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November 2020

• 823) How can we distribute our time between hearing and chanting?
• 822) How can we increase our determination for waking up in the morning?

June 2020

• 821) When an eye for an eye will make everyone blind, why does the Gita teach that?
• 820) How do we give up bad habits?

February 2020

• 819) How can an introvert practice bhakti when it is so social and public?

January 2020

• 818) What does simply living really mean?
• 817) Can you explain Brahman and Paramatma realizations in detail?
• 816) Is ISKCON’s institutionalized structure an import from Christianity?
• 815) When everything is destined how can we have free will?
• 814) How can we know that the Deity accepts the bhoga when it remains as it is?
• 813) Why do some bad habits stay on despite our devotional practice – how to deal with them?

December 2019

• 812) Why does India have such a lofty philosophy and a filthy living conditions?

October 2016

• 811) Remembering Srinathji Prabhu – an intellectual, non-patronizing patron of intellectuals

August 2016

• 810) The Meaning of Vyasa Puja – “He came, he gave, he conquered”
• 809) Does the Bhagavad-gita teach that everything that happens is good?

July 2016

• 808) Avatar – Digital, Christian, monistic and bhakti conceptions

June 2016

• 807) “Make me dance” – Meditation on Srila Prabhupada’s prayer on beholding the American coastline

May 2016

• 806) The dual dimensions of artha (Guest Column in Financial Chronicle)
• 805) Seek artha in both its senses – wealth and meaning

February 2016

• 804) Was Ravana revenging the dishonor of Shurapanakha by kidnapping Sita?

January 2016

• 803) Sugriva: Comfort – Material and Transcendental
• 802) Did Draupadi love Karna?
• 801) Narada Muni – Not kalah-priya, but krishna-priya
• 800) See criticism with a critical eye
• 799) How does spiritual sound stimulate and facilitate meditation?
• 798) Positive Thinking 35 – Let the IDEA lead to ENERGY
• 797) Positive Thinking 34 – No time?
• 796) Positive Thinking 33 – Tap the power of meditation
• 795) Can we use freewriting in bhakti-yoga?
• 794) How can I go about writing in Krishna’s service?
• 793) Positive Thinking 32 – PIES – 4 dimensions for all-round well-being
• 792) Positive Thinking 31 – Complement diagnosis with prescription

December 2015

• 791) Positive Thinking 30 – Faith reveals the integrated beyond the fragmented
• 790) Positive Thinking 29 – See the invisible, feel the intangible, achieve the impossible
• 789) What are the various levels of bhakti Sri Vishvanatha analyzes in the Gita?
• 788) Using jnana in bhakti
• 787) When we are speaking at some other organization’s forum, should we adjust or speak the truth?
• 786) While sympathizing with outsiders, how to ensure that insiders dont become like outsiders?
• 785) What were the most striking experiences of your US preaching tour?
• 784) Positive Thinking 28 – Let gratitude energize you
• 783) Positive Thinking 27 – Avoid mental viruses
• 782) How does the jiva fall to the material world?
• 781) Is the Warkari sampradaya personalist or impersonalist?
• 780) Positive Thinking 26 – Don’t let the world’s opinions determine your decisions
• 779) Positive Thinking 25 – See life as a marathon, not a sprint
• 778) Sharing bhakti with a westernized audience
• 777) Positive Thinking 24 – Don’t let a wrong definition of success defeat you
• 776) Positiive Thinking 23 – Cure the cancer of comparison
• 775) Gita chp 13-18 overview – How jnana culminates in bhakti
• 774) Positive Thinking 22 – Cherish your uniqueness – avoid comparing with others
• 773) Positive Thinking 21 – Go DEEP – Desire Envision Endeavor Pray
• 772) If a senior devotee states something factually wrong in a Bhagavatam class what should a junior devotee do?
• 771) Positive Thinking 20 – Smart expectations 1- Hotel or Hospital?
• 770) Positive Thinking 19 – The six-point ENERGY sutra
• 769) Positive Thinking 18 – Bhakti alchemizes our inner world
• 768) Positive Thinking 17 – Unearth the treasure within
• 767) Positive Thinking 16 – Understanding willpower 3 – Sharpen and strengthen the intelligence
• 766) Positive Thinking 15 – Understanding willpower 2 – Potential and actual
• 765) If we are getting too many doubts, should we just switch off our intellectual faculty?
• 764) If we doubt Krishna’s existence, how can we have faith that he will remove our doubts in future?
• 763) Is it ok to be disturbed in our bhakti when some questions don’t get answered?
• 762) Positive Thinking 14 – Understanding willpower 1 – Beyond genes, upbringing and association
• 761) How did the soul enter during the birth of 100 Kauravas from Gandharis miscarriage?
• 760) How can women be encouraged to get a sense of success in their home responsibilities?
• 759) Do women-devotees always have to be homemakers?
• 758) Were women always housewives in Vedic culture?
• 757) Positive Thinking 13 – IDEA at work 2 – Facing reversal after reversal positively
• 756) Positive Thinking 12 – IDEA at work 1 – Facing untimely death positively
• 755) Positive Thinking 11 – A of Activity – Spiritual vision inspires positive action
• 754) Positive Thinking 10 – E of IDEA – Eternal love provides inexhaustible positivity
• 753) Positive Thinking 9 – D of IDEA – Divinity underlies the universes order
• 752) Positive Thinking 8 – I of IDEA – Understanding our identity boosts our positivity
• 751) Positive Thinking 7 Get the IDEA Identity, Divinity, Eternity, Activity

November 2015

• 750) How important is truthfulness in bhakti?
• 749) Positive Thinking 6 – Don’t just see reality positively – see the positive reality
• 748) Positive Thinking 5 – Think positive – think spiritual
• 747) Positive Thinking 4 – Thoughts lead to things – and are things
• 746) Positive Thinking – 3 Science and positive thinking
• 745) Positive Thinking 2 – Understanding the four kinds of thoughts
• 744) Positive Thinking 1 – Countering external and internal negativity
• 743) Please explain varnashrama, its different types and its relevance in urban settings.
• 742) Spiritual sound vibration sometimes feels boring – how to avoid?
• 741) Whats wrong with verifying scientifically the material knowledge given in scripture?
• 740) How to understand the descriptions of material settings in scriptural pastimes?
• 739) Why do the scriptures while narrating pastimes describe the beauty of the female form?
• 738) Appreciating Prabhupada’s resourcefulness and sharing his legacy – Prabhupada Disappearance day class
• 737) Govardhan Dashakam Meditation – Ten appeals for residence at Govardhan
• 736) Meditating on the Damodarashtakam: The supreme controller is controlled – and still remains in control (Part 2 – Verses 5 to 8)
• 735) Meditating on the Damodarashtakam: The supreme controller is controlled – and still remains in control (Part 1 – Verses 1 to 4)
• 734) Damodarashtakam explained – The Controller is controlled and still remains in control
• 733) Damodara Lila – Scientific, Philosophical, Theological and Devotional Analysis
• 732) Approach scripture as history described for spiritual elevation, not material precision
• 731) Is detachment not included in 64 items of bhakti because it makes one hardhearted?
• 730) How can we keep our mind genuine during our daily activities?
• 729) If suffering is not because of karma then what is its cause?
• 728) Isn’t faultfinding necessary for correcting and benefiting others?
• 727) How can we cultivate humility without becoming negatively self-centered?
• 726) What is the difference between repentence and self-blame?

