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Having "free will" is the constitutional make up of all marginal living entities (jiva-souls) that is ALWAYS part and parcel within their eternal character and personality in the Spiritual Worlds.

This means the jiva-souls can even choose to leave the Vaikuntha Planets or Goloka-Vrindavana if they want, this is also what free will allows and if it didn't, then they have no free will.

This is why it is foolish that big, big sannyasi and gurus claim once entering the Spiritual Worlds the jiva-souls

Verse: Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.12.15 Speaker: HH Varshana Swami Location: ISKCON New Vrindaban

agnau gurav atmani ca sarva-bhutesv adhoksajam bhutaih sva-dhamabhih pasyed apravistam pravistavat

TRANSLATION: One should realize that in the fire, in the spiritual master, in one’s self and in all living entities-in all circumstances and conditions-the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, has simultaneously entered and not entered. He is situated externally and internally as the full controller of eve

Srila Prabhupada: I planned that I must go to America. Generally they go to London, but I did not want to go to London. I was simply thinking how to go to New York. I was scheming, “Whether I shall go this way, through Tokyo, Japan, or that way? Which way is cheaper?” That was my proposal. And I was targeting to New York always. Sometimes I was dreaming that I have come to New York.

Then Bhaktivedanta Swami met Mr. Agarwal, a Mathura businessman, and mentioned to him in passing, as he did to alm

I get so much joy from being with the group of Ukrainian/Russian bhakti yogis. Today was about a year ago when Igor opened up his backyard to a host of us for the regular “devotee thing” — chanting, philosophizing, dancing, eating blessed food, etc. This group shows a lot of love and they were most enthusiastic to listen to the topic of “The Ills of Gossip.” It’s subject that resonates with most people. The consensus of people in general is that rumor mongering is one of the worst practices.

Wh

By Madhava Smullen 

A new ISKCON Youth Ministry initiative, loosely based on the Mormon Mission trips and dubbed “The Krishna Conscious Gap Year Experience,” was endorsed by the GBC Executive Committee in a March 2021 letter to ISKCON leaders. Now, various international temples are piloting the program. 

“The idea is to create incentives for our young people to spend a semester – three, six, or nine months – or an entire gap year, living at a temple,” says ISKCON Youth Minister Manorama Das. “Th

I have seen time and again how devotees who have undergone brahmacari training, and who later take up the reins of householder life, enter the workplace with skills far above those of the average man or woman. It is not that the skills and mentality of the devotional training have no value in the work theatre. On the contrary, the training as given by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada raises the devotee to a level above that of others.

The first thing that a brahmacari must do is exerci

By Giriraj Swami and Sri Prahlada dasa

To commemorate the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, we shall sing and discuss the second poem that he wrote on the ship Jaladuta when he arrived in the Boston harbor on September 17, 1965.

Poem [translation]:

1:  My dear Lord Krishna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.

2:  But I guess You have some business here. Otherwise, why would You brin

I will begin by reading a couple of exchanges with Srila Prabhupada about his coming to America. Once, Srila Prabhupada was asked, “Your godbrothers who came to the West went to England and Germany. Why did you choose to come to America?” And he replied, “They went and came back to India without accomplishing anything. So I thought, ‘If I am going to fail, at least let me fail in a different place.’ ”

And on a morning walk in Los Angeles, a disciple said to Prabhupada, “When you came to the Wes

By Sunanda das

In almost every ISKCON temple and center worldwide, a large or small murti of ISKCON Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada can be found. The murti is worshiped daily no different from any deity of the Lord, and Srila Prabhupada is thus considered to be personally present to accept our service and bless his devotees and followers.

What many devotees don’t know is, who made most of these marvelous, lifelike deities of Srila Prabhupada that look s

The Story of Puranjana

King Puranjana had unlimited desires for sense enjoyment. Consequently he traveled all over the world to find a place where all his desires could be fulfilled. Unfortunately he found a feeling of insufficiency everywhere. 27.12.

Once, while wandering I this way, he saw on the southern side of the Himalayas, in a place named Bharata Varsa a city that had nine gates all about and was characterized by all auspicious facilities. 27.13

While wandering here and there in th

By Madhava Smullen

Books are the Basis Week, run by the ISKCON Ministry of Education from September 22nd to 28th, is encouraging devotees worldwide to read Srila Prabhupada’s books by providing resources and guidelines, and facilitating grassroots level engagement.

The Week is part of a larger effort to “enhance the culture of reading Srila Prabhupada’s books globally.” It was officially added to ISKCON’s calendar in 2020, after the society’s Governing Body Commission (GBC) accepted a proposal f

Dear community devotees,
Hare Krishna

With sadness we wish to inform you that H.G. Kulashekar Prabhu, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, left his body in Sri Mayapur Community hospital this morning at around 1am. He joined ISKCON in Canada and was initiated by Srila Prabhupad in 1967. In his early days as a young brahmacari he was together in a brahmacari ashram with HH Jayapataka Svami. He remained a brahmacari throughout his life. For more than 35 years he served as a pujari in various ISKCON tem

My knee surgeon, Dr. Backstein, saw me at the hospital where I was to take the final X-ray. He confirmed I’m doing good for 6 weeks after the knee replacement. I respect the man for having done a splendid job.

I’m proud to say I walked the entire way there and back – 6 kilometers, no sweat. No cane. In the afternoon, I met Bob back outside of the ashram quarters. Bob says he was raised Catholic but never took it too seriously. He claims Krishna has been speaking to him. I won’t deny.

“What did

The relationship with Krsna in the Spiritual world (The Kingdom of God) is NEVER a "one-way" forced unproductive affinity.  

One's relationship with Krsna is ALWAYS based on free will that allows a variety of voluntary offerings of service to Krsna.

Only then can genuine love exist.

The jiva-souls in their full potential in Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana, are forever positively re-inventing themselves by always choosing how to increase their variety of devotional service to Krsna.

This is achieved

The word "tatastha-sakti" refers to the marginal living entities (jiva-souls) in their FALLEN conditioned state in both the material creation and when dormant in the (impersonal) Brahmajyoti.

Lover of God- this term evokes different feelings or images in our hearts. Who is a lover of God? What are his symptoms? How does he behave?

And do we know that all of us, yes each one of us, has love of God within our heart and the perfection of our spiritual life is get eternally and permanently reinstated as a lover of God!

Our present condition

By nature, we are lover of God, but here, being illusioned, we think God as our enemy and we don’t like God. We like this māyā.

(SP Lecture, January

By Nrsimha Caitanya dasa, Czech Padayatra leader

While the world was still gripped by the Covid-19 madness the twenty-ninth Czech Padayātrā took place in the second half of July, and according to its participants was one of the best padayātrās in which they’d been involved. For a second successive year we were able to find a sweet spot during the summer holidays when most of the restrictions had been lifted. After all those lockdowns people were happy that something was going on and as there we

The efforts, austerities, and practices involved with the acceptance as a disciple do not end with initiation.  Rather they begin, in a formal sense, at that point. Whatever outer challenges or inner demons we have, will be overcome by Krishna’s grace for those who persevere in their vows.  It is only those who quit who will suffer defeat.

Even as the connection and dependency between the words “disciple” and “discipline” are obvious, some devotees tend to be more attentive to the fruits than t

Krsna consciousness should be the first and foremost thing in your life. Krsna is first. A wife can say to her husband, “You are the dearmost person in my life, however, after Krsna”. So let Krsna be number one, let Krsna be the most important, let Krsna be the centre of your life, let Krsna be your everything!

Source: https://www.kksblog.com/2021/09/my-dearmost/