Every morning at 7.45am, before breakfast, we have a philosophy class. It’s such a delight to sit together, read ancient wisdom books, and discuss. Henry David Thoreau said it well – “In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonical philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny and trivial.”
On Mondays, we listen to a recorded class by Srila Prabhupada (there are over 2,000) and afterwards reflect on what parts o
Sunday Feast-50th Anniversay of ISKCON by HG Sesa Prabhu at ISKCON Alachua on 10 Jul 2016
(Sesa Dasa was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1974 while he was traveling as a member of the initial Bhaktivedanta Book Trust library party. Sesa Dasa has a portfolio of two ministries: Minister of Educational Development and Minister of Justice, under which ISKCON Resolve works.)
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For the majority of my devotional life, Krishna has arranged it so that I’ve never had a devotional community to tap into as a regular daily function. I started off living in Wilmington, DE whereby ISKCON Philly was about an hour drive. This was the closest proximity I’ve ever lived to an active temple. Unfortunately, He made it so that I would be relocating to Maine only after attending the Sunday Feast 3-4 times.
My next situation took me to Portland or rather Cape Elizabeth, Maine. In this s
Of course the dying always make us stop
those dying and those left behind
stuck in a time frozen into itself
as the everyday world disappears
and we are at once pushed into the present
and all that facing an ebbing life brings.
Life totters like a drop of water on a lotus flower
sparkling in it’s beauty while present
and then gone, in an instant
gone forever in that form it took
but not gone completely
the soul begins a new journey and we ask
where do we come from and
where do we go?
destiny is
Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-11, Chapter-02, Text-02 by HG Akuti Mataji on 13 Jul 2016 at ISKCON Alachua
(HG Akuti Mataji is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and the spearhead behind the new Krishna Lunch program at Santa Fe Community College. )
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I heard an interesting Ted Talk the other day. It was called Rewilding the World and the speaker shared what happened when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. To the surprise of many, everything began to get better. Grasslands blossomed, trees strengthened, butterflies and bees came back, the rivers stayed their course. It turns out the the wolves were a very important part of the eco-balance needed to keep everything flourishing. One obvious impact was the ability of the wol
Lecture on Real Education according to Srila Prabhupada by HH Bhakti Vikas Swami on 18 May 2016 at Mayapur
(HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami appeared in this world in 1957 in England. He joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in London in 1975 and was initiated in that year with the name Ilapati dasa by ISKCON’s founder-acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. )
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Lecture on Vedic secrets of Peace and Love by Bhakti Vijnana Goswami on 07 Feb 2016 at London
(Since 1997 Bhakti Vijnana Goswami has acted as a member of ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission and since 2005 has served as one of the initiating gurus of ISKCON.)
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Hello friends! Here I will share some of my views on helping a suicidal friend.
Generally suicidal individual’s gives warning signals they express it explicitly and sometime it's very subtly expressed
Before that I would like to clear out some suicide misconceptions:
Suicide misconceptions:
1. Those People who talk about suicide will not commit it only
Studies shows Almost 70-80% suicidal will say before taking the ultimate action
2. People who try to kill themselves must be crazy.
Mostly suicidal
One simple girl from a village of Maharashtra. She was named Chindhi meaning a tattered
useless piece of a cloth. Since early childhood she had a great desire to go to schools. but Her surroundings never supported her. She used to look after a small herd of buffaloes and when the buffaloes would get into the water pond for drinking purpose, she would escape for the schools. But Alas! School teachers would beat her daily For her delayed arrivals. Like that she completed her 4th grade.
She was j
Albert Einstein once said, “I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place?’ This is the first and most basic question people must answer for themselves.”
“Yes”, a lover of Krishna would answer, the universe is a friendly place, because Krishna, the source of the universe, tells us in the Bhagavad-gita that he is a friend to all.
According to the Vedas, the material world (millions of universes) is a small corner of the much larger existence which is s
What do we do with this body when we know we are not the body? How do we view this thing that we have loved and not loved, that has given us pleasure and pain, profit and loss? What do we do with our personality that we have built up around the body?
The Bhakti Sastras (wisdom books of devotion) teach that the soul is covered by the body, the soul being our real self and the body a temporary covering. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just unzip our body and material persona and fling it aside? B
It is taught in the Vedas that when entering a sacred space one should offer respects. One can fully place himself on the ground in what is called ‘dandavats’ (danda means stick or rod in Sanksrit), or bow on hands and knees or simply bow from the waist with hands folded. It’s an expression of humility and a step away from our material ego. It’s the right entry if we hope to receive what hides beneath the ordinary looking surface.
I’m presently in one such sacred place – Mayapur. It’s located i
Krishna’s mercy, we have been very successful in continuing to place Srila Prabhupada’s books in the hospitals of the Los Angeles area. The last hospital that Sastra Dana has placed books in was the LAC-USC General Hospital. We called this hospital and offered a donation of books on yoga, philosophy and ancient Eastern culture (this is how we present our books to hospitals). The hospital representative expressed her eagerness to accept our donation. She was even happier to hear that we wanted t
Question: I have a “natural” tendancy to be very critical and hence find mistakes/faults in people. Most of the time, I find fault with people at the mental level and not necessarily express it. This habit also extends to devotees. I feel and know I am not supposed to do this. But, like I said, this has become a habit and I am finding it hard to relinquish it. In this whole process, I know I am wrong and hence I am always upset with my behavior (but this happens as a reflex action and not able
Remembering Krishna das Swami.
Can you please give us some of your childhood background?
I appeared in the town of Kapurthala in Punjab on 2nd June 1932. At a very young age I left my parent’s home and was raised by his maternal grandfather, a devout Vaishnava and a renowned astrologer. Under his personal guidance, I memorised the details of the “Ramayana” at the age of eleven, and a few years later, by the mercy of my Guru Maharaja, I memorised all the verses of Bhagavad Gita. Right from a you
The chatri work continues to progress at the TOVP and across international borders as well. We have received images from Russia on the advancement of the work on the chatri kalash coverings.
Four of the large chatri kalash coverings are being manufactured in Russia. Each kalash is 3.5 meters high and has a diameter of 2.4 meters. When the work is complete the Russian technicians will personally install the titanium nitrate coverings on the chatri kalashes on the TOVP.
The first photograph shows
There is a lot of sound pollution in the air these days. Sadly it’s pouring out of the mouths of top leadership and into every possible media vein that exists. How did we fall into the trap of thinking we can win by putting others down? By being angry, hateful, and accusatory? That the only reason we should vote for someone is because they are telling us how bad the other person is?
Their words and mood affects us all, and it’s embarrassing and depressing to watch. To clear your head, to find r
As I prepared last week to give a Sunday class in Hillsborough (video at the end of this blog), along with researching and thinking of the topic of levels of secrets (from the most mundane to the most sublime) I also contemplated the topic of speaking to others from our Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. The archetypal “class” is Maharaja Parikshit being instructed by Shri Shukadeva Goswami. Both of them have special qualifications being pure devotees of Krishna, and yet the whole class was fueled by
Monday through Friday, hundreds of people gather on the Plaza of the Americas to stand in line for Krishna Lunch.
Krishna Lunch has begun featuring foods grown organically in a local garden, maintained by the group’s members.
In mid-Spring, Krishna devotees began planting a garden about 20 minutes north of UF’s campus, said Dhristadyumna “Dennis” Das, the 34-year-old temple commander for the Gainesville Krishna House.
The garden, located at 13700 U.S. Highway 441, had been empty for about eight
