Answer: Traditionally the community form of Hindu monastic life is of three kinds: the Ashrama, the Math and the Akhada. The Ashrama is a temporary institution meant for a small group of people. It is normally without any permanent arrangement for worship. The Ashrama form of life is meant not only for monks but also for householders. The ancient Rishis who lived in Ashramas were married people.
The Math is a permanent institution with permanent arrangement for worship, started by Shankaracharya. Following him, Ramanujacharya and Madhvacharya also founded Maths. The Math is meant for a single monk, spreading Dharma among the people.
The Akhada is a semi-permanent institution in which worship does not play an important role. It consists of a loosely-knit community of very large number of monks who do not follow a written rule. This kind of monastic institution was founded by Madhusudan Saraswati in 16th Century.

But, the Ramakrishna Order does not conform to any of the patterns of monastic life mentioned above although it includes the good aspects of all of them. The truth is, the lifestyle of the members of the Ramakrishna Order is a new way of life, which is based on the lives and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda and other Direct Disciples, and the vision of Vedic Rishis with a modern outlook. They live with a motto as taught by Swami Vivekananda, "For one's own salvation and for the good of the world", through renunciation and service.

Answer: 1. Shravana is hearing from the teacher or coming to know from any other authoritative source, about the Truth. It should give conviction about the Truth. Manana is constant thinking or reasoning about the Truth. Nididhyasana or meditation is a stream of ideas of the same kind as that of the Truth excluding the every other ideas. In this state, ratiocination is absent; the aspirant goes on contemplating on the Truth, till he gets established in the Truth. These three terms are not so difficult to understand; rather, more difficult it is to do proper Shravana and Manana, which are more beneficial. Take an idea from an authoritative scripture or person, and go on contemplating on it; this will help you to do Nididhyasana properly and in course of time, to live that idea in your life. Swami Vivekananda said, "Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. ... If we really want to be blessed, and make others blessed, we must go deeper." (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 1, page - 177)
2. When thinking goes on inside, probably you also think of form and name. That is why you hear the sound. When one advances in spiritual life, and goes deeper and deeper, there does not arise thought, name and form; you will also hear the sound - 'Om' to the exclusion of all other thoughts and sounds. As you grow in spiritual life, thought waves gradually reduce. Every one may not think as you think and do. Each has got his own method. To go beyond thoughts, sound, name and form - must be the goal of every spiritual aspirant. You can do this by gradual and sincere uninterrupted practice and under the guidance of a competent Guru. Only hearing will help you to clear some of the doubts you may be having and to strengthen the faith you already have about the goal to be achieved.
3. You have already answered your question in your doubt no. 1, as 'Swajaatiya Vritti ... Tiraskaara'. Hold on to one thought - 'Aham Brahmasmi' and repeat the Vedic dictum with intense contemplation on it which will, in time, lead you to realize it. There is no other way.
4. We understand from your e-mail that you are not formally initiated by getting a Mantra from a competent Guru. You have written, "I have tried to meditate in different ways, but haven't been able to carry it out systematically." We therefore request you to follow one method of meditation according to an authoritative book for the time being, and in the meanwhile, you should seek for a guru. And also sincerely pray to the Lord to find a competent Guru. In the proper time, the Lord arranges the sincere aspirants to get a competent guru who is able to show him the spiritual path faultlessly.
After finding a proper guru you should get yourself initiated by him who will give you a Mantra and instruct you how to meditate. According to his instructions, you should proceed slowly. However, it is generally advised to meditate in the heart than in the head. If you so desire to take initiation from the Ramakrishna Order, please contact any of our centres. We find from your letter that there is lot of confusion in your mind. We, therefore, request you to find at first your spiritual preceptor and then, it is better to consult him regarding these personal doubts than to seek too many individual opinions and thus get more confused.

Answer: We request you to read all the four Yogas by Swami Vivekananda, viz., Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga & Raja Yoga and you yourself can decide which Yoga will suit you. If you can harmonize all the four Yogas in your day-to-day life, as taught by Swami Vivekananda, you will certainly be successful in your spiritual life.

