Planet ISKCON

The post Daily Darshan: August 11,2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

TOVP: The first chakra permanently installed (Album with photos)
Parijata: Thursday 10th of August, was the auspicious installation of the Planetarium Wing Chakra.
The whole of Mayapur community came to the ToVP site to witness and visually see this monumental event.
The devotees in Mayapur haven’t seen the Chakra before in a close proximity. Everybody was blown out and Mayapur is still buzzing today with this wonderful transcendental activity.
Sadbhuja and the ToVP team were praying very hard that the monsoon rains would hold off while the Chakra and the Kalash were assembled in Mayapur.
The rain had stopped for more than 2 weeks and the weather was perfect! On the installation day, the weather was fabulous without even a cloud in the sky.
One hour after the Chakra went up, it started pouring with rain like we have never seen before for a solid 2 hrs.
Sadbhuja Prabhu feels and has full faith the demigods have come down to bless this Chakra.
The devotees are of the same opinion, the demigods have come down to bestow their blessing on us and this wonderful installation.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/QDn8X1

Krsna's Village of Peace at this year's Woodstock festival in Poland exceeded the expectations of everyone. With a steady stream of people passing through our site the lines for prasadam got longer and longer, large crowds spilled out of the Mantra Yoga Tent and all other activities were fully packed. From this one can appreciate that Lord Krsna is truly 'all-attractive.' Continue reading "Huge success for Krsna’s Village of Peace at this year’s Woodstock festival in Poland
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 07 August 2012, Musko Sredice, Balkans, Lecture)

In this world, there are churches, mosques, temples – there are so many different religious groups. Sometimes, in the airport, I see Jews with their black hats and curls on the side of their faces; I see Arabs in their full Middle-Eastern outfits; I see a Christian priest; a few nuns from Africa; some Buddhists from Thailand… and then, there is a Hare Krsna devotee walking in the middle of it all!

In the airports, there is just an exhibition of world religions. So many religions in the world and the reason is because God is invisible!

When an atheist walks past and says, “There is no God!”

Then someone else argues, “HE is the only way.”

There are so many opinions on religion because HE is invisible in this world… that is the issue. Everyone has some information – this group has one prophet and the other group has another. Nobody else has seen ‘it’ but the prophet has and he has written about it. People accept traditions and beliefs from their teachers. This is the reason why there are so many religions in the world and why one group looks at the other without trust and with suspicion.

The more people take to their traditions very seriously and to heart, the more they get realisations and then religion is not just an idea from a book which is taught in some institution… but it begins to manifest within the heart! And the more it manifests within the heart, the more we find the same common experience – that there are no differences in religion actually since these differences exist only externally. If you go deeper then you will see that people in different parts of the world, in different traditions, actually have the same deep experiences however, it may not always be understood in this way.

Beyond this world, there is a spiritual world where pure living beings can go and live eternally with the Supreme Lord. We have heard this in the descriptions of all traditions – some say heaven but we say spiritual world but it is the same thing. In the spiritual world, we should understand that the Supreme Lord is always visible and present, and He appears in His all attractive form. Therefore, He is the one who attracts the attention of everyone! In the spiritual world, everyone can recognise Krsna as being in the centre.

Whether we look at the Vedic tradition, Christianity or Islam, people are practising with the desire to get blessings for good health, beauty or other materialistic things. Ultimately, such things are the lower aspects of spirituality because these things are temporary… so what is the point in praying for something temporary!? This Hare Krsna movement is not interested in that since we should only be interested in the eternal benefit!

Eternal is not after this life, eternal is also right now, eternal is always. So eternal is after this life and it is also now. Therefore, blessings come after and also for the present and this is truly how Krsna Consciousness works since it brings blessings for the present and for the future!

The devotees are not asking for materialistic things because they ask the Supreme Lord Krsna for service, to be allowed to serve Him. And when we serve the Supreme Lord, then a change of heart takes place and then our whole life will become auspicious and very nice!

Janmastami is coming up… we celebrate the appearance of Lord Krsna in this world. Remember that this week is especially a week for serving Krsna, and the more we do so then the more Krsna will reveal Himself and we begin to see right here and now, and at the end of our life, we can go back the spiritual world!

