My Father-in-law was at first alarmed by the framed photo of Srila Saraswati Thakur adorning our living room wall captioned with His Divine Grace’s bold declaration that “…Western civilization must be crushed.” I explained that the whole world was contaminated by the ideology of extreme exploitation which has it’s heart inextricably intertwined with the roots of what History portrays as Western “civilization.” This idea of exploitation ruins any realm in which it exists like a malignant cancer
"jīv jāgo, jīv jāgo, gauracānda bole
kota nidrā jāo māyā-piśācīra kole"
By Madhava Smullen
The Grihastha Vision Team is offering an online Q & A on “Creating Meaningful Relationships” from 5:00 to 7:00pm on Saturday February 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day. The session will be broadcast live on the Grihasta Vision Team Facebook and Youtube, and via Zoom.
The GVT, established in 2004, is a group of Vaishnava couples who have all been in healthy marriages for over twenty-five years. The team members, who work professionally as premarital educators, psychotherapi
“The supreme Lord walks and does not walk. He is far away, but He is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of everything.”
The above quote is referenced from mantra five of the text Sri Isopanisad. How may we analyze this mantra?
There are three aspects of God (the Absolute) — brahman, paramatma, and bhagavan. The first aspect or feature a God is a depersonalize feature of the Absolute. It would be hard to explain this feature which is defined as an all-pervasive pres
Karnamrita, a man who is missed
A man who believed morals should persist
For him family was at the top of the list
A principal which in early days we’d resist
A true brahmin – devotee sincere
One who wanted things to be clear
As truth will always drive away fear
This loss – puts the cheek to the tear
He fought a fierce cancer combat
Now the body is a mere new stat
So many, you could shake a stick at
Resilient soul moves to a new flat
He was determined in helping the other
His was a vision for ea
By The Grihastha Vision Team
On February 9th, beloved Grihastha Vision Team member and premarital counselor Karnamrita Dasa passed away after a long battle with cancer.
Karnamrita Dasa was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1970. For fourteen years, he lived in various ISKCON temples around the world. In the beginning of his devotional service, he participated in street sankirtana and book distribution, and eventually became a head cook and pujari, specializing in emergency devotional service.
Af
The story of Lord Brahma going to visit Krishna at Dvarka is one of my favorite stories for reminding me of my insignificance. I think of this story when I am confused with other Karnamritas. I get email for Karnamrita dasi the singer, and I get asked if I wrote the biography of Gaura-kishora das Babhaji, or other books. I am reminded of my dear friend Dr. Garuda who has to distinguish himself from another Garuda who is active on-line.
By Karnamrita dasa
So which Karnamrita am I? That is a grea
Srimad Bhagavatam Class 01-01-01 by HG Gauranga Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty on 24rd jan 2021.
Partha Dasa: Today, February 9th, a most dear friend and fellow Grihastha Vision Team member, Karnamrita Prabhu left this world. Karnamrita was someone who cared about others in a deep meaningful way and devoted his life to make the lives of others better; someone who knew the meaning of love and lived it through his words and actions; someone who made everyone feel relaxed, valued and accepted.
Karnamrta always added an element of humor and lightness that would allow even a six-hour meeting to
Compiled by Nartaka Gopala dasi
Our dear Godbrother Vishal Prabhu passed away in Sri Vrindavan Dham sometime around February 8, 2021. He was 82 years old, almost 83. Vishal Prabhu was a legendary distributor of Srila Prabhupada’s books. Above is a photo of how I remember Vishal the most: wearing not one, but two book bags, criss-crossed in front of his chest, and going out to distribute every single day for the last fifty three years, whether he was in the US or in India.
Another photo at ISKCON
Sri Mayapur Community hospital needs your help to start Operation Theatre services:
Dear Devotees,
Please accept the blessings of Sri Sri Radha Madhava and our humble obeisances at your lotus feet.
We are very grateful for your magnanimous support us during the COVID crisis. Through your encouragement help and support we were able to attend to the health care needs of more of almost 10,000 patients during the lockdown period even with the very basic set up we have here in Sri Mayapur.
