From Back to Godhead
Krishna is always engaged in sport, and when we try to imitate Him, we lose.
When the 2017 Super Bowl game, the summit of American professional football, was held in Houston, a devotee convinced me and a few others to try to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books at a huge pregame event downtown. Venturing into the passionate, teeming crowd, we sold a few books, but not so many. This experience reinforced what was already obvious: mundane sport certainly has a powerfu
The rich theology of the Vedic literature can end speculative attempts to resolve the apparently contradictory concepts of predestination and free will.
Kimberly picks up a tape by a rock band known for its satanic image and clicks it into her Walkman. Putting on the earphones, she turns the volume way up.
“Maybe I was just made evil,” says Kimberly to herself. That leads to another thought. “Maybe some people are made good. Like Heather. Everything always seems to go right for Heather. G
First of all there was this wave of interest in start-up transcendental theatre. The local Noida community attended our planned Theatre Arts Workshop. 50 folks attended, men and women, with the age range from 7 years old to 78. That could be a challenge but not with this group. It became a thoroughly enjoyable experience for all - a loosen up, voice - empowering, relaxing, stretching, creative prodding one. I engaged our natural teachers from our troupe to share their skills. Parama Karuna led
“Is chanting all that your religion does? Don’t you do welfare or anything like that?”
Alex, my barber, works at the Pilatos salon in Queens, New York, on the cusp of a Hispanic neighborhood. The salon has mostly Latino hairdressers and clients, and it is bright and upbeat, with salsa music often playing softly in the background. On a recent visit there, instead of salsa, I heard the chanting of om namo bhagavate vasudevaya, which means “obeisance to the Supreme Lord Krishna.” I remarked to Ale
By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi
The 68th Annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), the United Nations’ (UN) largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment, took place this year from March 11-22, 2024. The event’s focus was “accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.”
The delegation of devotees who represented ISKCON Vaishna
In a spiritual culture you can surely expect blessings in great number. You will lose count of them because they are numerous even if you have a registering type of mind. Today's blessing came in the form of a visiting monk and his name is Devamrta Swami, an Afro American devotee of the Hare Krishna Movement.
He came into the temple hall while Kirtan was going on. Naturally it created some excitement as he made his way to the vyasasan, the exalted seat for the teacher of the Gita or the Bhagava
Some suggestions on how to stay inspired.
Somehow, it happens that our motivation in Krishna consciousness may falter. Usually that faltering comes in the form of lacking the desire to do some practical service, associate with devotees, or develop our spiritual practices, such as improving the quality or quantity of our chanting or of our reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books. Whenever this happens to me or a friend, I realize the urgency and fragility of devotional service and the importance of
Hearing Srila Prabhupada Solves All Our Problems
Srila Prabhupada once said that when devotees give up practicing Krishna consciousness it is ‘fifty percent their fault, and fifty percent ISKCON’s”. In this article I would like to explore what I perceive as a systemic problem contributing to our society’s fifty percent of the blame.
It is surely surprising that someone should get as far as seriously following the process of Krishna consciousness, only to give it up again. Most of us experienc
Many people think that science and spirituality will always be at odds, but true religion must be supported by science, and true science must be supported by religion.
Real religion is sanatana dharma, or eternal duty. It is based on universal truth rather than rituals or superstition. Real religion is about truth because God is truth. When religion is true, it is applicable to the material world and can be used to explain natural phenomena. Here’s how by taking three science courses (astronomy,
Excerpt from the lecture by HH Nirañjana Swami
Baltics Winter Festival, January 17, 2014
The following is a partially-edited transcription of an excerpt of a lecture given on January 17, 2014, at the Baltics Winter Festival – Chanting with Feeling
Today I wanted to read and speak from a few quotes about the Holy Name. Some of them I have read recently and found a lot of significance to them, not only to myself but those with whom I shared them. A lot of times the devotees struggle to make their
From Back to Godhead
“From the viewpoint of eternity, a life span of five thousand years is the same as that of five years: both are a flash, both temporary.”
