If Parikshit maharaja had killed Kali instead of forgiving him, we wouldn’t be suffering the effects of Kali now.’ Isn’t this a sensible argument? Let’s analyze…
Problems in Kali yuga:
Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali yugas with their respective symptoms are described in Srimad Bhagavatam in several places (11.5.19-32, 12.2.1-16). These ages are names as Golden age, Silver age, Copper age and Iron Age (1.1.21purport). This shows that the human beings who were provided an opportunity to purify the
The photo of Srila Prabhupada eating Sugar cane was taken in the first preaching center in Hawaii in an area named Kaaawa in March of 1969. It was Srila Prabhupada’s first visit to Hawaii and Govinda Dasi had arranged many preaching programs. We had borrowed Vamanadadev’s car and driven Srila Prabhupada into town(Honolulu) to KPOI radio station where Srila Prabhupada was going to be interviewed and talk about the chanting of Hare Krsna. Goursundar drove and Govinda dasi sat in the back seat behi
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About Guru Prasad Swami
Guru Prasad Swami was born in the USA and studied nuclear physics at Purdue University. After becoming disenchanted with science he transferred to the University of Texas where he made contact with the Hare Krishna movement; but it was later, during his military service in Panama when this encounter with ISKCON changed his life dramatically.
Upon concluding his military service Guru Prasad Swami joined a pioneering group of Krishna devote
An internship program has been launched to help build a website and carry out important research for the still under-development project “ISKCON at the United Nations.”
After applying and going through a rigorous approval process, The Office of Communications for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) received ECOSOC status with the UN in 2016, the highest level at which an NGO can be associated with the UN.
ECOSOC (The United Nations Economic and Social Council) is one o
The material world is dominated by lust. That is what this world is all about; lust somehow or another in so many varieties and forms. The spiritual domain however, is dominated by love.
Lust is self-centred; lust is ultimately asking, “What is in it for me?” Love on the hand is giving, love is aiming to please others. So that is spiritual consciousness, pleasing others. That is the essence of the spiritual world. This mantra that we are chanting, it comes directly from the spiritual world. And
“We have some questions,” asked a curious young couple, modest in appearance and child-like in inquisitiveness, as I sat there in the centre of the park. I slid over on the bench to make room for them.
“What do you believe?” they persisted.
“We follow an ancient way from India called bhakti, it is a form of yoga-devotion.” I replied.
“You’re not a Buddhist?”
“No, we follow Krishna.”
“Christian?”
“No, Krishna, the speaker of the, Bhagavad-gita. Do you both live here in Canada?”
“We just arrived.
We sometimes think of ourselves as being good adjudicators of who is serious in Krishna consciousness, and who is not. Who is pure, or not. Expecting that “More people will leave Krishna consciousness than stay,” we easily become proud of being one of the “privileged few” to remain.
Being of the surprising few and rationalising this way is certainly premature, and signals immediate complacency. The adage, “It is how you finish that counts; not how you start,” usually escapes our attention when
This year we won't get the chance to pull Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Subhadra Devi's chariots through the streets but don’t let that dampen your spirits. Get ready to welcome Them into your hearts this weekend!
ISKCON Berlin, London, Radhadesh and Zurich are organizing the Spirit of Ratha Yatra, a unique first-time European virtual collaboration festival jointly hosted on Saturday 18th July, 11:00 - 17:00 CEST / 10:00 - 16:00 BST.
The festivities will include Deity darshans, history
By Achyut Gopal Das
Being born in this world is not easy and being born as a woman is definitely not easy and being a chaste woman and trying to live a principle-centered life is definitely, definitely not easy. The struggles a woman goes through being a wife, raising children and running a family is many times beyond comprehension and very often, overlooked. Running an empire is easier than running a family. But probably the biggest challenge of womanhood is in being understood. Every woman loo
Raccoons can be seen during the day or night, but, like most party animals, they seem to prefer the nocturnal time of a twenty-four hour cycle. On my return journey from Bellevue Square Park, I heard the familiar sound of scratching claws against the bark of hardwood trees. There, at George Street, my eye captured three little guys at the same tree, each on different levels.
Partying? I guess. Exploring? For sure.
Anyway, I had just come from the park and was personally disgusted with what hum
“Ocean of Mercy: A Search Fulfilled” is His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami’s memoir of his childhood and youth in India, his travels in Europe, his search for a guru back in India, his joining the Krsna consciousness movement in July of 1976, and his intimate service to Srila Prabhupada from then till Prabhupada’s departure in November of 1977. In honor of Bhakti Charu Swami and his greatly inspiring life of devotional service, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust is making this book available in pdf form
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So we just try to broadcast and today is July 6th and this is two days after the departure of Bhakti Charu Swami, so I decided that I would like to share with all of you what I believe is in his heart and what he would want us to understand from his life and take forward. And I’ll also share some of my experiences with him but I think sharing what’s in his heart is extremely important for all of us and especially important for the future of ISKCON. I’ll begin just sharing a few of
The hallmarks of ISKCON, its seven purposes were reaffirmed through a series of interviews and dialogues by the exemplary leaders of ISKCON who personify these seven purposes in their own exquisite ways. COVID-19, a global pandemic might be a menace but ISKCON GBC SPT Team optimized the lockdown situation by utilizing the social media forum to celebrate ISKCON’s incorporation day by reaffirming its seven foundational purposes set forth by its founder Acarya A.C Bhaktived
In what is normally an event with 30-40,000 people in attendance, the Festival of India/Chariots was down scaled substantially due to the epic Covid-19 epidemic. That’s the reality today—learn to adjust.
The organizers of this year‘s program in Toronto operated as cool as cucumbers, as usual, and their approach to this beloved event was full of innovation. Deities of Jagannath were stationed in a convertible and were taken for a ride down the customary route of Yonge St to the waterfront at Su
By Rajesh Hirani
Finally, when Srila Prabhupada said to you strongly:
“I will get better only when I die”
You broke down crying.
But he wished to bind you even closer:
“Is this what you have learnt from me?
The soul is always there – immortal!”
Although your heart ached with constant agony
you always lived with the understanding –
that Srila Prabhupada is constantly there…
Like a mother hiding behind a curtain
who wishes to teach her son to walk
by urging him to search for her: “Come, come…I am
When we fly to greater heights in the sky of bhakti, we become free from darkness in ourselves.
ākāśa — ananta, tāte yaiche pakṣi-gaṇa
yāra yata śakti, tata kare ārohaṇa
(Caitanya Caritamrta Antya Lila 20.79)
The sky is unlimited, but many birds fly higher and higher according to their own abilities.
I started thinking about the sky as the sky of devotional service and how different birds are flying at different levels of devotional service. In the beginning, the weight of old habits is stro
I was on two zoom calls this morning with Trinidad, Tobago, and Guyana as the first, then a second call with Brampton. During both online communications, I presented details of the first Ratha Yatra (or Festival of the Chariots) five millennia ago when people from all over Bharatvarsha (Greater India) converged at Kuruksetra during a solar eclipse. It was a massive familial reunion of the Yadu Dynasty.
That presentation, in many ways, was supplementary. The main focus of each conversation was wi
Let us hear from HG Jagattarini Devi Dasi as she reaffirms the Purpose # 5 of ISKCON (To erect for the members and for society at large a holy place of transcendental pastimes dedicated to the personality of Krishna).
About Jagattarini Devi
Her Grace Jagattarini Mataji joined ISKCON and first met Srila Prabhupada in America in 1970 (many of you may have heard of this famous story of a successful actress becoming a devotee). Through her connections with the Movement, Jagattarini met her husband
