The Gita is a book about change. It’s protagonist, Arjuna, is changing his mind about leading the fight. He is having a ‘reality’ check as he faces his opponents, many of whom he knows. He is also facing the consequences of this war – no matter how important or needed, there will be much loss and disruption.
As Arjuna moves through his crisis, asking questions and seeking guidance, we learn so many things about change – both change that happens to us and change we can make happen. It’s a book
Back when I was a new aspiring devotee, and was hearing and learning the stories from the Srimad-Bhagavatam for the very first time, the story of King Indra cursed to take birth as a hog, was without a doubt one of my favorites. I first read it in the Raja-Vidya, then heard it repeated so many times in Srimad-Bhagavatam class’s, and it became more relishable with each hearing.
…At one time, Indra, the king of heaven, committed an offense at the feet of his spiritual master, and his spiritual
Photo Credits: farectification.wordpress.com
"Back in the third century A.D., King Ts’ao sent his son, Prince T’ai, to learn leadership lessons under the great master Pan Ku. Upon arrival, the master sent him alone to the Ming-Li Forest, instructing him to return and describe the sounds of the tropics."
Looks can be deceiving, and often far from the full story. It is said that one who laughs too much, even at small and insignificant things, may well be harboring dissatisfaction and sorrow
Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto - 11, Chapter - 03, Text - 04 by HG Akuti Mataji on 21 Sep 2016 at ISKCON Alachua
(HG Akuti Mataji is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and the spearhead behind the new Krishna Lunch program at Santa Fe Community College. )
To Listen and Download - click here
Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir Kartika Parikrama Schedule
Kartika is glorified in the Puranas as very special for making spiritual
advancement and the best place to be in Kartika is Sri Braja Dham. In fact this
month is known as Damodar, since in the middle of this month, the Lord
performed His very enchanting Damodar Lila. Kartika month also represents
Radharani, and devotees perform special austerities to gain Her favor.
With great happiness in our hearts, we invite everyone to join in the
I would like to share an interesting thing that happened with Brahmankar
Prabhu and me. A few years back, an employee of Refinery named Laxman, who
was also a pujari in a Shani/Ayyappa temple in one of the interior slum
areas of Vashinaka, invited us to do book distribution during one of the
biggest festivals in December organized by his temple.
Many people were expected, so we were very hopeful. We took books in all
languages and with great difficulty reached the temple area, located on a
hi
27th Sep is the World Tourism Day. On this occasion, Association of Tourism Service Providers of Bengal in association with India Tourism ( Govt. of India), Kolkata & Consumer Affairs, Ministry of West Bengal, Rotary Club of Kolkata, East zone, organized a tour for 50 Senior citizens to ISKCON Mayapur and Tarapith. After an inauguration festival in Kolkata, trip started at 11 am and arrived at Mayapur at 3 pm. They were greeted with warm Vaisnava welcome by Mayapur Tourism. Mayapur Tourism or
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the incorporation of the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON) in New York by our dear Srila Prabhupada. As a special offering to His
Divine Grace, the ISKCON Perth Temple with the help of the congregational devotees had planned
to hold one program every day on the Holy Name during the 18 day span of the celebration.
1. Opening Special Kirtana
Thursday 28th July represents the actual day of ISKCON’s 50 years - the astrological day whe
Krishna-kripa Prabhu wrote that at the Baltic Summer Festival in August,
in Lithuania, Bhakti Caitanya Swami shared this memory:
In the 1970s I was distributing books in Birmingham, and by 4 p.m. I had
not distributed one book.
I decided to pray to Srila Prabhupada, “I am trying to distribute your books
for your pleasure without concern for myself. Please help me.”
Then using the same lines I had used all day, I sold one book and then
another. I decided that Krishna must be pleased with
Dear Devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila
Prabhupada.
Attached is the Samadhi Newsletter. I hope someone can print it out
to post it on your temple noticeboard. Srila Prabhupada is sitting in
Samadhi in Vrndavan in the most beautiful Mandir --out of this world. Most
of us think, "Oh, it's finally built, and that's the end of it". But, as
everything else in this world, it still has to be maintained, and it costs
money. Sometimes I'm able to do so
1,152 square foot home on 1.182 acres, very private, 15 minutes from the temple.
