Currently Browsing: QA Audio : 2017

: Audio   : Video   : Transcription   : Hindi Language

July 2022

• 1253) Why don’t we make the Bhagavad-gita compulsory in schools in India?

June 2022

• 1252) Till what point should we tolerate?
• 1251) How can we know that we are progressing spiritually?
• 1250) How can we get the determination to apply scripture?

February 2021

• 1249) Can thinking positively create a brighter future?

September 2020

• 1248) How to understand the Bhagavatam’s cosmology?
• 1247) Amidst conflicts, how can we put aside our ego and accept responsibility for the problem?

June 2020

• 1246) If someone puts in the same efforts as me but gets better results, how to avoid envy?

February 2020

• 1245) When jnana and karma are different philosophies, how can they both give the same result, as the Gita’s sixth chapter states?

June 2018

• 1244) Why does the Bhagavatam say that literature glorifying Krishna is imperfectly composed when such literature is meant to attract people to Krishna?

May 2018

• 1243) Does liberation mean understanding we have no free will?

January 2018

• 1242) If we can do a service well and see others doing that service poorly, should we stay uninvolved to avoid becoming proud or critical?
• 1241) I get dreams to act violently against Muslims – what should I do?

December 2017

• 1240) When our acharyas wanted an institution, how can we deal with people’s aversion to religious institutions?
• 1239) If others do politics to sideline us from our service, should we also do politics to continue our service?
• 1238) Why do devotees sometimes die in ghastly accidents?
• 1237) How can we increase the quality in our existing devotional commitments?
• 1236) When neither distress nor taste motivates us consistently in bhakti, how can we become consistent?
• 1235) How can I overcome my attraction to watch every detail of my favorite actress?
• 1234) How can we be materially successful while practicing bhakti?
• 1233) Is disorder also a part of Krishna’s plan for creation?
• 1232) Should we correct others when we don’t have the authority to do so and others aren’t receptive?
• 1231) In the computer metaphor for explaining the self, comparing the soul with the user mixes the inanimate with the animate – isn’t it better to compare consciousness with electricity?
• 1230) If the devotional ambience around us is unfavorable because devotees are rude, what should we do?
• 1229) Why do the Vedas give all rights to men and no rights to women, who simply have to obey men?
• 1228) When we have to choose between two ways of serving Krishna, what should we do?
• 1227) Duryodhana felt no moral compunction while persecuting the Pandavas, but Dhirtrashtra did – why the difference?
• 1226) The soul has knowledge that is presently covered – does this mean the soul knows exact scriptural verses?
• 1225) When Abhimanyu was killed, how was Arjuna overcome by illusion?
• 1224) If we use our extrovert nature to serve Krishna, are we functioning in the mode of passion?
• 1223) If devotees use certain statements to demean other bhakti traditions, what to do?
• 1222) Do we need only devotional principles to change our past’s influences – can other things help?
• 1221) When we are frustrated, is it possible to think logically as explained in classes?
• 1220) If past mental impressions stay despite a long practice of bhakti, what to do?

November 2017

• 1219) How do we deal with negative people who are not transformable?
• 1218) When the mind becomes a mirror for the pure soul, does the soul perceive itself through the mind or without it too?
• 1217) In Shikshashtakam, what is the difference between ceto darpanam and sarvatma snapanam?
• 1216) In Damodarashtakam, what does not wanting any benediction other than Vaikuntha refer to?
• 1215) In Damodarashtakam, what does duhka-jala abdhi magnam mean?
• 1214) The driver controls the car, but the soul doesn’t directly control the body – can you explain?
• 1213) When does determination turn into obstinacy?
• 1212) By contemplating the consequences of sensuality, if we practice bhakti, is that bhakti at the level of fear?
• 1211) Does Krishna know which choices we are going to make?
• 1210) When things go wrong, how can keep faith and avoid feeling the pinch?
• 1209) If bhakti doesn’t protect us from troubles, then what is the point of practicing it?
• 1208) If we tend to over-expect from others and alienate them, what to do?
• 1207) If the world is Maya, is it just like the world of Harry Potter?
• 1206) How can we avoid impulsive reactions that make things worse?
• 1205) When our filters distort our vision, how can we see things as they are?
• 1204) Is it selfish to want others to change so that we can be more comfortable?
• 1203) I am useless – Is this feeling in ignorance or in transcendence?
• 1202) If our attitude is determined by our modes, then how much can we change our attitude?
• 1201) How can we balance our limited controllership over our children with our responsibility to guide them?
• 1200) When taking decisions, how do we balance using our intelligence and having faith in Krishna?
• 1199) How can we detach ourselves from what others think about us?
• 1198) What is needed for sharing bhakti in the West?
• 1197) Can the mind sting us – how?
• 1196) When a loved one is hurt, we feel disturbed, but not so much when someone unknown is hurt – is this attachment?
• 1195) Why do Vraja-vasis need to perform a karma-kanda reformatory ceremony?
• 1194) When social justice is not defined in the West in terms of caste discrimination how can bhakti be seen as promoting social justice here?
• 1193) How do we overcome ambiguity about going ahead in a relationship?
• 1192) Why do people who live religiously suffer terribly?
• 1191) When chanting, should we just hear the holy name or try to focus the mind on Krishna’s lotus feet?
• 1190) What is the relationship between science and atheism?
• 1189) Is criticizing science necessary for sharing Krishna-bhakti?
• 1188) We get creative ideas but feel that implementing them requires too much work – what to do?
• 1187) What was the need for Ramananda Raya to massage young girls?

October 2017

• 1186) When a parent won’t give a child a pile of chocolates, why does Krishna create a world filled with sense objects?
• 1185) When intelligence is the sitting place of lust, how can it point us to our long-term interest?
• 1184) Should I choose the spiritual master whose personal association I get or whose classes inspire me?
• 1183) When love is not real, how can it be the ultimate reality?
• 1182) When the consequence is not in our hands, why is the consequence considered a factor in deciding right and wrong action?
• 1181) How can we avoid impulsive angry responses?
• 1180) How can Vyasadeva refer to himself as a great sage in the Bhagavatam?
• 1179) How is temperament more important than talent?
• 1178) If we resist a desire, it increases, and our mind goes crazy – what to do?
• 1177) When we have to work so many hours in nondevotional jobs for our financial needs, how can we grow devotionally?
• 1176) Even when we have knowledge, we can’t apply it – what to do?
• 1175) As a to-be householder, should I work fulltime in a temple or take a job outside
• 1174) My husband doesn’t oppose my bhakti, but he wants me to take interest in worldly things that I have lost interest in – what should I do?
• 1173) If my counselor breaks a regulative principle, how do I maintain my faith?
• 1172) If our past bad relationships make us averse to exploring new relationships, what should we do?
• 1171) How can we emotionally accept that people who treat us like crap are delivering us our past karma?
• 1170) How can we overcome the expectation of apology from someone who has hurt us?
• 1169) What are the precursors to anger – how can we know that we are likely to explode at someone?
• 1168) How can we preach with sincere devotees who are desensitized to newcomers’ sensitivities?
• 1167) If circumstances make following bhakti principles impossible, what should we do?
• 1166) When our emotions come in the way of our bhakti practices, what can we do?
• 1165) In youth, how much should we be preparing for our career and how much focusing on devotional growth?
• 1164) How much should we restrict our children from hearing mundane music?
• 1163) How can we prioritize our services, when we have limited time?
• 1162) Does bhakti practice free us from past bad karma?
• 1161) Will Krishna help us out of a situation that we have got in because of our own desires?
• 1160) How can we avoid judging ourselves?
• 1159) How can we deal with self-doubt?
• 1158) What does it mean to be consistently content with the self?
• 1157) If we see patterns similar to a failed relationship in a new relationship, how can we avoid becoming pessimistic?
• 1156) If a relative of mine is getting influenced by Christian missionary propaganda, what should I do?
• 1155) How can we develop our relationship with Krishna without minimizing the position of the guru?
• 1154) If a child becomes orphaned because the parents commit suicide, is that because of the child’s destiny or the parents’ misuse of free will?
• 1153) Where can I get mantra diksha?
• 1152) Do we need to know God before we can have faith in him?
• 1151) What does it mean to serve the Lord?
• 1150) How does one find a spiritual path?
• 1149) What is the role of religion in today’s world?
• 1148) Is hypnotic regression to past lives for real?
• 1147) How do we explain the non-physical is differentiated as the mind and the soul?
• 1146) How do we help people who hold that nature is their god?
• 1145) Just as Nalakuvera-Manigriva were given remembrance their past lives, why can’t we be given remembrance of our past lives?
• 1144) When is violence justified – how is the Gita’s war different from modern World Wars?
• 1143) If our intelligence can never supersede Krishna’s intelligence, how can our will supersede his will – how can we act independent of him?
• 1142) If we don’t have gratitude, how does it matter in bhakti?
• 1141) Just as Krishna gives conviction to different people to worship different devatas, does he give different devotees conviction to serve him in different ways?
• 1140) How to overcome lust or material desire
• 1139) Is our free will infinite, just the facility to fulfill it is finite?
• 1138) If my chanting remains inattentive despite my best effort, am I being offensive?
• 1137) Can those who have more material desires not come in Krishna’s gravity pull?
• 1136) If we feel that Krishna is not reciprocating, should we intensify our devotion?
• 1135) Stories about Krishna remain the same, whereas new stories about fictional heroes keep coming up – how then are Krishna stories ever-new?
• 1134) Material entertainment requires no thinking, spiritual entertainment requires deep thinking – are the two comparable?
• 1133) Can unconscious people hear the holy name?
• 1132) To which level of reality are people with Alzheimer’s escaping?
• 1131) What is the difference between believing a half-man half-lion and believing a half-man half-spider?
• 1130) Should medicines be used to treat depression?
• 1129) If negative events cause a panic attack, what can we do?
• 1128) Our survival instinct tells us to avoid pain, whereas austerity means to accept pain – how to decide what to do?
• 1127) Should we be simply attached to the principle of service or to specific services according to our nature?
• 1126) How can we deal with gossipy or critical family members?
• 1125) What is the difference between greed and ambition?
• 1124) What role does sleep play on the spiritual path?
• 1123) Can we see the future in our dreams?
• 1122) How do some people get guidance in the state of being half-awake, half-asleep?
• 1121) What is the source of the programming we have?
• 1120) When our emotions don’t keep pace with our convictions, as when facing adversities, what can we do?
• 1119) As most people nowadays are born without any garbhadhana samskara, will the world soon be filled with people in ignorance?
• 1118) Are religious rituals entirely separate from philosophy – why do different religions have different rituals?
• 1117) Is the caste system wrong?
• 1116) Might our sense of right and wrong be something created by society to check our biological urges?
• 1115) Might our desire for eternal life come from our experience of an external long-living object, not from an eternal soul?
• 1114) How can we know our prescribed duty?
• 1113) How do we differentiate between the mind and the soul?
• 1112) Are there different mantras for different effects?
• 1111) How can we protect our consciousness?

