some context, certain words are given specific meanings. For example, Srila Jiva Goswami, in his analysis, uses the word bhagavan very specifically to refer to that Absolute Truth who has six opulences in full and beyond comparison – strength, wealth, knowledge, fame, beauty and renunciation. However, in the Srimad Bhagavatam, the word bhagavan is also used to refer to great sages – Bhagavan Narada, Bhagavan Vyasa although these personalities do not have six opulences. Thus, the word bhagavan has different meanings in different context.

In a particular analytical framework, brahman may have a precise technical meaning but generally speaking, if we look at the Vedic literature, the word brahman is used to refer to the Absolute Truth and not necessarily just the impersonal aspect of the Absolute Truth. It is said that Lord Rama when he completed his past-times, he entered into the effulgence (atma jyotir agata). But that does not mean Lord Rama merged, it is a way to refer to the spiritual world in general. Broadly speaking, the Absolute Truth is referred to by the name brahman and in
the Bhagavad-gita 10.12,

param brahma param dhama
pavitram paramam bhavan

Arjuna also addresses Krishna as brahma.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has explained the features of the Absolute Truth and within that context, he uses the word brahman to refer to a particular understanding of the Absolute Truth. That means, the word itself has two different meanings. It cannot be said that in all scriptural references, brahman will refer only to the effulgence. Within a particular analytical framework, the word brahman refers to the effulgence which is the analysis of the Absolute Truth but many times in the scriptures, the word brahman is used to refer to the Absolute Truth in general. To understand with another example, consider the word father which in general refers to one’s own biological father but in Christianity, the word father also refers to the priest of the Church. Both the words are true, and the same word has two different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. Likewise, the word brahman generally refers to the Absolute Truth but specifically and within a particular analytical framework, it also refers to the impersonal aspect of the Absolute Truth.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave the philosophy of achintya bhedabheda (inconceivable oneness and difference of the Absolute Truth and His energies) and when we consider the word brahman referring to the impersonal aspect, we are focusing more on the bheda (difference) where brahman is the impersonal aspect, paramatma is the witness and bhagavan is the personal aspect. But there is also abheda (oneness) which means that actually these three are non-different and they are all one Absolute Truth.

In terms of analysis, we can say that there is an impersonal effulgence and some spiritual seekers focus only on the impersonal effulgence. The […]

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​How could Yudhishthira stake his own wife in gambling?
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Transcribed by: Bhabesh Mishra

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: How could Yudhishthira have gambled his own wife?

Answer: When invited for gambling, Yudhishthira had no desire for gambling because he felt that it would lead to conflict or even lead into a war. However, he was goaded. Consequently, he started gambling more and more. Eventually as the gambling went on, the fever caught him also.

We may ask how a virtuous person like Yudhishthira gambled to such an extent. I would suggest we look at this in another way – even a virtuous person like Yudhishthira could get so much caught up in the frenzy of gambling. Such is the frenzy which gambling can subject a person to.

Yudhishthira of course was thinking, “I have lost so much. I have lost my weapons, jewels, kingdom, in fact lost everything. Somehow, I have to regain these things.” He was hoping that by the next gamble, his luck will turn around and he would regain. That is why, when he lost everything, he gambled Nakula and Sahadeva. After that, Shakuni goaded him and said, “It seems you love Kunti’s sons more than Madri’s. That is why you have gambled Madri’s sons, but you are not ready to gamble Kunti’s sons.” The five Pandavas were one. Although, they were stepbrothers, they were closer than most brothers are. Yudhishthira was infuriated by this accusation. He said, “You fool. We five Pandavas are like the five fingers of a hand. We are all united. How dare you create disassociation among us?” Shakuni immediately became apologetic. He changed his face and said, “Sorry, sorry. In the heat of the moment I might have spoken something, please forgive me. You are my superior in every way. Let us continue gambling.” Shakuni put on a repentant face but he got his purpose served. Then Yudhishthira staked Arjuna and lost him. He then staked Bhima and lost him too. Then he staked himself and lost himself also.

