I was sitting with monk Brhat Mrdanga and talking about the upcoming Bhakti Academy, a training for new men and women, when a call came in. It was the voice of a man.
“I am interested in a program for brahmacarya (celibate) life. I play basketball, and I really want to focus on the sport and not get distracted. I belong to a different faith than yours, but it doesn’t offer a program for what I want, the brahmacarya program.”
I was listening to his story and request for training and I turned the
When I open the window in the morning, I get a burst of a fragrant lilac explosion and that is early; before sun-up. By the time the sun does rise, the dynamic colour of this pleasant flower becomes an additional entertainer. Nature continues to surprise and charm us (also at times harm us).
Mahadeva, Annapurna, and I are putting the pieces together for a three-week trip to the east coast. In two days, the 18th, along with a young man, Bhakta Ryan from Montreal, we will depart for Nova Scotia t
The cherry blossoms are over, but that did not deter park lovers from coming to High Park. As mentioned, last week a constant stream of people was flowing into the main entrance off of Bloor, and it is there, on the green, under the trees, a few meters set in, where we (the chanters) were. And it was special; a good percentage of people spilling in wanted to see what the happy excitement was all about.
Our time slot for this weekly venture, which is likely to run till the end of October, is fro
Serving Guru Maharaja in Bombay from 1990 to 1992 was sometimes a real challenge, because we had hardly any facilities.
In the beginning there were only three of us, not even initiated then—Bhakta Juan, Bhaktin Manju, and myself, Bhaktin Flor.
Cooking was done on the second floor in a small kitchen connected to the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Guru Maharaja always took his prasadam in his office, and, as he liked hot chapatis, we were cooking them on the second floor and then running down the hall
After delivering some classes on the Gita for the evening, to accommodate families that work during the day, Vallabha Hari and I took that stroll through Yorkville. The weather was just perfect. It hit twenty-three degrees Celsius. Every fragrant flower, bush, or tree is in full bloom. Lit evening lampposts reveal every colour that foliage provides.
“I am flower-bearing spring,” the Lord describes in the Gita.
People, too, are very much alive. It’s Friday. The work week is over. There are lots
German pessimist philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) thought that nirvana, (freedom from suffering) means becoming desireless putting an end to our will. But His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada disagrees….
Arthur Schopenhauer
Hayagriva dasa: Arthur Schopenhauer was a nineteenth-century German philosopher who took some of his ideas from the Indian Vedic literature. For Schopenhauer, happiness meant inactive satisfaction nirvana. Since he thought that the will to enjoy
At one opulent home in London, I rang the doorbell, and in response from within came a tirade of foul language – yelling at me to go away. I did not. I kept ringing the bell. I don’t know why, but I felt that I could convince this person to take a book.
Finally, a distraught and furious young man opened the door and shouted at me “Why are you bothering me? I told you to go away! Who are you anyway?”
I told him, “I am from the Hare Krishna temple.”
As soon as he heard “Hare Krishna” his fury dis
My beloved disciple Rasa Sundari dasi just left her cancer-ridden body in Malaga, Spain. She was surrounded by devotees lovingly serving her and chanting the holy names, and I was present by video call during her last two hours. She left at the auspicious time of the Deity greeting, which she never missed. Just before she departed, she opened her eyes, looked at a picture of me, smiled, and left.
Srila Prabhupada said that when a Vaishnava departs, we feel simultaneously happy and sad. We feel h
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Matt Nash, from Welland, interviewed me for his podcast. It came clear in the interview that we were both raised Catholic. We both stepped back from our faith in order to explore other avenues, not necessarily religious. That is quite common for young folks in the developed world. The counter-culture of the ’60s grabbed my attention and I imagine some version of pop culture captured his fancy.