September 2017

• 1110) How can we evaluate people’s level of consciousness without becoming judgmental?
• 1109) What type of yoga is best for rising to spirituality?
• 1108) How can we stop being resentful towards others?
• 1107) Why do some devotees see things in terms of black and white without any nuance?
• 1106) While practicing bhakti, how can we avoid getting locked into our professional identity?
• 1105) How to balance between following Prabhupada faithfully and adjusting to time-place-circumstances?
• 1104) Can our anarthas be dovetailed in Krishna’s service?
• 1103) Does the mind discourage the soul?
• 1102) Do the different senses of the word karma come from scripture or from usage?
• 1101) How can we distract ourselves from desires arising in the body such as hunger?
• 1100) Does loss of intelligence lead to control by the mind or does control by the mind lead to loss of intelligence?
• 1099) When our intelligence is controlled by lust, how can it control the mind?
• 1098) Why doesn’t Krishna make things easy for his devotees?
• 1097) Is the opposite of gratefulness resentfulness or neglectfulness?
• 1096) How can some people pass through problems without taking shelter of Krishna?
• 1095) Does the media increase our negativity by focusing on problems in today’s world?
• 1094) Do scientific theories disprove spiritual truths?
• 1093) Is spiritual science a valid branch of science?
• 1092) Are we omnivores who need to eat animals to maintain the food chain?
• 1091) When we start studying Bhagavad-gita, what is the motivation for continuing to study material science?
• 1090) If our family members don’t practice regulative principles, is it right to disconnect from them?
• 1089) Why didn’t God create another dimension for us to enjoy?
• 1088) Why can’t all realized souls join hands to demonstrate a working model of harmonious spiritual living?
• 1087) Can the principles of bhakti solve the world’s practical problems?
• 1086) How can we be cautious about not indulging in something without constantly thinking about it?
• 1085) How is anger not just an emotion but also a thing?
• 1084) Are anarthas also part of our nature?
• 1083) When repressing desires doesn’t work, what to do?
• 1082) How do we balance thinking and feeling in spiritual life?
• 1081) How can we be grateful to Krishna in all situations?
• 1080) Does complete faith in Krishna make us fearless?
• 1079) If we don’t have full faith, are we hedging our bets?
• 1078) Among various world religions, what is special about practicing krishna-bhakti?
• 1077) Can Krishna be interchanged with any other god as our object of worship?
• 1076) How can bhakti help us overcome our emotional fears?
• 1075) Do different people need different percentages of material and spiritual life?
• 1074) When we ask Krishna to protect us, are we treating him as our servant, and are we advanced enough for him to intervene?
• 1073) When we want to go to the spiritual world, is our devotion motivated or unmotivated?
• 1072) Since something I built my life on collapsed, I have started hating God – what can I do?
• 1071) When we decide to change ourselves, how can we know that those changes will be for good?
• 1070) Should we try to learn from our past when our perception of our past will always be distorted by our biases?
• 1069) How can we identify the voices of the inner critic and the inner daredevil?
• 1068) Is anger reduced by becoming spiritual or by developing the brain’s frontal lobe that is associated with controlling emotions?
• 1067) Can there be something called spiritual science?
• 1066) Love of God may just be a sentiment in some religions – how can we know it is for real?
• 1065) Scientists are often aesthetic people and religion has often caused persecution and violence – how to understand?
• 1064) Should devotees do sandhya as a daily sadhana as per their family tradition?
• 1063) Why does our mind dwell more on painful memories than on joyful memories?
• 1062) We talk a lot about practicing bhakti, but not about practicing morality – why?
• 1061) When faced with problems, how to decide how many solutions to try out?
• 1060) If someone chants a lot of rounds, but doesn’t behave properly with their spouse, how do we understand?
• 1059) Do gopis know Krishna’s future pastimes?
• 1058) I desire to start a new business – is this desire compatible with bhakti?
• 1057) The jnanis concepton of the Absolute Truth lacks potency – please explain?
• 1056) How can we have steady faith that Krishna cares for us?
• 1055) How can the gopis become proud?
• 1054) Did Krishna appear in Mathura or in both Mathura and Vrindavan?
• 1053) How can ghosts, being subtle, act on gross objects as when opening doors or breaking things?
• 1052) When ghosts have only subtle bodies, how can they be seen by humans?
• 1051) Are increased natural calamities due to climate change or bad karma?
• 1050) How can we be more and more in the present?
• 1049) If someone has hurt us grievously, what should we do?
• 1048) Should we learn from the past or consider that whatever happened is God’s will?
• 1047) When waves of desire come suddenly, do they have some rational cause?
• 1046) When, because of our bhakti principles, we can’t eat the food offered by our relatives, how can we avoid alienating them from bhakti?
• 1045) Can machines think?
• 1044) Is depression a mental problem or a medical problem?
• 1043) If a devotee familiar to us starts blaspheming our spiritual master, how should we deal with that devotee?
• 1042) When our goals are in the future, how can we live in the present?
• 1041) For devotees, are things happening beyond our control due to destiny or Krishna’s mercy?
• 1040) In outreach, what needs to come first – knowledge and inspiration or facilities?
• 1039) Among knowledge, inspiration and facilities, if we can’t provide all three to others, what is the most important thing to provide?
• 1038) When we can’t give up our conditionings, is just calling out to Krishna the solution?
• 1037) How can we know that we are subconsciously justifying our anger?
• 1036) Speaking forcefully often gets people to take things seriously – is such speech angry and to be avoided?
• 1035) If connection with Krishna makes the inauspicious auspicious, then if a devotee gets caught in sinful activities, is that also good?
• 1034) Are the gopis wired naturally to love Krishna so purely?
• 1033) Seeing Shiva and Vishnu as equal is considered offensive, but seeing them as different is also considered offensive – how to understand?
• 1032) When we can experience peace through oneness with nature, why do we need to depict God as a person?
• 1031) Do theists attribute to God things that are not explainable within our frame of reference?
• 1030) If someone has hurt us badly, should we tell them that they have hurt us?

August 2017

• 1029) How can we know whether our wrongdoing is accidental or intentional?
• 1028) How does time affect the dhama in the material world?
• 1027) Can you explain how sambandha-jnana is like the guiding star and the gopis’ prema is like the sun?
• 1026) If Krishna is eternally youthful in the spiritual world, are his childhood pastimes present there?
• 1025) How is forgiveness related to the modes of material nature?
• 1024) If we get dreams of our past profession even after having retired for over ten years, is that good or bad?
• 1023) Is retaliation in the mode of passion?
• 1022) What is the difference between tolerance and passivity?
• 1021) If some devotees feel inspired to hear Krishna’s intimate pastimes, what can they do?
• 1020) When Prabhupada says that God can never be illusioned, how can we understand that Krishna comes under Yoga-Maya?
• 1019) Should we study books about God’s greatness and sweetness progressively or in parallel?
• 1018) Should we not read advanced krishna-lila because we aren’t mature or read it because we need to know our ultimate goal?
• 1017) By focusing on future spiritual happiness, are we running away from living in the present?
• 1016) Does spiritual knowledge decrease our tendency to find faults with the present?
• 1015) If a rat is chewing at our foot, should we tolerate it?
• 1014) As we are controlled by material nature, do we really have free will?
• 1013) How can we better apply what we have read?
• 1012) If we don’t understand much on studying scripture, how can we inspire ourselves to study?
• 1011) Can dreams be considered unreal because they are temporary?
• 1010) Are dreams real or not?
• 1009) When our services sometimes cause anxiety, how can we understand that devotees are peaceful?
• 1008) If bhakti is triggered by external stimuli, does such bhakti come from the heart?
• 1007) Christians say Jesus is the only way – do ISKCON devotees say Prabhupada is the only way?
• 1006) How is inner growth more important than external growth in bhakti?
• 1005) How does the hierarchy in bhakti differ from mundane hierarchy?
• 1004) Why doesn’t mainstream science accept the evidence for past-life memories?
• 1003) Can we heal our emotional hurts by knowing about our past lives?
• 1002) How can we go from blaming to forgiving?
• 1001) What is the nature of eternal life?
• 1000) How can we prevent the hurts from our past become our emotional baggage in a future life?
• 999) Can excessive forgiveness lead to weakness?
• 998) What makes us complacent about applying the solution of bhakti to the problem of our known weaknesses?
• 997) Who is it that observes the mind has wandered off?
• 996) How can we understand Prabhupada’s statement that there is no love in this world?
• 995) If we have fear or mistrust towards God, how does the process of bhakti work for us?
• 994) How much can analysis help in controlling desires?
• 993) Can an animal become a ghost – Hindi?
• 992) When Gajendra comes to Krishna because of distress, what is the role of his previous life actions – Hindi?
• 991) Our parents are destined – are our friends also destined?
• 990) How do we understand Prabhupada’s statement that most of my disciples will go to heaven – Hindi?
• 989) The soul can’t be cut, but can God cut the soul – Hindi?
• 988) Isn’t everything that happens to a surrendered devotee good?
• 987) When birth in a wealthy family can deviate one spiritually, how is it spiritually favorable – Hindi?
• 986) If we like to dress the Deities but also want others to appreciate our dressing, is that self-centeredness?
• 985) When bhakti culture is still there in Vraja, was all this destroyed 500 years ago when Lord Chaitanya restored it?
• 984) When we don’t hear so much about Lord Balarama, how can we become more attracted to him?
• 983) While practicing bhakti, should we be concerned about how the world perceives us?
• 982) How can we become less self-centered?
• 981) How can we overcome anger?
• 980) What is the best way to understand spirituality?
• 979) Why does nature hide spiritual truths – why don’t all of us have past-life memories or near-death experiences?
• 978) If we happen to be a negative influence on others by discouraging them, what should we do?
• 977) My friends tell me that engineering studies are a waste of time – should I pursue some other career?
• 976) Is Chitraketu’s accepting Parvati’s curse even when he was not at fault meant to instruct us to accept whatever happens to us – Hindi?
• 975) How can we fix the mind on the heart – Hindi?
• 974) If justice needs to be seen to be done, how does this apply when karmic justice gives us results for unknown actions – Hindi?
• 973) How do we deal with over-expecting parents who ask why we have got 95 marks out of 100, not 100
• 972) Can our material progress and spiritual progress go together
• 971) How is the world meant to allow both theists and atheists to justify their beliefs
• 970) Is it right to blame others for our failure
• 969) Do our stars determine whether we become spiritual
• 968) When too many spiritual apps, sites and books confuse us about what to read or hear, what to do?
• 967) If someone likes to practice bhakti in solitary devotional activities, will they advance more slowly?
• 966) If our family attachments impede our spiritual advancement, how can we be detached and still be responsible?
• 965) When problems trouble us and we can’t put our heart in our service, what can we do?
• 964) How does understanding Krishna’s greatness and sweetness bring submission and affection respectively?
• 963) While studying in college, how can we not identify ourselves as students?
• 962) How can we balance scriptural study and practical service?
• 961) When we practice bhakti culture in our temples or youth centers, are we not practicing spiritual bhakti?
• 960) On holy days, if new people can either fast or do service, what should we encourage them to do?
• 959) If our past bad habits keep dragging us down, what should we do?
• 958) Can we get tangible results in bhakti, as we get in our worldly relationships?
• 957) How can we explain philosophy to those who don’t accept the authority of scripture?
• 956) If spirituality tells us to fast and science tells us to not fast, what should we do?
• 955) Should we be detached from feeling happy when we chant well?
• 954) If while chanting some bad thoughts come in our mind, is that a sin?
• 953) In our offices, how can we be socially involved in contemporary discussions without getting spiritually distracted?
• 952) Does humility mean feeling that we are fallen or does it mean not letting our ego come int the way of our service?
• 951) When the gopis criticize Akrura for taking Krishna away, are they not offending Akrura?
• 950) If a devotee repeatedly struggles in different services, how can we engage that devotee?
• 949) If the expansion of our consciousness stops with humanity, will it reach Krishna?
• 948) How can we keep fighting against our senses till we get Krishna’s mercy?
• 947) One moon is better than a thousand stars – what does this imply in terms of outreach strategies?
• 946) When we can study scripture without doing the Bhakti Shastri course, why is the course needed?
• 945) How can we better remember philosophical points and scriptural verses?
• 944) How exactly were we created?
• 943) Is remembering that Krishna is in control the only way we can remember him while working in the world?
• 942) How can we overcome the mind’s habit of contemplating sense objects – Hindi?
• 941) How can we understand our nature – Hindi?
• 940) Can bhakti change a person’s nature – Hindi?
• 939) By what practices can we control the mind – Hindi?
• 938) How can we differentiate between our cheating propensity and our tendency to be illusioned by duality – Hindi?
• 937) What is the definition of conditioning – Hindi?
• 936) What is the difference between the mind and the intelligence – Hindi?
• 935) Why do we sometimes act circumstantially rather than scripturally – Hindi?
• 934) If our intelligence becomes weak, what is the solution – Hindi?
• 933) How can we prevent our eyes from seeing lustily – Hindi?
• 932) How much does our spiritual progress depend on our endeavor and how much on Krishna’s mercy – Hindi?
• 931) If we see devotees living materialistically, how can we prevent that from rationalizing our materialism – Hindi?
• 930) How can we remember to process our emotions, not act on them – Hindi?
• 929) How can we overcome worrying habit – Hindi?
• 928) How can we deal with our need for approval while doing good things – Hindi?
• 927) How can bhakti help students to not get too disturbed about their marks – Hindi?
• 926) Is what we are going to get in life determined at birth – Hindi?
• 925) What role does our nature play in our taking shelter of Krishna?
• 924) Why is impersonalism condemned in Gita 9.12 and appreciated in Gita 9.15?

