The first people that I met at the Radha Govinda Cultural Centre, as preparations were underway, was a group of volunteers from the Jesus Christ Seventh Day Adventist. Sweet folks they are. They were made security patrol to keep chariot chanters and chariot rope pullers in line and away from traffic.
The route established by organizers of the Edmonton’s Chariot Fest is an industrial park area of the city’s south. Basically it is not a public zone but for some Hindu temple destinations along the
At 8:33 am on August 11th in Sri Mayapur, the beloved disciple of His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja and servant of Srila Prabhupada, His Holiness Bhakti Nityananda Swami, left his body. It is with great sadness that we announce this news, as he has been very dear and important to all of us in our Mayapur community. He has given many years of tireless and steadfast service to ISKCON Mayapur, and the amount of people he was able to bring to Krishna Consciousness has made him truly a leader in Maha
We had a sweet conversation with Sveta on our evening walk. The topic of discipline came up. The dusk hour in summer invokes mosquitoes. We just began swatting them when Sveta spoke about discipline and asked my take on it.
“Discipline is so necessary for all of us. Where there is discipline, there is order. Where there is order there is safety. Where there is safety there is peace. Where there is peace there is contentment. Who doesn’t want to be happy?”
Sveta liked hearing that. Along with us
Srila Prabhupada says...
These are not ordinary children, they are Vaikuntha children and we can give them chance to advance further in Krishna consciousness. That is very great responsiblity, do not neglect it or be confused. If you train a child in taking shelter of Krishna then that will become nature of child. Our children are the gift given by mercy of the Lord, they are delicate. Take care of them with Love and Devotion, by giving them Krishna Consciousness. Children are a blank slate. You
Jnanasim, the sword of knowledge, is given by Krsna, and when one serves the guru and Krsna in order to hold the sword of Krsna’s instructions, Balarama gives one strength. Balarama is Nityananda. Vrajendra-nandana yei, saci-suta haila sei, balarama ha-ila nitai. This bala—Balarama—comes with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and both of Them are so merciful that in this Age of Kali one may very easily take shelter of Their lotus feet. They come especially to deliver the fallen souls of this age, papi t
It was quite awesome to see the number of people come in the evening for prasadam and to hear about “Tales from Trails.” Radha Madhava and Svasti hosted the dozens of families in their home on the north east end of town.
I was just completing my weekly “Gita Chat” on Zoom, as we delved into chapter 3, verse 10, talking all about yajna (sacrifice) and its prevalence. Then I shifted gears to get on another Zoom call with my siblings as we usually do when there’s a birthday among us. Today it was
Today is Balarama Purnima, the appearance day of Lord Balarama, the first expansion of Lord Krishna, who plays as Krishna’s older brother. Listening to Sri Caitanya-bhagavata this morning, I happened to hear a description of Lord Chaitanya’s special affinity for the mood of Lord Balarama: “Every day, Lord Chaitanya, accompanied by Lord Nityananda, visited various Vaishnava’s homes and enacted transcendental pastimes. The Lord was constantly engaged in His ecstasies, manifesting the moods and be
We were chanting down the main street in Ustronie Morskie on the Polish Baltic Sea coast and I was keeping an eye out for a friend I’d met there 15 years ago. He was a homeless man in his 70s who sold small items that he found in the county dump. He usually set up shop under a tree on the sidewalk. Despite his disheveled appearance, he somehow managed to sell enough to have money to eat and keep warm through the cold Polish winters. Our very first encounter took place when our kirtan party was
There was a woman, looking quite rough, and my initial impression was that she is homeless.
I thought, “She is probably like the many homeless people I’ve met who just want a free book and have no donation, unfortunately. But I can’t be giving out free books too much.”
So when she came to look at the books, I told her about them, and I thought that the best I could give her was at least a maha-mantra card. I explained it.
She said, “Thank you.”
I was surprised to see her return to the table afte
Four of us set out to step in the mountainous woods of the Rocky Mountains. Even for a Monday, because it is summer after all, the big draw to nature is one. My companions, Radha Madhava, Nanda Gopal, Vallabha Hari, and I took to trail walking along the Bow River, which has an admirable aqua colour. Banff is a town, a tourist trap, where the mighty river flows. It is a place of respectable folks. It appears pedestrians, locals and visitors, show courtesy to a monk with greetings as I pass by. I
Prabhupada’s Money Analogy and the Politics of Doing the Right Thing
- Satyaraja Dasa (Steven J. Rosen)
According to Srila Prabhupada, one can gauge a person’s spiritual status by how they react to finding money on the street: Do they keep it for themselves? Do they leave it lying there? Or do they look for the original owner? What would you do?
In Sanskrit, there are three terms that cover the gamut of possible reactions to finding money in the street: bhoga, (enjoyment); tyaga (renunciation)
By HG Tejiyas Das
It was May and already by 6 am it was sweltering hot, even for Delhi. I started the day, going house to house in Hauz Khas, business to business in Connaught place. Yesterday I had received a notice, on a white post card, from the phone company, to return the phone we had leased during the LIC grounds festival last year. At that time the only phone company, along with almost everything else in India, including the buses, was owned and managed by the socialistic leaning central
Some people hold that, having been prophesied by scripture, by Lord Chaitanya and by the previous acharyas, if Srila Prabhupada had not spread Krishna Consciousness, some other devotee, or some group of devotees, would have been empowered to do so in Srila Prabhupada’s place.
In other words, the prophecy to spread Krishna Consciousness around the world relied on empowerment, rather than an empowered individual, for its fulfillment. It is similar to saying that if we were empowered like Hanum
By Acarya dasa, All India Padayatra leader
The All India padayatris started their char dhama yatra from Haridwar on May 10, 2022, heading for Badrinath dhama via Joshimath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri, and lastly arriving at Gangotri on June 18. From Gangotri, we negotiated the steep downhill walk back to Haridwar and on June 20 returned to our preaching journey.
Padayatra headed south from Haridwar stopping at Bijnor where we celebrated the disappearance day of Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur. There are so
By Patri Das
Meeting with Honorable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Sri Yogi Adityanath Maharaj ji. We had a nice conversation on Spirituality, Life’s Journey, the teachings of Bhagavad-Gita and many more. I am grateful for the quality time we spent together.
I am thankful for the special exchange of gifts that happened today.
Maharaj ji honored us with Anniversary coins which were unveiled by Honorable Prime Minister of India, Sri Narendra Modi ji on the auspicious occasion of the Ground Brea
One of the major fears and concerns that most of us hear about, especially in the past 10 years, is the danger of Vaisnava-aparadha. Any aspiring Vaisnava fears offenses towards devotees as they are detrimental to one's spiritual progress. However, not knowing what "offensive behavior" means is dangerous. Why? Because that may end up being detrimental to our spiritual progress as well. For example, maintaining a healthy distance from "devotee-pretenders" can be seen as "offensive", yet it is ve
