My life took many unexpected turns. I made plans but I could not fulfill many of them and I had to face many surprises – sometimes pleasant and sometimes unpleasant. I lived in many countries. Many people think that I am from Holland but to tell you the truth, I am not! Even in this life, my birth was in Vrindavan because my spiritual life began in Vrindavan and thus Holland feels like a last life. I can remember it only vaguely. I’m from Vrindavan actually! But there also, I faced ups and down
Featured Posts (13290)
Sort by
Our life is full of anguish when others unjustly blame us… we feel offended and angry, and feel a strong urge to defend ourselves. Is there another way, a way to freedom?
tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā/ amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
“One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be ready to offer all respect to ot
SELF-ABSORPTION isn’t thought of favorably and generally means to be excessively concerned with one’s own life and interests without taking into consideration other people. Some synonyms are egoism, self-centeredness, narcissism, self-importance, self-preoccupation, etc. However, in my thinking this morning while chanting, which is the attempt to “hear” God in his holy names, or become absorbed in the Supreme Self, we need to be self-absorbed in the sense of becoming aware of those parts of our
An ambitious new ninety-minute documentary film about the life of ISKCON Founder Srila Prabhupada is set to be released in June this summer, and will be a historic event.
It will be released in art theaters in twenty key cities throughout the U.S. beginning with the Village East Theater in New York City, just ten blocks from 26 2nd Avenue, where ISKCON began.
The film was originally entitled “Acharya,” but has been renamed “Hare Krishna: The Mantra, the Movement, and the Swami Who Started It A
The following is a list of (what I consider to be) mistakes that either I have made or have seen other devotees make while preaching. By preaching I mean helping a person come closer to Krsna. So “mistakes” would be saying or doing anything that could or will get in the way of this. Granted, we can sometimes make a mistake and it will not have adverse effects, so these are not absolutes. And it is even possible that some of these “mistakes” may occassionally end up helping someone. However, in
Long, before the advent of Islam, even as early as the third millennium BCE, India had cultural bonds with the Mesopotamian civilization, now the region of Iraq and Iran. As explained by N. N. Bhattacharya, there are plenty of references to establish a very close contact between India and the Islamic world. Actually, Iraq was an area that had been a part of the Vedic civilization at one time. The extreme antiquity of India’s trade with the West-Asia (now known as middle-east) is an establishe
New clothing company “Mata and Me” might just about be the most adorable idea ever: matching devotional outfits for mothers and daughters (and fathers and sons) that make a pretty picture and encourage a sweet family bond.
Sadly, this was something often missing from owner Ananda Lila Dasi’s own early life.
“I had a very tough childhood and adolescence, and I never met my father,” she says. “But when I came to Krishna consciousness in 2008, it changed my life. My spiritual master, Giriraja Swa
I first came to know about ISKCON in Pune at around 1998. My sister informed me about the ISKCON temple on the Janmashtami day. First time when I saw the temple structure from outside I felt that it’s not a traditional temple which is seen in India. That was confirmed when I went inside the temple as to see the devotional attitude and energy in the temple was just fantastic. Till that point I had not seen so much devotional energy anywhere else. All the devotees chanting and dancing in ecstacy
Most devotees’ lives and views on devotional service change as their ashram changes. When several devotees pass through ashram changes at approximately the same time-or even if one respected devotee within a temple changes his ashram-a temple can become affected.
My writing down these developmental stages, which is similar for both individual devotees and temples (If the majority of devotees within a temple are in a similar ashram situation, it can be said that that temple is at that particula
Question: Is it possible to go back to the spiritual world just chanting the Mahamantra without accepting diksa from a spiritual master?
