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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 f

Thirty years ago I was doing the Prabhupada marathon at the Chicago airport. One afternoon, we devotees were so intoxicated by distributing books that we decided to show that one doesn’t have to speak to sell books, that book distribution just depends on our state of consciousness. So we didn’t speak.

Just after loading my bookbag with (20) maha books I tapped a man on the arm and looked him in the eye. He stopped, expecting me to say something. I didn’t. I put a book in his hand, pointed at Pr

* It is This Sankirtana Which is the Life and Soul of Our Movement *

The quotes from Srila Prabhupada presented here are in chronological order to give a little feel for the evolution of sankirtana and preaching in our Krishna consciousness movement. We can see how wonderfully Srila Prabhupada encouraged his devotees in their preaching efforts going from street chanting and free pamphlet distribution to book printing and distribution as our most important activity. Hare Krishna!

As Much Chantin

Be personal. Honor each individual for who he or she is. This principle was repeatedly exemplified by Srila Prabhupada throughout his time with us. As he saw how everyone is spiritually equal and should have an equal opportunity to participate in his movement according to his or her qualifications and propensities, so can we. As he encouraged everyone, so can we. In the world today, there’s a dire need for this cutting-edge, spiritual vision, a vision that’s resonant with Krishna’s teachings, t

On October 3,1972, psychologist Dr. Gerald Frazer visited His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada at ISKCON’s world headquarters, in Los Angeles. Their conversation follows.

Dr. Frazer: I am curious to know what you do when one of your students has a problem on the physical or emotional platform. Do you help that person over his problem by getting him to transcend it, by rising above it?

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, we speak only on the transcendental platform, not on the bodily or menta

From a very young age I knew that this life that I was living was not all that there was. I started searching to find what the perfection of life is. I was told that it was wealth, a big house or an expensive car, but with each step towards success, I was less and less happy. 

Then I met some devotees who introduced our family to Krishna. I quickly forgot that all of these items were even on my bucket list. Instead, I was encouraged to search for ways to see Krishna in the world. Overwhelmingly,

The soul is buried in layers of consciousness but the Holy Name just penetrates!

The soul is deeply buried in layers of consciousness. It is like being covered in blankets. Layers of mental energy, intellectual energy, sensual energy and these are like the blankets that cover us. So the soul is in a dormant state and all the blankets are on top. But the Holy Name just penetrates it. Some people walk around with lots of blankets, so the soul is penetrating only a little, not so deep into their

H.H. Nitai Chaitanya Swami Maharaja left his body in the hospital on 14th of Oct.
While he was fighting COVID-19, his blood pressure drastically increased, which resulted in pulmonary edema.
His Holiness Nitai Chaitanya Goswami Maharaj, is one of the first sannyasis of Russia and one of senior most devotees from the times of USSR. It was in 1970 that while listening to the underground western radio station he was fortunate to hear the sounds of Hare Krishna Maha-mantra broadcasted and a few yea

sarvopaniṣado gāvo
dogdhā gopāla-nandanaḥ
pārtho vatsaḥ su-dhīr bhoktā
dugdhaṁ gītāmṛtaṁ mahat
(Gītā-māhātmya 6, cited in Bhagavad-gita, Introduction)

It is said that there is a herd of cows and these cows are all a personification of the upanisads. The gita-upanisad is the best of these upanisads. The cows are being milked by Gopalananda, being Gopal, the son of Nanda Maharaj. His pārtho, being Arjuna, is the calf that creates the milk. And sudhīr is the bhoktā, the wise person who is drinking

My heart is like a desert, hot with the rays of the sun. This is my internal mental condition. The desire for temporary, material things cannot satisfy me because by nature they are death producing. And not one or two, but thousands of such death-producing desires have taken shelter in my mind. So, my subconscious region is always burning. This is my condition. But somehow, by the grace of sadhu and my guru, the holy name of Krishna with its infinite prospect has entered through the holes of my

Dearest Devotees and Friends,
AGTSP. PAMHO.
It is with a heavy heart I am writing this. Our dear and very special Vaisnavi sister, Priya Sakhi devi-dasi from Spain, wife of Nandagopa Das (ACBSP), mother of Krishna Virya, and doting grandmother, has departed this world after contracting this obnoxious coronavirus.

Priya Sakhi was a very saintly personality. I could not bear to see that there was not proper glorification afforded the departure of such a great soul, so I would like to share my exp

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