In Gaudiya Vaisnavism and within general Vedic cultures, we are all invited to think in certain ways, to intellectualise in certain ways, and to act in certain ways . Our freedoms to do , think, and intellectualise in our own independent ways should change, says the Gaudiya Vaisnava acaryas , indeed the whole of the Vedas is also meant for that end , it is bringing us to the same conclusion. The yogic process is about discipline of the subtle energies and utalising the gross material energies in prescribed and carefully calculated ways , ethics , moral and realisations of the self-evident truth of everyone’s right to have a decent life , everyone must be respected are part of the yogic mix .
The idea of libertine freedoms is a long way away from Vedic cultures . Although not rejected outright , the desire for individual freedoms are carefully applied and therapeutic methods are employed to help assist an individual who have likings for freedoms . Such carefully applied cultural teaching helps them make the gradual steps that bring realisations of absolute freedoms .We must know discipline brings freedoms to liberate us all fully from the shackles and limitation of a conditioned life , as well as bringing us the knowledge and widom of what conditioned life looks like . So-called unrestricted” libertine freedoms” in reality can bind one hopelessly, bringing ever increasing entanglements along with more and more false securities and bewilderments .
Narada Muni has full freedoms to traverse the whole of the spiritual and material realms , unmotivated pure love for Divinity brings freedom , pure love in relative or absolute terms is key to understanding our full potentials
Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains all in his Bhagavad Gita as it is.
Progressive evolution and the super subjective realms.
The clouds are covering the moon , but by the light of the moon, the clouds are seen . The soul , the original essence of feelings , is covered by our conditioned mental systems, causing us to identify with the body , but by the power of our original consciousness , stemming from the soul , that is capable of feeling and experiencing spiritual topics, we are feeling and experiencing matter and conditioned consciousness.
Srila BR Sridhar Swami speaks about the spiritual path of subjective evolution , which gradually rises further and higher in spiritual realised knowledge, carrying one and allowing one to enter the super subjective realms of the highest of spiritual planes . The essence of the soul is feelings ..and every living being is feeling . The question is, what are we feeling and what do we have feelings for . There are 8,400,000 species of life , each of which exhibits feelings for so many things . The essence and perfection of consciousness is to experience and to be able to relate to the higher planes of Divinity where He resides with His associates. The windows to the spiritual world are always open , but we must know how to look at them and how to pass through them . Radha Krishna’s trancendental pastimes are eternally present, and their beautiful forms are eternally manifest . When spiritual feelings are properly developed, one begins to gradually realise and enter these spiritual planes and develop feelings for Divinity and His associates . In that case, one may be invited to participate in that super subjective plane . The feelings of the soul proper are forever restricted in conditioned consciousness, but there are no limits to the depths of feelings in the spiritual realms when the material feelings are renounced.
In Srila Rupa Goswami’s Sri Ujjvala nilamani this is said …
Hiding behind a creeper, Srimati Radharani is eagerly eavesdropping on a conversation between Krishna and Subal , afterwards Vishaka asked Radharani why she was so eager to hear Krishna’s words, Radharani said , ” My dear friend the nectar of Madhava’s words are filled with unprecedented sweetness that enchants the ears , I am not satisfied to have once sipped that nectar, but I yearn to drink it again snd again .”
Anuraga is described as ever new and ever increasing spiritual bliss described by Srila Rupa Goswami and defined as spiritual feelings and emotions , soul on soul , one might say .
Nato countries ,who are actively assisting Ukraine bomb Russia, something the USA did not allow in the beginning of the war , Nato see that Russian responses are quite measured , and the EU countries remain unaffected. Although they are contributing to the increasing aggression in Russia. NATO seem to veiw Russian responses as a weakness on their part , consequently, Nato is increasing more and more .. What will Russia do , hand over Ukraine, or deliver a telling blow to Nato . This is being thought deeply about in Russian circles , will the war stop or will. WW3 begins ,and initially in Europe.
It could be Russia and Putin leaves Ukraine. Putin has tried to get them to see sense , he wanted them a neutral independent country . Zelenskyy wants Ukraine handed over to the global conglomerates and libertines of the EU , who are so fond of scientific materialism and atheistic Darwinian hypothesis . The EU , who will bit by bit dismantle and destroy Ukrainian traditions and family based theological cultures . The EU favours conglomerates who will monopolise Ukrainian industrial bases , and move into the high streets . It will Hyke up Ukrainian property prices taking over and controlling the housing markets . Ukrainian people do not know how the centralising so-called EU government works …maybe Putin will leave them to it…or will he take a stance to protect the future of Russia, who are next in line…..who knows ….
