Why is There Suffering? by Stephen Knapp

It is natural that at some point in our lives we ask, "Why is there suffering?" Or "Why am I not happy?" "Why can't we simply go on with life and not undergo so many trials and tribulations? Why can't God make a universe or world where there is no suffering?" Well, my answer to that is He already has, but we are simply in the wrong one.

Let me explain it a little more fully. First of all, we are all spiritual beings within material bodies. Most people at l

The Vedic Description of the Soul

            Who am I? What am I? Am I the body, mind or something more? These are the age old questions that every philosopher throughout the ages has tried to grasp and understand. After all, how will you know what to do in life if you do not even know who or what you are? However, the ancient Vedic literature of India has provided the clearest answers that have been found anywhere to answer these questions. 

            For example, the Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.

So anyway, nature gives us the chance. So either you take the Biblical truth or Vedic truth... So this is... The human form is given to us. Now you make your choice: whether you are going to hell or you are going to heaven. That's a fact. If you want, you can go to back to home, back to Godhead, or if you want to remain in this material world and go under the rules and regulation of birth and death, then make your choice.

By H.D.G. Srila Prabhupada

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

The state of self-surrender to Lord Krishna has many symptoms, of
which the most prominent symptom is humble acceptance of anything
related to Krishna. For example, if a self-surrendered soul sees an
animal in pain, he/she considers first that the Supreme Lord is
seated in the Heart of all beings, and thus remembering Krishna, the
person tries to help the animal in pain. This service may extend to
any other being in pain. A Vaishnava's true quality is the ability to
see the pain of others, and to feel

So long the human history is there, there must be war. You cannot avoid it. Because it is material world, disagreement, misunderstanding must be there. You cannot avoid it. Because everyone is not of the same standard. That is not possible. Somebody is in the lower standard, somebody is in the middle standard, and somebody in the highest standard. That is division: goodness, passion, and ignorance. You cannot avoid it. So out of these three qualities, goodness, passion and ignorance, the ignoran

Grandmother, Mother, and Daughter Get Mercy

I was outside the Govinda's at New Dwarka (Los Angeles), thinking about how I was unable to go out to distribute books. That's when I saw a girl sitting not far away from me. I started to chat with her. Quickly our conversation moved to the topic of chanting, and I showed her how to chant on beads. We decided to meet a little later during the day. We tried kirtan, and she started to express how over the years she'd met sankirtan devotees and collected

Sun will still rise from the east & set in the west. Earth will continue to revolve and rotate in the same trajectory. Most of us will continue to be in the same job, live in the same house, in the same neighborhood, don the same set of clothes, ride the same vehicle, watch the same television programs, news will almost remain on the same line and so on. Practically nothing changes. It’s just the calendar of our house which will change.

Most of us are aware of this simple fact but still we impati

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Generally, a person with a philosophical mind is inquisitive to know what is the origin of all creations. At night he looks into the sky and naturally wonders what are the stars, how they are situated, who lives there, and so on. All these inquiries are quite natural for a human being, because he has a more developed consciousness than the animals. And to reply to such a sincere inquirer, the Srimad-Bhagavatam says that

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

The Bhagavad-gita says that out of many thousands of human beings, one may try to make perfection of his life. Man is an animal, but he has one special prerogative, rational thought. What is that rational thought? Reasoning power, argument. Now, reasoning power is there in dogs and cats as well. Suppose a dog comes up to you; if you say, "Hut!" he'll understand. The dog will understand that you don't want him. So, he has

23rd Dec was Gita – Jyanti, the day when Krishna spoke Bhagavad – Gita to Arjuna around 5000 years ago. The sublime message of the Gita was spoken by Krishna for 45 minutes at a place called Jyotisar in Haryana just before the beginning of the war.

The Gita is called Raja Vidya - the king of all knowledge. If all the Vedic literatures are cows then Bhagavad – Gita is the milk of the cow i.e. it is the essence of all the Vedic literatures. Krishna is the milkman, Arjuna is the calf who drinks the

So in the Kali-yuga, this age, there is no such king. There is no such government. Therefore people are becoming polluted. It is the duty of the guru, the duty of the parents, duty of the government to train people in such a way that they may become pious, sinless. But they do not believe, even in the next life, that "If we act impiously, then we have to suffer next life." They avoid to believe that there is next life. But there is next life. In the morning we were talking about this. How you ca

After a groundswell of support from ISKCON devotees and leaders, a Samadhi (mausoleum) is being constructed in the sacred land of Vrindavana, India for Srila Prabhupada’s famous early disciple Yamuna Devi. Yamuna is well-known for singing the Govindam song played at ISKCON temples around the world every morning, for writing the award-winning cookbook Lord Krishna’s Cuisine, and for being an ISKCON pioneer in the UK. She passed away on December 20th, 2011 at the age of 69 due to heart complicati

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Easy is to judge the mistakes of others    
Difficult is to recognize our own mistakes

Easy is to talk without thinking    
Difficult is to refrain the tongue

Easy is to hurt someone 
Difficult is to heal the wound...

Easy is to forgive others    
Difficult is to ask for forgiveness

Easy is to set rules    
Difficult is to follow them...

Easy is to show victory
Difficult is to assume defeat with dignity...

Easy is to promise somethi

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

“Reasonable” suggests the ability to see things fairly, without the self-serving justification that so often clouds our vision. 

It’s the ability to see your own contribution to a problem and the willingness to listen to and learn from other's point of view. Being reasonable includes the ability to put yourself in the shoes of others, being able to see the bigger picture, and to maintain perspective. 

People who are reason

Venue: ISKCON Chowpatty Mumbai.

Dated: 1^st June, 2012

Occasion: Pandava Nirjala Ekadasi

Hare krishna…..(devotees) Hare Krishna, thank you very much Pandava Nirjala Ekadasi ki ………………..jai (On the occasion of Pandava Nirjala Ekadasi 16 hours kirtan was organized in ISKCON Chowpatty Mumbai) when I heard this event is being organized the kirtan is being organized initially I was bit surprised normally we do 64 rounds, 108 rounds this is the first time we are having such event the kirtan on Nirjala Ekad