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IS BHAKTHI PREDESTINED?

Posted by Krithika on December 4, 2009 at 10:22am

Answer by HH Romapada SwamiQuestion: Was it destined when I was born that I would one day become associated with ISKCON and do all these spiritual activities? If yes, then why do we preach? Won’t people destined to join ISKCON join it, and those not destined to join ISKCON not join it? If no, then does it mean that joining ISKCON is outside the influence of destiny?Answer: Bhakti is supreme, causeless and fully independent - no material cause can either induce or impede bhakti from appearing in

Gratitude for God’s Gifts

Posted by ISKCON desire tree on December 3, 2009 at 10:12pm

If we are at all aware of how dependent we are on God–for the air webreathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the very ability to eatand drink and breathe, to think and feel and will, and to walk, talk, andsense–we will feel grateful and want to reciprocate God’s kindness. We willwant to do something for He (or She or They) who has done, and continues todo, so much for us.Often we take things for granted until we lose them. I use my right hand tochant on meditation beads, and one morning

Mercy - Even Behind The Ghastly Feature

Posted by ISKCON desire tree on December 3, 2009 at 10:10pm

Kadamba Kanana SwamiWe are speaking about the happiness and the unhappiness in the material world and is there really ugliness ...because ultimately everything is resting on Krishna‘s divine energy and He is unlimitedly beautiful?So yes on the surface we are seeing happiness and distress. The eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad Gita shows how all the heroes of the battlefield are being crunched with the teeth of the universal form like potato chips, it’s ghastly, it’s heavy!This is the ghastly feat

Nutritional Benefits of Sprouts!!

Posted by Neetu Bhojwani on December 2, 2009 at 9:04pm

Sprouts are full of nutrition and the best source of a balanced food. Sprouts are alkaline in nature and hence improve the health in many respects. They are helpful in complete purification of the body and also improves the disease fighting capacity of the body. Sprouts also increase the nutritiounal value of food.In order to maintain good health, 80% of the food should be alkaline and 20% should be acidic, which should necessarily include raw food and sprouts in good quantity. Sprouts are best

CEO of Thane District visits ISKCON Food Relief Foundation Palghar

Posted by Radha Krishna Das on December 2, 2009 at 8:16pm

The CEO of Thane Zilla Parishad, Mr H K Jawale visited our kitchen at Palghar. Thane ZP is the largest District in Maharashtra state, having 32 Talukas. ISKCON Food Relief Foundation has been implementing the Mid Day Meal project in the entire Palghar Taluka for the last three years.These are his remarks from the Guest Book.Today I have visited ISKCON Food Relief Foundation. This is an excellent community kitchen. ISKCON is doing an excellent work. The Shaley Poshan Aahar (Mid Day Meal) programm

A designer bhakt

Posted by ISKCON desire tree on December 2, 2009 at 5:30pm

Designer Sunil Mehra feels it’s not he who creates outfits; it’s through Him that his creations happen. “Lord Krishna helps me design. So, whatever work I do happens through him,” he says. A devotee of Krishna first and a designer later, Sunil prefers to be called a bhakt. He set up Sunil’s Study by Janak in the city way back in 1997 to create a spiritual line of outfits for men. His collection includes a range of sherwanis, angarakhas, suits, robes and kurtas in natural fabrics like linen, cott

Aruni Upanishad

Posted by pratibha on December 2, 2009 at 3:00pm

Om ! Let my limbs and speech, Prana, eyes, ears, vitalityAnd all the senses grow in strength.All existence is the Brahman of the Upanishads.May I never deny Brahman, nor Brahman deny me.Let there be no denial at all:Let there be no denial at least from me.May the virtues that are proclaimed in the Upanishads be in me,Who am devoted to the Atman; may they reside in me.Om ! Let there be Peace in me !Let there be Peace in my environment !Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !1. Om. Aruna

Why read the Gita?

Posted by AMITAV on December 2, 2009 at 12:30pm

An old farmer lived with his grandson. Each morning grandpa would read his Gita. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him. One day the grandson asked, 'Grandpa! I try to read the Gita just like you but I don't understand it and what I do understand I forget. What good does reading the Gita do?' The grandfather quietly replied, 'Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.' The boy did as he was told but all the water leaked out before he go

Secret of Rasa Lila

Posted by geeta kakkar on December 2, 2009 at 10:48am

Rasa Lila is divine sport (Kreeda) with the devotees for bringing about their union with the Lord through Prema or pure divine love. Rasa is the sweetest juice of Prema. It is the manifestation of divine love or higher emotion which takes the devotee to the magnanimous height of holy communion with the Lord.Lord Krishna’s Rasa Lila is the mystery of mysteries. It is the secret of secrets. It is not a matter for intellectual discussion. It is a holy matter for silent meditation for devotees. It s

READING SANSKRIT IMPROVES BRAIN FUNCTIONING

Posted by Krishna Rupa Devi dasi on December 2, 2009 at 10:16am

Reading Sanskrit Improves Brain FunctioningReading Sanskrit Improves Brain Functioningby Brynne SissomThe physiological effects of reading Sanskrit aresimilar to those experienced during the TranscendentalMeditation® technique, according to research recentlycompleted by Dr. Fred Travis, director of theERG/psychophysiology lab of Maharishi University ofManagement in Fairfield, Iowa, USA.Dr. Travis asked his test subjects to read passagesfrom the Bhagavad-Gita in Sanskrit and in modernforeign lang

Haridas Thakur receives Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Grace

