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By Mahamaya Devi Dasi

The 8th annual Orlando Rathayatra was held on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at very unique location of the campus of the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida.

The Rathayatra took over the beautiful UCF campus and despite it being a weekday, a good number of devotees were present as well as many UCF students. Devotees and well-wishers pulled Lord Jagannath’s cart through the streets, led by a campus police car. Passersby were drawn to the procession by the

𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗸𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗻𝗮,
🙏𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗼𝗯𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀.

🙏All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
🙏All Glories to Sri Mayapur Dham!

𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 🙏🙏 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐮 𝐏𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬, 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲, 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐚 🐄, 𝐓𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐢 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐏𝐮𝐣𝐚 to Lord Narasimhadeva, 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐧 🪔 𝐭𝐨 all deities are being offered 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬

Other topics on the agenda at MANtra 2022 were “The Art of Meaningful Association,” “Chasing the Wild Monkeys: Lust, Addiction and the Power of Healing Association,” “Flourishing as a Father” and “Compassion as a Man.” Also on the list was our drama “Demon,” as part of the entertainment section including beautiful chanting by Gaura Vani in the evening.

Singing also resounded outside with millions of crickets at the relatively quiet hours of our morning when a group of us went zoom zoom around t

It was with great satisfaction that I conducted a Kirtan Standards course along with the Bhakti Academy students. The feedback that I received from this three hour interactive workshop/presentation were words like “informative,” “educational” and “clarification on things.” It was felt that before these students develop some habits regarding Kirtan (chanting) that fall in the realm of divergent, why not get it right in the beginning?

It was the founder-acarya of the movement, Prabhupada, who est

From Back to Godhead

What do the Bhagavatam and Srila Prabhupada have to say about these universal concepts?

At the beginning of his first book, Easy Journey to Other Planets, Srila Prabhupada writes, “Dedicated to the scientists of the world.” Perhaps it was Lord Krishna’s special plan that Srila Prabhupada’s first book be related to science, and space in particular. By this dedication, Srila Prabhupada is inviting scientists and any inquisitive thoughtful people to explore the science in the

Our spiritual practice should nourish us, it should supply us with a taste that is better than the taste that material activities and sense gratification provide us with. When our spiritual practice lacks this taste, the temptation of material life which then allures us with a seemingly greater taste is always close to us. And at that time we are in danger. However, if we can find taste in our spiritual practice we are safe on the spiritual platform.

The chanting of the Holy Names is recommende

By Mahavrata Devi Dasi

Nigerian devotees were excited to perform the annual World Holy Name week which started on the 17th of September. Devotees all over Nigeria were seen chanting on the streets, distributing Prabhupada books and singing to the glory of the Lord as chanting enters day 3.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?post_type=post&p=102454&fbclid=IwAR0S7qmbmxmUlPzojAumJGPr68ugsbhUOjeTumLP3SHei-iqCkavHG9ompw

By Satyaraja Dasa

Most systems of Indian philosophy endorse the notion that, in some sense, all living beings are one with God. Some would say that spiritual philosophy in general – East and West – is based on the premise of oneness, suggesting an ontological unity for
all that is. The reasoning is straightforward: Since everything emanates from God, and since God is absolute, then His emanations partake of His essential nature, even if they exist in temporary forgetfulness.* Thus, ultimate spir

HH Bhanu Swami Maharaja is one of the senior disciples of His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, founder acharya of ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He holds a BA Degree in Oriental fine arts history from the University of British Colombia. He joined the Hare Krishna movement in India in 1970. Initiated in 1971 by Srila Prabhupada, he took sannyasa vows in 1984. Bhanu Swami was personally instructed in the art of Deity worship by Srila Prabhupada,

The Bhagavad-gita teaches, “O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” Gita 2.14
There are many emotions we feel throughout the day; sadness is one of them. It often sweeps across us like grey clouds on an otherwise bright day. It may be trigge

The smaller communities we have established in recent years are all doing well in terms of governance, attendance and participation. Financially things are also doing all right. Even during the pandemic, none of our places of education and spiritual wellness suffered in a major way. At least not in “Zone One” of North America, which I am responsible for. This is, by the way, the krpa of God — mercy from the Universe.

