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How To Recognize True Guru

3417965879?profile=RESIZE_710xAndha go lāṅgūla nyāyaḥ (blind holding bull's tail)


A blind man wanted to go from his village to a neighbouring city. He met a barber, who was fond of practical jokes. The barber suggested the blind man that he will find him an able guide. Afterwards he took him to a field, where bullock was grazing, and let him catch his tail. He told the blind: “Here is a good guide for you, Don't let him go whatever happens.” Bull recognized that some stranger has grasped his tail. Started to run. Instead of g

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Ratha Yatra is a festival of ecstasy because Lord Caitanya knew very well that Krsna cannot be happy outside of Vrndavana. Vrndavana is the place where He belongs! Vrndavana is the place where everything is designed for Krsna, and therefore Krsna can only be happy in Vrndavana. So Krsna had to be brought back to Vrndavana.

How could Krsna be in Dwarka? That is not the place where Krsna is at home. In Dwarka, Krsna is in separation. In Dwarka, Krsna can never be satisfied. Dwarka is so opulent t

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From Back to Godhead

Through the ages Western man has alternately
pondered or ignored death, the most
persistent yet least understood fact of our existence.

In the year A.D. 138, the great Roman emperor Hadrian lay dying in a villa overlooking the Bay of Naples. For many years he had been the mighty ruler of the Western world, governing an empire that stretched for thousands of miles. In the course of his eventful life as soldier/statesman, he encountered diverse peoples of many customs and fai

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16 years ago, after graduating from UCL with a management degree, I opted to leave it aside and embrace monastic life instead. Ironically, it’s all come full circle; dealing with people, projects and practicalities is a sizable section on the modern monastic menu. I must have some management karma to burn off. Balancing spiritual immersion and practical politics, however, is incredibly challenging.

You have to be alert, streetwise, tuned in, and sensitive enough to deal with the complexities an

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Pravin Wakle Prabhu and his team of young Youth Forum devotees at ISKCON Chowpatty very enthusiastically distribute books after work. Pravin works at a software firm in Lower Parel. After work he and his devotee friends put up stalls at either D-mart or at some spiritual event happening around the Thane / New Mumbai area.
Here’s one of the heart-warming experiences he told us about.

On a Sunday we were in Juinagar distributing books near a pandal put up on the occasion of a major spiritual disc

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After graduating from high school in 1966, my friend and I went to the Village in New York City to check out the scene. While there, we heard a, ‘ching, ching, ching, ching, ching, ching’ and turned around. Looking through the intense heat waves we saw, in double file, a group of somebodies or somethings in saffron orange clothes, singing, playing instruments, and floating down the hot sidewalk. I turned to my friend and said, “New York sure is a weird place. Let’s get out of here!” She and I c

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Mayapur Miracles By Mukunda Goswami

Activism
 

After a decade-long struggle with the West Bengal government (formerly Communist-dominated), some good news is finally underway. 

The 700 acres of Sridham Mayapura land, in titles of individuals, is soon to be amalgamated so that ISKCON can official own all of it. The land is valued at approximately 300 million US dollars. The stamp duty, registration and other transfer fees, totalling about 6 million dollars, is being waived because of ISKCON’s non-profit status. 

The ISKCON Mayapur city, h

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How often you shout at your friends not to tag you on Facebook photos?
Did you ever had thoughts of wearing burka?
Did you ever fasted to loose weight & then after 1-2 days because of hunger ate whole fridge then sat & wept?
If you practice spirituality, did ever your yearning for God increase seeing a fresh line on your face?
Or did you once went out with your beloved. You both enjoyed & captured lots of photos. Both of you were so happy. But the next day you saw your photos to remember the pr

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By Jagat Sakshi dasa

Former Minister of foreign affairs Sri Sushma Swaraj ji is no more among us.
May Lord Krishna grant His mercy to this soul. In 1998, Sushma Swaraj ji inaugurated our ISKCON Delhi Temple with the then Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji.
Iskcon will always remember the work she did. He helped Moscow temple and Geeta as well. She behaved with great humility and she used to be interested in learning about the spreading of ISKCON.
Condolences: 
We pray at the Lotus feet

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Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 18.31

TEXT 31
yaya dharmam adharmam ca
karyam cakaryam eva ca
ayathavat prajanati
buddhih sa partha rajasi
 
SYNONYMS
yaya—by which; dharmam—principles of religion; adharmam ca—and irreligion; karyam—work; ca—also; akaryam—what ought not to be done; eva—certainly; ca—also; ayathavat—not perfectly; prajanati—knows; buddhih—intelligence; sa—that; partha—O son of Prtha; rajasi—in the mode of passion.
 
