Planet ISKCON

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[Retreat at Fort Clinch State Park, Amelia Islands, USA]

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[Retreat at Fort Clinch State Park, Amelia Islands, USA]

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If one hears about the uncommon activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His various incarnations, he is certainly elevated to the higher planetary system or even brought back home, back to Godhead. These narrations are transmitted by exalted personalities, and they eradicate all sinful reactions. Whoever hears these narrations attains all good fortune. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the dearmost objective of all auspicious benedictions. A human being who sings this song sung by me can please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a devotee, being fixed in the Lord's devotional service, can acquire whatever he wants from the Supreme Lord. Continue reading "Benefits one gets when reading and hearing Srimad Bhagavatam
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Book distribution by a dedicated Prabhupada disciple on her 70th Birthday (2 min video)
Gauragopala Dasa: This is a wonderful video on Srimati Mohanasini’s Facebook page of her on her 70th Birthday on the streets distributing Srila Prabhupada’s Books.
It is so inspiring, reminds me of how Srila Prabhupada never even began his preaching in the West until he was 70 years of age and look what he achieved!
This amazing preaching by his dedicated disciple, one of the first in the early years, now 70 years old, is telling us all that our preaching can increase many-fold in our older years and give us eternal life!
In here, along with book distribution, she is also sharing news of the Hare Krishna! Film with visitors in New Orleans.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/oHYNEK

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Lord Jagannath’s chariot closed the parade where Thousands of citizens both the surrounding community, domestic and foreign tourists packed along Malioboro Street until Zero Kilometer Point, August 26, 2017. They enjoy various performances on the parade to commemorate the Independence Day was that attended by thousands of participants from various quarters. Continue reading "Lord Jagannath Ratha Yatra in Indonesian Independence day celebration
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“Oh, for that day when the fortunate English, French, Russian, German and American people will take up banners, mrdangas and karatalas and raise kirtana through their streets and towns. When will that day come? Oh, for the day when the fair-skinned men from their side will raise up the chanting of 'jaya sacinandana, jaya sacinandana ki jaya' and join with the Bengali devotees. When will that day be? On such a day they will say, 'Our dear Brothers, we have taken shelter of the ocean of Lord Caitanya's Love; kindly embrace us.' When will that day come? That day will witness the holy transcendental ecstasy of the Vaisnava-dharma to be the only dharma, and all the sects and religions will flow like rivers into the ocean of Vaisnava -dharma. When will that day come?" -Bhaktivinoda Thakura Continue reading "Bhaktivinoda Thakura – The Seventh Goswami
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Today marks the anniversary of the birth—the appearance—of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, “the pioneer of the program for benedicting the entire world with Krishna consciousness.” To honor the occasion, I share with you a short piece I wrote about Srila Bhaktivinoda and Srila Prabhupada. We pray for their continued guidance and mercy.

“Dedicated to the sacred service of Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who initiated the teachings of Lord Chaitanya in the Western world (McGill University, Canada) in 1896, the year of my birth.” These words are Srila Prabhupada’s dedication to Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, the first book he published after coming to America. They also apply to Prabhupada’s life, which was dedicated to the sacred service of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and his own spiritual master—Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s son—Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati.

Srila Prabhupada furthered many of Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s projects: engaging householders in local preaching initiatives (nama-hatta); establishing the principle that Vaishnavas, even not born brahmans, are greater than brahmans (and are brahmans too); translating, explaining, and publishing important Vaishnava scriptures for the understanding of the contemporary audience; implementing the vision of a wonderful temple and spiritual city in Mayapur; and, perhaps most significant, fulfilling the desire and prediction that the holy names and teachings of Sri Krishna Chaitanya—Krishna consciousness—be propagated all over the world.

In 1885, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote,

“Lord Chaitanya did not advent Himself to liberate only a few men in India. Rather, His main objective was to emancipate all living entities of all countries throughout the entire universe and preach the eternal dharma. Lord Chaitanya states in Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, ‘In every town, country, and village My name will be sung.’ There is no doubt that this unquestionable order will come to pass. . . . Although there is still no pure society of Vaishnavas, Lord Chaitanya’s prophetic words will in a few days come true . . .