October 2015

• 725) If our profession indirectly contributes to breaking the regulative principles, what can we do?
• 724) If different strategies work in outreach with different people, how can we know in advance how best to share bhakti?
• 723) Kurukshetra – Arena of fratricide and reunion
• 722) Can devotee-couples avoid having kids to avoid distraction in bhakti?
• 721) How can we reconcile being sensitive with Prabhupada’s being rigid?
• 720) How to understand statistics that indicate the world is more peaceful than in the past?
• 719) Sensitively transforming others’ hearts – Analysis of Lord Chaitanya’s delivering Sarvabhauma
• 718) When staying silent amidst injustice is wrong, why did Yudhishthira passively accept the Kauravas’ atrocities?
• 717) Is dissatisfaction because of not being able to read scripture regularly good?
• 716) Spirituality and Business
• 715) All our problems aren’t mental – how to deal with real problems?
• 714) LOAD acronym – How work becomes workload
• 713) Is it necessary to research our nature?
• 712) Is resentment caused by outer events or inner mentality?
• 711) How to cooperate joyfully with devotees of radically different natures?
• 710) Is being over-intellectual dangerous for devotion?
• 709) Should we not do service if we are not pure?
• 708) How does hearing a pastime produce an entirely unrelated result?
• 707) Does the soul go closer to God during sleep?
• 706) How are optimism and pessimism related to the modes?
• 705) Why does the Supersoul sanction our unhealthy choices?
• 704) How do the soul, Supersoul and nature contribute to action?
• 703) How can we convince the mind of truths that are beyond science?
• 702) Understanding the scopes of science and spirituality
• 701) How does the sound of the holy name penetrate beyond the universe – and other sounds don’t?
• 700) Are our present spiritual emotions real or just mental?
• 699) How can we avoid being over-concerned about others’ feelings?
• 698) Are we karmically responsible for work that later leads to unknowing harmful consequence?
• 697) If my boss tells me to do something wrong, who gets the karma – my boss or me?
• 696) If charity is a mentality to be cultivated, is automatic monthly donation from ones bank account undesirable?
• 695) Are direct bhakti in brahmachari life and indirect bhakti in grihastha life equivalent?
• 694) When Bhagavatam focuses on devotion through renunciation, how do we understand Lord Chaitanya’s having grihastha followers and stressing Bhagavatam both?
• 693) Grihastha ashrama in bhakti – Shifting the focus from grihastha to ashrama
• 692) What to do when the mind overpowers the intelligence?
• 691) What does the Gita verse karmany evadhikaraste mean?
• 690) How much should sadhaka discriminate between matter and spirit while practicing bhakti?
• 689) Is sadhaka’s suffering because of past karma or Krishna’s arrangement?
• 688) Amidst life’s storms, does our relationship with Krishna shelter us automatically or do we need to do something special?
• 687) Can we live without expectation in relationships?
• 686) Our longing for love is perfected in Krishna
• 685) When many spiritual paths say they are the best, how to choose our path?
• 684) Can we be enthusiastic without being passionate?
• 683) To manage the mind, regulate the mind’s diet
• 682) Preserving tradition means fulfilling the purpose of the tradition
• 681) How to deal with people who don’t want to clarify misunderstandings?
• 680) Cooperating among equals
• 679) How can we control anger?
• 678) GOD acronym – Reconciling human independence with divine omnipotence
• 677) What spiritual principles can inspire devotees to live cooperatively?
• 676) Increasingly intimate manifestations of Krishna in Mahabharata, Gita, Bhagavatam and Chaitanya Charitamrita
• 675) How can we dovetail attraction to fiction in bhakti?
• 674) Do we need to hear true spiritual sound to be elevated?
• 673) Appreciate the depth and length of our existence to appreciate Krishna’s love
• 672) Is there any formula to always appreciate devotees?
• 671) How can we practically redirect our emotions towards Krishna?
• 670) Do those who die fighting against Krishna attain the spiritual world earlier than those who fight for him?
• 669) God proposes, Man Disposes – Understanding Krishna’s failed peace mission
• 668) The Quest for Happiness – Collecting the material or recollecting the spiritual?
• 667) How does Krishna take away the karma of his devotees?
• 666) How can we understand that God is a person?
• 665) Does destiny determine how we respond to situations?
• 664) Life’s 4 defining D’s: Desire, Decision, Destiny and Dharma
• 663) Why is Krishna selectively merciful in inspiring some people to take to bhakti and not others?
• 662) How can we help reluctant people to become spiritually elevated?
• 661) Tread the path of the ears to the eyes and the heart
• 660) RASA acronym for finding rasa in bhakti
• 659) How to deal with doubts about God’s existence coming from the study of science?
• 658) Prabhupada – dependent on Krishna yet dynamic in service – 50th anniversary address
• 657) How to understand that there is life after death?
• 656) How to see death of a loved one philosophically without becoming hardhearted?
• 655) Should criminals who go on murderous sprees be forgiven?
• 654) How to deal with anger when others hurt us?
• 653) Is thinking that we may not attain Krishna in one life being realistic or being lethargic?
• 652) How can we avoid losing enthusiasm as we keep practicing bhakti over the years?
• 651) How do our relationships in this world relate with our relationship with Krishna?
• 650) Overcome discouragement through spiritual wisdom
• 649) Why does the Bhagavatam end with impersonal knowledge?
• 648) What is the source of desire?
• 647) If destiny is supreme, how do we have free will?
• 646) What is the best way to get positive thoughts regularly?
• 645) How can we decide when pursuing material things is enough?
• 644) How can we find like-minded association?
• 643) How are thoughts generated?
• 642) How can we avoid taking steps forward and then backward in our spiritual life?
• 641) Practicing bhakti amidst todays fast-paced life
• 640) How can we differentiate between Krishna and Maya in subtle situations?
• 639) How does the existence of the finite point to the existence of the infinite?
• 638) QA tradition brings intellectual vibrancy to bhakti
• 637) Manage the mind through introspection and meditation

September 2015

• 636) If we correct with good intention, isn’t that good enough?
• 635) Judgmental attitude ruins relationships
• 634) How can we practice bhakti-yoga on a daily basis?
• 633) How can we set spiritual goals that harmonize with our material goals?
• 632) How to find our true nature?
• 631) How spirituality increases our social contributions
• 630) Why does Krishna say the devatas are different from him in chp 7 and same with him in chp 10?
• 629) How much should we discipline our children in practical things such as watching TV?
• 628) How can I overcome sleepiness when studying the Gita?
• 627) How can bhakti help our children in their careers?
• 626) Parenting Principles from Bhagavad-gita
• 625) Why is the soul’s connection with the Supreme established only through sound – and a specific mantra at that?
• 624) What to do when our vertical and horizontal relationships are not symbiotic?
• 623) What is the highest form of love?
• 622) Love is the highest reality
• 621) Happiness lies inside, not outside – is this a spiritual and scriptural principle?
• 620) Prabhupada encouraged competition but that sometimes led to ego and power struggle – how to understand?
• 619) How to recover from harsh words of some devotees?
• 618) When Krishna is so loving, why is loving him so difficult?
• 617) How can we practically experience Krishna’s love for us?
• 616) MIND acronym 3 – The mind neglects opportunity and denies reality
• 615) How to be selective in our association without becoming judgmental?
• 614) How can we prevent the mind from obsessing over negative things that shouldn’t happen?
• 613) How can we spiritualize the willing function of the mind?
• 612) MIND acronym 2 – Mind imagines pleasure
• 611) Death and the search for meaning
• 610) Is the mind or a source of desires or just a channel of the soul’s desires?
• 609) Does the working of the mind match with our desires?
• 608) How to fight against the minds self-sabotaging inner dialogue?
• 607) Does Krishna not help us when we are not his pure devotees?
• 606) How to deal with relatives who hurt us by their ego and negativity?
• 605) Philosophy seems abstract – how can we undestand that Krishna tangibly helps us?
• 604) Appreciating Radharani’s position and devotion – Radhashtami class
• 603) What does the Gita say about attachment, detachment and rupture in relationships?
• 602) How exactly is work worship – is bad work also worship?
• 601) How to sustain our bhakti when we have to live in materialistic association
• 600) Understanding the Marshmallow test from the three modes’ perspective
• 599) Do aliens exist?
• 598) Why do great devotees die due to painful dieases or terrible accidents?
• 597) Akbar built temples and Aurangzeb destroyed temples – why the difference?
• 596) Did man go to the moon or not?
• 595) Are dreams about Krishna factual or just imaginary?
• 594) Why do Abrahamic religions call Deity Worship as Devil Worship?
• 593) Do our dreams reflect our anarthas?
• 592) MIND acronym 1 – Magnifies the problem
• 591) How to respond when a devotee is criticized by a devotee or a nondevotee?
• 590) Deconstructing Shishupala’s character assassination of Krishna
• 589) “Can you keep a secret?”
• 588) Offering to Srila Prabhupada – Meditating on your life for dedicating my life
• 587) Relevance of Krishna’s descent – TEMPLE acronym – Janmashtami special
• 586) Comparing appearances of Krishna and Rama – Janmashtami special