Vaisesika Prabhu’s recent class in Los Angeles (video)
I’m actually meant to love and serve this Personality within the innermost chambers of the heart…
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/o2sVEk

During my travels, I also got the association of many senior devotees who very kindly gave several hours of their time to discuss our philosophy and its practice. One recurrent theme was the challenge of presenting the personal philosophy of bhakti from within what seems like a highly institutionalized religion. Another theme was the strategies for making our message relevant to a highly individualistic audience with post-modern intellectual orientations. Among the devotees whose association I found inspiring were Brahma Tirtha P, a pioneer of mediation in ISKCON; Garuda P, scholar-author on Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavatam and the Bhakti-sutras; Bhakti Marga Maharaj, celebrated as the walking monk for his walking for spiritual awareness across the entire of Canada from one coast to the other; Guru Prasad Maharaj whom I met for the first time in Trinidad; Krishna Dharma P, the author of acclaimed retellings of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana; Srutidharma P, the temple president of the Bhaktivedanta Manor, one of the most successful temples in the Western world; and Tukaram P, a brilliant intellectual and Laguna Beach Temple President.

Along with these illuminating associations, the two that stand out the most for me are of HH Giriraja Maharaja and HH Radhanatha Maharaja.

Endearing reciprocity – HH Giriraja Maharaj

H H Giriraja Maharaj has been very kind to me in generously giving several hours of his time during each of my US visits. This year too, we spend nearly an entire day together at his place in Carpentaria, California. As I have served him as an editor, we naturally talked about his upcoming book on the history of the Juhu project which Srila Prabupada had asked him to write. He told me that his writing has gained substantial momentum and he is more than half way through. We discussed the challenges of balancing historical accuracy (reporting the facts as they are), dramatic intensity (writing to attract and retain the attention of readers) and interpersonal sensitivity (portraying properly devotees who had some difficulties then but now are in good standing).

When I asked Maharaj about the cultural conflicts going on in our movement and the concomitant bitter criticism of Vaishnavas, he said that he had discussed this issue with Tamal Krishna Maharaja, who had explained that such conflicts happen in every religion. And they happen because people are so emotionally invested in their beliefs and practices. They feel that if they get this thing right, their liberation is guaranteed; and if they get it wrong, their damnation is guaranteed. Because they feel that so much is at stake, they often deem as inviolable principles things that others see as adjustable details. Failing to appreciate others’ perspectives, they launch ad hominem attacks on those whom they perceive as threats to the tradition. I found this explanation the most intellectually illuminating and emotionally satisfying explanation I have heard till now.

Ishvara Gauranga P and Sriji Priya Mataji had driven me from Los Angeles to Carpenteria. After my meeting with Maharaj, Sriji Priya Mataji showed Maharaj her Gaur-Nitai Deities, Maharaj appreciated their beauty. Then with endearing reciprocity, he said to her, “As you have shown your Deities to me, I will show my Deities to you.” Although it was already 3 pm, way past Maharaj’s lunch time, he took us all to his Deity room which was filled with many Deities and then explained for more than half an hour the remarkable stories behind those Deities.

This article is part of a series of articles about the recent Western tour. Full article can be read here.

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Inner Voice Productions has announced a Moscow screening of the film "Hare Krishna!" next week, on August 16th, Srila Prabhupada's Appearance Day, and again on August 20th. 

On Thursday August 10^th, a golden Sudarshan Chakra, weighing 1,400 kilograms (3,086 lbs), was installed on the Planetarium Wing dome of ISKCON’s under-construction Temple of the Vedic Planetarium in Mayapur, West Bengal.

Ambarisa Das: Auspicious Initial Chakra Installation, Mayapur 8/10/17 (Album with photos)
Blessed by the presence of Jayapataka Maharaj, Jananivas prabhu, Mayapur Mangement and Sadbhuja prabhu with the TOVP team. MC’d and organized by Braja Vilas prabhu. Immediately after the ceremony, heavy rain came after many days without. Most auspicious. Srila Prabhupada ki Jaya!!!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/9vSTPw

Marriages which make the Kurukshetra war look tame :-)
Kadamba Kanana Swami: I had a disciple who was living in a small flat – just a one room studio with a bathroom and kitchenette. In the room, there was a sofa which could turn into a bed. There were chairs and every chair had stuff on it. When you would enter, you sort of have to dig through all the stuff to get a place to sit down. This is called a bachelor’s flat!