July 2017

• 923) Is intelligence not always a good thing?
• 922) Is intelligence covered by the mode of ignorance unintelligent?
• 921) How can determination be unintelligent, as mentioned in Gita 18.35?
• 920) Why does the Gita in chapter sixteen describe divine qualities in three full verses and demoniac qualities in just one verse?
• 919) How is simplicity as an austerity of the body in Gita 17.14 different from simplicity as an austerity of the mind in Gita 17.16?
• 918) What is the conscious mind and the subconscious mind?
• 917) When anger arises, what uddipana can we use to control it?
• 916) Can the self be realized without realizing Krishna?
• 915) Does self-realization as understood in psychology – understanding our strengths and weaknesses – come automatically by bhakti practice?
• 914) If we see devotees’ love for us as Krishna’s love coming through them, are we not depersonalizing devotees?
• 913) If others’ love for us is Krishna’s love coming through them, does that apply to their anger too?
• 912) How can a devotee work in an anti-devotional profession that goes against the four regulative principles?
• 911) As sadhakas with anarthas, how much should we rely on astrology?
• 910) I was an honest disbeliever instead of being a hypocritical believer, yet I suffered – why?
• 909) Is forgiving those who have hurt us necessary for moving on in our life?
• 908) Is the self located in the brain?
• 907) Why can’t science measure love?
• 906) What is consciousness – why does science have difficulty in understanding it?
• 905) Why can’t scientists understand that our identity is spiritual?
• 904) Do we have free will?
• 903) Does scientific advancement make life seem pointless – why?
• 902) Are people who have out-of-body experiences out of their mind?
• 901) How sound is the scientific evidence of past-life memories?
• 900) Should we drink cow’s milk nowadays when it is got by causing violence to cows?
• 899) Who are we – how can we understand the Gita’s answer from a scientific perspective?
• 898) What can we resist temptation?
• 897) How does the three-level model of the self explain near death experiences?
• 896) How does the three-level model of the self explain past-life memories?
• 895) When we perceive internally, how can we differentiate between the mind and the soul?
• 894) Who experiences love – brain, mind or soul?
• 893) How does the three-level model of the self reconcile science and spirituality?
• 892) Till what level of bhakti can devotees fall away?
• 891) How can we persevere in bhakti over the years when our transformation becomes gradual and not so easily perceivable?
• 890) On hearing sweet kirtans, is the happiness we experience spiritual or material?
• 889) When dasya permeates all rasas, why is it considered a separate rasa?
• 888) How can we be both assertive about getting things done while being sensitive to others’ feelings?
• 887) When we try to help someone by pointing out their mistake and they see it as an attack on them, what can we do?
• 886) How do we understand that the spiritual world has no physical location?
• 885) Is bhakti materially independent or is it more likely to occur in certain places?
• 884) Can people with an empty stomach practice bhakti – shouldn’t material needs be fulfilled first?
• 883) How can the impatient people of Kali-yuga have the patience to wait for the results of bhakti-yoga?
• 882) Is there any proof for God’s existence?
• 881) How is the Gita relevant amidst today’s stress-filled times?
• 880) Is reincarnation a Hindu belief?
• 879) Can all karma be offered to Krishna or does ugra-karma have to be given up?
• 878) If bhakti is transcendental, why is cultivating the mode of goodness important?
• 877) How can we harmonize ourselves with our situation when say our boss works by opposite principles?
• 876) What does having faith amidst problems mean practically?
• 875) How can we avoid reinforcing our biases by discussing delicate issues with others who have similar biases?
• 874) Even after practicing bhakti, we explode at people who irritate us – what can we do?
• 873) If we feel guilty because of having exploded at someone, how can we overcome that guilt?
• 872) How does bhakti relate with being present in the present?
• 871) Is it better to be overwhelmed by knowledge or by ignorance?
• 870) How could Lava-Kusha defeat Rama who is the undefeatable Lord?
• 869) When the Bhagavatam contains so many stories involving sex, is it appropriate for children?
• 868) What is wrong with seeking the desirable and avoiding the undesirable?
• 867) Is being emotionally invested in Krishna different from being emotionally invested in services to Krishna?
• 866) Can you explain some section of scripture that we can’t easily understand?
• 865) Is it easier to go from aversion to renunciation than from attachment to renunciation?
• 864) How can our vertical and horizontal progress be harmonized?
• 863) For preaching, is it enough to simply hear classes of senior devotees and repeat?
• 862) Should we take food offered at gurudwara if it contains onion-garlic?
• 861) Did Zoroastrianism evolve into Judaism and Christianity?
• 860) As science fiction movies show robots with emotions, can’t scientific progress imbue robots with consciousness?
• 859) Why does Bhagavatam say that Bhishma merged with the Supersoul?
• 858) What is the best way to understand the Bhagavad-gita?
• 857) Does the subtle body dissolve on purification?
• 856) If impulses can be controlled, why can’t instincts be controlled?
• 855) After practicing bhakti for many years, our enthusiasm goes down and we just go through the motions – how can we know whether we are actually going towards Krishna?
• 854) How can I deal with a beef-eating colleague?
• 853) Suppose Krishna desires me to win a race, but I decide to not participate – what happens?
• 852) In the spiritual world, can we act entirely freely without being controlled by our nature?
• 851) If someone follows a spiritual path without much knowledge of Krishna, how will they advance spiritually?
• 850) Might a devotee be born in a Muslim family?
• 849) Does the Gita 13.30 support the idea that the soul has no free will?
• 848) If I connect quickly with someone, does that mean we had a past-life connection?
• 847) Do like-minded people become more understanding or does understanding make people more life-minded?
• 846) Does ignoring situations solve problems?
• 845) How can we control anger?
• 844) How can we keep the mind in the present?
• 843) When we get bad experiences repeatedly, should we just entrust everything to Krishna?
• 842) If God’s inscrutable will is good for everyone, what’s wrong with letting whatever is happening happen?
• 841) How is always thinking of Krishna practical?
• 840) When suicide is bad, why did Arjuna resolve to commit suicide if he failed to kill Jayadratha by sunset?
• 839) Is constantly thinking of Krishna and doing our work an example of multitasking – how can it be done practically?
• 838) On hearing offense to devotees, why is the extreme option of committing suicide recommended?
• 837) How can we understand that whatever is happening to us is due to the weakness of our heart?
• 836) What kind of affirmations are most effective?
• 835) Even after we learn to observe our mind, why can’t we stay on as the observer?
• 834) How can we become more mindful?
• 833) If a bad relationship has made me paranoid about relationships, what can I do?
• 832) How can we prevent our career from interfering with our relationships?
• 831) Why do you speak more on bhakti than on karma which the Gita stresses?
• 830) What are the dos and donts to develop devotional consciousness?
• 829) How can we practically apply – don’t be angry with the instrument of your karma?
• 828) Why are the near-death experiences of Indians and Americans different?
• 827) How can we differentiate between the voices of the mind, the intelligence and the Supersoul?
• 826) If this world is a place of misery, why does it have so much pleasure too?
• 825) If dedicated senior devotees face great distress, new devotees ask what is the point of practicing bhakti – how to answer?
• 824) How can we maintain the standard of purity that Prabhupada established?
• 823) If parents have been brought up in India and their children in the US, how can they harmonize their differing cultural expectations?
• 822) What to do if our material ambitions are stronger than our spiritual intentions?
• 821) I broke a one-sided relationship, but now I feel I should have tried more – what should I do?
• 820) Even if we control our anger at someone, still we keep thinking about who was at fault- what to do?
• 819) How do we deal with mental flashbacks?
• 818) If our elders are at fault, should we just tolerate or should we tell them?
• 817) How can we know what can be changed and what can’t be?
