By Thomas Haribol
One of HDG Srila Prabhupada’s earliest disciples, HG Shyamasundar Das, 81, shows no signs of slowing down as he continues to narrate his personal experiences with ISKCON’s founder-ācārya. His popular 3-volume series, “Chasing Rhinos with the Swami,” spans nearly 1,500 pages of memories and includes over 600 unique photographs. “Srila Prabhupada has always been my hero. During the seven years I spent at his side—three years as his personal secretary—I observed the most amaz
All images are courtesy of www.iskcondelhi.com
ISKCON Delhi, Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir, celebrated the completion of twenty-five glorious years of service with the Ram Navami festival on March 19th-30th.
The temple was inaugurated on April 5th, 1998, by the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the presence of former Chief Minister of Delhi Sahib Singh Verma and Sushma Swaraj. It is located at Hare Krishna Hills (near Nehru Place), in the East of the Kailash area of N
Here I am beck in South Africa, land of the wild, and also of the curious. It was our 3 pm practice time in the temple of Radha Radhanath, when myna birds were singing, as well as the occasional low flying hadeda bird, when a group of seniors came inside to look around. I don’t imagine they had ever seen deities of Krishna before, let alone a bunch of thespian devotees acting out the eight elements – five gross and three subtle. For visitor such as these, whom I guess have a Christian backgroun
Summary at 2.15.34
We discussed the topic of racism.
We started by talking about how to consider belonging to a nation to be special, that could be a form of illusion. But we also said that for everybody to belong to something to say this is special is not bad it’s a matter of gratitude. But the thing that I’m superior, that’s what makes it bad.
And then, you talked about how spirituality is meant to elevate our consciousness, but also to expand our consciousness. And if, if there is no expansi
Some Vietnamese hairdressers in Dallas, Texas, bought Srila Prabhupada’s books from me, so I took a Vietnamese “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” to present to them from Sri Sri Radha-Kalachandji Dhama’s bookroom.
The Vietnamese Gita was in my bookbag for a long time. One day I was working at the Cowboy Stadium. My supervisor said, “Mishra, there is a truck full of sound equipment coming. Help get it uploaded.”
Eventually the truck came, and we used a forklift to get everything off the back. The truck dr
By Thomas Haribol
It is famously said that “neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night” can stop the US Postal Service from delivering mail, but it’s also the devotional mood of devotee pioneers HG Caru Das and HG Vaibhavi Devi Dasi when it comes to putting on festivals in a state with a “challenging” climate.
When weather reports predicted snow and cold on the day of the legendary Festival of Colors at the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah, this year, Caru took the optimistic ap
By HG Sunanda Das
The TOVP 36-Day Matching Fundraiser is about to begin, offering devotees another opportunity to serve the historic Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, ISKCON’s flagship world project. This year is especially important and crucial to our overall success because we will be completing and opening the Nrsimhadeva Temple in the TOVP, the largest of its kind in the world, in October.
We are especially excited to inform devotees that HG Ambarisa prabhu, TOVP Chairman, is pleased to anno
It was rush, rush in both Atlanta and Johannesburg airports. However, when I landed at Durban – no lo luggage. I left my filled out form to recover my three suitcases with the office at King Shaka Zulu Airport. The relief I felt from this minor anxiety (worse things could happen) was meeting the greeting team comprised of Rasasthali, Wesley, Sookie, and his brother Sudevi – all actors whom I worked with in the past. They bore happy faces and happy hearts.
I tucked myself to bed after the long f
Our theme for the morning class on bhakti was regarding fear. Fear is a very real emotion felt by all. This emotion is initiated by what’s to come, a sensation connected to the future, a dealing with the unknown, an apprehension trigged by a notion of danger.
The discussion on the topic was sparked by the story of Ajamil, a rather shady character in the Bhagavatam who was vile in his behaviour and was due to suffer karma. Whenever karma is of a negative nature, one can expect a form of what som
SB 1.1.2 … sadyo hrdy avarudhyate ‘tra krtibhih susrusubhis tat-ksanat …As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.
Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.1.2
By the hearing process Krsna IMMEDIATELY (sadyo) is established in the heart.
Please note the word RAPT [attention, in the previous quote] – there is a consistency in the Bhagavatam methodology. One has to hear attentively.
