Question: From my understanding of your class on the nine stages of BHAKTI, it could take a number of years before one got any experiential taste of the practice.
Answer: No.
It’s true that it usually takes years (or lifetimes) to come to the stage ofruci (characterized by a taste for the beauty and joy of sādhana-bhakti), but nonetheless one gets small fragments and crumbs of ruci even from the very outset, the very beginning of being involved with Krishna-bhakti.
In fact, śraddhā itself (the
By HH Kavicandra Swami
There seems to be a lot of confusion about what it means to give fifty percent. For most householders their income does not allow them to live and to give 50% to the temple.
The following from a purport by Srila Prabhupada might help to clear the air. I have inserted a few comments using [ ] to indentify them. The stress is on preaching, not what our our financial condition is. By finding some way to preach bhakti will be the most pleasing to guru and KRSNA. One need not
By Hari Narayana Das
Batam is the largest city in the Riau Islands Province of Indonesia, across the Strait of Singapore, the third-largest city in Sumatra region and the eighth largest city in Indonesia. Located 20 km off Singapore‘s south coast, it is an industrial boomtown, an emerging transport hub and part of a free trade zone the Indonesia–Malaysia–Singapore Growth Triangle.
His Grace Samudrasena das (leader of ISKCON Batam) under the guidance of His Holiness Subhag Swami Maharaj organ
Lecture on Rising Above Goodness by Charu Prabhu in 2016
(Charu Das was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1970. He has been President, variously, of the Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Berkeley (USA) temples.)
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Lecture on Pastimes of Lord Jagannath by Bhakti Vinoda Swami on 03 Jan 2016
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Lecture on Spiritual Determination by HG Tamohara Dasa on 03 Jan 2016 at ISKCON Alachua
(Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02, Text 41)
(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 Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 03, Chapter 16, Text 21 by HG Narayani Mataji at ISKCON Melbourne
(Her Grace Narayani Devi Dasi joined ISKCON in Boston in 1970. She has done many services for Srila Prabhupada including Deity worship in Calcutta temple, traveling book distribution in Western India for the Bombay temple, and teaching Bhakti Sastri, Bhakti Vaibhava and Bhaktivedanta courses in the VIHE in Vrndavana. )
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My trip to India brought a few surprises. It’s been some years since I was last there and things are changing fast. The cities are still the same bustling mess of teeming madness, much like anywhere else I suppose, but it’s in the outlying rural areas that I was most shocked. In my many visits to India I’ve always headed straight for a small village called Vrindavan, the most sacred place for Hindus where Krishna appeared some 5000 years ago. Last time there I remember taking pleasant rickshaw
Harinama inTel Aviv, Israel (5 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: If one somehow or other chants the Hare Krishna mantra, he will immediately be purified, just as one who takes a potent medicine will feel its effects, regardless of whether he takes it knowingly or unknowingly. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.19 Purport)
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The first question often asked about the Bhagavad-gita is why was it spoken on a battlefield? Despite a common view that religion is a major cause of war, the general view is that the two should remain separate. Religion or spirituality should result in peace not conflict. If one’s spiritual practises bring about the bloodthirsty desire to eliminate the followers of some other faith then they must be suspect. That would surely seem to make sense.
Nevertheless the Gita did arise from a war, the
By Krishna-kripa Das
This morning as I was reading the pastimes of Krishna and the cowheard boys from the Srimad Bhagavatam 10th Canto, I was reminded of the above picture from the Krsna Book. In my copy of the Krsna Book, this picture took up two full pages. I have spent the last hour trying to put this picture together so I could use it in a post. By downsizing and inserting it in the left and right margins, I was able to get in on the page, although it is not yet together. Maybe someone can put the two together
On January 3rd, 2016 Radhanath Swami gave the keynote address at the medical conference Medical Profession – Welfare Not Warfare held at Mumbai. The event was organized by the Global Foundation for Ethical and Spiritual Health (GFESH), a global initiative patronized by Radhanath Swami that aims to blend traditional spiritual science of healing with modern medical science. The event was supported by Indian Medical Association, Association of Medical Consultants, Association of Hospitals, and Mumb
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
