Q. I am a Mother, Wife, Daughter (in-law), Sister (in-law), Teacher, Friend and a human being. I believe in the Almighty, especially in the form of Lord Vishnu. I believe that He listens to me and guides me spiritually.

Q. In Srimad Bhagavatam 1.6.30: "After 4,300,000,000 solar years, when Brahma awoke to create again by the will of the Lord, all the rsis like Marici, Angira, Atri and so on were created from the transcendental body of the Lord, and I also appeared along with them."

Q. As I meditate on the process of receiving mercy from the disciplic succession and receiving the Holy Name, I realize that I am not certain what it means to receive. May I please request your explanation for the same?

What does it mean to receive the love Guru and Krishna are giving? How do I know if I am receiving it, and the mood in which I am doing? What does it mean to receive the Pure Holy name?

Q. What is meant by mercy of spiritual master? How to develop gratitude? Can you please explain these in a practical way so that I can apply them in my daily life?

Q. Can you please explain to me how to develop taste towards spiritual life when all material things around us are looking attractive, though we know that they degrade us more and more?

Taste for spiritual life comes by rendering service to mahatmas. This is the prescription given in Bhagavatam:

susrusoh sraddadhanasya
vasudeva-katha rucih
syan mahat sevaya

(SB 1.2.16)

Q. I am following the four regulative principles for almost a year now, chanting 16 rounds daily, and have been wearing tulasi mala beads   since around December. I read in the Vaisnava Etiquette Manual that  uninitiated devotees aspiring for initiation may wear tulasi mala. I have  been wearing 3 strands and now was told I should only wear one strand until  initiation. I pray I have not created an offense. Thank you for any  standards guidance on this matter.

Q. In the Krishna Book, Chapter 4, where the counselors of Kamsa give instructions to him, they give some examples of the demigods being very much afraid of the demons. They also talk about the demigods surrendering and begging for their lives with folded hands. How could this have happened? Don't the demigods have a higher perception of Krishna? Doesn't Krishna protect the demigods? Doesn't goodness overcome evil?

Q. I have always have heard about the benefits of meditation. The calm and absolutely quiet meditation, where people try to stop any type of thought, has been life-changing for many of my friends. Today I feel really good doing my 16 rounds a day of the Hare Krishna Mantra, but I still have some questions. How would you compare the benefits for Self-Realization between these two forms of meditation?

Meditation, when rightly done, is a valid and effective practice -- both for calming the turbulent mind, as well as for aiding in self-realization.

But the impersonal, vacant type of meditation that you have refered to is:

Q. In the Introduction to The Nectar of Devotion we find the following statement from Srila Prabhupada: "Described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam are nine different processes, besides which everything done is unfavorable to Krishna consciousness. Thus, one should always be guarding against falldowns."
What is/are the form(s) of devotional service that we can directly connect to our occupational duties, specifically in a workplace outside the home?

Q. I have a concern about my attitude with my family these days. I have been arguing about almost everything and it is really  hard for me to control. Half the problem is solved because I realized that the reason I can even talk back to them is because I don't have respect for them in my heart. The other half is I don't know how to develop the respect again for them.

What should I do?