BLESSED BY SPRING’S INSPIRATION and my poem, LISTENING FOR SPRING: Stepping outside this morning around sunrise was so lovely, enlivening. The “spring thing” feeling in the air, subtle, yet palpable, encouraging me with thoughts of possibilities and new beginnings. Cool temps stimulate, yet hint at approaching warmness. The sun seems especially bright after yesterday’s dark clouds and torrential downpours.
That special morning spring light shining off the dew, with new grass and other tiny exci
we have celebrated various appearance days of the different incarnations of the Lord. Most recently, it was of Lord Ramachandra, the embodiment of dharma. Each of our main books has an overriding theme. In the Bhagavad-gita, we find the dilemma of Arjuna. Arjuna who is somehow or other having a personal agenda and Krsna wants him to act according to his will and it takes the entire Gita for Arjuna to finally say, “Yes, I will do as you say.”
In the Ramayana, we find this endless dharma in so ma
“The Lord, Sri Krishna, says,
daivi hy esa guna-mayi
mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante
mayam etam taranti te
‘This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.’ (Bg 7.14)
“One who surrenders to Krishna can easily overcome Maya—not directly, but by Krishna’s mercy. We do not have the strength to fight Maya independently. Maya is a very powerful energy of Krishna’s. W
[Reposted from 3-24-2010] On Tuesday April 4th, in the USA we observed Ram Navami, or Lord Rama's holy appearance day anniversary. Although Lord Chaitanya is the combined form or Radha and Krishna, coming to give Krishna prema for the fallen souls of Kali-yuga, he also contains all other incarnations of God within him, including Lord Rama. Therefore, Lord Chaitanya is Universal. Anyone desiring to make spiritual advancement and increase their devotion toward any real incarnation of God can obta
Four Biscuits of Self Respect
Some incidents of life teach us a sublime lessons and that’s up to us to take positive or negative out of it. But sometimes, we tend to take our own time, our own pace in taking the lessons in, that is conditioning.
We have one outsourced maid in our office, her job is to serve us with tea/coffee/biscuits. I don’t take tea / coffee but I often take biscuits. She used to serve me unwillingly and most of the time, she used to skip me as well. One particular week, I obse
When I first went to India, Lord Ramachandra was the first deity I ever saw because the first temple I went to was of Lord Ramachandra and that was my temple! It was a small round temple and later on, they renovated and made it into a big marble temple. Oh, I miss my small round temple; it was so nice; the deities were really close but now they are high up and far away.
Then, when I went to Benares, I picked up the “Sri Rama Jaya Rama” mantra from a temple. It was playing twenty-four hours a da
“Although the sight of Lord Ramacandra is naturally blissful, when He is with His beloved Janaki, with Laksmana, and with His best servant Hanuman, His beauty increases manyfold, and whoever sees Him becomes immersed in the most exceptional ecstasy. This picture of Lord Ramacandra together with Sita, Laksmana, and Hanuman depicts the Supreme Lord in His especially compassionate mood.” (Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta 2.4.259 commentary)
We pray for their loving, compassionate glance.
Hare Krishna. Hare
“Lord Rāmacandra is the ideal king for maintaining and protecting the highest culture of humanity, known as brahmaṇya-dharma. The Lord is specifically the protector of the cows and the brāhmaṇas, and hence He enhances the prosperity of the world. Through the agency of Viśvāmitra He was rewarded by the administrative demigods with effective weapons to conquer the demons.” (SB 1.12.19, purport)
From the ISKCON GBC – Minutes Of The Annual General Meeting – February 2017
313: Global Duties & Responsibilities of the Governing Body Commission
[ISKCON Law]
Whereas the GBC wishes to formalize the understanding of its global services to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness;
Whereas it is important that duties and responsibilities be clarified at all levels of the Society;
Whereas the GBC wishes to produce a legacy document for the instruction and training of future GBC members
“My dear brother, a righteous kingdom will surely prosper. Are the brahmanas, demigods and elders being properly respected? Are the women within the kingdom being properly honored and protected? Are disputes being impartially judged? I hope that You avoid the fourteen weaknesses- atheism, hypocrisy, anger, procrastination, laziness, slavery to the senses, contempt for good advice, lack of vigilance, fondness for bad council, impractical planning, inability to keep a secret, attachment to foolis
From the ISKCON GBC – Minutes Of The Annual General Meeting – February 2017
313: Global Duties & Responsibilities of the Governing Body Commission
[ISKCON Law]
Whereas the GBC wishes to formalize the understanding of its global services to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness;
Whereas it is important that duties and responsibilities be clarified at all levels of the Society;
Whereas the GBC wishes to produce a legacy document for the instruction and training of future GBC members
When I was a child, my parents occasionally took my brother and me to the Fun House, an amusement park located at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. One of the attractions was a hallway full of mirrors specially designed to distort one’s image. One mirror made even obese people look as skinny as a post; another made skinny people appear to be as fat as a Hippopotamus.