..I however , its Ukraine in the desperate position , thus 15 nato countries joining in ..bombing Russia, mainstreamers thinks its Ukraine, although drones are supplied and controlled by nato in their respective countries from thousands of miles away …This is an ideological war ….Putin is smart , he may, with Brics now formed with China , think he has secured Russian borders , the unipolar world has arrived. So, with Brics , Ukraine is not as important as it was previously .The Ukraine war was after all the cause of Brics forming and the beginnings of the multipolar world. http://www.thevedicspectator.com
Translation The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.
Krishna has spoken clearly here of objective science , and if we carefully examine objectively with the help of the best of the objective scientific community members , it will be very clearly demonstrated . For instance, how the machine like body assembles using codes and informational processes utalising dna and Rna molecules . Although those who are loyal to scientific materialism or Darwinian hypothesis can not accept these logical observations or understand the workings of the ethereal mind and intellect as a separate energy to matter , known as scientific dualism . Consciousness itself is the symptoms of the soul, beyond mind and intelligence , those more subtle forms of energies that cover the “super subtle” soul . This objective science is actually self-evident truth , we can see that matter is never conscious . There is ample evidence in the objective world of intelligent design that we call nature , both within the microbial world or the colossal universe’s. Clear evidence of precision engineering and perfection in engineering design can not be denied . Consciousness explorations and psychological sciences and the subtle sciences bring further evidence of how the machine of the body is carrying consciousness . Life comes from life .
The scientific community convinces itself , it is bringing education to mankind , but education means you know a topic , but guessing is not knowing . If you don’t know the topic , then admit it’s guessing . In the case of scientific materialism and Darwinian hypothesis, it’s , every bit of it , subjective guessing and speculation .It is not scientifically led objective observations that are being presented as fact based science , quite the opposite . That’s cheating science , if presented as fact based science.
What do they refer to as education ? Basically, accepting, without any evidence, random mutations originating from the primordial soup , the common ancestor model , of microbes spilling out of chemicals and becoming Einsteins . Although they can not bind chemical combinations in synthetic chemistry very easily at all . In chemistry, everything is ordered as much as the Dna coding or the atomic realms are ordered , i.e . according to the amount of protons in the atoms, results in the specific elements manifested. In chemistry, binding chemicals together is very, very difficult. So, there is no chance of randomness. It involves rather, precision chemistry . Molecules dont move towards life , they are not seen to mutate in purely unguided and random processes that somehow follow a particular environment they mysteriously find themselves in .Rather, when consciousness enters into matter, the informational processes begin .Life comes from life , and life carries information. This life that is all around us , according to the Darwinian, is only random chemistry , random biology , randon neurons firings, and random physics that holds everything together , where a chance event in the universe produces , gravitational forces and the precise mix of atoms and elements, with carbon as the predominant element , the element most needed for life to emerge. This is dream speculative guessing. Everything’s we see and experience in terms of living things , including plant life, is perfectly engineered and designed. Logic and rationale are part of an education system, with that in mind can we suppose one billion monkeys typing on one billion typewriters for one billion years could produce a perfectly punctuated page of a Shakespeare script, including the spaces between the words. The dna coding and the informational exchanges by mrna molecules are akin to highly sophisticated engineering technologies and are producing the protein like machines in the cells and specifically shaping them using those codes producing bodies in every species of life . Regarding common ancestry, same engineer, different engineering is the Vedic truth . As much as the robotics assembly plant in any factory will , according to information of a computer chip , programmed by an intelligent source , assemble a specific part of a machine . Similarly, is that not what we objectively see in world sciences. Where there is smoke, you know there is fire , or it just been extinguished .Whenever you experience information and a sequence that is functional.. You naturally assume something….that a consciousness is at work . What is the difficulty? Micro evolution, meaning exchanges of dna within species and variations according to an environment, that’s acceptable and Vedic. Macro evolution brings us back to the billion monkeys. Of course, unfortunately, at schools and universities , scientific materialism and Darwinian hypothesis are taught as fact based science, which is unfortunate. Everyone should consider dualism, mind, matter, and consciousness as separated and entirely different energies. We experience the adult body, and the childhood body has long gone , as your current body will change drastically and quickly. In a space of seven years, a completely different body is built as all the cells change, you, the consciousness experience this , the body is not you ..
The natural vedic learning process..
