Author: Chaitanya Charan

God is not a means to an end – he is himself the highest end 

How authentic are the Dwarka arcahaeological findings about Krishna?

How did ordinary people see Lord Chaitanya’s ecstatic trances?

How are the Gita and the Bhagavatam related?

Understanding the purpose of explicit language in scripture

Two ways to realization: as sudden illumination and as gradual awakening

Should new people be told strongly to give up meat-eating?

How can we apply the mood of “Krishna, I am yours”?

If the devotees who introduced us to bhakti don’t inspire us later, what should we do?

When Vibhishana went over to the side of virtue, why didn’t Vidura do the same?

When Lakshmana left Sita unguarded because of her harsh words, whose mistake was it?

How do I know which type of surrender is suitable for us?

How do avoid depression caused by the mistakes we make and by thinking about past bad karma?

Is black magic real – what should devotees targetted by it do?

Vritrasura lila analysis 2 – The heroic leader and the hidden devotee

The mind is a monkey that makes us a donkey

How much does Krishna intervene in the lives of good people, if they are not devotees?

What is the relationship between astrology and karma, especially for devotees?

Why does Bhaktivinoda Thakura refer to temporary duties as anitya-dharma?

How does our material varna relate with our spiritual svarupa?

Should we stabilize our material life before practicing spiritual life?

Why is tamo-guna needed at all?

How can we know that we have done our best in our services or relationships?

How can we find our svabhava and change our career accordingly?

If people are nasty to us, should we as devotees just be detached from it?

How can we take shelter of a devotee practically?

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Vritrasura lila analysis 1 – The setting for the stunning twist in the storyline

Concluding QA session in Dharma to Prema Retreat

Overcoming discouragement in life

Understanding the many forms of surrender

Mapping our inner territory – Anartha nivritti explained from Madhuraya Kadambini

Understanding karma dharma and destiny

From dharma to prema

GAURA acronym – 5 glorious qualities of Lord Chaitanya

How faith contributes to harmony – Multi-faith meeting

Can association through electronic media be the same as personal association?

Is asking lots of questions a sign of a jnani, not a bhakta?

Can Krishna’s exalted pastimes be understood without philosophically understanding his greatness?

Can we relish the same level of love for Krishna that Radharani relishes?

Is Radharani attracted to Krishna because he is handsome?

Is Lord Chaitanya’s lila too elevated for general people?

Gaura Purnima lecture – Lord Chaitanya manifested the three internal reasons for his descent in his Ratha-yatra lila

Gita 13.35 Knowledge helps us perceive and achieve spiritual reality

Gita 13.34 Consciousness can be the channel to illumination – and to illusion too

Gita 13.33 The soul is not entangled, but the mind is

As devotees, how can we deal with our relatives sensitively?

Bhakti is an experiential science

Pray not to get things done but to connect with Krishna

If one devotee serves Krishna as a brahmachari and another, as a grihastha, who is better?

Cultivating non-judgmental attitude 3

Is untimely death of a son the will of God – how is this to be explained to grieving parents?

Why does science treat mental problems medically, not spiritually?

Gita 13.32 The soul is situated in the body, but its consciousness doesn’t have to imprisoned in the body

How can we raise our children so that they become devotees?

What is a preferred career for devotees?

Why are things that we hear and accept still difficult to apply?

If our relatives are enquiring about spirituality but aren’t submissive, how should we respond?

Is our sampradaya’s credibility weakened because of having shiksha links instead of diksha links?

When milk is nowadays extracted violently from cows, should devotees take milk?

When there are so many scriptures how is the essential scriptural message to be understood?

If someone dies because of drunken driving, was the death due to destiny or drunkenness?

When our sampradaya is of shiksha, why are diksha-gurus deemed so important and shiksha-gurus deemed unimportant?

Are ghastly rituals such as animal sacrifices given in scriptures?

Aren’t the problems we face due to our past karma?

How can we feel connected with Krishna when we have problems and our prayers are not answered?

What is the significance of Lord Chaitanya’s chastising Balabhdara Bhattacharya?

What is the relationship between our intelligence and our desires?

What is wrong with aversion to sense objects?

How can we cultivate sentiments without becoming sentimental?

Do the modes determine our moods or our modes determine the modes?

Cultivating non-judgmental attitude 2

Beyond sentimentality to sentiments

Gita 13.31 See variety not as illusion above the unity but as emanation from the unity

Gita 13.30 The soul is not the doer of the activities impelled by the body

Gita 13.29 See beyond people’s particular actions to Krishna’s universal positive intention

When Prabhupada speaks so strongly against Mayavadis, how can we avoid becoming judgmental?

Why does the Bhagavatam 11.28.1 ask us to not praise others?

Can we engage in any desire without being bound by it?

How can we know that we are conscious while tables are not conscious?

How can we prepare for giving classes?

You are bigger than your habits

Cultivating non-judgmental attitude 1

How can we teach our children right and wrong without coming off as judgmental?

Why focus on sound alone for raising our consciousness – why not exercise, food etc?

What is the channel by which the soul gives signals to the brain?

Gita 13.28 To see that which is critical to see is to really see

How can we infuse our scriptural study with devotional emotion?

Can we apologize to Krishna?

How can we know what is Krishna’s plan and what is Maya’s action?

Devotion amidst persecution – Lord Chaitanya delivers Chand Kazi part 3

When we are unable to focus on chanting, what can we do?

How do the Vedas correlate with the Gita?

How can we focus on the present while serving Krishna?

When we use our imagination in devotional service, will whatever we imagine come true?

How is sense pleasure not imaginary but a product of imagination?

Do brahmavadis know that something exists beyond brahman?

How can we deal with the doubts that obstruct us in our relationships with others?

Gita 13.27 See beyond functional categorization to philosophical comprehension

Gita 13.26 Hearing directs us to destination immortality