Fluff floats in the air at this time of year, which is actually seeds sent off by poplars. Well, that is what is occurring in many places in North America, and the several acres off of Marine Drive, the location of the “Sage the Earth” event at ISKCON, is also having that magical touch.
Ananda Gauranga, the priest for the event, is conducting the fire ceremony, not missing a beat with his Sanskrit mantra pronunciation. “He sounds like an auctioneer,” happily blurted out Patrick, the sound man a
All of us need to find an identity in Krsna Consciousness. We are all servants but we need to find a service that meets our nature and ability.
These are all the activities of sadhana-bhakti-yoga, it cleanses the heart from the conception that “I am the body” and it changes the spirit of possessiveness from “I want to possess things for myself, my enjoyment” to “I only want to possess Krishna”. And when we give ourselves to this process of hearing and chanting about Krishna, then the more we do it the more we want to do it, because we get the taste and there is nothing that’s more powerful than the taste. And when we get the taste for
We hired a gardener for a job at our home in Perth. His job was to help our plants get some nutrition. I offered to be his assistant, for which he offered us a small discount.
James arrived on the scheduled day, and I put on my gardening hat and was out on the earth. As we worked, laying down heaps of soil conditioner and mulch, my laptop played some nice kirtans.
James commented, “This music is really nice. It is very soothing.”
I agreed and told him it is spiritual music.
After working in the
I was out in a remote village in Gujarat, walking through the village, and many people said, “We already have the Gita.” This is a common response. It’s true, most households do have a copy, so then I ask the question, “Do
you read it?” The answer is often no. So I reply, “Please read at least a verse a day.” Or I introduce those stuck on their mobiles, who have “no time” to read to Mayapur.tv or another devotional site.
After receiving many rejections for the above reasons, I passed two homes
Congratulations to Bhakta Michael who accepted diksha initiation. What a fine person he is! A gourmet chef and caterer, he is also a good devotee. His Sanskrit name now is Mukunda Madhava.
Offering initiation to Mukunda Madhava is one of my reasons for coming to Vancouver. I’m also here to participate in an event called “Sage the Earth.” I just finished a poem on the topic.
Sage the Earth
She goes by the Vedic name Bhumi
And is worshipped by many a sage and muni
Sometimes she’s described as
By evening I was able to reflect on the day’s affairs as I strolled down on Marine Drive. It was past the sun’s setting. The air was cool; good for contemplation. I’ll add that overall, it is the coolest spring (and now the dawn of summer) that I’ve ever experienced.
A five-hour flight from Toronto and a three-hour time-zone change threw the biological clock a slight bit off course. I settled down in a room by the ISKCON facility, visited Govinda’s Restaurant for physical and spiritual nourishm
One of Prabhupada’s intimate followers after Prabhupada’s departure had a period where it was difficult to connect. For many devotees after Prabhupada left, it was not so easy. Those disciples of Prabhupada who had his association and who were there during his time, were there during the difficult period when Prabhupada left and ISKCON went into the hands of new leaders. As a result, many withdrew. So as they withdrew, the standard of Krsna consciousness also went down a little bit, or external
Krishna Das and I invited two young guys who bought a book to the temple of Villa Vrndavana. They came, stayed a while, and then we left in a week.
After a year, we went back to the Villa with a group to do harinamas. I went to the dining room to eat prasadam and sat down with the Italian devotees. I saw a devotee, and his face looked familiar to me.
I asked, “Do I know you?”
He replied, “Did you forget me? You came last year, you distributed a book to us and I stayed here.”
He began to follow
I put hours into drama practice. It’s coming along – the production “Demon.” I’m blessed once again with a good team, but it’s hard work. Following that came a visit to Adi Kurma’s. He’s a good cook. He pulled together everything I like – spiced avocado, boiled asparagus (lightly, then sauteed), sweet potato, moong dahl paratha and a lime-mint drink sweetened with maple syrup. All offered to the Lord. Thanks chum, I loved it!
