By Ramai Swami
As always, the Mayapur Kirtan Mela is immensely popular and devotees come for all over to attend the 5 day festival.
There are a variety of leading devotees who inspire everyone to follow their ecstatic kirtans, which are interspersed with shouts of Gauranga and Haribol.
The evenings were so packed that I had great difficulty getting through the crowds to be nearer the lead chanters.
Never are uncommon, these endless lessons of love
Of how to catch a man, how to keep a woman’s love
Or how to use God and His universe
To fulfil one’s desires diverse.
But wise people say just rise above
Life is nothing but a school of love
You get everything that you deserve
Just unlearn to use, and learn to love..
As water cannot fill
The tank of your car when empty
Wealth, prestige and power in plenty
Do not serve our actual purpose and identity.
We are not just hungry, but starving
By Purushottam Nitai Das
Money can buy many things and some believe anything in this world. And so people work hard, extremely hard, to earn a lot. But can money buy everything? Let us try to see what money can buy, and what it cannot.
Money can buy...
It is said if you w
By Madhava Smullen
Three generations of devotees – kirtan artist Gaura Vani, his mother Rukmini Dasi, and his eleven-year-old daughter Kairava – led a group of kirtan lovers on the adventure of a lifetime around Maharashtra, India this winter.
The group comprised of twenty-six aspiring devotees and newcomers to Krishna consciousness from the U.S. and Australia. It included yoga studio owners, teachers, artists and even a state coroner from Pennsylvania.
The tour is an annual affair, and ran fr
“Our propaganda should be focused on spreading kirtana and distributing literature, books and magazines. The process experienced now is that after holding kirtana, they are selling magazines and books successfully.”
Srila Prabhupada Letter to Brahmananda, 30th January 1969
The divine dance of HH Bhakti Vikas Swami made the people of Parvat Patia, Surat tremble in ecstatic love and enchanted the whole area where recently Lord Jagannath Rathyatra took place on 11th February. People of this area b
Speaker: HG Radha Krishna Das
Srimad Bhagavatam 8.7 44
Date: 8 February 2018
Mayapur Dhama
tapyante loka-tāpena sādhavaḥ prāyaśo janāḥ
paramārādhanaṁ tad dhi puruṣasyākhilātmanaḥ
TRANSLATION:
It is said that great personalities almost always accept voluntary suffering because of the suffering of people in general. This is considered the highest method of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present in everyone’s heart.
PURPORT
Here is an explanation of how those engaged in ac
Srila Prabhupada stated: “You are the young generation; you are the flower of your country and society. Practice this most sublime system, Krsna consciousness. Be happy and make others happy. This is the real mission of life.”
It was through the youth that Srila Prabhupada established this International Society and it was the youth that he engaged in fulfilling the desire of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu! In order to help build and further develop youth groups across the globe, we have put together a
By Radha Mohan Das
On Wednesday 15 February, Sruti Dharma das, Temple President of Bhaktivedanta Manor (UK), joined 1000 dignitaries from across the British Commonwealth at Buckingham Palace.
He was then invited to have a private audience with the Queen and other members of the Royal family.
Upon meeting Her Majesty, he discussed her visit to the Krishna Avanti School in 2015, which she remembered well. She also confirmed that the tapestry of Lord Chaitanya gifted to her hung on one of the wall
Srila Prabhupada once said that when devotees give up practicing Krishna consciousness it is ‘fifty percent their fault, and fifty percent ISKCON’s”. In this article I would like to explore what I perceive as a systemic problem contributing to our society’s fifty percent of the blame.
