Questions & Answers
Questions & Answers Sadhana

Eating Habits, Cleanliness, How to Deal with Loneliness

Question: I’m curious about eating habits according to Ayurveda. Why do so many sadhus and strong bhajana practitioners eat only once a day? Is it good for the health and bhajana? I know that Śrī Haridāsa Śāstrī Maharāja and perhaps you also take prasad once a day. What are the benefits of such a diet?

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Questions & Answers

Joy Between Bhagavan and Bhakta, Siddha-deha

Question: This morning while doing my daily pūjā, I had the following realization: When I devote myself to the bhakti of Bhagavān, I experience some devotional joy (which is sometimes intense and sometimes less in intensity, based on my devotion and His kṛpa upon me). As Bhagavān is connected to His bhaktas (in the material

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Gaudiya Vaishnavas Questions & Answers

The Role of Varnashrama Duties in Bhakti

Question: According to Baladeva Vidyābhūṣana, what happens to nitya-karma upon attainment of vidya (prema-bhakti)? Does it become ineffective, or does it become vidya (prema-bhakti)? Answer: I am not sure if I understand your question. Do you mean what happens to the result of nitya-karmas performed by a devotee who attains prema-bhakti? If yes, then Baladeva

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Questions & Answers

Realization of Brahman and the Individual Self

Question: In Siddhānta-ratnam (1.33) Śrī Baladeva says: The conclusion here is this—jñāna (knowledge) is a synonym of the words vidyā and vedana, and it is twofold. One kind is in the form of realization of the meaning of the words tat and tvam in the sentence tat tvam asi (“you are that”), and it is

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Bhakti Questions & Answers

Paramatma and Krsna, Sattvic Lifestyle as Gateway

Question: I read elsewhere that it is Paramātmā who is present everywhere, in the atoms and in the hearts of every living entity. So, do Kṛṣṇa and Paramātmā both exist everywhere? Or is it Kṛṣṇa that exists everywhere but some see Him as Paramātmā? I am trying to understand the difference in all-pervasiveness of Kṛṣṇa

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Bhakti Questions & Answers

Coexistence of Bhakti and the Spirit of Enjoyment

Question: Sādhana of uttamā-bhakti leads to bhāva and prema. If sādhana-bhakti has as its taṭastha lakṣaṇa the total absence of the desire to enjoy, what happens in the anartha-nivṛtti stage when there are no saṃskāras left to enjoy? Answer: The very word sādhana means “a means to achieve a goal”. At the sādhana stage, one

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Questions & Answers

Relation Between Shraddha and Bhakti

Question: Is it possible that one develops śraddhā in bhakti without hearing any śāstra at all? For instance, someone simply hears that there is a Supreme Person and by worshiping that person we can gain the ultimate goal of life. Just from hearing this statement, the person begins to have śraddhā in bhakti. In this case,

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