Answer: Age limit is fixed so that the new entrant can give his best to the organization and serve the cause whole-heartedly. If a person becomes old and jaded, much of his energy is spent in his own interest. Swami Vivekananda wanted young, unmarried, energetic, strong and believing young men who are full of attitude of service and renunciation to dedicate themselves for oneÕs own salvation and for the good of the world. Minimum qualification with the age limit is necessary to undertake various types of responsibilities which requires skill, knowledge and also expertise.
Again, Sri Ramakrishna used to tell that the older people are like jars in which curd was kept and still the curd is attached to its sides here and there; in those jars, you cannot keep fresh milk Ð it will be spoiled; instead, if the jar is cleaned and pure, you may safely keep the milk in it; similarly, the minds of the young people are like those cleaned jars Ð pure, uncontaminated from worldliness, vanity, egotism, pride, arrogance, lack of humility, etc., which are most essential to become a monk. It is generally observed that when a person is much qualified or who has lots of riches, becomes egotistic. There are rare cases no doubt, in which, special discretion of the General Secretary of our Order is required.
This age limit, rules and regulations are fixed for the ordinary people like us. You cannot compare yourself to the extraordinary persons like Bhagavan Buddha and Lord Mahaveer Jain. If you are so qualified, you can have your own organization, stand on your own legs and you need not join the Ramakrishna Math & Mission to become a monk.

Answer: We may look at the question from two standpoints : Monism & Dualism.

From the standpoint of Monism, the question cannot arise at all, as to the monists, the world or the creation does not exist and only the God or Brahman exists, whatever they see is He only. According to this view, we see the world due to our ignorance or Maya. Whereas from the standpoint of Dualism, the world / creation exists. It is said that God created this world in a playful mood. He enjoys with His created world.

To the question - Why should God make us run about? Sri Ramakrishna said: "It is His will that we should run about a little. Then it is great fun. God has created the world in play, as it were. This is called Mahamaya, the Great Illusion. Therefore, one must take refuge in the Divine Mother, the Cosmic Power Itself. It is She who has bound us with the shackles of illusion. The realization of God is possible only when those shackles are severed.

One must propitiate the Divine Mother, the Primal Energy, in order to obtain God's grace. God Himself is Mahamaya, who deludes the world with Her illusion and conjures up the magic of creation, preservation, and destruction. She has spread this veil of ignorance before our eyes. We can go into the inner chamber only when She lets us pass through the door. Living outside, we see only outer objects, but not that Eternal Being, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute." (Reference: 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna', Page Number: 116).

Questions like the one that you have put won't yield anything good; rather, for a man, it is much better to strive sincerely to reach the goal of our life. The Goal is to know our Real Nature or in another words, God Realization. What is required of us is to utilize the multifarious nature/world properly so that we may become stronger and get out of the veil of Maya and realize our Real Nature.

It is worth-quoting Swami Vivekananda here; he says :

This world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong. (Ref.: 'The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda', { in short, C.W. } Vol. 5, page no. 410)

What is the purpose of the whole of nature? That the Purusha (i.e., the jiva) may gain experience. The Purusha has, as it were, forgotten its mighty, godly nature.Ó (C.W. Vol.1, page no. 248)

This world is not our habitation, it is only one of the many stages through which we are passing. Remember that great saying of the Sankhya, "The whole of nature is for the soul, not the soul for nature." The very reason of nature's existence is for the education of the soul; it has no other meaning; it is there because the soul must have knowledge, and through knowledge free itself.Ó (C.W. Vol. 1, page no. 56-57)

Response to the Above: I am a devotee. My problem is: I am doing Hari Namasmarana (remembrance of the Lord) some days continuously & giving gap some days. Because if I do it continuously, I am going very deep, and by that depth I am becoming fool; my friends are telling, 'He is becoming a Sannyasin (monk).' By this my Sadhana (spiritual practice) is getting disturbed. Please give me good instructions to continue my Sadhana without any disturbance from others. How to do Sadhana - because by doing Sadhana for 2-3 days continuously, I am going very deep. Please tell me how I should do.

Answer to the above Response: Matter is simple. If the Hari Naamasmarana gives you peace and bliss, and it suits your constitution, please continue to do it. Don't worry about the public criticism. You cannot satisfy your friends. The tongue has no bone. Today they criticize you, tomorrow they praise you. Don't pay any heed to them. Be indifferent. You are doing it for your own good. While doing Naama Japa (repeating the Lord's Name), please also pray to the Lord to give good sense to your friends.