August 2015

• 585) Is bhakti as rasa a contemporary presentation at Lord Chaitanya’s times or an eternal truth?
• 584) Can a devotee do karma-kandi rituals for earning a living?
• 583) Did the presentation of bhakti evolve or even its definition evolve over time?
• 582) How can we reconcile “act according to your nature” and “do what Krishna wants you to do, not what you want to do”?
• 581) From the Mahabharata Krishna to the Bhagavatam Krishna
• 580) How can we avoid comparing ourselves with others while living in a comparing culture?
• 579) How can we avoid moroseness caused by repeatedly falling for sense gratification?
• 578) How can we serve according to our nature within an institutional setup?
• 577) Why did Vasudeva not allow Krishna to return to Vrindavana?
• 576) Appreciating Bhagavatam as rasa shastra
• 575) Balaram Jayanti – How Balaram helps Krishna remember Vrindavan outside Vrindavan
• 574) Temptations may come, we don’t have to welcome
• 573) How can we reconcile “Krishna provides for devotees” and “Krishna takes everything from devotees”?
• 572) How can we make our heart into a temple?
• 571) Prabhupada: The moments that made his movement – Part 3
• 570) Prabhupada: The moments that made his movement – Part 2
• 569) Prabhupada: The moments that made his movement – Part 1
• 568) Spiritual Insights for dealing with HIV
• 567) How does fasting on Ekadashi increase our love for Krishna?
• 566) How can we develop the contradictory qualities of enthusiasm and patience?
• 565) When Arjuna had enough mind control to perform great austerities, why does he say that he can’t control the mind?
• 564) How was Sanjay able to see the Universal Form without being given special eyes by Krishna?
• 563) Does the fact that religious knowledge doesn’t grow like scientific knowledge prove its irrelevance?
• 562) Do the differences in various religions’ conceptions of God prove his non-existence?
• 561) Gita 07.21 – Krishna is much more merciful than the God in the Prodigal Son metaphor
• 560) Independence Day Meditation – A Patriotism beyond Patriotism
• 559) Should the Bhagavad-gita be made India’s national book?
• 558) Should we love ourselves or hate ourselves?
• 557) Prabhupada’s one step to enter Jaladuta – A giant leap in humanity’s spiritual evolution
• 556) When cities were present in scriptural times too, why does ISKCON criticize urbanization?
• 555) Isnt fear of entanglement in grihastha life desirable?
• 554) Should one not become an IAS officer because one will get the karma of the people under one’s jurisdiction?
• 553) Is the quote about Macaulay systematically planning to destroy Indias glorious education and culture false?
• 552) Which books of the previous acharayas can sadhakas read?
• 551) Doesn’t ISKCON’s rule to glorify Srila Prabhupada and not one’s guru go against Vedic culture of glorifying one’s guru?
• 550) Lord Chaitanya gives special mercy – does that mean souls before his descent were deprived of mercy?
• 549) Why dont the Vedas talk only about bhakti – how are they the authority for bhakti?
• 548) Is Krishna’s coming only once in Brahma’s day mean that he is partial?
• 547) After completing brahmachari training, how to overcome fear of entanglement while entering grihastha ashrama?
• 546) Should we pray for going BTG or pray for serving Krishna in this world?
• 545) While praying how can we cultivate emotions without becoming sahajiyaic?
• 544) What does it mean to remember Krishna while chanting?
• 543) When we are in tears, we need self-confidence to deal with it practically – what is the use of chanting?
• 542) Vandanam – Understanding the dynamics of prayer

July 2015

• 541) Is it hypocrisy to kill animals for getting yoga-seat while claiming to be a vegetarian?
• 540) Gita Metaphors 2 – Wind 1 – A Boat Amidst a Storm
• 539) Bhagavad Gita Metaphors 1 – Introduction
• 538) Gita 18.35 – Expecting the worst of everything is ignorant, not transcendent
• 537) The quest for fame deconstructed and redirected
• 536) Meditation on prayer to Jagannatha
• 535) Three levels of manifestation of Jagannatha Rath Yatra
• 534) What to when the mind despite our devotional practices gets caught in something?
• 533) What is the Vedic perspective on panpsychism?
• 532) How can we avoid blaming our spiritual life for our not being fast enough or ambitious enough in our material life?
• 531) How can we remember Krishna constantly in a passionate company environment?
• 530) Focus on the universality of suffering, not its variety
• 529) What is the difference between humility and inferiority complex?
• 528) Focus on the universality of suffering, not its variety
• 527) How was Kunti ever truthful when she lied to conceal Bhima’s identity?
• 526) Isn’t it material conception of Deity to offer fan or candana when we feel hot in summer?
• 525) Is the bead bag to be worshiped like Krishna?
• 524) How much is the jurisdiction of our free will?

