Sadhana
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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Bhakti Questions & Answers Sadhana

Dealings among Devotees, Krishna’s Involvement

Question: How shall I deal with a situation when a person in the position of an authority is acting inappropriately? As I consider you an authority in spiritual literature, Vedic spiritual history and so on, perhaps you can give me some new aspects or views.  Answer: If it does not concern you directly, and if

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Questions & Answers Sadhana

Chanting and Realizing the Holy Name

Question: In the introduction to Bhagavat Sandarbha, you write: “Similarly, just as Bhagavān’s form is non-different from His essential being, so too His name is identical with Him. It has the same power as Bhagavān and is similarly beyond the grasp of the material senses. Realizing His name even once can free one from the

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Gaudiya Vaishnavas General Questions & Answers Sadhana

Mahamantra and Diksha Mantras

Question: As practicing Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, we chant the Hare Krishna mahāmantra. Did Śrī Caitanya and His associates chant the Hare Krishna mantra? In Caitanya-caritāmṛta or other biographies of Śrī Caitanya, the mahāmantra is not mentioned as the mantra that was chanted. The mahāmantra is itself a legitimate mantra as per Kali-saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad, so I have

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Gaudiya History Questions & Answers Sadhana

Worship of Śrī Śrī Gaura Gadādhara

Question: I wanted to know whether your paramparā has any scope for Gaura Gadādhara upāsanā. We know that many of the Nadiyā bhaktas wrote songs in praise of them together. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākur and some of his followers also had a focus on Gaura Gadādhara. The other thing is, does your paramparā think that Gaura Gadādhara

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Questions & Answers Sadhana

Meditation in Bhakti

Question: Can meditation help you on the bhakti marga? From my understanding and experience of meditation I feel it helps you to be calmer; to heal your chakras and hence protect the body from disease; to be more aware of your thoughts since your thoughts create your future; and to let go of the past

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Questions & Answers Sadhana

The Place of Women in the Bhakti Movement

Question:  I personally appreciate the role of women within the bhakti movement in general and within the Vaiṣṇavism in particular. But sometimes I wonder where is the living spirit of Jāhnavā Mātā, now? Currently, who is the most representative gurvī in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism? Answer: Why limit this question only to Jāhnavā Mātā? Where is the

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