Response to the Above: What is the difference between Vairagya & Sannyasa ? The person who has Vairagya - is he a Sannyasin (monk) ?

Answer to the above Response: Vairagya means dispassion. This means non-attachment to all pleasures, ranging from the enjoyment of tangible objects found on earth to that of the happiness, the virtuous soul experiences in the heaven. A Sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) must have keen power of intellect in order to discriminate between the real and the unreal, but also must possess stern power of will to give up the unreal.

As per the old tradition, a monk (Sannyasin) is a religious man who lives apart from the rest of the society and who has made solemn promises especially to remain a bachelor and not to have any possessions.

Swami Vivekananda says: He who takes three oaths
1) poverty,
2) celibacy and
3) obedience
and devotes his time and energy for contemplation, study of scriptures and service to society, is a Sannyasin.

Answer: The problem of addiction to alcohol can be solved in two ways: i. Mental and Spiritual way, ii. Physical and Medical way. i. Mental and Spiritual Way: Whenever the thought to drink arises in your mind, please follow the instructions given below: Don't go to your friends who encourage you to drink. Keep them at a distance. Don't listen to their advice because they are there to ruin your good health and mind. A sound mind in a sound body is what is required. Pray intensely to your Chosen Deity (God or Goddess) whom you love and revere most, to give you strength - physical, mental, intellectual, moral and spiritual, to overcome your inner weaknesses and to overcome the habit of alcohol drinking. Open the book - "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" and read a few pages. Read the life of Girish Chandra Ghosh, the disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, who was addicted to drinks and the methods Sri Ramakrishna suggested to him to overcome such bad habits. Be sincere and follow these instructions. Then by Lord's grace you will be able to overcome your drinking habit.

ii. Physical & Medical Way: You may also consult your doctor; there may be some medicines for this addiction.

Answer: The performance of Sandhya Vandana (called, in short, also as Sandhya) is a daily ritual which a Brahmacharin (celibate) or a householder has to do. It takes too much time and it is laborious. It requires water, vessels, clean place and it is a time-consuming process. So, Sri Ramakrishna has suggested that one need not do Sandhya Vandana which becomes a mechanical process and if one chants Gayatri Mantra (a Vedic Mantra) which is a powerful Mantra that is more than enough. But the Gayatri Mantra should be chanted knowing its meaning fully well. Then the Sandhya need not be performed. Then the meaning of Sandhya merges in Gayatri.

Ramakrishna has further simplified this Sandhya and Gayatri by saying that the mantra "AUM" which indicates Supreme Brahman is much more powerful than Sandhya Vandana and Gayatri and both these merge in "AUM". Therefore, if you chant the Mantra "AUM" with intense feeling and knowing fully its meaning then both Sandhya and Gayatri merge in "AUM". Then chanting of "AUM" is more than enough. The main point is that any mantra that a person chants goes to purify his mind.

Answer: We should perform every duty in this world thoughtfully. Our conscience and reasoning should be clear in regard to our activities. I am happy to understand that you are following this principle.

Your questions can be divided into two sub-divisions:
1. Donating for the cause of Service Activities meant for the poor and the needy people, and
2. Donating to the Temples for the service of the Lord and His devotees.

1. We should know clearly why we are going to do some service activities. Swami Vivekananda said, "Our duty to others means helping others; doing good to the world. Why should we do good to the world ? Apparently to help the world, but really to help ourselves. Do not stand on a high pedestal and take five cents in your hand and say, Here, my poor man, but be grateful that the poor man is there, so that by making a gift to him, you are able to help yourself. It is not the receiver that is blessed, but it is the giver. Be thankful that you are allowed to exercise your power of benevolence and mercy in the world, and thus become pure and perfect." (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 1, page Ð 75-76) Hence, we understand that to do good to ourselves, we should also serve others. It is because we are in a very big family called the world, and the needy and poor people are also part of our family. As in our day-to-day family life, we see, if anyone of our relatives is not keeping well physically, mentally or economically, spontaneously helping propensities come to us and we go ahead in removing the problems. Similarly the service activities for the needy people should be the outcome of our spontaneous feeling of oneness. Thus our heart expands. We become more and more unselfish. Gradually our mind becomes pure.

