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Our cook, Dwarkanath, made this amazing pumpkin cake. It was baked to perfection; somewhat moist and sweet. Since pumpkin is a fruit I hope no sugar was added, especially that dreadful worst of foods—white sugar.

I do have a small issue with my friends from India or Bangladesh, that cook or bake, over the use of the word “pumpkin.” “Pumpkin,” I tell them, without malice, “is roundish, orange and is a member of the squash family.” I also mention that our indigenous people of this area grew squash

By Gauranga Das

Festival for the soul

During the extended lockdown due to the pandemic situation, the residents of Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV) took to an in depth study of Srimad Bhagavatam, making the most of the collective opportunity.

GEV is the home for many scholarly devotees who share the wealth of their Vedic wisdom across the world. As circumstances would have it, many of them like Sanatkumar Prabhu, Gauranga prabhu, Chaitanya Caran prabhu, Damodar prabhu, Gauranga Darshan prabhu, Balara

Sri Narahari Sarkar Thakura , who is Madhumati Sakhi in Vraja pastimes, was born at Sri Khanda. Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami describes that the residents of Sri Khanda formed a branch of the desire tree of love of God. “Sri Khan davasi (the residents of Sri Khanda) Mukunda and his son Raghu nandan were the thirty ninth branch of the tree, Narahari was the fortieth, Chiran Jiva the forty first and Sulocana the forty second. They were all big branches of the all merciful tree of Caitanya Mahapra

I made an official call on behalf of our temple to an agency. It’s not my favourite type of service but nevertheless it must be done. My legal name was in their records but not my email address. I gave them my current email address but it did not compute with what they had. They were nice to me in terms of being helpful but the mood of service stepped up when I explained the following.

“Well, at one time I may have had thewalkingmonk@pamho.net. You see, I’m a monk who’s walked long distances, fo

Being God, Krishna has no work to do and simply enjoys in His original abode, while His expansions and energies, such as time, take care of the material creation.

As working men and women we typically leave home in the early morning and spend eight or nine hours on the job. Life at work sustains life at home. Official dealings at work contrast with family intimacies at home. However diffuse and overlapping the boundaries between the two, our work persons differ from our home persons.

Krishna, t

Today is a red-letter day—I received an advance copy of my book about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu: I’ll Build You a Temple: The Juhu Story. The volume is beautiful, and I felt humbled by and grateful for all the help I received in this effort.

Thank you very much.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Source: https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=16720

Sometimes we may question the suitability of the term “razor’s edge” when applied to the process of Krsna consciousness. Isn’t this too harsh? Shouldn’t Krsna be more kind and yielding to His devotees? Is there not a more suitable term that we could use?

That God displays features of unyielding and uncompromising hardness cannot be denied. In Bhagavad Gita Lord Sri Krsna says: “Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, I perpetually cast into the ocean of material exi

By Gauranga Das

Do you know before the advent of proper paper, what was the substance on which people used to write? What are the types of manuscripts?
The Manuscript Mission team at Bhaktivedanta Research Centre has visited more than 50 remote corners of India and Bangladesh over the past decade. BRC now has over 1000 manuscripts preserved digitally and around 70 physical manuscripts.
There are three primary types of manuscripts:
1. Tree Bark – Birch bark manuscripts are documents written on p

ISKCON Temple of Greater Chicago is based in Naperville, a growing suburb of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The temple moved to its current location a few years back and since then, the community has been growing exponentially. Looking at the growth, there is need for a commercial kitchen, community hall along with additional space to conduct different programs for children, youth, devotees and other community members, and thus a new temple construction plan was in motion.

And then COVID came along! W

With folded hands, we thank all the Vaishnavas for participation in this year’s Kshetra Parikrama.  Irrespective of the pandemic and the bridge in physical association it has caused, in great numbers from all around the world, has tuned in daily to participate in the parikrama engaging our minds fully in Puri Dham.

This has proved to us that indeed we can systematically and devotionally engage modern day technology fully for the service of the Lord and how it can be used perfectly in this period

We had a full day of rain, then a full day of snow. Finally, on Tuesday, the sun reigned and dominated the skies.

After a session of cleaning in the kitchen and taking a small portion of kheer, a sweet prep quite renowned in our temple in Toronto, I laid down on the floor to bathe in the rays of the sun. What a comfort that was, receiving vitamin D in such a fine dose, along with the prana in the air due to having my windows open.

I heard the ringtone on my phone. It was Victor, my young Muslim

                                                                                                                                           Video: Click here

Medical professionals and healthcare heroes across the country are going above and beyond in the fight against coronavirus. This week, GBC Strategic Planning Team (SPT) invites you to meet, hear and learn from Krsnadasa Kaviraja Das on how to responsibly play our part in this fight. He is one of the many unsung devotee heroes who have put t

By Madhava Smullen and Anuttama Dasa

The coronavirus pandemic, which has now claimed over 276,000 lives in the United States, and 1.5 million around the world, continues to be a major health threat. And ISKCON temples have not been immune to the challenge.  

In addition to the sad passing of some senior ISKCON leaders and congregational members, whole temples have been closed for a period of time to protect the community and other visitors. These have included ISKCON’s international headquarters

Usually at this time of year I’m in Varadero, Cuba. I am typically at the beach, under the sun, making visitations to cities like Havana, Matanzas and St. Declaro. We hold kirtan sessions, give bhakti lessons, answer questions, walk the streets, etc. etc. I do miss the wonderful people there. I also miss the good company of another monk, a Swami from Spain. His name is Yaduananda Swami. He’s kind, cool and caring.

With everyone in the world being grounded, reminiscence becomes somewhat magnified

Rucira Devi Dasi: Himavati told me a story from the first trip with Srila Prabhupada to India. The devotees were living in tents and Hansadutta refused to sleep with her in their tent. All the other couples were sleeping together in their own tents. So she snuck into Srila Prabhupada’s room and slept in his closet.
The next morning she got up and snuck out. She said that day Prabhupada called her into his quarters. He said, “Himavati, you cannot sleep in my closet. This will cause rumors. People

By Giriraj Swami 

On October 28, 1972, in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.17:

srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
  punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani
  vidhunoti suhrt satam

“Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous w

I received my permanent bridge. It was installed in my mouth and it looks great. The word “permanent” may be deceiving. The only power that I understand to be of a lasting fixture is the soul. But, you know, I wasn’t about to have a dispute with my dentist on the use of the word. He even admitted it’s good for about 20 years.

The soul, the Supersoul, brahman, or the spiritual energy all around us, is eternal but that is not the same case for any dental office. The theme is “teeth” and such a cli

By Madhava Smullen

One of the catalysts for this was the 2017 Sanga for Gurus, GBCs and Sannyasis (SGGS) in Mayapur, West Bengal, at which it was felt that there should be a worldwide effort to increase reading amongst ISKCON members and leaders. Following this, ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission made a resolution in February 2020 to introduce an annual “International Sravanam Week.” The week ran from September 3rd to 9th and featured online study groups, webinars and daily Zoom interviews about