However, o
When I say “our street” I mean the one that we live on as well as the back alley that runs parallel to it and let’s not forget the street parallel to it and then the one also parallel but on the other side of the tracks. This was my route for the night; with snow and ice all over its surface.
It is awfully peaceful at the hour of 9 to 10 p.m. This is no doubt conducive to a soft chant rolling off the lips.
The quiet, combined with space, also lends itself to thoughts of the day’s affairs. To ba
Video: Click here
Deena Bandhu Das: Please join us in prayers for my very dear older Godbrother, Vishal Prabhu, who was living here in Vrindavan. Devotees hadn’t seen him for a couple of days, so just a half-hour ago, the police broke the door and found his lifeless body! Just happened so no details yet, but he was 85 years old. He constantly distributed Srila Prabhupada’s books till the present day!
Whenever Prabhupada would circumambulate the temple in the morning in Vrindavan, Vishal would be
Video: Click here
By Rupa Vilas Das
Whenever Prabhupada would circumambulate the temple in the morning in Vrindavan, Vishal would be standing with his hands folded chanting prayers from the Bhagavatam and then give the English translations. On this particular morning there was water on the temple steps because it had just rained. Prabhupada just snapped at Vishal and said, “Do something practical,” He said, “Clean this up.” (laughs) So that was his response to the glorification. He ordered him
By Dayal Gopal dasa, Nepal sankirtan preacher
Padayatra in Nepal began on January 19, 2021.
In a recent ISKCON Leadership Sangha (ILS-2020) our spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja, instructed Nepal regional secretary Patri dasa to organize a padayatra in Nepal. Patri took Maharaja’s words to heart and discussed the idea with the Nepali devotees.
A friend of Patri, Brahmacari Sahastranam dasa from Ukraine, who has been serving in Nepal for twelve years engaged in community and farm services, was
Twice this message was sent to me. “The longest walkable road of the world is from Capetown to Magdan (Russia). There are bridges across rivers, no boat or air journey is required. It is 22,000 km long and takes 587 days to cover for a person walking 8 hours a day. Covers 17 countries in 6 time zones and the traveler will experience all the seasons and weathers of the world in this journey.”
That is impressive if someone can do it and take to the task. Had I started my walking ventures earlier i
Nartaka Gopala dasi: “Our Godbrother Hansavatara Prabhu, initiated disciple of His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, passed away on January 15 in Riviera Beach, Florida from throat cancer. His dear wife Yogamaya devi has asked me to compile this article. Here in Alachua, where they lived for the past year, Yogamaya devi arranged a beautiful fire yajna and loving ceremony last week at Tejo Prakash Prabhu and Laksmana devi’s property in his honor. At ISKCON Miami, Dharma Prabhu offer
By Madhava Smullen
What has kept the International Society for Krishna consciousness going for 54 years now, “systematically propagating spiritual knowledge to society at large” as Srila Prabhupada wrote when incorporating the movement in 1966?
Much has been down to the steady efforts of quietly dedicated devotees, doing their services day in and day out for decades – the pujaris, the teachers, the mothers, the cooks, the cleaners, the maintenance workers, the accountants, the book editors, the
Shyam was about three years old when I last saw him — fuzzy sand coloured hair, climbing the walls, trying to speak. Like most kids his age, he loved the temple on Sundays. There are all kinds of stairs, levels and everything was like a labyrinth for them. There was a lot of excitement in the air with the beating of drums as well as people dancing and singing. And the eating. He was known to snatch sweets from others’ plates.
He is now 22. He and his mum, Bhadara Kali, came down to meet me at th
There is a vast disparity from the milk production of northern breeds and the Zebu types of India. There are many types of cows in India broadly termed as Zebu however only a few are specifically noted for their milk productivity. Good milking Zebu cows (Sahiwal for example) can produce 2000 litres over a 305 day lactation. In the UK the average amount of milk for the same period is about 8,000 litres per year. ISKCON northern breed cows (predominantly Meusse-Rhine-Issel type) at Bhaktivedanta M
