Active Listening

Adapted, with permission, from The Art of Teaching, by HG Bhurijana Prabhu

Who Owns the Problem?

The first step in trying to solve a problem is to identify who owns it, because you need to approach the situation differently if you own the problem or not. The owner is whoever is tangibly and concretely affected by the problem.

If the problem belongs to the other person, it is appropriate to listen, trying to understand exactly what is going on. If you own the problem, the counse

By Sacinandana Swami

Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! (chorus)…Hare Krishna. I’m Sacinandana Swami and am every excited to be here with all of you. Hare Krishna… yes now since Malika Mala has arrived, we all feel complete. Before Malika Mala arrived it felt as if one kidney was missing. Ha ha.. But now we are complete. Hare Krishna.

I wanted to ask you before I start:

Were you successful in practicing what you were discussing at the end of this morning program?

Yes? Was it working? 50 -50?

Please ke

I am very grateful to be with all of you, thank you for being here. Bhakti Vinod Thakur has written that the difficulties endured in his service to the Lord, for the pleasure of the Lord, is his greatest happiness.

“Material life is when we put the flickering pleasures and securities of the mind and the senses in the center of our lives, our decisions, our aspirations, our goals are according. Spiritual life or true bhakti is when we put the pleasures of God or Krishna in the center of our lif

Subject: TOVP
Mayapur Dhama

HH Gopala Krishna Maharaja speaks:

Hare Krishna!
In 2014-15 we had a program similar to this. Several senior devotees got together and spoke about the glories of the Mayapur Project and the need for all of us to participate in this project. So I suggested to Vraja Vilas the other day why don’t we have a similar program now.

So the purpose of the program today is to increase the awareness and the importance of all of us participating to complete the TOVP project in ti

Sri Radhika Stotra 108 Names of Srimati Radharani
by Srila Raghunatha Dasa Goswami

aviksatmesvari kascid vrndavana-mahesvarim
tat padamboja-matraika gati dasyati katara
patita tat-saras tire ruda tyartha-ravakulam
tac chri-vaktreksanavaptyai namanyetani sanjagau

Some maidservant, unable to find her Mistress, has fallen on the bank of Radhakunda, crying in great anxiety, being very eager to take exclusive shelter of Her Lotus Feet, glorifying Her by singing the following names of Her Mistress:

“How any spiritual activity should be done is understood from three sources: saintly persons, standard scriptures and the spiritual master”. (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.28.4, purport)

Proper sankirtan – a phrase used by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati in his Sri Sanmodana Bhasyam and by Lord Caitanya Himself – means certain tunes, certain instruments, a certain musical style, certain dress and certain kinds of dancing by the members of the chanting party. In Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan movement, r

By Radhanath Swami

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Shri Krishna explains,

janma karma ca me divyam
evaà yo vetti tattvataù
tyaktvä dehaà punar janma
naiti mäm eti so ‘rjuna
[BG 4.9]

‘One who understands the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities never attains…never has to take birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode.’ Those divine personalities who come to distribute the treasure of prema bhakti, the emissaries of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, their lila

By Mahatma das

What is falldown? Breaking the four regulative principles or giving up devotional service is generally referred to as falldown. Although this is the main focus of this article, the principles I discuss relate to positively dealing with any kind of setback in spiritual life.

Falldown happens to many devotees and it can be discouraging. It can even cause one to give up.

“Women and wealth are very difficult problems for the devotee making progress on the path back to Godhead. Ma

By Urmila devi dasi

I watch the sun rising over the horizon where the Pacific Ocean touches the sky. In the beauty of its red glow painting sea, sky, and clouds, I chant the Brahma gayatri mantra, a meditation on the sun. Receiving and chanting this mantra is an essential part of diksa, initiation into the succession of spiritual teachers and disciples from the beginning of universal creation. Those unfamiliar with gayatri might wonder why modern educated people would mediate on the sun, having

By Urmila devi dasi

I watch the sun rising over the horizon where the Pacific Ocean touches the sky. In the beauty of its red glow painting sea, sky, and clouds, I chant the Brahma gayatri mantra, a meditation on the sun. Receiving and chanting this mantra is an essential part of diksa, initiation into the succession of spiritual teachers and disciples from the beginning of universal creation. Those unfamiliar with gayatri might wonder why modern educated people would mediate on the sun, having

The test of a theory is in its implementation. While one can spend a lot of time analyzing the process of bhakti, faith readily comes when one sees the theory in action. Jayananda Prabhu is such a devotee who exemplified in an almost classical manner the process of bhakti from inception to completion. When he left his body on May 1, 1977, Srila Prabhupada instructed that his disappearance day should be celebrated as that of a great Vaisnava. Observing the pastimes of such devotees greatly reaff

narayanam namaskrtya
naram caiva narottamam
devim sarasvatim vyasam
tato jayam udirayet
[SB 1.2.4]

Before reciting this Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is our very means of conquest, we should offer respectful obeisances unto Lord Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, unto Nara-narayana Rsi, the supermost human being, unto Mother Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, unto Srila Vyasadeva, the author, and unto to Srila Prabhupada, the translator, commentator, and our spiritual master.

nasta-pr

Srimad Bhagavatam 4.30.17
divya-varsha-sahasranam
sahasram ahataujasah
bhauman bhokshyatha bhogan vai
divyams canugrahan mama

TRANSLATION

The Lord then blessed all the Pracetas, saying: My dear princes, by My mercy, you can enjoy all the facilities of this world as well as the heavenly world. Indeed, you can enjoy all of them without hindrance and with full strength for one million celestial years.

PURPORT

The duration of life prescribed for the Pracetas by the Supreme Personality of Godhead

From Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir!
Date: March 15, 2013
Verse: SB 4.30.8 

atha mayy anapayinya  bhaktya pakva-gunasayah
upayasyatha mad-dhama nirvidya nirayad atah

TRANSLATION: Thereafter you will develop unadulterated devotional service unto Me and be freed from all material contamination. At that time, being completely unattached to material enjoyment in the so-called heavenly planets as well as in hellish planets, you will return home, back to Godhead.

PURPORT: By the grace of the Lord, th

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Why does our consciousness come down to this plane? Why doesn't it have a higher conception of higher spiritual existence. Instead our attention is drawn to some material thing on the mundane plane. We think that some medicine, or some intoxication can help us. When we cannot raise my consciousness to the finer and higher conscious substance, then we come to seek help in the material world. "These substances will help me." It is suicidal.

We cannot manage to have a connection directly with the hi

62^nd Vyasa Puja of HH Lokanath Swami -11^th July, 2011.