I walked northbound through three boroughs on a nineteen kilometre stretch beginning at 5:30 a.m., to the home of a very active member of our community. Rupanuga turned seventy-three today. It was his birthday.
Halfway through I realized I was trekking in the neighborhood of Pauline, my sister, a hairdresser. She wasn’t going to do my hair. However, I did want to drop in and say “Hello!” if not a “Haribol.” I wasn’t that early, once I reached her home off Bathurst. However, no one answered my
At the time of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, he would say that anyone who does not chant 64 rounds, is fallen. He said to chant a minimum of 4 rounds. Now, 4 rounds did not necessarily mean going back to Godhead in this lifetime, but it meant that at least some connection is there. 64 rounds, however, was the program. That was the straight path back to Godhead. But Prabhupada brought it down to 16 rounds, accompanied by his prayer, so therefore 16 is the blessed number for going back to God
Diary of a Traveling Monk
Volume 15, Chapter 10
January 31th, 2020
By Indradyumna Swami
“These Are All Krsna’s Arrangements”
I was on my morning walk on the beach in Durban, South Africa, last week when my cell phone rang.
“Hey, Maharaja. This is Craig! Craig from high school!”
“Wow, Craig! I can’t even remember the last time we were in touch! How are you doing?”
“Just fine,” he replied. “I heard through the grapevine that you’re recovering from a big surgery and I just wanted to call and wish
Human society is brought before the big question mark, “Does this all make sense?” the moment it is confronted with death – the existential dilemma. Vaisnava scholars hold that the teachings of Srila Sukadeva Gosvami begin in all earnestness after king Pariksit asked his urgent question: “What should I do now that I am at the brink of death? What should anyone do in this situation?”
We all live differently, but one thing is certain: each and every one of us will land before the threshold of dea
Imagine if someone would remember that he was a meat-eater in his previous birth, and yet he did not become an animal and took a human birth again. Well, then he should think that this human birth is just a step in between, and he would still have an animal birth waiting for him.
Sometimes you see, karma is an interesting cocktail. You may recall the story of King Nrga in the Krsna book. He was such a pious king, however by giving the same cow twice by accident to the brahmanas, he got a reacti
Chanting the Hare Krishna maha – mantra isn’t a mundane activity but is in fact a means by which we can experience exponential spiritual pleasure.
Chanting connects us to Krishna provided we chant with utmost sincerity and seriousness. One of the most important requirements of chanting is that we should pronounce each syllable of the maha – mantra clearly and loud enough so that we can hear what we chant.
But many a times we the spiritual seekers chant inattentively without bothering if we are
By Krishnarupa devi dasi
Many ISKCON members are aware of the formation of the Revisions Review Panel (RRP), but they may not be informed of how it came about and exactly what its task is. This article I hope serves to communicate more of these details.
In February 2019, the BBT/GBC Relations Committee conversed about meeting with the GBC body to discuss Srila Prabhupada's books edits and to form a group that would review revisions.
At the BBT general meeting in June 2019, the BBT resolved to
It has come as a shock for worldwide devotees , disciples and well wishers of HH Bhakti Charu swami to receive the update from HH Bhakti Charu Swami health care team (29 June – 10 AM US EDT) that Maharaj has become critically unwell. He has suffered a heart attack in the last few hours and this is affecting all his organs and bodily functions. At this time the doctors are working full time to stabilise Maharaj.The coming hours are the most critical Maharaj has been and we will be giving updates
I did walk a piece today. I did wait a piece today—in the dentist clinic waiting room. A woman in front of me, age sixty, brunette to red hair—ponytailed—at the inquiry desk, left her queue to sit down. I followed.
“So you’re a monk?” she began.
“Yes!”
“What order?”
“Hare Krishna!”
“Oh yeah! Why the colour?”
“This saffron tone is reserved for celibate monks. It’s a colour worn before one’s married, and after retirement. I never got married. I’ve had this colour all these years.”
