Philosophy

Published on December 6th, 2022 | by

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Reincarnation FAQ

Answers to common questions people have about reincarnation.

Common questions people have with the concept of reincarnation

  1. How many people believe in reincarnation?Statistics world-wide are difficult to obtain, but in the US the Gallup Organization made a survey in October 2001 of Americans’ belief in psychic and paranormal phenomena. For this survey, they asked adults 18 and over amongst other things if they believed in “Reincarnation, that is, the rebirth of the soul in a new body after death”. In the results, 25% said they did believe in reincarnation, 20% didn’t know, 54% didn’t believe in it and 1% had no opinion. Belief was only slightly higher among males than females, while it varied significantly between age groups: belief amongst 28-29 year-olds was at 25%, 30-49 year-olds were at 22%, while people 50 and over were at 28%
  2. Is there any evidence at all suggesting life after death?Scientists investigating ‘near-death’ experiences say they have found evidence to suggest that consciousness can continue to exist after the brain has ceased to function.

    More details: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/986177.stm

  3. Is there a scientific basis for reincarnation?Any biologist can tell that our body’s cells are constantly dying and being replaced by new ones and every seven years we change the complete set of cells that means we change our body every seven years but this change is so gradual that it’s imperceptible. So, each of us has a number of “different” bodies in this very life. The body of an adult is completely different from the body the same person had as an infant. Yet despite bodily changes, the person within remains the same. In other words, we reincarnate even in the course of one lifetime. Something similar happens at the time of death, when this body cannot be worked any more, the self undergoes a final change of body.

    Therefore Krsna says:

    “As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth, and then to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death” (Bhagavad-gita 2.13)

    He further says:

    “As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones” (< ahref=http://www.asitis.com/2/22.html>Bhagavad-gita 2.22)

    Forensic Evidence of Reincarnation: Indian forensic scientist Vikram Raj Singh Chauhan is trying to prove reincarnation is real. He has presented his findings at the National Conference of Forensic Scientists in India. More details: http://science.krishna.org/Articles/2002/10/025.html

  4. So why can’t everyone believe in reincarnation?Lord Krsna explicitly says- “Some look at the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all. The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this. The endeavoring transcendentalists, can see all this clearly. But those whose minds are not developed cannot see what is taking place, though they may try to” (Bhagavad-gita 2.29, 15.8-10)
  5. If people remember a past life as a foreigner, why can’t they remember their past life language?A Russian woman who claims to be able to speak 120 languages says many of them are from her previous lives.Linguists claim to have identified that she speaks 16th century English,Chinese, Persian, Egyptian, Mongolian, Vietnamese, Korean and Swahili, reports Komsomol’skaya Pravda.
  6. If there’s only a fixed number of souls, how has the world population increased?This is often heard from people who don’t believe in reincarnation. why such people really expect that there is a limit to life in the universe. It is interesting to note that as man’s population has increased, the animal kingdom has gradually been decimated – and that is where some mystics say human souls gradually evolve upwards from. Also of note, highly advanced Yogis state that life exists on many other places in the unlimited expanse of the universe, in which case the planet Earth would be only one of many places for souls to inhabit. In the Vedic literature, our universe with innumerable planets throughout the galaxies is comparable to a grain of mustard seed in a bag full of mustard seeds.
  7. Do people reincarnate as animals and vice-versa?An popular reincarnation myth posits that the soul, once attaining a human form, always comes back in a human body in the next life and never reincarnates in a lower species. We may reincarnate as humans, but we could come back as dogs, cats, hogs, or lower species. There is no scientific or scriptural evidence anywhere for this fanciful “once a human, always a human” notion, which runs contrary to the true principles of reincarnation, principles that have been understood and followed by millions of people since time immemorial.

    So Lord Krsna says:

    “When one dies in the mode of goodness, he attains to the pure higher planets. When one dies in the mode of passion, he takes birth among those engaged in fruitive activities; and when he dies in the mode of ignorance, he takes birth in the animal kingdom”(Bhagavad-gita 14.14-15)

  8. What factors decide the type of body in the next incarnation?The type of body one gets in his next life will be determined by the type of consciousness he develops in this life and by the immutable law of karma. Krsna Says —

    “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail”(Bhagavad-gita 8.6)

  9. So do people undergo sex changes in next birth?Sex Change Without Surgery: As already explained, a person gets his next life’s birth according to what he thinks of at the time of death. If someone is too attached to his wife, naturally he thinks of his wife at the time of death, and in his next life he takes the body of a woman. Similarly, if a woman thinks of her husband at the time of death, naturally she gets the body of a man in her next life. –Srimad Bhagavatam (3.31.41)
  10. Does everyone just keep reincarnating forever?The sages of ancient India tell us that the goal of human life is to escape from the endless cycle of reincarnation. Don’t come back, they warn. One can break the cycle of rebirth by breaking free of the bonds of karma. Karma is what entangles us and continues the soul’s revolving in the cycle of repeated birth and death. Piety and its rewards are bound to make us inadvertently commit some act of impiety, because that is the nature of this material world which is full of inebrieties. Only pure spiritual activity frees us from the cycle of repeated birth and death. In bhagavad gita (14.20), Lord Krsna tells that one has to transcend even the mode of goodness to become free from birth and death” . He tells us how to transcend the modes of matarial nature– Those engaged in full devotional service, at once transcends the modes of material nature. Thus being engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, who has fixed his mind upon Me, for him I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death, but those who are not faithful on the path of devotional service cannot attain Me, but return to birth and death in this material world (bhagavad gita 14.26,9.3,12.6-7).
  11. But what is the problem if one keeps reincarnating forever?The real goal of understanding reincarnation is to become free from the painful cycle of birth and death. This is not a very good business–to die and take birth again.

    The great sage Kapila Muni informs his mother about the true nature of the death experience: “In that diseased condition, one’s eyes bulge due to the pressure of air from within, and his glands become congested with mucus. He has difficulty breathing, and there is a rattling sound within the throat. He dies most pathetically, in great pain and without consciousness.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.30.16–18)

    But taking birth in the material world is no picnic either. For months the human fetus lies cramped within the darkness of the womb, suffering severely, scorched by the mother’s gastric fire, continually jolted by sudden movements, and feeling constant pressure from being contained in the small amnion, or sack, which surrounds the body in the womb. This tight, constricting pocket forces the child’s back to arch constantly like a bow. Further, the unborn child is tormented by hunger and thirst and is bitten again and again all over the body by hungry worms in the abdominal cavity, and what makes the situation even worse, when mother kills the children within the womb, which is not uncommon nowadays. Birth is so excruciating, the Vedic literatures say, that the process eradicates any past-life memories one may have retained.

