If you go to Mayapur and you go on the side of the Ganga to take a bath in it, you have the ground under your feet and you walk in the water moving forward on your own strength. But if you go deep into the water, then what will happen? The current of the Ganga will just drag you away. And there is nothing you can do, it will just take you. Bhakti is the same. In the beginning, you have to take different steps yourself – you have to follow this principle and you have to do this duty and so on. Y
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I put in my 7 kilometres for the day, which was a productive day considering I’m locked down like almost everyone else. I am to understand that not all places are tight on restrictions like much of the world. I spoke to someone from Guyana and who has connections with Trinidad where life is fairly “normal.” In touch with Cuba, as I go there annually, and right now there are no tourists which Cuba’s economy depends upon. One of my friends from Cuba said it plain and simple, “It’s dead.”
But
According to Vedic culture, “protection to the cows, to the women, the brahmanas, the children and old folks is elementary” (SB 1.16.21). In order to implement protection, a modicum of respect must exist.
Now in modern society, with its appeal for equality, basic respect is often absent. Such liberal dealings often mean that any nonsense can be regarded highly as long as one appears intelligent. Nowadays the edict that ‘a fool is revealed when he speaks’ is too subtle for easy discernment.
In co
By Madhava Smullen
A devotee men’s group started in Alachua, Florida in 1992 has offered both spiritual and practical support, as well as close friendships, for members over the past 28 years.
Several current members have been part of the group – named Sadhu Sanga Men’s Group – from the very beginning, while the rest joined between fifteen and twenty-five years ago. Starting when they were young men, the group of householder devotees (both Prabhupada disciples and grand disciples) now range
The time is very dangerous. And still, in this dangerous time . . . Just like in epidemic conditions where people are being contaminated and dying, still, the doctors appointed by the government have to go into the epidemic area and try to treat the persons and save them. Our duty is like that. The whole atmosphere is epidemic—whole atmosphere, this Kali-yuga. And still, by the superior orders, we have to preach this Krishna consciousness movement.
Therefore our only shelter is Krishna. Krsna, k
Jazz musician Norah Jones, daughter of sitar maestro, Ravi Shankar, has put herself online singing the piece, “I Am Missing You, Oh Krishna.” Originally sung by Laksmi Shankar on one of Ravi’s albums, Norah puts it out in a sweet tone on her piano. I played the song for the few of us at the ashram at supper. It was forwarded to me by Gaurachandra of Calgary. With himself being a great sax and flute player, he has a love for music and so decided to share it.
I believe that during this pande
It is simply an example of Krishna’s inconceivable potency that such an insignificant coronavirus which is not even visible by the naked eyes had made this world standstill.
To fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, our Honorable Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi had announced a nationwide lockdown since March 24. There have been more than 17,340 positive cases of COVID-19 in India so far, with at least 559 deaths due to the disease.
As in many other parts of the world, people have been advised t
Conspiracy theories abound: covid 19, G5, the New World Order, and, of course, the deep state. I remember a time when life was simpler. There was only one conspiracy in town: Maya, the illusionary energy, assigned to keep us conditioned souls enamored in a world that is endlessly mutable (something akin today, I guess, to Facebook).
In this age of greed and hypocrisy, of the cheaters and the cheated, where countless, unfortunate beings struggle in this material world, a world that is confusing a
Most Yogis translate Bhakti Yoga as “Divine Love” and then Srila Prabhupada
translated it as ‘Devotional Service’.
Here is why, real love means there must be action. A mother can only claim
she loves her children when she feeds them and takes care of them .
The phrase “Divine Love” sounds cool, and you can imagine a guru sitting
twiddling a flower in his hand and dishing out blessings with his other
hand.
Guru Kripa Prabhu went to Japan under difficult circumstance and paid for
the 3 main Temple
ISKCON Strategic Planning Support Team, which is a unit of the GBC Strategic Planning Team is extending their support to help devotee communities worldwide to survive, maintain and grow. Below is their letter to ISKCON leaders:
"Dear ISKCON Leaders,
The GBC SPT’s Strategic Planning Support unit (SPS) is at your service. Should you require assistance in strategizing how to deal with the current and future challenges you face due to COVID-19, we can help.
