Make very nice palatable prasadam. We shall spend for that. Why miserly? There is no need of miserly. You are going to earn money by agricultural produce, so how the money will be utilized? It will be utilized for Krsna’s purpose. By prasadam, by chanting, by drama, somehow or other bring them. That is our mission. Congregational chanting. Always festival, and we shall spend for that. Immediately arrange. If there is scarcity of money, I shall pay, but from… Bring them somehow or other. Tomorro
srila prabhupada (734)
It’s Monday morning. It’s cold, wet and windy. It’s time to face the world. It’s another day on book distribution!
I remember returning from my first day on book distribution and being advised to do the unthinkable – “go and have a cold shower!” What! I’d already been standing in the freezing cold all day! The logic was that a warm shower cleanses your physical body, but a cold shower cleanses your subtle body – all the negative energy that we absorb from a day in the urban jungle is cleansed a
Srila Jiva Goswami made his appearance in 1533 and disappeared from view at the age of 85 in 1540.
As a child, Sri Jiva took up the worship of Rama-Krsna Deities. Carefully decorating Them, and offering bhoga and arati, he served Them attentively. Even when playing, Jiva’s games were often connected with Lord Krsna’s pastimes.
Later, in a dream, Sri Jiva saw that Rama-Krsna had taken the forms of Nitai-Gauranga, and They were dancing. Giving him the dust of Their lotus feet, the two Lords then
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
Fifty years ago, on December 26, 1969, in Boston, Srila Prabhupada awarded me second initiation. He said, “Sucih means purified. And another meaning of sucih is brahman. A brahman means purified. Those who are going to be sacred-threaded today should remember that they are being accepted as sucih, as brahman. After chanting for six months or one year, it is supposed that he has already become purified. Now he should be recognized that he is purified. So this sacred thread means recognition. Sac
By Madhava Smullen
Historically, ISKCON Brooklyn, New York, was perhaps the greatest center of book distribution in the world. In the 1970s, ISKCON Press printed Prabhupada’s books at 32 Tiffany Place near the Henry Street temple. The huge amounts of books distributed from Brooklyn, meanwhile, contributed much of the funds to build flagship ISKCON centers such as the Juhu temple in Mumbai, and Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir.
For the past twenty years, however, book distribution came to a comple
“If one loves Krishna, he must love Lord Jesus also. And if one perfectly loves Jesus he must love Krishna too. If he says, “Why shall I love Krishna? I shall love Jesus,” then he has no knowledge. And if one says, “Why shall I love Jesus? I shall love Krishna”, then he has no knowledge either. If one understands Krishna, then he will understand Jesus. If one understands Jesus, you’ll understand Krishna too”
(Srila Prabhupada – Room conversation with Allen Ginsberg, May 12, 1969 / Columbus –
By Ramai Swami
Christmas is celebrated by millions all over the world. Thousands of the ISKCON congregation, although not Christians, visit our temples on Christmas day. Carparks are full and temple rooms packed out.
Srila Prabhupada commented on Jesus Christ many times:
“Jesus Christ was such a great personality–the son of God, the representative of God. He had no fault. Still, he was crucified. He wanted to deliver God consciousness, but in return they crucified him–they were so thankless. Th
By Vidura Dasa ACBSP
In Nairobi, many moons ago, Kenya was hosting the annual meeting of the African Union where the heads of state of all countries in Africa gather. We happened to have recently received a container of Bhagavatams and Gitas cleared through customs. I went to the Kenyatta Conference Centre and tried my luck at getting in. If you think Western politicians are paranoid about security you should see these African ‘Boss Men’ and their ever nervous heavy dudes. Somehow, in dhoti, ku
The habit of criticizing devotees is like cancer. One may think that I'm doing it for many years but nothing has happened. Cancer can stay in the body for many years undetected before it finally strikes. This habit of fault-finding and duplicitous behavior keeps increasing with time. Under the influence of Maya we think everything is alright but actually the disease is spreading before it finally strikes.
Lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.15.23
(- By H.H.Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj 31.01.17 in Juhu
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
Today is the divine disappearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, the spiritual master of Srila Prabhupada and an exalted acharya on our parampara. I am sharing a very enlightening quote by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur where he speaks about the position of acharya or jagad-guru and those who come after him as spiritual masters or diksha gurus.
Question: If Jesus Christ was a jagad -guru and his instructions are capable of bringing us deliverance, why do we need a spirit
By Radha Mohan Das
The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made an impromptu visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor last Sunday, when worshipers at the Manor were surprised to see an entourage of MPs, including the Home Secretary Priti Patel and numerous security share their Sunday worship. Priti Patel went to school in Watford and her family live in Hertfordshire.
The Prime Minister was taken through the £10 million Sri Krishna Haveli, a multi-purpose community facility, which is nearing completion. He was
By Madhava Smullen
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, devotees at ISKCON Boise, Idaho launched a new annual “Festival of Gratitude” this year, with the motto: “Appreciating Deity, Devotee, Nama, Dhama, Bhagavatam.”
“We wanted to focus on inspiring gratitude for Srila Prabhupada and the processs that he’s given us,” says Bhakta Nathen Wanty, who came up with the idea for the festival and co-organized it. “And with the gratitude gained from attending this festival, we hoped devotees would become m
By Bhakta Gurmann Saini
During this year of anniversary of 35 years, ISKCON Finland is not only preparing for Srila Prabhupada Book Distribution Marathon, but also trying to secure the future of the Krishna temple and our headquarters in Malmi, Helsinki (Vanha Helsingintie 14, 00700 Helsinki, Finland).
The City of Helsinki has promised to sell to ISKCON the land where the present temple building lies. The size of the land is 0.6 hectares, and the price is 300 000 €. The price is much lower f
Don’t we just delight in books and movies wherein destruction wreaks havoc in one form or other, be it by nuclear bombs, disease, twisters, volcanic eruptions, giant creatures or alien invaders. If you do, then you’ll love The World Without Us, authored by Alan Weisman. Reviewed by Janet Maslin in The Arts section of the August 13th NYT, the book is a “what if” account of what would happen to the world if mankind would suddenly disappear.
How long would our cities and achievements last without
Why is Sankirtan the prime benediction of this age?
Every day morning, after Mangla Arthi, Srila Prabhupada quote will be read! Being book marathon month, to inspire and motivate devotees to push the book distribution, we read Srila Prabhupada quote on book distribution.
Today’s quote is a beautiful letter to German disciples in the month of May 1977, where Srila Prabhupada explains how much blessings is showered even when one simply touches and sees it, what to speak of reading, distributing a
Guest: What is the highest devotion, the highest bhakti, please?
Srila Prabhupada: To love Krishna. If you become expert how to love Krishna… The idea of loving is not unknown to you. You love somebody. You love your wife. You love your children. You love your country. You love your society. There are so many loving aspect. But when you love Krishna, then your life is perfect. That we have to…
sa vai pumsam paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata
yayatma samprasidati
(Srimad-Bhag
By Radha Mohan Das
Bhaktivedanta Manor organized a special dinner at the Avanti House Secondary School, in honor of the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON’s establishment in the UK. The main invitees were disciples of Srila Prabhupada and other key senior devotees, and it was a great opportunity for the younger generations to serve, join in Srila Prabhupada Guru-Puja and listen to the memories of first generation of ISKCON devotees.
Speakers included Shyamasundar das, Gurudas, Malati dasi, Dhananjay
"Sometimes the longest journey we make is the sixteen inches from our heads to our hearts." - Elena Avila
Coming December 2019 marks 20 years of my consistent and daily chanting of 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra, one of the prerequisite for a committed practitioner of Krishna consciousness. I started, chanting 16 rounds in December of 1999 and now, 20 years have passed by so quickly. One thing that helps me, be focused in spiritual life is watching the passing of the imperceptible
