By Madhava Smullen
The ISKCON Tribal Care Initiative’s 2018 convention ran from March 30thto April 1stin Mayapur, West Bengal this spring. It drew 2,000 tribespeople from thirteen tribes in five Indian states – each with their own culture, language and dressing style.
Tribes represented included Reang, Tripuri, Halam, Hojang, Bauri, Shanthal, Tea Tribe, Munda, Safahora, Sabar, Karbi, Dimahasao, and Boro.
“We try to bring them all together to celebrate the diversity, learn about each other and
Mahatma das: There is No Failure on the Spiritual Platform. Spiritual success means to please Krsna and guru, and can sometimes have nothing to do with measurable external results. Since devotional service is absolute, you can even successfully serve Krsna in your mind.
In the Nectar of Devotion there is a story of a devotee who wanted to offer sweet rice (khir) to his Deities, but couldn’t afford the ingredients. So he cooked the sweet rice in his mind. While in this meditation he touched the
By Madhava Smullen
With its ambitious new development project, ISKCON’s Gita Nagari farm in Pennsylvania is inviting devotees to move to the community to experience Krishna conscious village life.
Founded by Srila Prabhupada in 1974, Gita Nagari is an optimal setting to practice his vision of simple living, high thinking. It has 350 lush green acres, a vegetable garden, 80 protected cows, and its own dairy, all centered around the temple of Sri-Sri Radha Damodar.
Its new “Gita Nagari Lifestyle”
Sri Navadvipa Dhama has long been a center of learning and education. In the time of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, people would come from all over India to Navadvipa – the educational center of the country. Now, Sri Dham Mayapur has three esteemed schools for children’s education, one of which is the Bhaktivedanta National School (BVNS).
Bhakti Purusottama Swami was the main inspiration behind the school, as he understood the need for the local children to have a basic education so that they
Social get-togethers are memorable and warmer when in the presence of widely and genuinely respected loving elders. They are even more enchanting when people express their gratitude openly and downplay their mutual differences of opinions.
Otherwise social events are typically shallow formalities attended out of social pressure. Even if attended willingly, if devoid of the warmth of loving elders and heartfelt gratitude, social functions are like any other means of popular entertainment meant
By Sunanda Das
With great pomp and ecstacy, the TOVP Euro Tour led by Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Sitari and accompanied by Their Graces Jananivas and Braja Vilas prabhus departed Mayapur, arriving in Belgium on April 10th. This is the third year of such touring, bringing the mercy and darshan of Lord Nityananda and Lord Nrsimhadeva to devotees in every corner of the world.
The first stop of this tour was the Radhadesh temple in Belgium. The program was held at the temple o
Answer by His Holiness Romapada Swami
Does spiritual advancement depend on the degree of advancement of the spiritual master?
Question: Srila Prabhupada said in certain places that one should accept a spiritual master whose guidance will make one’s life perfect. Would it make any difference to one’s spiritual progress if the spiritual master one accepted was:
(A) At a different level of realization to, say, another spiritual master?
(B) Both coming from a bona fide disciplic succession.
Or does
Balaram Nityananda Das: “Krishna Katha and Krishna Kirtan must go together side by side like husband and wife, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur tells us, each one supports the other.” – His Holiness Chandramauli Swami. After a year of asking Maharaj to speak something about Kirtan, He finally agreed to speak about the importance of Krishna Kirtan along with Krishna Katha. It’s such an important topic for the success of our spiritual lives!
By Sri Nandanandana dasa (Stephen Knapp)
I was asked to look into this a few years ago by someone who knew of my research abilities. But I have not been able to until now because of other priorities. But this topic has come up before, that actually there were two different Buddhas that played the part to establish Buddhism and its principles of ahimsa and nonviolence and its monist philosophy.
In the following material, we will look at the evidence that seems to indicate that there was first th
From Back to Godhead
By Mayapur-shashi Dasa
Reflections on an article written by Srila Prabhupada in 1956 and on how we as Vaishnavas should think of Lord Buddha today.
