By Akruranatha Dasa
From time to time we hear that a certain devotee is “mature”. We know it is a positive thing, but what does it really mean? How can we become the kind of devotee that others will call “mature”? What is the evidence regarding “maturity” in our revealed scriptures?
I think it is a good topic for discussion and would like to hear the realizations of others. Here are some of my thoughts:
1. One of the hallmarks of a madhyama adhikari is knowing how to properly interact with diff
This is a compilation based on the works of Srila Prabhupada.
Compiled by Premanjana Das
(Pranjal Joshi)
1)
“If you sit down and write some article on Krsna, that means you have to concentrate on Krsna’s activities or Krsna’s devotees’ activities, and that very process will purify your heart. Therefore we always recommend to our students that you write articles, read our magazine, read our book. In this way if we keep ourself… Work for Krsna. This… We have come here in this pandal or in this Ku
The dictionary defines the word ‘Renunciation’ as follows – ‘the formal rejection of something, typically a belief, claim, or course of action.’ All over the world, we come across people who practice the spirit of Renunciation – There are some who renounce bad/harmful habits or renounce bad association, and there are some who renounce negative thoughts/words/deeds, etc. Again, we find people, who are a bit more serious and claim to belong to the Renounced order of life altogether, like the sain
Protect and Provide
If a case of illicit sex between a man and an unmarried woman were brought before Prabhupada, he never blamed the woman. He said it is the man’s fault because the man is supposed to be strong and intelligent, and that a woman naturally and innocently follows a man.
A man’s role is to protect and provide. Protection and exploitation are opposites. So if a woman went along with a man’s sexual aggression, Prabhupada wouldn’t blame her. Why? Because the man is supposed to guide
KRISTINA ORREGO/Alachua County Today
ALACHUA – It’s 4:30 a.m., and while the rest of the world is asleep, the Hare Krishna temple in Alachua is softly lit and gently buzzing.
Women wearing ornate saris and men in white, flowing dhoti and kurta remove their shoes before stepping onto sacred ground.
They enter, bowing their heads and prostrating their bodies in the direction of the statue of Srila Prabhupada, the pioneer of their movement that began 50 years ago.
Beads in hand and eyes closed, th
Monk Walks To Promote A Simpler Way Of Life.
By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
BUCHANAN – He’s on a walk across America, and last Friday Bhaktimarga Swami was in downtown Buchanan on his way west toward Lake Michigan. Clothed in his orange robes, Swami made his way through town as well as west along Elm Valley Rd.
Swami is in the middle of a three-year trek across the country. He began his walk last spring and walked through the fall.
Swami has been walking for nearly a month this year, starti
Question: While traveling by trains I see many children begging. They seem hungry and I can’t bear the sight. When they ask for money, one side of me says I shouldn’t give them the money, for they might give it to people who’ll misuse it. My other side says that I should. What should I do?
Radhanath Swami: Real joy comes through service – through serving without expecting anything material in return. When we do something and we get something in return, it gives satisfaction to the mind and to
Bhaktimarga swami: If there could ever be a New Year’s resolution that resonates universally, I would say it could be to step-up on cooperation. Cooperation appears to be a high symptom of love.
Our guru, Srila Prabhupada, had remarked that love is demonstrated by the ability to work as a team.
In other words, cooperate.
Some quotes I like on the topic are:
“Even freckles would form a nice tan if they could ever get together.” – Anonymous
“You cannot clap with one hand alone.” – John Taylor Woo
Gunagrahi Maharaja gave everything he had to Srila Prabhupada. He served ISKCON continuously for forty-nine years. He was a master at engaging people in Krishna consciousness. He made friends quickly and for life. He was largely responsible for the successful spreading of Krishna consciousness among the straight-edge youth. He didn’t complain and he didn’t lament. He had a flair for designing tasteful and novel ways of presenting Krishna consciousness. He innovated incredible Govinda buffet res
DASI members including Anasuya Rico (center)
It’s a bustling evening on Janmastami, Lord Krishna’s appearance day, in Village of Vrindavana, a pop-up reconstruction of famous temples and pilgrimage spots at ISKCON of Alachua, Florida. Against the ink-black night sky, ten young women in bright, multicolored costumes are portraying Krishna’s rasa dance with the gopis. Their fusion of Bharatanatyam, Oddissi and modern dance puts a cherry on top of the night’s festivities, and has everyone grinn
ISKCON GAYA
Dear Prabhuji/Mataji
PAMHO. All glories to Srila Prabhupad.
