As devotees when we move into a little more serious phase of our Krishna consciousness slowly but surely most of us develop a taste for a very sweet and unique limb of bhakti – Vandanam, Prayer to Supreme Lord.
Offering worship to the Supreme Lord by praying means remembering His transcendental qualities, pastimes and activities.
(KB, chapter 87)
The Lord has unlimited transcendental qualities and opulences, and one who feels influenced by the Lord’s qualities in various activities offers praye
By Madhava Smullen
A series of PDF activity books by Urmila Dasi, now available online, teaches children about Krishna consciousness through the joyful celebration of Vaishnava festivals. Extremely popular with parents and teachers, the series is set for a more elaborately produced print version soon, and may become part of a new official ISKCON Sunday School curriculum.
Longtime educator Urmila now serves as a speaker and author of spiritual educational books for children and adults. But she t
ISKCON has to be a very friendly movement. A very accommodating movement that is ready to give everyone a chance; ready to not find fault in others. To not find fault in others is hard. We may catch someone lying and say, “He is a liar! Shame! This person needs to be rejected!” Well, have we ever lied? Never, ever? That is a lie! So yes, even if we catch someone lying, it does not mean that that person has some weakness. It does not mean that we can say, “This person is a write-off! I do not wa
The Bhagavad-gita could be called the Book of Doubts. From the early chapters, Arjuna, the protagonist, is worried. He doubts the purpose of the war he is about to fight, he doubts his ability, his own heart, and at first he is even unsure about Krishna’s answers to his doubts.
To openly express doubts takes courage. We fear being seen as a fool, or as an ‘unbeliever’. Generally it’s hard to speak of them unless we are so broken and unsure we don’t care anymore. This was Arjuna – overcome with
By ISKCON Mayapur
All of the devas, ṛṣis, and tīrthas congregate in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur to worship the Supreme Lord, for in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur – the center of the universe – Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa eternally reside and bestow Their benediction and mercy to those who worship Them there.
Is it any wonder, then, that Śrīla Prabhupāda stated that Māyāpur, the World Headquarters of his ISKCON movement, was his place of worship? It is described in Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta that “[h]e and his devotees would worshi
By Visnuswami Dasa
Walking in the colonies around Hyderabad
Last December, after a program in the town of Singapore our small Padayatra Telangana team slowly approached the city of Hyderabad. We are getting good response from the people and local temple committees. Good book distribution also. Community members are providing accommodations for devotees and supplying grass for the oxen, contrary to my expectations. I thought that getting accommodations and grass would have been difficult in the
Demoniac tendencies remain with the living being for a very long time. Even when we take on the process of devotional service, it does not mean that all the influence of previous demoniac activities are gone. There are so many traces of demoniac tendencies in our consciousness that still make us think that we are controllers; this tendency is very strong. Some time we are controllers but on behalf of Krsna. So, be a controller for Krsna and at the same time do not claim any power from it. Do no
Firstly the title of Bhagavad Gita is two Sanskrit words. Bhagavad comes from the word Bhagavan which referrers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and 'gita' means song. Sometimes we hear the Gita referred to in English as "The Song of God," and this is a reasonable English translation of the title and it is a fairly accurate description of what the Bhagavad Gita is.
The Bhagavad Gita was spoken by Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to His friend Arjuna on the battlefield of Kuruk
Our false ego prevents us from looking at our own faults. It makes it difficult for us to acknowledge our faults and therefore, instead of being introspective, we see those faults in others. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, “Because I am myself honeycombed with faults, I see the faults of others”.
If you spot it, you have got it
In the realm of psychology it is said that if something about someone really bothers you, it’s usually because you have that fault. Of course, we usually do
All of the devas, ṛṣis, and tīrthas congregate in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur to worship the Supreme Lord, for in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur – the center of the universe – Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa eternally reside and bestow Their benediction and mercy to those who worship Them there.
Is it any wonder, then, that Śrīla Prabhupāda stated that Māyāpur, the World Headquarters of his ISKCON movement, was his place of worship? It is described in Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta that “[h]e and his devotees would worship the Supreme Lord
There is something unsettling about faultfinders who claim to have Iskcon and Srila Prabhupada’s interest at heart, but who use cunning behaviour to tell the whole world how devious and wicked the honest devotees are. Unfortunately, innocent, happy-faced devotees can turn into cold judgemental characters after being exposed to words said to be highly beneficial for the devotee community.
