How do we upgrade our home to a sacred space or temple? A temple is a place of worship, centred around spiritual activity. When I speak to resident devotees at the Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple about their lives there, the common thread is that they are grateful to live in the Supreme Lord’s house, and that His presence is always felt. When we visit temples, we do not enter with our shoes on as they are unclean. We trod everywhere in them, touching all types of dirt. Removing our shoes immediately elevates our mind, making us recognise that we are now entering a sp...

In recent decades we witness increasing public awareness about the profoundly damaging effects of accellerating human production, consumption, and mobility on ecosystems of the world; and this awareness is accompanied by a deepening sense of urgency that “something” must be done to stop the current trends of environmental destruction. Environmental activism is now a mainstream activity for all sorts of individuals and groups, not least persons and organizations whose motivations may be termed “religious.” Religious traditions are being seen as potential reso...

What should a Sadhaka do while encountering Conflicting roles? Sati faced a tug of war between her desires to go to father’s house V/S Fear of disobeying Lord Siva her husband. Her desire got better off and that impelled her to go ahead, making a bold decision. Srila Prabhupada clearly draws a conclusion that in husband-wife relationship, it is better for wife to co-operate with the husband in a bitter situation than to quit the scene and take shelter of parents seeking a sweet relationship with them. If one considers this matter seriously, one can see that any par...

“Shoot him,” said the man with the crowbar. Kshudhi felt the cold metal against his skull and chanted Hare Krishna like never before. His nimble nineteenyear old body was tucked under the bed. The other four men with guns hesitated. They attacked the house knowing that a Johannesburg vegetable merchant had kept cash there, but were they ready to kill for it? Less than two years before, Kshudhi had purchased a copy of Teachings of Lord Chaitanya from a book store in Los Angeles. The book introduced him to bhakti, the means of approaching God selflessly. One day, he sa...

Simply by hearing about Krishna and His devotees, we will lose our longtime desire to control and enjoy this world, and as we gradually reduce our desire to dominate, we will proportionately enjoy spiritual happiness. A Vedic mantra says that as we associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we proportionately relish our eternal blissful life. So, eternal blissful life can be ours if we desire and pray for it. “When will Nityananda bestow His causeless mercy upon me so that my desire for material enjoyment will become very insignificant? When will that time...

“Man proposes, God disposes” has been the cause of immense frustration for humanity since time immemorial. The best plans are often foiled forever in a single moment by factors beyond human control. Misery can be said to be the condition in which we are unable to get what we want and / or are forced to accept that which we don’t want. A thoughtful person can perceive that misery is an unavoidable, inescapable companion during the sojourn through this world (Bhagavad Gita 8.15). Everyone is put repeatedly in the unenviable position of watching helplessly all of ...

In this age of Kali married life will be accepted on the consideration of sex only; when the boy and girl are pleased in sex, they get married, and when there is deficiency in sex, they separate. Srila Prabhupada spends most of his purport describing the accordance of marriage as a basis for practicing spiritual life and how that combination is a feature of the success of ones Krishna consciousness. Herein it is mentioned how character should be matched up and if i...

We should be eager, very eager. As Srila Prabhupada beautifully wrote in a poem, ‘When will that day come when I will be rolling on the ground with Krsna and playing with Him? When will that day come when I am very eager to join with Madhu Mangala and steal sweets from Krsna? I will run onto the pastures with the cows and calves with Sridama, Sudama and Vasudama playing with Krsna and defeating Him in sports. They will then tell Krsna to carry us on His back but Krsna will be reluctant. Sridama...

The most interesting thing about Koko, however, is her communication of certain abstract concepts, like old age and death. She cried when her pet kitten (which she named All Ball) died. Previously, her keepers phrased questions to her about death: "Why do gorillas die?" they asked, She sighed in return, "Trouble, old." When asked, "Where do gorillas go when they die?" She answered, "Comfortable hole," blowing a kiss goodbye. Her psychologist was puzzled where she got such a concept, but found a confirmed observation of a group of gorillas who came upon a dead crow, dug a hole, placed the corp...

“Jnana-yoga is recommended for those who are disgusted with material life. Those who are not disgusted with material life, having many desires yet to fulfil, should seek perfection through the path of karma-yoga.” “If somehow or other by good fortune one develops faith in hearing and chanting My glories, such a person, being neither very disgusted with nor attached to material life, should achieve perfection through the path of loving devotion to Me.”

These days fewer people are interested in taking up anything that they cannot immediately apply to their lives. The common question is: “What is this going to do for me?” Or “What am I going to get out of this?” So if we cannot relate the purpose of Vedic culture or its spirituality to people today, especially to the youth, then it is not likely they will take an interest. Yet, everyone is interested in gaining more out of life, or reaching their higher...

As conditioned souls within this material world, people who are averse to God, lament and aggrieved when they suffer but devotees of the Lord worships him with full faith and devotion and take these sufferings as gifts of the Lord and they understand that these sufferings are temporary and external. Sufferings are gifts of the Lord for a devotee, which apparently seems bitter but in reality its blessings of the Lord. Queen Kunti prays to the Lord in Srimad Bhagavatam (1.8.25) as: I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again an...

We have the most complete philosophy, and Srila Prabhupada has given us the wonderful process of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Part of that process is taking care of the devotees. Actually, Krishna says that He has nothing else to do but to take care of His devotees. And since His devotees are always thinking about Him, He is also always thinking about His devotees. So actually, devotee care is one of the primary angas or aspects of Krishna consciousness.

There are two tracks (vidhis) required to walk safely on the spiritual path, as Srila Prabhupada often mentioned: In the same way as the physical train needs two parallel tracks, also the train of bhakti needs two tracks: one is the bhagavatvidhi or the path of sravanam and kirtana, also known as rag-marg and the pancaratrika-vidhi or the path of arcana, also known as vidhi-marg. When Srila Prabhupada came to the West to teach Krishna-consciousness, he first...

Many devotees ask how we are to understand the Ulta, or Bahuda - return Ratha-yatra in Jagannath Puri? If (as Gaudiya Vaishnavas state) we consider the Gundica-yatra, or Ratha-yatra to respresent the ecstatic emotions of the residents of Vrindavan taking Krishna home from Kuruksetra. How do we then understand the return Ratha-yatra? Is it a festival celebrating taking Krishna away from Vrindavan? There are two sides, two answers, that can be offered to this question. To understand them, one f...

When we talk about the planet's earliest civilization, we are talking about the world's earliest sophisticated society after the last ice age. This means that according to the Vedic time tables, various forms of civilization have been existing for millions of years

One barrier to acceptance of interactionist models for mind/body dualism is a shortage of conceptual resources. Turning to the ancient Sanskrit writings of India, we find in the Bhagavata Purana of India the allegory of the City of Nine Gates, which provides a complex model from mind/body dualism. This model, rich in imagery, allows one to account for such varied phenomena as phantom limbs, out of body experiences, past life memories, traveling clairvoyance, and perception of qualia. Is there a ...

Reading or hearing about Krishna’s astounding pastimes in Vrindavana will satisfy our innate spiritual need to be connected with the supreme spiritual person, Sri Krishna. Mundane tales bind us to the material sphere, whereas spiritual tales uplift us. They are ever fresh and purify our hearts. When we are in contact with Krishna’s name, form, abode, and pastimes, we are in direct contact with Him. Our spiritual nature becomes uncovered, and we begin to see things as they are. Free from illusion, we see beyond the purview of the material mind and senses. Wh...