All Posts (35617)

Sort by
Volunteer

Finishing favouritism

If you love Krishna, you can love everybody. If you do not love Krishna, you cannot love anybody.- His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Achayya of International Society for Krishna Cosnciousness (ISKCON) 

 

The news of recent suicide by the Bollywood star, Sushant Singh Rajput has once again raised the issue of the diabolical existence of the devil named favouritism that had been hiding agelong under the carpet of the prowess of a group of influential people in the film i

Read more…
Comments: 1

7158848479?profile=RESIZE_584xA thief while committing crime knows he will be punished if caught. And when he is caught and punished, he promises to himself and to the judge in the court that henceforth he will never steal. But as soon as he is out of jail he again begins stealing.

A student knows if he does not study, he will fail. An employee knows if he does not work sincerely, he will be fired. Many times we take a vow to not indulge in an act which may negatively impact us. But still we do it and we suffer.

We may wonde

Read more…

Jhulan Yatra 2020

7158785476?profile=RESIZE_400xDear devotees,
 
Dandavats. With great pleasure we, the Jhulan Yatra team invite you to participate in the Jhulan Yatra Festival 2020 at Sri Dham Mayapur.
 
Jhulan is one of the eternal Astaka Lila pastimes that Sri Sri Radha Madhava and Their associates perform daily in Gokul Vrindavan.
 
Each year the Mayapur Vaisnava Senior Youth organize the Jhulan Yatra festival for the pleasure of Sri Sri Radha Madhava under the guidance of H.G. Jananivas Prabhu and H.G. Pankajanghri Prabhu. The festival r
Read more…

CgMts4O.jpg?profile=RESIZE_584x

By Sri Nandanandana dasa (Stephen Knapp)

When the spiritual master leaves the body and moves on, it is naturally the worst day of the disciple’s life. Many times we have become accustomed to thinking of our guru in a particular way, serving him in certain ways, listening to his classes, waiting and longing for him to visit our town or local temple, engaging in special exchanges with him or her, and then suddenly all such prospects are gone. The depth of our despair can be unfathomable. So wha

Read more…
Covid-19
 
By Madhava Smullen 

The podcast boom has accelerated in the first half of 2020, perhaps partly due to the appetite for more streaming content while people stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. ISKCON devotees have also embraced the medium, and recently a new podcast, 5 Minute Meditations, has emerged as a digestible weekly slice of Bhagavad-gita philosophy, practically applicable to everyday life. 

Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor.fm and Youtube, the podcast is hosted by ISK

Read more…
cf6d80a0-83cc-46ac-b193-ac9268ef0e8e-1024x1024.jpg
 
Join us for your weekly dose of inspiration directly from Prabhupada disciples where you can relish the nectar, personal past times, instructions and so much more.

Do not miss this opportunity to come closer to Srila Prabhupada and his disciples.

Join us for the first episode this Saturday at 5:30pm (IST) with HH Jayaptaka Swami Maharaj on ‘Initiating the Mayapur Project’.

This will be available on all Mayapur.TV platforms and also via Jayapataka Swami Facebook page.

Source: https://w

Read more…

Friend Making by Bhaktimarga Swami

7156077869?profile=RESIZE_400x


“What do you think about this scamdemic?” asked the cyclist who stopped upon seeing me.

Before I was to say something as a response I knew I was going to dialogue with a radical-thinker, who has his own views on Covid-19. I wanted to make sure to make a friend. That was the most important thing on my mind. After all I’m making some inroads toward pal-making on Bloor Street, mostly because of the fact that it’s the street I frequent as of late.

And so, for the dialogue, and my response:

“We are

Read more…

7150450670?profile=RESIZE_400x

This book distribution story needs a little background. It’s like many stories from so many devotees all over the world, which give us a sense of the unexplainable magic of book distribution.

Those deeply mystical points in time, those strange moments, when synchronicity only gives a vague explanation for what just happened. Points in time when you just know deep down in your soul that Paramatma, the Supersoul, is actually the person doing everything. He is in the heart of the distributor, He i

Read more…

7150420894?profile=RESIZE_400x
Srila Prabhupada’s letter to Amsu das on 13 August 1974:
“Regarding the worship of our Gaura Nitai by women pujaris, we worship Lord Chaitanya in His householder life when He was with His wife, and not as a sannyasi. So, it is alright for women to do this service. But, besides this, service is spiritual and there can be no material designation. In Bhagavad-gita it is stated by Lord Krsna: striyo vaisyas tatha sudras te’pi yanti param gatim. The principle is that everyone who is properly initiate

Read more…
rajz4_slideshow.png?profile=RESIZE_584x

While the coronavirus is spreading throughout the world, so is kindness. Even though they are physically restricted in their movement, people find ways to reach out, express appreciation to and care for one another. 

On May 15th, ISKCON News announced a contest for young devotee artists between the ages of 3-18, asking them to recognize and capture these little acts of kindness around them and turn them into artwork. Dozens of pieces were submitted to the 'Kindness Pandemic' Art Contest, and t

Read more…

Opportunities by Bhaktimarga Swami

7150381456?profile=RESIZE_400xTo complement walking, swimming is one of those activities on the top of the list. A most pleasant person from Stratford, Jaya Gopal, picked me up from the big city to bring me to Lake Couchiching, one of three clean and tame lakes in the Orillia area. Now that was super sweet, however, the real purpose of the day was to partake in Orillia’s first Ratha Yatra festival. Done in downscale-style, the deities of Jagannath were set in the backseat of a van, and then driven to dozens of recipients, mo

Read more…
jag1_slideshow.png?profile=RESIZE_584x


Starting in 1973, residents of New Vrindaban, West Virginia, held their own small rural Rathayatra festival on the farm, a sweet event with Lord Jagannath riding a succession of different charmingly rustic makeshift carts.

In the early 2000s, Malati Devi, one of the organizers of San Francisco’s 1967 Rathayatra – the first outside India – commissioned a proper traditional chariot and the festival grew in popularity within the community. 

Then in 2016, the Rathayatra became a public annual even

Read more…

3835669549?profile=RESIZE_710x

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

Read more…

7143027080?profile=RESIZE_400xSpeaking 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

Read more…

Individuals by Bhaktimarga Swami

7143014290?profile=RESIZE_400xBefore 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

Read more…

2515124816?profile=original

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

Read more…

2018-12-14_05-41-36.jpg?profile=RESIZE_584x

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

Read more…
om1_00JHS8I_slideshow.png?profile=RESIZE_584x

By Madhava Smullen

First and second-generation kirtaniyas have created a new song dedicated to beloved ISKCON guru Bhakti Charu Swami, who passed away on July 4th. 

Second-generation devotee Nadiya Mani sings lead vocals and Prabhupada disciple Bada Haridas backing vocals on the epic nine-and-a-half-minute standalone single Ocean of Mercy, which was released on Friday July 17th to iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Google Play. https://smarturl.it/oceanofmercy

The deeply moving, s

Read more…

7140924063?profile=RESIZE_400xIf 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

Read more…

7140914865?profile=RESIZE_400xAn 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

Read more…