Our objective is to assist you to en
His son in law, Jai Baladev Das, wrote:
“With a heavy heart we’re sad to announce that Karnamrita Das (Brian Soul), disciple of Srila Prabhupada and father to Jahnavee Soul, left his body this morning due to Covid19. “He spent over a month in the hospital, originally for pneumonia and sepsis, fought for a long time, but at some point also contracted the coronavirus while he was there. Despite not being able to be there with him or communicate with him much because of the lockdown, we were able
Yes, I’m still in T.O. or what rapper, Drake, calls “The Six” (six boroughs), however, my mind is all over the place. Yes, today it gravitated to San Diego, Calgary, Ottawa, Miami, Australia, Russia, Spain—just about everywhere that a dream leads to—oh, and even the sun.
I thought of Hanuman who flew to the sun. You might as well say I traveled ethereally to all under the sun and in one sense, to the sun as a passenger with the powerful monkey himself. Today there was no presence of the su
When I first became a devotee as a young brahmacari it was like being part of a revolution, guided by Srila Prahupada’s call in distribution and heart transformation.
In the Mahabharata, we have observed how the Pandavas faced a Kaurava army; for our ratio analysis if we compared the Israelian Army against those of the world. Here the Pandavas faced the greatest of odds against the Kauravas(who had Krsna’s Narayana Kavaca Army), but of course Krsna sided with the Pandavas…then the case was clos
By Madhava Smullen
Everyone remembers where they were and what they were thinking when the lockdown started.
Arjun Bhattacharyya has worked in the IT industry and as a photographer for the Detroit Devasadan Mandir and the Kolkata ISKCON temple (his homebase), and serves as personal assistant to senior devotee Deena Bandhu Das.
He was was at Krishna Balaram Mandir in Vrindavan when the temple closed its doors to the public and all non-residents, six days before Indian Prime Minister Narend
In Vrindavan, on September 13, 1975, Srila Prabhupada spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.2.11:
na niskrtair uditair brahma-vadibhis
tatha visuddhyaty aghavan vratadibhih
yatha harer nama-padair udahrtais
tad uttamasloka-gunopalambhakam
“By following the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies or undergoing atonement, sinful men do not become as purified as by chanting once the holy name of Lord Hari. Although ritualistic atonement may free one from sinful reactions, it does not awaken devotional service, unlike
There are more people than ever before walking the streets in Rosedale and doing so, safely. My walking partner for several Sundays now is Nimai Nitai. He’ll come down to our ashram/temple door at the agreed upon time. Our rule is to not let anyone in—only the rare serviceman or the person delivering the produce. Nimai must wait.
So there he is, well equipped with his mask. We set off to the ravine that connects one from David Balfour Park to the Brickworks.
Easter in many represents a
OM SRI SURABHYAI NAMAH. OM SRI GURAVE NAMAH!
Dear devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
About ten years ago I made a PowerPoint presentation on cow protection. In the meantime, I have got many more insights into the matter. Therefore, I have considerably upgraded and enriched my previous work.
I have spent A LOT of time to research the internet and various books dealing with the topic. This presentation targets a wide audience to achieve various purposes
Cholars, artists and folk cried after freedom from time immemorial. Unfortunately, it frequently continues to be cry only for a simple reason – nobody of them knows what constitutes freedom and what slavery. So the meaning of the freedom itself is degraded.
In this essey I will deal with with bondage in its unalloyed and primary form as defined in Bhagavad-gita, the oldest book of freedom. My subject is easily understandable analogy of thraldom, w
Amidst the coronavirus crisis and the consequent lockdown India’s tribal people are facing double difficulties - scarcity of food and lack of awareness about the preventive measures to curb spreading of the deadly disease.The innocent people mostly living in remote areas have limited access to information.
ISKCON India’s Tribal Care Trust initiative has been actively involved in reaching out to tribal people through its food relief facilities, but now devotees have also taken on the additiona
