Some devotees seldom use the word ‘mystical’ when describing other worldly subjects, due to obscure hazy connotations; preferring instead to use terms like inconceivable, transcendental or spiritual. Srila Prabhupada quite often used the word in the context of performing sincere devotional service, and the benefits derived from Bhakti.
It is known that Srila Prabhupada had a number of mystical experiences which he would tell to his close friends. Being aware of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s order to
Let us try to get a glimpse into Krishna’s heart today. How lovingly He reciprocates with His devotees and what makes Him obliged to His devotees. There is an underlying sweet mellow in Krishna’s exchange with His devotees. These mellows in Krishna’s heart are revealed to us by the acharyas, they know Krishna’s heart.
Now, the Lord comes to deliver the devotees (paritrāṇāya sādhūnām), but it is clearly stated in Bhagavad-gītā that a devotee transcends the material qual
On the bank of the Ganges, a young devotee of Krsna showed a
death-bound king the way to immortality.
King Pariksit was cursed to die within seven days. Yet he took it all as Krsna’s will, and at once he went to the Ganges to fast till the fatal moment. On hearing the news, great sages came from all over the universe to witness his passing.
“Please tell me,” the king asked, ” what is the duty of one who is about to die?”
Before the sages came to any consensus, a sixteen-year-old boy arrived, a
While distributing books in Wellington, New Zealand, I met a middle-aged lady from Finland. For many years she lived in north Finland, which she described as being remote and mountainous.
Somehow or other, she felt inspired to journey to the Himalayas and learn about yoga. Amazingly, while participating in a Himalayan yoga retreat, her teacher recommended that she read Bhagavad-gita and also that she visit the Bhakti Lounge in Wellington to learn more about spiritual life.
So our Finnish friend
It was with great pleasure that I could see Daruka, my support person for my fourth walk across the country, and also the second half of the third trek. This meeting with Daruka was very special, in his home area of Winnipeg/Transcona. His parents, especially his mother, wanted to meet me. Sometime in the past, I prayed for her when Daruka told me of her physical challenges. That touched her, even though I never met her. Although skeptical about her son getting “involved in a cult” years ago, s
A cleric was once training his students how to perform a wedding. During the cleric’s tutorial, a frisky cat who lived on the church premises repeatedly interrupted the proceedings by meowing and playing with the ceremonial items. To pacify the cat, the cleric asked one of his students to bring it a bowl of milk. After plying the rambunctious cat with milk, the cleric, a cat lover himself, stroked the cat until it became drowsy and fell asleep. Having accomplished his goal, he put the sleeping
Prof. George Wajackoyah speaks to journalists at his Karen offices on February 17, 2022
On Sunday, June 19, Prof. George Wajackoyah, a presidential candidate for the Roots Party, revealed that he is an ISKCON devotee and priest.
Wajackoyah acknowledged that he was a priest in the Hare Krishna movement in an interview with Tanzanian journalist Millard Ayo. His initiated name is Krishna-Balaram Dasa and received initiation from Srila Prabhupada in Nairobi.
“I am a High Priest at the Hare Krishna
You have all heard the saying, “Stop and smell the roses.” It’s a phrase that was used often in the ’60s (not sure if it had anything to do with hippie flower power). The message is hurry and worry less. Simon and Garfunkel, the exceptional duo singers, put it this way in their piece Feelin’ Groovy. “Slow down, you move too fast. Yah gotta make the mornin’ last.”
In any event, whenever I trek with the boys through the residential neighbourhoods, where great pride is displayed in individual lan
Rain is prevalent these days, but somehow or other the presiding God of all Gods seems to make way for some walking to take place. Thank you, Krishna. The water from above appears to get tossed around intermittently. It’s not a solid downpour. I understand, though, that Manitoba farmers are unhappy about the collective wetness.
During some rain, I had the pleasure to get interviewed indoors by R. Jamnu Radio, with host Apna, at 10 am. Initially it was going to be a twenty-minute talk, then it w
June 20th is World Refugee Day and it is Refugee Week up until the 24th of June.
