I have a cartoon. The first picture shows a child, you know, baby just born and the caption says, “Too young.” Next picture shows a couple in love, hand-in-hand, full moon behind them, “Too much in love.”Next picture shows a family, a few kids, you know, bags with groceries. He has got a phone, a computer, a drill and a screwdriver. I mean, they have six arms; they are, “Too busy.” Next picture, an old man; death, “Too old.” Last picture has cross on the grave, “Too late.”
So at every stage of
Jayapataka Swami remembers precious times with Srila Prabhupad.!
Srila Prabhupada spoke to me for the first time- then he asked, “What is your plan?” “Well I thought that I would go to India to find a master but I already found you here.” I said.
People are unhappy. Someone has lost their dear one, someone has not yet settled down in life. Someone still yearns for affection and appreciation, or that elusive recognition. Someone still looks back at what could have been and some heart burns at a lifetime of limited success. Someone has classmates more accomplished than them, someone has friends who pity them. Someone struggles for daily bread and someone dreams for a stable job. The list is unending. Eyes moisten if you care to look.
The Ratha Yatra festival has become a common sight in most major cities of the world since 1968 through the ISKCON Hare Krishna movement. By the mercy of Lord Jagannath and Caitanya Mahāprabhu, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada successfully transplanted the festival which now happens on an annual basis in places all over the world in over 108 cities
Yes, PULL!
That is the feeling I got after I woke up from this evening's nap. I am about to drive a few ungodly hours to the divine ISV (Iskcon Silicon Valley, or Iskcon Sankirtan Village, as I prefer to call it) and get the association of the great souls who live there. Krsna reminds me through that "pull" from within, that the reason for visiting holy places is not to just see the place, but to hear from the sadhus who live there, associate with them, aspire to BE like them; less one still
Every year on January 14th comes the Spring Equinox. Known in India as Makara Sankranti, it is a holiday that is often accompanied by gusts of wind. One on occasion, a young prince was on the flat roof of his palace, hoping to take advantage of the strong breeze. In his hands was a brightly-coloured kite made of bamboo and paper. After a few attempts to launch it, the kite lifted into the sky, dipped a few times, then soared and twisted, edging slowly upwards. The young prince smiled with joy,
Hare Krishna monks have finally moved into their new home after an explosion that destroyed their former temple six years ago.
Thirty people escaped just before the Iskcon Temple in Leicester exploded on 3 September 2010.
A Leicester family donated a former bank in Granby Street to Iskcon, and renovation work to the Grade II building has now been completed.
The monks are taking residency on the upper floors.
The space also includes a meditation area, kitchen, classrooms and offices.
Temple pres
Lord Nrisimhadeva’s mercy even on non-devotees
The mercy of Lord Nrisimhadeva at Mayapur is famous and I have an interesting story in brief.
I know a couple Ashok Ghosh and his wife Shila Ghosh from Kolkata, who married twelve years ago. Four years before when I met them, they shared their worries with me. Like other childless couples, who undertake treatments or throw faith in magical amulets, this young couple too were attracted to artificial means to have a baby. Incidentally, I suggested th
Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu is always free from politics and institutional bashing or promotion. Just simply nectarean Krishna Katha!
From Back to Godhead
Dear Swami Bhaktivedanta,
I’ve read that your Krishna Consciousness is a non-sectarian science of the soul. How is it, then, that you follow some particular concept of God Krishna rather than a more universal concept, such as the One, or the All-Pervading Light? I like your movement very much, but I do feel this to be a clear contradiction in your philosophy. Yours truly,
Owen Darcy
My dear Mr. Darcy,
Thank you for your interest, and for your question also. I assure you tha
lei·sure: : freedom provided by the cessation of activities; especially: time free from work or duties
I have been missing this little noun for eons now. Finally I've caught a hold of this elusive little thing today - today being a holiday for Eid. This is such an interesting definition of leisure. Are we ever free from activity? The very nature of the soul is to be active so where do you draw the line between activities that count as work and activities that count as pleasure? When we engage i
A devotee once told me,
" We offer so many services to Krishna......we offer him garlands, we make prasad and offer it, we offer our kirtans, our bhajans yet in the process of offering him all these services, we forget to offer him ourselves! "
Krishna accepts anything offered with love but all he is really looking for is YOU. And that is the hardest thing to offer. The false ego of me, mine never lets us actually do this. Every activity we do, each and every step and action we take in our lives
We took a morning walk along Lake Ontario and these were some thoughts running through my head...
