I was sitting next to Gil on the Air Canada flight to Regina. He explained that he and his buddies from Hamilton are off to a Metis fest to play their music. “It’s rock, Creedence Clearwater Revival music. We go all around.” Gil pointed to his t-shirt with a logo which reads, “Mystic River,” the name of their band.
Gil was just a great dude to talk to although the chat was brief, only after we landed. The flight was tough – poor movement of air as we were in the back corner and with masks on th
Kartamasa das: The first time I met Yamuna devi, my life changed forever.
I was in Saranagati for the Christmas holidays in 2000 having a reunion with my closest childhood friends. We were all in our early twenties, and having recently finished our university education and started work, we spent our time together recalling our childhood activities. One day we decided to have kirtan, but in a rather irreverent way, mocking the showy, elaborate vocal and instrument style we had all absorbed growi
How a local newspaper helped ignite the explosive growth of the worldwide Hare Krishna movement.
I recently spoke to Peter Leggieri. The name might not mean much to most readers of Back to Godhead, but, in fact, Peter was engaged by Krishna to help establish the Krishna consciousness movement in the West.
When Srila Prabhupada first came to America in 1965, he was, from all appearances, an unknown monk, accepting the graciousness of his sponsors in Butler, Pennsylvania, and then of hippie follo
Every Sunday, we do harinama at the same market place in Minsk, Belarus, for two hours. Usually, I distribute books while it’s going on. Recently, when the harinama was already approaching the end, in my bag were left six books: three big and three small, all with the same title. I started intensely praying to distribute all the books, but I was so unsuccessful that couldn’t distribute even one. Finally, the whole harinama party came to our bus to leave, and I looked around in the hope of seein
Going on book distribution is always an adventure. We never know what lesson Krishna wants us to learn next.
Recently, I was distributing on 16th Street in downtown Denver, Colorado. A young man approached me with a concern.
He said, “Hey, why don’t you carry your books like a real monk on your back? Why do you cheat and use that rolling bag? That’s not very honorable.”
Slightly amused by the ridiculous accusation, I was surprised that he then kept insisting that he knew what the dharma of a br
Registration begins on 1st July, 2022.
It is our great pleasure to announce ISKCON MAYAPUR’s 10th annual six-day Kartik Navadwip Mandal Parikrama during the most auspicious month of Kartik (organized by the Mayapur Chandra’s). The Parikram dates are 27th, 28th, 30th, 31st October, 2nd and 3rd of November 2022.
There will be two days break, for Srila Prabhuap’s disappearance day (29th of October) and Gopashtami (1st November) so that devotees can participate in the festivals.
For this year also,
Every day the number of people interested in practicing yoga and meditation increases by the thousands. Unfortunately, a person looking for a suitable teacher is likely to encounter a bewildering array of “gurus, “mystics, and self-made gods. In an interview with the London Times, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains how a sincere seeker can tell the difference between a cheater and a genuine teacher.
Reporter: Your Grace, it seems that more people than ever are seeking
Everyone is making sacrifices for material benefit. But those are the sacrifices that we need to gradually detach ourselves from and just make some sacrifice for Krsna instead. So therefore, purification remains in our mind daily in whatever we do. Let us keep our head low, and let us not think that we are so qualified, because whatever credits we have, we got them from Prabhupada’s movement. It is as simple as that; that is where our credits come from. Whatever little service we were allowed t
On July 22nd, a Memorial Service for Krishna Tattva das and Madana Gopal das took place. The devotees died as a result of a missile attack in Alchevsk, Donbass region. According to a Reuters news report of July 17th, the missiles originated from Ukraine’s armed forces.
The survivor of the attack, Arjuna das, is recovering in the hospital. He spoke on social networks about what had happened. According to Arjuna das, on the evening of July 16th, they had just returned from Severodonetsk. There we
The Bhakti Center is a spiritual-cultural center in New York City’s Lower East Side with a talented staff devoted to sharing the experience of self-transformation through the timeless culture and practices of Bhakti-yoga.