“Very soon the unparalleled path of hari-nama-sankirtana will be propagated all over the world. . . . Oh, for that day when the fortunate English, French, Russian, German, and American people will take up banners, mridangas, and karatalas and raise kirtan through their streets and towns. When will that day come? Oh, for the day when the Western fair-skinned men, from one side, while chanting ‘Jaya Sacinandana ki jaya!’ will extend their arms and, embracing the devotees of our country coming from another side, treat us with brotherly feelings. When will that day be?”

In the caption to Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s photo in Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, Srila Prabhupada described him as “the pioneer of the program for benedicting the entire world with Krishna consciousness,” and he saw himself as the Thakura’s humble servant in that effort, fully dependent on his mercy.

In a conversation in Mayapur in March 1974, Srila Prabhupada, hearing a kirtan party in the background, commented that Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had desired “that ‘Europeans and Americans will come, and they will dance here with the chanting, “Jaya Sacinandana, Jaya Sacinandana!” ’ So that is being done. . . .

When they chant and dance, I simply remember Bhaktivinoda Thakura. That’s all. I pray to Bhaktivinoda Thakura, ‘Now they have come to your shelter. Give them protection.’ That’s all. What can I do more? I cannot do anything more.”

So it is by the mercy of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, coming through parampara, through Srila Prabhupada, that we have been engaged in devotional service to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His devotees, His holy names, His teachings, and His divine dhama—Mayapur.

In 1971, as a young devotee in Calcutta, I approached Srila Prabhupada and offered, “I have been trying to understand what your desire is. And two things seem to please you most: distributing your books and building the big temple in Mayapur.”

Prabhupada’s face lit up, his eyes opened wide, and he smiled. “Yes, you have understood.”

I did not know it then, but that desire for a big temple in Mayapur (and even for profuse book distribution) came from Thakura Bhaktivinoda. He had a vision of an effulgent city with a wonderful temple at its center, in Mayapur. And he wrote,

eka adbhuta mandira ei haibe prakasa
gaurangera nitya-seva haibe vikasa

“An astounding temple will appear and will engage the entire world in the eternal service of Lord Chaitanya.” (Sri Navadvipa-Mahatmya, Parikrama Khanda, Chapter 4)

After my exchange with Srila Prabhupada, he spent several months in Europe and America and then returned to Calcutta with a design for the big temple. And in the meantime, Tamal Krishna Goswami had fulfilled Prabhupada’s longstanding, ardent desire to acquire some land in Mayapur. But there had been flooding in Mayapur, and the flooding there can be very severe. Therefore—although Prabhupada was so enthusiastic about the project, and had struggled so hard to get the land in Mayapur, and had personally brought the plans for the first building there—still, right when we were at the peak of our enthusiasm, he raised the question: “What will happen if the Ganges floods? What will happen to the temple, to the project?”

He suggested that we not build the temple in Mayapur but at Birnagar, Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s birthplace—another indication of Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s importance to Prabhupada and for the world. And eventually he brought us back to the conclusion that we should proceed with the project in Mayapur. “If you all build this temple,” he declared, “Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura will personally come and take you all back to Godhead.”

Through his empowered service, Srila Prabhupada has made Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s shelter available to all of us, and now we are also “dedicated to the sacred service of Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura.” We beg and pray for pure devotional service under their lotus feet and depend fully on their mercy.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

The devotees at Seattle temple organised a two day festival at Bellevue Crossroads Park to celebrate Lord Jagannatha’s Rathayatra.

On the first day activities were going on in various tents and performers in the main tent entertained with dance, kirtan and drama. Of course, the devotees at the free prasadam tent were busy serving a delicious feast all day.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 31 August 2017, Durban, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.10.26)

Once Brahmananda Prabhu was speaking to Srila Prabhupada about his university days. Brahmananda had written in an essay that everyone in this world inherently has a spiritual inclination, an innate drive to connect with the Supreme Lord, and his Professor totally disagreed and said that the innate drive is towards sex life. Brahmananda was telling the story to Srila Prabhupada to expose how foolish the Professor was but Prabhupada said that the Professor was right! This point is made in the Srimad Bhagavatam; the Bhagavatam says that the entire material world is a backdrop for sexual activity. This is why we became embodied; this is ultimately why we are in the material world – because of lusty desires.