Romapada Swami: As described in Caitanya Caritamrita, to chant the holy name of the Lord one need not depend upon other paraphernalia or practices, for one can immediately get all the desired results of linking with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It may therefore be questioned why there is a necessity for initiation or further spiritual activities in dev
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT: Krishna Village
Byron Bay is hippie central through and through and so of course the Krishna Village Eco-Yoga Community would be based nearby. About an hour’s drive away, you’ll go from the breezy beaches or Byron to being nestled in rolling hills and lush greenery, with thick grass and fresh water creeks. This is Eungella, a town in New South Wales with a peaceful, back-to-nature vibe that’ll transform even the most plugged-in of urbanites, given enough time.
All-n
Prabhupada wrote so many books and some people never read much more than a Whatsapp message! They never get around to finishing the Bhagavatam.
Even after nine years in Krsna consciousness, they are still reading the ninth chapter of the first canto. If they go at this pace of one chapter a year then they might not make it because Bhagavatam has something like 355 chapters, which means you would have to become 355 years old, which is maybe not going to happen and in that case, you might never f
"Temple means a shelter for spiritual education. People should come, they should learn what is spiritual life, what is God, what is my relationship with God.. That is a temple.”-- Srila Prahhupada
As an offering for ISKCON 50 Years, for the pleasure of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, Guru & Gauranga, Srila Prabhupada and for the entire devotee community "BHUMI POOJA" at ISKCON Cultural Centre, Kumaraswamy Layout, South Bangalore there was performed on Sunday, 1st January 2017
The Bhumi Puja for the new
A recently published news story quickly caught my attention. It suggested that there are principally four types of personalities. After carrying out a research project of its own style, researchers in Spain have concluded that the four distinct personality types are: Optimistic, Pessimistic, Envious, and Trusting. They also suggested there is a fifth one but the computer algorithm they used couldn’t accurately identify it. What I found interesting was the concept of four types of personalities,
The Bhaktivedanta Archives has just released the 2017 update for the Bhaktivedanta VedaBase. The updated database files are a free download. Also released: new unedited audio files for 1970.
Source:http://www.jswami.info/bhaktivedanta-archives-releases-2017-vedabase-update/
In the morning I have been listening to Srila Prabhupada’s wonderful talks on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta given in Juhu in November 1975, and today I was struck by his explanation of how we can feel fellowship with each other—free from envy:
“So if we accept this philosophy, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s, without falsely declaring ourself that ‘I am equal to God’ or ‘I am God,’ if you simply accept that jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya dasa’ [Cc Madhya 20.108], that we are eternally servant of Krishna
ISKCON is a spiritual organization personally established by Srila Prabhupada. We must take care that it doesn’t become material. Anything (husband-wife relationship, Deity worship, even prasadam) can turn material by one’s consciousness. In any Society, there must be some organization and management, otherwise there will be chaos. Even in the spiritual world, Krsna’s friends are subdivided and supervised (Lord Balarama is group leader for his cowherd boy friends; Candravali and Radharani head
Sometimes, we get so caught up in external practices that we are still not remembering Krsna – we wear tilak for years, we hear and chant for years, we serve in a temple and yet we are not really thinking of Krsna as our first priority. Every day, we hear in a lecture how Krsna is the ultimate goal and how he is the priority but still we have so many other considerations – our position in the temple, how people are dealing with us, where do I fit, how am I going to be part of it all and so on r
January 16, 2017
Dear follower of Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Kindly submit your homage to Srila Prabhupada for his Vyasa-puja book by April 15.
In addition, if you’re a direct disciple of Srila Prabhupada, please check out www.sptributes.com to learn about a Vyasa-puja book open to all his disciples. The deadline for submission to this book is also April 15.
The standards for submitting an offering to the traditional Vyasa-puja book (
Once again, my heartfelt thanks goes out to all the devotees worldwide who contributed their might to support the construction of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium in 2016. Without you this immense project would simply not be possible. Together we are all endeavoring to develop ISKCON’s World Headquarters and especially its centerpiece temple which will preach to the world the glories of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the yuga dharma.
2016 was a challenging year for the TOVP. However, we have co
