In Italy, near the city of Perugia, is the place called Assisi, the birth place of a very popular saint named Francis. He was the son of a wealthy merchant, but he took up the life of renunciation. Committed to a life of self-imposed poverty, humility, and devotion, he attracted many to follow.
“One day he was walking with one brother Leo from Perugia to a very famous temple, St. Maria of the Angel. He was walking for miles and miles, and it was freezing cold. It was raining and snowing. He ask
Srila Prabhupada called Krishna conscious art “Windows to the Spiritual World.”
Every once in a while, an artist comes along who is truly blessed with the ability to open those windows for us.
One of today’s most exciting spiritual artists, Radhe Gendron, grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s on the New Mayapur farm in France, daughter of pujari Visesa Dasi and handyman Nrsimhananda Das. She started painting at the age of four.
Visesa Dasi was extremely supportive of her daughter’s i
There was a great excitement at Mayapur Campus as HH Bhakti Charu Swami arrived at Mayapur by helicopter landing in the huge parking area behind temple. A grand welcome was offered to Maharaja with flower designs, rangoli and lamp offerings. After a spectacular preaching program at East Medinapur, Maharaja took the helicopter ride to Mayapur. His Holiness will be blessing all of us with a three day seminar starting from 4th Janaury.
Source: http://www.mayapur.com/2019/welcome-to-hh-bhakti-charu
By Chaitanya Charan Das
The world features many attractive things that we clamor and labor to enjoy. Yet their beauty doesn’t last for long. Even while it lasts, their charm dwindles with time, leaving us disappointed.
Is our longing for pleasure meant to be permanently thwarted?
No, asserts Gita wisdom – provided we understand the point of the world: Krishna.
The Bhagavad-gita (10.41) explains that all attractive objects manifest a spark of Krishna’s splendor. However, because the attractivene
“Because Bhagavad Gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other Vedic literature. One need only attentively and regularly hear and read Bhagavad Gita.”
– Srila Prabhupada, Bhagavad Gita Introduction
Since 1994, the Bhaktivedanta Gita Academy (Mayapur) has been enriching the lives of many with the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is. The Academy provides various courses, such as the Gita Study course and others, which are designed in a way that benefits
By Giriraj Swami
We have gathered at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada in this wonderful temple of Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda, Sri Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman, and Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, in the presence of His Holiness Radhanath Swami and so many exalted devotees. We are entering the new year, and on such occasions we take stock of what and how we did in the last year and what we want to do in the next. Studies have shown, and probably many of us have experienced, that most New Year’s resolutions
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 30 December 2017, Gold Coast, Australia, Bhagavad-gita 8.20)
At the end of our lives, there will be a weighing scale to see if we have enough to go back to Godhead. We will first put on the scale all our devotional service that we may have accumulated in our lifetimes, and there may not be much movement in the scale at that point. We will then add Prabhupada’s mercy onto our scale, and it will start to show some real movement then. But the real difference comes in when we
During a five-day retreat from November 14thto 18th– held on picturesque Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands – spiritual seekers spent quality time with like-minded people and immersed themselves in Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and the Bhagavad-gita.
Balarama Nityananda Das organized the retreat as part of Krishna Wisdom, a team at the UK’s Bhaktivedanta Manor aimed at introducing local Westerners to Krishna consciousness.
“Most of our previous retreats have been held at Buckla
By Pradyumna Das
Like previous years, during the auspicious month of Kartika, the ISKCON Bhubaneswar Nama-hatta Department organized a grand 20 day Sankirtan Padayatra from October 10 to November 16 in the district of Jajpur, Odisha.
For remembrance, the Sri Krishna Balaram Temple of Bhubaneswar was the last project founded by Srila Prabhupada, and it was inaugurated in 1991. It was Srila Prabhupada’s dear disciple, Gour Govinda Swami, the epitome of Krishna consciousness in Odisha, who start
Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam are two most important scriptures for Kali Yuga, they have specifically manifested for us kali yugians. If we sincerely try to serve these two transcendental scriptures then we can unlock many hidden gems. Let us take a look at the famous verse from Bhagavad gita
जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ।
त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन ॥
One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body,
It is said sometimes that anger is the younger brother of lust. First, there is our desire to control. We want a world according to our desires and if people interfere with that then we become angry!
