Blog

Lecture on Only Real Solution by Urmila Mataji on 15 Jun 2016 at London

(Srimad Bhagavatam Canto - 11, Chapter - 03, Text - 35)

(HG Urmila Mataji has mainly served ISKCON since 1973 till the present time as book distributor, assistant secretary for the BBT, pujari, temple cook, actress, writer, traveling preacher, editor of BTG since 1990, primary and secondary teacher for 27 years, school principle for 18 years, member of Sastric Advisory Council to the GBC. )

To Listen and Download - click here

Vrindavana das’s departure.

In our sadness, we are feeling separation from Vrndavane Das, as Prabhu 67th (AcBsP) who passed away from this mortal world. The transformation took place on Friday (August 19th) on a highly illuminated night, by the light on the waning moon, at 9:45pm…in Tampa, Florida. He was found at just a few foot-steps away from the Temple’s entrance.

He had given up driving in April due to martial differently and was riding his bicycle everywhere! At 9:45pm, I was putting the

Sutapa das: One of my fellow monks is an extremely prayerful person. He has regular stories of the reciprocation and interaction that comes from conversing with God. Though inspired, I personally find it difficult to pray. It usually feels unnatural and artificial; probably a combination of my impersonal character, hard-heartedness, lack of faith, and general life philosophy of “work hard and be practical.” Someone, however, recently offered me an interesting antidote – “pray for other people”

The team of the Temple of Vedic Planetarium is touring Cape Town, South Africa for the purpose of achieving support for the completion of the construction work. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Srila Prabhupada: The Hare Krishna mantra says, “My dear Lord Krishna, my dear Lord Rama, O energy of the Lord, Hare, kindly engage me in your service.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.24.69 Purport)

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31690

The Chief Minister of Maharashtra in a message sent on 16th September, praised ISKCON for its ’50 years of glorious achievements and service to humanity’.

He praised ISKCON for the dissemination of what he called the ‘glorious Vedic wisdom including the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam’. The Chief Minister also praised ISKCON’s philanthropic activities and youth preaching programmes.

He concluded his statement by saying: “It is commendable that ISKCON is working with a view to spreading divi

Niranjana Swami: This morning (Wed, 2016-09-14) I received news that one of my early disciples, formerly from Ukraine, Gopana Daksa devi dasi, left this world in Vrndavana at 15:15, yesterday, September 13, 2016. She was a very serious and sincere disciple, who always displayed great determination in her spiritual life since the day I first met her in the early 1990’s. She relocated to Vrndavana many years ago, and for years, every year she would send me the results of her book distribution eff

During the questions and answers sessions, I read the following quotes from Caitanya Bhagavata. When I was asked for the references, I said I would post them in a blog. For those who are interested, here they are:

Sri Caitanya Bhagavata, Madhya Khanda, Chapter Five

TEXT 140-141

vaisnava-himsara katha se thakuka dure
sahaja jivere ye adhama pida kare

visnu pujiya o ye prajara pida kare
puja o nisphale yaya, ara duhkhe mare

What to speak of being envious of the Vaisnavas, if one causes pain to or

Each single verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam tastes like transcendental condensed milk of a Surabhi cow mixed with kesar, simply delicious and a nectar most satisfying to even conditioned souls (although it is meant to be tasted by paramhansas – liberated souls).  No wonder that, along with Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam is the specific scripture meant for kali-yuga.

I am sharing another transcendental verse and its nectarean purport by Srila Prabhupada, for the pleasure of devotees, describing cau

It is an odd development of the modern world that being excessively anxious about our children is considered a virtue. We consider ourselves good parents if we make life easy for them, reward them for the smallest achievement, and are anxious for their safety and well being at all times.
There is, however, a hidden message in all of this anxious attention and it’s not good. As a teacher and school principal for 20 years, I saw all kinds of kids and all kinds of parents. For those who had confid

Mahavrata Devi Dasi: Maharaja spoke on the need for Nigerians to shun any forms of violence and take to Krishna consciousness. He advised Nigerians to stop the killing of animals so that they can remain peaceful.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31719

This is our new bronze pot :-) It’s weight is 1090 kg and capacity is 1350 liters…price..almost 8 lakhs..

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31719

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151)

Life after life, we are travelling through this material universe. Sometimes we reside in higher planetary systems and sometimes we reside here, in the middle planetary systems. Krsna is said to be neutral. This is very interesting because elsewhere in the Gita it says, mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram hetunanena kaunteya jagad viparivartate (Bhagavad-gita 9.10), that everything in this

Verse 4.20: Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings.

As someone who spent numerous years studying Science, the scientific method is ingrained in my head. You start off with an objective, follow it up with a hypothesis, design the tests and run the experiment, collect and analyze your observations and draw a conclusion. 

You can imagine my surprise when I realized t

Of late, there are some devotees I know, who are having difficulties in life; health issues, impoverishment, depression, etc. Sometimes I am asked for advice or support. I generally don’t like to give advice, as I consider myself fallen by nature. But thinking along these lines of ‘advice and support’ I did a search in Srila Prabhupada’s books to see how a devotee of the Lord deals with suffering. I have posted a couple of nice verses that deal with the Lords Mercy.

The mountains, although bein

Verse 4.21: Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions, and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions.

Although we have so much in terms of technology, facilities and entertainment, dissatisfaction is running rampant in the world today. Conversations seem to be peppered with the phrase "Life is really complicated these days," and are frequently

Srimati Radharani, the eternal divine consort of Sri Krishna, is known as the Queen of Vrindavan. Vrindavan is where Krishna loves to be, because of Her love – and the love of all those who live there.

Vrindavan is at the center of the lotus of the spiritual world – no place is sweeter or more beautiful because it is saturated in the purest, most intimate love for Krishna. It is there that every word is a song, and every step is a dance. And the flute is Krishna’s constant companion.

As we appr

Verse 4.22: He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.

One's desires and ambitions develop according to the company one keeps

For regular readers, you might recognize this phrase. It's one of my favorites and one that I quote often. 

Today though, I viewed this phrase in a whole new light which caught me off guard. Ever feel like you've got

The Sacred Texts tell us that without receiving mercy from the Spiritual Master and from the Supreme God it's impossible to overcome for good the egoistic attachment toward mundane things. In order to succeed, not only we need to have received divine benevolence, we must have kept it too.

In which way we can receive mercy? Firstly by seeking it ardently, and behaving consequently, by dedicating ourselves with diligence and faith to spiritual practices and so awaken Love and Awareness.

And in wh

The following is an excerpt from a lecture given by Srila Prabhupada in London in 1969:

So our today prayer to Rādhārāṇī…We pray to Rādhārāṇī because She is the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa means “all-attractive.” But Rādhārāṇī is so great that She attracts Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is all-attractive, and She is attracts Kṛṣṇa. So what is the position of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī? We should try to understand this today and offer our obeisances to Rādhārāṇī – Rādhe vṛndāvaneśvarī.

tapta-kāñcana-gauraṅgī rādhe vṛ

Verse 4.24: A person who is fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is sure to attain the spiritual kingdom because of his full contribution to spiritual activities, in which the consummation is absolute and that which is offered is of the same spiritual nature.

When reading this verse today, my attention was captured by the word "offer". 

In one sense, the whole world revolves around offerings. Whether working or in school, we are constantly "putting forth something for consideration or accept