From Back to Godhead
By Vilasini Devi Dasi
AS I WAS RETURNING home from the temple on my usual 38 bus, I stared forlornly through the grimy window at the gray sky. I hadn’t seen the sun for days, and then only briefly, through breaks in the clouds.
“How is it possible to be healthy and happy in a place where the weather is constantly dreary and cold?” I thought.
I remembered Srila Prabhupada’s statement in a purport to the Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.24.36): “When there is sufficient sunshine, the min
From Back to Godhead
By Visakha Devi Dasi
In the face of extreme hardship, Lord Ramachandra’s queen reveals her extraordinary character, founded on her pure devotion to the Lord.
The epic Ramayana, written by the sage Valmiki, tells the story of Lord Ramachandra, Krishna’s incarnation as the perfect king. Lord Rama’s wife, queen, and eternal consort is Sita Devi. She is also the ideal devotee.
Sita Devi’s example shows that one who acts according to God’s desire is peaceful and has harmonious r
The Museum for Sacred Art is a feature of the Radhadesh Iskcon community (Chateau de Petite Somme – Durbuy Belgium). In the Museum there are many beautiful works of art depicting sacred themes from ancient India.
These works of art are mainly in traditional Indian styles, including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthani, Orissan, Keralan, and Tanjore.
Visitors can relax, stroll through the gallery, and enjoy these inspirational art treasures, soaking up the deep devotional sentiments expressed by th
How would you like to pursue spiritual life, even while earning your college degree? If you’re between the ages of 18 and 29, consider enrolling in the Bhakti Academy at Krishna House (214 NW 14th Street, Gainesville, FL 32603). Students live in private or semi-private rooms just three blocks from the UF library. While at Krishna House, students take part in traditional bhakti yoga and meditation practices (kirtan, japa, and Bhagavad-gita study), enjoy fresh daily vegan/vegetarian meals and can
I was looking through a new cookbook on making meals in twenty minutes, and I read, "Never before have so many people wanted so much out of life and had so little time to enjoy it. Between inflation, two-job marriages, and the quest for self-improvement, the momentum of our life style has us all dancing at a furious reel of achieving and coping. Something has to give. And usually the first thing to go is the time spent preparing our daily meals…."
When it comes to food, we want it effortlessly
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 9.14 in the Darshan Room of Sri Sri Radha-Kalachandji Temple.
” ‘Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.’ (Bg 9.14)
“From a certain point of view it may seem impossible to always engage inkirtana. Of course, there are liberated souls in Vrindavan who literally chant almost all the time—that is a very advanced stage. But for most of us, to chant
Pandava Sena retreat 2016 in Germany.
ISKCON Pandava Sena, the dynamic youth organisation of the UK, will be visiting Goloka Dhama Temple in Germany this July, as part of its annual “Senagetaway” trip. The trip not only provides a spiritual break for many young members of ISKCON in the UK and abroad, but also allows us to expand our horizons and take the sentiment of service into the real world and apply it in our lives.
This is our request to any ISKCON youth that want to join us, whether in
“Although the Bhakti movement has spread far and wide, not many people know its founder Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu – even in India,” says ISKCON’s communications deputy director in India, Yudhistir Govinda Das.
With the Festival of Inspiration in New Delhi this May 28th, he hopes to begin changing that. Supported by the Government of India’s Ministry of Culture, the event will take place at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium near Parliament. It’s expected to draw a full house.
The festival will commemo
From Back to Godhead
By Yamuna Devi Dasi
With spiritual fasting, you may not make headlines,
but you’ll make headway on the path back to Godhead.
What do Mahatma Gandhi, Dick Gregory, Jane Fonda, Norman Mailer, Bolivian dissidents, British suffragettes, and Irish revolutionaries have in common? Well, for one thing, at one time or another and for one reason or another, they’ve all fasted. Materially their fasting was somewhat successful, whether it was undertaken to free India from British domin
From Back to Godhead
By Saksi Gopala Dasa
It was the Thursday before Christmas, and London’s Oxford Street (the longest shopping street in the world) was brimming over with Christmas shoppers. Twice already that week plainclothes police had arrested devotees chanting Hare Krsna there, but today we were intending to avoid any trouble. The five of us took a new route, profusely distributing the holy name to everyone within earshot. As we made our way through Piccadilly Circus (London’s “Times Squ
The Divine Appearance of Srimati Radharani.