June 2015

• 523) Krishna went to Kubja to satisfy her desires – how to understand?
• 522) Is KC also exclusivist because those who don’t accept Krishna’s form are said to be doomed?
• 521) How does KC take us inwards when it involves many external activities?
• 520) Accepted restriction facilitates elevation – resented restriction doesn’t
• 519) When thinking is done by the soul, how can our thoughts be material?
• 518) What are ISKCON’s views on adoption, in-vitro fertilization and surrogacy?
• 517) Should a devotee cardiac surgeon avoid doing angioplasty because it uses an animal product injection?
• 516) Should we be humble with nondevotees who may exploit us?
• 515) How do we understand the statement that women are less intelligent?
• 514) Even after practicing bhakti why do we still have worldly desires?
• 513) Prabhupada’s legacy lives on
• 512) When a ghost possesses a person, how do two souls function in the same body?
• 511) Does a science student need to give up all faith in science for practicing bhakti?
• 510) How can we overcome loneliness?
• 509) Does God play dice with the universe?
• 508) How can I serve with someone who doesn’t like me?
• 507) World Yoga Day – Let’s Go Beyond Political and Physical Posturing
• 506) Does scripture have mathematical equation for relativity?
• 505) Is yoga a cure-all?
• 504) Can there be something called Christian yoga?
• 503) Is yoga Hindu or not?
• 502) World Yoga Day – Let’s Go Beyond Political and Physical Posturing
• 501) When likings are relative to species, what’s wrong with a hog’s attraction to stool?
• 500) How do we know which is our voice, the minds voice and the Supersoul’s voice?
• 499) As we will become attached to services we like should we also take services we dont like?
• 498) Should we seek financial security first so that we can focus more on bhakti later?
• 497) How do we differentiate between sentimental practice of bhakti and sentiments coming from bhakti?
• 496) How can following rules lead to developing of spontaneous love?
• 495) Should we seek satisfaction by serving according to our nature of sacrifice by doing whatever we are told to do?
• 494) Are Prabhupada’s standards being diluted by, say, singing mahamantra in Bollywood song tune?
• 493) How can I overcome confusion about which spiritual master to choose?
• 492) Is work worship?
• 491) If even sinful devotees are considered saintly should we not look for trustworthiness in relating with devotees?
• 490) If descending to lower species is the greatest fear why does Bhaktivinoda T not fear an insect birth?
• 489) Do the Vedas already contain a Theory of Everything?
• 488) Are abnormal behaviors caused by nervous breakdowns or by ghosts?
• 487) Should we work without worrying about result or work for Krishna?
• 486) Personal Management Mantra – Productivity in Activity through Spirituality
• 485) Is it ok to savor the good feelings we get while practicing bhakti?
• 484) How can we stay busy in Krishna consciousness?
• 483) Krishna can bring good out of everything – even our mistakes
• 482) Scientific, Christian and Bhagavatam conceptions of God
• 481) How to avoid boredom while hearing the same points being repeated in classes?
• 480) How should we pray in front of the Deities?
• 479) How do we know whether we are accepting and rejecting while surrendering based on the mind or the intelligence?
• 478) Why are the Bhagavatam’s and science’s conceptions of the universe so different?
• 477) Conceptions of time in science, Christianity and Bhagavatam
• 476) Counter anxiety by spirituality
• 475) Managing the mind 1 – The mind is the TV and the thief
• 474) How important are close relationships with devotees?
• 473) Is mathematics a source of absolute knowledge as its concepts are not dependent on imperfect senses?
• 472) PK and the criteria for finding the right path
• 471) Is science not needed to help people see the truth of Vedas as people want practical proofs that science can offer?
• 470) Is thinking only about God and not at all about the world not a restriction of the mind?
• 469) In the name of not worrying, how can we avoid becoming irresponsible?
• 468) Can we program our mind for achieving success?
• 467) Why is pleasure easily accessible in material life but not in spiritual life?
• 466) Gita as a leadership guide
• 465) How do we know there is life after death?
• 464) Spiritual Advancement and Material Ambitiousness
• 463) When our professional and family responsibilities already fill our schedule, why should we take the additional burden of practicing bhakti?
• 462) How do we deal with emotions of others – friends, relatives and devotees?
• 461) Emotion Commotion Devotion – Nourishing our emotions in a culture of emotional exploitation
• 460) If someone doesn’t have a photographic memory, is that injustice or does it mean he is meant to excel in some field that doesn’t require such a memory?
• 459) Extra-terrestrial life – Scientific and scriptural approaches to the subject
• 458) Difference between humans and animals – Christian, scientific and Bhagavatam understandings
• 457) Why does the world offer more wrong options than right options?
• 456) Should we force our teenage children to take to bhakti or leave it to Krishna’s will?
• 455) When people say we don’t care about next life karmic consequences how should we preach to them?
• 454) How do we reconcile science and spirituality when they are contradictory?
• 453) The purpose of the world – atheistic, theistic and Bhagavatam understandings

May 2015

• 452) How can we continue in bhakti when our faith in devotees is shaken?
• 451) We feel more eager to read news than scripture – what to do?
• 450) How can we strengthen our faith in Krishna amidst difficulties?
• 449) Conceptual, conversational and chronological background of the Bhagavatam’s creation narrative
• 448) Love is in the SOUND
• 447) Can an OBE be repeated and experimented upon?
• 446) Are there any scientifically verified cases of past-life memories?
• 445) Are there any NDEs that conclusively prove the existence of the soul?
• 444) Cant past-life memories be coincidences among the earth’s eight billion people’s stories?
• 443) How can we make the effect of hearing last for long?
• 442) Do devotees have to give up humor?
• 441) How can we face problems caused by others without falling for the blame game?
• 440) Information Satisfaction Purification Conviction – Four Benefits of Hearing
• 439) When chanting is so simple why do we feel so lazy – how can we chant constantly?
• 438) If tamasic people are attracted to ghastly worshipable forms, then are those who worship Narasimha tamasic?
• 437) Why is Rama Navmi fast broken in some temples with grains and in others without grains?
• 436) Does God have favorites?
• 435) Is Christianity Mayavada because many Christians consider Jesus to be God?
• 434) Sensitivity in preaching amidst natural calamities
• 433) Lakshmi Narasmiha Karavalamba Stotra Meaning 1
• 432) Lord Narasimha – Half-man half-lion full-God

April 2015

• 431) When Upadeshamrita is for seekers, why does it start by telling who can become a guru?
• 430) How can the finite soul experience infinite happiness?
• 429) Why is the irreligious West prosperous and religious India poor?
• 428) Is pain is caused by bodily attachment, how can painkillers stop the pain?
• 427) If yajnas are not done will there be no rains?
• 426) Is Jesus the only way to God and Hinduism the lie of the Devil?
• 425) Does the system of karma and rebirth imply that there is no forgiveness?
• 424) What do the terms karya karana kartrtva adhyatma adhibhuta and adhiyajna in SB 2.5.19 mean?
• 423) How can we ensure that our words of correction act as scalpels, not axes?
• 422) How can devotees avoid getting deviated to the heavenly planets?
• 421) Bhagavatam Overview – Canto 1 – Setting the Scene of Devotion in Separation
• 420) Terrorism – The Extreme Expression of a Culture of Ignorance
• 419) How does marriage change sex from wrong to right?
• 418) What does it mean to not take credit for the things we do?
• 417) When neither yajnik-brahmanis nor their husbands get Krishna’s shelter, what is the point of that pastime?
• 416) How can we avoid getting lost in the many conversations in the Bhagavatam?
• 415) Which are the important commentaries on the Bhagavatam?
• 414) Is it hypocritical to criticize others for faults we ourselves have?
• 413) Rasa analysis of Krishna’s teasing of Rukmini
• 412) What is time – Is there no time in the spiritual world?
• 411) What exactly is humility – how do we develop it in bhakti?
• 410) Is the Sakshi-Gopal pastime mundane with a brahmana using God to futher his marriage?

March 2015

• 409) Should I postpone my sadhana bhakti to focus on college studies?
• 408) How can I protect my bhakti from bad association in college?
• 407) Should devotees read news?
• 406) Was sati suicide or murder?
• 405) When the world is Maya, why not just renounce it?
• 404) Why do serious devotees sometimes die prematurely?
• 403) If God created everything, who created God?
• 402) India’s Daughter and India’s culture
• 401) How do we understand Srila Prabhupada’s statements on rape?
• 400) Is diversity the DNA of Hinduism?
• 399) How can devotees face anxieties caused by worldly threats like crimes?
• 398) Krishna demonstrates prevailing definition of success – and transcends it
• 397) Gaur Purnima Special – Lord Chaitanya makes the abominable age worshipable
• 396) How could Bhima drink Dushashana’s blood?
• 395) Is identifying according to our nature false ego?
• 394) Is sex pleasure due to hormones or mental imagination?
• 393) What causes inferiority complex?
• 392) Will banning beef lead to economic problems?