• 816) When we understand scripture according to our level of realization, is that our false ego at work?
• 815) During the manifestation of action, what or how does Krishna sanction?
• 814) Is the Supersoul present in the spiritual world?
• 813) When scripture contains so much wisdom, why does most of India not follow scripture?
• 812) Why do we sometimes feel more agitated after starting bhakti practice?
• 811) Most past-life memories involve people who lived sinfully in their previous lives – shouldn’t such people have gone to animal bodies, not human bodies?
• 810) Is there proof of reincarnation from animal body to human body?
• 809) If the natures of a husband and a wife are not complementary, but contradictory, how can they function?
• 808) I have a disagreeable boss who is also atheistic – how can I deal with him?
• 807) If a relationship is severely strained but it has to go on, what to do?
• 806) In the Bhagavatam, devotees renounce the world to serve the Lord, but in the Vitthal tradition, devotees serve their parents while the Lord waits – how to reconcile?
• 805) How can we explain tangibly what consciousness is?
• 804) When our consciousness goes up and down regularly, how is consciousness irreducible?
• 803) Different brain areas are activated when we have different emotions – doesn’t that show consciousness comes from the brain?
• 802) Is our nature never changeable – Hindi?
• 801) If people can’t change their nature, how can they improve – Hindi?
• 800) When facing problems, how can we go beyond blaming others and blaming our own past karma – Hindi?
• 799) Why do we so easily forgive ourselves – Hindi?
• 798) Why don’t people remember past lives in other species?
• 797) How can we decide when to give up one service and take up some other service?
• 796) In past-life memories cases, how do wounds on the previous body manifest as birth marks on the next body?
• 795) Do you remember your past lives?
• 794) When presenting philosophy from one perspective, how can we avoid getting carried away and rejecting other perspectives?
• 793) If devotees are becoming lethargic in professional life, should we encourage them to aim high?
• 792) Does the subconscious mind help us to do whatever we think repeatedly with our conscious mind?
• 791) Should a brahmachari change his ashrama if his astrological chart is unfavorable for renunciation?
• 790) What is the difference between the mind and the modes?
• 789) Which is better – learning with the intelligence or learning with the mind?
• 788) When a problem goes on for a long time and our attempts to solve it only aggravate it, what should we do – Hindi?
• 787) How can we get the mind out of a problem when we need to think about the problem to solve it – Hindi?
• 786) Should we do a service that pleases our authority but upsets other devotees?
• 785) If we as managers take some strong decisions, some devotees feel hurt and hit back at us – should we take such decisions?
• 784) Does responsibility mean doing whatever we are told to do or doing big projects under instruction?
• 783) How can we know whether we are surrendered?
• 782) When someone’s conditioning troubles us, but they expect us to continue tolerating, what should we do?
• 781) What is the difference between karma-yoga and bhakti-yoga – Marathi
• 780) Why was Lord Chaitanya harsh with Chota Haridas and lenient with Balabhadra Bhattacharya?
• 779) Can we get rid of unwanted thoughts by neglect?
• 778) How can we stay enthusiastic in a service where results take a long time to come?
• 777) How does the example of sometimes serving and sometimes receiving in a tennis match apply practically in the brahmachari ashram?
• 776) Which is more dangerous – failure of the mind or failure of the intelligence?
• 775) How do we differentiate between ego and self-confidence?
• 774) How is the discriminatory caste system justifiable?
• 773) In parts of India where people eat meat extensively, how can we attract them to bhakti?
• 772) If the impressions from past failures push us towards failure again, how do we break free?
• 771) How do we keep our spiritual focus while living up to various social expectations?
• 770) We don’t know our strengths and the social mirror distorts our self-conception further – where then can we begin knowing ourselves?
• 769) When different people with different mental frames discuss a problem, why is a particular person’s solution accepted?
• 768) Apart from positive-negative thinking, does past karma comprise barriers in our destiny?
• 767) While putting Krishna first, when devotees neglect others, how can good devotee-relationships develop?
• 766) If someone has helped us in our pre-devotional life, but is now unfavorable to our bhakti, how should we interact with them?
• 765) How can we strengthen our relationship with Krishna?
• 764) Is it ok to have material desires?
• 763) When we have more things in control, we feel less dependent on Krishna – what to do?
• 762) If prolonged problems leave us disheartened, how can we regain our morale – Hindi?
• 761) When problems stay on for a long time, how can we avoid losing faith – Hindi?
• 760) How can we stay devotionally enthusiastic amidst financial difficulties – Hindi?
• 759) Acceptance is the beginning of transcendence – where all does this apply – Hindi?
• 758) Happiness will come by destiny, without our endeavoring – how do we understand this practically?
• 757) When Krishna tells Arjuna that your nature will make you fight, then where is free will?
• 756) If a child is born retarded and dies without doing anything, what is the point of such a life?
• 755) How can we be devotionally conscious when working with materialistic people in a hospital?
• 754) When we deal with dissatisfaction, how can we know whether we are acting by Krishna’s guidance or our mind’s conditioning?
• 753) If a service is incompatible with our nature, what should we do?
• 752) How do we differentiate between needs and wants?
• 751) How can we practice austerity of the mind?
• 750) When we don’t get an intimation of our death, as did Parikshit, how should we practice bhakti?
• 749) How can we know what karma we have done in the past?
• 748) How can we conquer all our fears?
• 747) Does the default setting come from the mind or the brain?
• 746) Why should we go to a temple when we can serve poor people or open hospitals?
• 745) When we can have a temple in our home, why do we need to go to a temple?
• 744) How do we help people who know about karma but think it won’t apply to me?
• 743) When we are provoked, we get angry despite our resolutions not to do so – what to do?
• 742) Can we say that the brain processes various energies and one kind of energy processing leads to consciousness?
• 741) Is an unfavourable family situation Krishna’s arrangement – should we accept or reject that situation – Hindi?
• 740) If feelings of satisfaction deter us from doing difficult duties, what should we do – Hindi?
• 739) If we give up all emotions, then what will motivate us to work – Hindi?
• 738) Is thinking negatively the default setting of the mind – Hindi?
• 737) If we feel fear about losing our loved ones, how can we overcome that fear?
• 736) Is it natural to have expectations – does spiritual life change that?
• 735) In ancient India, there were many different belief systems, as there are now – why is this?
• 734) If someone helps us but makes us feel bad about having taken their help, should we keep a distance from them?
• 733) Is there a fine line between when matter takes us towards Krishna and when it takes us away from Krishna?
• 732) If we practice bhakti simply to look good in others’ eyes, how can we advance?
• 731) How can we remember that we are devotees when we are with materialistic people?
• 730) If we surrender to Krishna because of fear that we will face problems otherwise, is that surrender genuine?
• 729) After practicing spirituality, we feel less materially insecure – does that mean we are spiritually advanced or are irresponsible?
• 728) If we cursed someone who disappointed us in a relationship, are our present problems a karmic reaction for cursing that person?
• 727) If we can’t decide whether a particular desire is good or bad, what should we do?
• 726) When dharma has gone down so much now, why is Krishna not appearing?
• 725) Isn’t Prabhupada’s Gita just one among the many interpretations of the Gita?
• 724) How can we connect our IT job with Krishna?
• 723) How is the intelligence connected with the heart?
• 722) If my job requires me to do medical testing on animals, how can that be reconciled with bhakti?
• 721) If our children don’t become devotees, are we failing in our primary duty?
• 720) Aren’t parents who want their children to succeed in competitions encouraging materialistic over-endeavor?
• 719) Should we as parents encourage our children to participate in competitions for discovering and developing talents?

