By Hari Narayana Das
Nyepi comes from a lonely word meaning silence, quiet, no activity. Nyepi Day is a Hindu New Year based on the Saka calendar, which began in AD 78. Unlike the celebration of the New Year-every January 1, the New Year of Saka in Bali begins with the solitude and execution of the silence. The main purpose of Nyepi Day is to appeal to Almighty God, to purify Bhuana Alit (human nature / microcosmic) and Bhuana Agung / macrocosmic (universe). In celebration, Hindus will conduct
A Talk by Giriraj Swami Ojai, California
The original Personality of Godhead is Krsna, and He manifests Himself in different forms. One such manifestation is Lord Ramacandra. When Krsna appeared in His original form He acted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas when He appeared as Rama He acted as the ideal king. In fact, the pastimes of Lord Rama display ideals in many ways. Lord Rama appeared as the son of King Dasaratha, and Dasaratha acted as the ideal father and king. Rama acted
By Madhava Smullen
Students who manage to find a place in this summer’s Vaiyasaki Kirtan Academy will get the chance to learn one year’s worth of kirtan knowledge in just a week, with one of ISKCON’s most legendary and classically trained kirtaniyas.
They’ll also get to do it in a beautiful setting, at the 300-hectare Nueva Vrajamandala retreat farm community in Spain, near the ancient town of Brihuega. Accommodation and meals will be included in the price of the course, which will take place
On the auspicious appearance day of Lord Ramachandra one has to observe the following:
Wake up early in the morning: It is recommended that one should rise early in the morning, during the brahma-muhurta. The period of one and a half hours before sunrise, is called brahma-muhurta. During this time, spiritual activities are recommended as they have a greater effect than in any other part of the day.
Cleanse yourself and wear fresh clothes: Cleanliness is essential for making advancement in spiri
Do you know 108 auspicious names of Lord Sri Rama (Sri Rama Ashtottara Shata Namavali)? Here below is a list of those names.
Chanting of these holy names brings peace & happiness in your life.
Govinda Swami: When I came home to Vrindavan I wrote a note that explained my personal crisis while being here … due to the prevailing insane situation in Vrindavan.
After my post, many friends from around the world commented, shared wonderful ideas, and offered their time, expertise, and commitment to help the ecological and heritage crisis that we are facing here in Vrindavan.
I started thinking.
Hey !! Please don’t laugh. I can still think .. a little
First I sat down with Indradyumna Mahar
By Ramai Swami
On the way to the Saturday evening Brisbane temple program I stopped off for a lunch program at Rupa Vilasa’s house on the Gold Coast.
He and and his family operate a preaching centre in Southport, which has been going for about five years now. Quite a few devotees came and it was an enjoyable stopover.
Answers by HH Romapada Swami
Question: I’m wondering how individual free will factors into the verses and purports describing the species of demoniac life. Specifically BG 16.19 -20.
Srila Prabhupada’s purport states: “In this verse it is clearly indicated that the placing of a Particular individual soul in a particular body is the prerogative of the supreme will.”
“As for the demoniac, it is clearly said here that they are perpetually put into the wombs of demons, and thus they continue to be
By Radhanath Swami
Power of Bad Association: It was a known fact in Ayodhya that Kaikeyi loved Lord Rama more than his own son Bharath, then how could she become so evil. It is by her bad association with Mantara.
Attachment to service & not to the position: Lord Ram was willing to become the king as a service to Maharaj Dasarath and He was also willing to go to the forest as a service to His father.
Mission of Life should be to vanquish the demoniac tendencies in our heart: Lord Ram’s purpose
On Sunday, March 25th, we will be celebrating Rama Navami, the appearance of Lord Rama. Lord Rama is an incarnation of Krishna who appeared in Ayodhya during the Treta Yuga as the son of King Dasaratha. During Lord Rama’s reign, all the citizens were happy, religious and their necessities of life were provided. He was a virtuous, charitable and dutiful King. He is particularly known for his victorious battle with the ten-headed demon Ravana, the evil King of Lanka thereby freeing his wife Sita
In honour of Lord Ramachandra's appearance on Sunday, Mar 25th, Toronto Sankirtan Team (TST) is delighted to extend two exciting initiatives for you and your friends and family, as we collectively get ready to celebrate this most auspicious festival!
