Radheshyam Dasa: Dealings with peers. Disrespect, disregard, hatred and criticism are forbidden.
A devotee should not ignore any living entity. The devotee must know that in every living entity, however insignificant he may be, even in an ant, God is present, and therefore every living entity should be kindly treated and should not be subjected to any violence. [SB 3.29.22 purport]
In this verse, two phrases, bhutesu baddha-vairasya (“inimical towards others”) and dvisatah para-kaye (“envious of another’s body”), are significant. One who i...

Some Burmese doctors were attending a medical convention in New York City and got a book from a devotee on the street. The book distributor showed them the Dasavatar painting in the Gita, pointed out Lord Buddha, and the doctors bought the book.
When they got back to their hotel and looked through the Gita, they thought “Wait a minute. This is not about Buddhism” but as they bought the book, they decided to take it back to Burma and give it to a Hindu doctor friend. The Hindu doctor friend turned out to be a staunch follower of Sankharacharya. He thought “Ah, this is a book about Bhakti. I hav...

Pray! who, me?
Giriraj dasa: As aspiring devotees we should know that it is spiritual ‘best practice’ to make prayers an important part of our daily sadhana.
Of course, we are aware (but are we conscious of it?) that prayer, vandanam, is part of nine limbs of bhakti and even following a single limb perfectly can help us reach our final goal. We should also know that each pranam mantra which we speak is a prayer to Krishna, Deity, Acharaya & Guru. Being aware of the importance of power of prayers, Srila Prabhupada very much ingrained the...

Srila Prabhupada’s tireless pursuit of giving Krishna consciousness.
Udayananda: During the 1976 festival in Vrindavan, there was a whole schedule one day that started at mangal arotik and went all the way until midnight at a pandal program celebrating the Appearance of Lord Ram and attended by over twenty thousand people.
It was very impressive.
For me the day started blissfully as I got to go on a morning walk with Srila Prabhupada.
Prabhupada walked for a very long time preaching vigorously.
At the beginning of the walk I was at the rear ...

Why not Simply Chant and Dance?
Sacinandana Swami: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said: “Of the nine processes of devotional service, the most important is to always chant the Holy Name of the Lord. If one does so, avoiding the ten kinds of offenses, one very easily obtains the most valuable love of Godhead.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya 4.71)
One might ask, “Then why do we hear so many lectures on the Bhagavatam in our movement. Why don’t we simply sing and dance instead of listening to so many explanations?” The answer is: the other e...

Tails of New Vrindaban: “Malati the cow.”
Malati was showing signs of labor when I went to check on her at 6:45 am Monday morning. I had to do an airport run for some devotees but I mentioned it to Anandavidya before I left for Pittsburgh. Malati proceeded to disappear from the barn. Anandavidya was unable to locate her as she was nowhere to be seen. Morning milking takes place at 7. He was however worried about her and ventured out into the horrendously muddy field to search. She was found down the hill behind the Palace. After herding her back into the ...

Painting Deities with Srila Prabhupada
Yamuna Devi: “One day Srila Prabhupada asked me to paint a set of Radha-Krishna Deities that he was sending to Hamburg to have installed. When I informed him I was not an artist and didn’t feel I could do it, he said that he would show me what to do. So he told me to find a special black, white and red paint, and that evening we sat Them on his small desk and Srila Prabhupada personally painted the Deities and instructed me at the same time. I sat in front of him, and as time seemed to disappear, the lovely forms of ...

Lord Nrisimhadeva’s mercy even on non-devotees
The mercy of Lord Nrisimhadeva at Mayapur is famous and I have an interesting story in brief.
I know a couple Ashok Ghosh and his wife Shila Ghosh from Kolkata, who married twelve years ago. Four years before when I met them, they shared their worries with me. Like other childless couples, who undertake treatments or throw faith in magical amulets, this young couple too were attracted to artificial means to have a baby. Incidentally, I suggested them to take shelter of Jagrata Nrsiimhadeve at ISKCON Mayapur. I...

The power of one book!
Kadamba Kanana Swami: We do not know the power of what one book will do. The Bhagavad-gita made me a devotee! It was a Bhagavad-gita that I got from a friend. My friend bought it, read it and then passed it onto me. I have no idea where that Bhagavad-gita ended up after me. I still had it when I moved into the temple but what happened to it after that, I cannot remember.
The books we distribute lives a life of its own and goes from one person to another. It finds people. It is not just that we find people; the book finds people! Somebody ...

The Strange Story of Usika Das.
Swarup das (ACBSP): This story is from my memoirs (that I’ve been trying to consolidate into a book for the past few years).
I met Usika at the Henry Street, Brooklyn temple in ‘71. At the time his name was Ezekiel. He was initiated and given the name Usika in July of that year when Srila Prabhupada came to Brooklyn. Unlike just about all of us who were in our 20’s .. Usika was either just south or north of 50. He was crotchety, moody, cynical and impatient when it came to his dealings with “you young peopl...

“Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja was respected by all the Vaisnava community and was thus known as Vaisnava Sarvabhauma, or chief amongst the Vaisnavas. There are some nice stories connecting him with the finding of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s birthplace recorded in Sri Navadwipa Dhama Mahatmya.

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The confidential truth is that in order to quickly bestow auspiciousness upon the living entities of Kali-yuga, in the beginning, the Supreme Lord sent His devotees such as Sathhakopa (Nammalvar), Ramanuja, Vishnusvami, Madhvacarya and Nimbaditya to this world, and desiring to bestow the supreme secret of attaining conjugal love of Godhead, He personally assumed the form of a devotee named Sri Krishna Caitanya and descended with His own Golokadhama in the supreme place of pilgrimage, Gauda-bhumi

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