Festival days such as Rama-navami are a prime opportunity for spiritual advancement and purification. Srila Prabhupada stated in a Rama-navami lecture in Hawaii on the 27th March, 1969:

“There is no difference between His form, His name, His pastimes, and Himself. He’s absolute. Therefore either you chant the holy name of Rama or you see the statue of Rama or you talk of His pastimes, transcendental pastimes, everything, that means you are associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Ramachandra
Appeared on this earth in the lineage of Raghukula, in Ayodhya
As the son of King Dasharath and Queen Kaushalya
Elder to the princes Bharat, Lakshmana and Shatrughna

He is ever seen in the company of Mahalaksmi as Sita
His eternal servitor Hanuman, and loving brother Lakshmana
Both brothers wielded a bow and arrows and other weapons
As shatriyas, it was their bounden duty to protect their citizens

Lord Ram is maryada purushottam, the most per

Shabari’s Caves at Hampi Dhama

Shabari was a tribal lady and had unflinching devotion for Lord Rama. She took the shelter of great sage Matanga Rsi as her spiritual master. During the last days of sage Matanga, Shabari served him with great attention and care. Pleased by her service, Matanga Rsi blessed her that one day certainly Lord Rama along with His bother Laxmana will come to meet her. Having undeterred faith in the words of her spiritual master, every day, Shabari col

The good news is that one of our newly-formed communities on the east coast, Halifax, is hosting their first Ratha Yatra this summer. Ratha Yatra is that exciting festival featuring Krishna Himself in beauty black with ecstatic eyes and oceanic smile. The event actually takes the shape of a parade of sorts. Krishna as Jagannatha, which translates as Universal Lord, is set proudly on a conveyance resembling a chariot. There is no horse-power applied (although horses are invited; any species for

I will read a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Two, Text 23. This verse is very significant. Not only is the verse beautiful, but it also has historical significance, because when Sukadeva Gosvami came out of the womb, after sixteen years, he left home immediately, and his father, Srila Vyasadeva, followed him into the forest. And when he came close enough to him, he recited two verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam, one describing Krishna’s beauty, from the Tenth Canto, and one descri

By Radhika Prasad Dasa

We were in Fairfield (Sydney), which is densely populated by Arabs. An unforecasted storm hit us. The harinama party had to make a decision to continue or cancel.

Given that it was a long way from home, we decided to continue, and we moved through the streets under roof footpaths.

Looking at the dancing and singing in the rain, all the Arabs were coming out of the shops, elated to watch and hear the harinama.

I started placing Arabic books into their hands. Almost all of t

By Lisa Chastain 

A lifelong search for God ends in the most unexpected of places.

It was dark but the night was still fairly young when Vallabha and I were strolling through a pedestrian lane in Rosedale, when three young women, arm in arm, were oncoming. One of the girls took notice of my saffron and just lit up. “I love it!” she blurted out.

And then a young man carrying his disassembled bike also noted my monastic duds and asked, “Are you a Hare Krishna monk?” And, “Indeed!” I clarified. I was happy he didn’t deliver the usual line, “Are you Buddhist?” Afterall, Buddhists

Are they the same thing?

BEFORE I MET Srila Prabhupada, I had wanted to serve humanity. Then I heard from Srila Prabhupada about the importance of serving Lord Krsna. Still the question remained: How does God's service relate to man's?

After a week of hearing from Srila Prabhupada, I got the chance to ask after Srila Prabhupada concluded a lecture:

sa vai pumsam paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata
yayatma suprasidati

"Without spiritual realization you can-not have peace of mi

For Ukraine, our residents had a chant.

From our west coast Gita Chat group, we discussed a host of things, some of which are as follows:

1) We are all in a conditioned state; meaning we are contaminated.

2) Getting free from this contamination is called mukti.

3) Consciousness can be described with the term “I am.”

4) When consciousness is contaminated, one declares, “I am Lord.”

5) When consciousness is purified it means, “I am servant.”

6) Purification comes in the form of co-operation with

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the golden avatara, the embodiment of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna in the aspect of a devotee, appeared 484 years ago to deliver the pure essence of the Vedic literatures to the entities of this Age of Quarrel. He brought God consciousness from behind locked doors into the streets and into the hearts of everyone. He showed the importance of sincerity in our service to God. This eternal loving service is the highest religion, over and above any limited sectarian faith.

Five centu

Akrura, a devotee of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, achieved perfection by his notable prayers. In his book Easy Journey to Other Planets, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada describes nine processes of realizing God. It is said that perfection of human life and entrance into the spiritual kingdom are guaranteed by execution of any or all of the nine items of devotional activity, and it is recommended that we execute these processes, following in the footsteps of gr

By Jayabhadra devi dasi

On February 26, 2022, we had a one-day Vaishnavi padayatra at Wadad village 15km from Amravati. As a district Medical Officer, I am well acquainted with our health workers, so while our ISKCON Girls’ Forum team did advance party work a few days before padayatra I liaised with fellow employees Anganwadi and Asha and they agreed to join us for padayatra.

Our group received an early-morning welcome at Wadad with the village ladies enthusiastically singing and dancing with us

Mark your calendars for the upcoming ISKCON HEARTS workshops listed below provided you by the esteemed members of the Holistic Emotional Awareness Relational Training & Support [HEARTS] Collaborative whose mission is to provide bhakti practitioners education, training & support that nourishes and sustains them on their journey back home to their eternal life with Krishna.

The workshops will cover a wide range of important topics such as; recovering from addiction, compassionate listening, grief

Do you also have one? Are you also connected with one of those things that just eats up your time? That just makes you obsessed. That is with you as a constant companion. And that is always getting your attention by making sounds and by vibrating. Do you also have one? You probably do. Time for a digital detox. Time to disconnect. Time to leave that thing. Time to simply break the habit. Are you also touching the screen more than you are touch your beads? It is time to go back to the basics.

Sr

Able driver, Gabriel, took us from Montreal to Niagara in just under 700 kilometers. It was a pleasant drive, though at spots wind came on strong as we were reminded that winter is not totally over.

Our destination is the town where water from an entire massive lake, Erie, descends 170 feet to create the Falls. In 1969, crews shut down the falls. Two bodies were found and millions of coins, which were removed (along with the remains of two corpses).

The Lions’ Club was kind to have us use their

I tried my best to help my own mother in spiritual life.

Unfortunately, throughout most of her life she never showed the slightest interest in religion.

I once asked her if she believed in God, and she replied, “Something may be out there.”

Whenever I visited her we would often debate the existence of the soul, life after death, karma, and similar topics.

Throughout the years I continued cultivating that little “something” in her heart by sending her Srila Prabhupada’s books, which invariably e

By Giriraja Swami

By Dayal Gopal dasa, Nepal sankirtan preacher

After a break of a few months to regroup and make minor personnel changes, by the mercy of Sri Guru and Gauranga and by the pure desire of pure devotees, on December 14, 2021, the auspicious day of Gita Jayanti, Nepal Padayatra continued to spread the message of the Bhagavad-gita throughout the hilly region of Nepal.
We are now just two devotees on Nepal Padayatra, Sudarshan dasa and myself. Sudarshan takes care of the oxen and drives the chariot ex

The presence of Srila Prabhupada in the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium in his murti form offers another wonderful opportunity to serve His Divine Grace and simultaneously help finance TOVP construction. The TOVP Fundraising Team is very pleased to announce the new Prabhupada Murti Nitya Seva campaign to our ever-growing list of Seva Opportunities.

Through this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you can sponsor either a monthly or one-time puja, garland, and prasadam offering to Srila Prabhupada fo