Lekhasravanti met with Prabhupada the next day and mentioned how her parents were both killed in a plane crash in 1970. Prabhupada immediately consoled her, quoting a Sanskrit verse that her parents were still alive somewhere, as the self (spirit soul) never dies. Srila Prabhupada then asked Lekhasravanti if she wanted to get married. Lekhasravanti tried to be philosophical and replied, "Oh Srila Prabhupada, whatever Krishna desires." Prabhupada chuckled, "Every girl wants to get married." Lekhasravanti explained her parent's had a life insurance policy from which she had inherited a half million dollars and wished to use what she had left in Krishna's service. At that time she wrote Srila Prabhupada a check for $50,000 which he happily accepted as Krishna's mercy, and used for printing Srimad Bhagavatams. Continue reading "A Little Known 1977 Srila Prabhupada Pastime
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‘Robin Roberts’, famous news anchor from (ABC) American Broadcasting Company’s 'Good Morning America’ gets a 'Perfection of Yoga’ book by the great transcendental author Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. (Album with photos)
Drumila Dasa: I was just about to call it a day when I looked down the sidewalk and saw 'Robin Roberts’ and her entourage coming down the sidewalk in front of the Supreme Court building. I didn’t have time to be apprehensive or get the jitters. I just tried to be as natural as possible and was able to give her the book. And as a bonus, I was able to describe to her the wonderful movie about the author of her book, called 'Hare Krsna, The Mantra, the Movement, and the Swami who started it all.’ I gave her a bookmarker with all the pertinent info on it about the film(pictured). Then proceeded to tell her, how it won the Jury Prize at the prestigious 'Illuminate’ film festival in Sedona, Arizona. She was genuinely humble, and gracious, and thanked me for what I was doing. Robin Roberts is also a breast cancer survivor.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/aEZrXq

H.H.Gopal Krishna Goswami about Srila Prabhupada’s departure for the USA (video)
Srila Prabhupada: I planned to go to America. Generally, they go to London, but I was simply thinking how to go to New York.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/ftv4Af

The first Chakra of the TOVP to be installed upon the Kalash of the Planetarium Dome (Western Dome) by H.H. Jayapataka Swami. On the auspicious occasion of today's installation of the first chakra on the planetarium-wing dome, here is a message from Sriman Ambarish Prabhu Continue reading "TOVP Chakra Installation Ceremony
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The most cringe-inducing question I faced during my entire tour was in Washington DC where, after my Sunday feast class on Reincarnation, a Latino devotee asked, “As scientists keep people away from God, can scientists be considered reincarnations of demons?”

The question reflected a series of valid points linked together in a way that leads to a massive misunderstanding. I explained that we are not meant to judge people meant on what they may or may not have done in the past, but based on what they are now. And scientists are not intrinsically against God; they look for natural explanations for natural phenomena and so don’t bring God into their explanations as God is a supernatural reality. Newton believed in God, but for explaining the falling of the apple, he looked for a natural explanation and came up with the theory of gravity. Some scientists are against God, but their anti-theism comes from their own ideological orientation – it’s not intrinsic to science. And if we look at the kind of negative experiences with religion that some of these atheists had, we won’t demonize them – if we had similar experiences, we too would probably have become atheistic. So, rather than labelling scientists negatively, if we present the Gita’s message rationally, we will better do our part of making it accessible to everyone, including scientists.

This question-answer impressed upon me the urgency of addressing the much bigger issue of science-scripture difference in an intellectually responsible way. I have been pondering this issue for many years, especially with regard to the relationship between modern cosmology and Bhagavatam cosmology. Finally, after many years of study and prayer and discussion with many learned devotees, I have arrived at a five-point approach that I feel confident to present in any forum.

1. Scripture doesn’t insist on one understanding of the universe eg Jyotisha cosmology differs from Bhagavatam’s cosmology
2. Science too doesn’t insist on one understanding of the universe eg. Quantum physics and relativity offer models of reality that are irreconcilable, but both models work.
3. Scripture’s purpose is to help us focus our mind on Krishna. By positioning scripture as a competitor to science, when the purposes of the two are different, we devalue scripture.
4. Science’s purpose is to give natural explanations for natural phenomena. When it purports to make pronouncements about supernatural subjects, it often becomes scientism.
5. Science offers the painkiller, scripture offers the curative medicine. We need to go beyond championing or demonizing the painkiller to taking the medicine.

