The Bhakti Tree has been serving prasadam and taking every opportunity to promote kirtan and prasadam through catering at Newcastle University, at public events and through its Friday kirtan evenings at the restaurant.
This time, The Bhakti Tree hosted His Holiness Vedavyasapriya Swami on June 24th at its weekly Friday Fest evening. This was His Holiness Vedavyasapriya Swami’s second visit after a year. Maharaj led kirtan and gave a talk on the divinity of Supreme, the self and the Maha-mantra.
In order to reawaken our integral connection towards our two forgotten mothers, Mother Earth and Mother Cow (Surabhi), the Om Sri Surabhi Campaign reached the shores of the Gulf last week. HH RP Bhakti Raghava Swami, Minister of the ISKCON Daiva Varnasrama Ministry (IDVM-India), is currently visiting different parts of the world making people aware of the Om Sri Surabhi Campaign, a 12 year initiative to spread the glories of Mother Surabhi.
HH RP Bhakti Raghava Maharaja arrived at Damodardesh o
It often happens that when I go to an event or occasion, I’ll find some information that I have been looking for – something quite unconnected to the event at hand. This is is what exactly happened to me last weekend at a retreat I attended.
For the past few months I’ve been feeling the pinch of time. I never seemed to have enough of it, and there was always a build up of things to do – lists, meetings, and events. What to speak of plain old laundry, dishes, and trash. It seemed just when I got
As you read this, Glastonbury-goers will be raising themselves from their tents, fuzzy from too many ciders after watching Adele last night. But forget the hangover bacon butty — the twenty-something hedonist crowd will be heading instead to the West Holts field to do some kirtan, call-and-response chanting based on ancient Indian texts, to clear their heads.
Friday night in London, and it’s a similar story. At the fortnightly candlelit kirtan at Mantra Lounge in Covent Garden, among the 100-st
Today Hema Malini, the famed performer from India, visited the ISKCON Los Angeles temple, and I was reminded of when she and I were together on the stage of the ISKCON auditorium in Juhu, Mumbai. It was December, during the book-distribution marathon, and after the performance I asked the audience to come forward to purchase sets of Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam and Sri Caitanya-caritamra, for concessional rates. The response was slow, so I leaned over and asked her if I could announce t
Know God Know Everything - In the Vedas it is said, yasmin vijnate sarvam evam vijnatam bhavati: if one properly understands God, he can understand any subject matter very nicely. – S.B. 7.5.4 Purport
“Sometimes we would discuss something together and at times he was clearly right, but other times I would feel that I saw something that he didn’t see and he would not agree. But I had faith in him because it happened again and again that in the morning he would chant and reflect on whatever the issue was and if it really was a point where he should have come around, he did come around. Although he was such a powerful and forceful person, he was controlled, even invisibly, by Krishna and Srila
I was on my way to an evening talk by Radhanatha Swami, and when I got off the subway, I saw a young man and offered him Srila Prabhupada’s books. He found them interesting and gave a donation for them.
Then I asked whether he would like to go to the evening program and learn something about the ancient Vedic wisdom of India from a very interesting and wise devotee of Krsna.
He said that he was a little busy, but that he may be able to make it. So I gave him the address.
During the lecture, to
His appearance may have gotten your attention. The man in the faded orange robe walking through downtown Ottawa Wednesday hopes his message does too. Hare Krishna monk Bhaktimarga Swami is walking from New York to San Francisco to tell people along the way to take some time out for peace and introspection.
Swami says life is so busy for people these days, they’ve forgotten the ways of their ancestors. He says people need to connect with the spiritual side.
Swami says the walk with nature alon
Cultures and rituals are the icons of Jogjakarta. For the people here culture and rituals are important parts of their life. “Make the Ratha-yatra festival very great success. This will be a great introduction in your city and people will appreciate it” (SPL to Syamasundara, 4th May, 1967)
This year the art communities in Malioboro organized the Grebek Apeman Festival, pronounced apem-maan. Apem means cake and during this carnival different types of cake and vegetables are piled up like a moun
Gauranga Mahaprabhu, the most munificent incarnation of the Supreme Lord Krishna, distributed the Holy Name to the world. On the fun-filled festival of chida-dahi (chipped rice) Gauranga Mahaprabhu performed a wonderful pastime with His associates on the bank of Ganga river. Raghunath Das offered a wide feast of chida-dahi to everyone present. There were multitudes of people. They filled not just the platform where Mahaprabhu, Nityananda prabhu sat with Their associates, but even below it. Thos
Mother Locanananda passed away (1949-2016)
Her Grace Locanananda devi dasi joined ISKCON in Mexico city in 1975 when she went with her son to a Sunday feast. She had grown up a devout Catholic, and embraced the practice of Krishna consciousness wholeheartedly, giving away her meager belongings to join the temple. When her son asked, “Can we stay here?” She smiled and said, “Yes.” enrolling him in the gurukula there. She received initiation from His Holiness Hridyananda das Goswami in 1979, and
Hare Krishna.
25th June, 2916. Gurgaon.
As devotees when we move into a little more serious phase of our Krishna consciousness slowly but surely most of us develop a taste for to a very sweet and unique limb of bhakti – Vandanam, Prayer to Supreme Lord.
Offering worship to the Supreme Lord by praying means remembering His transcendental qualities, pastimes and activities.
(KB, chapter 87)
The Lord has unlimited transcendental qualities and opulences, and one who feels influenced by the Lord’s qualit
Dallas police are looking for two men who broke into a Hare Krishna temple the night of June 13 and stole thousands of dollars in property.
The burglars picked a lock or rattled a gate in the parking lot of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness temple in Old East Dallas, property manager Mike Meyer said.
The temple, at 5430 Gurley Ave., also houses Kalachandji's, a vegetarian restaurant that was founded a few years after the temple in the 1970s.
Once inside, the men went into a be
The ungrateful, inappropriate and irrational ways in which people act can infuriate us to no end. We deal with our anger by letting it loose (passionate and vengeful outbursts) or locking it up (emotionally disconnecting). Both expressions, however, are indicative of our own shortcomings. Allowing someone else’s negativity to displace our own consciousness, means there is still work to do. We seek emotional deposits from others because we haven’t become full in ourselves. But isn’t that natural
Has anyone heard the story of a devout atheist who became convinced that he was God after meeting a Hindu? While certain free-thinkers and sceptics are susceptible to changes of belief, many of them are intelligent and caring people, in the material sense.
Bertrand Russell explains: “Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.”
Being avowed atheists or agnostics does no
Despite this fast changing world where promiscuity encouraged by the hedonist approach to life is overtaking almost everywhere, India still preserves its age old veneration towards celibacy. The vast majority of girls and boys still remain celebate till their marriage and even post-marriage lead a regulated life. Of course in cities, this ‘conservative’ species are on the brink of extinction, and even when preserved, generally make the person a butt of ridicule and curiosity. However, fortunate