The Puranas relate a story concerning the divine appearance of Shrimati Radharani as follows. One day, Vrishabhanu Maharaja, who was living at Ravel at that time, went to the bank of Yamuna at around noon to take a midday bath.
As he approached the bank of the Yamuna, he saw a golden lotus flower floating on the water and shining brightly like a thousand suns. Vrishabhanu immediately waded into the river and when he came near to the golden lotus flo
Grand Opening of the new Krishna Cultural Center – An ISKCON 50 Event.
Saturday, May 14th 2016, 5:00PM
Krishna Cultural Center – 2407 W Boise Ave, Boise, ID.
A grand opening ceremony of the new new Krishna Cultural Center, an extension to the existing temple, commemorating 50 years of ISKCON will be held on May 14, 2016 starting 5PM. We have Tulasi Mandir, Library, Kitchen, hall, Guest House and Harinam Park in this new facility.
There will be ribbon cutting ceremony by Lt.Governor Brad Little
(Horoscope of Donald Trump)
A lecture delivered by HH Gour Govinda Swami in Bhubaneswar 14 May, 1995 on Lord Nrsimhadeva’s appearance day.
It was appearing like a flower garland on the chest of Nrsimhadeva. It seems as if a lion had killed an elephant. So many of Hiranyakasipu’s soldiers came out to fight against the Lord, but the Lord, with His sharp nails, tore them apart and all were killed. There are many descriptions.
“Lord Nrsimhadeva’s mouth and mane were sprinkled with drops of blood, and His fierce eyes, full of
Pictures of the festival can be seen by anyone (even if you do NOT use Facebook), here (cut and paste the link into your web browser):
Over this past weekend, from Friday May 6 through Sunday May 8, the South Vrindavan temple, at Puthur village, Thrissur District, Kerala, was inaugurated.
Deities of Sri Sri Radha Vrindavan Krishna, Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadradevi, and Sri Sri Gaur Nitai were installed in the templ
Srila Prabhupada: “Your love for me will be shown by how much you cooperate with each other after I am gone.”
“Our movement is based on love and trust, so if we do not co-operate, then how is that love and trust? 750116 - Letter to Krsnavesa
For thirty years, a very special Lord Nrsimhadeva Deity has protected the devotees of New Vrindaban and all of North America, and received their love and service.
Now, residents of the West Virginia village want to invite people from all over North America to come celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of His installation, and to behold the only full-size Nrsimha Deity on the continent, on His sacred appearance day.
Sculpted by artist Soma Das in New Vrindaban and installed in 1986, the ferocious
Devotees are set to open their first ever temple in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, this July as an offering to Srila Prabhupada for the 50th anniversary of his ISKCON.
The temple, located in an extremely sought-after area, will receive its grand opening during a five-day festival beginning on July 13th, the day Prabhupada incorporated his society.
It’s set to be a pinnacle for ISKCON Guyana, which is already one of the most active ISKCON congregations in the world per capita.
“The country h
It seems a natural instinct to measure success by comparing and competing with others. When Swami Prabhupada met a top Japanese manager at the Dai Nippon Press, he asked him what his goal in life was. Without saying a word, the corporate cat looked at a stack of business cards of all his acquaintances, carefully removed his own card from the bottom of the pile, and triumphantly slammed it on the top! He smiled at the Swami. The message was loud and clear.
Often, this competitive desire to “be t
Prabhupada used the traffic metaphor for spiritual life and I like this metaphor. It is like this, you start driving in the night – no light and it is pitch dark. You cannot see anything of the road. All that you see are the white lines. There are white lines and you drive within the white lines. These are the white lines of the regulative principles, of the rules and the regulations and it is all about rules and regulations. There are traffic rules too. You stick to a certain side of the road,
