I was born in 1970 in Motala, Sweden, but only stayed there a few months. My family is from Bitola, Macedonia. I've lived in the capital, Skopje, since 1975. Since I was very little I manifested great interested in studying life's deep and mystical secrets, and especially was frustrated that my folks couldn't tell me anything substantial on the true meaning of life. My real search began when I was 16, and started with Western Occultism and stuff. Very soon after that came in Buddhism and Hinduism, and I was introduced to the ancient wisdom of the East, baffled as I was in my attempts to make sense of my life in high school.
I became a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), founded by a great spiritual teacher known to the world as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. I soon realized that Vaishnavism is not really what you might call Hinduism, since it teaches worship of one God, like other major religions, except here you have a complete description of His form, activities, abode and entourage. You get very personal with God, in other words, and moreover, you get very clear and precise instructions how to make your life perfect by chanting His name and evoking divine love, instead of the much cheaper mundane variety. It may not be easy to grasp this philosophy at first, but by studying the scriptures like the Bhagavad-gita under the supervision of a bona fide spiritual master in the disciplic succession, results will show.
I strongly feel that this spiritual process opened me up for other people also, and for their plights and troubles, so I want to help with my experience, although I may be just some small guy from Eastern Europe no one really knows about. This is not what spiritual life is about - recognition, money, name, fame, followers etc. It's about a heart-to-heart connection, one soul to another, brothers and sisters who are in the same maelstrom of material life, trying to get by. Life can be much easier if we open our eyes to this wisdom, and I'm going to put in my two cents on that.
My recent divorce has also taught me a lesson - nothing in this world stays forever, and we should relax, or rather completely let go our tight grip on this world and even our near and dear ones. Things that were started in the wrong spirit have an inherent flaw that will drag on until that construction, like marriage or a relationship, is destroyed from within. But for that there are also other experts, I focus on the Bhagavad-gita and other scriptures that take you closer to the Supreme and the supreme joy, since we are not really content with this surrogate of joyfulness we're trying to tamper with. So I'm happy to be here among good people, and hopefully I may also be of service.
The temporary appearance and disappearance of happiness and distress are like the coming and going of the winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.
The mind is more difficult to control than stopping the wind with your bare hands.
Lust, anger and greed are the three gateways to hell. Therefore one must reject them.
Simply follow my blog (ishan108.wordpress.com) and my Expert Page on SelfGrowth.com. I also publish poems online, through which I express myself and my emotions on life, God etc. Read Ishan Chaitanya on PoemHunter.com and DeepUndergroundPoetry.com