June 2017

• 718) When some people remember their past lives, where are those memories stored?
• 717) Can the soul remember its eternal position?
• 716) Does reincarnation explain why some people feel they are in a body of the wrong gender?
• 715) How can we redirect our attraction from Krishna’s sparks to Krishna, the whole?
• 714) How can we apply the principle of becoming angry when a devotee is blasphemed?
• 713) What are the ways in which the Nectar of Instruction text 1 can be misapplied?
• 712) What should be the basis of our self-worth?
• 711) Is controlling our thoughts a skill that can be developed?
• 710) If after praying we take a decision and it turns out to be wrong, has Krishna misled us?
• 709) What exactly does Krishna sanction – how?
• 708) How does free will interact with the modes?
• 707) When Krishna knows everything including what we need, what is the need to pray to him?
• 706) When we pray to Krishna to give us the strength to serve him, how can we recognize his reciprocation?
• 705) Pandavas tolerated initially and retaliated eventually – how can we decide when to tolerate and when to retaliate?
• 704) What is the role of science in Krishna consciousness?
• 703) How to understand that we can’t understand Krishna – then why do we study scripture?
• 702) What is the monistic conception of pure consciousness in terms of subject, object and stream of consciousness?
• 701) When Vaishnavas don’t take meat, why do Shaivites take meat?
• 700) How can people who care for pets and aspire to be vets still eat meat?
• 699) If someone justifies an illicit relationship by saying that their spouse is unloving, how do we respond?
• 698) If our loved one is addicted to tobacco and still wears kanthi mala, how can we help them?
• 697) How is scripture a window to God?
• 696) When Airavata existed earlier, how did he appear during the churning of the milk ocean?
• 695) Why is remembrance of Krishna so important in bhakti ?
• 694) How can we better appreciate the relevance of spiritual classes as well as academic studies?
• 693) During possession, what is the relation between the subtle bodies of the possessing ghost and the possessed person?
• 692) When the possessed soul and the possessor soul are equal, how can one soul dominate another ?
• 691) Do the laws of material nature work on ghosts ?
• 690) Is our life duration determined by past karma?
• 689) When the soul is different from the body, why does injury to the brain cause the soul to leave the body, but not injury to the foot?
• 688) Some people can see ghosts, some can’t – why?
• 687) Beauty is a spark of Krishna, but it makes us forget Krishna – what to do?
• 686) How can we make people in the lower modes interested in Krishna?
• 685) How will avoiding the association of agitating people help if agitation is in our karma?
• 684) Isn’t the mode of goodness alone enough for serving Krishna – during the churning of the milk ocean, why were the other modes needed?
• 683) A mentally retarded child can’t do any karma – what determines his future life?
• 682) A mentally retarded child can’t pursue any worthwhile goal – what is the point of such a life?
• 681) When problems drag our emotions away from Krishna, how can we focus on him?
• 680) How is karma connected with our future destination?
• 679) What externals can help us stay spiritually grounded?
• 678) Can a spiritual mind know the destiny?
• 677) How is an action classified as good karma or bad karma?
• 676) How can we minimize our past karma’s impact on us?
• 675) Are hungry people starving because of their past karma?
• 674) Does karma contribute to our achievements?
• 673) How can we prevent our leisure time from being consumed by worrying?
• 672) During the evolution of life on the earth, when did the soul enter into the picture?
• 671) In past life memories, might the investigators be committing frauds?
• 670) What is the concept of a soulmate?
• 669) What happens to children who remember their past lives after they grow up?
• 668) Can children be trained to remember their past lives?
• 667) How can we see virtual reality in terms of spiritual philosophy?
• 666) How can we increase our remembrance of Krishna when we come to the temple?
• 665) Isn’t it better to read Prabhupada books instead of wasting time on social media?
• 664) Why didn’t the Pandavas think that the Kauravas were simply instruments of their own past karma?
• 663) Is the Mahabharata that occurred in another age even relevant today?
• 662) Is the Mahabharata an excellent drama or is it historically true?
• 661) If everything in the Mahabharata is arranged by Krishna’s plan, why do we blame Duryodhana or Karna?
• 660) Why is Arjuna considered the greatest archer when all his power came from Krishna?
• 659) If Dhritarashtra had stopped Duryodhana from fighting, how would the Gita have been spoken?
• 658) When Dhritarashtra was forced by the modes to support Duryodhana, why is he blamed?
• 657) Did the celestial voice stopping Duryodhana from committing suicide interfere with his free will?
• 656) Are Christian missionaries in India funded from the West?
• 655) Are some people utterly incapable of understanding God’s form – are some religion’s revelations customized for such people?
• 654) Will Christians in the kingdom of God see Christ as described in the Bible or as sages described in the Vedic literature?
• 653) Why does Christianity have stronger missionary tradition that Hinduism?
• 652) Did Greek thought come from Vedic thought?
• 651) If we feel more devotionally connected with Krishna while hearing than while taking darshan, what should we do?
• 650) Why can’t the soul be seen with microscopes – where is it located in organisms that have no heart?
• 649) How can conservation of energy be reconciled with temporariness of matter?
• 648) What is the reference point for saying that the soul is small?
• 647) How can we prove that life has the purpose of loving Krishna?
• 646) How can we understand that the attractiveness of all attractive things comes from Krishna?
• 645) Are there different levels of seeing Krishna?
• 644) How is Rama’s treatment of Sita justified?
• 643) If guru-shishya parampara was always present, how could monism become so prominent?
• 642) Can we have a thoughtless mind?
• 641) Why do we feel sleepy during chanting, but not kirtan or prasad?
• 640) Does the mind have more impressions from the present life than from past lives?
• 639) How can we stop daydreaming?
• 638) What happens to the mind when we sleep?
• 637) Drinking water and sleeping are both bodily needs – why is sleeping considered in the mode of ignorance?
• 636) How to balance between shunning social media and being obsessed with social media?
• 635) What is the spiritual perspective on death due to dowry harassment apart from past karma?
• 634) How to see spiritually the grief I feel after my mother has passed away?
• 633) Is violence against women in India caused by the objectification of women as sense objects in Indian sacred texts?
• 632) How does telepathy occur?
• 631) Is the mind like a TV on which pictures are projected?
• 630) Can the mind travel out of the body?
• 629) Are material objects less pure than us?
• 628) How is detachment empowering?
• 627) When the soul moves from one body to another, is there complete conservation of the mind?
• 626) What does fixing the mind on the lotus feet of Krishna mean?
• 625) How can we overcome the mind’s rationalizations?
• 624) If the mind is not a person, who proposes desires to us?
• 623) Is the mind personal or impersonal?
• 622) If the software is compared to the mind, what is the intelligence compared to?
• 621) How is controlling the mind by focusing it on Krishna different from focusing it on some material object?
• 620) How can we help people who are following some apasampradaya – Hindi?
• 619) Is self-respect the same as ego – Hindi?
• 618) How can we be Krishna conscious when we are not staying with devotees in a youth center – Hindi?
• 617) What is the difference between purity and goodness – Hindi?
• 616) While doing our service, is seeing everything in connection with Krishna necessary?
• 615) If people hold on to their beliefs, how can we elevate them?
• 614) Why do Hindus leave shoes outside their place of worship but Christians don’t?
• 613) When scripture says our parents are God, why do some young devotees renounce their parents?
• 612) How can bhakti philosophy unite world religions?
• 611) How can we avoid getting caught in petty things?
• 610) Do microbes forming on rocks demonstrate that life comes from matter?
• 609) Can future scientific advancement detect the existence of God?
• 608) As humans can do a wide variety of activities, doesn’t that prove we have free will?
• 607) What comprises science – what are the boundaries that define science?
• 606) What does knowledge in the mode of ignorance mean in today’s world?
• 605) Is there some science other than modern for explaining matter?
• 604) How do tantrics get special power?
• 603) How can we go beyond being exclusivist and pluralist to becoming inclusivist?
• 602) When so many humans are doing bad karma today, how is the human population increasing?
• 601) How can people from other religions realize that they are servants of Krishna?
• 600) When Krishna is the source of both material and spiritual worlds, which world comes first?
• 599) Does dharma mean religion?
• 598) Within a religion, when there are many paths, how do we know our path?
• 597) What is the Vedic perspective of Buddhism?
• 596) How is Shankaracharya’s path to be seen in the inclusive understanding of dharma?
• 595) When sanatana-dharma is inclusive, why are most Hindus pluralists?
• 594) When a bad thing happens, does optimism mean seeing it as the best thing that could have happened?
• 593) Does positive thinking mean that we shouldn’t think about the past – then how will we learn from it?
• 592) How can Chrisitan conversions in India be countered – can Hindus be united for this purpose?
• 591) Some Christians say that Kalki will be Jesus come again, not Krishna come again – how to respond?
• 590) How central is cow slaughter to Islam?
• 589) If Islam considers idolatry the greatest sin, how can it co-exist with Hinduism?
• 588) Why do post-modern Leftist scholars in India separate Islam from terrorism, but not Hinduism from the caste system?
• 587) As different paths conceive God differently, do they all lead to the same goal?
• 586) Before Nirjala Ekadashi, can we take some juices or pills to increase our fasting capacity?
• 585) From the karmic perspective, what is the difference between ignorant wrongdoings and intentional wrongdoings?
• 584) Why do scriptures not describe technology such as bulbs?
• 583) How can we be always surrendered to Krishna?
• 582) How can we know whether the mind’s story is false or real?
• 581) How can we know when we are planning and when the mind is fear-mongering?
• 580) If when our mind tells a story and we consult a friend whose mind is telling the same story, how can we avoid illusion?
• 579) The mind tells the most stories during chanting – how to counter?
• 578) Why does devotion change our mind’s tendencies temporarily?
• 577) Does chanting automatically make us kinder or do we have to strive to become kinder?
• 576) Does chanting require effort or does chanting make us happy?
• 575) Why is the mind considered a sense?
• 574) How can we focus on chanting when the mind wanders?
• 573) When Tvashta gave Narayana-kavacha that made Indra invincible, how could Tvashta himself be killed?
• 572) How can we remain respectful to the devatas while describing their non-supreme position or their non-ideal activities?
• 571) Just as the mind is personified, are other things such as Bhakti devi and Kali also personifications?
• 570) How can we balance giving due priority to chanting with other important services?
• 569) If people anger us, how can we control ourselves?
• 568) Does a good result indicate intelligence-guided action and a bad result indicate mind-driven action?
• 567) If during book distribution, people are abusive, how can we stay calm?
• 566) How can we make the right choices within bhakti?
• 565) How can we know that the purpose we are pursuing is the best purpose?
• 564) How can we prevent our emotions from affecting our decisions?
• 563) How can we be practically grounded on the spiritual level?
• 562) Can we fulfill all the purposes for our existing in this world?
• 561) Are our problems caused by our past karma or arranged by Krishna?
• 560) Are poor people responsible for their poverty?
• 559) How can the Gita’s knowledge help poor people?
• 558) Are there two ways of thinking – the mind’s way and the soul’s way?
• 557) How can bhakti increase our ability to think, which is a material ability?
• 556) Does the Gita give spiritual solutions to all material problems?
• 555) How can I overcome procrastinating tendency?

