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Have You Forgiven?

Below is a checklist to help you determine whether or not you are practicing a life of forgiveness, and thus what you may still need to work on. Go over this checklist as many times as needed for any person you have issues with.

On a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest level of unforgiveness, rate your forgiveness practice (0 is a perfect practice).

You need your offender to apologize.

You need your offender to admit they were wrong.

You need your offender to receive

Speaking on Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.41, on June 7, 1976, in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada explained the following verse from the Padma Purana:

arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhir
visnor va vaisnavanam kali-mala-mathane pada-tirthe ’mbu-buddhih
sri-visnor namni mantre sakala-kalusa-he sabda-samanya-buddhir
visnau sarvesvarese tad-itara-sama-dhir yasya va naraki sah

“One who thinks the Deity in the temple to be made of wood or stone, who thinks of the spiritual master in t

Before I took my walk today I was sitting, and across from me was our senior-most monk who resides in our ashram. His name is Dakshin, a native of London, Ontario, and he became committed to bhakti, devotion, back in 1974 when he joined in Vancouver.

He’s a jolly and dutiful type of person and in the temple portion of our building he does two poojas (rituals) per day and also functions as our security for three hours. He can look mean with his stick and bears a grave persona, however, deep down

As the United States of America was established by its founding fathers, Srila Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krnsa Consciousness and therefore he is its Founder-Acharya. His goal was to establish a society by which to bring people of the world to Krsna.

In the beginning days of America the pioneers had to depend upon their own determination, strength and faith, to establish themselves in “the new world”. They saw this land as a place of opportunity where each person could pur

In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa describes four kinds of pious men (su-kṛtinaḥ) begin to render devotional service unto Him – the distressed (ārto), the desirer of wealth (arthārthī), the inquisitive,( jijñāsuḥ), and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute (jñānī)’

catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ janāḥ su-kṛtino ’rjuna
ārto jijñāsur arthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha (BG 7.16)

Dhruva Mahārāja was arthārthī Bhakta- desirous of wealth. He wanted a kingdom bigger than his grandfather Lord Brahmā. W

If one commits an offence, one has the duty to denounce that immediately; to denounce the offender. In the Caitanya Caritāmṛta, we have the story of how Gopāla Cāpāla became envious of Srivasa Thakura, who is a great devotee, and tried to diminish Srivasa Thakura’s prestige, due to which Gopāla Cāpāla then suffered leprosy as a result. He was then forced to stay outside the village as lepers are very contagious. Then one day, Gopāla Cāpāla met Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and fell at His feet and ask

An interview with Giriraj Swami by the ISKCON Strategic Planning Office, July 9, 2020, via Facebook.

Gauranga Dasa: Hare Krishna. We welcome all the devotees who have joined this weekly care conversation, Vaishnava seva. This week we are very honored to have with us His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja. We welcome His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja, who is one of the most senior of Prabhupada’s disciples. He was very active on the GBC, and was one of the founders of ISKCON India, especially the

Most days, on which I embark on my evening trek, I have a destination in mind to go either east, west, north or south. Sometimes I have no pre-arrangement so I let the wind talk to me. If the air currents go north/south, I’ll take that. If the breezes are more active east/west that’s where I feel I am being guided. Not since the summer of ‘77 has there been such an extended heat wave.

Martha Reeve and the Vandellas had a hit song on the charts. “Heat Wave” expressed in its lyrics a love-fever th

I heard a wonderful talk in which Srila Prabhupada—and Srimad-Bhagavatam—glorified the chanting of the holy names. I was present when Srila Prabhupada gave the talk at the Ardha-kumbha-mela in Allahabad on January 31, 1971.

