In a spiritual culture you can surely expect blessings in great number. You will lose count of them because they are numerous even if you have a registering type of mind. Today's blessing came in the form of a visiting monk and his name is Devamrta Swami, an Afro American devotee of the Hare Krishna Movement.
He came into the temple hall while Kirtan was going on. Naturally it created some excitement as he made his way to the vyasasan, the exalted seat for the teacher of the Gita or the Bhagava
Srivasa Thakura, one of the members of the Pancha-tattva, lived in Navadvipa-dhama in Mayapur, near the residence of Jagannatha Misra and Sacidevi, where Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared. Later, when Lord Chaitanya began His sankirtana movement in Navadvipa-dhama, He and His other most confidential associates would meet at Srivasa-angana, the home of Srivasa Thakura, and have kirtan throughout the night. The kirtans at Srivasa-angana were ecstatic, and only the most intimate devotees of Sri Ch
By Niranajan And Jayapataka Swami
Today being the Disappearance day of our most beloved HH Sridhar Swami Maharaj we thought of remembering one of Srila Prabhupada’s favorite sons, his Samadhi is in Mayapur next to the Samadhi of HH Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaj, and Srila Prabhupadas Pusya Samadhi.
HH Niranajan Swami Maharaj remembers the Jolly Swami:
There are many things more we could say about Sridhar Maharaja. He was a very wonderful devotee and the w
The mission statement of HH Sridhara Swami (1995) is very inspirational:
“My mission is to serve my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, with all my heart and soul… .
“To achieve this goal has now become my only reason for living. Out of a great sense of debt for his having shown me the path, I want to become a sharp instrument to be used by Srila Prabhupada in his mission of flooding the world with love of Krishna.
“I will strive to achieve excellence in all
The Mayapur Temple of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP), under construction, recently opened an office in the ISKCON Juhu temple, at Hare Krishna Land in Mumbai. In honor of the occasion, and to further the cause, I thought to share an excerpt adapted from my article “Memories of Sridhar Swami” in my book Many Moons.
In November 2003, Srila Prabhupada’s staunch disciple Sridhar Swami phoned me from Bombay and told me that he was planning to go to Vancouver in April for four to six months. Soon thereaft
By HH Bhakti Brhat Bhagavata Swami
Today marks the most auspicious anniversary appearance of Srila Srivasa Pandit or also known as Srila Srivasa Thakura and it also coincides with the anniversary disappearance of one of our Commanders in Srila Prabhupada’s army – Srila Prabhupada is our General – HH Sridhara Swami.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi Lili chapter 7, entitled, Lord Caitanya in Five features, text 15
ei tina tattva, — ‘sarvaradhya’ kari mani caturtha ye bhakta-tattva, — ‘aradhaka’ jani [
By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi
Recently, Mayapur Clean and Green, headed by Murari Mohini Devi Dasi, has been valiantly working to improve the air quality in Mayapur. Earlier this year, a pivotal agreement was reached with ISKCON Mayapur, outlining policies to address air quality issues and prohibit waste burning.
In spite of waste burning being outlawed by the Indian government and supported by specific legislation and guidelines governing landfill management, air quality remains a pressi
Our drama crew lined up and loaded up for the bus trip to Vrndavan. It's their first time to hit that holy spot where Krishna enacted so many pastimes in child and youthhood. We feel bad about parting now that our 11 day performance terminates here. However, for the coming weekend we will be reuniting at Durban for more of the same ecstasies in drama.
I will be returning tonight for Canada and have a short 3 day pranayama, breathing time. Coincidentally for our walk this morning at Shivalik Pa
From Back to Godhead
A discussion on the options for the soul under the influence of Krishna’s material energy.
A controversy arose during a Sunday discussion at ISKCON’s Saranagati Village, in British Columbia, Canada. Some devotees quoted a famousBhagavad-gita verse (3.27) where Krishna says, “The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of nature [goodness, passion, and ignorance].”
In othe
By Indira-sakhi Devi Dasi
Srila Prabhupada stressed that character development was an inseparable part of education. He explained that the teachers themselves should be exemplary role models to successfully impart Vedic knowledge to the students.
You are right when you say that setting a good example for the boys is the best precept. There is a saying that an example is better than a precept. Our exemplary character depends on strictly following the four principles, and this will conquer the
From Back to Godhead
The Vedic contribution to one of the central debates in Western philosophy.
Sam Surya goes to his city’s orphanage one day and makes a large donation. Elsewhere in town, Andy Andhakara robs a bank. What led these two to make such drastically different choices? Was it their own volition, or the force of some other factor? In other words, were their actions predetermined, or did Sam and Andy have free will?
