I look forward to Saturday primarily because in the afternoon we go to High Park for “the prime benediction for humanity at large.” That quote is from Chaitanya’s written testimony regarding chanting. Chanting is the way to approach the public for bringing about the best results.
Beginning at 1 p.m. a group of us are huddled near Colbourne Lodge for a chanting session where dancing took place, which really attracted attention. One woman was walking, stopped, came over and joined. She lit up. Th
Though our desire to find happiness is natural, our attempt to find it in this world is not.
During a radio interview in London in July 1976, Mike Robinson of the London Broadcasting Company asked Srila Prabhupada, “Can you tell me what you believe to be the meaning of life? Why do we exist in the first place?”
Srila Prabhupada replied, “The meaning of life means to enjoy, but we are in a different platform of life. Therefore we are suffering instead of enjoying. But if you come to the real pla
“Are you a Christian monk?” is what I heard when sauntering on Cumberland St. I turned around and stopped to see four young men looking wholesome and fairly clean cut.
I responded with, “A Krishna monk!”
“Oh! Hindu!” said one of the fellows.
“That’s the kind of little box theologians like to put our group in, but in truth we represent an ancient wisdom that dates to thousands of years. I was born and raised Christian but I added onto my life more information and ways of an enhanced experience.”
I took a stroll to Yorkville where cafes are cool and people are too. For me it’s always interesting to see people’s reactions to some monk gliding through at an early night hour. The place is pretty harmless.
Two young men were passing in front of me. One looked back and spotted me. He touched the waist of his buddy and mildly moved him out of the way. He turned around and immediately got out of the way. “Make way for the monk.”
I passed by a man and his companion dog and said to his pet, “Now
The weather these days could not be better. Though we were met by an exhilarating storm overnight, replete with lightning, thunder, wind and rain. Thankfully the storm settled down by the moment Krishna Chandra and I took to a stroll before dawn. We found an atmosphere of peace. The calm was incredible. Bushes, flowers, plants and trees were happy. They had a good bath. They were shining in a kind of splendour as the light reflected from city lampposts. It was indeed a wet look and most beautif
In his Discourse on Sanskrit and Its Literature, given at the College of France, Professor Bournouf states, “We will study India with its philosophy and its myths, its literature, its laws and its language. Nay it is more than India, it is a page of the origin of the world that we will attempt to decipher.”
In History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature , Max Mueller observed, “In the Rig-veda we shall have before us more real antiquity than in all the inscriptions of Egypt or Ninevah. . the Veda is
Lessons about the Inner World & Social Psychology
A Frequent Flyer devotee recently expressed to me his liking of one particular airline for the broad choice of good movies and rock music they offer. He meant what he said, and I wondered: “Is he aware of his compromised standard and honestly confessing, or is he denying his weakness and making light of the ideal which we aspire for?” I know many devotees who are stricter and who earnestly attempt to internalize a more elevated ideal. As a resul
What qualifies a person to obtain the rare gift of a life of devotional service to the Lord?
“Ajñata-sukriti means doing pious activities without knowledge. So we give everyone a chance to act very piously without his knowledge. This is the Krishna consciousness movement.” (Srila Prabhupada conversation with Bob Cohen, February 1972, Mayapur)
It’s usually better to do something in knowledge than in ignorance. Bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, is no exception. But everyone, in every field of e
By Mathura Lilesvari Devi Dasi
After almost two years of planning, the Bhakti Yoga Center opens in Downtown State College, a bustling college town about an hour away from ISKCON Gita Nagari in Pennsylvania, USA. Situated right opposite the main campus of Penn State University, the center offers a full yoga experience and is hoping to build a yoga and wellness community focusing on introducing the art of bhakti yoga practice to seekers. The Center is registered as ISKCON Centre County and is a no
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The richness and depth of Vedic scriptural tradition challenges and invites us to comprehend and realize our higher self in relation to the Supreme Self. In this interview, we will explore some important features of this process together with a longtime student of Vedic tradition and practitioner of bhakti-yoga.
