We sometimes think of ourselves as being good adjudicators of who is serious in Krishna consciousness, and who is not. Who is pure, or not. Expecting that “More people will leave Krishna consciousness than stay,” we easily become proud of being one of the “privileged few” to remain.
Being of the surprising few and rationalising this way is certainly premature, and signals immediate complacency. The adage, “It is how you finish that counts; not how you start,” usually escapes our attention when
Sri Guru-purnima, or Vyasa-purnima, is the divine disappearance day of Srila Sanatana Gosvami, the eldest of the Six Gosvamis of Vrndavana. The authorized poet Sri Kavi-karnapura, in his book Caitanya-candrodaya-nataka (9.34, 35, 38), quoted in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 24.348–350), tells how Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu blessed Sanatana Gosvami with His specific mercy.
gaudendrasya sabha-vibhusana-manis tyaktva ya rddham sriyam
rupasyagraja esa eva tarunim vairagya-laksmim dadhe
antar-bhakti-
How many of us are fortunate to have not just good friends, but close friends with whom we can phone at any time, and for no particular reason, than to simply share a Krishna conscious realization?
How many of us are blessed to be able to shed all institutional and scholarly roles, simply to sit down in an informal setting once in a while, and discuss none other than Krishna katha?
Does it ever occur to us sometimes, particularly if we are second initiated, that the services we try to render fo
Jananivas Prabhu’s service was to bring frankincense to Srila Prabhupada’s room in the evening. He mentioned that usually after you fill a room with frankincense, you open the doors and windows so that the mosquitos go out with the smoke. Srila Prabhupada however liked to keep the smoke within the room and stopped Jananivas Prabhu from opening the doors and windows. Since it was Srila Prabhupada’s darshan time, there would usually be many western devotees in the room and these western devotees
In the 1960s, literary and media critic Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “global village” to describe the extension of people’s frames of reference and sense of responsibility beyond their immediate surroundings, or “village.” This growing sense of connectedness, McLuhan proposed, is the natural result of a world in which electronics enable our senses (at least the senses of sight and hearing—for now) to immediately experience that which is taking place across the globe, just as we would in o
My earliest memories of religion in this life are of my father (my first guru) teaching me about the Great Spirit worshiped by American Indians (“Wakan-Tanka” Who also undergoes quadruple expansion just like the all pervading yet personal Vasudev). He also taught me that I should be respectful of other people’s beliefs irrespective of race and creed. And never look down upon anyone. Ever.
Even though his mother, my paternal grandmother was a devout Baptist (my maternal grandmother was a devout
From Back to Godhead
Whether we are neophytes or advanced, association of pure devotees is crucial for our spiritual progress.
The pure devotees of the Lord carry the message of Godhead in order to deliver the fallen souls, and therefore the common man who is bewildered by the influence of the external energy of the Lord should avail himself of their association.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.4, purport)
The Science Behind Krishna Consciousness
Srila Prabhupada often referred to bhakti-yoga as “the s
Worse than being alone is to be with a person who doesn’t like you; too many people have experienced the anguish and chaos caused by an incompatible marriage. Such travesties are systematically avoided in Vaishnava culture because, besides training and restraint in behaviour prior to marriage, all care is taken in matchmaking: “Formerly, boys and girls of similar dispositions were married; the similar natures of the boy and girl were united in order to make them happy.” (SB 3.21.15) “The centra
By His Divine Grace A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada
Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) – Canto 2: The Cosmic Manifestation – SB 2.9: Answers by Citing the Lord’s Version
Verse – 33
aham evasam evagre
nanyad yat sad-asat param
pascad aham yad etac ca
yo ’vasisyeta so ’smy aham
Synonyms: aham — I, the Personality of Godhead; eva — certainly; asam — existed; eva — only; agre — before the creation;na — never; anyat — anything else; yat — all those; sat — the effect; asat — the cause; param — the supreme;
By Dr. J. Chakrabarty, Florida State University
The concept of evolution of species, generally attributed to Charles Darwin, actually had its origin thousands of years ago in ancient India, and formed the basis of the illuminating philosophy of the Vedas. Since Darwin lived at a time when the profundity of the Indian wisdom already made an indelible impression on the minds of the western savants, it is hard to imagine how Darwin could possibly have escaped the compelling influence of the Indian
Excerpt from the Bhagavad-Gita As it Is 7.7:
TEXT 7
mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam
sutre mani-gana iva
SYNONYMS
mattah—beyond Myself; parataram—superior; na—not; anyat—anything else; kincit—something; asti—there is;dhananjaya—O conquerer of wealth;mayi—in Me; sarvam—all that be; idam—which we see; protam—strung; sutre—on a thread; mani-ganah—pearls; iva—likened.