The sadhana of hea
Who is qualified for spiritual life? Only brāhmaṇas? Or sannyāsīs, or human beings, scholars, or Indians!? – Whether one is a man or a woman, householder or a renunciant, Indian or an American, aristocratic or underprivileged, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, child or an elder, human being or an animal, everyone is a child of God and is spiritual. Therefore, to love God and serve God is the innate characteristic (dharma) of every living being.
BHAKTI IS NOBODY’S MONOPOLY
Bhakti or devo
On the Zoom Gita Chat this evening, I was pleasantly surprised to find one of the listeners/viewers was someone I hadn’t really seen in thirty years. He used to live in the ashram with the team of us monks. He was happy. He learned how to cook and do many things devotionally.
Well, he moved on, got married, got a job, the usual pattern with family. It was just so great having him on board for a penetrating hour where we probed into the Gita’s message about sacrifice and accepting some austerity
Quotes from Radhanath Swami
1) From letters
“The culmination of all our preaching efforts is when a sincere soul experiences his or her spiritual home when they visit our temple. I cannot overestimate the great importance the service, which you have accepted as a guest receptionist. I am most indebted to you for taking this service so seriously. Any person who ever visits our temple should feel so personally welcomed that they feel they have made a true friend. A devotee who genuinely is con
Context and Crux of Uddhava-gita
Bhagavad-gita is the great philosophical song by Lord Krsna on the battlefield of Kuruksetra to motivate His bewildered friend Arjuna. There is yet another Gita that Krsna sang in Dvaraka to pacify another of His friends named Uddhava. Famous as Uddhava-gita it forms the longest philosophical section of the magnum opus literature Srimad Bhagavatam.
Lord Krsna’s descent into this world was requested by the devatas headed by Brahma, to reduce the burden of the ear
The ISKCON Communications Europe Executive Committee (ICE EC) members met for the second time this year in Brussels to meet representatives of European Union Institutions and European faith communities. The meetings aimed to establish contacts, develop trust and cooperation, and specifically organize an interfaith conference on Religion and the Environment at the European Parliament in the autumn of 2023.
The ICE EC members are Mahaprabhu Dasa from Belgium as the chair, Hrishikesha Dasa from L
Narsimhadev Monthly Abhishek Update For 2023
We are excited to inform you that the Monthly Abhishek Seva to Sri Narasimhadev Bhagavan has resumed and will commence today, the 5th of April 2023. Do keep this in mind as we shall update you on the subsequent dates for the coming months.
For all Abhishek Sponsorship, visit us at www.mayapur.com or click on our general donation link https://www.mayapur.com/serve-mayapur/general-donation/ for general donation seva.
Sri Narasimhadev Bhagavn Kijai!
H
Recently, a person from Australia asked me to recommend which books to read on the science of bhakti (devotion), and I suggested the four texts that our guru, Prabhupada, encouraged his students to study. They are Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Bhagavatam, Nectar of Devotion, and Chaitanya Charitamrita (or Teachings of Lord Chaitanya).
I said in my correspondence that if you get these publications down, familiarizing yourself and applying the practices, you are doing very well in the devotion category
Hare Krishna Maharajas, Prabhujis and Matajis. Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. 19th of March till the 30th of March marked the most glorious Silver Jubilee Celebrations of ISKCON Delhi.
Lord Garuda appeared on the Lord’s flag that was hoisted at the inauguration of the festival by HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja and HH Atma Nivedana Swami Maharaja. The Inspirational Rama Katha by HG Vrajendranandan Pr from 19th to 25th was followed by the ecstatic Sita Ra
By Giacobazzi Yanez, HG Kuladri das, and Thomas Haribol
Tucked away in San Francisco’s expansive Golden Gate Park is a lovely lake with an island called Stowe Lake. It was a favorite spot for Srila Prabhupada to circumambulate during his daily morning walks. “One of the great pleasures for devotees in San Francisco was taking these early morning walks with Srila Prabhupada,” said HG Malati Devi Dasi. “The main place where that occurred was Stowe Lake.”
To provide a spiritual touchpoint for de
Roman and I parked right outside of the high rise that Ajamil lives in. The only thing is that we parked right behind a police car that had just arrived – a police car that wheeled over the curb and partially onto the sidewalk. Our parking right behind them aroused some suspicion in the two occupants of the police car, and so they immediately came over to correct us about our irregular parking. They were nice about it, especially when they saw a monk (me) and Ajamil struggling to get his harmon
