By Krishna Bhagavan dasa
The Bhakta Program at RVC is a three-month introductory course in Applied Vedic Culture teaching the basics of Krishna Consciousness, and in 2018 there were eight participants.
The Bhaktas:
Bhakta Blake (29 years old) is part of a bhakti yoga community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and he is currently the Sankirtana Leader and Outreach Director there. He completed the bhakta program course at RVC.
Bhakta Blake comments, “The Bhakta program at Rupanuga Vedic College provides a
As a child, Christmas was a time of great anticipation and excitement. Until my teen years that is, when it became more and more a source of disappointment—but that’s a story for another time.
Christmas, a time of giving and receiving, of goodwill for all mankind, is experienced all year long in devotional service, and it is certainly true of the prison ministry service. It is Christmas every day! And there is no disappointment, no letdown, and no hype about it: it is the real deal and it bri
We love to picnic, barbecue, celebrate birthdays and entertain guests. We may hesitate on what fast-foods are on offer. Here is some “Party-pooping” information, which should enhance our parties even more. So “let’s party,” as they say.
Technology has enabled soya to transform into burgers, sausages, prawns, chicken breasts, steaks and more. Do we have the time to make the bread rolls to go with them? Not a problem, we can always get a few dozen from the local bakery.
In this era of instant fas
“Because of my state of complete foolishness and paucity of pious activities, although the Lord offered me His personal service, I wanted material name, fame and prosperity. My case is just like that of the poor man who, when he satisfied a great emperor who wanted to give him anything he might ask, out of ignorance asked only a few broken grains of husked rice.”
PURPORT
In this verse the word svārājyam, which means “complete independence,” is very significant. A conditioned soul does not know
Srila Prabhupada walks with Yamuna Devi, one of the pioneers of ISKCON UK
In 2016, ISKCON centers all around the world celebrated the 50thanniversary of the society’s incorporation on July 13th, 1966 by Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada. Now, ISKCON UK is set to celebrate the 50thanniversary of its own incorporation, a story which has itself long been ISKCON legend.
Throughout 2019, already-scheduled festivals like London Rathayatra, Janmastami, and 24-Hour Kirtan will b
By Madhava Smullen
Shyamasundar Das, one of ISKCON’s earliest pioneers, has released Volume Two in his two-part series “Chasing Rhinos,” which gives a personal, insider’s account of major events in ISKCON’s history and a sense of the “anything’s possible” excitement and drive of those early days.
Volume 1: San Francisco and London, 1966 – 1970 came out in 2016, and followed Shyamasundar’s experiences as he assisted Prabhupada in establishing Krishna consciousness in San Francisco at the pea
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
We must not blindly follow but always use our intelligence to deeply understand our philosophy and all the stories from the different ages. In previous ages, quite outstanding things were possible. In those times, sages had amazing powers and piety was a big thing.
But now, we live in a different age. The first principle of this age is forgiveness, ksama; that is the essence. If there is no forgiveness – forget it! If you cannot forgive then you cannot be a devotee, as i
“So we are worshiping Krishna. His simple business is, as we have described, RadhaMadhava, He is lover of SrimatiRadharani. Krishna means lover. This very word Krishna means “all-attractive”. You can attract by your love, not by anything else”. (SrilaPrabhupada, SB 1.2.10 in Delhi, November 16, 1973)
Generally the first major festival of the year in Sri Dham Mayapur is Sri Krishna Pusya abhishek. This is a festival of joy, as every year we get a chance to offer some personal service to our dear
By Yamuna Devi Dasi
What a week of Vaisnava sadhu-satsanga this has been! I leave the richer, having exchanged with my family members, old and new, Godbrothers, Godsisters, nephews and nieces. While I feel most unqualified to speak to you today, I am honoured and privileged to join my Godsisters in voicing my concerns as a woman in ISKCON.
As the GBC body, all of you are responsible for establishing Srila Prabhupada’s legacy, which, in these difficult and turbulent times, is at stake. One realm
By Brahmananda Dasa
From the beginning of time, man has yearned for the perfect home a paradise, a Shangri-la, a Walden where he could live eternally in peace and happiness. Such a place cannot be found anywhere in the material world, however, for the material world is by its very nature temporary and frustrating. To end our weary searching, we must go beyond this world of duality, beyond the boundaries of space and time, into the spiritual realm.
