My area of movement is restricted. Walking around outside is taboo for the time being. My one meal a day is placed outside the door of my quarters. I pack my laundry into a garbage bag and leave it outside that same door. Mail is slipped under my door. If I need to communicate at all with a resident monk, I will call them on the phone. In the case of Cameron, we talked through the glass door and innovated some measure of sign language.
This is the way it will be for a few days and I have psycho
Our virtual Thursday afternoon Gita sessions have been very stimulating for me and if I gauge properly, others on the call are also having a great time. After a sweet time in the park, pulling in the sun’s Vitamin D and working on the next poem, I sat myself comfortably to share this week’s verses from The Gita, 9:12, 13 and 14. We took special note of the subject: mahatma (mentioned in the 13th verse), and what the qualities of a “great soul” are. The first point I discussed was that a mahatma
“If I had not been there with Srila Prabhupada for days and weeks and months, my life would be nothing but dry, tattered scraps.”
Adapted by Nandimukhi Devi Dasi from Remembering Srila Prabhupada (© 1998 Daniel Clark)
HIS DIVINE GRACE A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, my spiritual master, enacted his life’s activities from his birth in 1896 to his passing in 1977. I knew him for the last eleven years of his exemplary pastimes. But to say I knew him is going too far. I watched him. I listened
When you frequent a place, people of that area get to know you. This is the case for me, at the park, as well as David, who resides with us. He spends more time than me, enough to see the things I miss. He spotted a fox, rare to see during the day. And he always comes back after his walk to say whom he met and just what’s going on. He’s making nice friends.
Now I use this green space to rehab or recoup my worn-out legs. So, I’m getting to be more present. It was two hours that I sat on a bench
By Damodarleela Dasa [Maharashtra Padayatra leader]
1. We will distribute 12 sets of Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita.
2. We will perform sankirtana in 125 villages.
3. We will distribute 25 Srimad Bhagavatam Sets.
4. We will distribute 125 laminated big photos of Srila Prabhupada to new
devotees.
5. We Will perform more than 125 house programs
6. We will perform 125 school programs and tell children who Srila Prabhupada was.
7. We will distribute 25,000 drona prasad.
8. We will distribute 125 Tulsi
By Ekalavya Das
My sannyasa ceremony was completed on Gaura Purnima 28 March during the morning hours, beginning at 6:30 am. I received the name Sri Krishna Caitanya Swami. It was a beautiful ceremony on the banks of the Candrabhaga River on our Prabhupada Ghat. H.H. Lokanath Swami sat on a Vyasasana decorated with roses and other flowers. Tulsi Maharani was there on a beautiful teakwood table. Padayatra Maharashtra was there bearing beautiful murthis of Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar and Srila Prab
I walked again, to the park, for the purpose to light a little spark. I’m not the only one. There are many who come to lay out a blanket and then lay themselves out on it. Tennis balls are flying from within the court fence. There are lineups. The playground is vibrant with kids and their guardians; parent or nanny. Young men hop, bounce and leap balls through the hoops. The dogs are frisky while owners look on with care.
Benches get occupied fast. As soon as one occupant leaves another slides
By Jayadvaita Swami
I was neutral, ambivalent and uncommitted about getting a vaccination for COVID-19. On one hand, the available vaccines have been well tested and shown highly effective. On the other hand, they have not had the benefit of long-term testing, the kind that goes on for years. We do not know how long their effectiveness will last, how effective they may be against variants, and what side effects might show up in the long term.
Apart from that, it seemed that if I came down with
The soul is buried in layers of consciousness but the Holy Name just penetrates!
The soul is deeply buried in layers of consciousness. It is like being covered in blankets. Layers of mental energy, intellectual energy, sensual energy and these are like the blankets that cover us. So the soul is in a dormant state and all the blankets are on top. But the Holy Name just penetrates it. Some people walk around with lots of blankets, so the soul is penetrating only a little, not so deep into their
I was sitting at the park bench thinking of an urban park that is like Noah’s ark. It offers shelter to loads of people. With pandemic restrictions in full swing people are most eager for an outlet of fun and so you see a place like Ramsden Park packed with people and dogs. One recent sign was posted saying, “Toronto: 2.8 million people. 230,000 dogs.” Sometimes it seems half of these canines are in this park. For passerby’s I was greeting them with a “Happy spring!”
“Oh, is it?” asked one guy.
By Bir Krishna Goswami
To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate that is the Question!
The answer to this question is not so simple. In this short essay I would like to present my thought processes.
First of all, I do not blindly accept any of the information that has been presented in the lay media either pro or con. In addition before making any decision especially decisions regarding health, I weigh different factors; especially the risk factors.
Everything we do in this world is risky. As we hear fr
By Madhava Smullen
A new 60-minute feature documentary on the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled “India’s Book of Wisdom—The Bhagavata Purana” has been released to watch for free at the Bhagavata Purana Research Project.
Hosted by Dr. Kenneth Valpey (Krishna Kshetra Swami), co-director (with Prof. Ravi M. Gupta) of the Bhagavata Purana Research Project at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, the film introduces the Bhagavata Purana to people completely new to this crown jewel of ancient Sanskrit liter
“It’s a beautiful day,” said the bespectacled middle-age man with his smart elbow padded sport suit.
I agreed. “We really didn’t have much of a winter.”
“That’s true,” he said reassuringly. He was curious and wanted to keep up the conversation. “How long have you been a Buddhist?”
“I’m a Krishna a monk. I joined in ‘73.”
“Yes, my wife is quite the admirer of Krishna Murti’s teachings.”
“Yes, he is well known.” I replied.
“That’s my connection to India. I’m from Iraq and I have lots of Indian fr
One year on from the first lock-down in the UK due to the Coronavirus, Jaya Krishna das from Bhaktivedanta Manor shares his reflections during a most challenging yet unforgettable year:
Reflecting back to exactly this time last year, I remember it as highly unsettling. There was lots of news coverage about a new virus that had completely gone out of control. By then some parts of Europe were already in lockdown and there was a political debate about whether the UK should follow suit.
The govern
Video: Click here
All glories to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! All glories to His associates, past and present!
For the pleasure of the devotees, on this Gaura Purnima day festival, we present the drama “Lord Chaitanya & Ramachandra Puri.” Let us all become immersed in the pastimes of the most munificent Sri Krishna Chaitanya and become eager for His mercy. Haribol!
Cast (in order of appearance):
Nanda dd – Madhavendra Puri/devotee
Kirtaniya dd – Isvara Puri/Govinda/devotee
Akuti dd – Ramachandra P
By Gopi Gita Schomaker
By Josh Hawley
This topic is more relevant at this point in time than any other in modern history. We stand at a crossroads of mankind. If the enlightened leadership of mankind can catch a clue from Bhagavatam, and take note of the cause of the “pinprick through out the social body at large, wherein large scale quarrels take place over even less important issues,” then there is hope.
The problems arising from gross mis-identification with matter is what is unfortunately being perpetuated by the
By Giriraj Swami
From Amrit Vani, “Nectarean Instructions for Immortality,” gleaned from the instructions of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and presented in the form of questions and answers.
Is the favor given by Mahaprabhu the highest favor?
There has never been nor will there ever be better benefactors than Mahaprabhu and His devotees. No other type of human welfare work can compare; all those others simply perform a great disservice to humanity. The favor offered by Mahaprabhu an