February 2015

• 391) PURI acronym – 4 special qualities of Madhavendra Puri
• 390) Is applying material science to spiritual things wrong?
• 389) Do devotees who commit suicide become ghosts?
• 388) Are all attractive things good for devotees of the all-attractive?
• 387) How do we understand different devotees interpreting the moisture on the Pancha Tattva Deities differently?
• 386) Who created God?
• 385) Should we hate the mind?
• 384) Can’t all miracles be ascribed to natural causes?
• 383) How do we understand contradictions in scriptures?
• 382) How is shabda-pramana free from four defects?
• 381) Why does Prabhupada say that Haridasa Thakura is superior to Lord Shiva?
• 380) Did the Pancha Tattva Deities shed tears of ecstasy due to the ecstatic kirtan mela?
• 379) Why does God let some people be atheists?
• 378) Did the Gita originally have 745 verses?
• 377) Harinaam Sankirtan unites dance with meditation
• 376) Music therapy and Harinaam Sankirtan
• 375) Is the Gita relevant today?
• 374) Valentine’s Day – Commercial exploitation of urban isolation sets up the heart for disappointment
• 373) Should we hate the mind?
• 372) Are miracles compatible with science?
• 371) What a saint learned from a prostitute   

January 2015

• 370) Is the mind always our enemy?
• 369) Is the Absolute Truth just a stream of consciousness for jnanis and a Person for bhaktas?
• 368) What is the result of chanting the names of godmen who have the name of God?
• 367) Can you give an example of unnecessarily provocative presentation of apara-vidya that we should avoid?
• 366) How to present scriptural wisdom scientifically
• 365) How can we help a dying relative attain emotional closure with an unforgiving relative?
• 364) Are there two gods: the god who created man and the god whom man created? (PK QA 6)
• 363) Does fear take people towards God or away from him?
• 362) Is it cowardice to go to God out of fear? (PK QA 5)
• 361) Do people who are afraid go to temples? (PK QA 4)
• 360) Why do religious teachers stereotype people as when they pronounce all Pakistanis as cheaters? (PK QA 3)
• 359) Don’t anoint everything as spiritual or denounce everything as material
• 358) Does the improbability of extra-terrestrial life support more the Christian conception of God than the Vedic conception?
• 357) Can we reject as wrong numbers the rituals that don’t make sense? (PK QA 2)
• 356) How can we best help a relative who is near death?
• 355) Should conversions be banned in India?
• 354) What is the difference between faith and blind faith? (PK answered 27)
• 353) Are different religions like different companies with their gods as their product? (PK answered 26)
• 352) How can God who is unlimited appear as a limited stone image? (PK answered 24)
• 351) Does a stone smeared with turmeric become God? (PK answered 23)

December 2014

• 350) Happy New Year – How bhakti-yoga fulfills the import of this sincere wish
• 349) Is PK an anti-Hindu movie? (PK answered 22)
• 348) Are we meant to not ask questions in matters of faith? (PK answered 21)
• 347) If scripture is given by God, why is it not visible to a newborn child?
• 346) Aren’t Hindu teachers by refuting PK unnecessarily promoting it?
• 345) Why waste milk on God’s image when his children are starving? (PK answered 20)
• 344) Vaishnava Meditations on Christmas
• 343) Does God like atheists more than religionists because atheists don’t kill children?
• 342) Hold on to Hari, not to worry
• 341) What is artistic license and how can it be used in devotional dramas?
• 340) What does it mean to see Krishna everywhere?
• 339) Krishna’s moods in the Gita – Gita Jayanti class
• 338) How do we help people hurt by insensitive behavior of devotees?
• 337) The difference between sentimentality and sensitivity – SB 4.8.26
• 336) Do we learn shastra by studying more or serving more?

November 2014

• 335) How can we use gadgets in bhakti without becoming attached?
• 334) Isn’t forcing ourselves to thank God for bad things self-repression?
• 333) Does bhakti make us unambitious?
• 332) Was Mirabai greater than Jiva Goswami because she saw beyond bodily gender?
• 331) Is the Gita a religious book or a secular book?
• 330) Is secularism against the Vedic tradition?
• 329) Thoughts on Thanksgiving
• 328) Why does Gita 7.25 use yoga-maya instead of maha-maya?
• 327) Does the Gita ask Arjuna to choose job over family?
• 326) Should prostitution be legalized in India?
• 325) Do parents suffer the sins of their children?
• 324) Are children punished for the sins of their parents?
• 323) How is chanting in the washroom not an offense to the holy name?
• 322) When chanting requires mind control, why do we say that chanting leads to mind control?
• 321) Words shape worlds – watch your words
• 320) Where does people’s evil tendency come from?
• 319) Could God have prevented the Holocaust?
• 318) Who is responsible for the Holocaust – Hitler or the Jews’ karma?
• 317) Why does God not protect his devotees today like he protected Prahlad?
• 316) When we don’t know what past-life karma caused our present suffering how do we learn?
• 315) Where exactly is the pleasure of sex: in our mind, in our body’s hormonal secretion or in the other person’s body?
• 314) Is God a scientist or a magician?
• 313) Is the God of the Abrahamic traditions the same as the God of the Vedic tradition?
• 312) Will devotional service free us from a painful disorder?
• 311) Does one lose wealth or gain wealth by worshiping Hari?
• 310) Is controlling lust forcibly helpful or harmful?
• 309) Why do devotees consult psychologists instead of chanting mahamantra?
• 308) How can we share scriptural wisdom in today’s secular government?
• 307) Why does Bhishma Panchaka have 4 days this year instead of 5?

October 2014

• 306) Does papa-yonayah in Gita 9.32 refer to a fourth category?
• 305) Why do so many people commit suicide?
• 304) Is karma-yoga superior to jnana-yoga according to the Gita chp 3?
• 303) Which dictionary meaning of the word ‘mind’ does the Gita refer to?
• 302) What does panentheism mean?
• 301) When sex is a fact of life, why be prudish about depicting it in the media?
• 300) Does covering our bodies with clothes make us obsessed to see others’ bodies?
• 299) Is wearing clothes unnatural as no other species in nature wears clothes?
• 298) How do we deal with students who take to KC to escape from studies?
• 297) When Arjuna’s chariot was destroyed after the MB war, why does he say in SB “The chariot is the same”?
• 296) When Prabhupada’s Gita is so obviously not as it is, how can he call it as it is?
• 295) What is the benefit in hearing about Krishna?
• 294) How can anyone accept such an antromorphic unscientific mythic conception of God as Krishna
• 293) Govardhana lila’s significance in establishing the Bhagavatam’s worldview
• 292) Aren’t Brahmavadis ultimately Mayavadis because they consider the Lord’s form to be temporary?
• 291) Is the ability to remember past lives the mercy of the Lord?
• 290) Redefine success
• 289) How is Krishna consciousness a science?
• 288) Can science never prove the existence of God?
• 287) Why can’t we remember our past lives?
• 286) Is sensitivity the same as sentimentality?
• 285) Is birthday celebration non-Vedic?
• 284) How can birthday celebrations be made more traditional and spiritual?
• 283) The soul longs for meaning, but the body settles for pudding
• 282) Should we just chant more or should we study philosophy more?
• 281) Is the love of a mother for her baby Maya?
• 280) I study scripture but don’t find it relevant to me. What to do?
• 279) When bhakti can’t be quantified, why have a bhakti shastri course with marks?
• 278) What does the CC statement that scripture contains illusory stories mean?
• 277) Why does ISKCON have such a negatively sex-obsessed conception of bhakti?
• 276) If all equations including those of quantum physics are thoughts of God, why does quantum physics not make sense?
• 275) Words shape worlds – watch your words
• 274) Why do we sometimes act like mad, doing things that we would normally never do?
• 273) How the Chaitanya Charitamrita unified and systematized Gaudiya Vaishnavism
• 272) How do we balance between endeavor for bodily maintenance and dependence on Krishna?
• 271) Does the body change cell-by-cell or is it like a TV frame that changes completely at every moment?
• 270) Dussehra meditation – Differentiating between obstinacy and determination
• 269) How can one avoid defying authority in the name of serving according to svabhava?
• 268) Why does Prabhupada in his Gita sometimes place nishkama karma yoga above jnana and dhyana yogas?
• 267) When today spiritual masters can’t personally instruct disciples about their services, how can we best serve Krishna?
• 266) How do we avoid prayasa in the services we like to do?
• 265) Are the Vedas like a jungle, as a blasphemous scholar alleges?
• 264) How can we know that the Vedas have a divine origin?
• 263) Appreciating different definitions of success in devotional service
• 262) Does the Gita recommend Deity worship?
• 261) When Brahma says we should just accept misery as mercy, why do that Pandavas fight to take revenge
• 260) When Krishna loves his devotees and can check karma, why does he let them suffer?
• 259) When Krishna loves his devotees and can check karma, why do scriptures describe as karma being the cause of their suffering
• 258) Balance philosophy with sensitivity – Be dharma-centered, not karma-centered
• 257) Preaching sensitively
• 256) If someone asks ‘have you seen God’ how do we answer?
• 255) When Krishna gave special darshan to Dhanurdas, didn’t he interfere with his free will?

