One realization I found particularly useful in my spiritual life is understanding that the mind is a separate entity from myself. Prabhupada speaks about that quite frequently in his books: just like the soul is covered by the body and senses, it is also covered by the mind, intelligence, and ego. Thus, in the same way, we understand we are not the body, we should also understand that we are also different from the mind and even the material intelligence.

The mind functions like a mechanical entity, more like a computer. Just like a computer will run the software we install in it, the mind will process the different impressions and stimuli we put on it. The maze of desires that frequently pops out of it is just the result of everything we previously put there. The voice we hear inside our heads is thus nothing more than an echo of everything we saw and experienced in the past.

When we understand that, we start to see the mind as a separate entity, like a child walking beside us. The child may run here and there, want different things, and kick and scream, but we understand that we don’t need to do everything the child wants. One who can detach emotionally from the situation can just observe the bursts of the emotion of the child without directly identifying with it.

Similarly, the mind goes here and there, becoming attracted by different things. If we accept all these desires of the mind as our own, we will have serious troubles, but as soon as we learn to see the mind as a separate entity, we can learn to detach emotionally from it and just observe how it runs here and there, without being very much affected by it. When we can do that, we can just observe the workings of the mind as a neutral party. Eventually, we can even start seeing the mind as part of Krsna’s energy and be amused by its workings.

It is described that for Brahmanas there are four asramas. They are supposed to be educated as Brahmacaris for the first quarter of their lives, then become exemplary householders, go to renounced life, and finally take sannyasa. For Ksatriyas, on the other hand, there are just three asramas, since they usually stop at the Vanaprasta stage. For Vaisyas, there are just two asramas, since they are usually not qualified enough to enter renounced life, and for Sudras, there is just one asrama since they just just spend all their lives in family life, without being trained as Brahmacaris nor entering renounced life.

Of course, when we listen to this description we count ourselves among the Brahmanas and think that Sudras are very low, but actually, Sudras used to do much better than most of us do in this regard. At least they were able to live peacefully their whole lives with the same spouse, maintain their families, and grow their children without divorce or scandals. How many of us can do the same? Sudras also have other qualities, like working hard, following instructions of superiors, being humble, clean, and truthful, and so on, qualities that we often lack.

When we consider these points we can see that Sudras are actually quite high by modern standards. If we could develop all the qualities of a Sudra this would already be a great success. For most of us, the problem is not that we fail to develop the qualities of a Brahmanas, but that we fail to develop even the qualities of a Sudra. By the Vedic standard, we are actually outcasts, outside of the Varnasrama system. That’s why it’s so difficult for us to organize spiritual communities or even to have a peaceful family life. Often we just fight like cats and dogs.

In the Brhad Bhagavatamrta, there are other descriptions of demons appearing in the spiritual world. These descriptions appear in the two final chapters after Gopa Kumara attains Goloka Vrindavana.

While there, he had the opportunity of presensing many of Krsna’s pastimes, like Krsna taking His lunch, Krsna playing with His cowherd friends and even some of His pastimes with the Gopis. By these beautiful descriptions, we can have a glimpse of the sweet environment of the supreme abode. However, he also describes pastimes involving demons. On BB 2.6.255–262, for example, it’s described that:

