The fellow at the Air Canada agents desk took my flight documents so I could secure my boarding pass that would take me to Washington, D.C. He was curious.
“If you don't mind my asking, are you one of those martial arts masters?”
“I'm a monk, a Krishna monk.”
“That's what I meant to say, ‘monk’. That's interesting. Great!”
Another passenger in line before customs asked, “are you a Tibetan monk?”
“A Krishna monk.”
“Oh, I’m a Christian, too!”
“A Hare Krishna!” Said his wife in correcting him. Fro
From “On Kirtana” in Among Friends, Volume 2 #1 (1993):
“When I heard the question [how to keep the mind from wandering during kirtana], different phrases came to mind. One was: ‘Hear the wonderful chorus and let it uplift you.’ That chorus is a dimension in kirtana that is not available to us in japa. When we are chanting among sincere devotees, we can feel the upliftment. There is such an inspiring (and demanding) welling up of voices and we can ride that wave of sound.
“Another phrase that c
A lone eagle soars high in the sky above the craggy foothills of the Himalayas, wheeling and gliding on the thermal currents. Her golden-brown wings, extending to a gloriously feathered span of five feet, catch every breeze.
At times she seems to hover, so perfectly balanced are the calculations of her own forward movement and the counter-thrust she feels from the wind. Deep below her, over a mile away on the slopes, a small rabbit ventures out of its burrow. It’s just a grey speck in a greyish
Jaya Jaganatha Jaya jaganatha Jaya Baladeva Jaya Subhadra!
On the the 25th of June, the city of Love was inundated by the Names of Jaganatha, Baladeva and Subhadra in what is known as the Ratha Yatra—the procession of the Lord of the universe. During this 35th annual Jaganatha festival, thousands of devotees gathered in place the la Chapelle to pull the chariot of Lord Jaganatha Baladeva and Subhadra into the streets of Paris. “Everyone was astonished to see the decorations on the Ratha car.
Th
Jai Jagannath!
The fact behind the celebration is that Lord Jagannath who is none other than Lord
Krishna himself travels to his garden temple-Gundicha located in Sundarachala.
This travelling of Lord in his chariot from his palace to temple is called Rath Yatra
or Gundicha Yatra by Odiya devotees. On the other hand, when Sri Krishna left
for Mathura and then Dwaraka, the gopis of Vrindavan did not like it. Their was
a feeling of separation from Sri Krishna. Once Gopis with Srimati Radha Rani m
By Thomas Haribol
The Prabhupada Memories project is not only nearing a significant milestone of nearly 100 DVDs totaling 450+ interviews of direct disciples of Srila Prabhupada, but it is also reaching thousands of new listeners thanks to the power of social media. The Memories project now has a social media team producing eye-catching short posts across several social media platforms. Most recently, the Prabhupada Memories YouTube channel quadrupled its subscribers in just a few weeks (now ov
Veda means knowledge. The word Veda is related to the Sanskrit root ‘vid’ meaning ‘to know’. So, it encompasses the entire corpus of knowledge, both phenomenal and numinous. Actually, knowledge is established through three primary epistemological premises, viz., sense perception, logical-mathematical inference and reliable testimony. However, when a subject employs inductive methodology to acquire knowledge, it is inhibited by four defects, viz., limited senses, illusory perception, mistaken in
From Back to Godhead
Prescience and the Vedic Literature
One aspect of the Vedic culture knowledge of the future may seem at first glance to contradict free will, but this is not so. In fact, St. Augustine’s explanation of this phenomenon in relation to the omniscience of God parallels the Vedic understanding. Others had argued that if God already knew what we were going to do, that would prevent us from having free choice; we could not help but act in the way God had foreseen. In response, Au
By Thomas Haribol
On a recent trip to India, Vraj Vihari Das was a speaker and panelist at a major conference on Mediation in Delhi that included the Chief Justice of India’s Supreme Court, Singapore’s Chief Justice, five Supreme Court judges, high court judges from around India, and India’s Attorney General. He was not only able to share his experience as a mediator, but he related that experience to the Bhagavad Gita, how he came to Krishna consciousness, and his early life as a monk/brahmaca
73/08/25 London, Bhagavad-gita 2.19-20
Srila Prabhupada:
ya enam vetti hantaram
yas cainam manyate hatam
ubhau tau na vijanito
nayam hanti na hanyate
[Bg. 2.19]
“He who thinks that the living entity is the slayer or that he is slain does not understand. One who is in knowledge knows that the self slays not nor is slain.”
na jayate mriyate va kadacin
nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah
ajo nityah sasvato ‘yam purano
na hanyate hanyamane sarire
[Bg. 2.20]
“For the soul there is never birth nor deat
Perhaps one of the more endearing images in the Bhagavad-gita is Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, driving the chariot of His friend, the warrior Arjuna. When we accept the notion of God as a person then we can begin to ask, What does he do? How does he interact with us, and especially how does he interact with his pure devotees, such as Arjuna? Krishna chooses to be the chariot driver of Arjuna in the Battle of Kurukshetra where the Bhagavad-gita was spoken.