  12. So after we die, there’s no eternal heaven?There is certainly a eternal spiritual sky. This information is there in Bhagavad Gita. Krsna says:

    Yet there is another nature, which is eternal and when all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is, and that is the supreme destination (Bhagavad-gita 8.20)

    But to reach that place, requires certain qualification — Just like we require the same qualification as prime minister to enter PMO, so we need godly qualities to enter the kingdom of God. We can acquire such godly qualities by living in association of saintly persons, discussing about God and chanting His holy name, the way iron rod acquire all the qualities of fire when placed in fire. This is the secret. Therefore Krsna says:

    He, who practice to remember Me, undeviated from the path, and at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. After attaining Me, the great souls never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries- wherein repeated birth and death take place, because they have attained the highest perfection — (Bhagavad-gita 8.5,7,15)

  13. How do I know that someone, after death, has reincarnated or gone to spiritual world?There are two ways of passing from this world–one in the light and one in darkness. When one passes in light, he does not come back; but when one passes in darkness, he returns. Those who pass away from the world during the influence of the fiery god, in the light, at an auspicious moment, during the fortnight of the moon and the six months when the sun travels in the north, don’t come back, but who passes away from this world during the smoke, the night, the moonless fortnight, or in the six months when the sun passes to the south, again comes back — (Bhagavad gita 8.24-26)

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69 Responses to Reincarnation FAQ

  1. Pranam Prabhu ji ! My question is – Do animals remember about their past life??

    • NO. Even humans don’t remember their previous lives, what to speak of animals. We get our next bodies as a result of our consciousness at the time of death. But death means forgetfulness, so generally no one remembers their previous births. Even Arjuna and Krishna. Krishna said to Arjuna that they were together many times and He [Krishna] could remember them all, but Arjuna could not, because Arjuna took birth in a material body, so he could not remember his previous births. So birth means forgetfulness of his previous births.

  2. Rishav says:

    Sir the person who thinks about Krishna at time of death will attain Krishna abode even the person has no love for Krishna than it is not unjust for us who think about Krishna whole heartedly?And again if devotees who had accident can’t remember God at the time of death will again have to come in this world?plz reply

    • We think of the thing that is most prominent in our life, the thing that is most important to us, the thing that is most dear to us, at the time of death. So naturally a devotee will thing of Krishna at the time of death. And if a non-devotee accidentally thinks of Krishna at the time of his death, that is his great fortune.

      The is the example of Ajamil. He was a brahmana who worshipped Krishna in his youth, but became attracted by a prostitute and become completely fallen and sinful. However, Ajamil had a son and called him “Narayana.”

      Narayana was Ajamil’s youngest and most dear son, so naturally, as he was very attached to his son, when he died Ajamil called out for his son,
      “Narayana!” So, even though he was calling his son, he was remembering the name of Narayana at the time of death. So actually the Yamaduttas came to take Ajamil to Hell because of all his sinful activities, but also the Visnuduttas came to take Ajamil back home back to Godhead.

      So there was a confrontation between the Yamaduttas and the Visuduttas. And the conclusion was that because Ajamil remembered Narayan at the time of death he was qualified for going back to the kingdom of Narayana and did not have to go to Hell for suffering.

      So yes. Devotees will remember Krishna at the time of death, because devotees are constantly, 24 hours a day, always remembering Krishna, so how can a devotee not remember Krishna at the time of death?

      And non-devotees, if they are so fortunate to remember Krishna at the time of death, that is there great fortune.

      However generally, as a devotee is always remembering Krishna and never forgets Krishna, a non-devotee’s mind is always full of material desires and attachment to his family and friends, etc. So for a non-devotee, there is almost no chance of remembering Krishna at the time of death.

      So the moral of the story is become a pure devotee of Krishna and always chant Hare Krishna and read Srimad-Bhagavatam and always speak about Krishna. Never forget Krishna, always remember Krishna, because we never know when death will come.

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  3. Rishav says:

    Can we enjoy material universe while keeping our mind in Krishna is it necessary to keep our mind in Krishna all the time ?Plz answer and one question more is it sin to have premarital sex plz reply sir

    • The two things are opposite, enjoying sex in the material world and remembering Krishna. We have to choose one or the other. Enjoying sex in the material world is the most effective way of becoming completely on bodily, material concept of life. So that is the absolute complete opposite of Krishna consciousness. So in Krishna consciousness sex is only there for having good children in marriage. And that is not possible for us to imagine. But there is some higher, spiritual, taste that devotees who are fully engaged in Krishna consciousness experience, and devotees who are actually Krishna conscious, they are experiencing this spiritual, transcendental pleasure, unlimitedly better than any temporary momentary so-called pleasure available in sex life.

      So pure devotees fully engaged in Krishna consciousness, they have no interest in or desire for sex, because they are no longer on the material bodily concept of life. An actual devotee realizes he is not the material body and he knows that his pleasure is not dependent on the satisfaction of the senses of the body, but the devotee’s pleasure is dependent on the satisfaction of the senses of Krishna. So for devotee, his concept of pleasure is doing something that pleases Krishna. So if, as a result of the devotee’s activities, Krishna, or Krishna’s pure devotee is pleased, then the devotee is happy. And this happiness is so fulfilling and great that the devotee does not even consider trying for satisfying his senses.

      Devotees know their purpose is to serve Krishna, to satisfy the senses of Krishna, and this is actually the only way we can become satisfied ourselves, by satisfying Krishna…

  4. Dimi66 says:

    This claim doesn’t make sense:

    “Similarly, if a woman thinks of her husband at the time of death, naturally she gets the body of a man in her next life. —Srimad Bhagavatam (3.31.41)”

    Because if a man thinks of his or her dog, he or she won’t become a dog!