“Once two dear servants of the wicked Kamsa, Kesi and Aristasura, came to Vraja. Kesi assumed the form of a fearful horse, and Aristasura assumed the form of a bull, and they both began terrifying the cowherd boys and the cows. Their bodies were so massive it was as if they could touch the sky, and when they both roared very loudly at the same time, all living entities became terrified and fell to the ground.
Because they were frightened of those demons, the dear friends of Sri Krsna forcibly prevented Him from going near the demons. Still, after consoling them, with pride like that of a warrior He flexed His muscles and went before those demons. First, with great ferocity, the Kesi demon came before Him, and Sri Krsna kicked him
in such a way that he landed far away. Next Aristasura came, and then Sri Krsna pierced his nose, passed a rope through it, and then brought him before the deity of Sri Gopisvara Mahadeva.
After that, the Kesi demon attacked Him again. Then the greatly valorous Sri Krsna forcibly jumped on it and climbed upon its back. To subdue him, He made the demon run in such a way that it was as if it was being trained. In this way, His taming of the demon was immensely splendid.
Then quickly His countles cowherd friends also grabbed the horse with their hands and climbed upon it. Playing with the horse in a marvelous fashion, they made it jump here and there, sometimes in the sky and sometimes on the earth. Having within an instant bridled the horse and brought it fully under His control, for the purpose of enjoying riding pastimes Sri Krsna kept it tied up with a rope in Vraja. He also kept the bull to pull carts.”

Gopa Kumara didn’t go back to the material world after reaching Goloka Vrindavana. These pastimes of Krsna fighting Kesi and Aristasura, as well as Kaliya and other demons that are described in the book happened while Gopa Kumara was in the spiritual Goloka Vrindavana. How can this be? Are the pastimes of Krsna killing these demons part of his Nitya Lila that goes on continuously on the spiritual planets? How could demons reach there to take part in these pastimes? Would they be eternal associates of Krsna who are playing as demons?

In SB 2.9.10 we find an interesting verse: “In that personal abode of the Lord, the material modes of ignorance and passion do not prevail, nor is there any of their influence in goodness. There is no predominance of the influence of time, so what to speak of the illusory, external energy; it cannot enter that region. Without discrimination, both the demigods and the demons worship the Lord as devotees.”

This is an interesting idea. Are there demons in Vaikunta? Certainly, they are not demons like the ones we find here in the material world. In the purport of the same verse, Prabhupada makes it clear that in Vaikuntha Loka there is no influence of the three modes of nature, there is only unalloyed goodness:

Prabhupada once said, “ISKCON is my body”. What exactly does it mean? To be able to understand it, first of all, we need to define what “body” means.

Often we take the word “body” in the sense of “self”. If we take into this meaning then when Prabhupada says that ISKCON is his body, we will get the idea that ISKCON is not different from Prabhupada. We will understand that ISKCON is Prabhupada. This will lead to the idea that is not possible to serve Prabhupada if one is not directly connected with the institution, or that to criticize any aspect of the institution means to directly offend Prabhupada, for example. It may also lead to the idea that the institution must be perfect, since Prabhupada is perfect, which in turn can lead one to lose his faith in Prabhupada and his teachings if is proved that the institution is not as perfect as he or she imagined.

However, this understanding may not be very correct. In the scriptures, we hear that the body is not our real self. Rather, the body is like a vehicle or instrument that we use to operate in this material world. Our real self is spiritual, and the body is a vehicle that we use to interact with this world. In this sense, the word “body” is not the same as “self”. Rather, “body” means “instrument” or “vehicle”. Body can also be understood as “energy”, in the sense of energy being a manifestation of one’s power and being used to achieve some goal.

What difference does it make? It can make a great difference.

We all know that God is a person, Krsna. However, at the same time, He has an impersonal aspect, the Brahmajyoti, that is worshiped by Brahmavadis and other types of impersonalists. As Krsna explains in the Bhagavad-Gita, one goes where his attention is focused on, therefore one who worships the impersonal Brahmajoti goes there, and one who worships Krsna as a person goes to the spiritual planets.

One thing we may not notice, however, is that our movement also has two aspects: one side is the institution, a kind of impersonal entity. Another is the devotees, who are the personal side. One can deal with the impersonal entity, one can deal with the devotes, or some mixture of both, and of course, our mileage will vary according to what we are relating to.

Srila Prabhupada wanted to create a house where the whole world could live. We can have a few friends and they can be very nice people, but without a big enough house, it will be difficult to live together with them. We are not yogis who can live in the forest. Similarly, we may have groups of devotees here and there, but without an institution is difficult to keep ourselves together. The institution is like a house, so to speak. In one sense it’s secondary, but in another sense, it’s very important.