If you or someone you know has the required skill sets for the jobs provided below and would like to be a part of the Bhakti Center Team, please reach out to Brajarani at brajarani@bhakticenter.org. Please see the job titles as well as descriptions below:
Ladies Ashram Leader:
Yesterday my dear godbrother HH Siddhartha Swami Maharaja came to visit me in Carpinteria. He was the head pujari in Juhu for many years when I was the temple president, and we shared many fond remembrances of our time together in service to Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari.
Now Maharaja is developing a huge temple complex in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. The project is 70 percent complete, and he hopes to open it next year.
Maharaja has become a learned scholar who knows ma
We were on our way to the Tommy Thompson Park, a shaded-in-spots trail where cyclists and pedestrians share the space, when a man on a bicycle stopped to ask if we had any drugs. His articulation was weak and so we had to ask him to repeat himself. We were still wet from the swim at Cherry Beach and in our swimwear, not recognizable as monks. With me were Emanuel, Karuna, Ryan, and Arjuna. We didn’t really come across looking like folks who take substance to get high. He was naturally disappoin
I just came back from traveling sankirtan, where many amazing encounters took place. The other day I went into a shop and first gave a small book, then The Science of Self-Realization, and then, when the lady gave a nice donation, also the Bhagavad-gita. The lady explained to me her spiritual transformation after her father had had a very severe stroke; it really changed her life for the better.
When I was talking with her she suddenly said, “My hairs are standing on end.” Crying, she added, “T
In India, people have worshiped the Lord’s form for centuries,
and now the practice is flourishing in the West.
When Krsna the Supreme Lord appeared five thousand years ago to enact His pastimes, good people rejoiced to be in His presence, to live on the same earth with Him. Yet, when Lord Krsna no longer visibly walked the earth, how did these people, His devotees, react? We’d expect that they were unbearably lonely. But for thousands of years devotees in India have known that we can personall
By Yudhisthira dasa
My Story
In 1971 when I was studying at SUNY Buffalo (and playing on the college tennis team), many of the now famous shaved-up orange-robed ISKCON devotees were a regular part of the landscape on campus. At that time, I had little contact but would stand around to stare at their alien appearance and briefly listen to their message. In those years, I hadn’t found my passion and was passing time in college as one of many of America’s “disillusioned” youth.
Fast forward a few
We had a book table in Hornsby, a northern suburb in Sydney. It was a cloudy day so there wasn’t much crowd. So I decided to walk around and approach people. I saw a young guy smoking and browsing through his phone.
I approached him and asked him if he was from Hornsby and caught up a conversation. He said he was working in the supermarket and it is his break time. I presented the Bhagavad Gita but he was a bit reluctant and was not showing much interest. I turned to the picture which shows the
With theories being established, taught, and discarded like disposable napkins, a father wonders whether his child will get a real education.
In the summer of 1970, I felt for the first time the fear that parents know when their child ventures out into the world. My daughter Emily wasn’t even three years old, a toddler. Yet one morning, as I watched her walking down the street to play, I suddenly saw her facing the whole sweep other future.
At moments like this, a person really comes face-to-fa
ISKCON Gita Nagari to host 44th country style Ratha Yatra after two-year hiatus.
After a two-year hiatus due to the global pandemic, ISKCON Gita Nagari is gearing up to celebrate its 44th Annual Ratha Yatra on Saturday, July 30, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Gita Nagari Eco Farm, Port Royal, Pennsylvania.
“This is probably the only Ratha Yatra in ISKCON North America and possibly the world which is done country-style. Imagine singing and dancing to the Holy names of Krishna surrounded by natu
Urvasi Dasi was Srila Prabhupada’s beloved disciple and my dear godsister. His Divine Grace said that when a Vaishnava departs, we feel simultaneously happy and sad—sad because we will miss the Vaishnava’s association, and happy because we know they have gone to serve Krishna.
In the last few months, I have had several programs at my ashram in Carpinteria, and Urvasi attended—and enjoyed—all of them. Her presence—her humanity and divinity—uplifted our spirits and consciousness. She was always p
We had hiccups. The sound systems weren’t working for the procession at the three chariots, however some of our young men visiting from other parts of North America compensated for this by their booming voices. The sheer crowds that ended on the south-bound journey on Yonge St were stunning. So, that was not the greatest issue as far as having a successful fest. On the street and on the island, there was record breaking attendance. I was surprised and, like others, was uncertain as to how the t
