We are all looking for inspiration. Without it our life becomes dull and our spiritual practice stagnates. Attending a retreat is a great way to find inspiration and get a new perspective. The VIHE International Vaisnavi Retreat 2017 gave inspiration to more than seventy vaisnavis from all around the world and left a deep impression on me personally. I can still feel the warmth of holding hands and the sweetness of smiles on many faces. The sound of the tambura is still playing in my mind a
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Advent of Kali Yuga
The universe is divided in regard to time. Satyayuga, the golden age religiosity and prosperity. Treat yuga- where ¾ of the population remain God conscious. Dvapar yuga in which in the beginning half is God conscious and gradually dwindles until it intersects the kali yuga. At the beginning of the age of kali not more than 1/4th of the population follow any religious principles and gradually it becomes greater and greater in degradation until at the end of kaliyuga practical
The devotees of ISKCON Mayapur celebrated 21 day long Chandan Yatra festival starting on 29th April at the Sridam Mayapur Chandradaya Temple. It also marked the most auspicious day of Akshay Tritia as per the Vedic calendar.
Candan Yatra starts on the third lunar day of the waxing moon of Vaisakha month. It is believed in Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy that almost 700 years ago Krishna in Vrindavan instructed His devotee Madhvendra Puri to fetch Malaya Chandan or sandalwood from Odisha, make past
The prayers of Prahlad Maharaja in Srimad Bhagvatam constitute a great source of guidance on how a person serious in the practice of Krsna consciousness should view this material world and how he should endeavor for perfection. When asked by Lord Nrsimhadeva to request any benediction from Him, Prahlad Maharaja prayed:
yadi däsyasi me kämän
varäàs tvaà varadarñabha
kämänäà hådy asaàrohaà
bhavatas tu våëe varam
“O my Lord, best of the givers of benediction, if You at all want to bestow a desira
Episode 9: From An Idea On Paper To The Physical!
(If my memory serves me well this is the thoughtful and generous lady who would send big luscious mangos down to Venkata and myself in the afternoon while we labored under the searing Calcutta sun to build the Rath cart. Thank you again mataji 38 years later! )
“O son of Kunti, I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable Om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and the ability in man.” - Bhagavad Gita As It I
Written by Uddhava
On Monday evening (24 April), everyone gathered in the temple room for bhajans. Maharaj started mellow and slow but by the end of the evening, everyone was on their feet and dancing. You can relive the experience and dance away to these tunes when we share the recording shortly.
During dinner and the evening bhajans, behind the scenes, preparations were in full swing. The drama crew practiced their lines, the cooking team commenced with vigor and the hall slowly turned int
“The three words, namely Hara, Krishna and Rama, are transcendental seeds of the maha-mantra, and the chanting is a spiritual call for the Lord and His internal energy, Hara, for giving protection to the conditioned soul. The chanting is exactly like a genuine cry by the child for the mother. Mother Hara helps in achieving the grace of the supreme father, Hari, or Krishna, and the Lord reveals Himself to such a sincere devotee.
No other means, therefore, of spiritual realization is as effecti
Devotees work on the front of the temple building
Last week’s Sunday Feast kirtan was an emotional experience for ISKCON Baltimore devotees, who shed tears even as they danced and chanted ecstatically together.
The rip-roaring session was their last Sunday kirtan in their old temple, a 2,500 square-foot house where the main worship room can only hold around 35 people.
The 110-year-old building at 200 Bloomsbury Avene in Catonsville was becoming dilapidated, and the congregation – now nearly
The 7thannual VIHE International Vaishnavi Retreat at Govardhana (India) concluded on March 26. The 6-day program, dedicated to celebrating Srila Prabhupada’s mercy upon womankind, had as its special theme “Windows to the Spiritual World”. In other words, it focused on art, specifically painting.
The Bal Krsna Bhawan hall in the village of Jatipura, home of the original Gopala Temple of Srila Madhavendra Puri, was duly transformed to host an exhibition of over 60 reproductions of paintings an
"Truth be told, we often think the world revolves around us."
At 7.30am every morning, the temple residents and community gather for philosophical discussion. This morning’s speaker was emphasizing how insignificant we are. It seems to be a running theme through the scriptures, with innumerable stories and passages reminding us not to over-rate ourselves. A celebrated verse recommends we think ourselves lower than the straw in the street. We’re told to string that thought on a thread and wea
"The only way envious people can bring themselves into limelight is by harassing the saintly. How would anyone ever know about the dark planet Rāhu if it would not perform its regular task of eclipsing the sun?"
— Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra, Durjana-nindā
When we try to do anything worthwhile, some people will criticize us. Critics can help us recognize where our contribution needs improvement. But to be helpful, their criticism needs to be constructive, not destructive.
Constructive criticis
TEXT 13
om ity ekaksaram brahma
vyaharan mam anusmaran
yah prayati tyajan deham
sa yati paramam gatim
vyaharan mam anusmaran
yah prayati tyajan deham
sa yati paramam gatim
SYNONYMS
om—the combination of letters, omkara; iti—thus; eka-aksaram—supreme, indestructible; brahma—absolute; vyaharan—vibrating; mam—Me (Krsna); anusmaran—remembering; yah—anyone; prayati—leaves; tyajan—quitting; deham—this body; sah—he; yati—achieves; paramam—supreme; gatim—destination.
TRANSLATION
After being situated in this yoga practice and vibrating the sacred syllable om, the supreme combinati
(I had to make a comprehensive parts list detailing out the size and length of every piece of lumber required to build the chariot. This was not only needed to order the lumber, it was also how I was able to estimate the costs for every part and figure out quite closely how much the entire cart would cost to build.)
“At the present moment, India may be compared to the lame man and the Western countries to the blind man. For the past two thousand years India has been subjugated by the rule of f
A vaisnava has to be someone with a heart. A vaisnava is not just someone who chants many rounds of japa or someone who knows many slokas (sastric verses) or someone who always gets up really early when the whole world is still asleep. This is all wonderful but if that person, in spite of all these wonderful qualities, does not show a heart and does not have a heart, then he is not a complete vaisnava!
In Juhu Srila Prabhupada would go on the roof in the evening and give darshan. One evening there were five or ten devotees around him, and a few Indian guests, including a famous movie star and his wife. Somebody had brought mangoes for Prabhupada, and at one point he called for a knife and told a devotee to cut a mango and distribute it as prasada. So a brahmacari got a knife and sliced the mango, but it was dripping juice all over—it was a mess.
“You cannot cut it?” Prabhupada asked.
“The kni
One time Jadurani painted a picture of Krishna/ Radha Krishna, and Radharani is holding a garland for Krishna and Krishna is playing his flute, but when Prabhupada saw the picture, he saw that Radharani is not looking towards Krishna. So Prabhupada said what is this? he said, 'it looks like Radharani is looking for another boyfriend?.
But seriously you know, Prabhupada was like criticizing this picture, that, this is not correct. And of course she worked hard on this picture and she was crushed
London—ISKCON’s International Office of Child Protection (CPO) announced today that it has launched a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Kartik Sharma, who drowned while swimming in the pool of the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula International School (BGIS) in Vrindavana, India, on April 24.
Although preliminary reports have been unclear, what was reported to the CPO is that Kartik, 13, originally from New Delhi, was swimming with a group of classmates with an adult sup
We all know people who are very intelligent otherwise but who act unreasonably when it comes to certain people whom they have a sour relationship with. For example, we know people who are friendly, helping, charitable, jolly at work but who are grumpy at home with their spouse. Or we know people who are very kind to most, but wont even look at certain individuals. Or we know people who are always appreciating even the little good in others, but always bad mouthing certain individuals who might h
Spirituality without God is popular today. It's a waste of time. Without accepting God as the one Supreme Person, nothing else has any intrinsic meaning. Everything else, no matter whether so-called material or so-called spiritual, is all material because it's all relative truth. An unbiased thoughtful person will definitely come to the conclusion that the Absolute Truth must be the one Supreme Person who is the ultimate source and controller of all that exists. Spirituality is about reviving on
Oh, enigmatic one,
Non-different from the Lord,
Even the breeze that you touch,
Purifies one and all.
Oh, dear Mother,
Your touch soft and silken,
Gushing love of your waters,
Comforts your hapless children.
Oh, Goddess Ganga,
Worshippable for every soul,
Accept the lamps of our hearts,
Pray take us to Krishna's abode.
Source:http://thebandwagonofmoltengold.blogspot.in/2017/04/a-prayer-to-mother-ganges.html