At this point he had lost everything. Now, Shakuni suggested, “You still have one thing to stake and that is Draupadi.” When the name of Draupadi was mentioned, the whole assembly erupted in agony and horror. Yudhishthira himself was shocked at the prospect. Then he thought she has no protectors now. Her husbands have become slaves and surely if I stake Draupadi, at least now I might be able to win. If I can win then I can get back what I have lost. Then we will at least have some life, otherwise what life will Draupadi have? It is not that Yudhishthira’s reasoning was right but that is how it was. Then at this particular point, he decided to gamble Draupadi.

Now if we see, the significant thing is that he gambled his brothers before he gambled himself. He gambled Draupadi afterwards. This means he actually considered Draupadi far more valuable. It was not that he gambled her casually. He was, first of all, bound by instructions […]

Is ISKCON’s institutionalized structure an import from Christianity?
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Transcribed by: Bhabesh Mishra

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: Is ISKCON’s institutionalized structure an import from Christianity?

Answer: This is a very simplistic way of analysing how tradition works.

Institutionalization is a necessary part of every culture and it was there within the Indian traditions long before the Britishers came to India. Shankaracharya had his akhadas and Buddhists had their monasteries. Buddhism itself was very well organised and in response to that, Shankaracharya also organised very systematically. Even the personalistic Vedantic acharyas such as Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, they all organised things systematically. They even made succession plans.
The organisation was very much a part of not just Buddhism, Advaitism or Vedantic Vaishnavism but even before that, there was organization in the brahminical culture in India. There were hierarchies of priests when a particular sacrifice would be performed. In the Rigveda, different priests for different rituals has been prescribed. Institutionalization in itself is not a Western concept. It has been very much there in the Indian tradition.

The specific way in which institutionalization might have been done may vary according to time, place and circumstance. It’s true that in Gaudiya Vaishnavism itself, there was not much institutionalization prior to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati or Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Before that we see that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself was not at all an institution organizer, although he empowered and delegated people with different missions.

If we classify on the basis of institutional theory, there is soft, medium and hard institutionalization. Soft institutionalization means that there is a broad overall agreement of theology principle and practice but there is a wide variety of institutionalization. It can be seen in the way kirtans evolved in Bengal and Odisha. There is some difference between the two but they both glorified Krishna as revealed through Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

However, by the time of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, things had changed substantially. Britishers had gained power and there was a systematic attack on the institutions of Vedic culture by both Christian missionaries and British rationalists. Christian missionaries wanted to Christianize India and British Rationalists wanted to rationalize India. Either way Vedic culture was under severe attack. In such a situation, it was important to defend it. If an army is attacking in a particular way, the counter attack has to be befitting. For example, an army attacked by arrows cannot defend themselves simply with swords.

When the British came to India, they were quite organised, whether it was for commercial or for conversion purposes. Therefore, within the broad Indian tradition, there took place the Bengali Renaissance and there was a lot of change that happened in Bengal and India. It was at that time the contemporary spiritual teachers took the responsibility for presenting and representing the tradition in a way that would be intelligible, defensible and appealing to their contemporary audiences. Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and Srila Prabhupada were present in those formative years of what has become modern Hinduism now. Bhaktivinoda Thakura did envision a structure of Namahatta […]

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When everything is destined how can we have free will?
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Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: When everything is destined how can we have free will?