In the May 5, 1956, issue of Back to Godhead, Srila Prabhupada published his article “Lord Buddha: The Emblem of Theism.” The opening paragraph informs us of the transcendental poet Sri Jayadeva Acharya’s worship of Lord Buddha. Srila Prabhupada then quotes the poet’s Sanskrit prayer to the ten incarnations of the Personality of
By Karnamrita Das
Part one: The Metaphysic of Simultaneous, Inconceivable, Oneness, yet Difference
“In my unmanifested form
I pervade the Universe,
though I’m present everywhere
I am also apart from all.” [Bg 9.4]
In the broadest sense
Krishna is everything--
with more knowledge and focus
we learn about His energies.
Within the One Energy
there is spiritual variety
as Krishna is like the sun
his energies, the sunshine.
Here is Chaitanya’s metaphysic
of simultaneous, inconceivable
Oneness yet di
The qualities that degrade us are, unfortunately, so familiar, near and dear to us. They are “the wealth of the evil”(āsura-sampada). Krishna lists them in Gita (16.4):
dambho darpo ’bhimānaś ca krodhaḥ pāruṣyam eva ca
ajñānaṁ cābhijātasya pārtha sampadam āsurīm
Dambha means being super loud about how wonderful we are, and extremely quiet about how lame we are.
Darpa is the root of the Sanskrit word for mirror (darpana). It means admiring oneself, fawning over one
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 3.10 at a home program.
“‘In the Age of Kali, the sankirtana-yajna (the chanting of the names of God) is recommended by the Vedic scriptures, and this transcendental system was introduced by Lord Caitanya for the deliverance of all men in this age.Sankirtana-yajna and Krsna consciousness go well together. Lord Krsna in His devotional form (as Lord Caitanya) is mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32) as follows, with special reference to the s
I spent time in Vrindavan by Krsna´s grace. I had not deserved it but somehow or other, I joined there. I had the good fortune of being in the place where Krsna was so present and where Prabhupada was so present. In the Krsna Balarama mandir in every nook and corner, there was such a strong focus on Prabhupada that I understood: IT IS about Prabhupada. I saw the leaders of the movement coming to Vrindavan and I heard from them too. I heard Tamal Krsna Maharaj say, “In Vrindavan we cannot accept
I have a disciple who always signs their letters with ‘your mercy case’ instead of the usual ‘your servant’. It has been consistent over many years and it is nice. It sounds good to think with that mentality, ‘I am your mercy case!’
Whatever reminds us of our humble position, that is an asset! When we are seeing ourselves as fallen, then we feel a need for shelter. As soon as we think, “Well I know it all. I have been around for a long time,” then the difficulty begins. We immediately start to
Bonds of Love: Girija Devi Dasi.
Girija, a devout Christian, became interested in Krishna consciousness when she learned of Srila Prabhupada’s respect for and openness to all bona fide, sincerely practiced religions.
As I got older I saw my religion declining and felt sorry. I tried Sri Aurobindo’s ashram for a year, then I tried Maharishi, then went to a convent to be a nun, but these weren’t what I was looking for. Then in 1976, when I was 24, I went to the Govardhana-puja festival at the M
By Ramai Swami
ISKCON Mayapur welcomes worldwide devotees to join us on the joyous occasion of celebrating the appearance day of Sri Narasimhadeva, Sri Narasimha Caturdasi festival 2018. This year, the festival falls on 29th April. A three days festivities including Narahari Nama Kirtan, adhivas, Maha abhisheka and Sri Narasimha Katha are planned for this year’s festival.
Sri Sthanu Narasimhadeva of Mayapur has a special place in the hearts of devotees worldwide. He is famous as performer of various pastimes,
Personal Letters from Srila Prabhupada
As a genuine spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada takes personal responsibility for the advancement of each of his students in the spiritual life of Krsna consciousness. Although now his transcendental instructions are available in book form, when Srila Prabhupada first began the Krsna consciousness movement, the only way his new disciples could get the answers to their many questions was to ask Srila Prabhupada personal
By Karnamrita Das
Some persons caught up in the counter-culture of the late '60's and '70's felt that all materiel prospects were void and society's status quo, miserable stagnation. Thus, as if in a life and death battle, they intensely felt compelled to search out meaning and happiness on the spiritual quest, appearing as their only hope. This free verse poem, inspired by the months I spent in the redwood forest in Muir Woods in Marin County [near San Francisco, California], condenses the bac