Again, Swami Vivekananda said, "After so much austerity, I have understood this as the real truth - God is present in every jiva (living being); there is no other God besides that. Who serves jiva, serves God indeed. "(Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 7, page Ð 247) This is the central idea behind the multifarious service activities which are carried on by different centres of the Ramakrishna Math & Mission. And this should be the ideal behind any of our philanthropic activities. Keeping this ideal constantly in the mind, if we try to serve others - who are Gods in different forms and manners, it also becomes the worship of the Lord and naturally the consequences of this sort of worship also brings to its performers the same results, as in the ritualistic worship of the Lord. This type of worshippers get broadness of heart, selflessness, feeling of oneness with all, purity of mind through these service activities which lead them in course of time to the supreme goal of a person that is, God realization.

This is in brief about the ideas which should be behind our philanthropic activities. Please read thoroughly these books: "Salvation and Service" (a compilation from Swamiji's works), "Lectures from Colombo to Almora", "Karma Yoga" by Swami Vivekananda and other books on his life and teachings, and contemplate on the sublime ideas therein. Swami Vivekananda revolutionized in combining the Vedanta with our mundane activities, especially those meant for the God in the living beings. After you become convinced, you may go ahead with doing some services to the needy directly or indirectly, depending on your convenience; donating monetarily is an indirect way in doing these services.

2. A devotee inclines to serve his Lord as much as he can. The more he loves Him, more he tries to serve Him in some way or the other. Again, Sri Ramakrishna says that the Lord, His devotees and the Bhagavatam is the same; i.e., the essence is - the God manifests more in His devotees than in others. So, if somebody, out of the genuine love for his Ishta or the Chosen Deity, donates in a temple wherein his Ishta is worshipped daily and also His devotees and His created beings, creatures, animals, etc. are also served in some way, then he feels tremendous inward joy by doing something for the Lord. And this leads him towards the supreme goal of realizing his Ishta. Again, a devotee can also visit or donate temples of Deities different from his own chosen Deity, as the same Supreme Lord only takes the forms of different Deities.

Again, our scriptures prescribe to whom to donate. In Srimad Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 17, verses 20-22), Sri Krishna said that we should do charity or donation seeing the proper time, place and person. There are three types of charity - Sattvika, Rajasika and Tamasika; Sattvika Charity is of the highest type. Please read these verses and its explanations as well. Hope this will clear your doubts to some extent.

Answer: 1. Mukti or Moksha or liberation is to go out of the chain of birth and death. A liberated man will not take birth again. But, there are Nitya-Mukta-Purushas (i.e., the ever-free), who are born with the Avataras or the incarnations to assist in His mission.

2. Through intense and sincere spiritual practices, an aspirant can attain Moksha or Liberation. Of course, only spiritual practices will not be enough, the grace of the God is required for that.

3. Kama is desiring for anything.

4. It is possible; you may read the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna. No doubt it is very difficult. Actually, also it is very difficult even for the Sannyasins (monk) ! The more a person can achieve towards this, i.e., the more a person gives up his desires, the better for him.

Response to the Above: So to get Mukti, we need to pray to God and follow the Spiritual Practices. Could you please explain this in depth like what is the logic here between getting Mukti by following the Spiritual Practices and leaving Kama. What are the Spritual Practices? Kama mean that not to have desires. Could please suggest how to slowly remove all the desires from me. But I have a desire to have Mukti. I heard about God and I feel Him while I do Bhajans (Devotional songs), though I didn't see Him physically. Sometimes when I become depressed, I think that He doesn't exist.

Answer to the above Response: By doing the spiritual practices, the mind becomes purified. And when the mind becomes completely purified, the person becomes Mukta (liberated / free). As the dirt covers the mirror creating obstacle to see our face on it, similarly, these impurities that are in the mind, do not allow us to see / to know our Real Nature. Being completely purified, a person knows his Real Nature; and when he thus knows his Real Nature, he becomes free. The spiritual practices are: Japa (repetition of a mantra or a name of the aspirant's Chosen Deity), Dhyana (meditation), prayer, discrimination, etc. The more the mind becomes purified through the spiritual practices, lesser will be the worldly desires in the mind. Thus the desires are to be removed. The desire for Mukti is not considered as a desire. When doubts come, please think assertively that the Saints, Rishis, Avataras had told that the God exists and they have realized God. And also the scriptures tell the same thing. These scriptures and the saints also show us the way to realize God. Hence, God exists. Only due to our ignorance and impurities, we cannot see Him. We wish you read the 'Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna', 'Life of Swami Vivekananda', 'Lectures from Colombo to Almora' - by Swami Vivekananda, and other spiritual literature. These books can be availed from the Sales Section of any our centres.