Answer: It is wrong to assume that everything is destined. Baldeva Vidya Bhushan who is a prominent acharya in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition mentions in his Govind-bhashya as well as Bhagavad-gita commentary that if everything is destined then there is no meaning to the existence of scriptures because scriptures tell us what to do and what not to do. So if our own actions were also destined then there is no meaning to scriptures because it means that we do not have free will and we are forced to act according to destiny’s will. Therefore, the very fact that Lord Krishna has given us scriptures which provide instructions about what is and what is not to be done to help us understand that we have free will and we have the capacity to choose.
It is true that certain important things in our life are destined but there are also equally not very important things where we have the capacity to choose. In the Mahabharata, Vidura while talking to Dhritarashtra reconciles destiny and free-will by saying that destiny determines the consequence of our actions, not our actions itself. Therefore, we have free will to choose our actions but once we have chosen our actions then we cannot decide what consequences we will get. For example, if a person boards a flight from Mumbai heading to Calcutta, then that person will have to go to Calcutta. Before boarding the flight, the person has more options to choose from but once he boards the flight, his choices are limited or even restricted (one may say he has the choice to jump off from the plane but that choice will lead to his death and so is not feasible).

It is important to understand that we are not entirely free to choose whatever we like. When we have a human body, we cannot fly like a bird which means that destiny may, at different times and to some extent, restrict the choices that we have. Still, within that restriction also we have certain freedom. For example, consider a horse tied to a pole with a rope. In one sense, the horse is restricted from moving anywhere and so cannot walk beyond the length of the rope but at the same time, the horse is free to move anywhere within the circle. Although there is restriction, there is some amount of freedom also. This means that destiny determines the circumference of our freedom, but it does not take away our freedom entirely.

Therefore, we too have free-will and the wonderful thing about free-will is that the more we use it in a right way, the more freedom we will have to choose our free-will. For example, when a person claims to be lazy, it appears to be a restriction to use free-will more freely but more the person tries to act energetically […]

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How can we know that the Deity accepts the bhoga when it remains as it is?
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Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: How can we know that the Deity accepts the bhoga when it remains as it is?

Answer: It is a valid question. To understand, we must know that Krishna is bhaava-graahi (one who accepts the devotional emotion in the service). When we offer bhoga (food in a platter), he takes the bhaava in the bhoga. But if we make the mistake of sticking to material vision, then not just offering bhoga, the entire idea of deity worship can be rejected as sentimentalism.

It is important to understand the principle of Krishna manifesting in a deity is an opportunity for us to get sensory access to transcendence. With this understanding, the principle of offering bhoga should be perceived. Suppose a person visits his friend or a relative carrying a box full of sweets and after entering the house he gifts the box to that person. Ideally, in any culture, when someone gives a box full of sweets, the other person would not return it empty and would instead add some sweets in the box and then give it back. This principle is also highlighted by Srila Rupa Goswami in The Nectar of Instruction Text 4 – dadati pratigṛhṇati (offering and accepting gifts). When the meeting ends, the person will leave the friend’s home and return back carrying the box. If somebody watching from outside assumes that the box which went inside is the same box which came outside and so there was no exchange of sweets then he would be mistaken. Similarly, when we offer bhoga to Krishna, what Krishna is interested in, is the bhaava. Thus, metaphorically the bhoga that we offer is like the box and our devotional emotion and love with which we prepare the bhoga is like the sweets in the box. Just like, after gifting the box full of sweets to his friend, the person received the same box with different sweets, similarly, the bhoga after being offered to Krishna is received as it is but is filled with His kripa (His mercy).

Thus, seeing with our external vision, the food may remain the same but by spiritual vision, there has been a reciprocation of bhakti (devotional service) and kripa (divine mercy) and how do we know the difference? At intellectual level, if we understand the philosophy, we can note it whereas at an experiential level, when we take prasad (sanctified food which is offered to Lord) we may find that our heart has become purified. Our heart will become purified because we experience a higher taste and the anarthas (offences) in our heart –lust, anger, greed etc start to decrease. This intellectual and experiential understanding can be understood more clearly by the example of a child who is told by his mother to throw away all the pieces of paper lying in the house. Co-incidentally, the child finds a 100 rupee note lying on the floor and proceeds to throw it in the […]

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How can an organization balance between maintaining structure and providing independence to its members?
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Transcription :

Transcriber: Sharan Shetty

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: How can an organization balance between maintaining structure and providing independence to its members?