    • Yes. If a man thinks of his dog at the time of death his next body will be a dogs. And that is a great problem because a dog has very little ability to advance in spiritual life. So the point is to think of Krishna at the time of death. Man has a better chance in some ways at making spiritual advancement than a woman as a women is more materially attached than a man, but a woman also has qualities that make it easier for her to surrender to Krishna than a man. But overall it is considered that a man’s body is more suitable for spiritual advancement than a woman’s body. So for a woman to think of her husband at the time of death, causing her to take a man’s body in the next life, that is advancement. But that is not very big advancement. We actually want to, man or woman, think of Krishna at the time of death and go back home back to Godhead. That is perfection and that perfection is equally open to a man or a woman.

  5. Rohit says:

    Hi Prabhu Ji,
    what is bad to help poor dogs or any other animals, there is a saying that a dog went along with the pandavas till the last with god being inside the dog, even though it is a dirty animal, Krishna told to help all needy and helpless creatures that includes both humans and animals, and he will be pleased with that, he never told to serve him ignoring the helpless and needy, he always told to follow what is true and justice, even people feed crows after death of near ones in hindu mythlogy, so why is it done, crows are considered to be the dirtiest and cursed bird amongst all, no god has ever told to serve only him without helping the needy ones, serving the mankind indirectly serves god

    • It is a mistake to think that by serving the poor, the animals, etc, one serves God. The truth is by serving God you automatically serve everyone. So Krishna consciousness means reawakening our dormant loving relationship with Krishna and surrendering to Him and serving Him.

      There is no benefit in serving dogs and crows. That is not serving God…

      Surrender to Krishna, serve Krishna, let the dogs and crows hear you chanting Hare Krishna and let them taste Krishna prasadam, that will help them. That is the best service you can give to them. Help them become Krishna conscious.

  6. Ashwani pandey says:

    Iskcon says dat we all are rebellious souls who have acted against God and we have try to become fully independent…So in India. 120 crore people lives, so clarify m dat such vast no of souls …I.e crore of souls have revolted against krsna? ..How it’s possible??

    • Hare Krishna Ashwani

      Yes. Everyone in the material world, not just the Indians, not just the humans, every living entity in the material world has revolted against Krishna and we are all trying to imitate Krishna… But even though as you note there are so many living entities in the material world still all the living entities in the material world are but a small fraction of the total number of living entities. Most of the living entities do not revolt against Krishna. Like in the prison most people are not in the prison. So the material world is like the prison. Only a small number of criminals are here in the material world. The normal law abiding citizens never go to the prison.

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  7. Lord_vegan says:

    I read a lot about this, what happens after death and

    one “near-deather” told in his NDE

    that a human soul is an individual soul……

    the animal kingdom has a “groupsoul” which reincarnate as group soul

    a little bit research i try to explain what the groupsoul maybe:

    it is a group – consciousness of a being and there are two ( ! ) ghosts in all beings

    the humanity has two ghosts: the individual soul ( talking, thinking, being creative, learn about
    science, wants to have fun at daytime )
    and the primal soul ( search for meat, need sleep, being hungry, wants
    make children )

    the animal kingdom has only ONE ghost: the “primal soul” ( explanation is above )

    perhaps some one can discuss it?

    when i have an NDE, I only want to ask this questions, what happens with the animal kingdom after death? and when i have got the answer got from ONE light being, i am satisfied, VERY satisfied

    but what about hell? Well……..is it a place for humans, WHO have to learn lessions about their bad behaviour? Did they kill or not respect her own family? Did they hate themselves?

    One Evidence I found about hellish NDE: To take drugs ( ! ) would press you into hell;

    the lession of NDE is often to learn to love YOURSELF and then the others –

    but about reincarnation; i am not satisfied, because i do not know the answer

    i really have questions for the universe

    to live as an animal, i cant imagine……

    i had email conversations with a doctor and HE told me,

    that you when you have not a good part in life – time, being depressed, you feel alone –

    suicide gives not the solution – because the problems still be there – in the other dimension

    i heard about a girl, she told me about her nde

    as she were nine years old, she went to heaven

    “but…….it was still not her time…..she had to go back….

    i wanted to see, whats goin on in the other dimension…..

    and i have soooooo many questions about the universe…..

    • Hare Krishna Lord Vegan

      What you have written is an incomprehensible stream of incoherent rubbish.

      Firstly you need milk products to develop the finer tissues of your brain that are essential for comprehending more subtle subjects like spiritual life. So start drinking hot milk with a little sugar every evening. That will be very good for you.

      You say, “and i have soooooo many questions about the universe…” So we have all the answers and if you just ask your questions briefly without rambling on with all this other stuff I can answer them for you.

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  8. Aarushi says:

    Hare Krishna!

    Sir, I want to develop Krishna consciousness . I want to get ride on all sins done by me .

    Don’t know how to start and need your guidance.

    I started chanting hare Krishna maha mantra but only 11 times in the morning and same in the evening after returning home from work.

    I always feel my mind occupied with queries like can a person who is sinful , who is a cause of others suffering , who is lustful or murderer can Change his life to get devotional ?

    Can he attain nirvana and get free from the cycle of birth and death?

    Is following guru or teaching master important to get Krishna consciousness?

    Please help!.

    • Hare Krishna Aarushi

      The help is you need to follow the four regulative principles: No illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and chant Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds [not times a round is 108 times] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.

      All these things are necessary if you want to get free from the cycle of birth and death.

      Yes surrendering to and following a bona fide guru is essential for getting Krishna Consciousness.

      If you do what I suggested you will be surrendering to and following Srila Prabhupada and he will guide you as you read his books and Krishna will guide you from within your heart.

  9. Connie says:

    The study of reincarnation intrigues me. Dr. Wayne Dyer spoke of a theory that souls sign up to live a certain life on earth. The thought of this has given me some peace. I lost my 23 year old son to addiction. He took his own life. I like to see it as his soul shed his diseased body. Another thought is once the soul is determined to shed the body the ego/mind cannot stop the process. Perhaps all hocus pocus … But I have found some rest here. Enjoyed this writing.

  10. anita says:

    Hi,
    recently my brother was passed away in accident,i want to know did he again rebirth as my son,my brother is too attached with my baby and me,we both doing business in bangalore pass 6 years,we both are too attached,please i want to know did he rebirth as my son,if means how long it will take,awaiting for your reply.
    Thank you.

    • Hare Krishna Anita

      We can not say what happened. It depends on the consciousness of your brother at the time of his death. Generally at the time of death we are separated from our loved ones never to meet again. So most likely you will never meet him again. That is the way of the material world. We became so attached and are then forced to break that attachment by the laws of material nature and that causes us a lot of suffering.