Posted by KASHYAPI DASS on December 1, 2009 at 4:23pm

Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami explains how much the Lord loves His devotee, what the Lord is willing to do for His devotee; how the Lord is intoxicated in ecstasy by the love of His devotees.When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, was living in Puri during the last eighteen years of His lila, His bhava of separation from Krishna was growing more and more intense day by day.During the day He would perform nama-sankirtana with His devotees and during the night in the company of Svarupa Damodara Gosvami and Ram

Annapurna Upanishad

Posted by pratibha on December 1, 2009 at 3:00pm

Om ! O Devas, may we hear with our ears what is auspicious;May we see with our eyes what is auspicious, O ye worthy of worship !May we enjoy the term of life allotted by the Devas,Praising them with our body and limbs steady !May the glorious Indra bless us !May the all-knowing Sun bless us !May Garuda, the thunderbolt for evil, bless us !May Brihaspati grant us well-being !Om ! Let there be Peace in me !Let there be Peace in my environment !Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !I-1-2

Nothing To Complain About

Posted by KASHYAPI DASS on December 1, 2009 at 11:17am

Taken from Bhajan Kutir #269I resented the “four behind” calculation but made the best of it and tried to keep a good attitude. I’m actually so far behind in my lifetime that I can never make up all the rounds that I owe Krishna. You owe Him your life. You owe Him hundreds of rounds. You owe Him just one good mantra of Hare Krishna, said perfectly. You are not doing Him a favor. He’s doing you a favor by allowing you to chant Hare Krishna, and Prabhupada has been so lenient to make it a sixteen-

THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION OF DEVOTTES

Posted by Krishna Rupa Devi dasi on December 1, 2009 at 10:38am

In the Srimad Bhagvatam and Chaitanya Caritamrta, the Lord explains the various aspects of association of devotees in many slokas. One such sloka occurs in Srimad Bhagavatam 3.25.25,sataam prasangaan mama virya samvidobhavanti hrd karna rasaayanaah kathaahtad joshanaad aashu apavarga vartmanishraddhaa ratir bhaktir anukramishyati"In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the

KRISHNA KNOWS EVERYTHING WITHIN OUR HEART

Posted by Krishna Rupa Devi dasi on December 1, 2009 at 10:12am

Recently I came across an interesting story. A person once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an Archavigraha of Krishna. Suddenly he noticed a similar Archavigraha kept nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same Deity?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the Deity and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked. "T

Improve Your Japa

Posted by Braj Kishore Das on December 1, 2009 at 7:30am

This is a newsletter by Mahatma Prabhu, Srila Prabhupada's disciple on our state of Japa. Plese read it, it will help you to improve your chanting." Nish , nish, ram, ram, nish, nish, ram, ram." Prabhupada once imitated how we sometimeschant without focus, without concentration, without proper pronunciation – how we chantwhen we don't feel like chanting. You know the mood behind this chanting; "I have tochant but I'd rather be doing something else." And in our minds we are thinking, "I can'twait

MATERIAL LOVE Vs SPIRITUAL LOVE

Posted by Dipa Das on December 1, 2009 at 12:30am

“Although the loving exchanges of devotees in conjugal love appear very similar to the loving affairs of the material world, it has nothing to do with material affairs like that.So, it is said that even great scholars get confused. Sometimes great scholars in India cannot understand these pastimes with the queens of Dvaraka, or with the Gopis – the erotic pastimes. They don’t realize that even the soul is the energy of Krishna. Therefore, Krishna is the only Purusha in the sense that He is the o

Simplicity and Faith by Gour Govinda Maharaja

Posted by ISKCON desire tree on December 1, 2009 at 12:26am

Gopal and the SchoolboyA mother has a six or seven year old son. She wanted to admit him into primary school so that he could get some education, but the school was a little far away, half a mile from their house. Still she told the boy that he should go every day to the school in the morning.So, the boy started going. On the path to the school, he had to pass through a jungle where there were some ferocious animals, tigers, and snakes. Being a small child, he was afraid. He came to his mother a

Amrita-Nada Upanishad

Posted by pratibha on November 30, 2009 at 3:01pm

Om ! May He protect us both together; may He nourish us both together;May we work conjointly with great energy,May our study be vigorous and effective;May we not mutually dispute (or may we not hate any).Om ! Let there be Peace in me !Let there be Peace in my environment !Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !1. The wise, having studied the Shastras and reflected on them again and again and having come to know Brahman, should abandon them all like a fire-brand.2-3. Having ascended the

Rasa-lila: not for public discussion

Posted by Ravi Chandran on November 30, 2009 at 12:00pm

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 09:26 PM PDT These rascals, they do not know what is Krsna. They think Krsna is ordinary man. “Why He is engaging Arjuna in the fighting? Why He is dancing withothers’ daughter and girls? These are immoral things.” Therefore this rasa dance should not be discussed among the fools and rascals. They’ll misunderstand. Although the professional reciters, they take part, wheneverthey speak of Bhagavata, they immediately jump over the rasa dance. That is not to be done. Caitanya Ma

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All Posts (35448)

IS BHAKTHI PREDESTINED?

Gratitude for God’s Gifts

Mercy - Even Behind The Ghastly Feature

Nutritional Benefits of Sprouts!!

CEO of Thane District visits ISKCON Food Relief Foundation Palghar

A designer bhakt

Aruni Upanishad

Why read the Gita?

Secret of Rasa Lila

READING SANSKRIT IMPROVES BRAIN FUNCTIONING

Haridas Thakur receives Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Grace

Annapurna Upanishad

Nothing To Complain About

THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION OF DEVOTTES

KRISHNA KNOWS EVERYTHING WITHIN OUR HEART

Improve Your Japa

MATERIAL LOVE Vs SPIRITUAL LOVE

Simplicity and Faith by Gour Govinda Maharaja

Amrita-Nada Upanishad

Rasa-lila: not for public discussion

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