Response to the Above Reply: I am very much impressed after getting the answer to my question. Thanks for the good reply. I'll start doing what you said. You have said that having desire to have Mukti is not a Desire. How is this? Also I am thinking that the married life will disturb the goal to get the Mukti, where the desires (good or bad) will be increased a lot because of the attachments. Could you please guide me the correct way regarding the marriage.

Answer to the above Response: Worldly desire is harmful for the spiritual life and it stands in the way of reaching the goal - realizing the Truth, or to say, Mukti, which is the goal of the human life. Desiring for Mukti itself is the goal of human life. This desire for Mukti is called Mumukshutvam. The more it is in a spiritual aspirant, the better it is for him to reach the goal. Hence, desiring for Mukti, for Bhakti, Jnana, for doing spiritual practices, etc. won't be considered as desires. Regarding to marry or not, please think deeply and act accordingly. Please read the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Vedanta literatures as much as possible, including few books which were mentioned in the last e-mail-reply, and contemplate on those ideas. You will get the positive ideas from this.

Response to the Above Reply: While doing Japa, I find my mind is very much distracted. Is there any particular time to do Japa ?

Answer to the above Response: Please don't worry about the distractions. Continue to do Japa, prayer, meditation and reading the holy books. "Slow but steady wins the race." Don't give up the regular practice. Anytime is Japa-time. In the beginning, it is good to have fixed time - in the morning, noon and evening. Once the practice becomes perfect, anytime is Japa-time.

Answer: We request you to read "The Lectures from Colombo to Almora" and the lectures on Yoga delivered by Swami Vivekananda. These will help you to a great extent. There are some booklets: "Instant Inspiration", "Power Capsules", "Gospel of Strength" and "Vivekananda - His call to the Nation", etc. These also you may read.

There are several other books meant for youths which you will get from our book stalls. Please visit the nearest Ramakrishna Math centre and purchase them. If it is not possible for you to purchase those books, please enroll yourself as a member of the library and borrow books. You read them thoroughly and I am sure you can improve your confidence.

Answer: 1. You are already doing one hour meditation; please continue to do.
2. Fill your stomach with only Sattvik food. Don't take irritating, stimulating and such other food which makes the mind restless.
3. of your stomach should be filled with food of nutritious value and ? should be filled with water and the other ? should be left for air circulation.
4. When you feel restless to the same subject again and again, change the subject.
5. Everyday you must take physical exercise and deep breathing for at least 1 hour.
6. DonÕt see those programmes in TV, which distracts the mind. DonÕt read such books which distracts the mind.
7. Keep the company of the good people. Read good books, send good thought currents to all directions for the welfare of all and offer sincere prayers to the Almighty to give you the power of concentration and retaintive memory and pure mind.
8. Anything that helps you to concentrate, you can adopt such methods.

Response to the Above: Thank you for giving me the suggestions. ... ... ... Can you please guide me how to keep up the concentration when I am overpowered by the bad thoughts, like over-confidence, depressed moods, etc. ?

Answer to the above Response: You have asked how to concentrate the mind when bad thoughts arise in the mind. It is also not possible to concentrate the mind even when various other types of thoughts run in the mind. Always try to be a witness of every thought and action in the world. Know that you and your thoughts are different; we generally mix ourselves with the thoughts. When we try to be a witness, automatically the mind becomes calm and concentrated and also the bad thoughts disappear from the mind. You yourself can feel it if you do it. What is required is to allow the mind to run on as it likes and to keep a watch over it. By sincere and uninterrupted practice to be a witness, you can surely improve the present condition of the mind.

When we stand on the bank of a river and watch the water flowing, we are not carried away by the strong current of water and we remain still on the bank itself. In a football game, the viewer who does not support any of the teams, enjoys most and does not feel sorry for any of the teamsÕ loosing or winning the game. Similarly, a witness in this world can enjoy living in this world, by not involving himself with either the outside world or the mental world.

Answer: 1. Total unconditional surrender is what is required. If you are doing that, your attitude is perfect. Continue to do that sincerely. Wish you all the best.

