We are afraid to make chanting our number one priority in life because of the fear of failure.
Chanting Hare Krishna can be the most humbling experience, especially if we make it the most important goal of our life. Krishna is inaccessible to the conditioned souls; those who are not qualified won’t get access to Krishna’s intimate association. He reserves the right of not being exposed to the conditioned souls. Thus chanting can expose us to our own disqualifications; chanting can reveal to us
From Back to Godhead
“Probability is the most important concept in modern science, especially as nobody has the slightest idea what it means. —Bertrand Russell
Throughout human history, philosophers and seekers of knowledge have sought to discover a single fundamental cause underlying all the phenomena of the universe, Since the rise of Western science in the late Renaissance, many scientists have also felt impelled to seek this ultimate goal, and they have approached it from their own characte
Madhu means sweet. It means honey. Krishna is also called Madhu. In this material world there is one type of honey and in the spiritual world there is also a type of honey. The sweet honey in the spiritual realm is the real honey which we should hanker for. In this material world there is Kandarpa (Cupid) but in the eternal world, Madan (Cupid) is Krishna and everyone is attracted by Him.
The holy name and Krishna are non different. Even great personalities such as Brahma chant the holy name in
SB 1.1.2 … sadyo hrdy avarudhyate ‘tra krtibhih susrusubhis tat-ksanat …As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.
Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.1.2
By the hearing process Krsna IMMEDIATELY (sadyo) is established in the heart.
Please note the word RAPT [attention, in the previous quote] – there is a consistency in the Bhagavatam methodology. One has to hear attentively.
The sadhana of hea
Quotes from Radhanath Swami
1) From letters
“The culmination of all our preaching efforts is when a sincere soul experiences his or her spiritual home when they visit our temple. I cannot overestimate the great importance the service, which you have accepted as a guest receptionist. I am most indebted to you for taking this service so seriously. Any person who ever visits our temple should feel so personally welcomed that they feel they have made a true friend. A devotee who genuinely is con
On the all-auspicious disappearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati we should all try to remember His divine instructions and make them our life and soul – guru mukha parma vakhya cittete koriya aikhya ara na koriho mane asa. This philosophy that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati epitomises and that he expounded is well worth remembering on this day when the prediction of Padma Purana –
sri-brahma-rudra-sanaka vaisnavah ksiti savannah
catvaras te kalau bhavya hy utkale purusottamat
“In Kal
Srila Prabhupada visited New Vrindaban four times. One of the significant sites of his pastimes is the house in Madhavan where he resided during his last visit in 1976.
The house in Madhavan (where Sankirtan Prabhu now lives) is the site of the last darshan Srila Prabhupada gave to the New Vrindaban plow department. Darshans were scheduled according to department, and I was a member of the plow department. The last darshan is very exceptional because Srila Prabhupada was commenting spontaneous
“How any spiritual activity should be done is understood from three sources: saintly persons, standard scriptures and the spiritual master”. (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.28.4, purport)
Proper sankirtan – a phrase used by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati in his Sri Sanmodana Bhasyam and by Lord Caitanya Himself – means certain tunes, certain instruments, a certain musical style, certain dress and certain kinds of dancing by the members of the chanting party. In Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan movement, r
(Bhaktivedanta Research Centre: This is a one of a kind original photo of Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj found by BRC while going through Sri Sundaranand Vidyabinode’s collection.)
Today is Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja’s disappearance day. He comes in the Gaudiya Vaishnava disciplic succession after Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana. He was a renounced ascetic, fully engaged in chanting the holy names of Krishna and meditating on His pastimes. For
Over the years modern science has speculated and researched to find out the number of species on earth, the method that main stream science has adopted is experimental which is commonly known as “seeing is believing”, but without going much in detail regarding the imperfectness of this method, which is based on imperfect senses of the human being and imperfectness of the instruments developed by the human beings by these imperfect senses, it is extremely difficult to understand or gauge the vas
The common understanding of an Advanced Civilization in today’s context is to be advanced in Technology, having a comfortable lifestyle, Earning Lots of money and having enough or rather lavish facilities to enjoy the senses to the fullest. This is the yard stick that is generally used to gauge the Advancement in Civilization. Owing to this yardstick Countries like United States of America, Great Britain etc are considered as First world Countries and more advanced in civilization then others.
