You may not realise it, but we are always serving. Serving our mind, our body our boss, our society our family, the laws of our country, our government by paying tax. Everything we do is in service.
So serving God, should come very naturally. As the third step in bhakti yoga, after acquiring faith and the association of devotees, one can be introduced to devotional service. When we come before god, often we ask God for material benefits "Dear God please let me pass this exam, please let me w
The epic Ramayana, the great heroic story of King Rama, returns again and again to the point of keeping one’s word – even though doing so seems to bring pain and heartbreak.
It starts with Rama’s father, the ruling King, being bound to a promise which results in the exile of his son Rama.
Rama, of course, honors his father’s word and leaves for the forest – even though the whole kingdom beseeches him to not do so. Bharat, Rama’s youngest brother was asked to rule in his stead. He refused to be
There are lessons to be learned from all sources. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna uses the humble tortoise to illustrate sense control: “One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, is firmly fixed in perfect consciousness.”
Here are some other lessons we can learn from a tortoise:
1. Slow and steady
Yesterday is gone and we yet don’t have tomorrow. We only have today and really only this moment. I like to call this “everyday eternal.
Karma marks upon my skin
like a story growing old
Like the rings to count on a felled tree
I am lined and scarred
Memories from the cuts and bruises
on the outside me
The one that hits against the earth
and wind and fire and others.
Karma marks upon my heart
of things I want but don’t get
and things I get but don’t desire
The marks on a heart broken by pain
stretched by sadness, lost in loneliness.
The marks on a bursting heart of happiness
that has everything and
yet still feels dissatisfied
There was a great storm today
the shyam blue clouds gathered
and soon drenched all
even the ocean
who needs no rain
but rain it did
upon the waves
the Vedas say
this is love
pure love, Krishna’s love
it doesn’t decide
who needs it or not
the cloudburst will open
upon us all
soak it in
it’s water the body is most made of
and love no less.
Every morning at 7.45am, before breakfast, we have a philosophy class. It’s such a delight to sit together, read ancient wisdom books, and discuss. Henry David Thoreau said it well – “In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonical philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny and trivial.”
On Mondays, we listen to a recorded class by Srila Prabhupada (there are over 2,000) and afterwards reflect on what parts o
Sunday Feast-50th Anniversay of ISKCON by HG Sesa Prabhu at ISKCON Alachua on 10 Jul 2016
(Sesa Dasa was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1974 while he was traveling as a member of the initial Bhaktivedanta Book Trust library party. Sesa Dasa has a portfolio of two ministries: Minister of Educational Development and Minister of Justice, under which ISKCON Resolve works.)
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For the majority of my devotional life, Krishna has arranged it so that I’ve never had a devotional community to tap into as a regular daily function. I started off living in Wilmington, DE whereby ISKCON Philly was about an hour drive. This was the closest proximity I’ve ever lived to an active temple. Unfortunately, He made it so that I would be relocating to Maine only after attending the Sunday Feast 3-4 times.
My next situation took me to Portland or rather Cape Elizabeth, Maine. In this s
Of course the dying always make us stop
those dying and those left behind
stuck in a time frozen into itself
as the everyday world disappears
and we are at once pushed into the present
and all that facing an ebbing life brings.
Life totters like a drop of water on a lotus flower
sparkling in it’s beauty while present
and then gone, in an instant
gone forever in that form it took
but not gone completely
the soul begins a new journey and we ask
where do we come from and
where do we go?
destiny is
Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-11, Chapter-02, Text-02 by HG Akuti Mataji on 13 Jul 2016 at ISKCON Alachua
(HG Akuti Mataji is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and the spearhead behind the new Krishna Lunch program at Santa Fe Community College. )
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I heard an interesting Ted Talk the other day. It was called Rewilding the World and the speaker shared what happened when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. To the surprise of many, everything began to get better. Grasslands blossomed, trees strengthened, butterflies and bees came back, the rivers stayed their course. It turns out the the wolves were a very important part of the eco-balance needed to keep everything flourishing. One obvious impact was the ability of the wol
Lecture on Real Education according to Srila Prabhupada by HH Bhakti Vikas Swami on 18 May 2016 at Mayapur
(HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami appeared in this world in 1957 in England. He joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in London in 1975 and was initiated in that year with the name Ilapati dasa by ISKCON’s founder-acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. )
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Lecture on Vedic secrets of Peace and Love by Bhakti Vijnana Goswami on 07 Feb 2016 at London
(Since 1997 Bhakti Vijnana Goswami has acted as a member of ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission and since 2005 has served as one of the initiating gurus of ISKCON.)
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Hello friends! Here I will share some of my views on helping a suicidal friend.
Generally suicidal individual’s gives warning signals they express it explicitly and sometime it's very subtly expressed
Before that I would like to clear out some suicide misconceptions:
Suicide misconceptions:
1. Those People who talk about suicide will not commit it only
Studies shows Almost 70-80% suicidal will say before taking the ultimate action
2. People who try to kill themselves must be crazy.
Mostly suicidal
One simple girl from a village of Maharashtra. She was named Chindhi meaning a tattered
useless piece of a cloth. Since early childhood she had a great desire to go to schools. but Her surroundings never supported her. She used to look after a small herd of buffaloes and when the buffaloes would get into the water pond for drinking purpose, she would escape for the schools. But Alas! School teachers would beat her daily For her delayed arrivals. Like that she completed her 4th grade.
She was j
Albert Einstein once said, “I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place?’ This is the first and most basic question people must answer for themselves.”
“Yes”, a lover of Krishna would answer, the universe is a friendly place, because Krishna, the source of the universe, tells us in the Bhagavad-gita that he is a friend to all.
According to the Vedas, the material world (millions of universes) is a small corner of the much larger existence which is s
What do we do with this body when we know we are not the body? How do we view this thing that we have loved and not loved, that has given us pleasure and pain, profit and loss? What do we do with our personality that we have built up around the body?
The Bhakti Sastras (wisdom books of devotion) teach that the soul is covered by the body, the soul being our real self and the body a temporary covering. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just unzip our body and material persona and fling it aside? B
It is taught in the Vedas that when entering a sacred space one should offer respects. One can fully place himself on the ground in what is called ‘dandavats’ (danda means stick or rod in Sanksrit), or bow on hands and knees or simply bow from the waist with hands folded. It’s an expression of humility and a step away from our material ego. It’s the right entry if we hope to receive what hides beneath the ordinary looking surface.
I’m presently in one such sacred place – Mayapur. It’s located i
Krishna’s mercy, we have been very successful in continuing to place Srila Prabhupada’s books in the hospitals of the Los Angeles area. The last hospital that Sastra Dana has placed books in was the LAC-USC General Hospital. We called this hospital and offered a donation of books on yoga, philosophy and ancient Eastern culture (this is how we present our books to hospitals). The hospital representative expressed her eagerness to accept our donation. She was even happier to hear that we wanted t
Question: I have a “natural” tendancy to be very critical and hence find mistakes/faults in people. Most of the time, I find fault with people at the mental level and not necessarily express it. This habit also extends to devotees. I feel and know I am not supposed to do this. But, like I said, this has become a habit and I am finding it hard to relinquish it. In this whole process, I know I am wrong and hence I am always upset with my behavior (but this happens as a reflex action and not able