A rush back to the temple/ashram landed me at another Zoom call with
The greatest challenge in performing Sadhana Bhakti is our attempt to serve the Lord with only the cognizance of Him being an almighty God. The immense distance between us and the Lord during the clearing process (Anartha Nivrtthi) is such that most Sadhakas face difficulty in maintaining steady service. This misfortune can solely be attributed to a lack of Sambandha Jnana or in other words due to forgetting who we are.
Most of our energy during the clearing process goes into fighting our previ
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Any contact with Krishna purifies our consciousness and gradually qualifies us for eternal loving exchanges with Him.
Pradyumna Dasa, Srila Prabhupada’s Sanskrit editor, begins reading The Nectar of Devotion, Introduction:
Invoking auspiciousness: Lord Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes, the reservoir of all rasas, or relationships, which are called neutrality, or passive adoration, servitorship,
By Madhava Smullen
What has kept the International Society for Krishna consciousness going for 54 years now, “systematically propagating spiritual knowledge to society at large” as Srila Prabhupada wrote when incorporating the movement in 1966?
Much has been down to the steady efforts of quietly dedicated devotees, doing their services day in and day out for decades – the pujaris, the teachers, the mothers, the cooks, the cleaners, the maintenance workers, the accountants, the book editors, the
The flight from Winnipeg on Air Canada was early, at 5:35 a.m. Usually at such an hour you can bet that passengers on a full flight like this will be fast asleep. Such was the case for all, except the pilot and flight attendants. I sat at the emergency exit seat, struggling to stay awake to fit in some japa meditation. It was hard. Fortunately, we are looking at a mere two-hour flight.
Nanda Maharaja Das picked me up in Toronto and zoomed me over to our Brampton ISKCON Centre.
“Happy Father’s D
After a two-year hiatus due to the global pandemic, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness of Harrisburg (ISKCON of Harrisburg) is gearing up to celebrate the 12th Annual Hare Krishna Festival of India on Saturday, July 9, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at City Island in Harrisburg.
The devotees of ISKCON of Harrisburg are extending their warm welcome to one and all to attend the festival. The unique, 1-mile long, 63-acre City Island, is conveniently located just across the walking b
SPECIAL 2-DAYS CONFERENCE & WORKSHOP
Today there is an increasing awareness of environmental and ethical dealings with the planet and the food production chain, there is a call to reintegrate with Mother Earth and bring spirituality to the heart of this understanding.
The introduction of positivism into science and technology has led to the widespread adoption of the paradigm of industrial agriculture. This type of agriculture currently represents 30% of the world’s food supply. It accounts fo
Bhaktivedanta Manor is a pivotal force for disseminating Krishna-conscious culture, and knowledge and building spiritual relationships in the community. The key to its success in these areas has been the quality and exemplary character of devotees that have spearheaded the community’s development. One such personality is Sutapa Das, a local lad born in Wembley west London, in 1981.
In a packed Haveli including a wide range of devotees and well-wishers from across Europe, on 26th June Sutapa Das
Lat week my travels led me to Quebec and before that the Maritimes, where all those places are mountainous, at least hilly, but today, after a good flight to the Prairies, I landed on ultra-flat terrain. A nice change. In fact, levelness reminds me of where I was born and raised, in southwestern Ontario.
With the fine arrangements of Vrnda and Visvambhar my greeting party at Winnipeg’s Airport brought me to the countryside in the town of Lorett, population 5000. Members of our Winnipeg communit
Protection is a need for everyone in every walk of life. We seek protection through wealth, doctors, military, insurance and many other sources. The protection offered through them is limited by time, space and ability. They cannot protect us completely and forever. One who has control over everything, one who is eternal and one who is conscious of us completely alone can offer us complete protection. Only the Supreme and All-Attractive God Krishna can only offer us such protection.
We can acce
