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Gopal’s Glorious Gang (GGG) is a children’s club in Brisbane, Australia with about 80 children, from 4 to 16 years old. Our goal in forming this club is to help each child become a well-rounded human being through intellectual, personal and spiritual growth.

The children are divided into various classes based on age groups. The kids learn Vedic wisdom, play musical instruments, act in a variety of theatre performances, play Krishna conscious games, engage in kirtana, hari-nama, book distribution

Rain, rain, please come again,
You remind me of an old friend!
Out of that unlimited expansion of the sky, Supreme Lord,
Minute portions, by the modes material nature,behind the clouds, get covered!

Clouds accumulate water from land,
Distribute it when it is required!
So does the government exact taxes from mankind,
In public welfare, it should be utilized!

During rainy season, strong winds bluster,
Carrying clouds from one place to another;
Like a rich man who, in times of need, distributes his

Today it is 55 years ago that Srila Prabhupada set foot on US soil for the first time, having being brought there by a ship called Jaladuta. It was one of the many vessels of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company from Bombay, one of the oldest shipping companies in India, founded in 1919. At the time the company was lead by Srimate Moraji, named Jamuna, who joint the business at the tender age of 20 years and build it from humble beginnings to one of India’s largest with a fleet of 43 vessels and

The dream came true! We hit the road for Czech Padayatra again, for the 27th time. It was an absolutely nectarian and merciful highlight of the year. We left the gray comfort zone of our average troubled daily lives – which are full of danger at every step. Danger in the form of forgetting Krishna, Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, and the ocean of mercy of traveling Lords Chaitanya and Nityananda. There are no glimpses of forgetfulness during Padayatra as all are protected here. Wandering from town to

Both the Gregorian and Vedic calendars comprise twelve months. But whereas the number of days in each month varies in the Gregorian calendar, the Vedic months are all of the same duration: about fourteen days from the new moon to the full moon and from the full moon to the new. The day of the new moon is known as amavasya, and the full-moon day is known as purnima. And just as the Gregorian calendar is periodically adjusted during years known as “leap” years, the Vedic calendar is also adjusted,

My feet didn’t go far today but, on a set of wheels, I did venture to Oakville. We were going to have our first ISKCON Oakville gathering but due to the number of Covid-19 victims rising, that was canceled. It was regrettable, however, Kasyapa and Panchami saved the day. This couple, who have successfully run a centre in Saskatoon for eight years, are back in the Greater Toronto Area, and they opened up their home for a smaller group event.

I asked them if I could bring Cameron, Chris, Nick and

You can tell when someone is reading Srila Prabhupada’s books:
So this actress looking middle eastern lady and her young son parked their Porsche, walked past my book table and went inside the grocery store. I actually remembered meeting them in the past and how she was kind of puffed up, so I didn’t expect much.
When they came out of the store, they walked straight towards me with a big smile and the boy was holding a $20 bill to give me. The mother was so warm this time and all happy to see me

We celebrate the auspicious occasion of the 85th birthday of our dear Rose Forkash.

When Srila Prabhupada first arrived in America, it took some time—almost a year—before people began to take his message seriously. But gradually, after he moved to New York, some young men and women did join him. And after starting the first center, on Second Avenue, Srila Prabhupada sent some disciples to San Francisco. Soon thereafter, he went, too, and it was there that he inspired and celebrated the first Rat

When our children grow into teens, many of us find that inspiring them in Krishna consciousness becomes much harder. They are no longer enthusiastic to imitate us or join in with the devotional activities we initiate. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about what we can do to keep them close and hopefully inspired. Here are some of my thoughts.

The first priority is always to take care of the relationship. As the saying goes—they may not remember what we say, but they’ll always remember h

Some of us will never forget this date—September eleventh—a sad day in human history. On a positive note, it is also the date that marks the birthday of a dear follower of Krishna. His name is Keshava and I remember this day of his, not because he is a terrorist, by any stretch. He is a kind-hearted Malaysian Canadian. I wish him well. Very well!

I walked to Saint Jamestown, to a clinic, to intimate a medical check-up for next week. A queue of people were standing in the hall, waiting for the gr

This short video is a talk given by Sri Nandanandana dasa (Stephen Knapp) called “The Power of the Ramayana,” given at the 2nd World Ramayana Conference held in Jabalpur, India, in January 26-29, 2020. He was a special invited guest for the conference, and his talk explains from the Valmiki Ramayana the different ways it helps uplift humanity from the ordinary miseries of life, up to and including liberation or freedom from material existence altogether. At 17:53 in the video, it shows Dr. Akhil

Once one engages in criticising Vaisnavas, it becomes part of one’s nature. One will do it again and again until ultimately one offends Krsna!

Once one engages in criticising Vaisnavas, it becomes part of one’s nature. It sets in and one will do it again and again and again until ultimately one offends Krsna. He who offends Krsna, how can such a person approach Krsna? Such a person removes himself from Krsna and comes to a greater distance from Krsna. This is great misfortune. Raghunatha Bhatt

A brahman (priest) had just finished dealing with the call of nature, and took a quick look at what had come out of his system, remarking, “You are so disgusting!” His output responded back saying, “I was a sweet ladhoo until I entered your company for a few hours.”

That was, perhaps, a lesson in gross humility.

I was chatting today with the foreman overseeing the renovations going on in our ashram. He was speaking about the sewage pipeline in our building. “This building, which is well over 100

From Back to Godhead

Which way does one go in moments of despair?

LORD KRSNA HAS TWO ENERGIES, material and spiritual, but they can be used interchangeably if one knows how. Just as the same electricity can be used to heat or cool a building, so Krsna’s energies can be used for different purposes according to the living entity’s desire.

That doesn’t mean that the living entity can control Krsna’s energies, only that he can use them. When a conditioned soul wishes to exploit the material nature,

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=89324

When we start our devotional practices it is possible to keep them up for a while out of a sense of duty. For a while it is possible to practice devotional service mechanically out of a sense of “I have to do this.” But in the end we are not machines! We cannot practice for a long time, if we only do it mechanically, and not experience the taste of it. We can only continue steadily if we get a genuine taste for it – the sweet and relishable taste of bhakti.

You must know that there are two form

When I was young we spent time at our aunt’s farm in the south of Ireland. She had 5 milking cows, all had names, and when she sat and milked them in the morning and evening, great conversations would be had. With the cows that is.

It was there I learned to milk a cow, to hear the sound of the swish-swish into the bucket. To see the bucket fill up with white goodness, and to marvel at the natural wonder of cows and milk. It was there I saw the connection between human and animal as I watched my

A last little touch of the boreal forest marked the end of my stay in Thunder Bay. The Beaver Meadows Trail takes one through a sweet boreal forest, a forest that occupies so much of Canada, holding a treasure of a huge collection of freshwater. Check out maps of this extraordinary spread of trees, ancient rocks and lakes. People speak of rainforests, such as the Amazon but, as I understand, the boreal bush impacts the globe in a similar, environmental way.

If you are a walker you have to love n

It’s easy to take mothers for granted. Some researchers recently followed around one such mother for a week in an attempt to estimate the monetary value of her ‘motherly love’. She took the kids to school, so they calculated how much a taxi driver would cost. She cooked the breakfast, lunch and dinner so they approximated the wage bill of a chef. The mother also played the role of a cleaner, psychologist, accountant and nurse to name but a few. They calculated the overtime the mother put in, and