While the US is celebrating its birthday, on this beautiful day and weekend in remote Canada — actually Montreal — the Krishna community and I are seeing to a marriage. Samuel and Nandini Radha, tied the knot as a couple at around noon today at the Pie-IX Boulevard temple.
Priest Madan-Mohan conducted the ceremony at which parents from both bride and bride-groom were seated at the corner of the kund, or tiny arena, observing rites that were colourful and new to their eyes and ears.
I gave the a
Our life is like a yatra – a pilgrimage, a spiritual journey towards the Divine. Our body symbolises the rath or chariot, through which we embark on the journey towards serving and attaining eternal love of the Lordships. Though we live in this material body or ‘rath’, the bonafide shastras and acharyas advise us to surrender its control to the all-merciful Lord Purushottama. Thus, by sincerely following their instructions, we earn their blessings and eventually we are able to blissfully maneu
Ratha Yatra or Chariot Festival'is a festival associated with Lord Jagannath held at Puri in the state of Odisha, India. It is the oldest Ratha Yatra taking place in India and the World, whose descriptions can be found in Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, and Skanda Purana and Kapila Samhita.This annual festival is celebrated on Ashadha Shukla Paksha Dwitiya (second day in bright fortnight of Ashadha month).The festival commemorates Jagannath's annual visit to Gundicha Temple
The presiding deities o
One of the special book distribution efforts during this year’s campaign, inspired by Bhaktivinod Thakur, will be “Books to McGill.” In 1896 – the year of Prabhupada’s birth – the Thakur mailed copies of his book Sri Chaitanya: His Life and Precepts to McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Following Bhaktivinod Thakur’s example, the Books to McGill program will see devotees send an introductory letter, as well as some of Prabhupada’s books, to the thinkers, political leaders and luminaries of
All Glories to Sri Gadadhar Pandit whose emotions are not possible to describe!
“Another name of Lord Gauranga is the ‘Lord of the life of Gadadhara.’ Who can understand what mercy has been bestowed upon him? Their glories are sung by everyone as Gadai- Gauranga.”
Today is the holy disappearance day of Gadadhar Pandit, who is none other than Shrimati Radharani, appearing in this material world to bless the household of Madhava Mishra and Ratnavati devi and to assist Shri Chaitanya in fulfilling
Karuna Sindhu is a safe driver behind the wheel and so I was his passenger, safely seated as we moved along eastward bound. It was momentous because this morning marked my first time beyond the Ontario border in approximately 16 months. We both felt a kind of freedom; enjoying what we could not for all this time. Entering into the city of Montreal was a sweet sensation and being greeted by the community of Vaishnavas I haven’t seen (many of them fairly new to bhakti) for so long was a real brea
This past weekend, New Vrindaban hosted hundreds of devotees for its 24-Plus Kirtan event. It was the first major festival held in over a year since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and devotees traveled from all over North America to be a part of it. Among them was a group of nine Vaishnavis from Krishna House in Gainesville, Florida. Most of them were new devotees who had joined during the pandemic and had never been to New Vrindaban, or for that matter, to any major ISKCON festival.
To re
Nothing major but I was feeling a bit woozy from the vaccine I received yesterday, nevertheless I wanted to keep busy. In that regard priestly duties were put to motion. It started with a visitation to Nimai Nitai’s home. Among his family friends was someone’s birthday; Jyoti is her name. She’s a young mother. We celebrated with a cheese cake.
Now you may ask what is it with my involvement in a birthday and what does it have to do with priestly duties? Well, my role in a spiritual community may
"By the grace of the Lord, a devotee can achieve wonderful success simply by willing, but a real devotee does not like that. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu has taught that one should not desire material opulence or material reputation, nor should one try to enjoy material beauty; one should simply aspire to be absorbed in the devotional service of the Lord, even if one does not get liberation but has to continue the process of birth and death unlimitedly. Actually, however, to one who engages in Kṛṣṇ
"Mother Yashoda’s love is unmatched in purity and is unlike any other that even the infinite Lord who pervades the entire creation is bound by her love."