May 2017

• 554) How to respond when others serve in ways that don’t make sense to us – should we criticize them?
• 553) Do interruptions in our remembrance of Krishna occur because of circumstances or consciousness?
• 552) What does seva-smarana mean?
• 551) Is the mood of dasyam not present in Goloka Vrindavan because it is madhurya dhama?
• 550) Are paid pujas done in temple not commercialization of religion?
• 549) What standard of Deity worship should householders follow?
• 548) When we are in a position of guiding others, how can we know how much to control them and how much to let them go?
• 547) How can we avoid discouragement when our sincere service is repeatedly frustrated?
• 546) From a spiritual perspective, what causes addiction and how can it be dealt with?
• 545) When science and spirituality never meet, how can they be reconciled?
• 544) Do dreams mean something – should we try to understand their meaning?
• 543) Is research in reincarnation still going on?
• 542) Is reincarnation for real?
• 541) If we are already middle-aged, do we still have enough time to counter our bad karma by practicing bhakti?
• 540) Can we counter bad karma with good karma?
• 539) During the course of evolution, when did people develop the capacity to understand spirituality?
• 538) Why do movie songs stay in our memory much more than devotional songs?
• 537) If science can’t answer some questions, why is everyone progressing along scientific lines?
• 536) Science can’t address God’s existence and spirituality can’t prove it – how then can science and spirituality be reconciled?
• 535) When mood swings are caused by hormonal changes, how can we control our moods by our determination?
• 534) How can we get in our next life the devotional facilities we don’t have in this life?
• 533) If senior devotees chanting for many years still have conditionings, does that mean conditionings are stronger than the holy name?
• 532) Does duty means doing that which we don’t like to do?
• 531) When doing our prescribed service deprives us of devotee association, what should we do?
• 530) When someone hurts us, how can we avoid becoming vengeful and stay focused on Krishna?
• 529) Why is it so difficult to become attracted to God and so easy to get attracted to sense objects?
• 528) If someone has hurt us and we don’t have the courage to tell them, what can we do?
• 527) When anger comes, how can we calm ourselves?
• 526) How can we avoid impulsive reaction to hostile people?
• 525) If we fail in our resolution after sticking to it for some time, how to avoid becoming discouraged?
• 524) How to deal with relatively harmless addictions?
• 523) When the vibrations of different people chanting mantras are different, how does the mantra purify?
• 522) How can we correct the bad habits that we are unaware of?
• 521) Can destiny be changed by technology?
• 520) Why does our culture not tell us the reasons for our religious practices?
• 519) What is the starting point for bhakti yoga?
• 518) What changed your life trajectory?
• 517) How can we cheer up a family member disheartened by a prolonged bad health?
• 516) How do mantras change our consciousness – by their frequency, word order or word choice?
• 515) How can we know that the ultimate source of everything is good?
• 514) Does suicide change destiny?
• 513) How can we increase our attraction to reading Prabhupada’s books?
• 512) What to do if we feel like being in the temple constantly but can’t?
• 511) How can Krishna be our top priority when our studies need to be our priority?
• 510) What to do if we get too many services and our sadhana goes down?
• 509) How are the eight stages of ashtanga-yoga related with bhakti-yoga?
• 508) What to do if the calm got from attending spiritual programs disappears when we face the world’s problems?
• 507) How can we become aware of our default settings?
• 506) Is touching the digital Bhagavatam in our phone equivalent to touching the book Bhagavatam?
• 505) In future, when physical books are replaced by digital books, how will we distribute books?
• 504) Can Krishna as a super-admin change all the settings of our mind in one go?
• 503) How do we differentiate between accepting the presence of our inclinations and pandering to them?
• 502) As we advance, will our physical needs go down to Raghunatha Dasa Goswami’s level?
• 501) How can we avoid taking shelter of something temporary that gives us relief?
• 500) What can we do if we feel bored while chanting?
• 499) Does bhakti remove karmic reactions or give relief amidst karmic reactions?
• 498) Can’t knowing about Krishna push us to know Krishna?
• 497) If because of physical pain we can’t come for the morning program, are we listening to our mind?
• 496) Isn’t using intelligence to control the mind paradoxical?
• 495) Amidst karmic suffering, can astrology offer relief?
• 494) Can karma be inherited – do children get the good karma of their parents?
• 493) How can we get relief by letting go of things and still be responsible?
• 492) If others become insecure because of us, what can we do?
• 491) If we are born with demoniac qualties, are those qualities God’s gift to us?
• 490) How can spiritual knowledge address today’s burning social issues?
• 489) How can we as spiritual agents better connect with each other?
• 488) How can we be spiritual – tolerant, gentle – in today’s corporate world?
• 487) If Kali-yuga is set to be degraded, can we do anything to change it?
• 486) Are there any practical tools for overcoming anxiety?
• 485) Should we take cow milk when it is obtained by causing violence to cows?
• 484) What are the symptoms of a self-realized person?
• 483) Is praying to Krishna a part of our karma?
• 482) Can someone be destined for failure?
• 481) If a tide pushes us towards success, is that tide Krishna?
• 480) If we are destined to succeed, will destiny make us act for success?
• 479) Did Vidura depart because of unbearable criticism or frustration at his counsel being neglected?
• 478) Was Vidura irresponsible in departing when his family was about to fight the worst war of their life?
• 477) How important is it for we ourselves to be detached?
• 476) How do we convey the importance of the don’ts in bhakti?
• 475) What is a healthy attitude towards guilt induced after sense indulgence?
• 474) What does it mean to hear the holy name?
• 473) Why does our inspiration for service rise on hearing and fall when material responsibilities come up?
• 472) Pingala got realization despite having no spiritual environment – why don’t we get realization despite having spiritual environment?
• 471) What is the difference between intellect and intelligence?
• 470) Can we desire to have a child like Lord Rama?
• 469) How can beauty be used in Krishna’s service?
• 468) When does the intelligence become the form direction of the Lord?
• 467) Can our intelligence be contaminated?
• 466) Why does scripture say that the sould doesn’t experience any emotion?
• 465) Are pure souls covered by the subtle body?
• 464) Prostitutes were present in Dwarka, the abode of pure devotees – how to understand?
• 463) If we fail in a field, can we infer that field is not our nature?
• 462) How much anxiety should we take up while being ambitious in our professional life?
• 461) Do advanced devotees who know Krishna is in control also feel anxiety?
• 460) How do we deal with the anxiety caused by inability to deliver what we are expected to do?
• 459) How to deal with senior devotees who make life difficult for everyone in a community?
• 458) Among devotees when will love for Krishna transform into love for all living beings?
• 457) When difficulties force us to surrender to Krishna, where is our free will?
• 456) When Maya presents options, some temptations are not options at all – why?
• 455) Will tempting desires ever go away or will they stay lifelong?
• 454) How can we keep our spiritual intentions strong?
• 453) Does Krishna test us according to our capacity or beyond our capacity too?
• 452) Have we humans thought up an anxiety-relieving entity God because we suffer more anxiety than animals?
• 451) When Karna abused Draupadi, why didn’t anyone punish him by taking away his position?
• 450) Karna wanted revenge and Draupadi wanted revenge – what is the difference?
• 449) How can we help our children to make good choices amidst a degraded culture?
• 448) How do we counter moral relativism with those who don’t accept scriptural authority?
• 447) How can we feel that Krishna is the doer, not that we are the doers?
• 446) Does absorption in Krishna require sixteen rounds chanting?
• 445) How can we rise from cultural bhakti to spiritual bhakti?
• 444) What if we feel attracted to serving Krishna in our role in this world, but not in the spiritual world as his associate?
• 443) Do soldiers who die while fighting for their country attain higher planets?
• 442) Is it good to be a nationalist and a Krishna devotee?
• 441) How can we counter the mind’s wandering while reading scripture?
• 440) Should society dictate the criteria for when to take legal action and when to forgive?
• 439) Can we tell the truth selectively if that helps someone?
• 438) How to absorb ourselves in Krishna instead of problems?
• 437) Do we need intelligence to deal with resentment?
• 436) How can we deal with material desires in bhakti?
• 435) Why does Krishna sanction people’s doing bad karma – why doesn’t he just control their free will?
• 434) When results are determined by our past karma, can results be used to evaluate the soundness of our decisions?
• 433) What is the difference between processing emotions through self-help principles and through bhakti principles?
• 432) How can we overcome our false ego and rise from our material identity to our spiritual identity?
• 431) If we are broken by many past hurts, how can we overcome that casting?
• 430) When a relative lets us down repeatedly, how can we trust them?
• 429) Can you explain with examples how we can tolerate?
• 428) How should we deal with anti-devotional activities happening in our environment?
• 427) How can we give up undesirable habits that we keep relapsing into?
• 426) How can we sense better how a person is going to behave and prepare our response better?
• 425) How can we share our spirituality with others without being preachy?
• 424) How can we decide whether to try to change something or to let go?
• 423) Is minimizing distress not like pushing problems under the carpet?
• 422) When new people feel disturbed by seeing groupism in our movement, how can we explain to them?
• 421) If our conditionings keep popping up what can we do?
• 420) How can we help temple visitors to become serious devotees?
• 419) How can we adapt without watering down?
• 418) When Krishna is not directly with us how can we know his will?
• 417) How can we chant purely?
• 416) What is wrong with practicing bhakti because the world is dreadful?
• 415) Among the four categories of people who come to Krishna does any one stay more than others?
• 414) How can we know whether our emotions are coming from the modes or from our bhakti practices?
• 413) How can we explain the rationale for letting go in some things to our nondevotee friends?
• 412) When Ravana had been seen going southwards, why did Rama send monkeys in all four direction?
• 411) When there is disunity, should we just surrender and wait for Krishna to restore unity or do something to restore unity?
• 410) If people speak in anger, doesn’t it reflect unfiltered what is in their heart?
• 409) If we are not spiritually advanced, do the problems we face come from our past karma or by Krishnas arrangement?
• 408) How can we stay spiritually focused and respond appropriately amidst situations of distrust?
• 407) Does knowledge correlate with being judgmental?
• 406) How can we prevent or correct misunderstandings among devotees?
• 405) Why did Vali attribute negative intention to Sugriva – was he already suspicious?
• 404) After Valis death why didn’t Sugriva console himself by focusing on Valis atrocities?
• 403) When Sugriva had planned Vali’s fall, why did he feel remorse?
• 402) How can we deal with people with nondevotional values?
• 401) If others misjudge us, what should we do?
• 400) How can we overcome depression caused by frustration of expectations?
• 399) How can we practically cleanse our mind of negativity?
• 398) How can we let go of the past and the future, and focus on the present?
• 397) Does our desire for freedom from parents come from resentment towards them or from a genuine need for self-expression?
• 396) If traditional cultures aren’t against love, why are love marriages banned in ISKCON?
• 395) How can peer pressure be avoided?
• 394) Can we have hobbies that are neither spiritual nor sinful?
• 393) How can we serve purely?
• 392) If we let go of things, are we being cowardly?
• 391) Does satsang strengthen our buddhi – Hindi?
• 390) If our actions unintentionally hurt others, will we get the reaction?
• 389) When money provides all comforts, why is spiritual life needed?
• 388) Amidst today’s financial insecurity, how can we decide how much accumulation is enough?
• 387) When bhakti practice hasn’t yet changed our disposition, how can we take sound decisions?
• 386) Do we need to sometimes prioritize the spiritual over the material or the material over the spiritual?
• 385) Philosophy makes sense intellectually, but doesn’t sink emotionally – what to do?
• 384) Is crowding desires out of our mind not superficially distracting?
• 383) Is working hard and getting promoted in our job good?
• 382) How can we scientifically explain reincarnation?
• 381) How can we explain Bhagavatam sections that contradict modern science?
• 380) How can we identify our natural inclinations?
• 379) What is wrong with sense gratification?
• 378) If scripture contains advanced material knowledge such as Vimana-shastra, why don’t we use it to make planes today?
• 377) How can we understand unbelievable statements from scripture?
• 376) How can we offer criticism constructively?
• 375) While seeking realization, how can we avoid speculation?
• 374) When Bhishma took shelter of the Kauravas’ wealth, why did Krishna shelter him at death?
• 373) Why is Krishna thirsty for our love when he has so many devotees loving him?
• 372) Is there a scientific explanation of the benefits of eating prasad?
• 371) Can we scientifically prove the validity of scriptures?
• 370) What is the best way to present scriptural wisdom to scientists?
• 369) Does everything exist for Krishna’s pleasure?
• 368) How can we move on after painful conflicts with devotees?
• 367) What does seeing but not acting with equal vision mean?
• 366) How can we be detached when we want to offer the best service to Krishna?
• 365) How can we control impulsive behavior?
• 364) How can we know whether our decisions are right or wrong?
• 363) If strong speaking alienates people, should we still speak strongly or speak sensitively?
• 362) During chanting, how much is thinking of other related things acceptable?
• 361) If people are born together in a family because of similar karma, why are some family members so different?
• 360) Many scriptural storylines appear to be predestined – do we really have free will?
• 359) What is causeless mercy – how can we qualify for it – can it come without initiation?
• 358) How can we share bhakti wisdom with the non-religious?
• 357) What is our religious identity – what is a simple answer that our kids can give to other kids at school?