Wide open space with cathedral ceiling and ceiling fans.
Many large windows allowing lots of daylight.
1 bedroom with ceiling fan.
1 bathroom.
Large deck in the back, with French doors leading into the house.
Many fruit and nut trees, berry bushes and perennial flowers on the land.
Needs a stairway in the front and a sceptic.
$55, 000.00
By Daamodara Dhananjaya Das
Today, one of the best avenues to reach out, not just to the masses, but also to the upper most class of people, is through the Press or the Print Media (Newspapers) and the Electronic Media (TV News & Entertainment Channels and Radio Channels). Reading newspapers and watching TV News Channels, is now one of the preeminent necessities of life. These days apparently oxygen seems to be of the secondary importance, as compared to the need of the Media. So much so that t
Bhutatma das: I had made friends with a noted religious scholar, Mark Juergensmeyer, one of the professors in the Religious Studies Department at Berkeley University.
I asked him, “What do you think about having a program with Srila Prabhupada and some of the faculty?”
Juergensmeyer was enthusiastic and one of the people he invited was Dr. Staal, who had already had scholarly exchanges with Prabhupada about chanting the mahamantra. That exchange was printed as a brochure that we distributed t
Hundreds are expected to attend the upcoming Hare Krishna festival next Friday.
Next week the Hare Krishna festival will be held at the Fairway Hall, in Brook Close, Borehamwood at 7pm with live music, dance and vegetarian food and is open to the public.
ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) and local members of the Hare Krishna movement have teamed up to invite the public to the festivities.
Giridhari Das, a Hare Krishna monk who heads the UK festival team, said: “Probably b
It can sometimes be tough being an intellectual in Iskcon. The tendency to keep one foot in the empirical camp and the other in the devotional arena can cause incompatibilities of faith, especially when continuing to grapple with “oddities” like elephant sized mangoes, airborne mountains, talking hyenas and bodily exuded cosmic bubbles.
Almost everything is interesting for an intellectual. How things work, or don’t. Statistics and comparisons, complex and more complicated, beyond comprehension
As part of the ISKCON50 program series, Vaishnavas in Hungary organized a two-day national book distribution event, taking place at different locations of the country. The book distribution was coordinated by the two main centers -- the by the ISKCON temple in the capital city Budapest, and the internationally well-known farm community, Nava Vraja-Dhama.
During the two days, 36 participants from the farm sold 619 books, while the 195 devotees on the streets of Budapest distributed 2,650 books.
A new Yoga Pavilion currently being built by ISKCON New Vrindaban’s own devotee construction crew, and aiming to be open next year, is expected to draw a large Western audience.
“We have been highly focused on reaching out to Indians living in the USA,” says temple president Jaya Krsna Das. “But Srila Prabhupada came to preach to Westerners, so we want to now make a major concerted effort to reach them too.”
Yoga, of course, is an interest that both Indian and Western people share. According to
Our Yogendra Maharaj is a very powerful preacher and he was giving a lecture in India. At one point, he asked the crowd, “Who is ready to give his life to Krsna.” There was no response. Are YOU ready to give your life to Krsna? (Audience: yes) Some are hesitating. Some are smelling a rat. Are you ready? (Audience: yes) ARE YOU READY? (Audience: loud yes) This Christian thing (laughter), I knew it would get much result, it is amazing.
Anyway, Yogendra Maharaj did something like that and he carri
“Although superficially Vrindavan is just a cowherd village, the opulence of Vrindavan far exceeds the opulence of Vaikuntha. But, because the mood of sweeteness (madhurya) prevails, it covers the mood of opulence (aisvarya) even though the opulence of Vrindavan is greater than that of Dwaraka or Vaikuntha. For example, say there is a mixture of 100 gallons of lime juice and 100 pounds of sugar. Then there is another container with 10 gallons of lime juice and 1 pound of sugar. The lime is like