But it is not that people just interfere because you have to see Krsna behind it. So devotees accept, “Alright, so Krsna did not want this for me. Krsna has another plan for me. This is not destined to be.” One has to accept being an instrument of Krsna!
This is difficult. I know it is difficult. T
By Chaitanya Charan Das
During our reflective moments, we may wonder, “What is the purpose of this world?”
Materialists answer that the world is a place for our enjoyment. This answer is problematic because distress and death pervade the world.
Some spiritualists, especially impersonalists, answer that the world is a place of illusion – it is just meant to be renounced. This answer too is problematic because it is largely impractical, and it renders meaningless most of the things we value: our
By Sunanda Das
Fundraising on Facebook has reached an all-time high with people fundraising for their favorite non-profits, churches, Causes, etc. on holidays, their birthdays, and other occasions. Why not become a TOVP Ambassador and celebrate your birthday, wedding anniversary or any other special day with the TOVP and make it a combined gift from your Facebook friends to support the MISSION 22 MARATHON to complete the TOVP by 2022?
The TOVP Foundation, Inc. is a registered non-profit organiz
By Gurudas
I am saddened by my feeling of separation from you, that I will not see you again on this planet, yet I still feel close to you. Our relationship transcends material boundaries and You are in my, and many peoples hearts . Let us all pray for your continued spiritual journey, which makes me happy, as you are not in pain anymore, and with our beloved Spiritual Master, and Radha and Krishna.
I fell in love with you upon viewing your powerful presence
I fell in Love with you, little did
By Giriraj Swami
At Kirtan50 today, Bada Haridas Prabhu and I spoke about the holy name, following the theme of this beautiful verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.55):
visrjati hrdayam na yasya saksad
dharir avasabhihito ’py aghaugha-nasah
pranaya-rasanaya dhrtanghri-padma
sa bhavati bhagavata-pradhana ukta
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead is so kind to the conditioned souls that if they call upon Him by speaking His holy name, even unintentionally or unwillingly, the Lord is inclined to dest
545,599,371 pieces of literature authored by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada have been distributed worldwide by his sincere followers since 1965 to the end of November.
6,080,380 literatures this year.
601,385 literatures the month of November.
These are official stats issued by the BBT (Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, the publishing agency of Srila Prabhupada’s books)
Sankirtan Yajna ki Jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
From Back to Godhead
Delhi, Friday 5th October, 1956
Edited and Founded
Under direct order of His Divine Grace Sri Srimad Bhakti-Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada
By Goswami Abhay Charan Bhaktivedanta
The Supreme Lord is said to be ‘Sachidananda Vigraha‘ in the revealed scriptures. ‘Sat‘ means eternal, ‘Chit‘ means fully cognizant and ‘Ananda‘ means joy, and ‘Vigraha‘ means specific Personality. Therefore the Lord or the Supreme Godhead who is one without a second is eternally a joyful per
By Sacinandana Swami
“When an intelligent person engages constantly in worshiping Me through loving devotional service as described by Me, his heart becomes firmly situated in Me. Thus all material desires within the heart are destroyed. The knot in the heart is pierced, all misgivings are cut to pieces and the chain of fruitive actions is terminated when I am seen as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 11.20.29-30)
This is the power of bhakti: it can, so to say, ‘digest’
A human being should realize the aim of his life, and this direction is given in all Vedic literatures, and the essence is given in Bhagavad-gītā. Vedic literature is meant for human beings, not for animals. Animals can kill other living animals, and there is no question of sin on their part, but if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste, he must be responsible for breaking the laws of nature
By Madhava Smullen
Lord Jagannath decorated for the Christmas Parade
Around one hundred devotees from the New Raman Reti ISKCON community participated in the Alachua Christmas Parade on Saturday December 8th, in Alachua, Florida.
Devotees have been part of the parade for the past twenty-five years, sometimes bringing a bullock cart to liven things up.
This year, the parade began at 2pm and lasted about forty-five minutes, running from the beginning to the end of Main Street, Alachua.
All