Vrndavana, India, is that sought-after eternal
By Bhakti Caru Swami
By Sitalatma das
January 7 is the date of Orthodox Christmas but most of our devotees are not familiar with that tradition though there are quite a few useful things we can learn from it.
Srila Rupa Goswami wrote in both Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu and in Upadesamrita about importance of living in holy places like Vrindavana. Orthodox equivalent of it would be Mt. Athos, which is located at the tip of Mt. Athos peninsula in Northern Greece. They say that Virgin Mary took shelter there during a big
By Caitanya Caran Das
A two inch tongue can kill a six feet man. This traditional saying is being confirmed by modern obesity statistics. The prosperity of the Indian middle class is showing up – in a not-so-pleasant way in the burgeoning waistline, of over 25% of urban Indians. Obesity is the cause of diabetes, hypertension, heart attacks, strokes and a variety of other chronic diseases. Unlike infectious diseases which are curable, chronic diseases need lifelong care, leading to enormous expe
Can physicalism fully explain all features of the phenomenal world? The international conference to be held in Gainesville, Florida, from January 18 to 20, 2019, organized by the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies is a multi-disciplinary exploration of the possibilities and challenges of the topic of consciousness in science with the participation of scientists and scholars - physicists, philosophers, chemists, biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, mathematicians, computer scien
More than sixty ISKCON youths and twelve youth leaders participated in a project that included four inspiring youth exchanges during 2017 and 2018.
Two years ago, six devotees from different yatras started to organize youth exchanges at several ISKCON temples in Europe. They saw a need for ISKCON’s youth to get together, develop deep friendships, integrate into the ISKCON community, and develop a philosophical understanding of our faith.
The title of the project wa
By Satyaraja Dasa
Kirtana is a simple and effective way to commune with God.
The word kirtana means “praise” or “glory” and is the name given to glorification of God in song, especially in call-and-response style. There are different categories of kirtana. For example, nama-kirtana refers to singing God’s sacred names, lila-kirtana celebrates the transcendental activities of God and His associates, sankirtana is group singing, and nagara-sankirtana is public chanting in the streets. There are n
Dhirasanta Das Goswami: It was the hour of the day when anyone could come to the king and present anything and the king would deal with it. So Maharaja Yudhisthira was on the throne waiting for people and Bhima was at the entrance to the castle in the next room.
One man came and said to Bhima, “I have to see Yudhisthira, I have got a big problem and I can’t figure it out.” Bhima replied, “Oh. What is the problem?” The man said, “I have got a vegetable garden and for security purposes I built a
By Jaybhadra devi dasi
ISKCON Mayapur has been organizing the Sri Ksetra Parikrama for the past thirteen years but it has been performed since the time of Vidyapati, one of Lord Jagannatha’s most intimate worshippers who served under King Indradyumna. It is always held at Puri-dhama on the days prescribed in the scriptures and observed by previous generations.
The parikrama was blessed with the association of many senior devotees, including Indradyumna Maharaja disciple Bhakti Rasayan Sagar Mah
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 April 2011, Durban, South Africa, Ratha Yatra Lecture)
Srila Prabhupada wrote two letters after the departure of his spiritual master. In the first letter, he said, “My spiritual master has now returned back to the spiritual world and has taken up his eternal position as a manjari in the spiritual world.” In the second letter, he wrote, “Although my spiritual master is now in the spiritual world, he is always looking at everything I do.”
So in other words, Prabhupada w
By Ananda Tirtha Das
Only He Could Lead Them: San Francisco / India 1967
SPL 22: "Swami Invites the Hippies"
22. "Swami Invites the Hippies"
January 16, 1967
As the United Airlines jet descended on the San Francisco Bay area, Srila Prabhupada turned to his disciple Ranacora and said, "The buildings look like matchboxes. Just imagine how it looks from Krsna's viewpoint." Srila Prabhupada was seventy-one years old, and this had been his first air trip. Ranacora, nineteen and dressed in a suit
