By Praghosa Dasa
A few weeks ago I bumped into someone I hadn’t seen for nearly 40 years, way back then he was an old school friend of mine and he had some interesting thoughts on all things Hare Krishna!
He began by letting me know (in colourful language), that at the time he thought I was ‘nut-job fruitcake’ when he heard I had become a Hare Krishna devotee, however now he considers that it was not so strange after all. His logic went something like this – it now seems that half the people
By Giriraj Swami
Today is Odana-sasthi, the date on which Lord Jagannatha is given a winter shawl. One year, when Lord Caitanya and His associates celebrated this festival in Puri, Pundarika Vidyanidhi, who is Vrsabhanu Maharaja, Srimati Radharani’s father, in krsna-lila, received some special mercy. His experience is instructive for us all.
Srila Prabhupada explains, “At the beginning of winter, there is a ceremony known as the Odana-sasthi. This ceremony indicates that from that day forward,
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2008, South Africa, South Coast Retreat)
We must go deeper in our meditation. Chanting is to be accompanied by meditation, so we must meditate on who Krsna is. I make it a point that I always meditate while I am chanting, in the sense that when I read something about an aspect of Krsna that strikes me, the thought continues to travel in my mind while I am chanting. So I am always trying to remember Krsna while chanting, which is very important. The more we remember Krsna,
By Chaitanya Charan Das
Many people adopt a materialistic lifestyle without thinking about its implications. A materialistic worldview implies that we have come from nowhere because we didn’t exist before birth; we will go nowhere because we won’t exist after death; and while we live, we are successful if we get more things than others. And even if we do succeed, still, life ultimately ends in failure because we lose everything at death.
This conception of life is so gloomy as to be unbearable.
By Subhag Swami
Bhaktivinoda Thakur boldly proclaims, ‘sad-anga saranagati hoibe janhara,’ one who follows these six paths of surrender strictly, the result is ‘tahara prarthana sune sri nanda-kumara’. Krsna will respond to our prayer. Why is this so? Because Bhakti is cit-tattva. Devotional service, the Lord and His devotees do not belong to this material world but are of another.
Cit means cognition. The spiritual world is cit jagat; a realm full of perception. You will pray and get the resp
By Radhanath Swami
To understand the greatness of God is a very special, sacred ornament to our lives. It carries us above all sectarian differences and illusions. The constitutional position of the spirit soul is that we are servants of God, the Absolute Truth.
In this world we have each become so forgetful of our true spiritual nature and of our relationship with the Supreme. We act in so many ways by which the bondage of illusion is more and more perpetuated. Very few people truly endeavor t
By Giriraj Swami
On January 3, 1974, in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.6:
athavasya padambhoja-
makaranda-liham satam
kim anyair asad-alapair
ayuso yad asad-vyayah
“Or please speak of topics related to the devotees of the Lord, who are accustomed to licking up the honey available from the lotus feet of the Lord. What is the use of topics which simply waste one’s valuable life?”
I was struck by his explanation of the absolute nature of devotional service:
“Here
By Braja Vilasa Das
As we approach the close of yet another successful year towards the Grand Opening of the TOVP in 2022, we look forward with great anticipation to the progress ahead. 2018 saw many accomplishments and ongoing work in several areas, all of which couldn’t have happened without the help of the worldwide devotees who sustained our efforts financially. We wish to thank everyone for their support and sacrifice to please Srila Prabhupada and make his dream come true.