ISKCON Gaya celebrated Janmastami festival for two whole days. On 2nd September, program started at evening with kirtan lead by Hg Narad Prabhu followed by Gaur Arati lead by Jagdish Shyam Das (General Manager, ISKCON Gaya). A drama titled “Mahamurkh” played by ISKCON Youth Forum, Gaya devotees. Hg Rambhadra Prabhuji(Director, Youth Forum, Bihar) gave a talk on the transcendental activities of Krishna. He says that if we ca
“Even though I was not overawed by the Beatles, I was aware that this was a very special moment in time for anyone that was there. Their music had gradually been evolving over the years and the album (Sargeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band) was expected by everyone to be their masterpiece. It was also supposedly written under the influence of acid, the sounds of ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ and ‘A Day in the Life.’ It was an amazing experience to be listening to it in the condition we we
Murali Gopal taking a japa walk at the ancient Stonhenge monuments in England. Note: the Druids did not build it.
Murali Gopal (Mauricio Garrido, Ph.D), a Columbia-born devotee scientist based in Gainesville, Florida, was determined to spread the word to all ISKCON devotees: how can he enthuse our scientists and other academics to gather in Gainesville this January for the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies’ (BIHS) “Consciousness in Science” conference?
He decided to try the old-fas
HH Gunagrahi Goswami Maharaja, my very oldest devotee friend, the munificent kind soul who made me a devotee, passed away this morning just before 4 AM this morning.
He was surrounded by loving godbrothers and devotees, singing the holy names loudly and in ecstasy.
He had been unconscious since the afternoon .. but when the end was eminent I was screaming the mahamantra into his ear and each time he would respond.
He was such a kind loving devotee.
A radiant star has stopped shining in this wor
ISKCON’s Governing Body Commissioner Anuttama Das speaking at the World Hindu Congress in Chicago, USA.
On behalf of ISKCON he received the recognition by the World Hindu Congress for taking the message of Gita worldwide and introducing it to the ethnic community of the countries.
The audience comprising of Head of States, Business leaders, Scholars, Celebrities along 2500 delegates from 60 countries appreciated the legacy of Srila Prabhupada.
The day begins early for visitors to Sridhama Mayapur. They wake many hours before the sun rises, anytime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., to bathe and prepare to go to the early morning mangalarati. At the temple, the pilgrims get in line and wait to enter the temple. Sometimes, the lines can reach up to 400 or 500 meters!
After mangalarati is finished, the devotees in the Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir disperse to various places to chant their japa or do service. The pilgrims are encouraged to stay
Srila Prabhupada’s ingenuity!
Ramesvara das: What Srila Prabhupada did was so ingenious, it has to be appreciated from a historical point of view. No one in modern history has ever made philosophy books popular for the mass market. So what Prabhupada did was a stroke of genius and he should be described as…this should be understood to be part of Prabhupada’s genius in knowing how to popularize Krsna consciousness. That he combined the world’s deepest philosophy with paintings. And the paintings
George Harrison placed a Hare Krishna sticker on the headstock of Eric Clapton’s famous guitar—the red Gibson ES-335 that he played throughout his career until auctioning it for charity to benefit his Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a residential-care facility dedicated to the treatment of drug and alcohol dependency and addiction.
“‘I think this is the star of the show,’ Clapton said prior to the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Auction at Christie’s, where it sold for $847,500. Even though the guitar was
An artist realizes his dream of finding the perfect form.
During my school days in the 1960s, it wasn’t difficult to see that the modern education system was a kind of slaughterhouse for the mind and intellect, a place where individuals were reduced to packaged goods to be consumed by an exploitative society. At age fourteen I decided to become an artist/naturalist, which meant spending lots of time absent from school but present in my local library, and exploring riverbanks, shorelines,
Lecture given in Vrindavan, India, November 12, 1976
To attain bhakti, or pure devotional service to the Lord, one must come to the point of desiring nothing else.
matto ’py anantat paratah parasmat
svargapavargadhipater na kinchit
yesham kim u syad itarena tesham
akinchananam mayi bhakti-bhajam
[Lord Rshabhadeva said:] “I am fully opulent, almighty, and superior to Lord Brahma and Indra, the king of the heavenly planets. I am also the bestower of all happiness obtained in the heavenly kingdom