September 2014

• 254) Right and wrong definitions of success in grihastha life
• 253) Can God create a stone that he can’t lift?
• 252) How can the spiritual soul taste or enjoy a material sweet?
• 251) What is the difference between phenomenal and numinous in Gita 7.2
• 250) How should devotees respond to the threat of brutal religious groups like ISIS?
• 249) Why are ISKCON temples so commercialised?
• 248) Can sick devotees adopt a diet of only raw foods if it improves their health?
• 247) How should we counter when a respected ex-SC judge says that scripture contains poetic exaggerations?
• 246) What is the actual difference between mind and intelligence?
• 245) If misery is caused by misidentification, then why is there not just mental pain but also physical pain?
• 244) A devotee is already righteous, so why does Krsna say that he becomes righteous in Gita 9.31?
• 243) What is the difference between nitya and shashvata in Gita 2.20?
• 242) When the guru is mostly inaccessible to disciples, isn’t initiation just a rubber-stamp?
• 241) How can we convert our work in office into yajna?
• 240) What is the difference between karma yoga, buddhi yoga and bhakti yoga?
• 239) Is it selfish to want taste in chanting?
• 238) Boro kripa koile krishna song meditation
• 237) Don’t let pseudo-hunger masquerade as hunger
• 236) Are all religions coming from the Vedas?
• 235) Is there a shiva-linga at the Kaba?
• 234) Was Prabhupada’s renunciation in the mode of passion as it was triggered by frustration with uncooperative family members?
• 233) How do we reconcile the conflict of values in the Gita and the Chaitanya Charitamrita?

August 2014

• 232) Accepting our limitations helps us see the light beyond limitations – SB 10.49.19
• 231) When everything is in Prabhupada’s books, what is the need to read other books either by ISKCON devotees or previous acharyas?
• 230) Does Prabhupada’s instruction ‘do as I have done’ mean there’s no need to innovate in preaching”
• 229) How do we decide which of our emotions are material and which are spiritual?
• 228) Is a devotee’s grihastha-ashrama a failure if the children don’t become devotees?
• 227) Why do Abrahamic religions depict God as jealous when they are too are revelations?
• 226) Is the prayer to get a good spouse a material prayer?
• 225) The weapon for waging the world’s most formidable spiritual war (Srila Prabhupada Vyasa-puja Offering 2014)
• 224) To realize everything is illusion amidst adversities, is yoga and pranayama the way or is bhakti-yoga sufficient?
• 223) When the number of breaths of a soul in a body are fixed, how can a purpose-driven attitude increase longevity?
• 222) People pray to God; the Vrajavasis pray for God (Meditation on Nandotsava)
• 221) After the laughter? (Reflections on Robin Williams’ suicide)
• 220) Is the holy name transcendental or immanent?
• 219) Why were Indian rulers other than Shivaji not empowered by the Lord to protect Vedic culture?
• 218) Are tragedies in our lives such as a relative committing suicide God’s punishments on us?
• 217) How should relatives of a suicide resolve their anger towards that person?
• 216) Should relatives communicate via planchette with someone who has committed suicide?
• 215) If a good person commits suicide due to some frustration, what is their destination?
• 214) Does a sudden tragedy in the lives of God’s worshipers indicates that God is too busy in his own kingdom to protect?
• 213) What is the theory of reflection Prabhupada refers to in the Gita 2.13 purport?
• 212) What is the Vedic perspective on passive euthanasia?
• 211) Why does Krishna emphasise consciousness at death which is much more uncontrollable than consciousness while living?
• 210) Meditation on the only prayers to Balaram in the Bhagavatam
• 209) Does taking anti-depressant drugs as medicine violate the no intoxication principle?
• 208) If consciousness of the couple at conception determines the nature of the child, will a child born through rape be evil?
• 207) Why do we need to justify the Pandavas’ actions? Isn’t “Krishna told them to do it” enough reason?
• 206) Why do we need to be in the mode of goodness to practice bhakti?
• 205) Does one have to give up one’s material life on becoming an ISKCON member, even if one doesn’t become a brahmachari?
• 204) Is ISKCON an organization for rich people?
• 203) Spirituality and Medicine – An Integrated Approach

July 2014

• 202) When the Pandavas were so virtuous why did Krisha let them suffer so much?
• 201) When different religious groups have their own scriptures how is the authority of Vaishnava scriptures to be established?
• 200) What guided humanity before scripture was written?
• 199) Did Krishna establish dharma just for 36 years after fighting such a big war?
• 198) How do we decide when to forgive and when to fight back?
• 197) Draupadi’s courageous devotion amidst the disrobing – Ask not “why this?” but “how now?”
• 196) Did Karna have to choose the side of evil due to his past karma?
• 195) How to choose between doing our worldly repsonsibilities devotionally and doing directly devotional activities?
• 194) How do we develop taste for studying scripture?
• 193) When can a devotee seek honor instead of being humble?
• 192) Did God create humans to care for him as no other living beings care for him?
• 191) “Love yourself” – what is Vedic perspective on this idea?
• 190) Scientism fosters not respect for science, but disrespect for humanity
• 189) Is the Gita’s teaching that women are sinful resposible for female infanticide?
• 188) Scientism makes it impossible for us to be scientific
• 187) Should the gold in temples be used for social development?
• 186) Does ISKCON have a phobia for the tenth canto? (Bhagavatam 10.47.28)
• 185) Why did Bhima kill Duryodhana unfairly by hitting him below the waist during their final battle in the Mahabharata war?
• 184) Is scriptural knowledge needed only when devotion is dilute and not when devotion is pure?
• 183) Is God hard of hearing that his devotees need to chant his names loudly?
• 182) If Krishna’s ultimate instruction is to give up all duties for surrendering to him why shouldn’t everyone join the temple?
• 181) If the Supersoul is present in all atoms and the space between them, what is special about the Superoul in our heart?
• 180) Do the scriptures treat women as the property of men?
• 179) How do we deal with people’s fear that ISKCON preachers will make ours sons into brahmacharis?
• 178) How do we know whether we desire to preach for fame or for pleasing Krishna?
• 177) Should we preach to make people ISKCON devotees or to make them better human beings?
• 176) Why does the mind develop bad habits more easily than good habits?

