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Lord Balarama carries a plough, used to prepare the ground for planting. Balarama is actually the one who prepares the heart. Krsna is the instructor, the speaker of the Bhagavad-gita, and He plants transcendental knowledge within the heart. “Bala” means strength and Balarama is the giver of spiritual strength. He has that strength because He is serving Krsna in unlimited ways: as His personal paraphernalia, His bed, His shoes and even the instruments we use in kirtana. Even the kartalas should

Every alternate Monday I am scheduled for a philosophy/family/friend session at Ramsden Park. Corry, my cousin, her hubby, Eric and young Victor come together. As I was making my way to the picnic spot a falcon swooped down and then swept up to perch on a convenient, substantial tree branch. He got our attention. If it was a hawk, it’s known to be a good omen. It represents focus and is regarded as a sign from the spirit world. Hopefully a falcon carries similar good fortune.

It was suggested th

Throughout the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada emphasizes again and again the importance of retiring from family life around the age of fifty. He clearly gives this deadline – again and again.

In the purport to SB. 3.30.14. Srila Prabhupada explains: “Family attraction is so strong that even if one is neglected by family members in his old age, he cannot give up family affection, and he remains at home just like a dog. In the Vedic way of life one has to give up family life when he is strong

Just like children only want to eat sweets, we only want kirtan. But we must not forget about the philosophy in Krsna consciousness because without this philosophy, we have no anchor. Without philosophy, we are on the waves of the three modes of material nature. The three modes of material nature exist inside of us and they exist around us too. And the two are not always the same – sometimes externally everything is very peaceful, however, there is a storm within us. So in this way, we can see

We are celebrating Jhulana-yatra, which is steeped in the moods of Vrindavan. When I first began reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, I was struck by the following description in the introduction to Teachings of Lord Chaitanya: “Actually, the Vrindaban on earth is as good as the spiritual Vrindaban, and therefore Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says that underneath one of the desire trees of Vrindaban there is a nice throne decorated with valuable jewels on which Radharani and Krishna are seated. And H

It was early afternoon on a beautiful monsoon day. The clouds were Syama-colored and rumbled gently, but no rain came. They simply shaded Rupa Gosvami from the heat of the sun and encouraged the limitless peacocks on the banks of Radha-kunda to dance exuberantly and call out loudly for the rain to fall. Despite this cacophony of sound, his heart was absorbed only in the beautiful, all attractive syllables of Harinama. In ecstasy, he thought:
“I do not know how much nectar the two syllables “Krs

Gauridas Pandit was a great devotee of Lord Chaitanya that lived in Ambika Kalna near Navadvipa in West Bengal. Gauridas Pandit was Subal in Krishna-lila. From Puri, Gauridas had settled in Ambika Kalna.

Tradition reveals that Sri Sri Gaur-Nitai Themselves came to Ambika Kalna to pose for the deities that are to this day housed in the little temple. Pilgrims may also see Bhagavad-gita on palm-leaf there—verses that are said to have been written by Mahaprabhu’s own hand; the oar with which Mahapr

A thief while committing crime knows he will be punished if caught. And when he is caught and punished, he promises to himself and to the judge in the court that henceforth he will never steal. But as soon as he is out of jail he again begins stealing.

A student knows if he does not study, he will fail. An employee knows if he does not work sincerely, he will be fired. Many times we take a vow to not indulge in an act which may negatively impact us. But still we do it and we suffer.

We may wonde

By Sri Nandanandana dasa (Stephen Knapp)

When the spiritual master leaves the body and moves on, it is naturally the worst day of the disciple’s life. Many times we have become accustomed to thinking of our guru in a particular way, serving him in certain ways, listening to his classes, waiting and longing for him to visit our town or local temple, engaging in special exchanges with him or her, and then suddenly all such prospects are gone. The depth of our despair can be unfathomable. So wha

“What do you think about this scamdemic?” asked the cyclist who stopped upon seeing me.

Before I was to say something as a response I knew I was going to dialogue with a radical-thinker, who has his own views on Covid-19. I wanted to make sure to make a friend. That was the most important thing on my mind. After all I’m making some inroads toward pal-making on Bloor Street, mostly because of the fact that it’s the street I frequent as of late.

And so, for the dialogue, and my response:

“We are

This book distribution story needs a little background. It’s like many stories from so many devotees all over the world, which give us a sense of the unexplainable magic of book distribution.

Those deeply mystical points in time, those strange moments, when synchronicity only gives a vague explanation for what just happened. Points in time when you just know deep down in your soul that Paramatma, the Supersoul, is actually the person doing everything. He is in the heart of the distributor, He i

Srila Prabhupada’s letter to Amsu das on 13 August 1974:
“Regarding the worship of our Gaura Nitai by women pujaris, we worship Lord Chaitanya in His householder life when He was with His wife, and not as a sannyasi. So, it is alright for women to do this service. But, besides this, service is spiritual and there can be no material designation. In Bhagavad-gita it is stated by Lord Krsna: striyo vaisyas tatha sudras te’pi yanti param gatim. The principle is that everyone who is properly initiate

To complement walking, swimming is one of those activities on the top of the list. A most pleasant person from Stratford, Jaya Gopal, picked me up from the big city to bring me to Lake Couchiching, one of three clean and tame lakes in the Orillia area. Now that was super sweet, however, the real purpose of the day was to partake in Orillia’s first Ratha Yatra festival. Done in downscale-style, the deities of Jagannath were set in the backseat of a van, and then driven to dozens of recipients, mo

Have You Forgiven?

Below is a checklist to help you determine whether or not you are practicing a life of forgiveness, and thus what you may still need to work on. Go over this checklist as many times as needed for any person you have issues with.

On a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest level of unforgiveness, rate your forgiveness practice (0 is a perfect practice).

You need your offender to apologize.

You need your offender to admit they were wrong.

You need your offender to receive

Speaking on Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.41, on June 7, 1976, in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada explained the following verse from the Padma Purana:

arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhir
visnor va vaisnavanam kali-mala-mathane pada-tirthe ’mbu-buddhih
sri-visnor namni mantre sakala-kalusa-he sabda-samanya-buddhir
visnau sarvesvarese tad-itara-sama-dhir yasya va naraki sah

“One who thinks the Deity in the temple to be made of wood or stone, who thinks of the spiritual master in t