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I was on sankirtana at Botafogo Beach in Rio de Janeiro. At a bar table, there were three fat old men. One told me, “We don’t want to buy anything! I’m an Evangelical. He’s a spiritualist, and he’s a Pai-de-Santo [a priest of Umbanda, an African-Brazilian religion].”

I continued the conversation, trying to find my point, until I said, “But look, this is one of Srila Prabhupada’s books!”

The Pai-de-Santo exclaimed, “Let me see this book of Prabhupada. Prabhupada is an enlightened person!”

I was i

At times I feel like I am imposing, along with whatever crew I travel with, when we stay at someone’s home. Afterall, there are four of us (Myself, Mahadeva, Annapurna and Ryan) and that might be hard to accommodate. It could be an inconvenience.

The feedback I get from our hosts, almost all the time, is that they really appreciate the stayover. It makes a difference to those benevolent hosts. I get remarks like, “Your staying with us has helped me to get up earlier.” Or, I hear them saying, “I

Voluntary association of servitude in the Kingdom of God is only fully achieved when two are involved in loving reciprocal exchanges nurtured and encouraged by Krsna.

In the Spiritual world's of Goloka-Vrindavana and the Vaikuntha planets, loving devotional service is never a one-way or one-sided affair.

No, real loving exchanges or service is always expressed in a reciprocal voluntary two-way exchange in God's (Krsna) Kingdom.

In Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana personal voluntary expressions of lo

There is only one classification of jiva-souls, not two as some believe. 

Therefore each individual jiva-soul has two sides to their personality, they can either be nitya-baddha (eternally conditioned), or can be nitya-siddha (eternally liberated)

In this way the jiva-souls can choose for themselves to be with Krsna, or reject Krsna.

This is because each jiva-soul, as part of their spiritual constitutional make-up, has free will.

Srila Prabhupada - "So, unless there is a possibility of misusing our

“Every living entity, beginning from Brahma, the first-born living being within the material world, down to the insignificant ant, desires to relish some sort of taste derived from sense perceptions. These sensual pleasures are technically called rasas. Such rasas are of different varieties. In the revealed scriptures the following twelve varieties of rasas are enumerated: (1) raudra (anger), (2) adbhuta (wonder), (3) srngara (conjugal love), (4) hasya (comedy), (5) vira (chivalry), (6) daya (m

Mother Nature and the Glance of the Supreme

Where do nature's gifts come from? Not from factories or power plants.

 Fifty centuries ago, the people of India enjoyed boundless natural prosperity. Queen Kunti was always mindful of the gifts and their source.

ime jana-padah svrddhah
supakvausadhi-virudhah
vanadri-nady-udanvanto
hy edhante tava viksitaih

Queen Kunti said: "All these cities and villages are flourishing in all respects because the herbs and grains are in abundance, the trees are full

Rambhadra Das, President of ISKCON Gurugram was invited to speak at the “Faculty Development Program” at Ambedkar University Delhi. The University, though only in the 15th year of its establishment, is already one of the top-ranked in India. Making in the top 150 ranked Universities in such a short span. It is renowned for its focus on innovation and research.  

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/iskcon-gurugram-invited-to-speak-at-delhi-university/

By Yashoda Dulal Dasa   

For a number of years, ISKCON Christchurch in Te Waipounamu (New Zealand’s South Island) has held a combined padayatra (a walking journey) and boat festival. There are two small rivers running through the city, the Avon and Heathcote, that pass by beautiful forested gardens as well as the prominent urban centre, which is always an ideal setting for our colourful festivals.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/easter-festival-graces-new-zealands-garden-city/

One of our local community members, Hiren, led us on a cool walk near his home on a trail along the Chain of Lakes. The sun was upon us, the water to our side, trees every which way, and pedestrians sharing the path. It made for a good morning experience.

Back at Hiren’s home, we enjoyed brunch and, as anyone who knows me knows, I will insist on using or cooking what edibles we have in abundance. That, of course, is the delicious fiddlehead produce. Sorry to bring up the name of this superfood

Below is a link to some of the ecstatic, melodious, joyful and soul stirring Hare Krishna Kirtan that was captured during the Sadhu Sanga 2022 Kirtan retreat in Spanish Fork, UT.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKKaC0m0HIfPWE-EpxMk0aQGe0-jreza0

The following Kirtaniyas are featured.