This last month
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
Transcendental sound is echoing around the world. The world which is egg-shaped and hollow inside, consists of several layers. All these universes clustering together are flowing from the pores of Mahavishnu. Srila Prabhupada explains creation. Krsna expands himself in the form of Mahavishnu from whose breathing an innumerable number of universes emanate. In each of these universes, Mahavishnu enters as Garbodhakasayi Vishnu who lies on Sesa Naga on the Garbha Ocean. Fro
By Govinda Dasi ACBSP
For me, the reason I like to hear other devotees’ memoirs and experiences, such as in Siddhanta Prabhu’s “Memories” series, and Yadubar/Visakha’s “Following Srila Prabhupada” series, and even simple memories on Facebook, is that when I came to be with Srila Prabhupada, it was at a very different time. I love to hear what other devotees experienced. I love to hear their realizations. And I see the common thread of awe and inspiration at the time of their first meeting w
By Shyamananda Dasa
With a little more than a month to go for the great Kumbha Mela festival we can deliberate upon and try to implement in our lives some of the lessons it has to give us in order to enrich our spiritual realization.
The History in brief – The Kumbha Mela is centered around the episode from Srimad Bhagavatam where the demigods and demons joined hands and churned the milk ocean for the elixir of immortality. The king of the demigods Indra offending the great sage Durvasa muni an
“At the beginning of winter, there is a ceremony known as the Odana-sasthi. This ceremony indicates that from that day forward, a winter covering should be given to Lord Jagannatha.” – Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya-lila16.79, purport “.
In Rajapur Jagannatha Mandir in Sri Dham Mayapur, Lord Jagannatha is beautifully dressed in starched cloth on Odana-sasthi. On this day, devotees from the Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir and the surrounding villages visit Rajapur to have this very special dars
By Pancharatna Prabhu
One of the problems with book distribution is that devotees who distribute books, they’re really focused in giving the books out, but often there’s not much follow-up.
Even devotees that put in the effort to follow up find it hard because the focus is on distributing books and getting as many books out there as possible. It takes time and a different focus to cultivate those who are interested…
So what is the solution…?
Listen to the interview with Pancharatna Prabhu as
Argentina saw a unique moment in ISKCON’s history on Thursday November 22nd. Two major Ratha Yatra festivals took place at the same time on both sides of the country – one in its capital city Buenos Aires, on the East Coast, and one in Mendoza, on the Western border of the country, at the foot of the Andes mountain range.
Hundreds of people participated in the Mendoza Ratha Yatra, reveling in the color and joy of the procession as Lord Jagannath’s chariot made its way around
Verse no: SB 9.9.9-12
Speaker: HH Bhakti Rasayana Sagar Swami
Date: 7 Dec 2018
SB 9.9.9
tatheti rājñābhihitaṁ
sarva-loka-hitaḥ śivaḥ
dadhārāvahito gaṅgāṁ
pāda-pūta-jalāṁ hareḥ
By Sutapa Das
Get and Give!
Introducing you to Cyrus and Syamalangi. This morning they were side-by-side packing their books ready to go out for distribution. The interesting thing is that one year ago Syamalangi met Cyrus in Edgware, UK, and gave him a book. He read it and is now living as a monk at the manor. Book distribution makes book distributors!
For Cyrus it was simple – if you get it, you give it. what we receive, we gift to others. The joy we experience, we share with the world. This
By Mahatma Das
Humility Means No Resistance
The third verse of the Siksastakam is trnad api sunicena – “one should be humbler than a blade of grass.” You may wonder, “How can I be humbler than a blade of grass?” Let’s look at one way this is possible.
May you always think of Krsna.
Mahatma Das
Do Not Resist
Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that grass doesn’t resist when it is walked on or thrown around. It doesn’t complain or scream out, “How dare you step on me or throw me here and there?!” As w
Met these “transcendental twins” in Norwich. They were with devotees in 80’s and one of them lived at Radhadesh. Over time they had lost touch. One of them asked for some beads – I said take two. Another asked for a book – I said take two. They looked at me and said – maybe this is take two of our spiritual journey!
Magical, mystical, memorable, miraculous and moving… what more can I say? The mission goes on… Sankirtan forever.
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
If you come to the temple once a week, that is spiritually poor! It’s a poor lifestyle. You don’t get much spiritual wealth. We must seek out devotees all the time. We must be eager to be with devotees. Even if it is at a distance, somehow or other, we must be there all the time as much as possible. That is eagerness.
