My accommodation in Chatsworth, Durban, is quite adequate – a spacious guest room. There is ample room for receiving people. This morning some local devotes came to discuss what steps to take to enhance their Krishna Consciousness. The guidelines I gate included reading all you can about our founder and to take sadhana very seriously. Sadhana refers to the spiritual routines of the day.
For the Sunday Feast (or, The Sunday Love Feast, as they call it), I had suggested, “Why not talk about what
From Back to Godhead
Understanding the levels of instruction in the Bhagavad-gita can help us comprehend the overall unity of Lord Krishna’s message.
The Bhagavad-gita is no doubt a major spiritual treatise and one of the world’s greatest classics. Understanding that a hierarchical concept of reality characterizes the Gita can help us see coherence of the Gita’s message.
The Bhagavad-gita speaks on two major levels of reality and a third, intermediate, one. We can use the Sanskrit words dharma
An exceptional group of North American leaders gathered in New Vrindaban on March 18-26th for the concluding session of their year-long training with the GBC’s College for Leadership Development. They were directed by HG Rupanuga Prabhu, President of the GBC College, and HG Govinda Priya Devi, Vice-President of the GBC College. This Zonal Supervisor Training program equips participants with various skills and tools in spiritual excellence, personal relationships, and organizational and administ
All images are courtesy of www.iskcondelhi.com
ISKCON Delhi, Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir, celebrated the completion of twenty-five glorious years of service with the Ram Navami festival on March 19th-30th.
The temple was inaugurated on April 5th, 1998, by the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the presence of former Chief Minister of Delhi Sahib Singh Verma and Sushma Swaraj. It is located at Hare Krishna Hills (near Nehru Place), in the East of the Kailash area of N
Here I am beck in South Africa, land of the wild, and also of the curious. It was our 3 pm practice time in the temple of Radha Radhanath, when myna birds were singing, as well as the occasional low flying hadeda bird, when a group of seniors came inside to look around. I don’t imagine they had ever seen deities of Krishna before, let alone a bunch of thespian devotees acting out the eight elements – five gross and three subtle. For visitor such as these, whom I guess have a Christian backgroun
Summary at 2.15.34
We discussed the topic of racism.
We started by talking about how to consider belonging to a nation to be special, that could be a form of illusion. But we also said that for everybody to belong to something to say this is special is not bad it’s a matter of gratitude. But the thing that I’m superior, that’s what makes it bad.
And then, you talked about how spirituality is meant to elevate our consciousness, but also to expand our consciousness. And if, if there is no expansi
Some Vietnamese hairdressers in Dallas, Texas, bought Srila Prabhupada’s books from me, so I took a Vietnamese “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” to present to them from Sri Sri Radha-Kalachandji Dhama’s bookroom.
The Vietnamese Gita was in my bookbag for a long time. One day I was working at the Cowboy Stadium. My supervisor said, “Mishra, there is a truck full of sound equipment coming. Help get it uploaded.”
Eventually the truck came, and we used a forklift to get everything off the back. The truck dr
By Thomas Haribol
It is famously said that “neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night” can stop the US Postal Service from delivering mail, but it’s also the devotional mood of devotee pioneers HG Caru Das and HG Vaibhavi Devi Dasi when it comes to putting on festivals in a state with a “challenging” climate.
When weather reports predicted snow and cold on the day of the legendary Festival of Colors at the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah, this year, Caru took the optimistic ap
By HG Sunanda Das
The TOVP 36-Day Matching Fundraiser is about to begin, offering devotees another opportunity to serve the historic Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, ISKCON’s flagship world project. This year is especially important and crucial to our overall success because we will be completing and opening the Nrsimhadeva Temple in the TOVP, the largest of its kind in the world, in October.
We are especially excited to inform devotees that HG Ambarisa prabhu, TOVP Chairman, is pleased to anno
In Sri Dham Mayapur the tribal convention has just commenced with 2200 in participation and there will be an initiation ceremony as well. Please join us if you are in Mayapur or watch live on Mayapur TV.