Answer: Certainly, a balance is required everywhere in life. In anything which requires collective endeavour, we need a balance between organisation and structure. The exact balance will depend firstly on the nature of the organisation and secondly, the nature of the individual and thirdly, the link between the organisation and the individual. For example, if it is a military organisation or a hospital, then the chain of commands has to be performed very precisely since it can be a matter of life and death for somebody but if the organisation is about sales or script writing or play writing, there is much more room for creativity. Therefore, at one level, as per the nature of the organisation, the organisation and structure will be decided.
Secondly, when it comes to nature of the individual, some may work best with a team and some people work best alone. Depending on the nature of the individual, if a person who works best alone is made to work with a team then their creativity may get sapped and they will not be able to function. Many companies have special facilities for people who are mavericks. These people can sometimes come up with an idea that can change the industry, but they cannot work in a very structured environment. Of course, most companies need to have a structure, but in a team, there are some individuals who need freedom and space to feel creative.

Thirdly, the organization and structure depends on the nature of the relationship between the individual and the organisation. If it is a voluntary organisation then the extent to which the organisation can force something on their volunteers is extremely limited since people can just go away. If a person is paid and is very much dependent on the job, then the boss can have the attitude of “My way or the highway”. Overall, if we apply these principles to our Krishna Consciousness movement, we will see that the way Srila Prabhupada started it in a very traditional way. At the same time, when devotees came up with some idea to creatively share Krishna Consciousness, Prabhupada was very appreciative about it. In many letters Srila Prabhupada has mentioned to his disciples, “Because you are sincerely trying to serve Krishna, he has gifted you with intelligence from within the heart.” Srila Prabhupada was very particular about some philosophical points and some individual practices but on the issue of management of the movement, Prabhupada was not a believer in micro-management and did not even want the GBC to do that.

At one time, when the GBC decided to centralise all the finances, Prabhupada had the GBC suspended and saw to it that all the temple presidents correspond directly with him until the issue was resolved. Srila Prabhupada was against too much centralisation and believed that the main purpose of the leadership is to fan […]

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Why did Bhishma and other elders stay silent when Draupadi was being disrobed?
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Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

0Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: Why did Bhishma and other elders stay silent when Draupadi was being disrobed?

Answer: Bhishma, Drona and other elders did not stay silent; they opposed, but they did not oppose forcefully enough. There is a contextual reason and a transcendental reason for the silence of Bhishma which we will discuss ahead. Draupadi was an honourable princess who later became the queen of Emperor Yudhishthira and to dishonour such a lady by dragging her by the hair, into an assembly full of people was a horrendous act. The Pandavas had lost everything in the gambling match including themselves and their wife Draupadi. Duryodhana, who was goaded by Dushasana, Karna and Shakuni wanted to dishonour Pandavas in every possible way and that is how the heinous act of disrobing Draupadi was carried out. At that time, Draupadi tried holding on to a technicality and said that if Yudhishthira has gambled himself first and lost then how could he have gambled me afterwards. Draupadi was trying to salvage the situation to prevent something heinous from happening and so she raised this question before Bhishma and other Kuru elders. Although Bhishma was the eldest among others present in the assembly but actually in terms of political position, Dhritarashtra, the king of Hastinapur and the father of the Kauravas was the most powerful person. Being a king, he was meant to oppose this disgraceful act but instead he stayed silent due to his greed for the throne and the desire to displace the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra was actually delighted and although normally he concealed his partisanship, on that occasion, his partiality and his sadistic nature did come out.

One of the elders, Vidura, vehemently protested this act but since he did not have any influential political position due to being a step brother born from a maidservant, his protest was put aside. He told various precedents from scripture explaining that when an innocent victim coming to a royal assembly seeking justice, is not provided justice, then the whole assembly, especially those who give decision in that assembly suffer grievously. In this way, he tried to reason based on scripture and morality but Dhritarashtra remained adamantly silent and certainly the disrespectful Duryodhana disregarded Vidura’s words.