These questions concern one of the pivotal debates in Western philoso
(English version of the ‘Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu’ by Sri Rupa Goswami)
Edited by Tridandi Goswami Abhay Charan Bhaktivedanta Swami
Text
Akhilla, Rasa, Amrita, Murti, Prasrmara, Ruci, Ruddha, Taraka, Pali, Kalita, Syama, Lalita, Radha, Preyan, Bidhu, Jayati.
Akhila=All inclusive, Rasa=Mellow, Zest, Amrita=Nectar, Murti=Form, Prasrmara=Expanding, Ruchi=Attractive features, Ruddha=Controlling, Taraka=of the name, Pali=of the name, Kalita=Influenced by, Syama=of the name, Lalita=of the name, Radha=
“Update on HG Caitanya Candra prabhu,initiating guru and president of Gadai Giri temple, who has been in ICU in Bhuvansevara hosptial for over one month. He is the senior disciple of HH Gaura Govinda Maharaja and has many disciples in Orisssa, Europe and elsewhere. He has been suffering severely from pneumonia and being diabetic the condition deteriorated leading to hospitalisation. other complications developed and now his condition is extremely serious. Please keep him in your prayers and tho
By Nrsimhananda Das
In the early 90’s, Gopavrndapal prabhu (now B.V. Giri Maharaja) and I were enrolled by HH Bhakti Caru Swami to write the treatments for the first episodes of his opus, “Abhay Charan.” We were roomed together in the Juhu guest house where we were tasked with creating drama from the milestones of Srila Prabhupada’s life. In a month of intense research, discussions, and writing, we somehow squeezed out 18 treatments. I flew to Los Angeles where I gave those treatments to Amala-
Have you checked, if your heart longs for Krishna or is still attached to things of this world?
Externally we may dress perfectly, speak expertly, recite shlokas scholarly, sing melodiously but these qualities may not attract the attention of the Lord. Maybe we are doing it to seek people’s attention and self-glorification.
Krishna hardly bothers about our externals instead he directly peeps into our heart to see whether our heart longs for him or it hankers for something else.
When Duryodhana
Religious News Service (RNS), a global leader in news coverage of religion, ethics, and spirituality, recently published an article on the challenges that ISKCON devotees in Ukraine have experienced over the past few years. The article’s author, Tori Luecking, interviewed Niranjana Swami, Acyuta Priya Dasa, and Ukrainian devotees for the profile. Ukraine is home to an estimated 15,000 ISKCON devotees.
You can read the full article here.
Devotees worldwide are invited to celebrate a 24-Hour Kirtan event in Birmingham, UK, to be held on May 4-5, 2024. The occasion promises to be an unforgettable spiritual experience as it marks the 25th year of the gathering and will be held in a new venue that can accommodate up to 2,000 guests.
“For a quarter of a century, we have come together every year to immerse ourselves in the chanting of Lord Krishna’s name, inspired by Aindra Das and Tribhuvannatha Das,” said Mayapur Madhava Das, one o
It was a long day and night rather a big blur off time, coming from an eastern time zone, headed west back to Canada from India on a 16 hour flight.
There's not too much to report. I occupied myself in japa meditation and saw a few wildlife documentaries. Also there was a beautiful song that was ringing in my ears, it was the piece, a spiritualist song, quite bluesy, which we incorporated in our drama, "The Age of Kali." Here it is.
PART 1 Hush, hush, somebodies calling my name
Hush, som
Many of our ācārya have said and written on Gauranga-Nāma. Bhakti-vinoda Ṭhākura has written in his Gaurāṅg-līlā-smaraṇa-maṅgala Stotram as follows:
nāmāparādhaṁ sakalaṁ vināśya
caitanya-nāmāśrita-mānavānām
bhaktiṁ parāṁ yah pradadau janebhyas
taṁ gauracandraṁ praṇamāmi bhaktyā
"With devotion I bow before Lord Gauracandra, who for they who take shelter of the name Caitanya destroys all offenses to the holy names, and who gives transcendental devotional service to the living entities."
Even if one has
On December 26th, 2023, around 25 ISKCON youth from around the world gathered at the Senator Hotel in Kolkata for the 2nd Annual Global Youth Retreat in Kolkata and Mayapur. The much anticipated transformative 10-day retreat, organized by Inner Yoga Retreats, is a youth yatra led by Vaisesika Dasa and his wife, Nirakula Devi Dasi.
The retreat was designed to help youth who are on their winter vacation immerse themselves in Krishna Consciousness in the holy dham. This year, we explored Srila Pra
