The purpose of this paper is to both establish the importance of the seva of reading Srila Prabhupada’s books as well as understanding the essence of the message in Prabhupada’s books which is the performance of devotional service, regardless of one’s role or place in society.
Firstly I would like to present my own personal reading resume: I have read the Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta five times, the five-volume set of the unedited letters of Srila Prabhupada three times, the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is
A weekend Bhakti Yoga Retreat will give local Puerto Rican students, yoga practioners and permaculture enthusiasts a taste of the simple living, high thinking lifestyle from March 17th to 19th.
The retreat will take place at the 15-acre Plenitud Eco Farm in the picturesque mountains of Las Marias, Puerto Rico. Established in 2010, Plenitud offers university students and other visitors courses, internships and demonstrations on sustainabiblity and permaculture.
The eco farm also happens to be ru
By Urmila Devi Dasi
A simple yet elegant way for each of us to yield to the loving desire of the Supreme Whole.
Surrender. Submission. Such words may conjure up images of war and aggression, where the weaker party regretfully yields to the stronger, possibly with thoughts of future victory or vengeance. With such images in mind, we may cringe when we read in the Bhagavad-gita that we must surrender to Krishna. And our qualms about surrender may increase when we see devotees exemplifying surren
ISKCON’s Hare Krishna Centre in New Zealand to reopen after 2011.
Almost six years after suffering extensive damage in the 2011 earthquake, ISKCON Christchurch will be holding a three-day grand opening ceremony of its newly constructed Hare Krishna Centre between March 3 and 5 this year.
The event will feature the official opening of the new temple, fire yajnas, kirtans, aartis, guru pujas, and an initiation ceremony by Indradyumna Swami. Installation of the deities including that of Sri Sri N
The temple is the home of Krsna! It is also the Holy Dhama and the spiritual world. The scriptures say that Krsna does not descend alone but he brings along the entire spiritual world. This is not so simple to see. Only the very saintly personalities can see this.
Saints are interesting people. Over the years, I have spent a lot of time reading about saintly persons and how they have happiness within that does not depend on external things – not dependent on the weather or profit or health. The
Russian Yoga Lecturer Escapes Penalty in Sign of Good Karma. Russia’s yoga lovers can sigh in relief today, following a judge’s decision in St. Petersburg to throw out the case against Dmitry Ugai, a man tied to a Krishna group charged with illegal missionary work for lecturing on the spiritual roots of yoga. “The case is closed due to the absence of any administrative offense,” the court ruled, according to the Interfax news agency. Ugai was detained during a spiritual festival in October afte
Facing the imminent separation of body and soul because of a terminal illness requires a response to one’s physical decline but also to one’s state of mind. Can we let go of all lingering material attachments? Can we fix our mind on Krishna? Are we ready?
Over the years and during the final stages of their lives, I was frequently in the company of two devotees — Hamsagati Krishna Dasa and Bhaktin Veerle — offering support, guidance, and friendship. For several months I saw them endure painful, i
Diary of a Traveling Preacher
Volume 7, Chapter 13
By Indradyumna Swami
During the final phase of our summer tour, more and more people were coming, as many as 6,000 on some days. The mayor of a beach town told us that just before summer his secretary had been inundated with calls asking whether our festival was coming. By the time we were due, there wasn’t a single room to rent in town.
“The hotels are all saying that people are here for your event,” said the mayor. “Even I myself had to open
2016 was a significant year for Indian Americans in politics. Five Indian Americans, a record number, were elected to U.S. Congress. To celebrate the milestone, fellow members of Congress, dignitaries and supporters, including ISKCON, gathered at the Indiaspora Gala on January 3rd in Washington, D.C.
The bipartisan event highlighted the increasing significance of the Indian-American community in the country’s political landscape. It also welcomed members of the new administration and allowed n
“Hare Krishna, Hare Rama” these were the words Seva Atula Das was greeted with as he walked passed through the local vegetable market in downtown Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. More than 15 years ago as Tribhuvanatha Das was spreading the holy name through the East African Festival, he reached out to Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania and Eastern Africa by population.