When it came to Bhishma, he told Draupadi that the question she has asked is very difficult to answer because at one level a wife always remains connected with her husband (not like a property or a possession but in the sense that she is always under the protection of her husband). Such a situation was unprecedented where a husband has lost himself and then gambled his wife afterwards. Normally, a person would gamble the possession first and oneself at the end as a last measure. It was Yudhishthira’s great esteem for his wife Draupadi that even the thought of gambling her had not entered his mind during the match. When he gambled everyone including himself and lost everything, […]

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Why do some bad habits stay on despite our devotional practice – how to deal with them?
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Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: Why do some bad habits stay on despite our devotional practice – how to deal with them?

Answer: Bad habits are a result of certain anarthas which are deep rooted and which may have come from our past life. By the initial practice of Krishna consciousness, some or many of those habits go away but some remain due to multiple reasons. One reason is that such impressions are deep, but another important reason is that we indulge in them quite often. For example, if a person has got rashes on his skin, the doctor may advise two things – avoid scratching it and apply some medicine. If the person follows both the instructions, the rash will be cured but if the person applies the medicine and at the same time secretly scratches the rash, then it will take much longer to cure. In general, habits persist longer when we also indulge in them. Before coming to Krishna consciousness, many devotees found it difficult to give up tea but after practising Krishna consciousness, they found that the temptation went away. If we minimise indulging on our indulgences then it is relatively easier for us to experience the purifying potency of Krishna consciousness, but when we indulge privately, then it will take a long time to cure.
Sometimes fault-finding is not necessarily bad. If we are in a leadership position where we have to train someone, then it may involve some fault finding to improve them. Thus, the problem is – when one finds faults all the time. If our relationship with others is based only on finding faults in them, then we strain the relationship.

His Holiness Satsvarupa Maharaj, in one of his books writes that once Srila Prabhupada was going for some TV programme. At that time, Prabhupada was little sick and had just recovered. In that state, he applied his tilak little twisted. So Satsvarupa Maharaj was wondering whether to tell Srila Prabhupada about this or not. He thought, “Should I tell my spiritual master that the tilak is twisted or should I consider that in the case of my spiritual master, the tilted is straight.” While thinking, he remembered that in the early days, once when Prabhupada was writing his book, he had stated a word while dictating that was not present in the dictionary. So all the devotees gathered and were thinking what to do in this situation. One of them said that since a pure devotee has used it rather than changing the pure devotee, we should change the dictionary and avoid using it in this case. One of the devotees suggested that we should ask Srila Prabhupada and hence they later changed the word as per Prabhupada’s instructions. This shows how eminently practical Srila Prabhupada was. The point here is that there are certain situations where fault finding is simply to facilitate or increase the service of Krishna.

The question may arise, how […]

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Where do we get our individuality from – matter or spirit?
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Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: Where do we get our individuality from – matter or spirit?

Answer: The spirit soul is said to be sac-cid-ananda (sat means eternal, cit means knowledge and ananda means bliss). The principle of sac-cid-ananda is very lofty because to understand that something is made of eternity, consciousness and bliss is very difficult since all three of them appear to be unquantifiable.

In general, the nature of spiritual existence is not easily comprehensible. Krishna confirms in Bhagavad-gita 2.25 with the word acintyo ’yam (soul is inconceivable) which means not only Krishna is achintya (inconceivable) but the soul is also achintya. The shastric description of sac-cid-ananda explains the composition or the defining characteristic of the soul. Along with that, the Vedic scriptures also explain that each of us are a part and parcel of Krishna.