April 2017

• 356) Is the holy name scientific, ethical or relational?
• 355) How can a newly married couple new to bhakti strengthen their relationship?
• 354) What is the spiritual recourse amidst abusive relationships?
• 353) How do we have free will – how much can we use it?
• 352) If Prabhupada knew that certain projects weren’t going to succeed, why did he encourage devotees to do those projects?
• 351) If karmic reactions come on earth itself, what is the need for sufferings in hell?
• 350) How can we help others to not see problems at the bodily level?
• 349) How can we connect with Krishna tangibly when distracted by worldly objects?
• 348) How can we realize that we are different from our mind?
• 347) How can we transform practice into realization?
• 346) How can devotees mistreated by their seniors avoid discouragement?
• 345) How to respond when we are corrected by others?
• 344) Should we use the sandwich method when correcting others?
• 343) How does regulated devotion transform into spontaneous devotion?
• 342) Is revelation of Krishna’s all-attractiveness analogous to his mercy?
• 341) How can we study scripture, not just read it?
• 340) Is investing money to increase it over-endeavor?
• 339) When we do a service well, if people label us as proud, what can we do?
• 338) How can we avoid self-acceptance of our abilities from becoming false ego?
• 337) While chanting, can we hear kirtan?
• 336) If we help someone but they don’t help us in return, should we continue to help?
• 335) Given that the idea of trans-moral can be misused, can it ever be applied?
• 334) Can you illustrate the principle of trans-moral actions?
• 333) Playing games for relaxation – which mode does it fall in?
• 332) Despite practicing bhakti and cultivating goodness, we remain passionate – what to do?
• 331) How can we deal with our inner critic?
• 330) On failing to achieve our goal, should we persevere in that goal or change it?
• 329) How to avoid relaxing into worldly enjoyment after doing our service wholeheartedly?
• 328) How can we avoid struggling in vain to control situations that are not in our control?
• 327) As science keeps people away from God, can scientists be considered reincarnations of demons?
• 326) If someone has done something wrong, isn’t it better to tell them straight instead of pausing and speaking later?
• 325) What causes timidity – how can we overcome it?
• 324) How can we control our mind, especially during chanting?
• 323) What is the wws concept?
• 322) When Krishna is unlimited, how can he be a person?
• 321) Have people who can remember their past lives done some special good karma?
• 320) How do we balance between chanting and getting knowledge?
• 319) We chastise someone out of love, but it spoils the relationship – what to do?
• 318) What is the consequence of the offense of inattentive chanting?
• 317) Should we attribute problems in daily life to our poor chanting?
• 316) How to replace envious thoughts with loving thoughts?
• 315) How can we control our emotions?
• 314) What does achintya in achintyabhedabheda refer to?
• 313) Why is scriptural knowledge needed in daily life?
• 312) Is Krishna as the holy name a sound vibration or is he beyond all sound vibrations?
• 311) What exactly is the holy name – does its potency lie in the words or the meaning or somewhere else?
• 310) How can we overcome our past conditionings?
• 309) Will our conscience ever become stronger than the mind?
• 308) To anchor our consciousness in Krishna, do we need external calm or can we directly get inner calm?
• 307) If we don’t have devotee association, how can we practice bhakti?
• 306) How to overcome anxieties about issues that have life-changing consequences?
• 305) How can we be concerned but not disturbed – is it simply by faith?
• 304) How can we become intense in our chanting?
• 303) Does courtesy japa help us attain Krishna after death?
• 302) When past karma blocks our bhakti, what can we do?
• 301) How do I choose my spiritual master?
• 300) Amidst problems, should we just let Krishna solve them or should we work to solve them?
• 299) While making choices, how can we take Krishna’s shelter?
• 298) If karma, daiva and kala lead to phala, what is Krishna’s role?
• 297) If parents have two children – one bright, one dull – is it the parents’ karma or the childrens’ karma?
• 296) When our sadhana oscillates because of material ups and downs, what can we do?
• 295) Is destiny determined by past karma alone or by present karma too?
• 294) When is our friends’ influence helpful and when unhelpful?
• 293) Why did Krishna save Parikshit, but not Abhimanyu?
• 292) Should we learn from problems or move away from them?
• 291) Is our intelligence destined – does it determine when we take to spiritual life?
• 290) Is our marital partner destined?
• 289) If destiny evens out in the long run, then does it really matter?
• 288) Devotional practices calm our mind, but only briefly – what to do?
• 287) Does our past impede our bhakti – how can we overcome those impediments?
• 286) Why was Vyasadeva dissatisfied even after writing Vedic literature that glorify Krishna?
• 285) Do we need to always feel existential dissatisfaction to practice bhakti intensely?
• 284) How can we be emotionally connected with Krishna without becoming sentimental?
• 283) With what purpose should we read Srila Prabhupada’s books?
• 282) How can we make a plan that is effective even if Krishna’s plan turns out to be different?
• 281) How can we say no to the things we like?
• 280) God loves me – is this just a psychological feeling or a spiritual reality?
• 279) Do relationships interfere with our inner growth?
• 278) All loving relationships in this world are temporary – what does that mean?
• 277) How do we know which desires are healthy and which unhealthy?
• 276) Should we pray to God for things or just be content with what we have?
• 275) How can we persist in our resolutions?
• 274) When we face much worldly anxiety, how can we practice spirituality?
• 273) How are we non-sectarian when our practices are isolating?
• 272) How can we advance spiritually while having family and job responsibilities?
• 271) Where do the differences among religions come from?
• 270) How do we define the Paramatma?
• 269) Does pursuing knowledge reflect materialistic consciousness – will it keep us dissatisfied?
• 268) How can we choose our mantra?
• 267) What are simple steps to fix our mental software?
• 266) Where do our fears originate – are they just conceptions?
• 265) Do happiness-distress have objective reality or are they just mental constructs?
• 264) When Arjuna was sinless, why did he have to go to hell?
• 263) How can we prove that God exists?
• 262) Did Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection make his blood pure, making him into God?
• 261) How to preach to Christians who argue that Jesus is the only way?
• 260) How important is the exact pronunciation of Rama in the maha-mantra?
• 259) How can those with an impersonal understanding of God be helped to taste bhakti?
• 258) Although material things are temporary, those things matter to us – how can we balance our material and spiritual side?
• 257) How can we make our subconscious choices wise choices?
• 256) While choosing, how can we know which desire is coming from external influences and which from internal inspiration?
• 255) How can we choose rightly among various religions?
• 254) Why do some good devotees suddenly do some terrible things?
• 253) Sometimes our actions don’t produce results, but do those results manifest eventually?
• 252) How can we trust Krishna when he is so unpredictable?
• 251) Why would anyone be tempted to be discouraged?
• 250) Can focusing on our intention impede creativity?
• 249) What is the root of our procrastinating tendency?
• 248) What is the meaning of life?
• 247) How long does it take to experience lasting love – what about the love we find in this world?
• 246) If we are detached from our goals, what will inspire us to work?
• 245) What are the best books to start our spiritual study?
• 244) How can we avoid being affected by things not in our control?
• 243) Do all religions lead to God?
• 242) Why is madhurya rasa considered the highest rasa?
• 241) How does love in separation relate with the five rasas?
• 240) Why is love in separation considered the highest form of love?
• 239) If our spiritual master is not easily accessible and other spiritual masters give time primarily to their disciples, how can we get inspiration?
• 238) Why is devotee association sometimes more stressful and misunderstanding-prone than nondevotee association?
• 237) Sometimes devotee association agitates us – then how can we feel sheltered by it?
• 236) If an initiated devotee does something non-standard such as eating food cooked outside, will the spiritual master get the karma?
• 235) If we can’t follow certain standards while practically living in the world, how should we adjust?
• 234) What can we do about fears that are not useful?
• 233) Why is initiation so important?
• 232) What is the difference between fear and fearfulness?
• 231) How can we know who is our real guru?
• 230) If we see problems as small, won’t we neglect serious problems?
• 229) Are problems relative – they are big for one person, small for another?
• 228) Should we be pessimistic about material life to progress in spiritual life?
• 227) Does destiny determine whether a child will live till forty or also what will happen to him at that age?
• 226) Is everything in life pre-determined?
• 225) If we work hard, doesn’t that hard work become the cause of our positive destiny?
• 224) How do free will and destiny interact in our life?
• 223) What is the destination of people who remember God according to their religious revelation?
• 222) What exactly is time – from yesterday to today what has changed?
• 221) How important is praying in bhakti?
• 220) How can we organize ourselves to best serve Krishna?
• 219) How can we encourage daydreamers to do something practical?
• 218) How can we describe spirituality to new people in 2-3 sentences?
• 217) Can we drink without becoming drunk?
• 216) How can we inspire ourselves to chant when we don’t feel any immediate benefits?
• 215) While speaking from shastra, should we consider what people will feel about it?
• 214) How can we decide whether to focus on material life or on spiritual life?
• 213) How can we integrate in bhakti a profession that is not directly usable in bhakti?
• 212) In dealing with our desires through indulgence in householder life, isn’t there a danger that the desires may not go away?
• 211) If someone is spiritually unreceptive, does the sincerity of our prayers determine whether they become receptive?
• 210) How can we spiritually help those in totally materialistic degraded life?
• 209) When the mind wanders off, how can we become more aware of its wandering faster?
• 208) When should one decide to become a full-time monk for serving Krishna?
• 207) When our values are different from partying professionals, how can we set an example in our material life?
• 206) If we feel social pressure to do some service other than what we feel inspired to do, which service should we choose?
• 205) We all need role models – then what does we shouldn’t become xerox copies of others mean?
• 204) What does spirituality have to say about modern cosmological knowledge?
• 203) What is the difference between walking away from problems and running away from them?
• 202) How can we know whether the inner voice comes from the mind or the intelligence?
• 201) In Vishnu Sahasra Nama, how are Vishnu’s names Nimisha and Animisha reconciled?
• 200) If someone insults us but we don’t feel angry whereas others feel we should be angry, what is happening to us?
• 199) What is the process by which the false ego gets hurt?
• 198) How can we sustain our resolutions in spiritual life?
• 197) How do we respond to people who self-identify as spiritual but not religious?
• 196) How can our spiritual growth dismantle the power structures in today’s world that choke spiritual growth?
• 195) How does spiritual consciousness help solve today’s practical problems?
• 194) Just as a child learns by growth, can’t machines develop human features by technological growth?
• 193) How do we decide when to confront a problem and when to accept it as destiny
• 192) Shouldn’t love for Krishna soften devotees’ heart and make them gentler?
• 191) How do we see when senior devotees act inappropriately and rationalize it based on their seniority?
• 190) Should we choose a career based on our nature or on our parents’ expectation?
• 189) Are scriptural models of duties to be implemented as it is today – should children obey their parents just as Rama obeyed Dasharatha?