If we conform to the good principles in life as taught by the good and pure over many many generations , these universal principles and easily recognisable , instinctively we come to understand this depth of knowledge of the consciousness. Irresistibly knowledge builds on the back of piety. In humble spirit, we will see the benefits of learning from others in every walk of life . Because of previous practice of consciousness cultivation, many greater persons both in karmic , philosophical knowledge, or pure devotional attitudes can help us along . This was the beauty of the original Varna Ashram systems , that peoples good fortune was recognised and shared with others .This overarching principle of Vedic life is a valuable asset for everyone to know . This good fortune originates from the Vedic intelligensia, who are pure in heart and mind and well studied in the Vedas in all its formats . http://www.thevedicspectator.com
The following of the ten commandments are like the Sadhana bhakti process for the Christian , attending church services , singing hymns, and studying the Bible are equally important for progressive Christians. In Vedic cultures and Gaudia Vaisnava traditions , the proccesses of Sadhana lead to more spontaneously felt devotion, and this is accompanied by much more significant and deeply experienced hearing , chanting and remembrances of Lila pastimes of Krishna or any of His various incarnations . Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu brought to the world the pinnacle of spontaneously felt devotion , He instructed his devotees to teach this process , and the six Goswami’s of Vrndavana have done so . Worship of the representatives of God and their devotion towards God is essential , because as Srila Visvanatha Cakravati Thakur indicates in his glorification on Sri Guru, Sri Guru is an intimate servant of Radha Krishna and has his spiritual form in Their abode . The Vedas say we must learn to prey and act the way they do both externally in preaching activities as best we can , but more importantly in our inner meditations and remembrances of Radha Krishna nitya lila pastimes.
The Christian who acts perfectly in practice of the commandments, the study of the scriptures, in singing and glorifying God and in worship of Jesus as the pure representative of God , would obviously succeed in spiritual life if these are strictly adhered to . Through Jesus , learning from Him and following his devotional spirit, they will advance and will be situated correctly , as Jesus said, “I am at the seat of my father “
Every theological culture has its similarities, there is one God , who expands unlimitedly and accordingly accepts different moods of worship , as much as we relate to people differently or in accordance as to how they relate to us .
This verse in Bhagavad Gita should be understood in full before entering into the esoteric lila pastimes of Krishna , along with His family friends and lovers . In fact, any of Krishna’s activities and pastimes within Vrndavana of Mathura and Dwarka . If not, material concepts of conditioned consciousness will mislead one about Krishna’s lilas . Those in material consciousness who act within the restricted areas of earth , water ,air , fire , mind , and material ego , consisting of atoms, elements and compounds , and the ethereal, which Krishna is forever unaffected by , and not in the least attracted to , such persons effected cannot enter or understand Krishna, only by grace and the Bhakti of pure devotional moods is everything revealed.
avyaktam — nonmanifested; vyaktim — personality; āpannam — achieved; manyante — think; mām — Me; abuddhayaḥ — less intelligent persons; param — supreme; bhāvam — existence; ajānantaḥ — without knowing; mama — My; avyayam — imperishable; anuttamam — the finest.
Translation
Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme.
Thus, the mudha, or the foolish person, assumes God has a body made of matter like theirs .They can never understand or grasp the finer , pure spiritual activities of the consciousness along with spiritual varigatedness and personality . Our Gaudia Vaisnava acaryas give the example of the lowest grades of broken glass , and the highest quality of cut diamonds.
To the unthinking and uneducated they look similar .
The pure trancendental autocratic Master of the spiritual realms enjoys unlimitedly His spiritually situated and eternal pastimes . That land , the Srimad Bhagavatam, speaks of , is reality pe say . A place where the fullness of spiritual unlimited emotional exchanges of love are exhibited within the full range of all trancendental rasika mellows of blissful life . There is an unlimited beauty and an incalculable spiritual artistry that is on a permanent show . Such increasingly ecstatic and spiritual cultures that know no end , far surpasses the imaginations of the greatest of the greatest of any artistic connisuires , of the past or present and into the future , of this world.
The Gaudia Vaisnava acaryas set examples of a life of preaching and Bhajan , deeper esoteric meditational life .
“In the final years of his life, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur formally retired from his duties and preaching to immerse himself in secluded worship (nirjana-bhajan) and writing. During this period, he produced some of his most esoteric and spiritually profound literature, concentrating fully on deep meditation and devotional absorption.
