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He’s loved by the young ones. Benevolently, he works hard to please the kids at this time of year; operating in the North Pole in great preparation for the snow season. His beard, if big and white, like his snowy surroundings. The red outfit stands out. He’s chubby, jolly, and upbeat. He’s kind to all and keeps, as companions, a slew of reindeer that render him a great service. Without them he couldn’t get around. Affectionately he’s known as Santa Claus.

Historically, Santa was morphed out of S

By Sri Nandanandana dasa (Stephen Knapp)

Sometimes people say that they want to see God, or that God is not perceivable. And this is confirmed in the Vedic scripture, but with additional points of instruction on how we can perceive the Supreme Being. The Svetasvatara Upanishad (4.20) explains “His form of beauty is imperceptible to mundane senses. No one can see Him with material eyes. Only those who realize, through deep pure-hearted meditation, this Supreme Personality, who resides in ev

By Goloka Devi Dasi

Having been appointed just a matter of weeks ago, one of the first meetings the new Ambassador for Ireland, Mr. Akhilesh Mishra, wanted to arrange was with ISKCON!

A very nice, knowledgeable and humble man we spent about 40 minutes discussing Sanskrit (which he has studied and his father was a professor of), Vedic culture and the achievements of Srila Prabhupada.

Before leaving we presented him with the complete edition of the Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta. Somehow that seem

By

H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami

(On December 9th, 2021 (Odan Shasti), disciples and servants of H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami will be celebrating his 84th vyasa all over the world. On this occasion we are pleased to share below excerpts from his lecture’s question/answer session.

The excerpts from chapter ‘Prayers’ are adapted from the book “Sripada in Switzerland – Lectures, conversations and instructions of His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami in Switzerland published by BI,

By HG Atma Tattva dasa (ACBSP)

It was the beginning of 1977. Prabhupada was in Bombay temple. He was very sick. He had stopped all food intake – he was taking 1/4 a cup of orange juice per day. His body had only bones left – there was no flesh. And yet, he was insisting that he wanted to go to London. The doctors had given up responsibility. But as always, he was adamant.
At this time, one Pancaratrika Pandit from Bangalore named Sampat Kumar Bhattacarya came to know about Srila Prabhupada’

Perplexed by Krsna’s urging Arjuna to fight,
some students of the Gita accuse Krsna of being immoral.

Bhagavad-gita is famous as a harbinger of peace and good fortune. Mohandas K. Gandhi wrote, “The Gita has always been my source of comfort. Whenever I was unable to perceive a silver lining on the horizon, I opened the Gita and found a verse that gave me new hope.”

Yet even Gandhi, a great advocate of ahimsa, or nonviolence, found some of the Gita’s verses puzzling and disagreeable. Lord Krsna e

According to “The Lost Art of Dying,” an article in the Sunday Telegraph of London, people nowadays are trying to avoid the thought of death. One proof of this is that the dying are no longer cared for at home. Whereas a century ago only five percent of the British population died in a hospital, today more than seventy percent do. And the more people seek to keep death at arm’s length, the more perfunctory its rituals have become. Supposedly, there is very little weeping, and seventy-five percen

Devotee: Prabhupāda, when I’m serving you sometimes I feel very nice, but then when I think of how bad and imperfect this service is, I feel terrible. Which is right to feel?

Prabhupāda: (laughs) You feel terrible?

Devotee: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Why? When you feel terrible?

Devotee: When I see all the blunders I make, all the mistakes.

Prabhupāda: Sometimes… This is nice. To accept the blunders… Even there is no blunder. This is the symptom of sincere service. Just like a father is very beloved to hi

By H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami

(On December 9th, 2021 (Odan Shasti), disciples and servants of H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami will be celebrating his 84th vyasa all over the world. On this occasion we are pleased to share below excerpts from his lecture’s question/answer session.

The excerpts from chapter ‘Prayers’ are adapted from the book “Sripada in Switzerland – Lectures, conversations and instructions of His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami in Switzerland published by BI, Kol

From the purport of text 11.7.8 from the Bhagavatam, we read, “When a woman loves a man, she is most eager to see him, and she daily sees him dressed in different clothes. Actually, the woman is interested not in the clothes, but in the man. Similarly, within every material object is the Supreme Personlity of Godhead; therefore, one who has developed love of God is constantly seeing the Lord everywhere, and not just the superficial material objects that cover the Lord.”

Nice example on “proper p

As I stand where earth, sea, and sky meet, and watch the sun rise before me, it’s easy to feel the emotion of gratitude. Who am I to be so blessed and where does all this life and beauty come from?

Prabhupada says it well:

Every living entity, especially persons in the human race, must feel grateful for the benedictions offered by the grace of the Supreme Lord. Therefore anyone with a simple heart of gratefulness must be Kṛṣṇa conscious and offer devotional service to the Lord. Those who are act

Having been appointed just a matter of weeks ago, one of the first meetings the new Ambassador for Ireland, Mr. Akhilesh Mishra, wanted to arrange was with ISKCON!

A very nice, knowledgeable and humble man we spent about 40 minutes discussing Sanskrit (which he has studied and his father was a professor of), Vedic culture and the achievements of Srila Prabhupada.

Before leaving we presented him with the complete edition of the Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta. Somehow that seemed hugely appropriate giv

From Back to Godhead

Understanding the concept of destiny disempowers passivity and empowers a focus on duty.

Indian thought is sometimes deemed fatalistic, holding that everything is destiny, predetermined by our past actions, and thus leaving little room for human initiative. While Indian literature is filled with diverse thoughts, some of which may be fatalistic, the bhakti literature, which is among the most influential Indian literature, offers a far more nuanced and empowering outlook on l

There are places in Sudbury I just had to revisit as part of my personal “memory lane.” First of all Ramsey Lake, a sixty-five feet deep and eight kilometre-long body of water within the city limits; a place I would gravitate to fourty-nine years ago.

Damodara, my host in the city, drove a few of us to Cambrian College, where I attended as a fine arts student. Two boys accompanying us are current students in the computer science field. The campus has expanded since my time.

Finally, I just had t