“When did you j
This is dependant on the seriousness of one’s anger and aggression. If it is very serious, then the person may need counseling. Krsna consciousness cannot resolve psychiatric or psychological problems. By chanting the Hare Krsna Mahamantra, one becomes purified, and eventually, both psychological and psychiatric problems can disappear. But it is important to remember however that people who are intensely affected by such problems, whether it be anger or depression or something else that falls i
Chanting before Tulasi today, I recalled an incident with Srila Prabhupada in his garden in New Dvaraka, Los Angeles, in 1973. I was looking at him, and suddenly his face lit up, his eyes opened wide, and he smiled broadly, as if he were seeing a long-lost dear friend. When I turned around to see who had come, I saw that it was Tulasi, being carried by a devotee. “Just by her presence,” Prabhupada said, “Tulasi purifies the whole atmosphere.”
As we look around the world, or watch and read the news, practically everywhere is affected by some kind of natural disaster. Floods are displacing millions of people, forest fires are destroying thousands of acres and burning out of control, earthquakes continue to force people to live in fear, and tornadoes and hurricanes have become more fierce and numerous than ever. And if that is not enough, droughts are causing massive crop damage and water shortages.
The fact is that nobody likes a loss
Dear Maharajas and Prabhus,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
The Global Devotee Care Directorate is pleased to announce the launch of a new website www.iskconcourses.com for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada, and all the devotees.
Spiritual Care is one of the critical areas of Devotee Care. To facilitate this Spiritual Care element, we have brought together various online courses run by different ISKCON institutions in the area of Scriptures, Spiritual practice
Evoking a deeply affecting mixture of regret and hope, Gopagana Dasa’s new album “A Surge of Bhakti to the Heart” might be the perfect soundtrack to these difficult times for humanity.
Recorded in Vrindavana, India in early 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Gopagana produced the album with minimal equipment, programming all the instruments by himself on Garageband.
“I’m in the vanaprastha stage of life now, and my situation is more simple,” he says. “The kirtans I
I’ve known Corrado for a number of years, since he first started coming to our temple/ashram. He first met one of our exemplary devotees, Shyama Mohini, who has a passion for distributing the books of our guru, Prabhupada. This happened on a street in Toronto. Corrado is indebted to her for being his initial contact.
From then on, Corrado began attending bhakti-yoga gatherings, held at the Bhakti Lounge. He experienced a growing interest in the process of chanting, philosophizing, eating grea
By Sacinandana Swami
We have to wake up to the fact that our life is not in order. Yes, you might be liked by devotees. You might be a lecturer and other neophyte devotees may applaud you. Or mister guru! You may think you have so many disciples and thus you are successful in your life. Whoever we are, in whatever position or station of life we are, unless we wake up to the fact that “I really need Krsna”, we are emotionally invested in the wrong things. Our emotions should be with the real n
The Bhagavad-Gita is a theological and philosophical classic. In 700 concise verses, it summarises the conclusions of the Vedas, ancient scriptures written approximately 5000 years ago in the Sanskrit language. It covers topics ranging from religion to relationships, science to sociology, leadership to lifestyle management: the keys to all aspects of life, the universe and everything. For thousands of years, it has been a source of limitless inspiration for thinkers, leaders, and spiritual see
What I’m going to say I’m sure will sound familiar to you.
Someone I hadn’t seen for a while entered my mind view.
I reached Kensington on foot and the dude-in-thought manifest.
His name is Hanuman and it’s here that he rests.
“I’m glad to see you,” he said, “I like it here. I even kicked the habit of drinking beer.”
I cheered the tall but disheveled Hanuman, who has no home and no coins in his palm.
I gave him a pair of gloves last year for the winter.
I’m sure he forgot as his life has no ce
It was a pleasure, and always will be—a pleasure—to deliver classes on the science of bhakti. I am in my element as it brings me closer to guru and Krishna. We have begun a new chapter in the study of the Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 25, where Vasudeva, the father of Krishna, expresses the realizations that his two offspring, Krishna and Balarama, are actually Divine mystics; creators of the world, and pradhana—energies of the world. It was fun to explore this subject.
A second class, by way of
