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
The correct way to chant a mantra, traditionally, is to receive it from a person who understands it deeply and is willing to guide you through its use and practices, and to then chant the mantra under that guidance. This is called diksha and shiksha. Diksha refers to getting the mantra and shiksha refers to getting the guidance on what it means and how to use it.
Mantras are composed of words, that is why we have to pay attention to the words. That’s what it means to “hear”, “hear the sound”,
By Zayani Bhatt
Devotees from temples across the UK congregated at Bhaktivedanta Manor on Saturday 9th January to celebrate the success of the Srila Prabhupada Book Distribution Marathon, which ran for a month from 21st November to 25th December 2015.
Known as the Sankirtan festival, the event was the culmination of the hard work put in by the UK temples, in sharing Krishna Consciousness in the form of Srila Prabhupada’s books with new audiences.
Led by Visvambhara Prabhu, a long term advo
Deep in the forests of India there once lived a fierce hunter. Tawny skinned, with blood red eyes, he was like death personified to all animals. With his nets, knives and traps, he stalked among the trees carrying out his terrible business. He took pleasure from killing animals, even when he did not want them for food. Seeing him to be cruel and heartless, all his friends and relatives had shunned him, and he lived alone in a small hut. He survived on wild berries, fruits, and the meat of the b
First of all, let me offer my humble, respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master, His Divine Grace Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. Sometime in the year 1935 when His Divine Grace was staying at Rādhā-kuṇḍa, I went to see him from Bombay. At that time, he gave me many important instructions in regard to constructing temples and publishing books. He personally told me that publishing books is more important than constructing temples. Of course, those
Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-07, Chapter-07, Text-21 by HH Gopal Krishna Goswami on 19 Jan 2016 at ISKCON Juhu
(After visiting the ISKCON temple in Montreal, Canada in September of 1967, Gopal Krishna Goswami yearned to meet a Vaishnava guru and got the opportunity to meet Srila Prabhupada there in 1968.)
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“He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavas die,When thou art living still in sound!
The Vaishnavas die to live, and living tryTo spread the holy name around!”
By Sutapa Das,
Communication Incharge
ISKCON Mangalore
Karnataka.
Hare Krishna
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada
Srila Prabhupäda’s vision for spreading the Sankirtana Mission of Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu encompassed four principles, or four waves, which he coined as the four-fold Gandhi movements in his 1949 letter to the Honorable Sardar D
Lecture on Sunday Feast-Spiritual Determination by HG Tamohara Dasa on 03 Jan 2016 at ISKCON Alachua
(His Grace Tamohara Dasa has been involved in ISKCON leadership for many years. In addition to services of temple president, BBT manager and director of two gurukulas, he served as the director of the ISKCON Child Protection Office,He has been a GBC member since 2006 and currently serves on the executive committee of the international GBC.)
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Lecture on Pastimes of Lord Jagannath by HH Bhakti Charu Swami on 03 Jan 2016
(Bhakti Charu Swami is from a Bengali family and spent most of his early childhood in urban Kolkata. He met with Srila Prabhupada at the end of 1976 after a long and intense search for a spiritual teacher. This initial meeting resulted in Bhakti Charu Swami being assigned to translate the books of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust into the Bengali language.)
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Lecture on Secrets of Success and Failure in Krishna Consciousness by HH Giriraj Swami on 02 Jan 2016 at Dallas
(Giriraj Swami was born Glenn Phillip Teton in the home of a respected Chicago lawyer. He met His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.)
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Gunagrahi Das Goswami
Gunagrahi Das Gowsami has made the following announcement:
Dear fellow Vaishnavas,
Throughout the years we have all sought natural cures for many of the illnesses we have had. In doing so, at times we have met with great difficulty trying to decipher which of the cures would actually be effective, often spending an undue amount of time in research or experimentation, even failing in the end. With the blessings of HH Prahla
Diary of a Traveling Preacher
Volume 8, Chapter 4
March 16 – April 16, 2007
By Indradyumna Swami
As a devotee grows older, he becomes more and more aware, by the grace of the Lord, that his life is coming to a close and his time to achieve perfection in Krsna consciousness is running out.
Sometimes the signs come in disconcerting ways. A few months ago several of my disciples approached me and asked if I would tell the history of each of the salagram silas on my altar.
“Perhaps another day,” I
Becoming One!
“Friday, 7 April 1972 - Melbourne Temple, 14 Burnett Street, St. Kilda
Although Prabhupada took it as his primary business to work solidly on his writing, he was generally always available to talk to guests. But whenever someone would come to see him, he wouldn’t waste time - he talked philosophy and logic. He constantly argued against atheism and impersonalism and, to prove the existence of God and the universality of Krsna consciousness, he often spoke strongly.
Later in the m
New Raman Reti: Vegetable Gardens in the Winter.
Dvarkadisa das: For those of us from up north growing vegetables in the winter takes some mental adjustment. For Janamejaya das and Sanka das it’s part of the program. The produce they produce on the farm throughout the year is all for the Deities’ pleasure. It is used for Deity offerings, the devotee lunch at the temple, Sunday Feasts, and occasionally for the Santa Fe College Krishna Lunch program. It is never for sale.
Of course, the winter r
Preparing Ourselves Spiritually.
Question: How can an aspiring spiritual practitioner prepare for something disastrous that can happen at any moment, and how can he or she tackle the situation of uncertainty?
Radhanath Swami: Our whole life should be prepared for each moment. If we have a strong foundation, when a storm comes you will have strength. If we have the wisdom and intelligence that is coming from hearing the great scriptures like Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Chaitanya Char
Happiness that is unending, increasing, interesting, and pure: Is it possible?
By HG Urmila Devi Dasi
Can one find happiness in this world? For most of us what we call “happiness” is the temporary mitigation of distress, or sadness. Without sadness, there is practically no meaning to happiness in a material conception of life.
First, all that we term “happiness” depends on some sort of prior suffering. We enjoy eating because we feel the pain of hunger; without any hunger or appetite, eating w
Today is Makara-sankranti, the date of the opening of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari’s temple and cultural complex at Hare Krishna Land, Juhu, Mumbai. The following is adapted from a talk by Radhanath
Swami.
I am grateful and honored and happy to be with all of you this evening. This event is traditionally held on Republic Day, and one of the reasons Republic Day is remembered and celebrated is the challenges, the sacrifices, even the sufferings that people had to endure for India’s independence.
As
Bhismadeva, lying on the bed of arrows after being shot by Arjuna, was very peaceful and was saying that one can conquer anger by learning to forgive. So this the problem – that one cannot forgive! But why is it that we cannot forgive!? It is very hard to forgive others but it is very easy to forgive ourselves! When we do something wrong, we can give a hundred reasons to justify it – we say that we were forced to do it, that it was not actually wrong… but when someone else does a little thing,
Dear Prabhu, Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to your devotional services.
This year 2016 is a very special year for all of us, Srila Prabhupada’s followers. We are celebrating the 50th anniversary , the silver jubilee of ISKCON this year.
Iskcon took birth in 1966 and has just reached the 50th year of its manifestation on the earthly planet. Devotees all over the world are preparing to hold many celebrations for this 50th anniversary of ISKCON. I
Bhakti Vikas Swami
(The Board of ISKCON News does not necessarily agrees with the views presented in the "Opinion" section.)
Undoubtedly, several senior women devotees in our movement are as learned, dedicated, and in other ways spiritually qualified as many of their godbrothers. Why then should there be any hesitation to induct them as diksa-gurus?
An important consideration is that the role of a guru, although wholly spiritual by nature, also has an inescapable social dimension. No one can liv