In human society, sexual activities are regulated within marriage which imposes certain restrictions. Prabhupada spoke about the hogs who have no discrimination – sexual activities happen even with family members – animal life, no control! But in human life, there is meant to be control therefore culturally and traditionally, marriage occurred and limited one’s sexuality.

However, these principles have been transgressed always; it is not just in modern times, now, that these things have been abandoned. There was always illicit sex. In this regard, Srimad Bhagavatam is not shy and describes all types of illicit sex – it is something we would not expect from the Srimad Bhagavatam but oral sex is described and also the reactions of oral sex are described!

Illicit sex binds us in suffering. Nowadays, illicit sex has become part of society and labelled as normal and acceptable. In the Vedic culture, illicit sex existed but it was condemned and those who engaged in illicit sex knew that they were engaging in a condemned activity. Nowadays, it is considered perfectly fine and natural. It is unnatural to stress these things. So this Hare Krsna movement is in direct opposition to Freudian philosophy where it is emphasised that when sexuality is oppressed, it causes problems in a person. Sigmund Freud presented the model of a pressure cooker that when there are many desires and it is not released, then there will be an explosion.

In Krsna Consciousness, we have other ways of diminishing the pressure in the pressure cooker. There is no doubt that Freud is right that there is such a thing as pressure building up in the consciousness and when desires are not fulfilled there is frustration and this becomes a problem. Freud’s only solution is to let out the steam.

Our solution is to chant Hare Krsna and engage in devotional service to diminish material desires, aprarabdha-phalam papam kutam bijam phalonmukham, kramenaiva praliyeta vishnu-bhakti-ratatmanam (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.1.23). In the Visnu Purana, there is a description of aprarabdha karma, karma that is within our heart which gives rise to desires but there are no actions coming from it – it is unmanifest. It is said that devotional service diminishes this karma, devotional service takes away the stock of desires, it minimises the desires in the heart and also the fruits of this karma.

Let us just say that in our previous life we engaged in illicit sex then in this life, there is a stock of desires and sinful reactions in the heart which causes more desires to arise and we may engage in such activities and then, more bad karma is incurred and the desires become even stronger in the heart. It is a vicious cycle connecting the two – sinful activity and sinful desire! However, this vicious cycle is broken by devotional service. Devotional service diminishes the stock of aprarabdha karma in the heart, therefore desires decrease thus the pressure in the pressure cooker diminishes and thus it can be possible to say, “No!” and give sexuality the place where it belongs, within a marital relationship!

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Lord Vamanadeva: The Transcendental Trickster!
Gurukula Milestone: 100th student enrolled!
Who is Mr 24/7?
The gurukula now has more than 100 students and on Monday, 31 July celebrated its success by a special assembly and a delicious cake Dhritigopi devi dasi baked. Mukunda Maharaja also graced the occasion as the VIP guest. Principal Vinod Bihari das said he was honored that many parents were relocating to the Tweed in order for their children to attend the school. As the school expands, preparations are underway for more classrooms to facilitate the 120 students enrolled for the 2018 school year, including 20 HSC students enrolled for Years 11 and 12. In a 31 July Tweed Daily News article, Vinod Bihari is quoted as saying: “This phase includes two classroom buildings, a full-size basketball court, pathways and gardens to preserve the natural beauty of our school’s surroundings.”
Read it all in the latest newsletter of the New Govardhana Hare Krishna Community in Australia: https://goo.gl/87KD8R

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[Retreat at Fort Clinch State Park, Amelia Islands, USA]