DAILY Readings from the Ramayana via Conference call (Mar 12th to Apr 13th)
Monday, Mar 12th to Friday, Apr 13th
5:45 AM to 6:00 AM
By Karnamrita dasa
Sometimes people want to know what I am about spiritually. I often think how could I explain to someone in a moment about our path of Bhakti-yoga or Krishna consciousness??
When someone casually ask what I believe in, looking for a nutshell understanding, they sometimes do so to categorize me. I really wish people would understand that there is only one Divine system in the Universe known by infinite names, and represented by many religions, instead of trying to think they h
By Ramai Swami
Rupa Raghunatha is well known to devotees all over Australia. He has been regularly going out on book distribution for over 25 years.
Some time ago he moved to Murwillumbah near our New Govardhana temple.
When gurus, sannyasis and senior devotees visit New Govardhana, he invites them for a program at his home. I received such an invitation the last time I visited.
Source: http://www.ramaiswami.com/murwillumbah-home-program/
Krsna has a deep personal relationship with every living entity and he is conscious of every thought the every living entity has – just imagine that! Krsna is unlimitedly great in this aspect. And so, Krsna enters into a deep personal relationship with every devotee and can become attracted and captured by their loving service. This is called sri krsna-akarsani – to attract Krsna by devotional service. This is our aim: to go deeper into devotional service and attract Krsna.
Krsna states in the
Srila Prabhupada once remarked, “The two brothers Pankajanghri and Jananivasa – there is no comparison. Everyone should know there is no complaint.” (1/2/76, Mayapur – A Transcendental Diary Vol.1)
The 19th of March marks the auspicious appearance day of two of ISKCON Mayapur’s most beloved and long-standing residents, His Grace Jananivas Prabhu and His Grace Pankajanghri Prabhu. Jananivas Prabhu and Pankajanghri Prabhu are the head pujaris of ISKCON Mayapur and continually inspire the Mayapur
By Karnamrita Das
[I am continuing the reposting of this 5 part series.] AWAKENING BY GRACE, MOUNTAIN FATHER, REDWOOD TREE PROFESSORS: Growing up in San Francisco, Chris didn’t think it unusual or sad if the sky was overcast or foggy—it was just a different color sky, though he liked the sun too. In fact, in a general sense, even at the young age of four he began a lifelong pattern of not look forward to things, or thinking of too much about the past. Though he was learning to shut his emotions
Each year, March 22nd marks the ‘World Water Day’ established by the United Nations and celebrated all over the globe, with the purpose of focusing our attention on the importance of water.
On this occasion, the production team of ‘The Stolen River’, a 40-minute documentary about the sacred Yamuna, has made the film available for public screening for communities, temples, educational- and other organizations. At the moment it is only available in English, but they are working on getting the fil
As eternal servants of Krsna, our natural position is to render service. Our happiness lies not in any other endeavour, but only in service. As soon as we try to become the master ourselves, we are in an artificial position. Since we are not very good masters, we have to ‘pretend’ and start hiding our defects.
We start on the wrong footing. If we only started properly from an early stage in life, we would be strong. However, we do not. We pick up bad habits even before we are adults. Then, by t
On 15th March, Gaur Gopal das addressed 500 most influential personalities from 35 different countries at the 12th Annual Mountain Partners Network Event Unternehmertag at Lake Tegernsee, Germany. He spoke on “Impactful, purpose-driven success.”
As global Company Builder headquartered in Zurich (Switzerland), Mountain Partners manages more than 90 investments in the e-commerce and web services, digital payments and fintech, and technology and security sectors.
Thanks to Dr Cornelius Boersch, F
How many of us are fortunate to have not just good friends, but close friends with whom we can phone at any time, and for no particular reason, than to simply share a Krishna conscious realization?
How many of us are blessed to be able to shed all institutional and scholarly roles, simply to sit down in an informal setting once in a while, and discuss none other than Krishna katha?
Does it ever occur to us sometimes, particularly if we are second initiated, that the services we try to render fo