This role of charioteer
By Thomas Haribol
Since Monday, June 26th, devotees at New Mayapur in France have been experiencing a week-long blackout after the untimely failure of their electrical transformer, which supplied power to the property.
The 100-year-old Château d’Oublaise castle, now known as New Mayapur, is situated in the serene countryside of Centre-Val de Loire, France, and was established in 1975 by Srila Prabhupada, Founder-Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
It’s the on
By Atma Tattva Das
In August of 2023, the global Hip-Hop community will celebrate the 50th anniversary of this influential cultural movement. Hip-Hop music has not only served as a platform for artistic expression but has also become a powerful tool for broadcasting specific qualities of consciousness. To discover the intersection of Hip Hop and Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON News interviewed AZitiZ (Lalita Garrett), a Krishna-conscious hip-hop artist, to explore her journey and the significance
Rahul had held the spot since 8:30 AM. It was ideal, in the centre of El Dorado Park, a grassy section under the biggest tree in the park. It was a weeping willow tree, huge and expansive – old, even.
This was the site secured for the gathering of friends of GEL (Gita Ethics Learning), And it was more than just a convergence of young students of Vedic wisdom, but it became their graduation. I presented the diplomas for the graduates. They received them with pride. Parents spoke of how grateful t
We all have certain abilities that enable us to make a contribution and gain satisfaction.
When we use our abilities properly, we get a sense of self-worth and specialness. But sometimes those talents can also make us proud because we may feel superior to those who do not have such talents. To avoid such pride, we need to see our abilities appropriately. Gita wisdom explains that our talents are not our entitlements, that is, we are not entitled to have these talents. Even if we have certain a
By Ekachakra-prana Dasa
The 2023 BBT Bhadra Purnima marathon has begun with a goal to distribute at least 55,000 sets of Srimad Bhagavatam all over the world in multiple languages. The target date for the 2023 goal is September 29th.
Launched in 2017 by the BBT MCI Team (Marketing, Communications, and Innovation) under the expert leadership of HG Vaisesika Prabhu, the Bhadra Campaign aims to bring together all devotees in the world around the common goal of mass-proliferation of the Srimad Bh
By Thomas Haribol
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced this week that the State Assembly and the State Senate have passed a bill making Diwali a New York City Public School holiday. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Governor Kathy Huchul.
Diwali is a five-day festival commonly observed by illuminating candles or lamps in homes and temples. Anciently, Diwali was first observed by the joyful citizens of Ayodhya to celebrate the return of King Rama, an incarnation of Lord Krishna.
One of the reasons for the trip to Huntsville was to check out the progress of the project on Main Street. What was once two movie halls that closed down during COVID, are now being transformed into a temple and a restaurant with two storeys for residents. They are situated next to each other and are in the final stages of renovation. A kind-hearted Punjabi man, Mr. Prasher, is a devotee and a developer, and he is channeling some of that good time towards the spiritual. It is admirable.
Huntsvi
We have to remind ourselves again and again who we are and who we are not.
Most people seek only to increase their sense gratification rather than to understand who they are.
Everyone is in a rush going nowhere.
If people can understand their bodies are changing but they are not changing, that is a second birth.
If we cannot give up hankering and lamenting and see all people on the spiritual plane, we cannot begin devotional service. [Bhagavad-gita 18.54]
Neither Brahma nor the insignificant an
In the Ramayana, the vanara Hanuman takes flight like a bird, and enters supra-mundane realms.
Sometimes it’s fun to take a retrospective—a look back at what was happening in the world a few years ago. The following article originally appeared in the Hindustan Times, New Delhi, on November 9th, 2005.
What do C.S. Lewis, Quentin Tarantino and J.K. Rowling have in common? Maybe nothing, but here’s what I think: One, all will have hit the big screen by December 2005; two, all are considered innova
