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From Back to Godhead

THE VEDAS DESCRIBE the cow as our mother (go-mata). Why? Because she gives the milk that nurtures and nourishes us from infancy to old age. When the cow is happy, satisfied, and well taken care of, she produces far more milk than her calf requires. We can use this milk for our dietary needs.

Srila Prabhupada writes, “Foods such as milk, milk products, sugar, rice, wheat, fruits, and vegetables are the foods that best aid health and increase life’s duration.” He calls milk “

Jiva Doya das is a book distributor from the Bhaktivedanta Manor. He travels around England with three other devotees. 
Dear Jiva,
thank you very much for contacting me. It was nice to speak to you in town when I saw you. I had had a rather uninspiring day and it was eye opening to talk to someone who seems to have a real passion for what they believe in. At the moment I am at a point in my life where I am happily floating on a cloud of contentment for who I am and what I believe in, which at p

In Bhagavad-Gita 14th Chapter, Lord Krishna explains the three modes of natures that are controlling the activities of all the living entities in the material world. Lord Krishna says,

sattvaḿ rajas tama iti
guṇāḥ prakṛti-sambhavāḥ
nibadhnanti mahā-bāho
dehe dehinam avyayam [ B.g 14.5]

“Material nature consists of three modes — goodness, passion and ignorance. When the eternal living entity comes in contact with nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he becomes conditioned by these modes.”

These t

From Teachings of Lord Kapila, Chapter 4: ‘Srimad-Bhagavatam is a commentary on Vedanta-sutra. Vedanta-sutra explains that the Supreme is the source of everything, and the nature of that source is explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.1.1): janmady asya yato 'nvayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah svarat. That source is abhijna, cognizant. Matter is not cognizant; therefore the theory of modern science that life comes from matter is incorrect. The identity from whom everything emanates is abhijna, cogni

This morning I was looking through our bookshelf at some of the small paperback books we used to distribute at preaching programs. I always had a fondness for these small books, because it was the small books published by the BBT in the early days, that brought so many of us to the movement. Although I very much appreciated the original Bhagavad-gita As It Is when I first received it back in the early 70’s, it was too much information for me to process at the time, but the small paperback books

Intelligence is found in the two upper classes of men – in the brahminical class and the kshatriya class. The intelligence of a vaishya is of a different nature because the intelligence of a vaishya is less selfless. The brahmana and kshatriya sacrifice their self-interest for the sake of dharma so their lives are dedicated to a higher duty. Whereas the vaishya is also intelligent but his intelligence is focused on profit and on personal gain. So when the choice comes between following a princi

This coming February will be the auspicious 14th Anniversary of Vrinda Kunda Temple opening! To celebrate we are organizing special parikramas to the Holy Places of Braja. The Festival will culminate with our famous Kalash Yatra, an ecstatic Sankirtan procession with the ladies carrying water pots with coconuts on their heads. Parikramas will be taken out from 8 Feb - 21 Feb with the main festival day on Sunday 19 Feb. Even after that there will still be some parikramas.

Plan your trip to Mayap

Class notes from: Bhurijana prabhu and Giriraja Swami

We begin this study of Nectar of Devotion, summary study of Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu of Srila Rupa Goswami, by offering our obeisances to Srila Rupa Goswami. (quotes from C.C.)

“In his book, ‘Caitanya Chandrodaya’, Kavikarna Purna, the son of Sivananda Sena, has elaborately described the meeting between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Rupa Goswami.”

“In the course of time, the transcendental news of Krsna’s pastimes in Vrndavana, was almost

The sharp growth in online video consumption suggests the people of the world are becoming more enraptured by visual content than anything else. But for teachers of the ancient Vedic tradition, sound is seen as capable of having a much deeper transformational effect on a human being.

Interestingly, this Vedic wisdom is supported by research work of Psychologist Katharine Le Mee. She writes in her book Chant:

The sense of hearing . . . connects experientially with the heart, and music and sound

I approached a middle-aged lady. She was favorable, and I offered her the Krishna book, but she didn’t want to accept it. She started to explain why.
“You know, when I was seventeen, I read the Bhagavad Gita, and while reading it, I was constantly crying, because it was what I was always looking for. I directly felt Krishna’s presence.
“When I was a little girl, I always felt that this world is not my home. I told my parents many times: ‘You are not my parents. I want to go home!’
The last fift

On Saturday, November 12, the Chariot Festival Ratha Yatra was held in Chile, with thousands of people pulling Lord Jagannath's car through the main avenue of the capital, followed by a cultural show in front of the Government Palace La Moneda. 

In an unprecedented event, Santiago's main street, Avenida Libertador Bernado O'Higgins, was used exclusively by the majestic chariot that carried the Lord of the Universe and the people who pulled its ropes, filling the streets of Santiago with joy and

Despite the chilling cold and rainy weather of Nairobi, a large group of more than 250 devotees assembled at the Sri Sri Radha Banke Bihari Mandir to commemorate the ISKCON’s golden jubilee. Amongst them were Bhakti Narasimha Swami (South Africa), Akhandadhi Das (UK), ISKCON Nairobi Vice President Rukuma Das, Manasi Ganga Dasi, and 90 jubilant students who celebrated attaining a Certificate of Ethics and Morality after a year-long course on Vaishnava philosophy. The program is run by the Hare K

In this purport, we read about the brahmanas and the kshatriyas, and Srila Prabhupada put the emphasis, especially for the brahminical class of men, on controlling the senses. He said, “For the intelligent men, controlling the senses is the essence,” and then he expands on that, “… sex indulgence even with the legitimate wife must also be controlled and therefore family control will automatically be followed.” So this is intelligence and it is a different definition than the modern definition o

Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 3: Chapter Twenty-nine, Text 34 TRANSLATION: Such a perfect devotee offers respects to every living entity because he is under the firm conviction that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has entered the body of every living entity as the Supersoul, or controller. PURPORT: A perfect devotee, as described above, does not make the mistake of thinking that because the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Paramatma has entered into the body of every living entity, every living e

Institute of International Social Development

2016 Annual Award Ceremony, 20th Anniversary and Book launching of ‘Ocean of Mercy’ by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami

On, 17th of November 2016, Institute of International Social Development – New York, an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations awarded a special award to His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami.

Over the years, Institute of International Social Development, has grown from a small organ

We can study the example of a topmost Vais.n.avi, Queen Kunti-, who prayed for calamity to remember her Lord again and again. Of course, she is the personified zenith of devotional dependence, but we can greatly benefit by trying to at least get a glimpse of her mood.

SB 1.8.25

vipadah. santu ta-h. s’as’vat tatra tatra jagad-guro
bhavato dars’anam. yat sya-d apunar bhava-dars’anam

I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing

MotelGita has distributed ten thousands of Bhagavad Gita’s in hundreds of motels and hotels across the United States of America in the last couple of months.
With the help of a call center, MotelGita is making sure that all the hotel/motel owners get new or replacement books in a timely manner so that Srila Prabhupada’s books are in the rooms.

Several ISKCON temples like Baltimore, Dallas, Austin, Boston etc…helped attend the regional conventions and participated in fulfilling orders.
Special t

Does transcendence mean we ignore current events? Does it mean ‘we are spiritual’ and ‘that is material’ and we don’t get involved? Does being detached mean we don’t care? 
Yes and no.

Yes because we are all caught in karmic cycles of events, and on many levels we cannot do much about it. We should remember we are souls inhabiting our bodies, and that all that is happening does not touch the soul…can not touch the soul. Spiritually we are not defined at all by the externals of the world. By our