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Our propaganda is to make people Krishna Conscious!
Srila Prabhupada: Regarding propaganda against animal slaughter in BTG. Please do not print any picture showing how a cow is being murdered in our BTG. This will pollute the whole atmosphere. We are not meant for moving anyone’s sentiment against animal slaughter, we are neither Buddhists or Jains, whose main propaganda is against animal slaughter. Even the so-called vegetarians who do not take Krishna prasadam are as much sinful as the non-vegetarians. Our propaganda is different, to make people Krishna Conscious, which automatically makes them sympathetic against any kind of animal slaughter. According to Srimad-Bhagavatam, one living entity subsists on the life of other living entities, either vegetarian or non-vegetarian. But we are neither of them. We are not vegetarian nor non-vegetarian. We are transcendental. We are concerned with Krishna Prasadam. Try to popularize Krishna Prasadam as you have already done. People will naturally become vegetarian without any ghastly propaganda. The pictures of a mahajana or similar pictures for propagating the Bhagavata conclusion should be our objective. Other pictures, there are so many subject matters, just like we follow 4 principles, say for example, illicit sex life, we can publish so many pictures of illicit sex life, but that will not advance our cause. Similarly we may make propaganda against animal slaughter, but that will not advance our real cause. KC is based on pure understanding, not by any sentimental provocation. People must be intelligent enough to catch up this KC movement without being carried away by any sentimental wave. We should always remember that we do not belong to any group like the karmis, jnanis, or yogis. We belong to pure devotional service group, following the footprints of great mahajanas. Our purpose should be that we are in one side and all others they are on the other side. We deprecate everyone, even one who is against animal slaughter. In the Caitanya-caritamrta, it is clearly said that there are two classes of activities. Pious and impious. We do not favor any one of them. Neither we favor any philosophical speculation, we simply stick to Krishna, and wish to render loving transcendental service unto Him. That should be our main objective, and the policy of BTG must be pursued on this line of action. I hope you will understand me rightly. Everyone who is not a KC person is a butcher. Even the so-called pious man, who is not in KC, he is also a butcher. Because he is killing his own self. So in our view, everyone is butcher, and everyone is thief also, because he is enjoying Krishna’s property. So how we can discriminate who is honest and dishonest and butcher and not butcher? Our only test is how one is taking to KC: Even a so-called butcher comes we welcome to chant Hare Krishna.
Hoping you are well.
Your ever well wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
To read the entire letter: https://goo.gl/CHVU2U

He was always charitable to brahmanas and equally befriended other castes. He never showed pride, and his amiable disposition was a characteristic feature of his life. He never accepted gifts from anyone; he even declined all honors and titles offered by the government to him on the grounds that they might stand against his holy mission of life. He was very strict in moral principles, and avoided the luxurious life; he would not even chew betel. He disliked theaters because they were frequented by "public women." He spoke Bengali, Sanskrit, English, Latin, Urdu, Persian, and Oriya. He started writing books at age 12, and continued turning out a profuse number of volumes up until his departure from this world. Continue reading "The Life of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur
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Focus on Krishna! (video)
HH Prahladananda Swami’s lecture in ISKCON Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/WeHvu2

*Chalayasi vikramane balim adbhuta-vamana pada-nakha-nira-janita-jana-pavana kesava dhrta-vamana-rupa jaya jagadisa hare* “O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of a dwarf-brahmana! All glories to You! O wonderful dwarf, by Your massive steps You deceive King Bali, and by the Ganges water that has emanated from the nails of […]

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In the last few weeks, the online game called the Blue Whale challenge has triggered consternation and alarm as it has prompted several teenagers in India and the world over to commit suicide. In this online game, some unknown, often untraceable, moderators challenge kids to do various unpleasant and self-injurious tasks such as marking their bodies with knives. And in the last such challenge, they ask the kids to commit suicide. Shockingly, several students have seen ending their lives as a worthy challenge – and have killed themselves.

Our need for validation

Most sane people will wonder, ‘Why would anyone accept such a foolhardy challenge?’ Unfortunately, the foolhardy doesn’t seem foolhardy to us during our vulnerable adolescent years, when we are desperately seeking some sense of identity that helps us feel good about ourselves. As we are social creatures, we need validation and affirmation from others. In cultured societies, this need is channeled constructively by encouraging people to do good things for getting validated. For example, children who want their parents’ validation are encouraged to do well in their studies. As they grow into adulthood and get married, then they are encouraged to seek validation by taking care of their family responsibly. Overall, cultured societies have systems for constructively channeling the basic human need for validation by encouraging people to act responsibly.

Among our life’s various stages, the stage of adolescence makes us especially vulnerable because during these years our source of validation changes significantly. Indeed, our sense of our very identity changes. Children are defined as the son of so and so or the daughter of so and so. But as they grow to adolescence, their identity enters into a zone of transition and uncertainty. They are not yet adults with their own degrees, jobs and social positions – all of which would comprise their defining identity. And yet they are too grown up to be satisfied by identifying themselves solely as their parents’ children. Their yearning to have their own identity, can make them inordinately influenceable by their social circles. The social circle in which teenagers live determines whether they seek validation through studies or other constructive co-curricular or extracurricular activities, or through self-destructive indulgences.

