Featured Posts (13141)

Sort by
tu1_slideshow.jpg
 
By Madhava Smullen
 

During a visit to Los Angeles for a political function, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Congresswoman from Hawaii, addressed a crowd of about four thousand devotees and members of the public at the L.A. Rathayatra festival on August 4th. 

Gabbard is currently campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2020. According to USA Today, she was the most Googled candidate after both the first and second Democratic debates. It remains to be seen if

Read more…
People
 
By Madhava Smullen 
 

The third album proper from Srikala – once known as Srikalogy – is a major evolution musically, lyrically and personally for the artist. Released on July 16th, “Beautiful Dark Moon” is an entrancing blend of R&B, hip-hop and world music, slower, softer and with more singing than previous rap-heavy efforts Kirtan Sessions and New Paradigm. It’s also not afraid to explore vulnerable personal themes and spiritual struggle.

The title is a literal translation of the artist’s

Read more…

A Soft Rain by Bhaktimarga Swami

A soft rain overnight made the day just right.  I've been resisting the lake swim, overcoming a cold.  It's hard for me because I always consider myself a water-baby.  However, there's plenty of engagement in just sitting down and listening to seminars on topics, "Guilt," and "Forgiveness," by Mahatma and Jahnava, a marvelous husband and wife team.  And it's always a delight to hear Sruti Kirti, speak about his two and half years in personal assistance to our guru, Prabhupada.  It's so sweet.

I
Read more…

Ganesh, by Stephen Knapp

The principal scriptures dedicated to Ganesha are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. Brahma Purana and Brahmanda Purana are other two Puranic texts that deal with Ganesha.

Lord Ganesh is known as the son of the Shiva and Parvati, and is the god of luck and of “opening the way.” That is why many people pray to Ganesh before starting a new project, in order to proceed with as few obstacles as possible.

Ganesha became the Lord (Isha) of all existing beings (Gana

Read more…

3491962148?profile=RESIZE_710x

It is my privilege to extend my best wishes to Shri Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja on the auspicious and joyous occasion of his 75 birthday.

The life, ideals and teachings of Shri Goswami Maharaja are an inspiration for mankind to tread the path of spirituality. He has been striving to impart quality education to the youth and provide food to children from the poor, needy and disadvantaged sections of the society.

His vision and ideas propound selfless service to humanity. May the 75° birthday

Read more…
ObituaryAlachua, Florida-Jahnavi Haggard, former Executive Director of Children of Krishna, a non-profit organization formed in 1996 to support second generation Krishna youth with grants for education and counseling, passed away on Saturday, August 9th, at the age of 36. She died at her home in Alachua, Florida, from a heart attack resulting from complications of her life-long struggle with diabetes. 
 

Jahnavi was a Krishna devotee from the age of 4, when her parents joined the Hare Krishna movement'

Read more…
Comments: 0
Activism
 
By Madhava Smullen 
 

Incessant rains pelted the South Indian state of Karnataka from late July until August 13th, causing widespread flooding, a death toll of 76, and damage to over 75,000 homes. According to the government of Karnataka the disaster has caused a loss of around 50,000 Crore rupees. 

The ISKCON temple in the city of Belgaum was not affected by the flood, no devotees were harmed, and there was no major damage to any devotee homes. But with the inspiration and guidance of Bhakt

Read more…

3491734216?profile=RESIZE_710x

Vaisnava seva was released in 2000 and it was the first ever studio album by Kadamba Kanana Swami. It proved to be a classic, as it is still the long time favorite of many! To date, it has only been available as a digital album but now…

We are proud to present the re-release of Vaisnava seva on CD with new artwork (by Sandhini) and with all the favorite tracks of yore! Let yourself be blown away by Nrsimha pranama with a rocking electric guitar on track 11 and relish the upbeat Mahamantra on tr

Read more…

Rest, Beans and Fun by Bhaktimarga Swami

image3.jpeg

image4.jpeg
 
It was restful at the farm in Mascouche, called Nandagram.  The visionary behind this world project is a friend, Anubhava, a native of French Canada.  He was kind to take me down the rural back road along the country creek and cornfields, on foot.  It was with another Quebecois, Jagannath, who indulged in some bean harvest after the walk.
 
Yes, we got down to the humble position of bending our backs while bending the plants to expose the pods, and then pluck them.  There were two rows to ha
Read more…

2515117466?profile=original

From Back to Godhead

Though conceived of in various ways, ultimately the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person who shares intimate loving exchanges with the best of His devotees.

