Question: What is the significance of Diwali? Answer: Diwali is one of the most popular festivals in the Indian calendar. The anniversaries of many auspicious historical events comprise this ancient festival. The festivities comprise of firecrackers, ceremonial bathing, feasting, artis, family get-togethers – and illuminations. The aesthetically appealing illumination dates back to many millennia when…
Question: Holy places like Vrindavana exist on the surface of the earth just like other physical places. Then why do spiritualists consider these places to be spiritual? Answer: Holy places like Vrindavana are considered spiritual because they exist not just on the physical plane like other places, but also as a parallel reality on a…
Question: If God is omniscient, then he knows how he is going to act to change the future course of history using his omnipotence. But that implies he can’t change his mind about his future actions, which means he is not omnipotent. So doesn’t this mean that God can either be omnipotent or omniscient, but…
Question: In our normal talks, we intuitively treat the mind as a reality, as an entity capable of making us irritated or bored or depressed. What exactly is the mind? Is it a factual reality or a convenient fiction? If it is real, then is it a living being or a non-living thing? Answer: The…
Question: Bhakti, with its emphasis on prayer, submission and surrender to God, seems very anti-ambitious and anti-heroic. Doesn’t this make a devotee weak and effeminate? Answer: Not at all. All of us have a desire to do something special, wonderful, heroic. But most people fail to go beyond daydreaming. The few who are talented and…
Question: Intellectual people tend to be unfeeling, whereas emotional people tend to be irrational. Can a person be both intellectual and emotional simultaneously? Answer: A satisfying, effective life requires the harmony of both thought and emotion. When thought dominates emotion, one becomes unfeeling, hard-hearted, and life becomes listless and boring. When emotion dominates thought, one…
Question: India has proven its mettle by its remarkable contributions in IT (Information Technology). Why does India need spirituality in this IT age? Answer: The IT boom over the last decade has made India a global power to reckon with. But therecent global recession has raised a hard question: In spite of our knowledge of…
Question: I have seen that spiritualists often have a standard message: material life is temporary with death possible at any time, so we should enquire about eternal life without delay. Why do they use death as a tool to scare people into taking up religious practice? Anyway, nobody can do that to me because I…
Question: Why do some people commit horrible crimes without the slightest remorse? Do they have no conscience? Answer: Our conscience is like our internal watchdog. It barks and warns us whenever the thief of immorality comes to plunder our integrity. Those who heed the watchdog’s warning drive away the thief; they reject the immoral temptation…
Question: If God exists, why does he not reveal himself to us? Why does he first demand faith before we can know and see him? Answer: When we ask a question like this, we often forget that acquiring even worldly knowledge requires faith and training. Let’s consider a few examples: 1. If we were to…
Question: What is the difference between lust and love? Answer: The difference is huge, but is hardly understood. Mistaking lust to be love can be said to be the essential tragedy of modern society. Lust sees the other person as an object for one’s own enjoyment, whereas love sees the other person as a person…
Question: The Indian culture, like most traditional cultures, recommends associating with saints. How does such association practically help us? Answer: The German poet Goethe said, “Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and…
Question: When shopping, why do many intelligent people suddenly become almost irrational and purchase dozens of unnecessary and even unwanted things? Answer: The Bhagavad-gita (2.62-63) describes the psychological cause of such irrational behavior: “Dwelling on sense objects causes lust to catch on fire. Lust produces anger, born of unfulfilled desire. Anger breeds confusion and bewilders…
Question: In the Vedic tradition, there seems to be a lot of emphasis on spiritual sound vibrations, on hearing from a spiritual master. Why this emphasis? Answer: Sonic technology is central to the Vedic program of spiritual redemption. That’s why the Vedanta-sutra, the condensed conclusion of all Vedic wisdom, culminates in the aphorism: anavrittih shabdat…