While I have spoken on this overall theme at various places, I spoke on these points succinctly in a Bhagavatam class at the Bhakti Center: 5 reflections for reconciling science and scripture.

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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 28 April 2017, Radhadesh, Belgium, Srimad Bhagavatam 7.15.50)

I had a disciple who was living in a small flat – just a one room studio with a bathroom and kitchenette. In the room, there was a sofa which could turn into a bed. There were chairs and every chair had stuff on it. When you would enter, you sort of have to dig through all the stuff to get a place to sit down. This is called a bachelor’s flat!

So I was in his bachelor’s flat and one day I said to him, “Why don’t you choose an ashram?” I said, “Either be a brahmacari and then you do not need this flat, get rid of it. Or get a better flat and keep the chairs clear and invite someone to come and sit there. Get married. But make a choice because bachelorhood is not an ashram.” Bachelorhood does not offer shelter. It is not taking shelter of the process of becoming purified whereas the ashrams are. So we take these ashrams in a spirit like that – in a spirit that we are dedicating ourselves to it and within it, we are following a certain etiquette and a certain standard.

It is very different from the old type of relationships of like, “Shall we get together?”
“Well, why not?” Giggle, giggle, giggle!

Then you know, move into the same apartment, “Well, let us see what is going to happen.” I know what is going to happen. It is always the same thing that happens. There is a big bed. Both want to be the enjoyer so it becomes a competition between who is the centre of attention – who is the enjoyer and who is the enjoyed; who is the servant and who is the master or mistress. These dynamics come and leads to so much tension and big fights. I mean, marriages make Kuruksetra and the Mahabharat look tame! (laughter) You read about all these heroes sending their astras. You get married and then, my God! The things that go on in marriages – it is inconceivable – you would have never thought you would have to go through.

But there is a positive side where two people support each other and have a certain confidentiality with each other of all the things that exist within marriage. So marriage is fine but we are not varnasrama first:

nāhaṁ vipro na ca nara-patir nāpi vaiśyo na śūdro
nāhaṁ varṇī na ca gṛha-patir no vanastho yatir vā
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramānanda-pūrnāmṛtābdher
gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ (Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 13.80)

We are not anything of the four varnas or the four asramas – not sannyasis, not grhastas not brahmacaris. We are not these things. Not brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas, sudras. We are vaisnava. That is it! We are vaisnava and vaisnavis. This is our meditation. Then when we are in an ashram, we make something of the ashram. But vaisnava first, otherwise it is not going to work. If vaisnava is put first, even when problems arise, we will overcome them.

So this is really how it is. Vaisnava means, “I am the servant of the vaisnavas.” I am not a vaisnava. I wish I was a vaisnava, if only I was; I am the servant of the vaisnavas. In this way, I hope to become a vaisnava. In this way, we take shelter and in this way, the ashrams start working.

First, we have to take shelter of an ashram and then we have to remember that actually it is only external. Internally we are vaisnava, servant of the vaisnavas. Then everything starts to fall into place. Then it becomes possible, kamo ‘smi bharatarsabha (Bhagavad-gita 7.11), the ideal – sex life which is not contrary to religious principles. Then we can do it, then no more jantur dehopapattaye (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.31.1), no more embodiment.

The post Daily Darshan:August 09,2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Over 200 devotees and congregation packed excitedly into their new temple in Glastonbury, Connecticut on Sunday August 6^th to celebrate its soft opening with the Balarama Jayanti festival. 

“A soul in a Georgia State Prison”
Chandra Myers: A devotee walked up to me today before the swing ceremony for Radha Govinda and said, “I want to tell you something…I just ordered a book from Amazon of Prabhupada Memories and when I opened to the first page there was a letter which said, ‘To whoever gets this book….I am not a member of their faith but I have read this book and it has changed my life…’ and he went on for a few pages glorifying the life and character of Srila Prabhupada and how he had experienced a change of heart and made a connection with Prabhupada in his own way.
It was signed…. "A soul in a Georgia State Prison”

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I can live for two months on a good compliment – Mark Twain

Life can be disheartening. Things go wrong, people do wrong, we ourselves do wrong. Our best laid-plans can be wrecked by one massive upheaval or thwarted by a million tiny bumps. Either way, we end up feeling like giving up. Amidst such discouragement that may come upon us from a hundred directions, a few words of encouragement can be a vital morale-booster.