Two summers ago when the Reforestation Department of the Sequoia National Park in California gave away excess baby Sequoia trees, I got four and planted them on our nine-acre property in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Sequoias don’t produce useful things like fruits or flowers. They simply live—for thousands of years. And t
Srivasa Thakura, one of the members of the Pancha-tattva, lived in Navadvipa-dhama in Mayapur, near the residence of Jagannatha Misra and Sacidevi, where Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared. Later, when Lord Chaitanya began His sankirtana movement in Navadvipa-dhama, He and His other most confidential associates would meet at Srivasa-angana, the home of Srivasa Thakura, and have kirtan throughout the night. The kirtans at Srivasa-angana were ecstatic, and only the most intimate devotees of Sri Ch
By Niranajan And Jayapataka Swami
Today being the Disappearance day of our most beloved HH Sridhar Swami Maharaj we thought of remembering one of Srila Prabhupada’s favorite sons, his Samadhi is in Mayapur next to the Samadhi of HH Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaj, and Srila Prabhupadas Pusya Samadhi.
HH Niranajan Swami Maharaj remembers the Jolly Swami:
There are many things more we could say about Sridhar Maharaja. He was a very wonderful devotee and the w
Ecstatic kīrtans and nectarean discourses on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. All night long this was the typical sight observed in the house of ŚrīvāsaPaṇḍita. Why was ŚrīvāsaĀṅgan chosen? What was its specialty? Dive below to know more.
With hands folded and head finely tilted to its left stands the tall deity of Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita – the fifth member of the Pañca-tattva – at the alter in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur. Hailing from Śrīhaṭṭa[modern day Sylhet], he was the second among the five sons of his father Śrī Jaladhar
The mission statement of HH Sridhara Swami (1995) is very inspirational:
“My mission is to serve my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, with all my heart and soul… .
“To achieve this goal has now become my only reason for living. Out of a great sense of debt for his having shown me the path, I want to become a sharp instrument to be used by Srila Prabhupada in his mission of flooding the world with love of Krishna.
“I will strive to achieve excellence in all
The Mayapur Temple of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP), under construction, recently opened an office in the ISKCON Juhu temple, at Hare Krishna Land in Mumbai. In honor of the occasion, and to further the cause, I thought to share an excerpt adapted from my article “Memories of Sridhar Swami” in my book Many Moons.
In November 2003, Srila Prabhupada’s staunch disciple Sridhar Swami phoned me from Bombay and told me that he was planning to go to Vancouver in April for four to six months. Soon thereaft
By HH Bhakti Brhat Bhagavata Swami
Today marks the most auspicious anniversary appearance of Srila Srivasa Pandit or also known as Srila Srivasa Thakura and it also coincides with the anniversary disappearance of one of our Commanders in Srila Prabhupada’s army – Srila Prabhupada is our General – HH Sridhara Swami.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi Lili chapter 7, entitled, Lord Caitanya in Five features, text 15
ei tina tattva, — ‘sarvaradhya’ kari mani caturtha ye bhakta-tattva, — ‘aradhaka’ jani [
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a personal relationship with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu? To talk with Him face-to-face, and have loving exchanges with Him? It’s not something we can speculate about or artificially induce. But we can hear about such loving exchanges, learn from them and become attracted and attached to entering into them as a humble servant of the servant. Today, let’s visit the world of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His very dear associate and servant, Srivasa T
By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi
Recently, Mayapur Clean and Green, headed by Murari Mohini Devi Dasi, has been valiantly working to improve the air quality in Mayapur. Earlier this year, a pivotal agreement was reached with ISKCON Mayapur, outlining policies to address air quality issues and prohibit waste burning.
In spite of waste burning being outlawed by the Indian government and supported by specific legislation and guidelines governing landfill management, air quality remains a pressi
Our drama crew lined up and loaded up for the bus trip to Vrndavan. It's their first time to hit that holy spot where Krishna enacted so many pastimes in child and youthhood. We feel bad about parting now that our 11 day performance terminates here. However, for the coming weekend we will be reuniting at Durban for more of the same ecstasies in drama.
I will be returning tonight for Canada and have a short 3 day pranayama, breathing time. Coincidentally for our walk this morning at Shivalik Pa