TRANSLATION
O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no T
Westerners, in general, take too much for granted and are not careful enough in social dealings.
Modern Western society conditions one to artificially come too close, too soon without respect for one another.
Modern Western society respects nothing beyond fame, money and sexual prowess; it is the antithesis of Vaishnava culture.
Prematurely judging others and jumping to conclusions are other negative traits found almost everywhere, which most of us must admit. These traits, born of the mode
The King of Knowledge by Srila Prabhupada came to me at a pivotal time. I got the book without wanting it. My friend wanted to share it with me after he perused it. I had no idea – I was “book distributed!”
I was skeptical but on my friend’s recommendation, I studied the book for at least a month. The King of Knowledge held ample flawless arguments. At the time I was busy trying recklessly to fill my life with mind altering substances and such. The “mind altering substances and such” did not f
What is the point of happiness if it doesn’t last forever? What is the key to everlasting happiness? Srimad Bhagavatam, the ripened fruit of Vedic knowledge, offers us a solution: “Any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation.” The guru gives knowledge of real happiness. Since the founding of ISKCON fifty years ago, over 75 000 disciples have been initiated within ISKCON, beginning their spiritual journey to eternal
The principal scriptures dedicated to Ganesha are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. Brahma Purana and Brahmanda Purana are other two Puranic texts that deal with Ganesha.
Lord Ganesh is known as the son of the Shiva and Parvati, and is the god of luck and of “opening the way.” That is why many people pray to Ganesh before starting a new project, in order to proceed with as few obstacles as possible.
Ganesha became the Lord (Isha) of all existing beings (Gana
From Back to Godhead
Though conceived of in various ways, ultimately the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person who shares intimate loving exchanges with the best of His devotees.
By Srila Jiva Goswami
Here we present an excerpt from the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust edition of Srila Jiva Goswami’s Sri Tattva-sandarbha. Jiva Goswami was one of the famed Six Goswamis, leading contemporary followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Tattva-sandarbha is the first of six sandarbhas (treatises) explaining the ph
From Back to Godhead
Through the ages Western man has alternately
pondered or ignored death, the most
persistent yet least understood fact of our existence.
In the year A.D. 138, the great Roman emperor Hadrian lay dying in a villa overlooking the Bay of Naples. For many years he had been the mighty ruler of the Western world, governing an empire that stretched for thousands of miles. In the course of his eventful life as soldier/statesman, he encountered diverse peoples of many customs and fai
How often you shout at your friends not to tag you on Facebook photos?
Did you ever had thoughts of wearing burka?
Did you ever fasted to loose weight & then after 1-2 days because of hunger ate whole fridge then sat & wept?
If you practice spirituality, did ever your yearning for God increase seeing a fresh line on your face?
Or did you once went out with your beloved. You both enjoyed & captured lots of photos. Both of you were so happy. But the next day you saw your photos to remember the pr
Active Listening
Adapted, with permission, from The Art of Teaching, by HG Bhurijana Prabhu
Who Owns the Problem?
The first step in trying to solve a problem is to identify who owns it, because you need to approach the situation differently if you own the problem or not. The owner is whoever is tangibly and concretely affected by the problem.
If the problem belongs to the other person, it is appropriate to listen, trying to understand exactly what is going on. If you own the problem, the counse
On this day lord Sri Krishna became a qualified cowherd. Before this day, he was a keeper of the calves.
The Killing of Dhenukasura:
“Thus Sri Krishna, along with His elder brother Balarama, passed the childhood age known as kaumara and stepped into the age of pauganda, from the sixth year up to the tenth. At that time, all the cowherd men conferred and agreed to give those boys who had passed their fifth year charge of the cows in the pasturing ground. Given charge of the cows, Krishna and Bal
