One may proclaim himself to be a Hindu, Muslim, Jew or Christian. However, this can change. Just by altering one's rituals, dress and language, a Hindu can become a Christian and likewise. But the essential element which lies at the root of these different faiths is devotion to God.

Whether one is a Hindu, a Jew or whatever - to claim to be religious must mean that one considers himself as a servant of God. Bhakti (devotion) is the link between God and His devotees.

Our senses, intellect and mind, being material, can only have knowledge of the morphological aspect of a thing but cannot know the thing-in-itself. It can be realised only through its descent or grace to us.

Sin is the cause of all sufferings, and the cause of sin is the desire to commit sin. Misconception of self is the cause of this desire. Nescience is the cause of misconception of self, and aversion to Absolute Knowledge (Sree Krishna) is the cause of nescience. So, the root cause of sin is aversion to Sree Krishna.

We have become indifferent even towards murder (killing of innocent beings). Deadly sins of all sorts are no longer being branded as sins. To stem this tide, to dam the downward flow of human society, spiritual discussions are imperative.

Sadhus have no personal grudge towards anybody in this world. They refute the anti-devotional contentions only for the eternal benefit of all, and to save the sincere souls from being misled.

Everything depends upon determination of the self. If anybody realizes that the real self is neither the physical body nor the subtle body but beyond the two—that it is a particle of the eternally existing blissful principle, he will surely strive for spiritual development. Therefore, if we really want to get actual bliss, we need to give up the arrogance of our ability to achieve it by our own efforts.

In our devotional spiritual cultivation we are to practise detachment from the worldly objects and attachment to Sree Krishna simultaneously. We are to give more stress to positive practice (attachment to Sree Krishna) than to negative practice (detachment from worldly objects). This is because remembrance of the things of the world comes to our mind when we try to withdraw ourselves from them. On the other hand, if we always remember Sree Krishna, devote ourselves to the service of Sree Krishna, Who is All-Good, All-Existence, All-Knowledge and All-Bliss, we will be automatically withdrawn from worldly objects.

Real aspirants utilize their time for their actual benefit. They find no time to find faults and criticize others.

Any serious endeavor for our eternal benefit will be successful when performed by invoking the grace of the Divine Master, Revered Vaishnavas and Supreme Lord and with the purpose of propitiating Them only and not for any other purpose. Any desire for mundane name and fame, or for any other ulterior motive, will frustrate our devotional and spiritual life.

Wherever we shall devote our energy there we shall go. So the wise always devote their mind, intelligence, senses, words and all to the service of Sree Krishna.

We should not blame others for the afflictions we get due to our own Karma. Others may be instrumental, but not the cause.

Chanting and listening to the pastimes of the Lord are the limbs of devotion unto Him. The meaning of devotion is 'seva', which cannot be attained by any force. It is not that whatever we speak becomes bhakti. Only when the Lord accepts our speech, it becomes bhakti. If the Lord is not satisfied by our chanting or listening, then that chanting and listening is not bhakti.