Question: In our fast-paced modern life, isn’t spirituality impractical? Answer: Not at all. No matter how fast-paced our life becomes, the practical purpose of all our activities always remains happiness. Spirituality reveals to us the best form of happiness, a happiness that can never be taken away from us. The Vedic texts explain that as…
Question: Can spirituality help one to become free from anxiety and fear? Answer: Surely. To understand how, let’s begin with a thought exercise. Suppose you are walking on a lonely street late at night. Suddenly you see a hefty, suspicious-looking person charging toward you. Just as fear starts creeping up your spine, you notice an…
Question: What is the spiritual perspective on the serial Raaz Pichhle Janam Ka (The Secret of Previous Life)? Answer: The serial brought the much-neglected topic of reincarnation to the forefront of the public mind. That, in and of itself, is a significant and positive development. For too long has reincarnation been relegated to the realm…
Question: Nowadays some people advise that feelings of guilt are just primitive cultural hangovers that stop us from enjoying life fully. Are they correct? Is guilt harmful? Answer: Those who give such advice are harmful. We feel a sense of guilt whenever we act against our conscience. Our conscience – the internal voice that inspires…
Question: Can spirituality solve the real problems of the world like starvation? Answer: Why not? Let’s analyze the root cause and the real solution of starvation. Self-restraint: Many, if not most, of the people who starve today would be able to earn sufficiently to feed themselves and their families if only they were not addicted…
Question: Why are we undergoing so many natural calamities like swine flu, droughts, floods, cyclones, earthquakes, hurricanes etc? Answer: These calamities raise a fundamental question: is the anger of nature chaotic, hitting us as helpless victims? Or is there a pattern underlying this apparent madness? According to the Vedic scriptures, all forms of sufferings are…
Question: Do philosophical concepts like karma have any practical relevance in today’s world? Answer: Certainly. Let’s see how. Imagine a city with an entrance notice: “Welcome. There is no police force in this city; please follow the laws.” How many people will follow the laws? Very few, if any. Today’s world has become like that…
Question: Among the many spiritual paths, how can we know the right path? Answer: Let’s first understand the criterion to categorize and evaluate various paths. Then the right path will become self-evident. Various religious paths can be placed into three basic categories: Exclusivism: Followers of exclusivist paths claim that their way is the only exclusive…
Question: Most people pray to God only to get their own desires fulfilled. Is such self-serving worship ok? Answer: The motives with which people approach God can be categorized into four major levels: Fear: Some people fear, “If I disobey God, then He may punish me for my wrongdoings. So better let me go to…
Question: Thinkers all over the world are striving to synthesize science and spirituality. What can the Indian wisdom-tradition contribute to this attempted synthesis? Answer: India is renowned globally as the land of profound and peerless spiritual wisdom. Here are a few quotes of eminent Western thinkers: “Whenever I have read any part of the Vedas,…
Question: Aren’t yajnas (fire sacrifices) in which grains and ghee is poured into fire to be reduced to ashes a foolish waste of money? Answer: They will appear to be a waste only as long as we are uninformed. The Vedic texts that talk about yajnas assert that, just as while living in a country…
Question: Can science by its future progress discover spiritual truths? Answer: Yes and no. The spiritual philosophy, explained in the Bhagavad-gita and other Vedic texts, is a science in its own right, for it is systematic, coherent, verifiable and repeatable – all characteristics of any good scientific theory. Unfortunately, many modern scientists define science as…
Question: Does spirituality provide anything that science cannot provide? Answer: Yes. Spirituality provides us a fresh worldview with purpose and meaning that is missing in the atheism which is currently dominating modern science. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there,” sang Beatle George Harrison in one his popular…
Question: Why should we bother about some other world that spiritualists often talk about? Shouldn’t our actual life be based on the factual world – the world that we see around us? Answer: The word “factual” comes from the Latin facio, “to make or do.” Thus a fact is what has been made or done….