June 2014

• 175) Ratha-Yatra – When the Lord comes out, let’s invite him in
• 174) Meditation on Bhaktivinoda Thakura pranama mantra
• 173) Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s contributions 4 – The Eastern Savior offers the zenith of religious experience among all the world’s religions
• 172) Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s contributions 3 – The sara-grahi redefinition of Panchopasana as progressive modes of comprehending the divine
• 171) Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s contributions 2 – See the unity of purpose underlying the diversity of religions
• 170) Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s contributions 1 – Let faith and reason remove the mosses of illusion
• 169) What is the difference between bhara-vahi and sara-grahi Vaishnavas?
• 168) Are we compromising when we use mild words like outreach instead of Prabhupada’s standard words like preaching?
• 167) Selecting our association without being judgmental or offensive
• 166) Is ISKCON an American organization that sends temple donations from India to America?
• 165) Why are Einstein’s and Prabhupada’s metaphors about blind man-lame man contradictory?
• 164) What does Einstein’s metaphor about science and religion mean?
• 163) Does religion require faith from start to end whereas science requires faith only occasionally?
• 162) If Krishna is the cause of all causes, is he the cause of everything that we and others do?
• 161) I was born in another sampradaya, but became introduced to seriously bhakti through ISKCON. Which sampradaya should I follow?
• 160) Why do insubstantial religious groups spread extensively and pure saints remain unknown?
• 159) Who is better – one who chants all day or one who chants a few times and serves others all day?
• 158) If we cant fast nirjala on Pandava Nirjala Ekadashi what benefit do we get?
• 157) Is belief in God like belief in a cosmic teapot – undisprovable yet unreasonable?
• 156) How can India’s wisdom-literature be introduced in the education without the saffronization of the syllabus?
• 155) Should every action in the Lord’s pastimes be interpreted to get some instruction from it?
• 154) Why does the Gita 12.11 include material charity in the bhakti hierarchy?
• 153) Where do religious social workers like Mother Terersa fall in the Gita’s yoga ladder?
• 152) How should we respond to indiscriminate violence against other communities done in the name of religion as a response to distortion of respected images?
• 151) Confrontation or Penetration – Two approaches to sharing Krishna consciousness
• 150) Safe, Danger and Relapse Zones in the War against temptation
• 149) The nine tensions in the Bhagavatam
• 148) Isn’t violence against women in India, as in the Badaun rape case, caused more by the casteist society and not by the obscenity in the culture?
• 147) If Draupadi was dishonored due to her past karma, why did the Pandavas have to take revenge?
• 146) Is forgiveness practical?
• 145) What is the use of writing insubstantial articles in newspapers that don’t even mention the name of Krishna once?
• 144) Why are divorces more among devotees than nondevotees?
• 143) Why are all forms of science not equally authoritative – why is evoluion less reliable than gravity when its all science?
• 142) Modi Swearing-in Ceremony – The Substance underlying the Form
• 141) Can devotees watch TV serials about Krishna’s pastimes?

May 2014

• 140) Has ISKCON replaced the scriptural worship of Ganesh in Hindu temples with the unscriptural worship of Prabhupada in its temples?
• 139) Do the Anthropic Principle and the multiverse theory make the design argument redundant?
• 138) If one has devotion, why does one need to count the names of God?
• 137) As India is still receptive to direct devotional preaching and Prabhupada emphasized that, shouldn’t that be our emphasis too?
• 136) Islam and Christianity have damaged Vedic culture yet we consider them revealed religions – so are they part of Kali’s plan or have they become distorted over time?
• 135) Don’t romanticize the past or demonize the present – utilize whatever is available
• 134) How do we respond when prominent scientists like Stephen Hawking write books propounding atheism?
• 133) Is belief in God a virus of the mind, as atheists claim?
• 132) Scientism is self-contradictory
• 131) What does it mean to see Krishna everywhere?
• 130) When the design argument is so logical, why don’t most people and most scientists accept God’s existence?
• 129) Is God improbable because he has to be more complex than his creation and complex things have very low probability of emerging?
• 128) Why has Ramanuja refuted the design argument in his Vedanta Sutra commentary?
• 127) Revelation is the complement, not the replacement, of reason (Countering Scientism 1)
• 126) Do religionists become self-centered due to believing that God has a personal relationship with them?
• 125) Does religion cause sexual repression?
• 124) Is it ok to have belief in belief instead of belief in God?
• 123) How can we make our work into worship when it is not according to our nature and is not connected with Krishna?
• 122) Should a devotee avoid initiation due to not being able to follow the fourth regulative principle fully?
• 121) Was Arjuna’s killing Karna when he was chariot-less not unfair, being against the kshatriya codes?
• 120) Won’t the progress of science make the God-of-the-gaps redundant?
• 119) Does bringing God into science stop progress as does attributing plague to evil spirits?
• 118) Do devotees have to oppose science to be faithful to Prabhupada?
• 117) Isn’t it better to be satisfied with the beauty of the garden without imagining a fairy at its bottom?
• 116) Are Manava seva and Madhava seva like two largely overlapping circles?
• 115) During preaching, how important is it to provide relevant material information in addition to the paramapara’s message?
• 114) How is Draupadi’s polygamy justified especially when it involves the same man being required to see her alternately as wife and as sister-in-law?
• 113) How to see spiritual organizations that are largely Vaishnava except for considering their founder as an incarantion?
• 112) We often feel like doing different things in bhakti at different times – how can we steadily maintain interest in one thing?
• 111) While using a talent such as music for Krishna how can we transfer our attachment from that talent to Krishna?
• 110) How can we avoid frustration at our inability to follow the standards of devotional service?
• 109) How is Draupadi’s polygamy be justified especially when the Pandavas have to sometimes see her as a wife and at other times as sister-in-law?
• 108) Is conscience always the voice of the Supersoul? Does everyone’s conscience tell them that meat-eating is wrong?
• 107) Is terminal restlessness caused by fear of Yamadutas?
• 106) If one has not had the habit of reading books but likes to hear, how can one develop that habit in bhakti?
• 105) Should Indian devotees preach to Indians and Western devotees preach to Westerners so as to have culturally sensitive presentations of Krishna-bhakti?
• 104) How much should we seach on the internet for good Krishna conscious content?
• 103) How can I protect my bhakti when I go home and am with my pre-bhakti friends with whom I had indulged in bad habits?
• 102) Narasimha Kavacha 3 – Verses 21-31 – The reciprocal Lord blesses us according to how we approach him
• 101) Narasimha Kavacha 2 – Verses 9-20 – Remember the Lord for protection of all bodily limbs and from all directions
• 100) Narasimha Kavacha 1 – Verses 1-8 – Meditate on the Lord without and within to invoke his protection
• 99) How are the feelings of victory and adventure Krishna’s opulences, especially when people get those feelings in illicit activities such as gambling?
• 98) Sita Devi – Determined devotion refuses to choose the easy way out no matter what the justification
• 97) Value Education and Spirituality 6 – The Spiritual Foundation of Values 4 – Let secularism protect us from narrow-mindedness, not restrict us in empty-mindedness
• 96) When Ashwatthama’s Brahmastra is charging towards Arjuna how does he get time to do achmana and offer prayers to Krishna before countering it?
• 95) Can we be spiritual without being religious? – Prerana festival talk
• 94) When I hear the Mahabharata, I identify much more with Karna than Arjuna. What should I do?
• 93) Are devotees being told to be too other-worldly that something so simple as voting is made into such a big issue?
• 92) Why doesn’t ISKCON practice what it preaches? First new devotees are told to be detached from their parents and then senior brahmacharis spend months caring for their dying parents
• 91) Are the demigod worshipers in Gita 9.15 different from normal karma kandis because the Gita refers to them as jnanis?
• 90) Aryan Invasion Theory – Origins, Problems and Consequences
• 89) Was Hitler interested in India’s ancient spiritual culture? If yes, then why was he so hateful towards Jews?