Two such centres were on my visiting list today – Scarborough and Milton. Scar

The Goddess

The embodiment of beauty

The spirit of purity

Her complexion resembles gold

While Her senses are controlled

She is calm, composed, collected

To all souls She remains connected

She is the epicenter of radiance

As A flower’s essence is fragrance

She is the master in the cuisine

After Her craft She keeps it all clean

She is a teacher of surrender

Holding no place for a pretender

And those who are morose

To Her just can’t come close

She is the epitome of the feminine

Spontaneous in lo

We are just having fun, that is what life is all about. We do not suffer and if there is any suffering, then we make sure that there is maximum care. Someone may have one leg, but that is okay because we can give that person an electronic one. If someone has lost both legs, then no problem, we will give them two electronic legs. The point is that we attempt to turn everything in this material world into enjoyment. I mean, I would rather not lose my legs if I get to choose. Electronic legs are n

Recently, I was distributing at Orange Coast College, and a student came to the table and showed an interest in getting Bhagavad-gita. I explained it to him a little. Then he opened it, to see what he could get out of it. He opened it to text 4.22: “He who is satisfied with gains that comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.” When he read that he said, “All right, I’ll take it

The bhakti tradition acknowledges the personal and impersonal aspects of the Absolute Truth, but values one of them as the more desirable of the two.

For hundreds of years, philosophers and theologians have debated whether God is ultimately personal or impersonal. After all, the nature of God plays a major role in our fate. If God is a person, then we have the potential for a loving, eternal relationship with Him. But if God isn’t a person and is instead impersonal, like a light we merge into,

PRESS RELEASE

ONE DAY FOR UKRAINE festival will take place on Saturday, October 1st, 2022 in Alachua, FL (15 minutes outside of Gainesville) and will aim to bring awareness to the ongoing war in Ukraine. This will be the first interfaith event for the community, uniting people of various cultural, religious, social and economic backgrounds, around a great humanitarian cause. The event will welcome members of the greater Gainesville, Orlando, St. Augustine, Tampa, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville

Mitch poked his head in the doorway of the temple room when we were engaged in drama practice. He just had a nutritious meal at Govinda’s Restaurant along with his companion. I haven’t seen Mitch for quite some time (due to covid), when he would bring his philosophy students to hear from us about the Gita. He just retired, doesn’t look 65, in fact he’s energetic and has a youthful zest. His companion, Tyler, will take over the course. Tyler possesses the same kind of enthusiasm as Mitch. I thin

During the questions and answers sessions, I read the following quotes from Caitanya Bhagavata. When I was asked for the references, I said I would post them in a blog. For those who are interested, here they are:

Sri Caitanya Bhagavata, Madhya Khanda, Chapter Five

TEXT 140-141

vaisnava-himsara katha se thakuka dure
sahaja jivere ye adhama pida kare

visnu pujiya o ye prajara pida kare
puja o nisphale yaya, ara duhkhe mare

What to speak of being envious of the Vaisnavas, if one causes pain to

From Back to Godhead

Even in the most hopeless situations there is hope—when we turn to Lord Krishna.

“Can you please speak to my relatives,” a doctor friend requested me after a Sunday feast program in our temple. “Their youngest son died in an accident recently, and they are much traumatized.”

I agreed and went to meet the family in a corridor outside the temple hall. The father told me how the son had gone to a picnic with his friends and had drowned in a river. He was just eighteen. I liste

Of all reading material that comes my way in a natural devotional setting – the Gita, the Bhagavatam and anything else which is a publication of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, I also include the occasional more secular material (even an occasional newspaper) – I confess to my favorite amongst all.

I just love hearing or reading of the past times of Prabhupada. There is a wealth of material out there on the subject of His Divine Grace, the founder and acharya (teacher) of the great bhakti movemen