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Are our abilities and expertise valuable assistance for our devotees? Are we confident that our positive-thinking techniques and service input is pleasing to all because devotees depend on us? Is satisfaction and contentment a common feeling earned through our ‘big’ endeavours and peer acceptance? Then beware, because we could be pleased for the wrong reasons – self-empowerment can be mistaken as genuine Krishna empowerment.

One can achieve all the above successes by NOT being very Krishna cons

By Subhangi Devi Dasi

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupad! All glories to all of the Vaishnavas, especially the preachers who are saving the world from hell! All glories to your service!

Have you ever heard of terminal restlessness? Probably not, unless you are a doctor or a nurse. But although the name is new, the condition is described in Srimad Bhagavatam. Srila Prabhupada says:

“And similarly, miserable condition of death. When one is lying in coma, so many

Ananda: There is a great connection between stillness and listening. “Don’t move” we say when we hear some noise around the house in the middle of the night. In yoga we hold the body still in order to hear the breath. We will hold the shoulders of our child while we tell her something important.

In the tradition of mantra meditation, the repetition of a sacred sound, how we listen, how we hear the mantra is the difference between a successful practice or not. Although in the Krishna Bhakti prac

By Sri Ramadasa

We are unabashedly ecstatic to announce that the Bhadra Campaign has launched in India with a resounding success this year! The full moon of good fortune rose on Bhadra Purnima, which was on 24-25 September 2018, *with 4485 sets of Srimad Bhagavatam* being donated to homes, offices, schools, libraries, prisons, and hospitals located across India. Devotees even distributed sets of Srimad Bhagavatam to eminent personalities and current gurus of other Vaishnava Sampradayas in Ind

From Back to Godhead

The Graduate: A high school graduation inspires thoughts on raising a child in Krsna consciousness.

My husband and I take a seat on the shiny varnished bleachers in the large arena used for basketball games. The well-dressed crowd sits in anticipation as their sons and daughters, filing through the rear entrance in dark blue caps and gowns, prepare to graduate from high school.

I spot my son, Narayana, standing in the procession. His searching eyes meet mine, and we exchang

Dandavat Pranaam.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
This is shyam sundar,Youth Representative of ISKCON Youth Forum Guntur. As a Part of 'Sri Krishna Janmastami Celebrations' on the final day September 7th,ISKCON Guntur has conducted a Youth Awareness Rally on the theme 'Say No To Bad Habits-Save The Youth' which is organised by ISKCON Youth Forum Guntur.Iam attaching the link of Facebook Album also.We feel honoured if an Article is published in our Website ISKCON Desire tree.

Around 1500 studen

By Caitanya Carana Dasa

The Moment we turn away from Krishna our misery begins.

The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty, by David G. Myers, is one among several books that use telling facts and revealing statistics to examine the reality behind the globally glamorized American dream of the happy life through wealth and sensual enjoyment. Since 1960:

• The divorce rate has doubled.
• The teen suicide rate has tripled.
• The recorded violent crime rate has quadrupled.
• The pri

By Caitanya Caran das

Imagine a person working on a computer that has viruses. He is busy typing, but the computer is hung. A computer expert informs him, “Sir, you need to install an anti-virus.” He responds curtly, “Don’t disturb me; I am busy.” The expert points out, “But Sir, your computer is not working; so all your work will be fruitless without the anti-virus” He retorts, “I will not be affected by your pessimism.”

Could we be like this thoughtlessly busy person? The Vedic texts explain

By Kadamba Kanana Swami

Can you tell us a bit about the time you entered into the grhasta ashram. How was that a factor in your spiritual life?

Generally sanyasis do not speak about their purva janma (previous life) but since you are asking, I will briefly tell you. I was married for 24 years before I took sannyasa. My former wife is also from the Netherlands and she came to Krsna consciousness 1 year after I did. Even though she was drawn to Krsna consciousness, she was not so sure about the m

From Back to Godhead

Making sense of Vedic Rituals

Are traditional rituals mere acts of blind faith, or are there scientific reasons behind following them?

An envelope protects and carries something valuable. It is the inner content of the envelope that’s actually precious. Similarly empty, meaningless rituals are like an empty envelope: devoid of any substance at best or downright offensive at worst.

Going beyond the externals of religion

Twenty five year old Nitin Sawant, a software engineer,

Written by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in 1958,
Published December of that Year in Gauḍīya Patrika,
The Magazine of the Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti.
Verse 1.
I am sitting alone in Vṛndāvana-dhāma
In this mood I am getting many realizations.
I have my wife, sons, daughters, grandsons, everything,
But I have no money so they are a fruitless glory.
Kṛṣṇa has shown me the naked form of material nature,
By his strength it has all become tasteless to me today.
yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ
“I

By Karnamrita dasa

I have been thinking today of friendship and its power of influence over us which indicates the secret meaning of association. What drives us to seek friends and close relationships and what will be the effect on us?

Our heart is compared in the scriptures to be like a clear crystal that reflects what is before it. We become like who we associate with closely or intimately. That means that when we open our heart to someone, and they open their heart to us there is an exchange

An Infallible Justice!
Chaitanya Caran das: Why me! What did I do to deserve this?“ The outraged cry that comes from a person who feels he has been unfairly singled out for suffering by cruel providence.
"Why do bad things happen to good people?” The perplexing question that haunts the minds of many when they see pious people victimized by painful reverses in life.
THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
“The problem of evil” has been the bane of Western theologians and thinkers for centuries together. In simple t

Last year there was an incident where I received a major chastisement because of not having properly understood the unique position of Srila Prabhupada. Well, I thought I understood his position but unknowingly and subtly I got led in way that would have meant exactly the opposite! The repercussion for me was polite but very grave, something I had never experienced in my spiritual or even in my material life. It was something I would carry whole life as it taught me a little what is meant by Gu

Radhanath Swami: Yoga is often misunderstood as merely breath control, asanas or exercises; for some it is about practising some rules and regulations based on morality and for others it is cultivation of scriputral knowledge. But the real purpose of Yoga is to fix our mind on the Supreme.

According to Bhagavad-gita, yoga can not be practiced unless we practice mind control. An uncontrolled mind restricts the soul from reaching its natural blissful state, which a practioner is trying to acheive

A simple definition of meditation is to ‘think deeply about something’. A broader definition includes ‘to think deeply or focus one’s mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.’ Other good words for meditation are – to ponder, reflect, contemplate, muse, ruminate, or lost in thought.

I love this idea of getting ‘lost in thought’ as a description of meditation in the Krishna Bhakti tradition. Our practice