After my experimentation was complete (and that did involve walking and hitch-hiking), I took to bhakt
When devotees look at their obstacles to advancement in Krsna consciousness, they sometimes doubt whether they will ever be able to overcome all of them (for those of you who haven’t taken my seminar on prayer, we ask participants to make a list of obstacles they face in devotional service and formulate prayers to overcome those obstacles). It is easy to become discouraged and thus feel it may not even be worth praying to overcome obstacles. Or you may think that if you go on in devotional serv
Wherever you go India, America, and points between you find certain people who seem to be getting less of life's pleasures and more of its pains. What's the solution? Increase public aid? Provide better job opportunities? Demand equal rights? After reading an article on the plight of India's "untouchables" (Harijans), Tamal Krsna Gosvami wrote to the author about the real solution. It's education but not just any education …
14 April 1977
Dear Professor Parmar,
I read with keen interest your ar
I was distributing books in Mexico. It was a very difficult day. Everyone was saying no, all day, and I had many books in my bag. It felt heavier as the day went on.
Then I saw a young lady, and I was thinking of not approaching her because I had already received so much rejection. But I thought, “What’s one more rejection?” I approached her and offered her the Bhagavad gita. She didn’t say anything.
Then I started telling her that the book tells about the soul and about God and how to have a l
Just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, who is eternal, who is the Supersoul of all living entities, who is greatly effulgent, and who is the complete whole, is the foremost of all godly personalities—as the worshipable goddess, Mula-prakrti, is best of all godesses—as Mahadeva is best of all Vaisnavas, perfectly learned persons, and yogis—as the mind is the best of all the senses and other fast moving objects—as Brahma is best of all knowers of the Vedas—as Ganapati is best of a
The Governor of Kerala state of India, honorable Shri. Arif Mohammad Khan officially inaugurated the brief biography of Srila Prabhupada titled ‘The Captain’ written by Toshan Nimai Das from ISKCON Pune on 4th May 2022.
Written and presented on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the appearance of Srila Prabhupada, this book is based on Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita and other biographies of Srila Prabhupada and is presented in a brief biography style in 14 chapters. After each chapter, the au
After a two-year hiatus from the annual Sadhu Sanga Kirtan retreat, it is back! The Sadhu Sanga retreat is the offering of His Holiness Indradyumna Swami, one of Srila Prabhupada’s most distinguished disciples. This year’s event is a weekend of enthusiastic kirtan, world-class prasadam, and devotional classes which will take place Memorial Day weekend (May 27 – 30th) at the gorgeous Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah. Registration is currently closed as the event sold out in jus
We get swept up and busy with so many things happening around us. That is the time to go back to basics, Bhagavad Gita!
Bhagavad Gita is our anchor and it gives the transcendental perspective. We get swept away and busy with so many things happening around us. That is when we go back to basics, go back to Bhagavad Gita!
Video : Click here
The holy timeless village of Devprayag is in Himalayas in Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand state. It is situated on the road that leads towards Badrinath Dhama. At Devprayag is a unique confluence (sangam) of two celestial rivers Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Rivers that both form the mainstream flow of the Ganges River. One can distinctly see this amazing phenomenon as the slightly dull colour Alaknanda river coming from behind the Giddhanchal mountain meets the
Department of Religion and Spirituality, Zefat Academic College, Safed 1320610, Israel
Abstract: This paper is engaged with the topic of reincarnation in the Bhagavad gītā, better termed “rebirth”. It first looks into the epistemological aspects of rebirth, and highlights the type of knowledge or terminology underlying the vision of rebirth, as opposed to a different type of knowledge that is not suitable for this purpose, and which leads to a different vision of reality. It then looks into the
Today’s world is in disarray. Even the so-called educated class of society has no idea how to be happy, or how to do good for the world. Fortunately for us, the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya entertained this idea thousands of years ago. As a result of their thousand-year sacrifice, the enlightened sage, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, spoke Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the panacea for respiritualizing the entire planet. Because the Bhāgavatam addresses the root cause of suffering, it is a cure-all for the many ills we suffer i