One interesting concept we have in India is the MRP. If you look carefully, every product has an MRP stamped somewhere in the package. MRP stands for “maximum retail price”, and works as a limit for how much a product can cost. It is considered unlawful to sell products for more than the MRP. This is a way the government found to avoid people overcharging for products in remote regions.

In some cases, the MRP is the fair price for products, like in the case of water bottles, for example. A half-liter bottle costs 10 rupees and the guy selling it usually makes one or two rupees of profit. However, in most cases, products are supposed to be sold for substantially less than the MRP.

If you go to Amazon India, for example, you will see that most products are sold with “discounts” of 20%, 30%, or even 50%. In most cases these are not really discounts, but just the normal prices. The “discount” is just how much it is being sold under the MRP. In most stores in India, there are prices on the shelves, and you can compare the prices they are asking and the MRP of the products.

Traditionally in Vedic culture, the compatibility between two potential spouses would be checked using astrology. This is still followed in many parts of India, and devotees also frequently use this method. Astrology is not a guarantee of happiness in married life, but it can help to identify potential problems.

Srila Prabhupada also speaks about the use of astrology, but at the same time he states that when both a boy and a girl are devotees, no other considerations are required since this is the best compatibility.

This statement may sound contradictory to some, and we can also practically see that not all devotees who marry are happy in family life. Frequently we see the opposite. So how can we take this statement?

One who reads attentively the pastime of Jaya and Vijaya “falling” from the spiritual world and becoming Ravana and Hiranyakashipu, Ravana and Kumbhakarna and Sisupala and Dantavakra, taking birth as demons for three lives before going back to Vaikunta can have a lot of questions.

1- First of all, how can Jaya and Vijaya become demons if no one falls from Vaikunta?

2- It’s narrated that they had to come as demons because Lord Vishnu wanted to fight. This appears to contradict statements about the affection of the Lord for His devotees.

3- We hear that demons who are killed by Krsna attain liberation. Why then they had to take birth as demons for three lives (and be killed by the Lord three times) before finally attaining liberation?

4- Lord Nrshihadeva, as well as Lord Varaha, Lord Rama, and Krsna Himself appear every day of Brahma. Does this mean that Vaya and Vijaya have to repeatedly be cursed and come to the material world as demons to fight with the Lord?

These questions are answered by Srila Rupa Goswami in the Laghu Bhagavatamrta.

Some may have a little trouble with the idea of worshiping Tulasi. Why are we worshiping a plant? It goes much deeper than that.

Tulasi Devi is the incarnation of Vrinda Devi, who is in turn the personification of the pastime potency of Krsna. She is the organizer of the pastimes between Radha and Krsna and is after her that Vrindavana is named. “Vrindavana” means the forest of Vrinda. Radharani is called Vrindavanesvari (the queen of Vrindavana), and Krsna is considered the king, but without the mercy of Vrinda Devi is not possible to enter their pastimes. Therefore, we worship her every day in the morning, chanting “ye tomara sarana loy tara vancha purna hoy krpa kori koro tare vrndavana-vasi“ (Whoever takes shelter of you, all his desires are fulfilled and by your mercy, he becomes a resident of Vrndavana.) She is actually a partial expansion of Srimati Radharani and one of her intimate associates. As a gopi, she has a molten golden complexion and uses blue garments, decorated with many ornaments, pearls, and flowers. At the same time, she appears as the plant Tulasi, who is very dear to Krsna.

Vrinda Devi also appears as Tulasi in the material world in order to facilitate the service of devotees to Krsna and help us attain His service. There is a whole pastime explaining her advent, which is narrated in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana. As in other pastimes narrated in the same book, this pastime is hard to understand, because it is narrated in a way that appeals to people influenced by the mode of passion. It is, therefore, full of curses and apparent conflict. These descriptions are of course not false, but to properly understand them one has to study them under the light of Vaishnava philosophy.