His final decade was a masterclass in focused, internalized devotion. Key aspects of this period include:
Secluded Worship & Daily Life: In 1908, he accepted the external dress of a babaji. He spent his final years engaged in intense worship and chanting, often residing at Bhakti Kuti in Jagannath Puri and Surabi Kunj in the Navadwip district.
Deep Esoteric Writings: Rather than stopping his literary output, he pivoted from broad foundational texts to advanced, confidential devotional guidelines for practitioners. Notable works from this period include Bhajana-rahasya (1902), which serves as an intimate guide to devotional meditation, and Sva-niyama-dvadasakam (1907), a set of verses outlining daily vows and meditative practices.
Delegating the Preaching: While he stepped back from public lecturing and traveling, the preaching mission did not end. He empowered his son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, to take the lead in publicly propagating the teachings of Lord Chaitanya.
Final Days: He left this world on June 23, 1914, at his Bhakti Bhavan residence in Calcutta, entering eternal pastimes exactly on the disappearance day of Sri Gadadha prabhu.”
The Founder of ISKCON Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada seemed to combine the two , his extensive bhajans and musical trancendental renditions are all recorded , his pure inner life occasionally came to the surface at times , but his preaching had to be done , his special mission had begun. He arrived in the USA as an older person and began extensive preaching till his last breath . These were all the arrangements of Krishna and Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu . Prabhupada himself said, “Work hard preaching , bhajan life later .”This is the general life of the Vaisnava, Mahāprabhu Himself preached extensively, but became absorbed in an esoteric life in Jagganath Puri .www.thevedicspectator.com
I recall when I was a congregational member in the UK , I took a walk in the countryside with an antique dealer friend , he owned a antique shop down from my father’s television shop that I managed . As we walked in the countryside, he stooped down to a bunch of flowers and grabbed them out the ground, and with no thoughts of anything divine about them , immediately smelled them with great pleasure. Because I had become familiar with the Vedas, his actions seemed a little repulsive . It seemed a selfish act of self-indulgence, an act of thievery , an artificial Lordship over nature . He did not recognise or show any appreciation or recognition of how the flowers had come about in the great creation of nature. There were no thoughts of offering them back to the creator in acknowledgement of His glorious creation. Just snatch and smell . A similar incident occurred recently when I witnessed a musician playing music enjoying his talents for his own glory and pleasure, it appeared a very self-centred consciousness , with no recognition how he had gotten such talent , but instead simply bathing in self glory. Everything is granted, and we must know it , and we must know how to use the gift of life . If human life is used as Krishna recommends in Bhagavad Gita , then the greatest of gifts are realised .The greatest gifts are to establish a loving relationship with Divinity and to escape the confinement of temporary happiness. Birth , death, old age, and disease should be realised and rejected .
The glorious originator of all things must be recognised, and some offering of appreciation should be made . That’s how the highest cultures work , the Vedas brings us in-depth knowledge of different types of sacrifices along with their purposes. Without doing a life of sacrifice that is directed by Divinity , one misses out on a potential for greater and greater sharing that takes one to directly associate with Krishna and His family, lovers and friends. Learning to do offerings and sharing in the delights of the highest spiritual consciousness can be easily achieved when directed by the Gaudia Vaisnava acaryas, particularly in current times . In spiritual sacrifices and spiritual life, everything is a sacrifice for the sake of others, and sacrifices are ultimately directed to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supreme Goddess of fortune , Srimati Radharani . In Goloka Vrndavana , Their ecstatic bliss is relished in full , as every type of pure loving exchange take place among the pure devotees .The whole of the spiritual kingdoms, including nature and creatures, add to and participate in increasing the loving sacrifices.
The Vedas indicates, in material life , everything is on loan , even the material senses , the senses are owned by Divinity , they have been granted to every being accordingly. However, the original owner of the senses , Divinity, should be granted offerings . We can also enjoy, we enjoy our senses in their purest forms through Divinities senses , which is where our perfection is found .
The Srimad Bhagavatam and the Smritis of the Goswami’s of Vrndavana bring us knowledge of the outstanding love and appreciation of the residents of Vrndavana and where it takes them , and those who learn about them .
Hundreds of thousands of years ago the Darwinian thought mankind was crawling out of a pond , but the Vedas beg to differ .The Vedas indicates that one should consider and contemplate and learn of the sciences of the subtle planes and consciousness.