Srila Prabhupada said, “The conclusion is:

na vai sa narakam yati
neksito yama-kinkaraih
yady apy amangalo martyo
visnu-loke mahiyate
       [SB 6.2.48] [‘Because this very confidential historical narration has the potency to vanquish all sinful reactions, one who hears or d

The challenges that the Vedic culture is facing in contemporary India. Local governments taking over temples’ assets, materialistic media deriding religious practices, famous Bollywood movies and actors in a mission against Vedic traditions, Christian conversions by unfair methods, communistic propaganda, western influence, the Muslim presence, cheating gurus, casteism, lack of an organized defense, how is Iskcon prepared to contribute in confronting this Kali-yuga degradation in the and of dha

The Global Devotee Care Directorate invites everyone to their weekly webinars focused on Vaishnava Seva and Devotee Care, an effort that emphasizes the culture of devotee care in our ISKCON temples and communities. We are pleased to announce this week’s discussion was led by HH Niranjana Swami Maharaj, who is the force behind one of the world’s largest thriving communities of devotees in Ukraine.
 

About HH Niranjana Swami

His Holiness Niranjana Swami was born

I never met Michael before but he seemed to know us. Just to make sure he had the right group in mind, he asked, “Hare Krishna?”

“Yes indeed,” I responded.

Then Michael, a man about fifty years old, proceeded to speak about a deity of Krishna which was moving His eyes—a deity owned by a Hindu friend of his. He inquired about our philosophy: “Is this pantheism?” simply because I had mentioned about seeing divinity in all things.

“Yes, brahman is everywhere, however, there exists a Supreme Brahman

Materialistic society teaches us to be aggressive and calculating so we can push our way through. In Vaisnava culture it is opposite – we offer respect. The reason: when you give respect without expecting something in return, you open yourself up to the power of divine blessings.

Imbibing a culture of respect, where you are deferential towards others in general but especially towards elders and vaisnavas, brings a tremendous potency to you that cannot be accessed otherwise. The driving force of

Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

HH Bhakti Charu Swami’s sudden departure has left an empty space in my heart.

Up to the last moment, I was praying and hoping that Maharaja would be able to overcome this disease.

I was always cherishing his association because it filled me with warmth, with a feeling of a close family member that was always there for me when something would go wrong. A hug from Maharaja was a booster in my Bhakti.

Maharaja’s ou

Shri Raghunandana Thakura made his appearance within this world in Shri Khanda. In his home he became acquainted with the worship of Shri Gopinatha from an early age. One day his father, Mukunda Dasa, who was a doctor, had to go away on medical business.

He called Raghunandana to his side. He told Raghunandana to see to it that their deity was served with great care and attention. He told him to be sure and feed the deity. At the appointed hour, taking the order of his father on his head, Raghu

“ *भगवद्गीता का परम् गुह्यज्ञान  सब विद्याओं का राजा है, जो समस्त रहस्यों में सर्वाधिक गोपनीय है, यह परम शुद्ध है और चूँकि यह आत्मा की प्रत्यक्ष अनुभूति कराने वाला है अत: यह धर्म का सिद्धांत है।  यह शाश्वत है और अत्यंत सुखपूर्वक सम्पन्न किया जाता है।“*
(श्रीमद भगवद्गीता  यथारूप अध्याय नौ श्लोक क्रमांक दो)

*"श्रीमद भगवद्गीता और श्रीमद्भागवतम का प्रचार प्रसार सर्वोत्कृष्ट कृष्णभावनाभावित कार्य है।"*
( इस्कॉन संस्थापकाचार्य कृष्णकृपामूर्ति  श्री श्रीमद अभय चरणारविन्द भक्ति वेदांत स्वामी श्रील प्रभुपाद

“ *भगवद्गीता का परम् गुह्यज्ञान  सब विद्याओं का राजा है, जो समस्त रहस्यों में सर्वाधिक गोपनीय है, यह परम शुद्ध है और चूँकि यह आत्मा की प्रत्यक्ष अनुभूति कराने वाला है अत: यह धर्म का सिद्धांत है।  यह शाश्वत है और अत्यंत सुखपूर्वक सम्पन्न किया जाता है।“*
(श्रीमद भगवद्गीता  यथारूप अध्याय नौ श्लोक क्रमांक दो)

*"श्रीमद भगवद्गीता और श्रीमद्भागवतम का प्रचार प्रसार सर्वोत्कृष्ट कृष्णभावनाभावित कार्य है।"*
( इस्कॉन संस्थापकाचार्य कृष्णकृपामूर्ति  श्री श्रीमद अभय चरणारविन्द भक्ति वेदांत स्वामी श्रील प्रभुपाद