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A Talk by Giriraj Swami, on April 17, 2007 at Dallas

I saw this photo and post yesterday on the Prabhupada Connect web page. It was such a special photo that I thought we should share it with you all here as well.

“The Lord is seated in the heart of all living beings, and thus, He knows very well the movements of all individual persons. As soon as the Lord finds that a particular soul is very eager to go back to Godhead, the Lord at once sends His bona fide representative. The sincere devotee is thus assured by the Lord of going back to Godhead.

Radhanath Swami: When I was a little boy, my mother taught me a lesson. She always emphasized, more than anything else, the quality of gratitude. She told me, “If you are not grateful for whatever you have, you receive, you can never be happy. Because if you are not grateful, whatever you get, you expect something else, or you expect more, or you think that you deserved it. But when you are humble and grateful, then whatever comes to your life, the apparent fortune and misfortune, you can actua

Today is the most auspicious occasion of Sri Gadadhara Pandita’s appearance day. As many of you know, Lord Caitanya is Krsna Himself in the role of a devotee. He is Krsna, but with the complexion and mood of Srimati Radharani. There are different purposes for the Lord’s advent. The internal reason for Lord Caitanya’s appearance was that He wanted to experience the glory of Srimati Radharani’s love for Him, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happines

Appreciation only costs you a few words, but what it buys is priceless. When Dale Carnegie said to be appreciated is the greatest human need, those who paid attention found appreciation one of the greatest motivating forces known to man.

Years of research has taught us this important lesson: if you don’t pay people enough that they feel secure in life, you will get a small percentage of their creative abilities because they are worried about their future. So, it would seem logical that if those

Hariiiiibol!

Join The Hanumen this summer for any (or all) of 3 amazing weekend retreats for old school community gatherings immersed in nature and song. At these beautiful heartfelt events there will be lots of swimming in beautiful lakes and chanting and story and poetry and kayaking and more. These have become annual love fests of music, beauty, bhakti and fun.

July 14-17 ~ Hanumania in Damarisscotta ME.
July 22-24 ~ the Adirondacks. Camp Sagamore NY.
Aug 1-5 ~ Kripalu Center, MA / Rasa Viny

Mistakes why we make them and how we can rectify them?

To err is human … ” so goes the saying. Safely we can add three more details to the list: tendency to fall under illusion, cheating propensity and imperfect senses. A conditioned soul is bound by these imperfections, but in this article I will focus on the tendency to commit mistakes. All of us make mistakes. Srila Prabhupada says that to make a mistake is not wrong, but to make a mistake and not learn from it, that is wrong.

In this regard

In Vedic culture, the welfare of the cows and the welfare of the brahmanas are essential. Without a proper arrangement for developing brahminical culture and protecting cows, all the affairs of administration will go to hell. - Srila Prabhupada in purport to S.B. 7.3.13

By ISKCON Coimbatore

“I want to see my disciples all over the world introduce two items , opening Radha Krishna temples and Rath Yatra festivals” (Srila Prabhupada , Founder Acharya of ISKCON, in His letter to Bakta Das,11 October 1973).

Indeed with the only intention of fulfiling Srila Prabhupad’s this desire, devotees of ISKCON Coimbatore have been earnestly endeavouring to dedicate two achivements at His Lotus feet in this 50th Golden Jubilee year of ISKCON.

The first one is the grand celebr

Kapuas, a regency in central Borneo is a beautiful city located on the bank of the ‘Simpang Tiga’ river which in turn joins three other rivers; Murung Kapuas, Kapuas, and the shore of Javanese ocean. The capital city, Kuala Kapuas is said to look somewhat like Manasi Ganga in Vrindavan. This city was originally built as a port to connect roadways in Borneo. There are a few devotees who live in Kapuas. Since there is not that much active preaching in Kapaus, devotees had become a little unenthus

Hertsmere is a local government district and borough in Hertfordshire, England. This is where the Bhaktivedanta Manor is situated. 

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21024

Advent of Kali Yuga

The universe is divided in regard to time. Satyayuga, the golden age religiosity and prosperity. Treat yuga- where ¾ of the population remain God conscious. Dvapar yuga in which in the beginning half is God conscious and gradually dwindles until it intersects the kali yuga. At the beginning of the age of kali not more than 1/4th of the population follow any religious principles and gradually it becomes greater and greater in degradation until at the end of kaliyuga practical

How many of us are fortunate to have not just good friends, but close friends with whom we can phone at any time, and for no particular reason, than to simply share a Krishna conscious realization?

How many of us are blessed to be able to shed all institutional and scholarly roles, simply to sit down in an informal setting once in a while, and discuss none other than Krishna katha?

Does it ever occur to us sometimes, particularly if we are second initiated, that the services we try to render fo

Remembrance of Krsna is the result of hearing and chanting. When you hear and chant, then automatically remembrance comes, sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.23). This is thebhagavat vidhi, the path of glorifying the Supreme Lord. So this path of glorifying the Supreme Lord starts with hearing. In the initial stages, we do not fully remember what we hear; so many things we are not conscious of as we are not attentive. But at one point, we begin to consciously remember. It

There's a number of quotes from acharyas, you can find which is supporting your own view. If you are feminist, you can see quotes that are supportive to your views and if you are anti-feminist you can see the quotes that fits your perspective. If you put a red glass everything you see appears red. It's easy to manipulate the quotes of Acharyas in one angle and conclude biased opinions.

Woman reporter: What about women who do not have children?

Prabhupada: Well, that is also another unnatural

Vows are interesting creatures. In contemporary life it’s mostly a forgotten word, passe, so yesterday and ‘seriously?’. Yet they are so good for us, both binding us and freeing. They control us and simultaneously put us in full control.

In Bhakti, after some years of practice and study of the teachings, we may feel ready to take vows. Part of the preparation is the selection of a spiritual master who will be our teacher for life, and an understanding of what such a statement of commitment to t

There was once a wicked man of the lower classes. He abandoned all holy rites and gave himself to sin. He had a young wife but also kept a prostitute in his house. The wife, wishing only to please him, served them both. She washed their feet and ate only the remnants of their food. Although the prostitute tried to prevent her she continued to serve that woman in every way, along with her husband. When they lay together in bed the wife would lie nearby on the bare ground. In this way for a long

The silence of the holy name
is a quietness that is loud
it takes the breath of one who chants
it is the quiet strength of a crowd

It moves within to cover the sound
of the marching band of the mind
it ends the talk of the chattering birds
of cares and anxieties we find

The silence of the holy name
is a sound that makes us still
so that nothing of the outer world
can try our hearts to fill

It is silent to the world of names,
of designation and of roles
It is quiet still to the bustling sounds
o