With Janmastami just around the corner, there is still so much uncertainty about whether temples will be open for festivals or not ISKCON Deity Worship Ministry has put together a document guiding devotees how to observe Janmastami at home.

Cymbals, damru drums, bherries, and big drums vibrated auspicious sounds in specific melodies. A celestial concert of precise poetical meters, proper rhythms, and metrical compositions suddenly manifested there. The musical ensemble inspired the society girls to sing and dance in mirth and merriment. Though not good singers, by the will of the Lord they sang with great virtuoso. Then" wonderful songs filled Nanda Maharaja's heart with joy. The combined vibration...

I started out by remembering Janmastami 1966 in the storefront. “The room we are in now reminds me of that storefront,” I said. “It was about the same size. 1966 was the first year Prabhupada observed Janmastami in America. In 1965, he left India and observed Janmastami at sea a few days later. By 1966, ISKCON had just begun. So he asked the devotees to stay all day in the storefront and fast. “His request seemed like a very difficult proposal. Some of us expressed doubt ...

“Anyone and everyone can become God.” This philosophy is propagated by certain so called spiritual preachers. In order to mislead the gullible people they assert that by chanting certain mantras or doing certain types of meditation one becomes God. But Krishna did not chant any mantra nor he did any sort of meditation to become God. He was always God. And the moment he appeared in this world he had all the qualities of God. All the Vedic books very clearly tell that Krishna is the Supr...

Krishna is described as akhila-rasamrita-sindhu, "the ocean of rasas." There are five primary rasas. Rasa means the mellow or the taste we enjoy in every activity. Everything is done with some taste. Whatever you do, you must enjoy some taste out of it. There are twelve rasas, out of which five are primary and seven are secondary. They are described in this book. For example, we can consider Bhishma, the grandfather of the Pandav...

Fifty years on and the movement has grown and changed. The philosophy and practises remain the same, but most of the members do not live in small communal clusters. There is still communal living – in around 600 locations internationally – but the majority of ISKCON’s members now live in their own homes, visiting a nearby temple or group if there is one. Preserving Srila Prabhupada’s request for his responsible senior disciples to provide spiritual leadership and to ‘teach by example’ has needed some careful re-designing for a n...

Some people fantasize about accumulating immense wealth and dream of what they would buy if they only had enough. To them, happiness hovers elusively on the other side of that new car, that big house, that diamond necklace. While many of us will say, "Money can't buy happiness," do we really believe it? If not money, what is the solution to our hankerings? What is the greatest treasure that will bring true happiness? And how do we acquire that treasure? Srila Prabhupada answers these ...

Sanatana Goswami, a prominent disciple of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, lived under a tree as a renunciant. Once, a poor brahmana heard that Sanatana possessed a stone that could turn anything it touched into gold. The brahmana eagerly went to ask Sanatana for the stone. Without the least hesitancy Sanatana told the brahmana he could have the stone; it was in a rubbish heap nearby. The elated brahmana found the stone but, being intelligent, began to consider the situ...

Krsna consciousness is not a tower of Babel to Krsna. There are two processes in spiritual life, the ascending and the descending. Through the ascending process one tries to construct a ladder up to Krsna by processes of yoga, meditation, word jugglery, logic, dry philosophy, etc. However sincere, Krsna is acyuta, unapproachable, that process will never be successful But if the unapproachable Krsna wants to come to us, then nothing can stop Him. That is called the descending process, Krsna consciousness. Krsna is presenting Himself to you and I through the authorized discipl...