By Srila Jiva Goswami

Here we present an excerpt from the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust edition of Srila Jiva Goswami’s Sri Tattva-sandarbha. Jiva Goswami was one of the famed Six Goswamis, leading contemporary followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Tattva-sandarbha is the first of six sandarbhas (treatises) explaining the ph

Read more…
Events
 
By George Pratt
 

August 14, 2019 - On Sri Balaram Jayanti Mahotsava (the Appearance Day of Lord Balaram), ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission (“GBC”) and the Board of Directors of Bharati Center, Inc. (“Brooklyn Temple” or “Temple") won a notable victory in the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court (“Appellate Court”). 

A four-judge panel of the Appellate Court denied a motion brought by the Temple’s former directors (“Former Directors”) for a preliminary injunction prohibit

Read more…

It was something I had never seen before.  One calf was peeing.  It was a bull calf.  A second calf came right to his underside and began drinking with great relish the pure liquid coming out.  Perhaps to calf Number Two it must have been like a smoothie.  Incidentally, a third calf was looking on.  All three were nestled together.

 
Vishal and Yasomati, a dynamic husband and wife team, had both been telling Gaura and I—their visitors to the farm—that the cows and bulls have a different way of u
Read more…
Obituary
 
By Bhakti Caru Swami 
 

“Sravananada Das served in various capacities in India, for many years, with passionate enthusiasm and vigor. He was very close to Bhavabhuti Das, another wonderful godbrother of ours, and they were like two brothers. When they were serving in Assam, they got married to two sisters from a very high-class Assamese family. Sravanananda's wife's name is Ananda Gopi. They were married for many years, and both served Srila Prabhupada faithfully as a couple.

Bhavabhuti Das

Read more…
Obituary

Anandini Dasi passed away on August 18th at the age of 84. She was one of the first communications devotees in Russia.

“Krishna is grateful. He never forgets what a person does for Him. He takes care of his fate. And Srila Prabhupada has said that Lord Caitanya would personally come for the preacher and neutralize all his faults. Srimati Anandini remained a preacher until her last days and did so much for Lord Caitanya's movement in our country. 

She joined the movement at the height of the p

Read more…

3474791710?profile=RESIZE_710x

How do we identify how much time to spend on going deep and fully researching verses while we are reading?

I think that there is a time to read the Srimad Bhagavatam and there is a time to study the Srimad Bhagavatam. When we are simply reading the Srimad Bhagavatam, we are meant to just read it through and not go research things in too much detail like, “Let me look up on the Mahabharata about Bhismadeva. Let me check this in the Puranas and let me then have a little look at what the acaryas s

Read more…

GKG-GRS-Abhiseka-2015.01.15-300x225.jpg

My dear Gopal Krishna Maharaja,

Congratulations on your seventy-fifth appearance day!

 My first vivid recollection of you is from 1973. I had heard about you how you had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and then at McGill University in Montreal and then held responsible positions with Pepsi Cola and Bristol-Myers, and how you would come to the New York temple every day and were so humble that you would go around the temple room and offer obeisances to all the spiritual paintings on the walls. S

Read more…

A Fun Fest by Bhaktimarga Swami

I introduced our guests, an extraordinary couple from Silicon Valley, California—Vaiseshika and Nirakula—as "The Unsinkables."  This dynamic duo are stalwarts of bhakti yoga, who come to visit Toronto every six months to enliven the community.  The emphasis of this four-day blessing was on chanting, billed as "Make Japa Great Again."

Vaiseshika had the interested recruits sit in a circle and, with chanting beads in hand, fuelled the group to a fresh approach.  Every so often he would cease the
Read more…

audio-cassette-cassette-tape-1626481.jpg


At night while sleeping I played on some devotional Bhajans on my mobile in a very low volume. In the early morning while I was awake, all of a sudden the music stopped playing. As you guessed it rightly - the mobile got discharged and it switched off. I was thinking that my life is like this mobile, anytime it can get fully discharged and stop functioning. After all, our body is also a mechanical material device like a mobile. That the body is going to fall dead is a given fact. What is impor
Read more…

2515208304?profile=original

By Sesa Dasa

“Do I have to repeat myself young man?!!” Oh, how I hated it when my mother would say that. Not because she was being mean, rather because she was being right. It’s hard to hear someone when they’re right and you’re wrong. Most of the time she was correctly pointing out my selfish behavior, “Share with your brother … don’t boss others around,” she would say.

My mother had a good heart. She was a professional social worker, a career of public service that focused her energies on ben

Read more…
Comments: 0