There are many shortages in the world, and most of them are not immediately in our power to rectify. We can’t do much about Somalia’s food shortage, Siberia’s power shortage or the Sahara’s water shortage. But there’s one shortage we all can rectify: appreciation shortage.

Lack of appreciation can hurt as much as can lack of food. Absence of appreciation can kill people emotionally, making them feel as if they have nothing to live for. And without something worthwhile to live for, they may give up on the will to live. Indeed, people commit suicide not so much because many things go wrong in their life, but because prior to those things going wrong, they felt unloved, unvalued, unappreciated. And when negative events pile on top of their negative feelings, their will to live gets crushed out of their hearts. That’s why appreciation can be literally life-saving. Complimentary words can give those contemplating suicide a reason to live. And if they keep living, they will soon find many more reasons to live.

When someone passes away, at their memorial meeting, their acquaintances speak appreciatively about the deceased person, and often speak so movingly that it brings tears to the hearers’ eyes. And yet those acquaintances don’t speak even a fraction of those appreciative words when that person was alive. If they had appreciated earlier, that person would have felt so much more loved, affirmed, treasured. Why should we appreciate people only after they have passed on? Why not start appreciating right now?

Though compliments can do so much good, we are often miserly in complimenting. Why? We may fear that over-appreciation may breed complacency. If we are always appreciative, people may get too habituated to compliments, may become over-expectant and may take our words and by extension us cheaply. That’s a valid concern. Sociologists refer to the post-World War II generation in the West as the praised generation – these were pampered children who were always complimented, never corrected. They grew up to become arrogant and insecure: too proud to take criticism and too emotionally dependent on praise.

We can and should give others constructive feedback when necessary and appropriate. But why should correction be the only thing we offer? Why can’t we offer both corrections and compliments? Better still, why can’t we offer compliments generously and corrections cautiously?

If we interact with others only to correct them, then our relationship with them becomes unpleasant, and people start avoiding us. And whenever they can’t avoid us, they dread the inevitable interactions, and that dread blocks their capacity to function effectively. We can remove much of this negativity by infusing our interactions with the positive power of appreciation.

The Bhagavad-gita (17.15) recommends that we speak in a non-agitating way that is truthful, pleasing and beneficial. The recommendation that we speak both pleasingly and truthfully implies that we should appreciate, but not flatter. Flatterers usually aim to manipulate, to get the other person to do their bidding. In contrast, appreciators value people for what they are and inspire them to become better.

If we compare the human body to a vehicle, food is its fuel. If we extend the vehicular metaphor to the human heart, encouragement is the fuel for the heart. Whereas the body dies without food, the heart dries without encouragement, making life feel pointless, joyless, worthless. Just as a well-fed body can function energetically, a heart fueled by encouragement can function energetically, infusing life with purpose, verve and joy.

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Trans-gender discomfort

After my hotel program in Panama, a couple of trans-gender devotees talked about the discrimination they faced because of their sexual orientation and asked how they could see it spiritually. I had addressed a similar question when I was in Detroit where after the Sunday feast a Vaishnavi Prabhupada disciple had asked, “How can we help people who feel that they have been born in bodies of the wrong gender?” Rather than getting into the morality of the volatile issue, I focused on the spirituality. Nobody is truly compatible with the soul; everyone feels discontented in some or the other way with the body they have. Rather than making a campaign for or against anything at the bodily level, it’s best to focus on raising our consciousness to the spiritual level and helping others do the same. If someone has fallen in an ocean, they may feel that their part of the ocean is stormier than another part, and may want to go to that calmer part. But in the process, if they neglect the rescue rope being extended from an overhead helicopter, that would be tragic. The process of bhakti-yoga is that rescue rope; which part of the ocean we are in and which part of the ocean we are going towards is not as important as our catching the rope. Rather than making a campaign for or against any kind of bodily change, it’s better to stress spiritual change – the raising of consciousness. I concluded by telling those trans-gender devotees that they could focus on associating with devotees who understood them rather than judged them and in that association strive to grow in bhakti.

Speaking on dharma at Swaminarayan temple

During my second visit to Panama, I came to know that one of my talks had been scheduled at a Swaminarayan center where some of the organizers were receptive and some reserved. Anticipating their concern that their beliefs might be criticized, I used the strategy we use in any inter-faith meet: focus on the common purpose of raising consciousness. Accordingly, I spoke on Select emotions with intelligence focusing on how scriptural knowledge equips us to make the choices that raise our consciousness. Speaking in Hindi to an audience of almost entirely Gujarathi people, and that too in a country outside India, was unusual. And speaking at a forum that required the female audience to sit in another room felt surreal, almost like a throwback to another age.