2. Whenever bad thoughts arise in your mind, think of opposite good thoughts. If negative thoughts arise, think of positive thoughts. If thoughts of weakness come, think of strength. Offer all your weakness at the feet of the Lord. You have to continually do it. And be mentally alert, and do this repeatedly and without any respite.

3. Do mental Padapuja (worshiping the lotus feet) of Swami Vivekananda with flowers with love and devotion. Surely it will reach Him. He understands your sincere feelings and heart-felt worship.

Response to the Above: Thank you for replying my mail. Your suggestions cleared me from various doubts and gave me more strength. In this world, the greatest thing is pure love. And I want this life of mine should go away by praying to Swami Vivekananda. I never want to get married and I am very sure about this. I am God's; that's all I know. Each and every moment of this life is for Swamiji. But the glamour of this world really gives some fear to me. I fear of separation from Swamiji. Yet it is true that for a second also we cannot separate ourselves from the Supreme Being. I want till death I must be at Swamiji's feet. But these worldly temptations always drag me from my path. I have to fight with all these or else I keep silent. Can you tell me how I can dispel all these things ? ... ... I wanted to know that in the path of devotion, there are many distractions of the mind. How we can overcome and stick to our goal ? These distractions give some fear in me. So how I can remove all these ?

Answer to the above Response: As you are devoted to Swami Vivekananda, PLEASE READ "The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda", published in English and other Indian languages, everyday and contemplate on the sublime ideas that came out from him. These books you should read again and again. Apart from this, we suggest you to read the following books:

On the Life of Swami Vivekananda: "Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern & Western Disciples", etc.

On the Life & Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna: "The Great MasterÕ, "Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", etc.

On the Life & Teachings of Holy Mother Sri Sarade Devi: "The Life of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi" - by Swami Gambhirananda, "Gospel of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi", etc. Holy Mother's life is a role model for every women in the present age. So, please read Her Life & Teachings thoroughly. If you regularly read the above books definitely you will get tremendous strength, courage and self-confidence which will help you face the inner and outer problems in life. Of course, side by side, you should cultivate the habit of sincere prayer. God listens to the sincere prayer of His devotees. The problems mentioned by you are natural for a spiritual aspirant; these get reduced through oneÕs spiritual practices and the grace of the Lord. We request you, if you need more details, to meet the following Swami, who is a senior swami of our Order and discuss about your personal problems with him.

Answer: Hereunder we give you the names of the deities from Monday to Sunday :- Monday: Lord Shiva, Tuesday: Divine Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Wednesday: Sri Ramakrishna, Thursday: Initiated Guru or Sachchidananda as Guru or Saibaba, Friday: Divine Mother Laxmi, Saturday: Sri Krishna, Sunday: Bhagavan Sri Rama. Is it not better to worship one God who is your chosen deity or favourable deity ? Think and meditate always that deity alone. Thus you can progress spiritually.

Answer: 1. Please ask him to read the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda and Vedanta Literature.

2. He can daily recite Lalita Sahasranama and Devi Mahatmyam, etc.

3. Ask him to offer sincere prayers to the Lord.

4. It is better to choose a Guru and take initiation or Mantra Deeksha of his Chosen Deity and practice regularly as per the instructions of his Guru.

Answer: We request you to read the book "Life after death" by Swami Abhedananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.

In "Katha Upanishad", Nachiketa has already asked this question to the God of Death (Yama). So, please read the book "Katha Upansihad" and also "Raja Yoga". When you become a yogi of the highest order, you can concentrate your mind on your past lives, and problems like birth and death, and know the secret for yourself. There is nothing so secret kept behind the earnest seeker. Struggle hard and you can know it yourself. My simple question to you is - do you give out all your inner secrets to anybody and everybody? Are you so open? Is everything transparent with you?