April 2014

• 88) Voting in elections – Clarification in response to HH Bhakti Vikas Maharaj
• 87) Can talents like mimicry and comedy be used in devotional service?
• 86) Should we as followers of Srila Prabhupada also study the books of the previous acharyas?
• 85) Can chanting Hare Krsna help one to assimilate the knowledge of the scriptures more efficiently? How?
• 84) How can I turn my occupational duty into devotional service to Krishna?
• 83) How does contemplating on Krishna differ from mental speculation about Krishna?
• 82) How exactly are “those in Krishna consciousness not responsible for their actions”, as Prabhupada states?
• 81) Is it appropriate to judge students by the marks obtained by them in their examination?
• 80) Who is the actual doer according to the Gita?
• 79) How can we reconcile the Gita (3.4) – don’t give up work – and the Bhagavatam (1.5.17) – give up work?
• 78) Did Krishna-Arjuna commit environmental holocaust at Khandava?
• 77) By asking devotees to vote, why are you dragging Prabhupada’s pure legacy into dirty politics?
• 76) ISKCON’s contributions to India 1 – Overview acronym INDIA
• 75) Ramayana and Gaudiya Vaishnavism
• 74) Voting in elections is the social responsibility of devotees
• 73) What exactly is the mind? And where exactly is it located?
• 72) Is banning books a part of the Abrahamic religions and not of dharmic religions which focused on intellectually debating and defeating opposing ideas not banning them?

March 2014

• 71) How can women be said to have their own varna when Prabhupada says that the wife’s varna should be identified by the husband’s varna?
• 70) How much anxiety shoud we take up for our devotional activities?
• 69) If our nondevotee parents discourage our children’s enthusiasm for bhakti by calling it brainwashing by dangerous cults, how should we respond?
• 68) Can ghosts commit suicide?
• 67) When we worship God so that he will solve our problems aren’t we bribing God like students who flatter their teachers to get better marks?
• 66) All parents want their children to get married. Then wouldn’t Krishna the supreme parent want his children to become married and not take sannyasa?
• 65) You have your sampradaya, others like Shiva worshipers have their sampradaya – ultimately it’s all just different beliefs. Why should one sampradaya be considered higher than another?
• 64) If we give up our controlling tendency completely won’t we lose our individuality and become like trees who don’t do anything differently?
• 63) What is the significance of lighting a bonfire on the festival of Holi?
• 62) I am a Physics student. How can I study the Bhagavad-gita scientifically when it seems like a discussion in a story?
• 61) In the Mahabharata, why are other warriors like Eklavya, Ghatothakcha and Barbarika manipulated to favor Arjuna?
• 60) Three ways to understand the maha-vadanyaya nature of Lord Chaitanya – the magnitude of the charity, the unworthiness of the recipients and the self-sacrifice of the giver
• 59) How can we control the hyperactive imagination during chanting?
• 58) Expanding the intersection of our emotional circle and Krishna’s emotional circle
• 57) What is the relationship between the svarupa of the soul and its present seed form?
• 56) When some devotee praises us, should we stop that devotee or go away or hear passively?
• 55) When bhakti is transcendental, why do scriptures give importance to bodily designations like birth in India or birth in a royal dynasty?
• 54) How does Krishna consciousness practically solve the world’s problems like violence, poverty and drug abuse?
• 53) Does chanting all 16 rounds at one stretch lead to greater concentration?
• 52) As repeated hearing leads to belief, what is the difference between devotional hearing and indoctrination by religious fanatics?
• 51) How do we understand Krishna’s statement to Arjuna that Karna is a better archer than him?
• 50) Tapping our irreducible individuality in bhakti-yoga
• 49) Saci Suta Ashtakam Verse by Verse Meditation (Gaur Purnima Special)
• 48) Vedic dharma series – Universal and contextual aspects of dharma
• 47) How is the car-body analogy a good analogy when the car can’t reproduce and the driver can live independent of the car?

February 2014

• 46) How important is it for devotee-couples to follow the Vedic model for gender roles in their relationship?
• 45) The Amish and the practicality of varnashrama in today’s world
• 44) Bhaktisiddhanta S T appearance – Faithfulness to tradition includes faithfulness to the tradition’s flexibility
• 43) Mahabharata Wisdom 2 – Karna 1 – Past life karma comes as this life’s problems (Hindi)
• 42) If one’s nature doesn’t change even after purification then how is a pure devotee transcendental?
• 41) When we become purified does the predominant mode of the mind change?
• 40) Doesn’t the idea that the infant suffers in the womb deny the glory of the mother’s love in caring for her infant?
• 39) When the mahaprasad of devotees is so glorious, why are we discouraged from taking it during our regular interactions with other devotees?
• 38) Should a devotee be eager to die, as Kulakshekhar Maharaj’s prayer says?
• 37) When we face unexpected and big problems, does that meant God is angry with us?

December 2013

• 36) What can we do when religions use surrogate advertising for converting unsuspecting needy people?
• 35) Is institutionalization alien to Vedic culture? Did Gaudiya acharyas import if from Christianity ?
• 34) If we are served more prasad than what we can eat, can we throw it away?
• 33) When even Americans are concerned about Christian conversions in India, why is ISKCON unconcerned?
• 32) When Prabhupada did many things different from his spiritual master, how did he not change anything?
• 31) How can we identify false ego while doing services?
• 30) When do questions move from being inquisitive to offensive? What kind of questions can be asked?
• 29) When sex is an experience of Krishna, as the Gita states, why does Yamunacharya spit at sex desire?
• 28) Is it possible for a human being to be entirely free from sex desire?
• 27) When so many microbes are present in a cm, isn’t the idea of a God who loves everyone impractical?
• 26) Don’t descriptions of Krishna’s form make us imagine as spiritual our material attraction to forms?
• 25) If the Gita is a manual why is it so confusing? Why couldn’t it have been clearer?
• 24) Does ISKCON promote subtle emotional enjoyment in the name of spiritual enjoyment?
• 23) Is ISKCON’s conception of God like the Abrahamic religion’s jealous God?
• 22) Could the unbelievable stories about Krishna not be some poets’ fabrications?
• 21) Should a devotee oppose crimes like rapes? Should he feel compassion for the criminal?
• 20) Does Prabhupada’s request to cooperate with devotees mean that we allow them to exploit us?
• 19) How can we pray for those who are troubling us?
• 18) If Krishna is God, how could he have been killed by a hunter’s arrow?
• 17) What does crying for Krishna, as Srila Prabhupada recommends, mean practically?

November 2013

• 16) When hearing about Krishna from nondevotees can create interest in people and act as a stepping stone to devotional service, why is such hearing considered like milk touched by a snake?
• 15) Why do some people during NDEs feel peace and don’t see Yamadutas? Doesn’t this prove that such experiences are just imaginations based on their subconscious conceptions?
• 14) Srila Prabhupada recommended monarchy in his books, yet instituted democracy in managing ISKCON through the GBC. Why?
• 13) Is the Absolute Truth like water that appears liquid to the impersonalists and solid to the personalists?
• 12) What is the logical proof for the existence of the spiritual world?
• 11) Does one have to accept everything in the philosophy of ISKCON to become a devotee-preacher?
• 10) Should we chant and wait for feeling to come or chant with feeling?
• 9) Do devotees realize Brahman first, then Paramatma and then Bhagavan?
• 8) How can we determine our varna?
• 7) Doesn’t Krishna protect devotees from black magic?
• 6) Isn’t it superstitious to believe in black magic?
• 5) SB 01.09.37 – How can we not love the Lord who says to his devotee: ‘Let thy will, not mine, be done’?
• 4) How can we counter competitive mentality when we see other devotees succeeding in spiritual life?
• 3) If devotees are troubled by black magic can they seek a remedy from tantriks?
• 2) Can ISKCON devotees participate in social causes like anti-corruption activism or do they have to only cultivate and teach pure devotion?

October 2013

• 1) How can we take shelter of Krishna when the sexual urge troubles us while we are resting in bed?