TRANSLATION
And that understanding which cannot distinguish between the religious way of life and the irreligious
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Activism
 
By Cintamani Dasi
 

Between July 22 and November 30, ISKCON Chile is developing its first census of ISKCON Chile, with the purpose of providing statistical data of interest about the community of devotees in the country.

"How many are they? Where are they? How are they?" are some of the questions that this initiative seeks to answer. This is the first time ISKCON Chile is developing a project of this kind.

Dinesvari Krishna Dasi, disciple of Jayapataka Swami and anthropologist by profession,

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Bed of arrows by Kadamba Kanana Swami

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Bhismadeva was lying on a bed of arrows. I do not know if you ever had any injuries, but if you did, then usually you call the ambulance and that is it; off you go to the hospital. One arrow is enough. You can tell that one arrow or one bullet will do. But hundreds of them is far too intense! But somehow, Bhismadeva was lying on this bed of arrows, and he was totally self-contained. He was not overwhelmed whatsoever. He was able to do this not just by sheer willpower, but by not identifying wit

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The other day in Saskatoon, Chief Pratt of the First Nations, was on the stage giving his speech at the Festival of India,  and said, "They used to call us Indians."  People laughed.  He then went on to explain that Columbus set sail from Europe in search of the bountiful land of India and then reached the shores of the New World thinking that perhaps they had accomplished their goal, or at least came upon a place of wonder —North America.  It was nice to have the Chief present.

When I arriv
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Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 18.30

TEXT 30
pravrttim ca nivrttim ca
karyakarye bhayabhaye
bandham moksam ca ya vetti
buddhih sa partha sattviki
 
SYNONYMS
pravrttim—deserving; ca—also; nivrttim—not deserving; karya—work; akarye—reaction; bhaya—fearful; abhaye—fearlessness; bandham—obligation; moksam ca—and liberation; ya—that which; vetti—knows; buddhih—understanding; sa—that; partha—O son of Prtha; sattviki—in the mode of goodness.
 
TRANSLATION
O son of Prtha, that understanding by which one knows what ought to be done and what ought not
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Is Soul The Doer?

While reading about atheistic Kapila, in the books of Śrīla Prabhupāda, you might wander, who that Kapila is, and what are his teachings. Well, here is one example of it, as far as whether soul is doer or the material nature is. By carefully studying just this point you will get a glimpse of malevolence of this credo, which poses as a spiritual one, and which deprives the soul of its functionality.

Adherents of atheistic Sāṅkha mistakenly separates two truths about the soul. They attribute to the

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By Nandini Radha devi dasi

From Caitanya Mangala by Locana Das Thakur (Chapter 2)

Narada Muni Visits Dvaraka

Murari Gupta continued, “Thus the great sage Narada, seeing the miserable condition of the people in Kali-yuga, thought deeply about their deliverance. Knowing that only the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna Himself, could rectify the situation, Narada Muni set out for Dvaraka, in the spiritual world.

“At that time, Lord Dvarakadisa, having just spent the night with Queen Saty

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Hare Krishna and pranams dear devotees,

This is the third in the series of articles and letters by great acharyas in Gaudiya Vaishnava disciplic succession. In the previous blogs we read the amazing article of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur on Lord Jagannath and the incredible letter written by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur to one of his disciples giving multiple gems on what should the mood a practicing devotee.

Today I am posting a letter by Srila Prabhupada to India’s then prime ministe

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Lifestyle
 
By Madhava Smullen
 

SoultoSoul (https://www.soultosoulfriends.com/), a new educational lifestyle project based on the principle of simple living and high thinking, aims to inspire people to discover their true selves through food, yoga, sustainability and music. 

Creators and couple Gopinath Bhadra and Britta Eulig hope this will create a revolution of consciousness and give seekers a stepping stone to Krishna consciousness.

Because it’s so easily accessible online, the project could be the

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