In Bhagavad-gita 15.7, Krishna says, mamaivamsho jiva-loke jiva-bhutaḥ sanatanah (the living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts).
Each of us is a unique individual and we all have our original spiritual identity. We are not just a spark of consciousness or a small atom made of sac-cid-ananda. We have our individuality as a spiritual person. However, from a material point of view, our individual personality comes both from our subtle body (mind, intelligence, false ego) and our gross material body. Our individuality can be known by the fact that we all think differently and look different. Even if we look same, we still think differently. For example, twins may physically appear same, but they have individual personality and thoughts.

It cannot be known if there is a relationship between our material individuality and spiritual individuality and it is not necessary that there has to be a relationship. For example, those who are manjari (maidservants) in Lord Krishna’s past-times, they became Goswami in Lord Chaitanya’s past-time. If we look at the role of manjaris and the lives of the Goswami, they seem very different from a material point of view, but they are the same person manifested in a different way. Hence, there may or may not be any similarity between our present individuality and our eternal individuality. However, important point is that bhakti means the willingness to serve Krishna with whatever we have now.

In future, if we have something better then we can definitely do something better for Krishna but right now what we have, can and should be used in Krishna’s service. Thus, we see our present individuality also as a gift from Krishna and we try to use it in his service to the best of our capacity. Even if the present individuality is coming from our subtle and gross bodies, still it is in some way reflection of our original individuality. We are originally spiritual individuals and we have spiritual desires which may get reflected, refracted, distorted due to material contact because of which we manifest our material individuality. Therefore, from a material or a spiritual point of view, […]

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What is the best way to study shastra in a group with devotees?
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Transcriber: Dr. Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: What is the best way to study shastra in a group with devotees?

Answer: Basically, there are three broad methods for studying shastra in a group of devotees:
(i) come together to read some pages
(ii) simultaneously read and share understanding
(iii) one devotee prepares in advance and leads the discussion on a rotational basis.

In terms of absorption, the first method is least while the third one is most effective.

In the first method, although there is some reading of the shastra, but there is not much absorption. In the second method there is some absorption, but a deeper understanding of shastra may not develop. In the third method, there is an opportunity to get a deeper understanding of shastra at least for some time for everyone because shastra is studied thoroughly.
The third method is very beneficial amongst equals and those who are committed to studying shastra. The effectiveness of the third method will go down if everybody in the group is unprepared. Then the quality of discussion is not very enriching. We need to be watchful if there is someone senior in the group. If the senior person starts to lead the discussion everyday out of seniority, then others may eventually loose spirit.
Group reading with one person leading the discussion can be very fulfilling. If such an arrangement continues for two or three months, then subject gets deeply churned and everyone gets to read and understand the subject from different perspectives. Such studies should have some time limit or else the discussion will just go on. During study, if a debatable issue comes up then some discussion can happen on the spot but if it remains unresolved then clarify with some senior devotee later. Decide a fixed amount of time for debate and move ahead if the debate exceeds the time limit.

It is good to have a sense of momentum in the study. Although our philosophy recommends lifestyle in the mode of goodness, but our mind at present is in mode of passion where we are driven by achievements. That is why, at least in the initial stages, if we set some targets and achieve them, then it will inspire us to move onwards. It is good to be time and target bound especially when it is a group activity. That way, it will not feel like a study which will go on eternally. It will also help maintain consistency.
These methods can also be tailored according to occasions. For example, if Narsimha Chaturdashi is coming up, then devotees can meet to study the entire Prahalad section of Srimad Bhagavatam.
At times when we get busy in services, the study activity may get disrupted but there is no need to stop it permanently. That way, when the festival arrives, everyone will be filled with more devotional consciousness, shastra understanding, purification and absorption.

Also, these studies should be voluntary and not mandatory (except when it is a formal brahmachari class) because some […]

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Is any part of Krishna consciousness not practical – what does being practical in our preaching mean?
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How can we know if worldly desires come from our heart or our mind – What happens if such desires come while chanting?
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If we use intellectual tools such as acronyms to analyze philosophy, is such analysis devotional service?
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How can we know if worldly desires come from our heart or our mind – What happens if such desires come while chanting?
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The …