The scriptures say that we identify ourselves with our body-mind-complex and think ourselves to be as the mere body-mind-complex which is essentially inert; the body is gross whereas the mind is subtle, but both are inert only. This is happening due to our ignorance about our Real Nature which is Pure Consciousness. Once a person realizes his Real Nature through the spiritual practices and God's grace, he himself will automatically be able to know the secret of the birth and death and also he will not be bound in the chain of birth and death; he will then become free - the Liberated, Mukta Purusha. The ignorance again is due to our innumerable desires, Samskaras or the impressions in the mind; these Samskaras are stored embedded in the depth of the mind acquired through all our actions happened in different births. Each action / thought we do leaves behind an impression in our mind; these impressions are powerful and determines one's propensities or to say, the character. Through spiritual practices one attains purity and these impressions get lost or loose their power and then the inner light flashes revealing the Real Nature of the person. In spiritual life, the grace of God and Guru is essential. Again, the God likes the play of this world going. So, He keeps certain things in secret. That is His wish. But, He listens to the sincere prayers and is moved by the spiritual practices of His devotee and thus He compassionately loosens the bonds of the devotee and frees him from the chain of birth and death. Hope this will clear your doubts to some extent.

Response to the Above: The creation of God is excellent. Endless human sufferings too excellent. Is it called frolics of God? If somebody does harm to you, don't you call it sadism? Please answer me.

Answer to the above Response: We, the created beings, suffer or enjoy owing to our own past actions -mental or verbal or physical, performed in this life as well as during our innumerable earlier lives about which most of us have forgotten. It is somewhat like - if a man eats chili, his mouth is supposed to burn inside. How it happens? In two ways: Individual and Providential.

Individual: Each action results in the mind an impression. It is said, the mind is like a video camera, nay, much more than that; as, video camera can capture only sound and picture, but the mind can access many such dimensions Ð sound, picture, smell, touch, taste, hatred, love, jealousy, bliss, etc. When we do good actions, good impressions are left behind, and similarly for bad actions, bad impressions. Repeated such actions make the similar impressions stronger. When in a person the good impressions are prevalent, his propensities become good and so for the bad ones. These propensities determine the character of a person. Under same circumstance, a bad and a good man will act in a different way depending on their impressions. Also these stored impressions determine the mental and physical sufferings or enjoyments of a person as a matter of consequence, as Swami Vivekananda says, "If you project hatred and jealousy, they will rebound on you with compound interest. No power can avert them; when once you have put them in motion, you will have to bear them. Remembering this will prevent you from doing wicked things." (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 1, p. 262) So, whatever we do should carefully and thoughtfully be done. Providential: Again, as in the world, for bad actions or, for good actions in the society, a person is punished or praised, similarly each of our actions - gross or subtle, the Providence observes every bit of these actions and accordingly sufferings or enjoyments are granted by Him to a person. God has both aspects: benign or gracious and dreadful or terrible aspect. We should not expect that He should always be kind and compassionate; is it right to expect this for our misdeeds also? It is like, in a family, the parents chastise their children at times, only for their good and also for the smooth-going of the things around. Our sufferings also are good in its real consequence, though most of us do not understand it.

Thus, you understand that God is not to be called the sadist for the sufferings in His creation. Whether we call Him to be a sadist or compassionate, it does not affect Him at all. As we had written in our earlier e-mail to read some books, please do read those along with other books of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Vedanta Literature, for example, "Karma YogaÓ, ÒBhagavad Gita" (Chapter 3, 4). This will help you to keep up your spirit and also help you gradually to reduce the bad thoughts; this also will enable to clear your doubts gradually in the life. These books or some scriptures are to be read and also contemplated on the sublime ideas; along with this, spiritual practices are to be done - these will help you understand gradually the subtler things in the world. Through the grace of the God and these Spiritual Practices, one realizes his Real Nature and becomes free from the sufferings as well as from the chain of birth and death.

Answer: Vibhuti or Kumkuma or Chandana is offered to the deity uttering several (108, or 1008) spiritually charged mantras. So it is considered holy. It is kept in a box and devotees apply it on their forehead everyday thinking that it is the prasada of the deity. That is one of the ways of remembering the Lord or Divine Mother. When you apply, it signifies that you belong to a particular community, say Shakta or Shaiva or Vaishnava. These are the main ideas. There may be other ideas also.

A Brahamacharin (celibate) is asked to take cold water bath because that keeps the nerves cool. Anything hot excites the nerve. Cold water bath is a part of Tapasya or austerity which a Brahmachari is expected to practise. Cold water bath helps him to practise Brahmacharya. Eat that food which does not excite your nerves. Eat that food which is Satvik and avoid Tamasik food. If you read Bhagavad Gita (16th Chapter), what food to be taken and what should be avoided is mentioned.