Missing the point in Gaur Purnima talk?

This year I had the honor of celebrating Gaur Purnima at Phoenix, at nearly the opposite end of the globe from where I had celebrated it last year. In 2016, I had been on my Australia tour and had celebrated Gaur Purnima at Canberra.

Many temples in the US combine the Gaur Purnima celebration with the Holi celebration as they both happen on the same day. A little sprinkling of colors is added to the overall celebration that centers on Lord Chaitanya.

In Phoenix, I spoke on “Lord Chaitanya demonstrates that the heart is higher than the head” I find talks given on appearance days of the Lord challenging because the basic theme remains the same, at least in terms of the rationale for divine descent and the pastime of the descent of that particular avatara. I am not so spiritually advanced that the purity of my krishna-katha will keep the audience engaged. So, whenever I am asked to speak on festivals, I strive to come up with some fresh angle each year. This year on Gaur Purnima, I took the theme of how Lord Chaitanya defeated the topmost scholar of his times, defeating the best contemporary scholars at a prodigiously young age. Having thus attained the summit of scholarship, when he thereafter chose the path of devotion, he demonstrated by his life and choice that bhakti is not for the less intelligent, as is a common allegation. Bhakti is so inclusive as to be practicable even for the less intelligent and so profound as to be appealing even to the most intelligent.

After the class, a Prabhupada disciple told me that I hadn’t spoken anything about Lord Chaitanya being the combined manifestation of Radha-Krishna and his having come to give prema, which no other incarnation had given ever before. I replied that I had considered that point too advanced to be relevant for the largely new audience there. He disagreed, saying that we had a responsibility to make the audience advanced enough to understand it. After some contemplation, I saw the validity of his point – we had time throughout the year to speak basic points relevant to the audience; at least once a year on Lord Chaitanya’s appearance day, we could speak about his exalted mission and mood. I thanked him for his feedback and assured him that I would be more careful to speak in tune with the festival’s essence.

Actually, last year in Canberra, a Prabhupada disciple had given me the opposite feedback. He had told me that my Gaur Purnima Bhagavatam class Lord Chaitanya manifested the three internal reasons for his descent in his Ratha-yatra lila had been too advanced. That feedback might have made me subconsciously veer to the other extreme.

Skype Wednesday feast class for Boston

When I was to fly from Seattle to Boston, I got to the airport slightly late and the queue for checking in the luggage was so long that by the time we got through it, the time for boarding the flight had already passed. I had a Wednesday feast program that evening in Boston, but there was no flight to get me there in time. We re-adjusted the booking to a night flight, so that I could give class for the Boston audience via skype. To preclude any transmission problem, we decided that I could give the class in the temple which had a hi-tech facility for doing both YouTube live and Facebook live. When I gave the class, it was streamed through three channels – Skype, YouTube and Facebook. I found myself in a situation I hadn’t encountered before – speaking on a vyasasana to an almost entirely empty temple hall. I decided to keep the class short and we had a lively QA session not just with the devotees in the Boston temple hall but also several of the devotees from Seattle who too had joined online. (As it was afternoon in Seattle, most of them couldn’t come).

Radio show at Toronto

In Toronto, I did a radio show on “Karma and Reincarnation” where I spoke briefly and then answered questions that came live from the audience. Conducted by Ananda Gauranga P and his team, this was my first radio show and it was interesting to be on the inside of a program format that till now I had only seen as an outsider. I appreciated the innovative effort to spread bhakti wisdom through far-reaching channels and felt grateful to assist in some small way.

These articles are part of a series of articles about the recent Western tour. Full article can be read here.

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1. How does reincarnation matter to me?

2. Are there any scientifically proven cases of reincarnation?

3. If reincarnation is for real, why can’t we all remember our past lives?

4. Does reincarnation mean that we all have our soulmates?

5. Do animals have souls?

6. Can understanding reincarnation help address current world problems such as social discrimination, terrorism and climate change?

The post Chaitanya Charan, author of best-seller Demystifying Reincarnation, on Facebook Live, Fri, Aug 11, 2-3 P.M appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.