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Looking back to 1987, I remember trying my best to counsel several weeping ISKCON Vaisnavas when they learned that their guru had just defaulted his position. Their guru was previously a dynamic, conquering her who shone like fire through preaching, making disciples, and leading the sankirtan movement. Yet, those weeping Vaisnavas sitting in my office would have traded all the joy they shared with him during the victories just to have him remain their own spiritually-healthy guru. These devotee

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

By Giriraj Swami

Terrible forest fires have been raging around Ventura and Ojai, California, devastating homes and everything else on their way. I recalled Srila Prabhupada’s discussion of the first verse of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura’s Sri Gurv-astaka:

samsara-davanala-lidha-loka-
tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam
praptasya kalyana-gunarnavasya
vande guroh sri-caranaravindam

“The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just as a cloud pours water on a forest fire

By Giriraj Swami

Most resolutions take the form of “do’s”—things I resolve to do—and “don’ts”—things I resolve to not do. And Vedic wisdom tells us that all do’s and don’ts should support one main do—always remember Krishna (God)—and one main don’t—never forget Him.

Now, practically, what can we do to always remember Krishna and never forget Him? The item most favorable for remembering Him is chanting and hearing: chanting and hearing His holy names—the Hare Krishna maha-mantra—and chanting and

Death is that grand test that determines our next destination. Srila Prabhupada once said that ISKCON teaches the Art of Dying. In Srimad-Bhagavatam, we can see that Bhismadev has set the best example of how to prepare oneself for that moment.
The quality of life determines the destination after death.
In Bhagavad Gita there are numerous references that claim that 
that the aim of life is to be absorbed in thoughts of Krsna at the time of death and thus perfect one’s life.
anta-kāle ca mām eva

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

Much can be said about compassion, and although we’ve covered many of its different facets, there is still much more that can be said, specifically in terms of our relationships with each other as practitioners of Krsna consciousness.

This whole theme expands from one line in The Nectar of Devotion—that one should not give unnecessary trouble to any living entity. This is a principle of Krsna consciousness that every Vaisnava should aspire to achieve because, as we say every day, vancha-kalpa

There is a lot of emphasis nowadays on the need for love and trust among devotees. We can cite the six loving exchanges between us. We can also use the strength of the often quoted, “your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate.” In spite of our efforts to promote this ideal, can we ever expect a situation where love and trust dominates in all of our devotee interactions?

Are we too big as an organisation to assume that this will happen? Can each of us get by simply by being polite to ea

Declaring Dependence upon the Holy Name. 
Romapada Swami: Is there anything that exists that we can say is ours? We can’t say that the body is ours because it can be taken away. Our mind is not ours because it is not under our control. Our possessions are certainly not ours. Even the soul itself is the property of Krsna. So what can we say is ours? Our acharyas give us the answer: the one thing we can say is ours is our relationship with Krsna. It can’t be taken away from us, just like the free

One of the most amazing resources we have in our Hare Krishna movement is the Grihastha Vision Team (GVT) - an incredible group of senior devotees who dedicate themselves to helping our Hare Krishna communities become stronger by developing strength in families.

Being Family Day weekend, this seems like the most opportune time to "plug" the work of the GVT.  The mission of the GVT is to support, strengthen, educate and enliven the individuals, couples and families who are or will be involved w