      So we should realize that these relationships in the material world that are only based on the material bodies are temporary and we should not take them very seriously. Rather we need to reestablish our original, eternal relationship with Krishna.

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

      • Naithani says:

        Dear Swami ji,

        My brother died 15 days back due to sickness, my family and me are still under shock , My mother is unable to recover from this shock , she always talks about him only ,I feel very bad when I see the condition of my parents. I stay alone and do get his thoughts many times, what would you recommend, please help us by your kind words.

        • Hare Krishna Naithani

          It is normal actually. In the material world everyone is dying. We become so shocked when some family member dies. But this planet is called mrytu-loka, the planet of death. We have to expect death at any moment. We can not guarantee will we live for one more day, we can not guarantee we will live even for one more minute. So we have to be always ready for death. Krishna instructs in Bhagavad-gita that one who remembers Him at the time of death will not have to take birth in this miserable material world again but will go back home back to Godhead. So we want this. We do not want to come back to this miserable material world full of death again. So we need to live our lives in such a way that we are always remembering Krishna. So that when death comes for us we will be ready, we will be remembering Krishna, chanting Hare Krishna.

          That is the lesson to learn from this incident. That death is normal in the material world. It happens to everyone, and it is going to happen to us, and it can happen to us at any moment. So we need to be ready for death.

          Of course no one dies. Death is just a change of bodies. But we do not want to change to another body in the material world. No. We do not want to come back to this miserable world of death again. We want to go back home, back to Godhead and reinstate ourselves in our original eternal relationship with Krishna in the spiritual world.

          The answer to this problem is of course…. Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

  11. priyanka says:

    Hare krishna prabhu ji as it is written in bhagwad that every living entity on this earth has a fragment of Lord krishna then why do u say not to look after a stray dog who is hungry or for that matter any animal who is suffering we are human beings and unlike other animals we can help those who are suffering by helping others aren’t we serving to Lord krsna as every life on this earth is made by him has his fragment …..human beings can be selfish but dogs are loving I bbelieve that even dogs are close to god and every species are …

    • Hare Krishna Priyanka

      This is nonsense.

      You can not help anyone.

      Everyone is enjoying or suffering according to his karma.

      You can not change anyone’s karma.

      The only way you can help anyone is by first becoming Krishna conscious yourself and then helping others become Krishna conscious. Of course it may be possible to make a dog Krishna conscious. But you will have much better luck making humans Krishna conscious.

      If you spend your life serving dogs then you will take birth as a dog in your next life which will be a very unfortunate situation for you.

      A dog does not have any facility for making spiritual advancement. A dog is completely on the bodily concept of life. He is only concerned with eating, sleeping, sex and defending. At least in the human form of life we can consider the more important spiritual questions. So it would be a great pity for you to loose the human form of life and take on a dog’s body in your next life because you dedicated this life to serving dogs.

      So it would be a great mistake to dedicate your life to serving dogs…

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

      • Mark says:

        Actually, dogs (when treated kindly) are loving. I’ve been taught that they are only interested in sex, food and sleep. But in actuality they also protect, play, work and love.
        You’ve said that there is no true love in this world. I disagreed. I’ve experienced true love in this life. God is here, and he is love. He’s in my heart, your heart and in a dog’s heart. Therefore we all experience love.
        Your attitude about dogs is odd. Prabhupad says that KRSNA loves the animals and cares for them. We should do the same.

        • Hare Krishna Mark

          Dogs are interested in food basically. So they ‘love’ the person who feeds them. The food is the point. If you ‘love’ protect and feed a dog, then the dog will ‘love’ you because you are feeding it and you are nice to it. In return the dog will protect you and even give his life for you.

          There is no difference between a dog and a person. The spirit soul in the dog’s body is the same as the spirit soul in your body. So the dog is also a person, the only thing is he is in a dog’s body. So being in a dog’s body that limits the amount he can interact with us. He can not speak, because he does not have a mouth and tongue capable of that, he has to act like a dog because he is in a dog’s body. But he is a person, he has all the feelings and attributes as any other person. The only thing is his interface to the world is a dog’s body, so he has to act as a dog.

          But the point for us, for our own spiritual upliftment, is that we want to get out of the material world, we want to progress spiritually. The position of a dog is not very good for spiritual life. The human form of life is a great vehicle for making spiritual progress. But if we spend our time in the human form of life associating with dogs, loving dogs, thinking about dogs, then at the time of death we will remember the dogs and that will cause us to take a dog’s body in our next birth. And that is very bad for us. Because in a dogs body all we can do is bark and act like a dog…

          So it is for this reason that devotees do not spend their time with dogs. Dogs also are very unclean and carry diseases and for that reason it is not good to be very closely associated with dogs…

          Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

          Madhudvisa dasa

          • Mark says:

            I understand your position, but I also believe that when KRSNA says that what web”think” of at the time of physical death we become, is our overall attitude….it’s our mind frame……our accumulated thoughts, perceptions and actions.
            I certainly don’t believe that a single thought will doom me to the animal kingdom at death. KRSNA has great grace.
            On the other hand, a lifetime of obsession with animals will doom one to the animal kingdom. That I would agree with.
            However, there are “sins of commission ” and “sins of omission.” It’s a sin to commit sin, and it’s a sin to omit doing good.
            We must do good to All creatures, otherwise we are no better than them.
            We don’t do good to dogs, cows, etc. simply because they are “cute”. We do it because we have God in our heart, and because God is in their heart.

          • Hare Krishna Mark

            Yes. Of course. Devotees are good to all creatures. They see Krishna in the hearts of every living entity and want to help all living entities including the dogs, cats, etc. Devotees like to see the dogs and cats dancing in the Krishna kirtans also. And they like to distribute prasadam also to the dogs and cats. So devotees are concerned about all living entities.

            But they are are careful to remain Krishna conscious, they don’t want to become attached to material things, they don’t want to be thinking about their dog, they want to be thinking about Krishna. So this is the point. It is true as you say, what comes into one’s mind at the time of death is the product of his whole life, what has been prominent in his whole life. So if he is very much attached to his pet dog and is always thinking of his pet dog, then naturally at the time of his death he will be thinking of that dog and that is a great disaster. Because his next body will be a dogs body…

            Human form of life is very good for spiritual advancement, but a dogs body is not very good. So we have to be very careful what we become attached to in this life. We want to become attached to Krishna so we will remember Krishna at the time of death.

            Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

            Madhudvisa dasa

        • Melinda says:

          I agree with you, Mark. Each dog is as much an individual as each human is, or any other being for that matter. I find dogs in general to be far more loving and loyal than the average human. I think about God when I am with my dog. It’s not that because I love my dog I replace God with her, any more than I would replace God with another human. If we love God then we love all of God’s children. And that means we should look after them, especially the beings who God has brought into our lives in a more personal way.

          • Unfortunately you will have a dog’s body in your next life. Which means you will not have any facility for spiritual advancement. The reality is dogs are friendly to the person who feeds them. A dog’s love is based on food only. If you stop feeding that dog and someone else starts feeding it he will ‘love’ that other person. A dogs love is based on who feeds him.

            So devotees do not have dogs. Devotees do not love dogs. They love Krishna, become attached to Krishna, always remember Krishna, always think about Krishna, then at the time of death they remember Krishna and because they remember Krishna at the time of death they go back home back to Godhead, to the spiritual world, where they are reinstated in their original eternal relationship of serving Krishna.

          • Mark says:

            Madhuvisa says you will become a dog when you die. That’s nonsense. How does he know what you will become when you die? Only Got knows what we will become when we die, and Madhuvisa isn’t God.
            The Lord Jesus Christ said, “How can you love God whom you have not seen if you don’t love your brother whom you have seen?” In other words, how you treat others is how you feel about God. It is possible to love animals and other humans. And it’s not an artificial love. I don’t buy this “there is no true love except for KRSNA nonsense. I find it a cold philosophy that is contrary to basic religion and common sense.
            The fact is, how we treat others shows whether we have God’s love in our heart. Where love is, there is God also.

          • I am not saying she will become a dog. Krishna is saying ‘yam yam vapi smaran…’, ‘Whatever consciousness you have at the time of death that state you will attain in the next life.’ So if you are thinking of your dog at the time of death your are in dog consciousness and you will get the body of a dog in your next life. This is science, this is the law of karma, it is how the transmigration of the soul works.

  12. Michelle Rhodes says:

    My brother Charlie was 21 when he got murdered back in 2014 of April. So it is now June 19 2014 and my mom and I got a new puppy from its owner and the dog name is Charlie as well. Its a shitzu. 8 weeks old enough time for my brother to be reincarnated. The dog is now home with us and it acts like its been knowing us for,forever. The puppy rub across my leg the first night it got to or house and it knows its name which is unlikely for an 8 week old puppy. But its been peace and good feelings around the house I truly believe that the puppy is my brother. Creepy but cool xD

  13. Santwana says:

    There are many questions in my mind regarding birth and rebirth like how many times one takes rebirth,after how many days or months or years one will take rebirth,in which country he/she will take rebirth and most important query is that as we are human being we can know about our karma and deeds but how a dog, cat or mouse will know that they are doing good karma or not..Also in which country we will take birth,how one soul travels from india to america etc.

  14. Ish says:

    Dear Medhuvisa Dasa Thank you for your answer.
    I can’t understand why we are here. Why there are men and Women. And what is Love for Lord Krishna?
    If I pray for Lord Krishna every day, every hour, every minute till my life end, and Lord Krishna accept me to his adobe, is there a chance I can meet my fiancé?
    I was always thinking that Love was something sacred and eternal.
    There is so much pain inside me and I am thinking of doing the same thing as my fiancé but I don’t know if this is the solution.
    Please help me.

    • Hare Krishna Ish.

      No. That is NOT the solution. This material world IS a painful place. It is meant to be painful. The spiritual world is our real home and that is the place we can be happy. But if you kill your body then that is a great sinful act and as a punishment for that you will be forced to stay in the material world for many, many births. So that would be a VERY BAD idea…

      Just become a pure devotee of Krishna by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and following the four regulative principles and in a short time you will be feeling transcendental pleasure, the pain will be gone. As far as your fiance, you never really saw her. What you were attached to was her body only and her body is gone now. Even if you saw her again you would not even recognize her. You have to realize that this is the frustrating nature of the material world. We are searching for eternal love but we misidentify our body with our self and our girlfriends body with her and we fall in ‘love’. But this is not at all love. Love is only possible with Krishna. As soon as there is some change of body as you have experienced with your fiance this material so-called love is finished and we suffer so much.

      It is bound to happen sooner or later. If you fall in love with anyone in the material world that is simply a perverted reflection of our real love with Krishna and it has no real substance. That so-called love will break and you will suffer greatly. So we must not fall in love with someone’s material body like this. We have to reestablish our original, eternal loving relationship with Krishna.

      So the summary is just surrender to Srila Prabhupada, read his books and follow the instructions you find he will give you and become a pure devotee of Krishna and you will be happy, really happy on the spiritual platform.

      If you do kill your body you will not die. You can kill the body but you can not kill the soul. And if you do this that is a great sin and you can not imagine the suffering you will be put into because of that sin. So do not do it. You will be very, very sorry if you do…

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  15. Ish says:

    Please help me. I recently lost my fiance. He committed suicide by hanging in his room. I don’t know what to do. He made so many promises to me and now he left me alone. But I still love him more than anything. I can’t understand what to do. I want to talk to him. He was a very good human being, loving, caring and always helping others. I have a lot of mixed emotions- confusion, sadness, pain, anger, guilt, helplessness. I want to know what has happened to him and what can I do to help him and if I will be able to meet him again or never.

    • Hare Krishna Ish

      Unfortunately this is the nature of the material world.

      These relationships we make here with friends and family are only based on the body and are very temporary and can end at any moment. You have to transfer the love you felt for your fiance to Krishna. Krishna is the real reservoir for all our love. Krishna is eternal and we, as spirit souls, are His eternal servants. Until we reestablish our eternal loving relationship with Krishna we will continue to suffer because we become attached to the bodies of others.

      So the only solution is to become Krishna conscious. There is no other solution. We have to give up our attachment to all these false relationships in the material world that are only based on the temporary material body and instead reestablish our eternal loving relationship with Krishna. That is the only solution.

