When an Indian person calls on Krsna, he often says, “Krsta.” Krsta is a Sanskrit word meaning “attraction.” So when we address God as “Christ,” “Krsta,” or “Krsna,” we indicate the same Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Bible has nearly a hundred verses that praise the power, glory, and excellence of God’s hallowed name. The Bible’s authors obviously considered the holy name of the Lord very important.
The four orders of social life called varna are scientifically arranged for the material progress of society, and the four spiritual orders called asrama are designed for natural progress in self-realization.
Surrendering all unto the Supreme Lord is a difficult if not impossible task for must people. This is because they are not aware of the peace such surrender brings.
For the yogi his practice is most severely tested at the time of death. The Supreme Personality of Godhead says, “Anyone who quits his body, at the end of life, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is no doubt of this.”
The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be moistened by the water, nor withered by the wind. This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can neither be burned nor dried.
While writing this month’s column, I am confined with an illness that has stopped my normal work. It’s a discouraging, uncomfortable interlude, yet I am seeing how illness can also bring one valuable realizations.
According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the world is growing enough food to feed its 4.7 billion inhabitants; yet 460 million people are going hungry.
So draw your nourishment from the cow, say the sages—not by spilling her blood, but by drinking her milk—and listen to the messages of Godhead. There’s a limit to the amount of milk you can drink, but there’s no limit to how much you can hear about Krsna.
The election year has ended, but the debates continue. And one of the most controversial issues is the role of religion in government. The Hare Krsna movement takes no side in the political battle, but it can offer thoughtful advice to help solve a complex problem.
Seeing only unhappiness in their futures young people are taking their own lives in numbers that are shocking. Surprisingly, many of the victims are quite well off in terms of material well-being and social status.
Realization is not something we learn in a book or hear in a lecture. Realization is living the life for which man is intended. Realization does not imply withdrawal; realization is leading life and meeting destiny with opened eyes.
Generally people pray, perform rituals, and so on, in hopes of attaining temporary goals: better health, a good marriage, success in business. But in Bhagavad-gita Sri Krsna advises that those who practice religious life by seeking material boons are missing the real point.
Social scientists from around the world gathered in Mexico City last August to discuss the alarming growth of the world’s population.
The philosophical question of fate versus free will is an old one. Are our thoughts and actions completely determined by forces over which we have no control? Or, are we free to decide for ourselves, to be the captains of our fate?
Kali-yuga is a fallen age, the age of hypocrisy and quarrel. In Kali-yuga the basic principles of religion are abandoned, the government is ruled by the lowest class of men, and society lives on the basis of animal life.
Even a quick reading of the Bible will show that sankirtana was very much present indeed amongst the ancient Jews and early Christians and that it was certainly stressed by one of the Bible’s major figures—David.
Considering the overwhelming instinct of humans to protect children once they are born, it is hard to see why abortion is tolerated. Part of the reason seems to lie in the fact that many people do not see abortion as killing.
Many conflicts around the world are being billed as “religious wars.” Fighting between the Sikhs and Hindus in India, Christians and Moslems in Beirut, Moslem sects of Iran and Iraq, and Protestants and Catholics of Northern Ireland—all seem to have roots in religious conflict.
My sister called and told me, “Dad has cancer, and the doctors say he has, at most, six months to live.” I was shocked. It was totally unexpected, as he was only sixty and quite fit for his age.