Food For All’s great friend Jennie Matthias has released a new single in support of World Refugee Day 2022. All proceeds will go towards supporting refugees in London, by offering them food, work, and rehabilitation.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/food-for-all-is-supporting-world-refugee-day/
I could not resist going down an endless prairie dirt road for the friendly skies of Krishna – blue clouds, great air, and no stop signs or intersections to worry about. The road I chose is located where I’ve been staying; I didn’t catch the name of it but it is edged by lots for new housing units. Out of nine lots, seven are sold and one of them is already under construction, at least the foundation. Three men were up and at it, hard hats and all. They were surprised to see a spec of saffron a
I remember coming to the temple with two of my friends, and a beautiful kirtan—a very sacred kirtan—was in progress, probably led by Yamuna. We sat down and all of a sudden the devotees fell flat on the floor. Being polite young girls, we did the same for the first time in our lives. I was very curious and I wanted to see what was happening. I was thinking, “Why are they doing that?” I put my head up a little and I saw two beautiful golden feet passing by my head. I wanted to see to whom these
Cholars, artists and folk cried after freedom from time immemorial. Unfortunately, it frequently continues to be cry only for a simple reason – nobody of them knows what constitutes freedom and what slavery. So the meaning of the freedom itself is degraded.
In this essey I will deal with with bondage in its unalloyed and primary form as defined in Bhagavad-gita, the oldest book of freedom. My subject is easily understandable analogy of thraldom, w
Just as a very good sweet will have something hidden inside of it, or a company will have the inner group of key people, the Gita has a core made up of four verses. These are called the Catur Sloki (catur = four, and sloki = verses), and they summarize the entire Gita.
The eighteen chapters of the Gita are themselves divided into 3 parts. The middle six chapters focus on bhakti and are “protected” on either side by teachings on karma-yoga (the first six chapters) and jnana yoga (the focus of th
Lord Krsna is the source of all love. All living entities are emanated from Sri Krsna and He has created us for the exchange of unlimited love. Hence there is no question arising for love without Sri Krsna. On material level, we love people or a things for our sense gratification. There is always an expectation hidden in our love. But the real love is that in which there is no expectation. This is the test of a love. This love evolves only between Lord and His devotees. In other words if we wish
By Nrsimhananda das
The Devotee Care initiative has been expanding worldwide since 2015. Many hundreds of devotees have taken the Devotee Care course. Find it and everything else devotee caring at devoteecare.org/
History was made in Watford’s famous Cassiobury Park on Saturday 11th June. After local devotees gathered en masse along Watford’s bustling high street for hari nama chanting, for the first time they made their way to the park’s entrance to greet the cart carrying Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra. After a joyous Ratha Yatra procession around the park, a feast was served to everyone as they were serenaded with kirtan from a beautifully decorated bandstand.
Source: https://iskconnews.org/first-eve
The acaryas were so absorbed in chanting that they did not want to do anything else. When Gaura Kishor das Babaji was chanting and would get hungry, he would simply eat some clay from the Earth. He was hungry, but he did not want to be distracted by going elsewhere to eat since he wanted to keep on chanting. How can we understand this, how can we understand such a high taste for chanting?!
It is said in the Sri Caitanya-carita by Murari Gupta that, “Gopinatha Acarya took the path of hearing Sri
Vivaan, who’s 8, the son of my hosts in Lorette, shared with me a quote he loves about the forest – “You won’t get WIFI here but you will get connected.” I like that. I think we’ve all had incredible connections with the solitude of trees all around us.
For this morning I did not have the honour to be in the midst of green giants but did have the privilege to trek on a dirt road, to see the open prairie sky with Vivaan’s grand-uncle who is seventy-years-old but his 8. This is freedom.
At 2 pm an
By Giriraja Swami
Srila Prabhupada expressed his appreciation for his father in his dedication to his book Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “To My Father, Gour Mohan De (1849-1930) A pure devotee of Krsna, who raised me as a Krsna conscious child from the beginning of my life. In my boyhood ages he instructed me how to play the mrdanga. He gave me Radha-Krsna vigraha to worship, and he gave me Jagannatha ratha to duly observe the festival as my childhood play. He was kind to me, and I