      We only meet with some other living entities here and stay in connection with them for a few days and then there is some turbulence and we are separated forever… The analogy is that there are some sticks and twigs floating down a river and for some time one twig is floating next to another twig. That is like you and your fiance, then there is a little turbulence in the river and the twigs are separated never to meet again. That is the nature of the material world so we should not become attached to any of these relationships based on the material body, instead we have to become attached to Krishna…

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  16. Moe says:

    Well, I believe in reincarnation. I was talking to my grandma about it and the cat can understand what she wants it to do, so she believes that it was human. I said,”So maybe Figero was reincarnated to be a cat” And it squints at me like “How do you know that?” xD

  17. Hareendran says:

    Hare Krishna Prabhu,
    Is it possible for a devotee to rear a dog?

    • Why associate with a dog? Do you want to become attached to a dog and become a dog in your next life??? A devotee only serves Krishna, he does not do anything for himself. So how on earth is serving a dog serving Krishna?

      Please forget about this dog consciousness and become Krishna conscious. A dog is a very unclean and very inauspicious animal. You don’t want to be thinking of your dog at the time of death. Forget about the dog. Remember Krishna.

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  18. VIJAY says:

    very good meterial.i got some enlightment through it. om namay shivaye. hare krishna

  19. anshuman says:

    i m in love with a person….i know i’ll nvr get tht person…..i cry….i suffocate…..the harder i try to remove tht person from my heart the closer it comes…..this suffocation is killing me…..i don know wat sins i hv done bcoz of which this is happeneing……bt i wan my life back….plz help

    • Hare Krishna Ansh

      There is no point in this silly falling in love. It is not love, it is lust only. Your body is attracted to their body and your mind has simply gone crazy and invented so many imaginary situations that will never become reality. There is no real love in the material world. Everyone is interested in their own personal benefit, they do not love anyone else. They are only concerned with their own pleasure and when the don’t get it any more in a relationship the ‘love’ is finished.

      So I can understand your difficult position but you have to at least intellectually understand that this material love is nonsense and instead you have to try to fall in love with Krishna. Love in the material world is simply a perverted reflection of our real love with Krishna. It is a reflection only, not the real thing. Just like if you see a mango tree reflected in the water of a lake, you can see everything. You can see the mangos but if you try and grab those reflected mangos in the lake and taste them it is not at all possible to taste the mangoes in this way. There is no mango there in the reflection, you are looking for the mangos in the wrong place. If you want the real mangos you have to look in the tree not in the reflection in the lake.

      So if you want real love you have to look for that in your relationship with Krishna, not in the perverted reflection of that original spiritual love in this material world.

      So the medicine to cure your disease is chanting:

      Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
      Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

      at least 16 rounds a day and following the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gabling and no intoxication) and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. And in the beginning you may find this a little difficult to do. But for any disease the cure may be a little difficult but if we actually want to become well we have to tolerate the cure. And as your material disease becomes cured the chanting of Hare Krishna and following the regulative principles and reading Prabhupada’s books will become a very blissful and joyful occupation for you and you will actually really feel your original loving relationship with Krishna being reawakened and your attachments for things of the material world will simply drop away…

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  20. kshan says:

    we lost our darling one and a half year old puppy on a flight to India from abroad. it was on 15 July 2011. we arrived at bangalore about 3 pm and the poor pup arrived dead. the doctor at the airport said he might have died about 2 hours earlier, that is, around 1 pm Indian time. it broke our hearts. we are still heart broken, trying to cope with the tragedy. obviously the pup died due to suffocation, due to lack of oxygen/air conditioning in the cargo hold.

    we are Hindus and believe in God. we hope our little pup comes back to us.
    could you please help us – when will he come back? how do we recognize him? we are back in the middle east where we bought him first and travelled to India from … we are waiting for our pup.

    please help with your answers, suggestions, advice …

    thank you

    • Hare Krishna Kshan

      That is the nature of the material world. It is like twigs flowing down a river. Sometimes one twig is close to another twig and then there is some turbulance in the water and the twigs are separated and they never meet again. So it is pointless to become attached to things in the material world like this dog because as soon as there is a little turblance you will be separated and will never meet again. This happens with everyone, not just dogs. So it is better not to become attached to things in the material world but rather become attached to Krishna. Because our relationship with Krishna is eternal and is on the level of the spirit soul, not the body. So even when our body dies our relationship with Krishna continues.

      So the whole idea of Krishna consciousness is to eliminate all these material attachments and replace them with attachment to Krishna.

      Forget about your puppy, he is gone now and you will never see him again, he is no longer a puppy, he will have taken birth in another body somewhere else according to his destiny… And chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

      • anon says:

        What a horrible and cold reply. Forget about their precious puppy? Just because you believe in Krishna doesn’t mean you have to tell people to just forget their puppy, that he is gone forever and they will never see him again. We don’t have to forget our loved ones.

        And please, anyone reading this, don’t put your animals on a plane, especially not in cargo. I hear too many stories like this one. My heart goes out to the people who lost their puppy.

        • This is the way of the material world. We become attached to others, human or animal, simply on the basis of the material body. She was not attached to the puppy. She was attached to the material body of the puppy. And that is now gone. So the only logical thing is to forget it and move on because she will never see that puppy again. Even if somehow she bumps into the spirit soul who was living in that puppy body she will not recognize her dear puppy because she was not attached to the actual spiritual person inside the puppy, no, she was attached to his fluffy material body and that is gone now, never to return again.

          So the moral of the story is don’t get attached to anything material because all material things are temporary and we, are eternal spirit souls. So that means we will loose every material thing that we become attached to and that causes pain and suffering as this lady is experiencing with her puppy.

          The sad thing is if she takes your advice and does not forget her puppy she will remember that puppy at the time of her death and will take a dogs body in her next life. Which is not a good thing. To fall from the human platform to the dog platform is a great loss, a great waste of the human form of life…

          So don’t get attached to puppies…. It is NOT a good idea…

          Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

          Madhudvisa dasa

          • Preet says:

            Hi..
            I read your reply regarding that pup’s loss… I totally agree to your wise words. The material world is truely painful and attachment to any material thing is just pain and sufferings.I agree on your words that love with God is eternal and i strongly believe that chanting upon Supreme’s name is the sole rescue to such sufferings . But can you enlighten me on one thing that what is the concept of twin soul or soulmates which people often talk about and which is not appropriately answered by anyone. What is the force which makes two unknown people meet and they become precious to each other? Do all the people we meet on earth have materialistic reasons behind??? Isn’t there anything called genuine and pure love between two people??