Hermeneutics is the branch of theology which deals with interpretation. It discusses methods of interpretation with the aim of uncovering the intended meaning of the t
Tamal Krishna Goswami was such a brilliant person. He had a sharp brain and he was just such a general. He just knew what was the right thing to do and he was a leader in this way. He could just point and say, “Well I looked at all the options and clearly this is the way.” And everyone would say, “Yes, that makes sense.” So he was just so amazing in that way and pretty brilliant. Tamal Krishna Goswami was such a powerful man that he was Prabhupada’s man to develop things and do the impossible.
People are actually hankering after this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement because it is the natural function of the living entity. It is not artificial. The very, I mean to, vivid example are yourselves. Your contact with me is, utmost, for the last two years, but still, you are taking very serious interest in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Why? Because it is the fundamental necessity. Ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). Every living entity is by nature joyful, spiritually, and because
I get so much joy from being with the group of Ukrainian/Russian bhakti yogis. Today was about a year ago when Igor opened up his backyard to a host of us for the regular “devotee thing” — chanting, philosophizing, dancing, eating blessed food, etc. This group shows a lot of love and they were most enthusiastic to listen to the topic of “The Ills of Gossip.” It’s subject that resonates with most people. The consensus of people in general is that rumor mongering is one of the worst practices.
Wh
By Sunanda das
In almost every ISKCON temple and center worldwide, a large or small murti of ISKCON Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada can be found. The murti is worshiped daily no different from any deity of the Lord, and Srila Prabhupada is thus considered to be personally present to accept our service and bless his devotees and followers.
What many devotees don’t know is, who made most of these marvelous, lifelike deities of Srila Prabhupada that look s
By Madhava Smullen
Books are the Basis Week, run by the ISKCON Ministry of Education from September 22nd to 28th, is encouraging devotees worldwide to read Srila Prabhupada’s books by providing resources and guidelines, and facilitating grassroots level engagement.
The Week is part of a larger effort to “enhance the culture of reading Srila Prabhupada’s books globally.” It was officially added to ISKCON’s calendar in 2020, after the society’s Governing Body Commission (GBC) accepted a proposal f
Dear community devotees,
Hare Krishna
With sadness we wish to inform you that H.G. Kulashekar Prabhu, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, left his body in Sri Mayapur Community hospital this morning at around 1am. He joined ISKCON in Canada and was initiated by Srila Prabhupad in 1967. In his early days as a young brahmacari he was together in a brahmacari ashram with HH Jayapataka Svami. He remained a brahmacari throughout his life. For more than 35 years he served as a pujari in various ISKCON tem
My knee surgeon, Dr. Backstein, saw me at the hospital where I was to take the final X-ray. He confirmed I’m doing good for 6 weeks after the knee replacement. I respect the man for having done a splendid job.
I’m proud to say I walked the entire way there and back – 6 kilometers, no sweat. No cane. In the afternoon, I met Bob back outside of the ashram quarters. Bob says he was raised Catholic but never took it too seriously. He claims Krishna has been speaking to him. I won’t deny.
“What did
By Nrsimha Caitanya dasa, Czech Padayatra leader
While the world was still gripped by the Covid-19 madness the twenty-ninth Czech Padayātrā took place in the second half of July, and according to its participants was one of the best padayātrās in which they’d been involved. For a second successive year we were able to find a sweet spot during the summer holidays when most of the restrictions had been lifted. After all those lockdowns people were happy that something was going on and as there we
Lover of God- this term evokes different feelings or images in our hearts. Who is a lover of God? What are his symptoms? How does he behave?
And do we know that all of us, yes each one of us, has love of God within our heart and the perfection of our spiritual life is get eternally and permanently reinstated as a lover of God!
By nature, we are lover of God, but here, being illusioned, we think God as our enemy and we don’t like God. We like this māyā.
(SP Lecture, January
Krsna consciousness should be the first and foremost thing in your life. Krsna is first. A wife can say to her husband, “You are the dearmost person in my life, however, after Krsna”. So let Krsna be number one, let Krsna be the most important, let Krsna be the centre of your life, let Krsna be your everything!
