Questions & Answers
Questions & Answers

Choice of Rasa, Following One’s Nature, Mahayuga

Question: Bhava and rasa are given by guru and when one accepts a guru, one is not aware of these things. So even though in rasa-shastra one always reads that one should perform seva and follow the inhabitants of Vraja according to one’s choice, there is not really so much choice of free will involved.

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Questions & Answers

God’s Justice, Free Will and Choice

Is God unjust? Question: How can a just God create some souls eternally free, whereas others eternally damned (eternally, backward in time, since everyone agrees that all souls can be saved ultimately). How about reformulating this to “How can a just God approve of souls of unequal status?” I can personally live with that, but  most

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Gaudiya Philosophy Questions & Answers

The Playful God beyond God – Part 2

Question: I am taking your view very seriously. It is plausible and searching, but so far I find such a God less attractive than the soul-making God I defend. Answer: There are two ways to know or understand God. One is from our view, the other is God's own view about Himself. They both can

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Gaudiya Philosophy Questions & Answers

The Playful God beyond God – Part 1

Question: Allow me to share my reservations about the Playful God. I understand the psychology of wanting to serve the one you adore, but only when service is needed does it make any sense. All my research tells me that service rendered by evolved spirits in the afterlife is one of the keys to their

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Questions & Answers Vedic Culture

The Gurukula System in Modern Age

Question: Could you explain the purpose and benefits of the gurukula system and if it still has a place in modern society? What are the qualities of a proper teacher and how are they exhibited in a gurukula? Answer: In the past, when a male brahmana child was seven or eight years old, he was

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Questions & Answers Sadhana

What Is Wrong with Onions and Garlic?

Question: What is the rational, logical reason behind not eating Garlic, Onions, (Carrots, etc)? It seems there is not logical reason, only a reference to a myth with several versions claiming that certain vegetables sprouted for the first time in connection with the slaughter of a cow. Can you give any logical reason for this dietary

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Questions & Answers

God’s Love, Samadhi, Meditation on Intimate Pastimes

Bhagavan’s Love Question: In Paramatma Sandarbha you write: “Bhagavan implies that the bliss of His loving exchange with His devotees is superior to Svarūpānanada as well as Aiśvaryānanada. He says that without His devotees He does not want His own Self or His opulence.” What does it mean that He does not want His own

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