          • Hare Krishna Preet

            No, there is not any genuine love between two people. In the material world there is no such thing as love. It is lust. What if your soulmate is born as a cockroach. Will you love that cockroach. No of course not. How many people have cockroaches as their soulmates. None. So it is all rubbish, nonsense. It is all materialistic. Based on the body. Your soulmate is the one in a nice woman’s body, not the one in a cockroaches body. So you are in ‘love’ with the nice woman’s body, and you are not in love with the cockroaches body. It has absolutely nothing to do with the soul. It is 100% on the bodily concept of life.

            The only way there can be any genuine love between two people is if the two people are in love with Krishna and there relationship is to cooperate with each other to serve Krishna. That is real love. Real love is for Krishna.

  21. Les Gardner says:

    Hello,
    I was read somewhere that there were 9 animals that could directly reincarnate to human form in the next life cycle. Does anyone know what the nine animals are?
    Thank you,
    Les

    • Hare Krishna Les

      Not nine, three. One for each of the modes of material nature. The animal in the mode of goodness [sattva-guna] who’s next birth is human is the cow, in the mode of passion [rajo-guna] it is the lion and in the mode of ignorance [tamo-guna] it is the monkey. So these three animals are top of each of the three modes of material nature in the animal forms and they will get human bodies in the next birth.

      Madhudvisa dasa

      • Martin . says:

        Hello and Hare Krishna!

        I read: “when he dies in the mode of ignorance, he takes birth in the animal kingdom”(Bhagavad-gita 14.14-15)”.

        Does that mean as an animal on earth (we sometimes call the environment of animals here on earth “the animal kingdom”)? Or does the Bhagavad-gita refer to some other world?

        Thank you for answering,

        Martin

  22. kshan says:

    we lost our pet dog on july 15 on flight to India, and we are heart broken. my son is depressed and my heart aches. the pet was very close to us, a loving darling. it possibly died due to lack of air, suffocation.
    we buried the dog in my parents house, in the garden adjacent to the house, because he always wanted to be near us, not alone.
    can you please tell me if he will come back to us, be reincarnated somewhere near us? how i wish i can recognise him, wish he comes back to us. should i look for him here in India, or where we came from?
    please answer my questions. we are really suffering … the dog was only one and a half years old, too young to die …
    hope you’ll help, thank you

    • Hare Krishna Kshan

      It is not very good to become so attached to a dog. You may know that there is a narration in the Srimad-Bhagavatam about Maharaja Bharata. He was a great yogi and mystic practicing spiritual realization in the Himalayas. He was every day very carefully performing his religious duties, but then one day he saw a tiger chasing one female deer. The deer, trying to escape from the tiger jumped over a river but she was pregnant and died. The small baby deer was born prematurely and Maharaja Bharata naturally as a kind hearted sadhu adopted the baby deer and fed it and kept it warm and looked after it in every way. As the baby deer grew it became very playful and Maharaja Bharata became very attached to the baby deer.

      He became completely captivated by the deer and could no longer concentrate on his spiritual duties. He was always thinking about where his deer was and worrying if it was safe…

      So in this way he died thinking of the deer and as a result of this he had to take birth as a deer in his next life.

      So it is very dangerous to become so attached to an animal like this. The human form of life is very special. Only in the human form of life can we question, “Why am I here? What is the purpose of life? What happens after death?” And in the human form of life we can find the answers to these questions and perfect our life and escape from the cycle of samsara, repetition of birth and death.

      So if you become so attached to a dog and think of the dog at the time of death then you will be forced to take birth as a dog in your next life and that will be a great disaster. You will have lost the special opportunity of the human form of life.

      So if you are at all interested in making spiritual advancement you should avoid this close attachment and affection for animals…

      As far as the dog, he died when he was supposed to die according to his karma and the suffering that his death is causing you is also due to your karma and you have to see it like this. You have no particular attachment to the living entity who was present in the dog’s body. You were just attached to that dog’s body. So the dog’s body that you were attached to is gone now, rotting in the ground, and will never come back. You do not even know the living entity who was in the dog’s body…

      As animals do not have the free choice to to right and wrong as we in the human bodies do, they do not generate good or bad karma in their animal bodies. Animal bodies are for burning off karma which is generated in their previous human bodies. So he will take birth again in a species higher than a dog automatically and will gradually make his way back to the human form of life again after many, many rebirths…

      So the best thing is you should get over this attachment to the dog, forget about it. This is the nature of the material world. Everything is temporary, transitory. You can not expect anything to last, so it is better not to get attached to these temporary material bodies because if you do you are bound to be separated and that will cause you grief…

      So I suggest you read Bhagavad-gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami and start chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra:

      Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
      Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

      And gradually this will awaken your spiritual consciousness and you will be able to see things as they are and instead of becoming attached to temporary material things like the dog’s body, you will become attached to Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And if you can develop a relationship with Krishna that will be eternal. And there will be no separation… This is the only way we can be truly happy…

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhuvisa dasa

  23. Dr. Vikram Raj Singh Chauhan says:

    Hare Rama Hara Krishna,
    I am forensic scientist dealing with cases of Reincarbation. I need ur blessings.
    Dr. Vikram Raj Singh Chauhan
    2460/1, Shamsher Singh Street,
    Near Triveni Chowk, Patiala-147001-(Punjab) India
    Phones: 09814030711, 09316530711
    E-mails: vikramrajchauhan@gmail.com and vikramrajchauhan@yahoo.com

  24. aishwarya says:

    hare krishna

    i would like to know whther our pet dogs can recarnate and born as human.my dog died but she had a sense like humans and wish she could be born in my family again

  25. […] I don’t know how reliable the Krishna org statistic about this is but they did a survey on it in the USA:   https://krishna.org/reincarnation-faq/ […]

  26. anon says:

    Hi first of im sorry for posting this in which may be the wrong place to do so but i really need closure on this topic. i come from a family who’s life is devoted to krishna consciousness and im the black sleep of this family. i have attended the hare krishna temples to an extent but have given up on that completely in the recent months. i do believe in god and please mind me for saying this but i just don’t trust in him anymore. my life has been downhill from the begining. i clearly remember once going to temple when i was much younger, there was a lecture been given by a swami whos name i don’t remember and the conclusion/point of the lecture was that we all live for love, without it life has no meaning. ive had many medical problems preventing me from ever having a normal relationship. i cant go on knowing im going to be alone for the rest of my life. with that being said, im ready for death, contemplating it this very moment. the only thing that scares the hell out of me is what happens after death. are there any guarantees espically when is wasen’t natural? please answer me a.s.a.p. i would like nothing more than to break the cycle of birth and death for good. what happens to the soul when life’s ended by suicide? some say that the world we live in is actually hell and going back to godhead would be heaven, is there any truth to that? i believe that nobodys happy, everybody has problems so why would we want to come back to this horrible place called earth

    • Hare Krishna!

