Blog

“Bless My Son”
Living with Srila Prabhupada.
By Rukmini Devi Dasi.
The ultimate anxiety for every parent is how their child will fair in the world. Srila Prabhupada’s mother wanted him to study in London and become a barrister, akin to the current day I.T. specialist who scores a job in the USA. However, Srila Prabhupada lovingly describes how his father’s ambition differed. Gour Mohan De wanted Abhay (Srila Prabhupada ’s birth name) to be skilled in mridanga and the art of knowing and sharing

Mitch from Orangeville came by to join us on the prearranged walk to the Brickworks and beyond. Usually, I can pack in some japa on beads; chanting during these urban pilgrimages, which are actually located in ravines. However, today was just talking all the while. The topic of Tattva, philosophical truths, according to the devotional perspective and practical realities were what occupied our time. It was sweet. We even cited a beaver lodge.

Now, I am the first to admit that I am a trite bit be

The following account was given by Srila Prabhupada’s disciple Atma Tattva Dasa.

One Ekadasi during the Kumbha-mela in Allahabad, Prabhupada was sitting back with his eyes closed, his legs stretched under his desk, talking about Ekadasi. Prabhupada said, “Lotus pods fried in ghee are very good on Ekadasi.” Somebody immediately ran to the market to arrange for lotus pods, but just two minutes later a Ramanandi brahman and his nine-year-old son arrived, both wearing Ramanandi tilak. They paid thei

MY FIRST VISIT TO ISKCON

Entered in the mood of INQUISITIVENESS
Accumulated thoughts to get ADDRESS
Darshan was CLOSE
To wait, I CHOSE 

In the temple hall, I was ALONE
Saw shining statue on THRONE
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada- name was written BELOW
Who is he? How to KNOW?

Bhagavad-Gita As It Is was kept NEARBY
The same name written below- don’t know WHY?
He is an author, I GUESS
Opened it with EAGERNESS 

Brief Introduction of Author in BOOK
Oh! Great! Let me LOOK 

His

In some respects, it was a long hard day; a workshop on kirtan standards. It went well though and I was happy with the turnout at our ISKCON Montreal center. The course covers directions or standards on conducting chanting sessions either by those who lead or those who respond to kirtan. As usual, we go through the points of the mood behind chanting, the execution, the collaboration, the inclusiveness, the etiquette, etc.

Kirtan has become popular among our youth around the world and much of th

It is our time to leave
It is real but hard to believe.
It is my anxiety
What will happen to our society?

A society which Prabhupada built, with hard efforts and pain
Different color bodies sitting here today, that is the ultimate gain.

We were young when we joined the movement
Vigour and energy were there to supplement.
Thinking, we must do whatever we can
In this allotted life span.

When Prabhupada left,
with a broken heart we moved further.
His lesson which I always remember
To  cooperate wit

And people are so fool that they send their wife and their daughter for performing rasa-līlā. Things are going on like that. You know the Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s life? A similar rasa-līlā was going on. You know that story? Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was magistrate, and one person in Orissa, he declared himself that “I am Viṣṇu,” and in the village he was enticing young women and girls to dance at night. And some of them protested, and they lodged complaint to the government that “This person is doing

New Mayapur ISKCON Education Center has provided shelter for devotees who have been displaced in Ukraine.

The main task for New Mayapur currently is to increase its energy self-sufficiency as the vital infrastructure of Ukraine is being destroyed including power plants and electricity distribution networks. Now there are around a hundred Vaishnava refugees relocated to the education center.

To donate and help New Mayapura please visit Share Your Care’s website.