Relocation from Nairobi to Dar es salaam due to work purposes lead to the first devotee Hari Dev Das settling in Dar and sowi
All of the material existence, the universes, outer space, galaxies, stars, planetary systems, planets, continents, countries, cities, and everyone’s body, are all on fire. In worldly consciousness, our illusory task is to deny this fire at every turn, or recognizing the fire partially, to create structures to protect us from being burned, keeping that fire “over there,” overseas, or in another neighborhood, and not in our view. However, as much as our societies, elders, and parents are trying
In many years of chanting, not every day was an optimal one. I have chanted when I was tired, when I was ill and injured; I have chanted in cars, planes and boats. Once I also chanted on a horse racing track! The quality of my rounds has varied due to my own physical condition and the external circumstances and to the state of my consciousness. But the Holy Name has stayed as an integral part of my life, the Holy Name is like a friend – always there, soothing my mind, creating stability in the
Finding Help in the Bhagavad-gita.
Jayapataka Swami: The Bhagavad-gita now has readers all over the world. Krishna personally came down from the spiritual world & gave His teachings of Bhagavad Gita As It Is. In this material world there are many situations. People are in great stress & suffering. There is a forest fire of illusion & by this mercy given through the books they are free from that burning fire. People are suffering in so many ways and they don’t know which way to turn. Srila Prabh
Looking at the ruins of what we’ve been calling until recently Western civilization, I can say that the mankind is illogical and irrational. Led by misguided and selfish leaders, people themselves planned and led their existence to its end, such as we knew it. How come we got here? Couldn’t the ruination of our world be prevented? Couldn’t any of the world leaders remember the bitter lessons of the millenary bloody history of mankind? And why the progress of material science and modern techno
Freelance writer, Bridgitte Jackson-Buckley, recently conducted on interview of Yogesvara Dasa (Jushua M. Greene) who is the author of "Swami in a Strange Land". Please note, if you would like to purchase a copy of this book, we have them available at our temple! Check out the article below:
Imagine, if you will, boarding a cargo ship at 69 years-old to leave your home country for the first time in your life. You’ve set out on a month-long journey to go to a country where you don’t know one
The man takes a drink: No one takes their first drink with the desire to become alcoholics. They think that they are just having some fun; they are being cool; they are fitting into the crowd. They believe that they can drink without becoming drunkards.
But drinking moderately is like walking too close to the edge of a road that has no fence and that borders a deep valley. Just by staying close to that edge, they run the entirely unnecessary risk of slipping and falling off.
The drink takes the
Damian Collins, Conservative Party MP for Folkestone, tweeted: “It is always fantastic to see new businesses opening in #Folkestone it was a pleasure to open the Atma Lounge today”.
In the sleepy seaside town of Folkestone, known for its tourism and harbour trade, is a little oasis for spiritual awakening right on the old High Street called: Atma Lounge.
The official opening was on the 20th of January with the attendance Damian Collins and the landlord and Former Mayor of Folkestone Philip Cart
Dog
Dogs bark. One dog barks at another dog or another human when the dog senses some territorial clash or some trespassing. Dogs also are faithful to their masters. So this dog-like mentality of barking and faithfulness is inculcated to human beings right from kindergarten, believe it or not!
When a child enters kindergarten and continues education all the way up to graduate school, the child who becomes a student of modern knowledge is taught to divide, categorize, analyze, and conclude. This
As explained on the cover of the record album, this transcendental vibration — by chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare — is the sublime method for reviving our Krishna consciousness. As living spiritual souls we are all originally Krishna conscious entities, but due to our association with matter since time immemorial, our consciousness is now polluted by material atmosphere. In this polluted concept of life, we are all t
The best way to chant is to chant at the same time every day. The best is to chant sixteen rounds in one go and not to break it up. The breaking up of rounds is not good – four here, four there, six and then the leftovers; this is not good. The best is to just stop everything and chant sixteen rounds in one stretch. This is the best. Or a few rounds before mangal arati and the rest after, that’s even better. Or all rounds before mangal arati is the very best! And the worst are those late night