      Today’s ISKCON is a mess and you are one of the victims of this mess.

      The Swami you heard speaking at ISKCON was talking complete nonsense. “We all live for love…” It is not like that at all. There is no love in this material world. It is, as you are experiencing it, a place of suffering.

      Don’t worry. You are seeing the world as it is. A miserable place full of suffering. You have been “brainwashed” into thinking that this world is a wonderful place and that somehow you are missing out. But no, everyone here in the material world is simply suffering. This world is for suffering.

      The place where we can be happy is the spiritual world, the Kingdom of God. So we need to use this human form of life to make our journey back home, back to Godhead.

      The human form of life is very valuable. We can use this human form of life to completely escape from the suffering of the material world and to return to the spiritual world where we will regain our original, eternal spiritual body that is full of bliss and knowledge.

      You can not escape the sufferings of this world by commiting suicide. That is a very big mistake and will simply make things much worse for you. You will suffer much more for untimely ending your life. You have this human form of life for a purpose and that purpose is to serve Krishna. So please use this vauable human form of life by studying the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and there you will find all the answers you are looking for and you will find a path that enables you to transcend the problems of this world even while you are in a material body and at the end you will remember Krishna and go back to Krishna.

      So please stay away from ISKCON and take shelter of Srila Prabhuapda and chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
      Madhudvisa dasa

  27. Sarat says:

    I do not understand why the purpose of Soul is to cut off from the cycle of birth & death . Firstly there is no death for the SOUL it is only the body which die, since there is no death to the soul obviously there is no birth, but then soul enters a body uses it and then deserts it, So the pain of life and death is for the body , the soul does not suffer. Further if life has a purpose and God wants us to do some thing how can the soul do any thing if it is out of the cycle. Supposing all the souls join back with God then Srusti becomes meaningless!

  28. James 1974 says:

    To come back as a dog.? The human brain is well advanced.The knowledge that we know is 25,000 times of a dog.A computer can’t even do things the human brain can do.I would say that it is in the D.N.A. Why should we revert back to a dog?.The human brain is so unique.I always concluded,once you’re in.You’re in.As long as there are humans around us we’ll come back as humans.But if one human were to die on an island of dogs with no humans around.I don’t know what would happen.We have to die with humans around us.

    • Hare Krishna James

      A dog does four things, he eats, he sleeps, he has sex and he defends himself and his family. He has all the relationships and attachments we have. If you have had a pet dog you will know he has attachment for his owner and he likes certain foods and does not like other foods. He is an individual just like you. And yes, in the human form of life we have a great opportunity, but if we just use the human form of life for these four things: eating, sleeping, mating and sex, then we are no better than the dog. Human form of life is meant for making spiritual advancement, it is only in the human form of life that we can question, “Why am I here?”, “What happens after death?”, etc. If we do not ask these questions and die simply trying to eat, sleep, mate and defend, then we are dying in animal consciousness and our next body will be an animal’s body. Our next body is created as a result of our consciousness at the time of death. That is why we are trying to be Krishna conscious all the time, so at the time of death we will remember Krishna and will not have to take another birth in this material world, but will go back home, back to Godhead, to live with Krishna.

      As far as the DNA is concerned, the DNA of a man and the DNA of a mouse are virtually identical. So it is not the DNA that is determining anything, it is the soul. You may like to look at this article:

      https://krishna.org/born-again-findings-of-the-genome-project-have-given-an-impetus-to-the-theory-of-reincarnation/

      In the genome project scientists were thinking that man would have about 100,000+ genes compared to the mouse’s 30,000. But turns out that man only has about 30,000 also and they are practically identical…

      • Abhijit says:

        Hare Krishna
        Namaste, I am new to krishna consciousness
        I enjoy reading your articles and it helps me think of krishna almost all the time.
        I really want to know about what a human should do in this life according to krishna consciousness apart from: no illicit sex, no gambling no meat eating no intoxication no smoking etc.I follow all these rules.
        The bhagavad gita talks about detachment from material things eg money which is the most important thing now a days, I am a management student for me my career, job, family, business are most important, money is very important to survive but all these things are material, when I die these things will remain behind. I know that but it is impossible to be non material in today’s life………. Is it possible to remain material and still be close to Lord Krishna

        • Hare Krishna Abhijit Prabhu

          Following the four rules (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) is essential for the practice of Krishna consciousness but simply following these rules is not Krishna consciousness. These rules simply bring one to the human platform. Krishna consciousness involves performing devotional service. We are all servants by nature. Mostly we are serving some master in the material world with the object of satisfying our own senses or the senses of our family, etc. This is material consciousness.

          Krishna consciousness means to serve in the material world with the objective of satisfying Krishna’s senses. That is the difference between material consciousness and Krishna consciousness. The materialist works for the pleasure of his own senses or for the pleasure of his families senses whereas the devotee works solely for the pleasure of Krishna’s senses.

          Exactly how to do this we need to get the instruction of the bona fide spiritual master.

          Of course in addition to following the four regulative principles we MUST chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra daily. You do not mention that you are doing this. We must do it. That is the practical process that enables us to keep our mind on Krishna, ie: Krishna Consciousness, without chanting Hare Krishna there can be no Krishna consciousness.

          Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
          Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

          Also please read the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. You can read them online at http://www.PrabhuapdaBooks.com or get the printed books at http://www.KrishnaStore.com

          Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

          Madhudvisa dasa

    • rita says:

      we can become an animal, If we became Human so it all depend in our karma. each one pay there own price.

      Hi James 1974
      you have spoke about computer is clever.

      My answer to you

      Human have made computer. computer do not work on its own, Human activate the computer. so who is clever, Human or computer.

      • hrushikesh says:

        Human beings think from past experiences, knowledge …. In reality we do not know what is future and past every body is commenting based on his personal experiences (may be feeling also), their practices.. Evey one feels they are correct

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