This Tamal tree, within the Iskcon Temple in Vrindavan, is a place of pilgrimage for Gaudiya Vaisnava’s. Long before when the Krishna Balaram Mandir was constructed in Vrindavan, in the early 1970’s there were reported to be very few Tamal trees in Vrindavan. One at Rasasthali and one at the Samadhi of Rupa Goswami in Radha Damodar. So, Srila Prabhupada noted that the land had a Tamal tree and he was very very pleased. There is an interesting pastime about this tree. Long before Srila Prabhupad
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The operative word in Krishna Consciousness is “faith”. In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna uses the word “shraddha” at least ten times in different places in His conversation with Arjuna. In these places, Krishna clearly stresses the importance of faith in knowing Him. In chapter six text 47, there is a clear indication to this point. Srila Rupa Goswami, the leader for Gaudiya Vaishnavas, explains that “shraddha” or “faith” is the preliminary ingredient to understand and love God. Having said that, Srila
By Patricia Retuya
On the 6th of March, an audience of over 500 filled the University of Melbourne’s Carrilo Ganter Theatre for a seminar offering a unique insight into the universal topic of happiness. Looking out into the full lecture theatre, the first observation one would make is to notice the variety of people present from different backgrounds, age demographics, and walks of life. Guest speaker, Devamrita Swami aptly and humorously sets the tone of the event with his opening quip, “I did
I am a proponent of planning. I plan my day if it is outside my routine, plan my trips if I am taking any, plan my domestic priorities, plan my work duties daily etc. In other words, all of us practice the art of planning our duties and based on the plan we prioritize our daily activities.
Similarly, we have to plan our journey back to Krishna. Not that just chant some rounds, read some books, listen some stories, do some puja in temple and magically we land up with Krishna. Unless we plan our
The devotees from Melbourne regularly go out on harinama samkirtan in the city and surrounding suburbs.
The Tuesday evening kirtan party is a little smaller than the rest of the week but nevertheless the devotees are enthusiastic.
I was invited to go out and on arriving saw that my god-sister, Surabhi devi dasi, was leading and also playing the mrdanga drum. This was enlivening to the devotees and after a while I also led.
We Should Not Become Sahajiyās
This is a nice compalation of quotes by Srila Prabhupada on the class of devotee known as ‘ahajiya’.
“A class of so-called devotees known as prākṛta-sahajiyās sometimes display devotional symptoms to exhibit their good fortune. They are pretending, however, because these devotional features are only external. The prākṛta-sahajiyās exhibit these symptoms to advertise their so-called advancement in love of Kṛṣṇa, but instead of praising the prā
From the ISKCON GBC – Minutes Of The Annual General Meeting – February 2017
313: Global Duties & Responsibilities of the Governing Body Commission
[ISKCON Law]
Whereas the GBC wishes to formalize the understanding of its global services to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness;
Whereas it is important that duties and responsibilities be clarified at all levels of the Society;
Whereas the GBC wishes to produce a legacy document for the instruction and training of future GBC members
Why do we need to chant the Maha Mantra daily? What are some of the ways to help us improve the quality of our chanting? What does it mean to “chant from the heart”?
Listen to it here: https://goo.gl/zRFet4
From the ISKCON GBC – Minutes Of The Annual General Meeting – February 2017
313: Global Duties & Responsibilities of the Governing Body Commission
[ISKCON Law]
Whereas the GBC wishes to formalize the understanding of its global services to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness;
Whereas it is important that duties and responsibilities be clarified at all levels of the Society;
Whereas the GBC wishes to produce a legacy document for the instruction and training of future GBC members
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat on Friday increased the punishment for cow slaughter from seven years to life imprisonment as Hindu hardliners push for tougher protections for the holy animal.
Under the stiffened penalties passed by Gujarat’s state assembly, anyone caught transporting cows for slaughter could also face up to 10 years in jail.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/V96Bnf
Locana Das (her husband): I am sure that her lifelong dedication to the service of Krishna will reap many transcendental benefits as she passes on her way toward the Object of her devotion.
