By Manjulali dasiI must admit sometimes in our lives things aren't always easy and this can get us down. Lately I am realising the necessity of becoming the honey bee always seeking the nectar, overcoming the fly-like mentality that bypasses all the beautiful flowers and finds the one piece of stool.
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- 15 Aug 2006
By Hridayananda Goswami There is another point. Ultimately the essence of pure devotion is the pure desire to please Krishna. Krishna Himself makes perfect arrangements to save the fallen souls and assigns a sufficient number of devotees to preach. As I said, since everything depends upon the free will of the conditioned souls, there is, in a sense, a finite amount that can be done for them.
...- 11 Aug 2006
By Balabhadra dasMy realizations on this episode are that I need to become more grateful of the service rendered by other living entities in their service to God. To take their association for granted and not to relish their association until death has taken them away is a great disservice to their very existence.
...- 11 Aug 2006
By Bhakti Charu SwamiDevotees apparently go through some difficulties at times, but those difficulties do not effect them by any means because they are always protected by Krishna's merciful embrace. Rather, through these difficulties, Krishna proves to the world the devotees' perfect love for Him and how He always saves them when in difficulty.
...- 9 Aug 2006
By Bhanu SwamiSometimes “fasting” means fasting from grains all day, as on Ekadasi. Sometimes it means not eating anything, even non-grain prasad, until a certain time, as in the phrases “fasting till noon on Ekadasi”
...- 9 Aug 2006
By Prema Samputa DasaWhenever there is a human impulse, our tendency is to respond immediately without even contemplating the outcome. In reality there exists a short moment between an impulse and a response, catch yourself during this short moment, think first, then act.
...- 6 Aug 2006
By Harsh KabraGeologists have discovered a striking archaeological feature on a hillock in the Kutch district of the western Indian state of Gujarat. The feature has evoked the curiosity of archaeologists because such signs have mostly been observed so far in Peru.
...- 6 Aug 2006
By Padmapani dasThe mood was friendly and hopeful, to which the devotees responded in kind. In a similar fashion, I now anticipate (and hope) that your online publication, "Dandavats," has taken the opportunity to further the lines of communication among Vaisnavas everywhere in the same tradition of Prabhupada's open and loving exchanges.
...- 6 Aug 2006
By Dhruva Maharaja dasaI do not know how much nectar the two syllables "Krsna" have produced. When the holy name of Krsna is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears.
...- 5 Aug 2006
By Daniel GilbertIf the first principle of legitimate punching is that punches must be even-numbered, the second principle is that an even-numbered punch may be no more forceful than the odd-numbered punch that preceded it. Legitimate retribution is meant to restore balance, and thus an eye for an eye is fair, but an eye for an eyelash is not.
...- 5 Aug 2006
By Vijaya dasaBy the arrangement of Krsna a Professor at the local university heard about a drama called "Ramayana" and wanted to perform the drama at the school. She heard from Prema that Bhakti Marg Swami in Toronto had the script. She got in touch with him and convinced him to go to Thunderbay to organize the play.
...- 4 Aug 2006
By Yadavendra dasIf this kit inspires only one devotee to significantly increase his book distribution on a regular basis and for the rest of his active devotional life, I will consider this attempt a success. Thank you very much and good luck in your endeavors.
...- 4 Aug 2006
By HDG Srila PrabhupadaWe can make our standard of living very comfortable, but with the purpose of attaining perfection in Krsna consciousness. You live comfortably. That's all right. But don't live like animals, simply increasing sense gratification.
...- 29 Jul 2006
By Hari-sauri dasaIn the introduction of Sri Isopanishad there is a statement by Srila Prabhupada that says that women are less-intelligent. So I distribute books. I sometimes meet ladies and they ask what actually, you know, sometimes they are immediately intimidated and they start to argue, that you say we are less-intelligent. So what would be the best way to address such issues?
...- 28 Jul 2006
By Krishna Dharma dasSome years ago a paper by Ravindra Svarupa prabhu entitled 'Cleaning House and Cleaning Hearts: Reform and Renewal in ISKCON', which originally appeared in two parts in the ISKCON Communications Journals of January and July 1994, was widely circulated amongst ISKCON members. As a 'second generation' devotee who came to ISKCON in 1979, I read with interest this paper, which basically chronicled many of the difficulties ISKCON has undergone since its inception.
...- 25 Jul 2006
By Praghosa Das (ACBSP_NYC)As it is stated above "The Lord takes into account - how many times we all chant "Krsna Krsna" and in due course of time this chanting - executed either in praise or blame of the Lord - will allow us re-entrance into the Lord's company!!!
...- 19 Jul 2006
By HDG Srila PrabhupadaSuppose if I see somebody smoking, but he is doing Krsna consciousness very nicely. So we should not deride. We shall give him concession to reform. It does not mean that because he has accidentally smoked, smoking, that does not mean he has become immediately disqualified.
...- 18 Jul 2006
By Vineet Chander I realize that the ISKCON I joined--the ISKCON that I choose to live and work in today--is, in some ways, dramatically different from the one which commanded headlines three or four decades ago. My ISKCON is one which celebrates families and communities, values tolerance and compassion, helps its devotees balance fidelity tradition with the reality of life in contemporary America.
...- 18 Jul 2006
By Hridayananda das GoswamiThe strains are usually resolved satisfactorily. The word ‘Hindu’ never appears in a purely intra-communal Hindu context and has no significance in the central religious concerns of the texts, the expositions of bhakti. (emphasis mine) ... there is to be found no explicit discussion of what ‘Hindu’ or ‘Hindu dharma’ means in any of the texts surveyed.
...- 18 Jul 2006
By Umapati SwamiA devotee is para-dukha-dukhi: he feels pain when he sees the suffering of others. If a devotee cannot bear to see even an ant in pain, how can he enjoy the fall of another devotee? And this bashing of fallen devotees is indeed an attempt to enjoy their misfortune. Otherwise what is the use of dwelling on it?
...- 14 Jul 2006
By Sri Krishna Kathamrita MagazineWe tiny living entities are followers of vidhi, formal rules and regulations, but we are not against raga-marga, the path of spontaneous attraction. Raga is the highest topic, but it does not look good in our mouth. Hearing big topics from a small mouth, the bhajananuragi-gana, devotees on the spontaneous platform, will laugh at us.
...- 8 Jul 2006
By Krishna Dharma dasMy view is that ISKCON is an educational institution. Indeed, in the seven purposes which Srila Prabhupada set down in 1966 when forming ISKCON's first constitution, the first purpose is "To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all people in the techniques of spiritual life…"
...- 26 Jun 2006
By Hridayananda das Goswami Ironically, the philosopher who best explains this problem may be Karl Marx, who famously concluded from his study of history that the means of production determine social and political relationships. In other words, the way that a society secures its basic material needs will shape the social and political institutions of that society.
...- 9 Jun 2006
By Mahanidhi Swami In his book, The Art of Chanting Hare Krishna, HH Mahanidhi Swami lists "ten actions... to protect one from the tendency to make offenses" that originally appear in Srila Sacidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Harinama Cintamani.
...- 6 Jun 2006