There exists an enormous market in the genre of gossip and rumour, which explains the great popularity of TV
By Gauri das
Sruti Dharma Das, Temple president at Bhaktivedanta Manor, has been diagnosed with a form of brain cancer. The news was unexpected as there had been no previous indications. Both his family and the temple community are adjusting to the news. Sruti Dharma had been facing various health complaints and his medical advisor spontaneously decided to run further tests, beyond what was required. The results of those tests showed several lesions on his brain. He was then admitted to Charing
During a Skype conversation with devotees in Mumbai, Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam4.30.35:
Translation: Whenever pure topics of the transcendental world are discussed, the members of the audience forget all kinds of material hankerings, at least for the time being. Not only that, but they are no longer envious of one another, nor do they suffer from anxiety or fear.
Purport: Vaikuntha means “without anxiety,” and the material world means full of anxiety. As stated by Prahl
Patience and forgiveness are qualities appreciated in all religious traditions of the world. In his famous thirteenth-century work, “Imitation of Christ”, the Christian monk Thomas a Kempis, writes:
“Try to bear patiently with the defects and infirmities of others, whatever they may be, because you also have many a fault which others must endure. If you cannot make yourself what you wish to be, how can you bend others to your will? We want them to be perfect, yet we do not correct our own fau
Give your heart to everyone, even if they don’t give anything back. It hurts sometimes when people are hard-hearted and not responding properly but take that pain with patience and carry on. Somehow, keep on chiseling at stone. Get through that barrier. In the Netherlands, we say that some people have a block of concrete in front of their head. Just chisel right through! Give your heart. That is avaishnav – we give our hearts.
The heart is involved in being merciful to the conditioned souls
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
We may think, “What about my security? I need some security; like a little money in the bank, a credit card maybe. You know, just in case, something happens. Need to be prepared. What about my security?”
But a vaisnava’s security is his goodwill; his goodwill with the people. That is the best security because goodwill goes much further than the bank. You know, the banks may say, “Well, sorry!” If you have maybe 150 000 and the bill is 160 000. The bank is not paying the
By Ramai Swami
Bhaktivedanta Swami Gurukula at New Govardhan is in the process of constructing more high school facilities.
This includes relevant earthworks and building of eight classrooms, science lab, art studio, hard court outdoor basketball court, play areas and a toilet block.
This project is partially funded by the Commonwealth Government, offering $900,000 towards the construction costs. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $1,479,610.
The school, which now has well over on
In the Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 13, we are talking about residing in Mathura dhama or Mathura mandala which refers to the holy dhama of Vrindavan. Mayapur dhama is non-different. “So this attainment of transcendental loving devotional service to the Lord is the goal of life and it can be achieved very easily for one who lives in Mathura mandala even for a few seconds.” EVEN FOR A FEW SECONDS! Just see all the benefit we are getting by being part of this Movement and understand why Srila Pra
By Bhaktisiddanta Swami
Peter Cosgrove: Governor General, Lieutennat General, Chief of Army, Commander, Royal Australian Regiment.
Due to the arrival of the Australian royalty in an entourage of 4 cars and a Mercedes limo, the main thorough fare (Rajadhirsen Marga) adjacent to Rādhā Parth-sarathi Mandir, was blocked off. Sir Peter Cosgrove, along with his wife, Lady Cosgrove, was the first ever Governor General of Australia to visit an Iskcon center, accompanied by such dignitaries as Her excel
By Madhava Smullen
For BBT Marketing, Communications and Innovations Department
Since 2012, when ISKCON North America’s leaders unanimously agreed to work as one book distribution team with a collective goal, sales of Srila Prabhupada’s books have seen a dramatic increase.
Remittance to the BBT grew 20% in 2012 and 2013, and 10% each year after that, from $700,000 in 2012 to around $2.1 million in 2016.
The 2017 marathon was yet another major success, with nearly $2 million again remitted to th
