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The very successful reunion of Krishna house/ Bhakti Academy initiatives in new Vrindaban was now behind us. We had the good fortune to take part in Cleveland's Sunday Sanga, which was nice, and then for now a flight to Newark Airport that took me to New Jersey and to my hosts Haripada and Sindhamini and the hills where bears do roam. 

Everything here is fairly much in full green height, including the garlic – mustard and aromatic honey suckle. The deck of their home near Towaco, is expansive

I accepted the offer by kind Rsabh for the interview on "The Avilash Podcast".This meant a trip to his apartment in Brampton where he has a set up studio for such a program, He asked questions that naturally would be of interest to his audience, queries about what would hasten the public to ask, "What's a westerner doing living the life of a monk?" "Why the long walks".

So, for a full hour my interviewer and I went on to describe a journey, my own personal one, in meeting renunciates traveling

Patience was tested with airlines. “Delay” was the common word. Passengers even made their way to board the plane. We sat for two hours inside with a promising “ready to go” when (out of the blue) we were assigned to “deplane” and “come back later.” I was quite impressed with people’s tolerance level. There is always something to be learned from others and it doesn’t always come out of a book or one’s personal guru. Messages are heard (or should be heard) from all angles. God, as guru, is every

The anniversary of the great dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna. The anchor person to this sublime conversation is someone by the name of Sanjaya, who is quite in a blissful state when relating it to the blind king, Dhrtarastra. Here’s how he felt in Sanskrit:

rajan samsmrtya samsmrtya

samvadam imam adbhutam

keshavarjunayoh punyam

hrsyami ca muhur muhuh

“Oh, King, as I repeatedly recall this wondrous and holy dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, I take pleasure, being thrilled at every moment.

From what I can see, Cubans are readers. After Ganganath and I took our dip in the ocean (a 30 min. one when we chanted our morning mantras), we met some workers. The first one was a painter, friendly as you can get. His warm-heatedness earned him our gift of the Bhagavad Gita. The second recipient was another local Cuban, with tools in his hands. This guy had torquoise eyes like the colour of the water we were in and had a build like warrior Arjuna. Was he ever overwelwhelmed by the beautiful

I would say that one devotee, Krishna Surya, 54, is one of the more committed persons to bhakti in Cuba. He is a steady 16 rounder, as we say. Two hours he dedicates to mantra meditation while committed to his family, wife and teenage daughter. I recommended to him to read several books of Prabhupada, all in Spanish, of course. These books are the Bhagavad Gita, Nectar of Devotion, Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, and Srimad Bhagavatam. This will prepare him for his second initiation. 

Krishna Sur

Sounds like the name of an Indigenous girl
Perhaps appropriate as a precious pearl
It’s not a mammal, bird, rock, or tree
You’re getting close if you say “herbal tea”
It’s something satisfying to the appetite
Yummy to the tummy to the very last bite
It’s a food preparation – *kichari*
The problem is, between you and me
It suffers from a bad reputation
A poor man’s food is ithttp://www.dandavats.com/?p=112240s qualification

When you go to an eastern monastery
Whether April, June, or January
The

Tuesday was the day for me to return the heart monitor which had been affixed to my chest for the last two weeks. The Toronto Medical Clinic for returning was at 826 St. Claire West. I Ubered my way there but happily trekked my way back to the ashram.

It became very evident that winter is around the corner. That was confirmed by the Uber driver. There’s now a chill and a fairly hefty wind bringing down the leaves. The afternoon brought on a cold rain which had a second shot at removing the leav

It was great seeing one family again. They had come to Niagara from Hungary to participate in his parent’ 50th anniversary. That, of course, is a great milestone.

The family – Nila Gopal, Sukhayanti and two daughters (twins, actually, at 8 years) – began their spiritual life here in Toronto some years back, then moved to Hungary for a rural life and school for their daughters. Nila trains oxen. Sukhayanti is an organizer.

In such circumstances, when acquaintances meet after some years of separa

I had no opportunity to touch nature today, other than the five kilometre brisk walk from Union Station to the ashram. Yes, it was fresh and early. Our train from Ottawa left us still for over two hours near Pickering, which landed us at our destination at 1:30 am. I wheeled my suitcase once again down the stretch. Good for wheels. Good for legs.

Before tucking into bed last night my host, Sreyas, a doctor at one of Ottawa’s hospitals, brought me to see his father, 91, recovering from surgery. This is one of those comforting obligations that goes with the priestly portfolio. The next morning, however, I had the pleasure to visit, not the aged and mature, but those classes of youngsters at the Bhakta Prahlad Montessori School.

Krishna Dulal, who is sometimes described as entrepreneur extraordinaire, is also the manager of the school, and

By Radhapriya

On November 4th, His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Hindu Chamber of Commerce (CHCC). The Canadian Hindu Chamber of Commerce is the first registered not-for-profit organization in Canada dedicated to the unification of Canadian Hindus and their economic interests. The CHCC wanted to bestow honour on him and ISKCON with this award and ceremony.

When Srila Prabhupada brought Krishna consciousness to the West, there was pra

Two chaps, both brahmacharis (monks) from Pune, offered to take me to some kind of trail. Actually, we are looking at a lake called Katraj Lake which takes a mere fourteen minutes to circumambulate. It was at the brahma muhurta hour, the time before dawn, that we walked it, and yet again. I was quite surprised to see a good turn out of people doing their own version of a workout on this lake which has an island in the centre with a stature of Sivaji Maharaja, a defender of the Hindu community,