At the Fun House, people absorbed in viewing their own grotesque, distorted images sometimes laughed and sometimes grimaced.
All this
Pandharpur the land of Lord Vitthala
Pandharpur Dhama is located in South-eastern Maharashtra and is known for the worship of Lord Vitthala. The town is situated alongside the river Chandrabhaga which means ‘half-moon’ describing the shape of the river as it curves around the town. The great saint Tukaram spoke of the glories of this river:
“O Lord! just give me one benediction, that I may always be able to bathe in the holy river Chandrabhaga.”
The sacred river is like a dear older sister to a
Pancagauda Prabhu: Srila Prabhupada wanted the devotees to come to Vrindavan to retire, to finish their days.
And it is encouraging that we provide you would say a guest house if you need to come and stay and retire.
We see our devoted community really growing and developing all over the world, our congregation and many devotees have spent many many years serving in Prabhupada’s mission, Lord Chaitanya’s mission and although we can say it’s not our responsibility but people
Nila Kamal das: Madan is a small village located in North Bangladesh. For the last seven years, devotees from ISKCON Netrakona have been preaching there and have established regular Nama Hatta programs. There are around twenty initiated devotees there and they are conducting regular preaching programs there. ISKCON Netrakona devotees visit every month to inspire and enthuse the local devotees.
On the auspicious day of Lord Rama’s appearance, devotees from Madan arranged a wonderful pandal progr
Compassion is for someone suffering or someone who is in a disadvantageous situation. Camaraderie is amongst those who are in similar situations or amongst equals. And service is to someone considered superior or respect worthy, or to some higher authority or ideal.
Compassion and camaraderie are very noble qualities indeed. They are high virtues exhibited by those who can empathize with others, and want to make someone else’s life a little better. But interestingly, neither of these two is serv
Most cultures have a system of service hierarchies. For example, children should serve parents, students should serve teachers, citizens should serve the king, the protected should serve the protector, less educated should serve the more educated, employees should serve the supervisor, maids should serve the house owner, team mates should serve the captain, and of course, the general public should serve the priests, and everyone should serve God. The idea is quite ubiquitous.
In this system of s
From the ISKCON GBC – Minutes Of The Annual General Meeting – February 2017
313: Global Duties & Responsibilities of the Governing Body Commission
[ISKCON Law]
Whereas the GBC wishes to formalize the understanding of its global services to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness;
Whereas it is important that duties and responsibilities be clarified at all levels of the Society;
Whereas the GBC wishes to produce a legacy document for the instruction and training of future GBC members
Camden Town is London’s hippest part of London, attracting thousands of tourists daily. We have been preaching here since 17 years and now we managed to open a nice centre. A four story building just off the high street. We have daily prasad distribution, yoga classes, plans to open a juice bar but the main thing is we have an oasis for devotees to live and hold the Friday Feast , a chance to give Krishna to the conditioned souls, requesting the devotees blessings.
Source:http://www.dandavats.c
Srila Prabhupada: I beg to submit herewith that by the Grace of Sri Krishna through His mercy personified—my spiritual master, I have realized it most thoroughly that going “Back to Godhead” is the highest privilege of mankind and that is the supreme perfection of human life.
Unfortunately, the present day human civilization is very much attracted with the beauty of Apara Prakrti the illusory material Nature and as such they are overpowered by a demoniac form of propensity in the atheistic set