I like beaches, fresh ocean, well, lake air, Wine Bottle from a dark nights rendezvous, McDonald's bags, 1, 2 few, many- all over. Cigarette butts, tissues, newspapers, coffee cups, other things monks shouldn't mention by name, etc.
"This is a place of Pilgrimage you know, Srila Prabhupada walked here in the Summer of 75 when he visited Toronto."
How advanced we've become, few years later. If t
Many people I meet express their most difficult problem- too little time to actually relish, or absorb themselves in life. When you wake up the rush starts- class, work, cram!
Here's a small experience that I relish here in India and hope to really inspire people with in the near future. Do few things diligently, consciously and properly.
An example of my schedule in the last few months:
3:00 am wake up (shower, dress, chant japa, mangala arati, class.)
9:00 am wash laundry, eat.
10:30 bhakti
A City Bigger than Athens? Sandeep Mishra, Aug 7, 2010,
Just outside Bhubaneswar, around 2,000 years ago, stood one of old India’s biggest cities. When they chanced upon Sisupalgarh, excavators could only gape in astonishment at its modern ways Sisupalgarh sounds like a happening settlement by historic standards: a sprawling urban settlement that housed 20,000-25,000 people, street-linking gateways, pillared meeting halls, water storage systems and disposable vessels for daily use.
In one of th
By Ananda Vidya das
Hare Krsna Prabhus. I distribute books in the United States, mainly traveling in a van. I am from New Vrindavan. There is not so much in that direct area, and so we travel a lot. During the school year, we go to college campuses. During the summer we follow the rock concert tours. That is a very ecstatic experience. Vijay Prabhu is one of my inspirations for doing these concert tours. I think he might have been the one who gave me my first book at one of those concerts in th
It was Tuesday October 30th 1973 when the Washington Post ran this headline, “Lord Krishna Lives on Q Street”. The article went on to describe the installation ceremony of the Deities of Radha Madan Mohan in small rented house on Q street.
How many people have loved and served these divine forms over the last 40 years? How many have risen early to open the temple, how many have chanted Krishna’s name, how many have made garlands and offered incense. How many have cooked sweets, cleaned pots, mo
When I arrived at the Temple at 4am, I found a single almond placed before each altar. I wondered at the context of the offering, the thoughts of who offered it and how they came to place a single almond there. Everything has a story.
It also reminded me of how my mother would have me peel the almonds that she had soaking all night. I loved that job of removing the skin to reveal the white beauty beneath. The practice of bhakti is a similar thing – it’s to reveal the nature and beauty of the s
I was so grateful this week to receive my first delivery of ahimsa milk. As I watched the pure white liquid beauty come to a boil I reflected how we in the line of Bhakti are so pained by the wholesale slaughter of cows and other animals for food. That so much violence is inflicted on innocent creatures is an indication of the low level of consciousness in society at large. Ahimsa means “non-violence”; the cows are not sent to slaughter after they stop giving milk. They are loved, cared for and
Incorporation of ISKCON
Today marks the auspicious 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s incorporation of ISKCON New York, in 1966. To honor this special day we have re-posted a very nice article which appeared yesterday on the Sampradaya Sun entitled “Incorporation of ISKCON”, we have posted the “Certificate on Incorporation”, as well as a very timely verse and purport from the Srimad Bhagavatam. Some of the purport follows…
…A devotee is equipoised. He sees everyone on the same transcendenta