The first experience I had with Krishna consciousness was when a friend of mine had got a small book, Perfection of Yoga, on the Atlantic City, New Jersey boardwalk. At that time I was going to college at Rutgers in New Jersey and was home for the summer. I was also doing Yoga exercise daily so I was immediately interested in reading the book. I picked it up and read 5 or 10 pages and then put it down thinking this is not Yoga. At that time I though that yoga was physical and breathing exercise
From Back to Godhead
Why are some people by nature outgoing and talkative while others are quiet and shy? What are the forces of nature that compel people to act the way they do? How do these forces work, and who is controlling them?
Dr. and Mrs. A. B. Bright and their two children have a small home, just suitable to their needs, in a peaceful country town. Dr. Bright is the local, M.D., a thoughtful, qualified man, respected for doing his job honestly and selflessly. His hobby: reading books o
In this article, I compare the origin of universe as described in the Srimad Bhagavatam (SB) and the Big Bang (BB) theory .
1. The initial state
According to SB, the initial state of matter immediately previous to its manifestation is calledpradhāna (SB 3.26.10p). In the BB theory, this initial state is called the singularity. The table below compares these two states:
Pradhāna SB 3.26.10p, SB12.4.20,21 |
Singularity ref : [1]-[4] |
*Unmanifested/undifferentiated form of matter. *No |
The greatest challenge in performing Sadhana Bhakti is our attempt to serve the Lord with only the cognizance of Him being an almighty God. The immense distance between us and the Lord during the clearing process (Anartha Nivrtthi) is such that most Sadhakas face difficulty in maintaining steady service. This misfortune can solely be attributed to a lack of Sambandha Jnana or in other words due to forgetting who we are.
Most of our energy during the clearing process goes into fighting our previ
From Back to Godhead
To ensure the health of our spiritual life, we must transform material hope into spiritual hope.
Hope—the recognition within the human heart that something better is attainable—can mean the difference between life and death. In Man’s Search for Meaning, Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl writes that the rate of deaths in the concentration camp increased after Hanukkah, even though there was no change in camp’s already horrible conditions. Why did more die? Because each year r
I found this talk by Yamuna-devi, from the Pune Yatra 2001, so profound and powerful, I wanted to share it with you all. If you wish to learn more about—and from—this extraordinary devotee and disciple of Srila Prabhupada’s, you may visit the beautiful new website Unalloyed: The Yamuna Devi Legacy Project (www.unalloyed.org). —Giriraj Swami
Radhanath Maharaja has requested that my godsisters and I speak something. Last night, after we left the transcendental program and before I took rest, I wa
By Rama vigraha Dasa
From Back to Godhead
To say that most politicians are incompetent, and in many cases downright dishonest, isn’t very controversial. We’ve all read about their blunders, their tricks, and their schemes. So the aim of this article is not to give proof of their failure to bring about world peace and prosperity; it is rather to show that the root cause of their incompetence is selfish materialism, and that the remedy is the re- spiritualization of society through the worldwide
Excerpt of a lecture given by HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami at the Sannyasa Candidate Training Seminar in Mayapura (February, 2012).
There is a verse in the Puranas that states that sannyasa is forbidden in Kali-yuga:
asvamedha gavalambha
sannyasam pala-paitakam
devarena sutotpattim
kalau parca vivarjayet
[Cc. Adi 17.164]
In this age of Kali, five things should be avoided: one is performing sacrifice by offering cows; performing sacrifice by offering horse; and oblation offering to the forefather
It’s been another one of those weeks wherein caring for our severely autistic/mentally daughter has very nearly eclipsed all other activities. Again. Same as every minute of every day. For years on end. In order that we might truly learn and grow deeper with sincere affection from the difficult experience which the Supreme Lord has sent as mercy to reform us from all selfish considerations. Or complaint (tat te nukumpam…) about the severe circumstance we must necessarily endure. As each endless