It is surely surprising that someone should get as far as seriously following the process of Krishna consciousness, only to give it up again. Most of us experienced an immediate relief of suffering when we joined,
Speaker: HH Bhakti Vinoda Swami
Transcribed by Madhumati Priyasaki dd
SB: 5.5.18
Date: 11 Feb 2018
Mayapur Dhama
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 5 Chapter 5 text 18
Verse
gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt
pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt
daivaṁ na tat syān na patiś ca sa syān
na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum
Synonyms:
guruḥ — a spiritual master; na — not; saḥ — he; syāt — should become; sva–janaḥ — a relative; na — not; saḥ — such a person; syāt — should become; pitā — a father; na — not
By Karnamrita Das
[February 12th was my 45th anniversary of moving into the temple as a single monastic (brahmacari) and officially taking up the process of bhakti, or pure devotional service. To honor my spiritual journey on the way to Krishna, I thought I would repost this 5 part series about my life before taking up Krishna consciousness and how it led to my existential crisis and spiritual search. Since these are blogs, I have greatly condensed the material.] Pattrica Ann Bailey stared mindl
From my room, #506 in the Gada Building, the Samadhi Auditorium is a walking distance of 0.6 km. I go back and forth completing that measurement at least twice in a day. In the morning, I trek along a 2.5 km stretch with a group of companions as we chant the maha mantra. In addition to that I walk to the room where I meet with my peers at least twice. Then I walk to eat.
By Ananda
Over the years, I have read and heard different devotees speak about different techniques to chant properly. Devotees also talk about crying out to Radha and Krishna during chanting for mercy for improving our chanting. This may be bonafide or not, I do not know. However, so far I have not read or heard anything like this from Srila Prabhupada. The only thing I have heard Prabhupada say is to hear the words of the Mahamantra distinctly with focus. Beyond that I have not heard him say o
By Rishab Hauter
ISKCON Mayapur welcomed West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who came for an official visit. After arriving by helicopter, she was given a warm welcome at the temple by Ambarish Prabhu and several GBC members. Then she took darshan of Sri Panca-tattva, Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, And Lord Narasimhadeva. Jananivas prabhu guided her in performing arati to Lord Narasimhadeva.
Mamata Banerjee then inquired about the temple worship, and offered different auspicious gifts for the
By Danavir Goswami
Generally worshipers of Siva are Mayavadis or impersonalists who desire to become one with the Supreme. Brghu Muni pointed out that Siva followers become atheists and thus condemn themselves:
bhava-vrata-dhara ye ca
ye ca tan samanuvratah
pasandinas te bhavantu
sac-chastra-paripanthinah
One who takes a vow to satisfy Lord Siva or who follows such principles will certainly become an atheist and be diverted from transcendental scriptural injunctions.
nasta-sauca mudha-dhiyo
j
By Madhava Smullen
From January 8th to 14th, 38 youth aged twelve to sixteen years old had the experience of a lifetime at the Radha Krishna Summer Camp in Brazil. Ditching their smartphones, they embraced spiritual life and simple living – and liked what they found.
Run by Brazilian ISKCON Youth Secretary Vaikuntha Murti Das, and his wife Subhadra Dasi of ISKCON Education, the camp is now in its fourth year and has just reached a new milestone. This year, it opened its doors for youth outside
There are three gates leading to this hell-lust, anger, and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul. BG (16.21)
Here we have description of the three gunas of material nature with their destructive forces. Anger is attributed to the material mode of ignorance, lust to the material mode of passion and greed to the material mode of sattva.
This is another way Shri Krishna tells Ajruna that he has to act on the transcendental platform and forget abo
By Patita Pavana das Adhikary
Part One: A Chance Encounter
“Lord Shiva, the spiritual master of the entire world, is free from enmity. He remains ever peaceful and self-satisfied. Among the devatas, no one is greater. How, then, is it possible that Daksha could be inimical towards such an auspicious personality?” (SB 4.2.28)
Recently, I had a long conversation with a self-styled European Shaivite. Having paid an undisclosed sum to a poseur “guru” for the privilege of “becoming God,” he was unwi
In the “sublime and auspicious land of Gaurasundara on the charming bank of the Bhagirathi, Gaudadesh[Sridham Mayapur], which is eternally shining and full of bliss” (extracted from Navadvipastakam Verse 1, Srila Rupa Goswami), on the auspicious Appearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, the GBC College for Leadership Development held the 2018 Graduation ceremony at the ILS (ISKCON Leadersh