Mind over matter , you have heard the expression . We live in a responsive universe for sure on many different levels. Supervised fluctuations of different allowances of energies are our life’s story . We have no idea where they came from or what they might transform into in this life or the next . Energies are always presevered and never destroyed, and that includes consciousness.. The mysterious events that produce the onset of space time along with mysteriously fixed laws of nature along with a set of defined results , that are caused by our constants , at a given time , in a particular place , within the different parts of universe , and also multiple differences and variables of space time , remains a complete mystery to a scientific world, ie. They are clueless. Sir Fred Hoyle said” that someone has monkeyed with the universe.” Supervision , order , perfect math , perfect design and symmetry appear to be the ” name of the game.” Supervision means another person , constants require supervision , in anyone’s thinking . A living consciousness who is obviously tasking everything in precise ways , sometimes referred to as the Goldilock phenomena. Many physicists, including Bohr, Schrödinger or even Einstein, could follow this thread, unfortunately though , biologists leave themselves behind choking in their primordial soup.
Manipulation of matter within this world in different degrees via consciousness and telepathy , or yogic power , is something that has been studied and still is . Marie Curie studied such topics along with her husband . She is a Nobel prize winner in her studies of radiation .
The perfect math and the precision engineering of many of the ancient pyramids still puzzles modern man , as do so many other ancient structures . Off the coast of Dwarka in India huge cities have been detected . The endlessly mutable and cyclic movements of the earth are taking place . Volcanic movement throughout millions of years cause a recycling motion that regenerates the oceans with minerals. Self-destruction of society’s are also historic norms . Ancient times are also destined for current times . Empires come and go , and the process is eternally occurring within the material energies. People can not fathom long periods of time , 4 billion years just rolls of the tongue and is easily said . Understanding and comprehending these changes is somewhat incomprehensible . Some indicators in archaeology digs have been found pointing to mysterious ancient civilizations. It is also said in the Vedas that the power of memory 100s of thousands of years ago was extremely efficient, There were no need for detailed records to serve as memories , although ancient highly complex Sanskrit writings developed in time . Currently , we can not remember what we were doing in detail a few days ago , or even hours ago. What to speak of two weeks, we have become dead to it. Not in former times though , when life was lived differently with greater purity of consciousness , that brought along with it far more intuitive powers . The Vedas indicated hundreds of thousands of years ago access to communicate with many other planetary systems were available. It is also said those residents would occasionally transport themselves to our plane of existence.
The mind and consciousness remain a complete mystery to the modern scientific community. We should know that well.
In Vedic cosmological affairs, the earthly plane is situated between the heavenly planets in the higher realms, and the lower planets inhabited by those darker modes those of the demoniac and ghostly beings . Naturally, at times, beings from both the higher and lower planetary systems take birth on earth for various reasons, say the Vedas , to exploit. Jesus said, ” You’ll know them by their fruits.” Why do we need educated democracies and not fools voting in fools, one may ask . Take a look at our exploitative world led by questionable characters . Have they come from lower planets? Who knows . http://www.thevedicspectator.com
When Srila AC Bhavtivedanta Swami Prabhupada formed his GBC governing body , he did so with the aims of forming an intelligentsia, the intelligentsia are made up of different types of persons, some very scholarly, some very devotional and advanced in the highest levels of pure Bhakti and some excellent practical spiritualists. Prabhupada no doubt expected this initial set up to refine itself and mature as time went on , and so it did , and so it does . The full understandings of the workings of the Vedic way are not so easily grasped , Srila Goswami tells the eighteen Puranas with their 40000 verses along with the Mahabharata and Itihasas need contemplations and applications. Of course, the Bhagavatam brings practical applications and incorporates many of the different aspects of the overall Vedic teachings . The Bhagavatam and the Smritis of the Goswami’s of Vrndavana, who Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally taught , are our real treasure of wisdom , the new testament , as given by Mahāprabhu, and the old smarta ways are to be discarded .
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“A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada initiated the need for an ISKCON constitution to establish foundational management, spiritual guidelines, and the duties of the Governing Body Commission (GBC), often referencing the “Direction of Management” as part of this structure. The official ISKCON Constitution was formally inaugurated on Jan 23, 2026, to ensure legal and theological continuity.
Key aspects of the constitution call include:
To define the legal and theological framework of ISKCON.
The GBC is recognized as the ultimate authority, but one that is also accountable to the constitution.
The document incorporates the original 7 purposes of ISKCON drafted by Prabhupada in 1966, along with his instructions regarding the “Direction of Management”.
The finalized 2026 constitution includes over 50% direct quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s teachings and shastra http://www.thevedicspectator.com
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