Author Archives: Manish

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2015/09/mind-acronym-3-the-mind-neglects-opportunity-and-denies-reality/
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2015/09/mind-acronym-2-mind-imagines-pleasure/
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2015/09/how-spiritual…

How can we stay open to new ideas without weakening our convictions?

When our senses are designed by God and they are defective, doesn’t that make God’s design defective?

How can the spiritual soul taste or enjoy a material sweet?

How should we respond to classes that seem confusing and contradictory to the standard philosophical understanding

What is the difference between object and concept – and how does it apply to our philosophy?

What should a devotee do on being overcome by temptation?

When Krishna says that the knowledge in disciplic succession was lost, weren’t the four sampradayas available at that time?

What is the difference between nitya and shashvata in Gita 2.20?

When the guru is mostly inaccessible to disciples, isn’t initiation just a rubber-stamp?

What is the difference between phenomenal and numinous in Gita 7.2

Is the prayer to get a good spouse a material prayer?

Is a devotee’s grihastha-ashrama a failure if the children don’t become devotees?

How do we decide which of our emotions are material and which are spiritual?

 

 

 

 

 

As yogis become bhaktas at their topmost stage does that mean we should practice yoga before bhakti?

Is it selfish to want taste in chanting?

Why does Krishna refer to someone else as the object of surrender in the Gita 18.62?

Dharma is that which is coming from God – do the Abrahamic religions also come from Krishna

If Arjuna was superior to Karna, why does Bhagavatam say he was a small fish in an ocean of giant fishes?

How can we keep our mind steady amidst outer agitation and inner temptation?

How can we stay open to new ideas without weakening our convictions?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why do we say that lust needs to be curbed when it can be channelized towards Krishna as Narottama Das Thakura says? Is the Supersoul actually expanded in every heart or is it an appearance of expansion? What happens to the Supersoul after death and after liberation? Does Prabhupada’s instruction ‘do as I have done’ […]

What is the Vedic perspective on passive euthanasia? When we are attracted to material things through our senses, whereas Krishna is spiritual, how can Krishna be considered all-attractive? Does taking anti-depressant drugs as medicine violate the no intoxication principle? Why does the Gita use a setting of war to convey its transcendental message when such […]

How have so many languages come up worldwide when developing a computer language requires so much effort? Do we need to introspect whether we are progressing in our spiritual life? How does Ishopanishad mantra 17 refute impersonalism? When opulences are disqualifications for devotion, why does ISKCON preach to the opulent? Why do we need to […]

Does ISKCON consider the English of the 1920s to be sacred? What guided humanity before scripture was written? Is the Mahabharata contaminated due to interpolation? Is the expansion of the Mahabharata from its short Jaya version a contamination? Why was Kunti’s unknowing statement ‘share whatever you have brought’ considered absolute and Draupadai married too all […]

What is artistic license and how can it be used in devotional dramas? How do we reconcile different Puranic versions of the origin of Lord Shiva? How to choose between doing our worldly repsonsibilities devotionally and doing directly devotional activities? Why did Yaksha ask so many questions to the Pandavas? How do we know whether […]

If Draupadi was dishonored due to her past karma, why did the Pandavas have to take revenge? Is instantaneous forgiveness the characteristic of pure devotion and seeking retribution that of neophyte devotion? Can grihasthas who want to preach make preaching as their source of livelihood? How can we stay in the mode of goodness? How […]

Who is responsible for the Holocaust – Hitler or the Jews’ karma? Why does God not protect his devotees today like he protected Prahlad? Where does people’s evil tendency come from? When we don’t know what past-life karma caused our present suffering how do we learn? Could God have prevented the Holocaust? Is Krishna omninpresent […]

If Durga is the superintendent of material nature how can Krishna alone grant liberation? Is Durga devi a demigodess in the category of jiva tattva? What is wrong with worship of devatas if one understands them to be devotees of Krishna? Should the gold in temples be used for social development? What is the difference […]

What is the destination of patriotic atheists like Bhagat Singh? When Krishna always uses his free will properly, why don’t we too when we are his parts? What is the philosophy behind the worship of a pure devotee’s Deity? Why do insubstantial religious groups spread extensively and pure saints remain unknown? Prabhupada quotes largely from […]

If we concede that scripture doesn’t contain literal report of conversations then where will the erosion of scriptural authority end? How does karma yoga mature into ashtanga yoga? Does ashtanga yoga always start from jnana yoga? How does the nishkama karma yogi attain knowledge and liberation? Through the same path or by adopting another yoga? […]

Did past people believe in miracles like Govardhana lila because they were unscientific and gullible? If Krishna is the cause of all causes, is he the cause of everything that we and others do? When Ramanuja has refuted the design argument, why does Prabhupada use it so extensively? Why has Ramanuja refuted the design argument […]

Do the Anthropic Principle and the multiverse theory make the design argument redundant? Is it right for devotees to use kirtan singing for earning their living? If we shouldn’t be disturbed by the mind’s impurities, then how can we beat the mind? Why do dharma-shastras say that aggressors should be forgiven? What are dharma-shastra and […]

Do we need to posit the existence of eternal souls to make the design argument robust? Do the Anthropic Principle and the multiverse theory make the design argument redundant? Is it right for devotees to use kirtan singing for earning their living? If we shouldn’t be disturbed by the mind’s impurities, then how can we […]

How can we make our work into worship when it is not according to our nature and is not connected with Krishna? Can devotional, non-devotional and anti-devotional cultures be connected with goodness passion and ignorance? What exactly is the mind? And where exactly is it located? What is the difference between the mind and the […]

The Following transcriptions have been uploaded. 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? http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2014/06/when-there-are-so-many-cases-of-past-life-memories-why-dont-we-find-some-people-remembering-their-experience-in-heaven-hell-or-as-animals/ How do see spiritual organizations that are largely Vaishnava except for considering their founder as an incarantion? http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2014/05/how-do-see-spiritual-organizations-that-are-largely-vaishnava-except-for-considering-their-founder-as-an-incarantion/ If someone is following an […]

The Following transcriptions have been uploaded If the son practices bhakti, then will his non-devotee parents’ get a good next-life destination due to their son’s bhakti? http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2014/05/if-the-son-practices-bhakti-then-will-his-non-devotee-parents-get-a-good-next-life-destination-due-to-their-sons-bhakti/ How does attachment to result make us the cause of action, as the Gita 2.47 purport states? http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2014/05/how-does-attachment-to-result-make-us-the-cause-of-action-as-the-gita-2-47-purport-states/ During preaching, how important is it to provide relevant material […]

Why does the Bhagavatam, a Vaishnava book, state that Kashi is the greatest of all holy places? When Dhruva Maharaj was going BTG and had got a spiritual body, how could he remember a material relationship such as that with his mother? Can we preach without using technology as such use can distract one from […]