Indradyumna Swami

Kadamba Kanana Swami

Sacinandana Swami

BB Govinda Swami

Vaisesika Dasa

Bada Hari Prabhu

Madhava Prabhu

Sri Prahlad Prabhu

Acyuta Gopi Devi Dasi

At De Anza College, a student who showed interest in a book gave me various reasons for being unable to give a donation. When I agreed to give her the book free, she took a few steps away, but then she turned back and said, “I lied to you, although I have money. I was not feeling good about not giving a donation for a spiritual book.” She pulled out her card and told me to swipe a certain amount for the donation.

Another time, one student showed interest in having a book, but said that she coul

Scientific Views / The Bhaktivedanta Institute

Dr. Richard L. Thompson, a charter member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, is a formally initiated disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. After studying at the Stale University of New York and Syracuse University, he received a National Science Fellowship and completed his Ph.D. -in mathematics at Cornell, specializing in probability theory and statistical mechanics. His dissertation "Equilibrium States on Thin Energy Shell

The Soul in the Body

"….Overall, I don't remember too much from those days….I was always getting into things and talking in class. The teachers were strict, and we had to study hard. I played on the basketball team. And oh, those ugly high boots how we hated them!"

Robert A. Griesser recalling his school days

Today Mr. Robert Griesser (he's my father-in-law) teaches history at California's Orange Coast College. Inexorable time has carried him far from his mischievous boyhood days; fashions and c

Angiras, who is our gracious host, accepted diksha or initiation this morning. He took on the name Ambarish. He invited many of his friends to the ceremony, conducted by Kadamba Priya, and they were curious about this rite of passage. “Do you change the name on your passport now?” asked one comrade. As I mentioned in my talk at the event, which was a packed crowd in our host’s basement, “It doesn’t really change anything too much except that the candidate picks up speed in his/her spiritual ende

By His Divine Grace Srila A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada

Śrī Brahmā-saṁhitā, Verse 32
Type: Sri Brahma Samhita
Date: Aug. 14, 1972
Location: Los Angeles

Prabhupāda: Hare Krsna.
aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti
[Bs. 5.32]

Aṅgāni means limbs of the body. Govinda, Lord Kṛṣṇa is person. He’s got His limbs of the body as we have got. Man is made after God. We are imitation of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is not imitation of us. The atheist class, they think that “They have painted a form of God according to one’s own

I met Adam, a young Maori man, at a small supermarket in Hamilton, New Zealand, as he got out of his van on the way to a pest control job. He immediately showed interest in the books. He told me that when he was young, instead of reading the normal Marvel style comics he would read comics from India. He mentioned Hanuman and recognized Ramacandra’s name.

After Adam gave a donation and took a Science of Self Realisation, he related to me that the night before he was lying in bed, wondering what s

With the sudden disappearance of the cowherd boys and calves,
Lord Krsna made sure no one not even their parents would know they were missing.

The Stealing Of the Boys and Calves

Fifty centuries ago Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appeared on earth in the village of Vrndavana, in northern India, and displayed His transcendental pastimes as a cowherd boy.

One day Lord Krsna brought His friends to the Yamuna River and said, “Just see how this riverbank is extremely beautiful becaus

According to Winston Churchill: “If two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.”

The Lord has designed each of His human masterpieces uniquely, therefore the individuality of every living being is a fact. Hence disagreements are a part of everyday life. We are engaged in a casual conversation or trying to perform service in the temple. And suddenly a divisive hot-button issue comes up. How do we navigate the tension when there are drastically different perspectives? Is it possibl

How to Make It Take You Where You Really Want to Go

This grim scene is just an illustration, but it points up something that happens to all of us all too often. It shows how we set out for satisfaction and yet arrive at just the opposite.

Our material body is a lot like a chariot. It has five horses (the senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell). Each of us is a spiritual soul riding within-we're the passenger. And to keep the horses on course, we have the reins (our mind) and the drive