Question: When I talk about God, soul, rebirth, people often question: why discuss such unscientific things in this modern age of science? Answer: Their question originates not from their scientific thinking, but from their belief in scientism, the peculiar school of thought that places around science a halo of “omniscience.” The reputed physicist Fritjof Capra…
Question: The recent scientific attempts to create artificial life have been glamorized as man “playing God” through science. Why are religionists fearful of such scientific breakthroughs? Answer: The history of science shows that, when man “plays God”, what is initially hailed as a breakthrough eventually causes a breakdown. In new fields of research, scientists almost…
Question: What is the Vedic perspective on the genome pioneer Craig Venter’s claims of creating artificial life? Answer: Let’s see what Venter actually did: Determined the sequence of the DNA in one of the world’s simplest bacteria, Synthesized a copy of that DNA from components sold by a biological supply company, Replaced the natural DNA…
Question: We need food for energy. So isn’t the claim that the soul is the source of energy in the body disproved by everyday experience? Answer: In the Bhagavad-gita (18.34) Lord Krishna explains the relationship between the soul and the body with an insightful analogy: “As the sun illuminates the universe, so does the soul…
Question: Is there any proof of reincarnation? Answer: Certainly; there’s lot. But before we can understand the proof of reincarnation, we need to understand how reincarnation takes place. The Bhagavad-gita explains that our current existence is three-dimensional: physical (related with the gross material body that we can see and touch), mental (related with the subtle…
Question: Is there any scientific proof for the soul’s existence? Answer: There’s plenty. One of the most striking proofs is documented by the renowned father of modern neurosurgery, Dr Wilder Penfield, in his book The Mystery of the Mind. Let’s consider one of his many experiments, paraphrased here without the technical jargon for easy understanding….
Answer: Due to four reasons represented by the acronym SING (Special, Increasing, Non-dependent, Good). Let’s discuss them one-by-one: S: Special: All living beings – human and subhuman – seek pleasure through the basic bodily activities of food, sleep, sex and show of strength. We humans alone have the special privilege of access to spiritual happiness:…
Question: Is God not a psychological crutch for the weak-hearted? Answer: This argument is advanced by atheists who imagine that weak-hearted people need some psychological support to face the problems of life and so have conjured a helper and protector, God. Let’s deal with this argument in three parts: 1. Does the psychological need for…
Question: Is the concept of God not created by man to maintain morality in human society? Answer: Not at all. This argument is advanced by those who imagine God to be a mere subjective conception, not an objective reality. But the fallacy of their reasoning is seen by placing their argument in a different context:…
Question: If God exists, why can’t we see him? Answer: All of us can see God, but we need the appropriate apparatus procedure just as we would need a telescope to see a distant celestial object. Consider the following statement of Albert Einstein, “The deeper one penetrates into nature’s secrets, the greater becomes one’s respect…
To hear the answer podcast, please click here The below brief point-wise summary is meant only for quick preview or review. To get the complete and coherent answer, please hear the audio. Dwarka finding – Prof Rao Krishna’s historicity documentary film at saraswatifilms.org Recent finding by archaeologist Dr Ashok Marathe of an 8000 year old…
To hear the audio answer, please click on the below link: To hear the answer, please click here The below brief point-wise summary is meant only for quick preview or review. To get the complete and coherent answer, please hear the audio. The Vedic literature talk about a vertical dimension in the cosmos that is unknown…
Question: The Vedas say that eclipse is caused by a person named Rahu, but modern science says that it is due to one celestial object covering another. How do we understand this? To hear the audio answer, please click on this link: To hear the answer, please click here The below brief point-wise summary is meant…
“Do you really believe man never went to the moon?” Amit blurted out as soon as we sat down on a mat at our youth center. Amit is an IIT student, introduced to Krishna consciousness a few months ago. While talking with devotees about India’s lunar mission Chandrayaana, when he came to know that, according…
To hear the audio answer, please click on this link: To hear the answer, please click here The below brief point-wise summary is meant only for quick preview or review. To get the complete and coherent answer, please hear the audio. Prahlad Jani – Inedia & Breatherianism Pshyco-kinesis examples: Uri Geller – Verified by Stanford research…
Question: What is the need of rituals? Is it not enough to just think of God in the mind? Answer: Rituals are the essential external means to think of God internally. Rituals are not restricted to religion; they pervade all fields of life. Let’s consider two worldly examples: 1. When we meet a stranger, the…
Question: Is giving up meat-eating necessary for making spiritual advancement? When the highest heads of several religions eat meat, aren’t those who claim the necessity of vegetarianism indirectly claiming to be more advanced than the heads of other religions? Answer: Yes and no; yes to the first question, no to the second. All the theistic wisdom-traditions…
Question: Is the law of karma scientific? Answer: Yes and no; “yes” in the sense that the law of karma is, like the other laws of nature discovered by modern science, a foundational principle governing the world we live in; “no” in the sense that it involves the interaction of non-quantifiable parameters like consciousness, free will and…
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