Bhakta Dasa, Communications and Interfaith Director for ISKCON Australia and Australasia recently had his reflection entitled, “How a schoolyard bully set me on my spiritual path” published in the opinion section of The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. The Herald is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia and considered to be the most widely read. You can read his full article here. Please note, access to the article may be restricted or limited depending on your country.
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Over the years I’ve come across various articles, statements and websites which have been critical or even downright offensive towards Srila Prabhupada. As a disciple — or should I say an aspiring disciple since being a true disciple is no easy thing — I find these writings to be intolerable and I’ll tell you why.
At great personal inconvenience, Srila Prabhupada left the peaceful and holy village of Vrindavan at the advanced age of 69 (almost 70) to travel by steamship across the Atlantic Ocea
We often get questions about surrender, like “how can we surrender”. Recently I was reading one old BTG, 2001, and found a nice practical statement from Srila Prabhupada. If we search “surrender” on the vedabase we find 7445 hits, so we know it is an important topic. And we all know the conclusion of the Bhagavad Gita:
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami mä suca
TRANSLATION
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall de
Hare Krsna Devotees,
I am looking for the Sastric reference for the Varnashram Dharam to be followed.
One of the key reference I am currently looking for is " What should be the Age difference between Man and Woman for merriage and Why its so?
All Glories to beloved Srila Prabhu Pad and all discipales.
Hare Krsna,
Hare Krishna Dear Devotees,
Blogs:
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- Highlight Report of GBC Annual General Meeting Held on February 28, 2024
Videos:
I think we've all had the experience. Someone comes to mind that you've known and you haven't seen or heard of them for years and shortly after his/her image pops up mentally, they suddenly appear physically.
That was the case of Udayananda, tall, healthy looking and extroverted boy from Detroit. There he was, much older than when I last saw him, in the session of the morning called tulasi puja, when we worship or honour the sacred green.
I invited him to our japa, meditative walk after a bi
The degree to which you are able to turn to Krsna while chanting reveals the depth of your relationship with Him and how healthy you are spiritually. If you are unhealthy, you simply cannot turn to Krsna. Your mind will dislike the idea of chanting. It will be very rebellious and everything but Krsna will appear in your mind at that time. Every relationship starts with giving attention, and your relationship with Krsna is no exception. Therefore, you must learn how to chant with attention. It i
Although narcissism is a broad subject, it is marked by an exaggerated self-importance and perceived superiority, abnormal levels of selfishness and entitlement, and extreme self-centeredness. Generally speaking, a narcissist is a person who thinks too highly of themselves and continuously feeds on the egotistic admiration from others, typically rooted in unresolved and exaggerated feelings of inferiority and shame. As a result, they often manipulate and exploit others to fuel their delusions a
This is for all of our preachers in the Far East. May it give them more preaching information to use in their location to help convince people of their connection with Vedic culture.
Bharatvarsha’s beginnings go back to a very long way in time and it is almost certain that the results or influence that is seen today around the world, in the main, were not achieved by military expeditions or conquest, but by peaceful trading and religious teaching, and thereby all the more permanent. This is esp
By Atma Tattva Das
Recently, a team of devotees from ISKCON Denmark participated in the country’s largest Body-Mind-Spirit Health Fair, called “Krop-Sind-Ånd Helsemesse.” The popular event, which welcomed 6,000 visitors over its three-day run, was held at Brøndby Hallen in Copenhagen. With an array of 165 exhibitors and over 90 engaging lectures, workshops, and mini-courses, attendees were invited to explore the fields of physical, naturopathic, and spiritual wellness.
Lalitanath Dasa and his t
Like at the oceanside you have pleasant and not so pleasant waves hitting that shoreline. What comes to mind is that fabulous beach that annually the Trinidadian devotees and I converge at! It’s a lovely spot!
But what I want to drive at is the day in the life when great things come at you and then also more challenging, at least, grave issues come knocking at your door.
Today’s walk was a real pleasant one. A group of was visited the Mayapura School for boys across the way from the elep
An analysis of what made Ravana incorrigible.
The Ramayana describes how Ravana acted devilishly for most of his life and refused to reform despite repeated good advice and strong warnings. His incorrigibility raises an important question about human nature. Are some people innately bad? That raises a bigger question: Are people in general innately good or innately bad?
Let’s consider both possibilities.
Are People Innately Good?
Most of us would like to believe that people are basically
Our mind, an aspect of Krishna’s material energy, can be a helpful ally or a hindering foe.
Some five hundred and ten years ago, after Sri Chaitanya had taken sannyasa and was intending to travel by foot from Bengal to Vrindavan, Sri Nrisimhananda Brahmacari decided to serve Sri Chaitanya by creating a broad road for Him to walk on. What Sri Nrisimhananda created was by no means an ordinary road. In his Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya 1.156–159), Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami describes it:
Sanctimony is not necessarily reserved for the righteous. It’s a condition that could affect anyone: the right-wing, left-wing, atheists, and even “the sinful.” It means “making a show of being morally superior to others.” We all fall into it at one time or other, sooner or later.
In my college years, I first saw it on full display in a group of radical, hippy, spokespeople who came to speak to students about “The Revolution.” As a hippy myself, I was dismayed by their elitist and sanctimonious
Srila Prabhupada explained how an expert businessman can thrive in any economic climate. When the market booms he sells commodities and makes a healthy profit. When the market is down, he buys abundantly, remaining alert to sell when the demand rebuilds. Either way, lucrative business as usual. In the same way, the ups and downs of life are all opportunities to become spiritually wealthy. In times of peace and prosperity, we have the space to spiritually immerse ourselves, building assets of in
On February 18, 2025 the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) achieved another milestone with the Grand Opening of the Legacy Museum of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
Now in its first phase of 1000 sq. ft. in size, the museum is planned to grow to an astounding 21,000 sq. ft., becoming the largest museum for any single person in the history of mankind.
This overview video of the Grand Openi
One of Utah’s leading papers, Deseret News, recently reported that Utah lawmakers have advanced a bill (SB259) that would designate several religiously significant days, including Hindu holidays Diwali and Holi, as official state “holy days.”
This bill may surprise some, given Utah’s current religious demographic, which is dominated by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with 2,126,216 adherents in a state of 3.2 million residents (2020 statistics). The next closest relig
Guru Prasad Swami was trying to correct the devotee who throws the sacred water on the pilgrims. The Maharaja caught my eye and indicated that he should not throw from the front of people, but instead from behind, especially for those who wear glasses. We were in the middle of the arati ceremony when Guru Prasad mimed out to me windshield wipers swaying back and forth. He laughed. I laughed.
This small gesture started my day. Perhaps the jesting might strike an interest in a devotional
(From an old letter)
INDIAN/AMERICAN/HARE KRISHNA
I am a devotee of Krishna and have been one for the past seven years. I am also of Indian origin, and my story is a typical one.
I have been living in North America since I was nine years old. My parents came here to complete their higher education, and upon completion of their doctorates, they decided to settle down in this, their adopted country. As the family grew, came careers, households, mortgages, etc. Along with this material, success cam
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 19 January 2015, Bhaktivedanta Manor, England, Srimad Bhagavatam 9.10.23)
Misers hold on to whatever wealth they have and do not want to share, and the result is they are being deprived. So here we are in Europe, we brought wealth from all over the world. We got it by hook or Captain Cook, somehow or other, we brought it in. Here it is and now we are sitting on it. But gradually, it is running out. London is still going strong but if you go a bit North, people are poor! It
