My friend Padmapani Prabhu has been coming out with so many beautiful posts of late on his page The Prabhupada Connection, the following is one example.
Simple Living and High Thinking
by Padmapani Dasa
Srila Prabhupada stayed in these rooms for six years (1959-1965) while he was preparing for his trip to America. The rooms were simple and austere.
“Yes, we are trying to set a perfect example according to the Bhagavad-gita as it is, how to execute simple living and high thinking. We are not i
Burning material desires may manifest in various ways. One way is that we think of sense objects. Another way may be that we do not think of sense objects – as devotees, we can come to a stage where we do not allow our mind to think of sense objects, so we do not think of sense objects – but then, the blazing fire of material desire manifests in dissatisfaction. And for a long time, we are dissatisfied. When a devotee is not happy it is dangerous because we need happiness. A devotee MUST be hap
Radha Damodar Das has been following in Srila Prabhupada's footsteps since almost 40 years, and his path has not been an easy one. He first heard the Maha-mantra in 1979 and began chanting right away. He soon became one of the leaders of the ISKCON movement, which was then illegal in the Soviet Union. In May 1983, he was arrested and imprisoned for his faith. While in prison, he had to work in dangerous conditions, which included using a poisonous glue. He also suffered from malnutrition. Never
Central to the concept of avatar is the idea of crossing over from one realm to another. In its original Sanskrit philosophical context, avatar refers to the Absolute Truth descending from the spiritual world to the material world. The divine’s existence beyond this world is called transcendence, whereas his existence in this world is called immanence. The question of how the transcendent can become immanent has intrigued many thinkers throughout history. To get a sense of the question’s profun
Hunger in our mouths
Comes from emptiness in our stomachs.
Hunger in our senses
Comes from emptiness in our hearts.
The mouth can fill a stomach’s emptiness
But can the heart’s emptiness be filled through the senses?
The heart’s emptiness
Is best filled by her close friends: the mind and words.
If you hear the right words
And think about them deeply, feelingly.
You will never again go hungry.
Hear about All-Attractive, All-Delighting Krishna-Rāma.
And contemplate what you hear, deeply… feelingl
Einstein, Emerson, Thoreau, Huxley, Hesse… I was amazed that this list an intellectual who’s who from recent world history was actually a list of thinkers who had appreciated the Gita.
As I had been born and brought up in India, the place where the Gita was spoken millennia ago, I was familiar with it as an ancient Hindu text. I had even memorized some of it for verse recitation contests. But I had no idea that its contents were of interest to the modern mind, much less praised by some of the g
One time a saint observed a candala walking along the road was sprinkling water on the path to purify before his every step. This was kinda strange and so the saint approached him and asked the reason. The Candala told its sinful to walk along the path where an ungrateful person has walked over. Even a candala feels he gets sin to touch the earth that was walked over by an ungrateful person.
The following is quite impersonal but is ultimately about connecting to the nature and the creator ind
Extracted from an article "With Krsna in the Peaceable Kıngdom"
By Ravindra Svarupa Das
The material body of every living being is animated by a spiritual soul, who is the eternal offspring of Krsna. Each souls individual history of good or bad deeds causes him to become fastened into a higher or lower body, yet all souls remain in essence equal as children of God. God never forgets them, and a godly person, Krsna tells us, sees all animate beings as spritually equal sparks of the divine (Bg.5.
Reversals teach you lessons!
Nourishment is what the soul seeks
A moment of attention to grasp the music
A moment of concentration to sink into the holy name
A moment that unknowingly becomes minutes
Minutes if not hours of being engulfed
Love? Peace? Contentment?
Pale in comparison to - bliss
Bliss of Hari-nama
So dear mind! Why?
Why the mindless clapping with a vacant expression?
Why the trek through mountains of thought?
Allow that music to float across your ears
Once the boat of music enters the shores of your ears
The process of Krishna consciousness brings about a very dynamic and ongoing transformation – a transformation of our life and ourselves. Spiritual life is ever increasing – there are always new insights to gain and new discoveries to make.
Lord Chaitanya compares a devotee to an expert gardener, who cultivates the Bhakti Lata with care and attention throughout his entire life to one day harvest the fruit of pure love to Krishna. For our Bhakti Lata to grow healthy and strong it is of the great
Extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence
‘World Holy Name Week’ is a festival held by devotees worldwide to commemorate Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the West. Devotees celebrate it by chanting and distributing the holy names to everyone. It helps us remember that it is by the causeless mercy of Srila Prabhupada that we have received the holy names and what was once a one day celebration, became a weeklong celebration, then a 10 day celebration and this year a two week celebration
The three biggest fears in life: exams, public speaking and death. Of them, the final is probably the most acute. As that fateful hour approaches, everything we worked so hard for is snatched away, throwing our entire sense of identity and purpose into question. On a subtle level, however, we are regularly subjecting ourselves to this disturbing experience. How so? The world teaches us to base our sense of identity and self-worth on transitory, external and artificial considerations. When we id
"To get vaccination from the sense gratification is to absorb in transcendental ecstasy. To do that we need to have a strong desire. In a few days, months, years, if you are determined and if somehow you could convince Lord Nithyananda, "I don't have any other desire but to get back to You. You should please give me that little drop of mercy."
For Lord Nithyananda prabhu is very merciful. He doesn't see whether a person is qualified or not qualified. He is very liberal in giving that mercy. I
ISKCON Govardhan Eco Village (GEV, www.ecovillage.org.in) a 100 acre sustainable farming community and retreat center, based near Mumbai, India received the 2016 Green Apple Awards for Built Environment & Architectural Heritage Award for it’s Green Building initiatives from the Green Organization, UK, at a special ceremony on Monday August 8, 2016 at The Crystal, London Docklands – regarded as the most sustainable events venue in the UK. Radha Mohan Prabhu from the Bhaktivedanta Manor, on behal
Temple life is a little bit like a pressure cooker! Out in the world, there are some outlets – when there is lots of frustration, you can just get drunk one night and get rid of that frustration!.
But as a devotee, all that you can do is eat lots ofprasadam; take shelter in that since you cannot drink, smoke or do anything like that. For sex, you have to be married! There is no sexual recreation, it is just for the sport!
In this way, sometimes we may get into a pressure situation in the temple
Tips for Steady Chanting.
Ananda: How can I find the strength to be steady in my spiritual practice of chanting the holy names of even when uncertainties in life come my way?
I believe this is a gradual process. In the beginning, we will come back to that relationship with the holy name after a prolonged time. Then, gradually, we will notice that we are always a little absent in our relationship when life gets tough. And we will grieve about it. We will ask ourselves: “Why am I always turning t
Last week, a large number of devotees celebrated Krishna Janmashtami, the day that marks his birth, across China. (HT/Sutirtho Patranobis)
The cult of Krishna is growing in officially atheist China.
Numbers are difficult to compile and often anecdotal in nature, but the philosophy of love and devotion as symbolised by Krishna, one of Hinduism’s popular deities, is evidently attracting many Chinese in urban areas.
Last week, a large number of devotees celebrated Krishna Janmashtami, the day tha
There's a number of quotes from acharyas, you can find which is supporting your own view. If you are feminist, you can see quotes that are supportive to your views and if you are anti-feminist you can see the quotes that fits your perspective. If you put a red glass everything you see appears red. It's easy to manipulate the quotes of Acharyas in one angle and conclude biased opinions.
Woman reporter: What about women who do not have children?
Prabhupada: Well, that is also another unnatural
