In the last thirty or forty years, the rapid pace of technological progress has been dazzling. I still remember my first desk-sized computer, with its massive 20 megabytes of storage, its MS-DOS operating system with the old C: prompt, and the modems that emitted a kind of high-pitched banshee wailing. Ah, those were the days. Now, the phone in my pocket is a thousand times more powerful, and my laptop can handle tasks unimaginable back then. With AI, it seems the sky is the limit. Soon, we’ll a
vedic (7)
By Radha Mohan Dasa
ESSAYS brings together over three decades of unpublished research by the late Sadāpūta Dāsa (Dr. Richard L. Thompson)—a remarkable polymath whose intellect ranged across mathematics, physics, philosophy, cosmology, and the practice of bhakti-yoga. This collection offers a rare glimpse into the evolving mind of a thinker who sought to bridge the rational world of science with the metaphysical depth of the Vedic tradition.
These essays trace Thompson’s intellectual journey fro
The word Veda has its Sanskrit root vid, which means “to know”, or simply “knowledge.” The word Veda also has three root meanings, representing its connection with the power of God, namely; 1) that Vedic knowledge is eternal; 2) Veda is the essential knowledge itself, which means that it provides knowledge of God, or that we can know the Supreme through the Veda; and 3) Veda gives the most desirable thing to the souls, which is the Divine Bliss that comes from our connection with God.
As most sc
What do you say when your child or a student asks you where birds and other animals came from? If you are educating and teaching them on a Vedic basis, you might quote to them Bhagavad-gita 10.6, where Krishna answers thus: “The seven great sages and before them the four other great sages and the Manus [progenitors of mankind] come from Me, born from My mind, and all the living beings populating the various planets descend from them.”
Perhaps you will also show interested young people the relate
This is Sankirtana Das’s companion article to “Moving Forward in 2025.”
When speaking about the function of a Vedic monarchy, Srila Prabhupada explained, “The king is to see to the welfare of the citizens from all angles of social, political, economic and spiritual upliftment” (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.9.49 purport).
In that purport, Prabhupada goes on to give the example of the ideal king, Maharaja Yudhisthira: “monarchy under a trained king like Maharaja Yudhiṣṭhira is by far the most superior for
From Back to Godhead
By Sadaputa dasa (Dr. Richard Thompson)
In The Late Eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, European scholars and scientists began to come in contact with the culture of India. Many were impressed by the antiquity of Vedic civilization and the deep spiritual and material knowledge contained in the Vedic literature. But other European intellectuals were dismayed by these developments. For example, in 1825 the British scholar John Bentley wrote of his conflict with the sci
Over the last few years, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) has been gathering helpful videos on the Cosmology of the Srimad Bhagavatam. These insightful presentations, offered by several well-known ISKCON devotees, authors, and scholars, provide diverse perspectives on the rich subject matter.
The TOVP offers a helpful introduction to the content, emphasizing the need for an open mind. “The subject is extremely complex and sometimes confusing because we are dealing with a subject that