Validation in the Internet world

Nowadays, our social circles have become largely digitalized, at least for those living in urban environment, and especially for the younger generation. In today’s hi-tech world, people feel validated if they have large number of Facebook friends or if their Instagram photos get a large number of likes. In an Internet-centered world, the areas from which people can seek validation have expanded drastically. This change is not always bad – the need for validation can be channeled either constructively or destructively.

As examples of constructive channeling, many people seek validation by contributing on various online forums. Some people write and edit Wikipedia articles; some answer questions on Quora; some offer technical advice on Apple Discussion forums. Most such forums have a whole system of hierarchy, whereby those contributing more get a higher rank. And that rank becomes a significant part of the contributors’ sense of identity and self-worth, thereby providing them their needed validation. Thus, even in the hi-tech world, the human need for validation can be channeled constructively when people share their knowledge and help.

However, during teenage years when we don’t have much substantial knowledge to share, the need for validation can make us vulnerable to destructive influences – such as the Blue Whale Challenge.

Social media promises both space and connection

What further misdirects the need for validation is the subtle and not-so-beneficial effect that social media can have on our psyche. Social media, its name notwithstanding, can make us quite asocial, disconnecting us from those around us.

We human beings have two needs: the need for connection and the need for space. The need for connection impels us to relate and reciprocate with others. The need for space impels us to retreat into solitude, as when we tell others: “Just leave me alone.”

Social media allures by promising us both space and connection. When we are clicking away on our devices, we are not involved with the people around us, thus making us feel that we have our space. But simultaneously, because we are communicating with people through social media, we feel connected. Actually however, we may be getting neither space nor connection. The notion of having space is often an illusion because everything we do online is tracked and traceable – what we have is not privacy, but the illusion of privacy. And the connections we develop online may be very superficial – how many of our Facebook friends will be our friends in need is questionable.

Amidst such a social media culture that fosters isolation while promising connection, people feel increasingly lonely. They seek to connect with and get validated by anyone, even strangers who challenge them to do difficult things. Validation from people unknown to us becomes especially appealing when we don’t feel validated by from people known to us. Nowadays, people are increasingly afflicted by loneliness. Hundreds and thousands of people may be crowded together in metropolitan cities, but they are alone because they are all busy clicking away on their devices, connecting with someone somewhere else and seeking validation through that connection. And kids are especially prone to loneliness because they often feel distanced from their parents and feel insecure among their peers, who are all often engaged in intense competition over marks, looks and partners.

Seeking validation through dangerous actions

Some people feel, “If I can do something difficult, something dangerous, then that will prove I am someone worthwhile.” Many traditions have provided channels for people seeking validation through dangerous actions – channels such as death-defying sports. In the Greco-Roman Empire, there were matadors who would fight bulls and would risk getting gored, trampled or even killed. If they could fell the bull, they would be feted as heroes.

Nowadays, that spirit of seeking validation by courting danger is seen in living-on-the-edge sports where people jump from helicopters without opening their parachutes or people walk on treacherous mountain trails to get to the highest peak. And in a world of digital socialization, that tendency to seek validation through dangerous actions can impel vulnerable teenagers to accept the challenge to do something difficult, even if that challenge is offered by some stranger on social media.

Teenagers are desperately in search of an identity that makes them feel good about themselves – so, challenges to do difficult things can easily turn them on. When that challenge asks them to hurt themselves, they get a perverse sense of specialness in the thrill of doing something difficult. Driven by the desire for that thrill, they do self-hurting things that they would otherwise never have done. Gradually, they end up trapped, subjecting themselves to bad feelings at a physical level to get good feelings about themselves at the social media level. Eventually, this distorted idea of feeling bad to feel good can impel them to demonstrate that they are winners in the Blue Whale Challenge, even if demonstrating that requires them to kill themselves.

Healthy channels for self-validation

We all need healthy channels for self-validation. Parents can be natural channels of validation for children. But with the world changing so fast, kids often tend to see their parents as hopelessly outdated, as utterly disconnected from the world they are living in.