We started a temple together in Portland in 1971 and then moved to San Francisco where we had our first child. Krishna Vilasini walked during the Rathayatra festival in Golden Gate Park and gave birth to our baby girl at 2:00 am the next morning. Srila Prabhupada called it “natural childbirth” and named her
Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada wrote that “We find great shelter at the lotus feet of Sri Ramanujacarya because his lotus feet are the strongest fort to combat the Mayavadi philosophy.” (letter 22.11.1974) And in the early days of ISKCON in India, before we had Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is translated into Hindi, he would refer people to read the Hindi edition of the Gita with Sri Ramanujacarya’s commentary.
Prabhupada often told a story about Sri Ramanujacarya’s merciful, compassi
From the ISKCON GBC – Minutes Of The Annual General Meeting – February 2017
313: Global Duties & Responsibilities of the Governing Body Commission
[ISKCON Law]
Whereas the GBC wishes to formalize the understanding of its global services to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness;
Whereas it is important that duties and responsibilities be clarified at all levels of the Society;
Whereas the GBC wishes to produce a legacy document for the instruction and training of future GBC members
This weekend, tens of thousands of people—primarily college age, overwhelmingly Mormon—will descend on the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple of Spanish Fork, Utah.
Sponsored and led by a priest affiliated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, (ISKCON, the so-called Hare Krishnas), the “Festival of Colors” is popularly known as “BYU’s unofficial spring break.”
Last year, for the twentieth anniversary of the festival, 80,000 people were reportedly in attendance, with that crowd est
Giriraj Swami: On Srila Prabhupada’s morning walk on November 16, 1975, I told him about a recent interview with a scientist who had said, “We don’t know where the ingredients came from, but we’re sure that there’s …”
“Then why do you talk nonsense?” Prabhupada challenged the scientist. “You do not know. Then what is the use of talking nonsense? You do not know from where these ingredients have come. Our answer is—Krishna reveals—aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate: ‘The ingredients
Chanting is sacred communication!
(Transcribed by Madhumati Priyasaki Devi Dasi)
Mahatma Prabhu: Chanting is very important, if you strive to upgrade your chanting it will make such a huge difference in your Krishna Consciousness.
QUOTE: “Japa is not a ritual. It is not a mechanical, mindless, robotic process. It is an offering of the heart, a pleading for mercy, a begging to be accepted by the Lord. It is a crying of the soul to be engaged eternally in the Lord’s service. The emotions these m
Once upon a time there lived a king in Benaras with 3 sons named Dhanaraj, Balaraj and Ananda.
Suddenly one day the king left his body and the kingdom was seized by the minister.
The minister took charge of the kingdom and cheated the 3 prince by giving them a small house to live in a village which was located outside the kingdom.
Now these three began to contemplate on the situation.
The eldest one asked, “What is the finest thing in the world?”
The youngest one said, “I dont know?”
The
The international governing body of ISKCON, the GBC, has issued the following resolution to all its centres in this millenium year of Sri Ramanujacarya:
310: Global Observance of Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi
Whereas Sri Ramanujacarya, the great Vaisnava saint who lived between 1017 and 1137, requires no introduction to the saintly, especially the Vaisnavas;
Whereas Sri Ramanujacarya’s 1000th anniversary is being celebrated around the world this year, 2017. According to the Sri Vaishnava calendar, hi
Today I had a simple but profound realization: God is great, and God is good. If he were good but not great, He could not help us fully. And if He were great but not good, He could harm us. But He is great, and He is good, and He is always mindful of all the infinite living entities. These thoughts brought to mind a verse Srila Prabhupada often quoted from the Katha Upanishad (2.2.13):
nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam
eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman
“He is the prime eternal among all eternals. H
The current temple of Lord Jagannatha in Puri is 800 years old and during that time, the fire in the kitchen of the Lord has never gone out. In the same way, we must keep the fire of our bhajan going and make sure it never goes out. Every day we must throw big logs of: worshipping the deities, serving and hearing from the vaisnavas, and chanting the Hare Krsna mahamantra. Then that fire will burn forever and increase and increase – let us just add more fuel as much as we can to the fire of pure