If you or your community would b

It is now my service to stay here in Vrndavana. This service of mine is not the service of all of you – you all still have to carry on. You still have to go back to all the different places of the world where you come from and spread Krsna consciousness there. That has to be done! I was thinking of Srila Prabhupada’s lions, and how Prabhupada was known as the simha guru. His guru was also known as the simha guru – the lion amongst all spiritual masters. And it is clear that Bhaktisiddhanta Sara

By Karnamrita Das

[Reposted from 10-11-2011]One of the recommendations for advancing in devotional service is the observance of Kartika Vrata (special devotional practices) especially in Vrindavana, India, or at some holy place, but anywhere that we worship Krishna during the Vedic month of Kartika, or Damodara, which corresponds to October-November. It began yesterday on the full moon and continues to the following full moon. As the next month of Margashirsha represents Krishna, [Bg 10.35] thi

Question: In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Lord Siva instructs Citraketu that instead of posing as a devotee externally while lacking in devotional attitude, one should keep one’s bhakti hidden and not pose as a devotee outwardly. In this connection, I sometimes think about how irresistible it is to speak about one’s accomplishments. When talking with friends or others you like to share what you have done and the value of it. In fact it’s normal in one sense. So how do we practically apply this teachi

I decided to have some downtime through walking, considering that, at the end of it, there would be a kind of party with a number of people. So, I set foot at 1 pm, headed for a ravine, which took me through some fall colors in the northwest direction. I met a man, perhaps in his early eighties. We actually chatted at a park bench for a while. So I was adjusting my seat and taking off my socks; it was too warm, when he told me the distance he was going, to the U of T, I was inspired. That is a

I have been watching for some time the videos of devotees distributing Bhagavatam sets, so I vowed that I will also do a Bhagavatam set each week.

I adjusted my approach and applied two new principles to achieve this raised bar that I set for myself:

1. Actually carry a set with me on my weekly book tours.
(Previously, I’d leave the sets in the storehouse and take it with me only after someone had placed an order.)

2. Display the whole set to every person that shows even a half-hearted interest

When Illness Takes Hold: Hopeful Words for Sadhakas explores the challenges and opportunities we face when dealing with illness (or losses and other obstacles) while practicing bhakti.

The book has three essays exploring the authors’ personal experiences and the spiritual solutions they found; a question and answer section; and a collection of quotes from our acaryas that are meditations for coping with illness.

Pranada dasi and Arcana-siddhi dasi, both disciples of Srila Prabhupada, have each

Many of the Vaishnavas CARE — Philadelphia Team along with other temple Devotees and Congregational Members who Volunteered at the Holistic Health Fair gathered for a photo after a blissful day of serving our new friends in the neighborhood.

Neighbors living near ISKCON Philadelphia spent the afternoon at the temple for a pleasant introduction to Krsna consciousness.

By Sangita devi dasi (ACBSP)

On Saturday, October 8, 2022, ISKCON Philadelphia and our Philadelphia Vaishnavas C.A.R.E. Team pre

This was a very inspiring day, one where we were commemorating the birth anniversary of one of our outstanding teachers in the bhakti lineage, Madhavacharya. He was a great scholar who challenged the philosophy of Mayavada with his doctrine on dvaita, personalism. He was born in 1238 and passed away in 1317.

It was perfect to be outside in the joy of the day as we had scheduled a visit to the spectacular Scarborough Bluffs. Our Bhakti Academy trainees and I took a brisk walk by the shores of m

By Kripamoya Das

I try never to miss Monday evenings with the devotees online, but last night I had been invited to a dinner. Not a 40th anniversary dinner, although that would have been good too, but with Sir Keir Starmer and his inner circle of staff and advisors. They loved the prasadam of bindi subji, paneer, dahl, chapatis rice and gulabjamuns. The Labour leader told me he cooks his own dahl, and that his entire family is vegetarian.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=102873

It was hard to believe when the cake came out. I was visiting my sister Pauline in North York, as did two other sisters, Connie and Rose-Ann (I also have two brothers who live a distance away), and presented before me was a one-level, vegan cake with the number seventy pressed into the top. 

What was shocking to me was not the delicious flavor that the desert was, rather it was the number indicating seven decades of experience in this body. Yes, in this lifetime I have gone through “stuff” but

By HH Sacinandana Swami

Krishna is very eager for the company of each and every one of us.
As I sit here in Vrindavan, I sometimes ask myself, “Does Krishna see my efforts? Does He care for such an insignificant and useless person?” I’ve seen many sincere practitioners of bhakti ask this question.

The answer is: yes, Krishna is very eager for the company of each and every one of us. The Brihad- bhagavatamrita describes this in the instance when Lord Narayana welcomes Gopa Kumar after a long jo