Hare Krishna
Source: https://www.mayapur.com/2023/2023-tribal-care-convention-in-mayapur-dham/
It was rush, rush in both Atlanta and Johannesburg airports. However, when I landed at Durban – no lo luggage. I left my filled out form to recover my three suitcases with the office at King Shaka Zulu Airport. The relief I felt from this minor anxiety (worse things could happen) was meeting the greeting team comprised of Rasasthali, Wesley, Sookie, and his brother Sudevi – all actors whom I worked with in the past. They bore happy faces and happy hearts.
I tucked myself to bed after the long f
Lord Nrsimha roars loudly and causes others to roar. With His multitudes of arms, He tears the demons asunder and kills them in this way. He is always seeking out and tormenting the demoniac descendants of Diti, both on this earth planet and in the higher planets, and He throws them down and scatters them. He cries with great anger as He destroys the demons in all directions, yet with His unlimited hands He sustains, protects, and nourishes the cosmic manifestation. I offer my respectful obeisa
Our theme for the morning class on bhakti was regarding fear. Fear is a very real emotion felt by all. This emotion is initiated by what’s to come, a sensation connected to the future, a dealing with the unknown, an apprehension trigged by a notion of danger.
The discussion on the topic was sparked by the story of Ajamil, a rather shady character in the Bhagavatam who was vile in his behaviour and was due to suffer karma. Whenever karma is of a negative nature, one can expect a form of what som
SB 1.1.2 … sadyo hrdy avarudhyate ‘tra krtibhih susrusubhis tat-ksanat …As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.
Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.1.2
By the hearing process Krsna IMMEDIATELY (sadyo) is established in the heart.
Please note the word RAPT [attention, in the previous quote] – there is a consistency in the Bhagavatam methodology. One has to hear attentively.
The sadhana of hea
Who is qualified for spiritual life? Only brāhmaṇas? Or sannyāsīs, or human beings, scholars, or Indians!? – Whether one is a man or a woman, householder or a renunciant, Indian or an American, aristocratic or underprivileged, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, child or an elder, human being or an animal, everyone is a child of God and is spiritual. Therefore, to love God and serve God is the innate characteristic (dharma) of every living being.
BHAKTI IS NOBODY’S MONOPOLY
Bhakti or devo
On the Zoom Gita Chat this evening, I was pleasantly surprised to find one of the listeners/viewers was someone I hadn’t really seen in thirty years. He used to live in the ashram with the team of us monks. He was happy. He learned how to cook and do many things devotionally.
Well, he moved on, got married, got a job, the usual pattern with family. It was just so great having him on board for a penetrating hour where we probed into the Gita’s message about sacrifice and accepting some austerity
Quotes from Radhanath Swami
1) From letters
“The culmination of all our preaching efforts is when a sincere soul experiences his or her spiritual home when they visit our temple. I cannot overestimate the great importance the service, which you have accepted as a guest receptionist. I am most indebted to you for taking this service so seriously. Any person who ever visits our temple should feel so personally welcomed that they feel they have made a true friend. A devotee who genuinely is con
Context and Crux of Uddhava-gita
Bhagavad-gita is the great philosophical song by Lord Krsna on the battlefield of Kuruksetra to motivate His bewildered friend Arjuna. There is yet another Gita that Krsna sang in Dvaraka to pacify another of His friends named Uddhava. Famous as Uddhava-gita it forms the longest philosophical section of the magnum opus literature Srimad Bhagavatam.
Lord Krsna’s descent into this world was requested by the devatas headed by Brahma, to reduce the burden of the ear
The ISKCON Communications Europe Executive Committee (ICE EC) members met for the second time this year in Brussels to meet representatives of European Union Institutions and European faith communities. The meetings aimed to establish contacts, develop trust and cooperation, and specifically organize an interfaith conference on Religion and the Environment at the European Parliament in the autumn of 2023.
The ICE EC members are Mahaprabhu Dasa from Belgium as the chair, Hrishikesha Dasa from L
Narsimhadev Monthly Abhishek Update For 2023
We are excited to inform you that the Monthly Abhishek Seva to Sri Narasimhadev Bhagavan has resumed and will commence today, the 5th of April 2023. Do keep this in mind as we shall update you on the subsequent dates for the coming months.
For all Abhishek Sponsorship, visit us at www.mayapur.com or click on our general donation link https://www.mayapur.com/serve-mayapur/general-donation/ for general donation seva.
Sri Narasimhadev Bhagavn Kijai!
H
