When we think calmly and carefully about this wonderful universe, we can see that everything is working under the control of a supreme brain. The arrangements in nature are perfectly ordered. Things would be at random without the careful planning of a scientific and engineering brain. It is a common understanding that there is a cause behind each action. A machine cannot run without an operator. Modern scientists are very proud of…
I was working in the Soviet army. I spend quite some years also in the Afghanistan war. It was such a nasty experience that I wanted to orient myself to a more peaceful atmosphere. So I joined the Moscow Institute that trained KGB staff. Of course it is not publicly known to be in that function. I chose the justice line, for to become some spy in the foreign countries did not fit…
Thirty years ago I was doing the Prabhupada marathon at the Chicago airport. One afternoon, we devotees were so intoxicated by distributing books that we decided to show that one doesn’t have to speak to sell books, that book distribution just depends on our state of consciousness. So we didn’t speak.
Just after loading my bookbag with (20) maha books I tapped a man on the arm and…
By Kalakantha Das
Q & A From Each Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā
How do you deal with an impossible situation?
Before just bailing out without thinking about our future or other’s needs, Krishna advises us to first consider the consequences of…
We might wonder what is going on in the heart of the Lord when someone turns to Him. Any information about this would increase our desire to connect with Him manifold – but is there any reliable description, an example, a real incident?
This is very nicely answered in the following texts, where the Lord welcomes Gopa Kumara when he finally comes before Him.…
Srila Prabhupada spoke in an interview in 1968:
“We have got so many branches, they want to hear me, my singing, my speech, therefore they record it and send it to different branches.”
Interview – February 1, 1968, Los Angeles
In June of 2019, the…
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,…
By Radheshyam Das
If Parikshit maharaja had killed Kali instead of forgiving him, we wouldn’t be suffering the effects of Kali now.’ Isn’t this a sensible argument? Let’s analyze…
Problems in Kali yuga:
Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali yugas with their respective symptoms are described in Srimad Bhagavatam in…
From Back to Godhead
In the Bhagavad-gita (7.14) Lord Krishna refers to maya, the deluding material energy, as mama maya: “My maya.” We Vaishnavas accept His word on this, with profound philosophical implications.
The chief philosophical opponents of Vaishnavas are the…
After some time, Lord Nityananda was approached by Madhai, where he said that “My Lord, You’ve pardoned me, You’ve given me Your mercy, but I am haunted by the idea that with my hand, I have struck You and I have caused You to bleed. And I am just obsessed with this thought that I have committed this offence to You and how can I actually be forgiven. Even though You’ve pardoned me officially, still I was thinking that I…
“Shoot him,” said the man with the crowbar. Kshudhi felt the cold metal against his skull and chanted Hare Krishna like never before. His nimble nineteenyear old body was tucked under the bed. The other four men with guns hesitated. They attacked the house knowing that a Johannesburg vegetable merchant had kept cash there, but were they ready to kill for it?
Less than two…
I first see him just after crossing the Bowery at Houston Street. As he passes before the iron-mesh fence of a playground, I distinctly glimpse the aura of saintliness. I watch him through the rushing traffic and stumbling derelicts.
He strolls almost jauntily down the sidewalk. He is an old man whom age has never touched. Aloof from the people and bustle about him, he walks…
From Back to Godhead
A mother’s extraordinary love for her premature son draws those around her closer to transcendental knowledge of the soul.
In college Carol studied psychology and sociology, preparing for social work. Living in a Catholic convent during her first two years of college, she had hoped her aspiration to serve God and humanity would…
Just after the 12 years of exile of the Pandavas was completed, they were considering where to spend the remaining 1 year incognito. While still in the forest, a brahmana came to them and reported that the sticks which he used for igniting his sacrificial fire had somehow gotten entangled in the antlers of a deer, and the sticks were now gone. The sage asked the Pandavas to see if they could possibly return the sticks.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Wherever we see the greed for wealth, gold, power, prestige, name or fame – consequently we see a rise in hate, envy, fighting and war.
Greed is a source of misery because it never gets satisfied. Its demand increases more and more, despite of our efforts to pacify it. It is compared to feeding a blazing fire, no matter how much amount of fuel you put in, the fuel gets consumed in seconds. It always ends in dissatisfaction.
The harder…
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…
