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Are all religions equal?
Question. I have been pondering the unity of religions or the universality of religions, specifically how the essence is the same although the external aspects may differ. Can you shed some light on this?
Answer by Romapada Swami: The principles of any bona fide religion would be based on certain universal regulative principles primary of which are austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness and not on any man made dogmas. By adopting such principles under the expert

We are currently serving in the material world and using the paraphernalia of the material world in the service of Krsna. We read about the gopis in Vrndavana, who with their long hair, sweep the marble floor in the kunjas, the meeting places. We sweep with brooms and mop the temple floor, so what is the difference!? It is the same. The benefit is the same. It is Krsna’s floor. So we are greatly blessed that at every moment there is so much mercy and so much benefit. Everything related to Krsna

Question: I want to give up lust, but I always have lusty thoughts. How can I renounce lust?

My Answer: You ask how it might be possible to renounce lust. It is impossible. I am sorry.

Even the gods cannot get free from lust. Even Brahmā became confused by it and began to pressure the goddess Vāk for intercourse. Even the greatestyogī (Śiva) has to contend with it – he had to burn the god of lust with his third eye, thus disturbing his meditation.

Nara-nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, however, is noteworthy, for

As India, originally known as Bharat, celebrates its 67th Republic Day today, anyone, who knows the correct history of this land, looks up with great hopes that the country will play its role in the upliftment of the world.  This is the day we can be proud of those great personalities that built India’s national pride.

In ancient times, the world was ruled by righteous kings, but in this age, Kaliyuga, due to a serious lack of qualified persons like King Yughisthira and King Parikshit, who coul

Lecture on How the Lord reciprocates when one surrenders  by HH Romapada Swami in 27 Dec 2015 at Chicago

(Romapada Swami‘s first encounter with Krishna consciousness came in Buffalo, in the shape of a lecture at the State University of New York in 1969. The lecturer was His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The following year, Romapada Swami joined the movement in Boston and was initiated in 1971.)

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Lecture on Faith that Krishna will Protect and Maintain by HG Dravida Prabhu on 25 Dec 2015 at Chicago

(HG Dravid prabhu is a vaishnava scholar, musician and poet. He has edited Back to Godhead magazine and other books published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust for over 25 years. From 1983 to 1989 he was part of the team that produced the last six 1,000-page volumes of the magnum opus of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada: a commentated English translation of India's jewel of Ve

Lecture on Positive Thinking - Tap the Power of Meditation by HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu

(His Grace Caitanya Charan Prabhu is a monk and spiritual teacher in the time honored tradition of bhakti yoga. He is a editor of Back to Godhead, which is the official international magazine of the Hare Krishna movement.)

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For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON's 50th Golden Jubilee year celebration, ISKCON Ahmedabad organized a 'PADAYATRA' , from ISKCON temple to Dakor, with hundreds of devotees chanting "Hare Krishna" maha-mantra, throughout the pad-yatra, for the benefit of people, as ordered by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu more than 500 years ago. This was our first Padayatra, out of the 50 padayatras planned this year for the 50th anniversary celebration of ISKCON and without any experience, so we we

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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By Hare Krishna Devi Dasi

To see the true value of the Vedic social system, we need to understand it in its original form.
Thinkers throughout history—from Plato to Locke to modern political theorists—have always discussed the ideal form of social organization. Vedic literature also addresses this question and presents as the ideal the social system known as varnashrama, which divides society into four varnas, or occupational groups, and four ashramas, or stages of life. The four varnas are bra

The mind is always controlled by something. There is no question of us being able to control the mind. Therefore when we are dealing with Krsna more and more, all the time, then the mind becomes controlled by Krsna and if we are dealing with material things then the mind gets controlled by material things because the mind is always controlled by external things.

Source: https://www.kksblog.com/2016/01/controlling-the-mind-2/

Hare Krsna 

Official 50th anniversary posters released

All temples requested to display new posters prominently to publicise the 50th

By ISKCON 50 Global Office

The Global Office for the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON has released 8 new posters and banners as part of their ‘Poster-up’ campaign, and requested all temples and centres around the world to display these posters in prominent locations in their premises. The posters and banners can be downloaded from the ISKCON 50 website by clicking here.

“We have o

Kids Altar In Petersburg Center! 
Srila Prabhupada: The difference between a devotee and a nondevotee is this, just like the bee and the fly: the bee always is attracted by the honey and flies go to the open sores. So the devotee is only attracted by the good qualities in other people and does not see their faults. Letter to Badrinarayana, November 7, 1971.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18488

By Rashi Singh

Some suggestions on how to stay inspired.

Somehow, it happens that our motivation in Krishna consciousness may falter. Usually that faltering comes in the form of lacking the desire to do some practical service, associate with devotees, or develop our spiritual practices, such as improving the quality or quantity of our chanting or of our reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books. Whenever this happens to me or a friend, I realize the urgency and fragility of devotional service and the

How Do We Know?
Ananda Devi Dasi: We may sometimes ask ourselves, rather we should regularly ask ourselves, how are we doing in our spiritual life? Is our consciousness changing and developing? Is our love for Krishna growing? Are we becoming less affected by our life, our karma, and the world in general? Are we developing a strong sense of who we are that lives within our body?
Prabhupada suggests we take test. In the purport to verses 8-12 in Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 13 he writes – “As for actu

Workaholic

Work is essential for survival, as the Bhagavad-gita (03.08) acknowledges. Yet the same work that is vital can become vitality-sapping if done excessively. When work becomes the sole definer of our self-identity and self-worth, it degenerates to an indulgence, even an addictive indulgence.

Just as alcohol can become an obsession that devours everything else in an alcoholic’s life, so too can work become an obsession that devours everything else in a workaholic’s life. Whereas alcohol

13th Annual Sir J.C.Bose Memorial Award, 2015. 
Indian Science Monitor, a non-profit organization has been working relentlessly for more than two decades in identifying and promoting great achievers. Sir J.C.Bose Memorial Award (previously as ISM Achievement Award) has been constituted 10 years ago and till now more than 40 eminent luminaries have been awarded and their contribution in the field of Science & Technology, Education, Environment Science, Agriculture, Social Sciences have been high