March 2017

• 188) Is there any reference to the subconscious mind in the Vedic literature?
• 187) Should we see non-philosophical devotees as not needing intellectual conviction or as weak because of intellectual malnourishment?
• 186) When we don’t love Krishna, we suffer – doesn’t that mean Krishna forces us to love him?
• 185) Why does the Gita not have any Duryodhana uvaca, though he speaks several verses?
• 184) In which service should we start fighting our inclination to the path of least resistance?
• 183) What is the relationship between ashtanga-yoga and bhakti-yoga?
• 182) When our loved ones suffer, we suffer – then how does love bring happiness?
• 181) When our thoughts start becoming negative, how can we flip them to positive?
• 180) How can we insulate ourselves from negative people?
• 179) How could Krishna’s soldiers fight against him in the Kurukshetra war?
• 178) When we are troubled by controversies in Krishna’s movement, should we try to tackle them or just focus on our service?
• 177) Does time apply only for us, not for Krishna?
• 176) If Krishna knows the future, how do we have free will?
• 175) Doesn’t God have unlimited opulences – why limit them to six?
• 174) Does Krishna understand our feelings or does he also experience them?
• 173) When Krishna knows everything, how can we not know Radharani’s love for him?
• 172) How can we balance between submission and overdependence?
• 171) How can we practice bhakti in today’s competitive world?
• 170) How can we prevent repeated falls from shaking our faith in bhakti?
• 169) How can we deal with friends who hurt us?
• 168) How can we know that our service is pleasing Krishna?
• 167) Do emotions come from the heart, the soul or the subtle body?
• 166) If Krishna is God, why is Vishnu widely considered to be God and Krishna his incarnation?
• 165) Is the universe heliocentric or geocentric?
• 164) How can we avoid forgetting in real-life what we learn in classes?
• 163) How can we prevent our faith from flickering amidst problems?
• 162) When guidance is not easily available, how can we make good choices?
• 161) How can we assess our service when we are not pure-hearted?
• 160) How can we avoid over-controlling the things that are in our control?
• 159) In the practical-philosophical categorization, where does the emotional fit in?
• 158) When we face problems, we need practical solutions, not philosophical solutions – how can scripture help?
• 157) What is the best way to monitor our mental habits?
• 156) How can we help those who are suffering but are still imagining that they are enjoying?
• 155) If someone rationalizes their wrongdoing by saying that Krishna loves us unconditionally, how do we respond?
• 154) Doesn’t Krishna feel bad when we do something wrong – doesn’t that make him unwilling to shelter us?
• 153) If our mistakes have got us into trouble, how can we overcome the guilt that disheartens us while taking shelter of Krishna?
• 152) Can followers of other religions who don’t follow the regulative principles go back to Krishna?
• 151) Is Vedic philosophy confusing because it has so many holy books, unlike Christianity and Islam that have only one holy book?
• 150) You have gone through a lot of pain in your life – what is your realization?
• 149) How can we prevent sense enjoyment from depriving us of Krishna’s shelter?
• 148) How can we know that the Gita hasn’t changed over the centuries?
• 147) When we don’t feel like surrendering, what should we do?
• 146) How can we overcome inconsistency in deity worship caused by our wavering feelings?
• 145) If our material life takes us temporarily away from our spiritual life, how can we later regain our spiritual enthusiasm?
• 144) If our material activities interfere with our spiritual life, how can we see those activities as spiritual?
• 143) If our family members don’t support our bhakti, what should we do?
• 142) Was the Mahabharata war predestined?
• 141) How can we spiritualize our work without disturbing our colleagues?
• 140) How did Krishna as Shanti-duta use sama, dama, bheda and danda?
• 139) If bhakti practice makes us less emotional, is that good?
• 138) How does repetition in bhakti lead to attraction when normally repetition leads to satiation?
• 137) Is our affection for Krishna to be cultivated as between wife-husband or spontaneous as between child-parent?
• 136) How can we know that deceased devotees go back to godhead?
• 135) Shouldn’t bhakti be a natural evolution in our love, not an imposition based on being told whom to love?
• 134) Is obsession with spiritual things ok?
• 133) What is the difference between attachment and obsession?
• 132) How to balance attachment and detachment in daily life?
• 131) The Pandavas could have won a kingdom anywhere by defeating someone else – why did they win it by killing their own relatives?
• 130) How can we focus on our spiritual advancement without becoming selfish?
• 129) If we can’t stop overeating, how can we control ourselves?
• 128) How can Vedic concepts be explained in scientific terms?
• 127) We use only 10% of the brain – what does this mean?
• 126) When we become responsible in our material life, our employers may exploit us – how to avoid?
• 125) Is starting spiritual life because of frustration undesirable?
• 124) Accepting that we are beyond the brain, how can we know whether we are the mind or the soul?
• 123) How can we make our wandering consciousness more connected to the body?
• 122) Is the brain the generator of emotions or the responder to emotions?
• 121) Have you had a near-death experience?
• 120) Can we get to higher consciousness only through near-death experiences or by other means?
• 119) Are the mind and the brain interchangeable?
• 118) Why does the Gita begin with Dhritarashtra, not Krishna?
• 117) Can those undergoing near-death experiences choose not to return to their body?
• 116) During near-death experiences, is everything that happens predetermined or can the experiencer choose?
• 115) How do we balance our fundamental and functional identities?
• 114) If we understand that we are souls, do we need to reject the whole life we have built on our bodily identity?
• 113) Who were the vanaras in the Ramayana – what happened to them?
• 112) As devotee-students, do we have to lead two lives?
• 111) Is a woman’s unchaste dressing responsible for a man’s misbehaviour?
• 110) How much of traditional culture needs to be replicated to practice bhakti today?
• 109) When we take or get blessings from someone, what actually happens?
• 108) Is all the archaeological evidence wrong – did cavemen not exist?
• 107) Are scripture and evolution contradictory?
• 106) While understanding scripture according to time-place-circumstance, which factors need to be considered?
• 105) Isn’t ISKCON sectarian that it stops devotees from hearing from other Vaishnava groups?
• 104) The ninth canto contains many stories of shocking debauchery by sages such as Brihaspati – what is their point?
• 103) When the Gita Mahatmaya talks about Gita recitation countering various sinful reactions, is that karma kanda or is it bhakti?
• 102) When a devotee does bhakti activities for someone else, what actually happens?
• 101) If it doesn’t work, get out – is such a utilitarian attitude in bhakti towards things like marriage justifiable?
• 100) How can we reconcile contradictions between knowledge from science and knowledge from scripture?
• 99) Shouldn’t modern science be renamed as so-called science?
• 98) The more scientific people become, the more atheistic they become – is this true?
• 97) Is Vedic apara-vidya a better painkiller than modern knowledge?
• 96) When we face mental health issues, how can we deal with them spiritually and what can we learn from it?
• 95) Who all are the active factors in our inner world – soul or mind or Maya?
• 94) How to deal with indulgences that we aren’t able to give up?
• 93) Did many devotees leave ISKCON because they couldn’t see suffering as Krishna’s mercy?
• 92) Will those with low self-esteem mistake tolerating injustice to be humility?
• 91) How to decide between tolerating a situation or changing it?
• 90) Why do we promote our suffering as if it is the worst?
• 89) For a pure devotee, is the subtle body dissolved or does it still remain?
• 88) Does the soul go to the next body by its own desires or is it taken by the mind?
• 87) How can we know what is a principle and what a detail?
• 86) How can the tension between rigidity and fluidity be resolved in a living tradition?
• 85) How can we appreciate good devotees who are offensive about some issues?
• 84) If we are more attached to Krishna and less attached to family responsibilities, does that incur bad karma?
• 83) If our chanting is simply mechanical, will that please Krishna?
• 82) How can we cultivate more of a family atmosphere in our movement?
• 81) Can the desire for subtle sex – pride, adoration, distinction – be dovetailed in bhakti?
• 80) Won’t neglecting our attachments and focusing on bhakti lead to rationalizing our wrong actions?
• 79) To get stimulated out of sleep, can I visit Facebook first thing after waking up?
• 78) If we are following the principles to be initiated but have to wait for long in queue, does Krishna see us as initiated or uninitiated?
• 77) If senior devotees behave unethically, how can we maintain our inspiration?
• 76) How to deal with the emotions and inclinations that take us away from Krishna?
• 75) If we have a vision to do something but the authorities are not supportive, what to do?
• 74) Shouldn’t we expect to grow to the higher stages of bhakti?
• 73) Shouldn’t we take up challenging services to become humble & dependent on Krishna?
• 72) How can we find the service by which we can best contribute?
• 71) Why were the Pandavas treated so badly by their elders – in similar circumstances, are we meant to be submissive?
• 70) Suppose a talented, dedicated devotee encounters failure repeatedly – how to respond?
• 69) How can we counter the mind’s tendency to see the negative even in devotee association?
• 68) Won’t picking and choosing sections of philosophy or process rationalise rejecting important aspects of bhakti?
• 67) Is adopting something because it works a sufficient criterion for choosing a spiritual path?
• 66) What to do if our doubts block us in relishing bhakti?
• 65) Does our past karma affect our present free will?
• 64) When devotees debate fiercely over different aspects of bhakti, how should we respond?
• 63) Is taste in service Krishna’s reciprocation?
• 62) How do we balance hunting for the rhino in our services with being realistic?

February 2017

• 61) How can we be humble enough to recognize the necessity of changing our habits?
• 60) While using tricks like propinquity to control our senses, don’t we neglect the bhakti aspect?
• 59) When genuine intentions will express as actions, how can we say that intention is not enough?
• 58) Should we make major life decisions based on bhakti considerations alone or also based on our material nature and situation?
• 57) When the Gita insists that we work according to our nature, why do ISKCON authorities tell us to do the needful, without considering our nature?
• 56) If we can’t replace our mind, how does purification change the mind?
• 55) If the material and the spiritual are separate, how can chanting attentively lead to good book distribution?
• 54) Can our material identity be spiritualized – which dharma spiritualises it?
• 53) Were the ancient sages humbler than the modern acharyas as only the latter mention their names in their compositions?
• 52) Who remembers Krishna – the mind or the soul, or the mind in the conditioned stage and the soul in the liberated state?
• 51) When the mind is external to the soul, what does externally serving and internally remembering Krishna mean?
• 50) When the Upanishads say the Absolute Truth is unchanging, how do bhakti teachers say that even Krishna’s abode is changing?
• 49) Does mithya mean illusion or hallucination – is the material world illusion or hallucination?
• 48) How can we understand the ideal without becoming impractical and fanatical?
• 47) As intelligence can make us calculative or over-smart, how can we remain simple while being intelligent?
• 46) When intelligence can be used or misused, is intelligence a power of our consciousness or a gift from the Supersoul?
• 45) Does Gita 12.8-11 refer to progressive levels or alternative ways?
• 44) How do we see people who come to the temple but don’t practice bhakti seriously – Hindi?
• 43) How can a person suffering from an incurable disease overcome resentment – Hindi?
• 42) Why is the intelligence said to come from goodness and the mind from passion – Hindi?
• 41) When the intelligence is subtler than the mind, why does the Gita ask us to control the mind and not the intelligence – Hindi?
• 40) If the intelligence and the Supersoul’s voice are the same, why do many intelligent people act sinfully – Hindi?
• 39) When Ravana knew scripture, why did he abduct Sita – Hindi?
• 38) How can we overcome the tendency to be indecisive – Hindi?
• 37) When spiritual culture encourages men to become brahmacharis, how does it spiritualize the male-female relationship?
• 36) Is the love between a pet and a master coming from hormones or from the soul?
• 35) How can we spiritualize our material attachments?
• 34) If we are working wholeheartedly in our material life, but can’t work similarly in our spiritual life, what can we do – Hindi?
• 33) If someone is connected with another organization, how can we get them to the Krishna consciousness movement?
• 32) Why do leaders of religious organisations sometimes form sects and fight with each other – Hindi?
• 31) If people treat us based on their past negative impressions about us even after we have improved, what can we do – Hindi?
• 30) If we don’t see others’ faults, how can we guide them to improve – Hindi?
• 29) Can someone say that my nature is to talk insensitively – Hindi?
• 28) How can we intelligently neglect some people’s criticism of us?
• 27) When the soul and the body are different, why do self-realized souls suffer bodily pain – Hindi?
• 26) When we can’t overcome our bad habits, what to do – Hindi?
• 25) When our opinions come from our nature, how can we understand that the opinions of those with different natures can also be correct – Hindi?
• 24) Is loving our body the cause of misery?
• 23) If our talents such as a powerful voice sometimes inconvenience others, what should we do?
• 22) Is focusing on developing our talents selfishness?
• 21) When we start coming for spiritual programs, our college friends criticize us – how to respond?
• 20) When we are not our bodies, why do devotee marriage boards want to know the candidate’s caste – Hindi?
• 19) If others’ way of functioning disturbs our service, what can we do – Hindi?
• 18) Why did Krishna allow the desecration of Deities by foreign invaders in medieval times?
• 17) Does the soul come first in the womb and the subtle body comes later after which consciousness manifests?
• 16) When others’ words makes us disturbed and dissatisfied, how to deal with that dissatisfaction – Hindi?
• 15) When we are unable to practice devotional principles, are we hypocritical – how to overcome it – Hindi?
• 14) How can we overcome the unhappiness felt on seeing others go away from bhakti – Hindi?

January 2017

• 13) When the mind is like software, then how can pills for treating the hardware – the brain – cure mental problems?
• 12) When our past bad habits don’t go away despite repeated efforts, what to do (Hindi)?
• 11) When problems go beyond our tolerance limit, we explode as per our past conditionings – how to deal with this (Hindi)?
• 10) Why did Dhritarashtra stay silent when Duryodhana insulted Vidura (Hindi)?
• 9) If those in power such as Dhritarashtra stay silent amidst injustice, can their silence be attributed to their nature (Hindi)?
• 8) When children of same parents such as Ravana and Vibhishana have the same DNA, why are their characters so different (Hindi)?
• 7) I was initiated earlier by a priest – how do I see it when seeking initation from a Vaishnava guru?
• 6) Is speaking about krishna-bhakti to relatives who may be faithless an offense to the holy name?
• 5) Does presenting scripture as meant for moral instruction lead to the rejection of scripture’s transcendental teachings?
• 4) If Bhagavatam and Mahabharata tell incidents from different perspectives, are they histories or historical fictions?
• 3) As sadhus, should we focus on internal change through sadhana or social change through activism?
• 2) What is the connection of vibhuti yoga with perceiving spiritual reality?
• 1) When a close relative troubles us, do we need to tolerate infinitely?