“Because mother loves the most…in this material world, there is no comparison of mother's love. Without any exchange. Even in this material world. Mother loves the child without any expectation of return generally…that is called unalloyed love. Anyabhilasita-sunyam, free from all material gain.”- Srila Prabhupada Srimad-Bhagavatam1.8.31 lectur
By Madhava Smullen
After a successful school year of keeping all students safe during the Covid-19 pandemic, the TKG Academy in Dallas, Texas held a graduation ceremony on May 27th that felt “triumphant,” according to Vice Principal Gopi Gita Dasi. During the event, three students who had attended TKG Academy since preschool graduated from Twelfth Grade, while the rest of the school’s thirty-three students received end-of-year certificates.
Throughout the year, Covid safety protocols such as ma
By Madhava Smullen
An online “Sravana Festival,” with a series of Zoom talks by illustrious guests about the pastimes of Lord Jagannath and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, is setting the mood for the upcoming Ratha Yatra celebrations at the ISKCON temple in Plainfield, New Jersey and on the Atlantic City boardwalk.
The nectarean spiritual talks, which are taking place every Sunday from 9:00am to around 10:30am EST, began on June 20th with Director of Gopal Jiu Publications Madhavananda Das, who is based
I’ve known Devananda for many years. He grew up in London, Canada, area. I know little about his Jewish descent, but he adopted to eastern ways like I did. Pursuing life in India; living like a yogi/sadhu of sorts was his calling. He’s been active in China and India and teaches shiatsu and massage therapy.
It’s great when he comes around, being about the same age we have something to share about experience in the yoga field, although my chosen approach has been more in the bhakti line. There is
By Dinanatha Das
Japa retreats starting June 26 and running through July 18th, online, hosted by Mahatma Das and Amogh Lila Das.
Register here: http://bit.ly.3pStMZ4
HG Mahatma Prabhu (ACBSP), from Alachua, USA, has been conducting workshops on various topics of importance to devotees like improving japa, forgiveness, compassion, etc. These workshops have immensely benefited the participants to improve their sadhana.
On April 2021, HG Mahatma Prabhu conducted an online Japa Retreat “Transform
One of the first things a serious spiritual aspirant learns is the necessity of surrendering to a spiritual master. ‘Try to learn the truth by accepting a bona-fide guru’, the Bhagavad-gita tells us. Many other Vedic texts exhort us similarly. These are frequently cited by Srila Prabhupada throughout his books. It would be an extremely inattentive student who failed to grasp the idea that without a spiritual master we cannot advance in spiritual life. We sing this every morning in the gurvastak
Sesa das talks about HH Bhakti Charu Maharaja being a ‘courageous firebrand…’ IN GLORIFICATION OF HIS HOLINESS BHAKTI CHARU MAHARAJA
Can you picture our dear Vaisnava gentleman His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami as a sword wielding, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, general on the battlefield, a courageous soldier in the thick of battle, waging war on behalf of ISKCON? A more predominant view of Maharaja is one who is a source of inspiration, refuge, and hope. However, as I reflect on my recent G
Video of HH Bhakti Charu Swami glorifying Srila Prabhupada’s Journey to USA in a packed Netaji Indoor Stadium which seats 12,000 people. To inaugurate the ISKCON 50th Anniversary year, on August 13th in Kolkata a grand celebration was held with the participation of thousands of devotees from 108 countries, spiritual leaders and dignitaries such as the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
By Krishna Premarupa Das
What is the most difficult service in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)? Most probably, it’s to serve as a diksa guru, or initiating spiritual master.
On Saturday, 5th of June, the GSC hosted a three-hour online conference for ISKCON diksa gurus. This was the first of its kind as a virtual event. The event was titled the "Challenges of Being a Guru in ISKCON".
The Guru Services Committee (GSC), a standing committee of the Governing Body Comm
It is quite the achievement, first of all, that there is a leadership college that trains men and women to be just that – leaders in a spiritual organization. I was invited to the GBC College Graduation and here’s a message from our graduate from Canada. His name is Anuttama. He sent me a letter tonight.
“Hare Krishna Maharaja (that’s me) and Prabhus (other blessers),
I wanted to inform you that I graduated from the GBC College leadership for Zonal Supervisor today. It was a longer journey than
So, it’s the first day of summer but I was reminded of one other aspect of today. It’s Father’s Day. I spent the night with a family in Bracebridge. They have a gorgeous shrine in their front room. At 7 a.m., we all came together for chanting, puja, and a discussion on the Bhagavad-gita, 14.4, referencing Krishna on the topic of fatherhood, where He claims, as God, to be the ultimate Dad.
We drove south to Toronto and on very short notice I was requested to give a class for our Vancouver Centre
