Geeta Bhandari: Yesterday someone walked past me and said, “You’re a beggar, you’re nothing but a beggar”. He then walked off. His comment was said with malice yet I knew he was sent by Caitanya Mahaprabhu to remind me that yes I am a beggar, a beggar begging for the mercy and love of God. I also realized that as a book distributor I’m on the streets begging myself and others to awaken our spiritual identity in order to be able to relate to each other in the mood of pure selflessness so that we
Featured Posts (13434)
Sort by
“Topmost Yoga System” Just one of Srila Prabhupada’s books sufficient to change a life forever!
In 1970, I was a young man visiting friends in Montreal. I had just come to the surface of the city after a ride on the subway (underground) when a very enthusiastic devotee approached me with a copy of *Topmost Yoga System*. The friend I was with tried to discourage me from taking anything, but I was curious, gave the devotee a donation and took the book. Apparently, that was the end of the day for
By Madhava Smullen
The Manor Preschool, located on the campus at ISKCON’s Bhaktivedanta Manor in England, has received an “Outstanding” grade after a recent Ofsted inspection.
Ofsted (The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills) is the government organization responsible for inspecting all schools and nurseries in the UK.
Arriving unannounced so as to see the Manor Preschool as it is, the Ofsted inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities indoors a
On 9th December afternoon, ISKCON Youth Forum Gaya celebrated UDGAAR (An expression of goodness & Joy) festival on the topic “The Joy of De-addiction” at ISKCON Gaya premises. About one thousand youths from various universities, Gaya Engineering college and academic institutes of Gaya attended the festival. Festival started with video show on ISKCON achievement and Srila Prabhupad’s glories. Jagdish Shyam Das (General Manager, ISKCON GAYA) gave the inaugural address and objective behind the fes
Odana Sasti Festival was celebrated in a grand manner at Sri Rajapur Jagannath Mandir on 13 Dec. The deities Sri Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra devi were offered a very beautiful outfit with gorgeous flower decorations. HH Jayadvaita Swami, HH Chandramouli Swami, HH Bhakti Nityananda Swami, HG Jananivas Pr, HG Pankajanghri pr and many senior devotees from ISKCON Mayapur attended the festival and enlightened us with the special Odana Sasti pastimes and also Rajapur Jagannath’s slapping pastime
By Aseem Krishna Das
Pandharpur Sadhu Sanga 2018 with HH Subhag Swami
This year’s annual Sadhu Sanga program with HH Subhag Swami was held in Pandharpur Dham from 26thNovember to 1st December 2018. Around 200 devotees from all over India participated in the program. Every year devotees wait with anticipation for this program where they get a chance to associate with like minded devotees and glorify lord Krishna in a holy Dham. Such programs provide a nice opportunity to enhance our devotion to
By Giriraj dasa
Is God unfair ?
“Why God has made somebody so opulent and why somebody so poor?” This is the general question we hear. Does God discriminates between different souls? Srimad Bhagavatam clears the doubt
naiñä parävara-matir bhavato nanu syät
jantor yathätmä-suhådo jagatas tathäpi
saàsevayä surataror iva te prasädaù
sevänurüpam udayo na parävaratvam
“Like the ordinary living entity, my Lord, You have no such discrimination, thinking like ‘He is my friend; he is my enemy, he is fav
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 H.G Krsna Kesava Das
On Sunday November 4th 2018, the Holy day of Rama Ekadashi, the Mayapur Institute (MI), held its opening ceremony for the men’s Bhakti Sastri, ladies Bhakti Sastri, Bhakti Vaibhava-1, Bhakti Vaibhava-2 and Bhakti Vedanta 4, Winter season courses (2018-19). Over 160 Students from 35-40 different countries participating in these Courses in English, Russian and Bengali.
HG Padmanayana Prabhu, Director of the Mayapur Institute, opened the inauguration. He welcomed the
