It was great to go over to Lombok, which is the next island over from Bali, to visit the devotees. There are two centres there, one being a nice facility in the city of Mataram and the other our temple about 30 minutes drive away.
I was able to attend two programs, one on Saturday night in the city and the other at Sunday midday at our temple. The devotees here are very enthusiastic and were eager to come for kirtan, lecture, arati and prasadam.
There is no perfect time or place,
so if we wait, we will never accomplish,
or sing the song which vibrates our heart
meant to nourish every cell in our body.
To breathe out, one only has to breathe in,
but we can’t hold our breath forever;
so begin today while you are still breathing
because there are no tomorrows or could-bes.
Only a string of nows, do-days giving potential
at least one step of progress on the miles ahead
though even a step back can help us go forward
on our forever journey of
While I was chanting japa this morning, my mind was flooded with a verse from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s song Gurudeva!:
jogyata-vicare, kichu nahi pai, tomara karuna sara
karuna na hoile, kandiya kandiya, prana na rakhibo ara
“Upon examining my value, I find that I have none; your mercy is essential to me. Therefore, if you are not merciful I will constantly weep and I will not maintain my life any longer.”
Later, I saw just how appropriate and relevant the rest of the song was to my effort
Aandha gaja nyāyaḥ (blind men and the elephant)
A group of blind scientists approached an elephant, because they wanted to make a thorough research of the elephant how it looks like. One was touching his trunk, one his leg, one his tail. The first man, who had touched the elephant's trunk, described it as a fat huge serpent. The second man, who had touched the leg of the elephant described it having body as massive pillar. The third man, who has got hold of elephant's tail described it as a piec
For the first years of our devotional life we may not give much attention to
the topic of the false ego. We may not even be aware of how it affects us –
every day, prompting us to say things which we should better not say, and do
things which we should better not do. We may not realize the existence and
impact of this constant companion, because the false ego works in very
subtle ways. It can so easily remain hidden.
In due course of time, we may come to understand just how important this
topic
On 20th July, in Sri Vrindavan Dham, His Holiness Bhakti Dhira Damodara Swami Maharaja, the beloved disciple of His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja, launched his first book titled “Spiritual Connection: Understanding the Dynamics of Guru-disciple Relationship.”
The contents covered in the book are:
* Why a Living Guru?
* Why to surrender to a Guru?
* How to attract the mercy of the Spiritual Master?
* Guru’s order and Passing the Tests
* Taking risks in the service of Guru
* Role of Chast
While in Bali I was able to go out and visit the newly completed Visnu Garuda monument in the Nusa Dua area. This is the fourth highest of its kind in the world standing at 120 metres tall. An amazing architecture and sculptural achievement, although actual worship of the Lord would have been even better.
I also had the opportunity to be with my god brother and co-GBC for Indonesia, HH Kavicandra Maharaja. We attended the Rathayatra and other preaching programs together and it’s always nice t
WELCOME TO SRI KSHETRA PARIKRAMA
PURI DHAMA
14-17TH NOVEMBER 2019
On behalf of ISKCON Mayapur, we would like to welcome you to celebrate our 15th anniversary of Sri Kshetra Parikrama. This parikrama dates back to the time of Vidyapati, who was one of Lord Jagannatha’s most intimate worshippers, serving under the great King Indradyumna. Following the footsteps of our previous Acharyas, ISKCON Mayapur has been organizing this parikrama for the last 14 years. Honoring this tradition ISKCON Mayapu
After graduating from gurukula, a student of TKG Academy in Dallas has been accepted into the Eric Jonsson School of Engineering at the University of Dallas Texas at just seventeen years old.
Vraja Kishor Schomaker has also been awarded a Comet transfer scholarship, and is entering his third year of college with over seventy-five credits. All this despite a terrifying battle with a brain tumor in 2017 that left him temporarily unable to read.
His mother, Gopi Gita, who
While singing the Nrsimha prayers today, I was struck by the juxtaposition of two very different moods of the Lord—prahladahlada-dayine: He gave bliss to Prahlada, and hiranyakasipor vaksah-sila-tanka-nakhalaye: He cracked the stonelike chest of Hiranyakasipu with His sharp chisel-like nails.
namas te narasimhaya
prahladahlada-dayine
hiranyakasipor vaksah-
sila-tanka-nakhalaye
“I offer my obeisances to Lord Narasimha who gives joy to Prahlada Maharaja and whose nails are like chisels on the sto
Andha darpana nyāyaḥ (blind and mirror)
For a blind man it is useless to have a mirror, because it is of no use to him.
Present pelf civilization is forcibly pushing forth useless want for myriads of commodities in the form of food, clothing, computerized gadgets, entertainment, etc., totally unnecessary for man's happiness, but happily making huge amounts of money just to squander them on same useless commodities.
According to the principle mention by Śrī Īśopaniṣad 1:
īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvaṁ
yat kiñc
Diary of a Traveling Monk
Volume 15, Chapter 4 July 22, 2019 “Summer of Love”
During my teenage years, I was living in San Francisco during 1967’s “Summer of Love” when hippies were trying to establish the brotherhood of mankind without any positive lifestyle alternative or anyone to guide them. History shows that the young people of my generation fell hopelessly short of the goal of universal peace and love, for true love and peace can only be experienced on the spiritual platform.
The summer
The ISKCON Deity Worship Ministry (IDWM) acts on behalf of the GBC to ensure that the worship in our temples and centres is done according to the standards as given by Srila Prabhupada. It also provides training for devotees interested in developing their skills and abilities as Pujaris and brahmanas. The Ministry is also presently compiling ‘position papers’ that address often asked questions related to worship. By closely studying and researching Srila Prabhupada’s books, conversations and le
The New Govardhan ISKCON community in Murwillumbah, Australia is famous for the many outreach activities, especially catering and prasadam distribution programs they organize all year round.
This year the prasadam distribution management team utilized a Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) shaped pandal at one of the largest festivals in Australia, Splendour in the Grass 2019 Music Festival, in Byron Bay, attracting thousands of festival-goers to the beauty of the TOVP and the wonderful pras
There is a culture within this movement. Srila Prabhupada brought the transcendental knowledge from India and brought the culture from India as well. Seated on the floor, eating with the right hand, chapattis, puris, sabzis and so on. In the philosophy that we get through the scriptures, the knowledge is preserved. In the culture we get from the devotees, the knowledge is also preserved.
What Srila Prabhupada brought from India was the establishment of this ISKCON culture and many such things c
“When Lord Chaitanya was at Alalanatha, the devotees from Bengal arrived in Jagannatha Puri, and word was sent to the Lord that they were there waiting for Him and He should go there. But He was so much in the mood of separation that He did not want to return to Jagannatha Puri if he could not get darshan of Lord Jagannatha. The devotees very intelligently began kirtan, and in that kirtan Lord Chaitanya’s mind was pacified. In his purport, Srila Prabhupada explains that the holy names of Krish