Undoubtedly, parents need to bridge this generational gap and strive to act as their childrens’ friends and guides. But ultimately, there’s only so much that even the best parents can do for their children – after all, those children have their own free will and they will use it in the way that makes the most sense to them, even if that way is nonsense.

With today’s hi-tech world offering everyone so many avenues for using and misusing free will, the best service that parents can do for their children is to provide them healthy sources of self-validation. The healthiest such source is connection with the indwelling guide of all living beings, God. Gita wisdom explains that we are at our core spiritual beings, eternal parts of God. And the same Gita reveals God to be an all-attractive, all-loving, all-merciful, all-powerful, all-wise vision of God who cares deeply for us. No matter what bad things happens to us or even what bad things we do, he never abandons us. Understanding God’s unfailing, unflinching love for us gives us a stable sense of inner validation. If the basic principles of the Gita are presented in ways accessible and appealing to kids, they can have in their connection with the divine a powerful negativity-dispeller and perspective-restorer.

Of course, such an understanding can’t be just intellectual – it needs to be facilitated at social and practical levels. As kids are significantly shaped by their social circles, spiritually responsible societies strive to provide their kids a circle of spiritually inclined peers. In such a spiritual social circle, we get validation by deepening our philosophical conviction, by strengthening our spiritual connection and by finding satisfaction through the growth of our devotion. When we seek validation thus, we practice bhakti-yoga diligently, thereby getting better realization that we, as souls, are parts of the Whole who always loves us, who always cares for us, and who never abandons us. With such realization, and within a spiritual culture that provides such realizations, we feel spiritually validated and can reject destructive forms of self-validation. This same principle of protection from destructive validation through spiritual validation applies to kids, provided it is made accessible to them.

At a practical level, we need to help our children relish bhakti practices customized according to their level – as in devotional art, music, dramas, picnics and projects. If they can thus relish the sweetness of bhakti and understand this sweetness to be a glimpse of Krishna’s love for them, they will be better equipped to resist whatever negative channels for validation that the world might present them.

The Blue Whole Challenge

In the bhakti literatures, God, Krishna, is revealed to be a bluish-black cowherd boy. He is the whole, and we are His parts. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna offers his philosophical-yet-pragmatic message for living and working – and concludes with a challenge (18.63): Deliberate deeply on the Gita and then do as you desire. Through this call, he invites us to rise to spiritual wholeness by harmonizing with the whole, as he emphatically declares a few verses later in his call for surrender (18.66). And the Gita climaxes with an assurance of ultimate victory for those who have the courage to surrender (18.78).

So, we could say that bhakti wisdom offers us a Blue Whole challenge. Therein, the whole challenges us to bring out our best, to live in harmony with our spiritual essence, to break free from the inner negativities that choke our potential. To discover and develop our talents in a mood of devotion and then to express those talents in a mood of contribution – that is the most uplifting way to get validation. And that is the essence of the Blue Whole Challenge. Through this challenge, our need for validation is channeled constructively and fulfilled deeply through our internal connection with our source and through the external contribution we make in a mood of service.

The Gita (15.07) indicates that if we don’t learn to live in harmony with the Whole, we end up allured by anything that our mind and senses may present – allurements that often make us struggle and suffer. The Blue Whale challenge exemplifies an extreme and destructive direction in which our mind may drag us in our pursuit of validation. Most of us will not succumb for such a patently self-destructive challenge. But as long as we are seeking validation in anything separate from God, we too are seeking some course of life that hurts our spiritual potential, a milder Blue Whale Challenge of sorts. We may seek validation through alcoholism or through workaholism or through wealth accumulation. Even if these ways of seeking external validation are not so destructive, even if they are socially respectable, still they keep us alienated from the Whole, who alone can provide us enduring fulfilment.

Instead if we turn towards the Whole by understanding our spiritual identity and practicing bhakti-yoga diligently, then we can find meaningful and enduring validation – and so can others, being inspired and guided by our example. Thus, by accepting the Blue Whole challenge to live in harmony with the Whole, we can protect ourselves and protect our loved ones from various forms of Blue Whale challenges, be they lethally malignant or mildly malignant.

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