My wife showed an equal disinterest in religious matters. Although she would attend religious functions held in her village, her main purpose was to entertain herself with some singing and dancing that's all. But one day, in 2008, she met an ISKCON devotee who hailed from our village. This devotee was trying to establish Krishna consciousness here, and my wife was very much influenced by him. She immediately adopted the devotional principles whole heartedly and repeatedly urged me to ta...

Like a beautiful palace with a closed door the dhama also requires a key to grant us entrance. This is chanting the Name. According to Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura it is chanting the Holy Name with loving affection

In another epic scripture known as the Ramayana we find Sita devi, the devout wife of Lord Rama and the mother of Lava and Kusha. Sita devi’s many sublime qualities serve us with an exceptional example to follow. Although born and raised in royalty, she voluntarily accepted the austere life of living in the forest in order to serve her husband when he was exiled.

In the early days of the movement a devotee explained Sigmund Freud’s theory to Prabhupada that everything one does is motivated by sex. The devotee disagreed and said he felt people are primarily motivated by a spiritual yearning. Prabhupada said no - Freud was actually right. Why did Prabhupada say this? Because Srimad Bhagavatam clearly explains that sex attraction, subtle or gross, is the impetus behind all material activities.

During his amazing eleven years of personal worldwide preaching, Śrīla Prabhupāda proved Krishna consciousness could transform everyone into Vaishnavas, regardless of their birth. People today can still be transformed, regardless of how social externals have changed over the years. However, in many parts of the world, today’s ISKCON constituencies have changed. In this chapter we will look at three principal obstacles to local recruiting and a solution for each.

Yes. Blinded by prejudice. Who? Me?! Never!!! Prejudice is the cause of so much heartbreak and violence in this world — I don’t want to know about it! I’m a very liberal person. I’m not judgemental. I’m not blinded by prejudice! Oops! Looks like we have touched a very sensitive spot! Definitely not a good idea to tell him now that Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura doesn’t agree with his self-perception and analysis....

The best parents are good role models for their children. They demonstrate the spiritual way of life through words and deeds, understanding that children learn what they live. They seek out other parents or families trying to raise God-conscious children. In this way, they create a much-needed support system. Truly “It takes a village to raise a child.” (Ancient African Proverb).

The Mayavadi sannyasis asked, “You belong to our Sankara-sampradaya and live in our village, Benares. Why then do You not associate with us? . . . You look as brilliant as if You were Narayana Himself. Will You kindly explain why You have adopted the behavior of lower-class people?” Mayavadis address each other as “Narayana” because they think they are all going to become Narayan a or merge into the energy of Narayana when they reach perfection. Seeing Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s gorgeous effulgence, they were astonished. Per...

Controlling one’s mind is the purpose of yoga, and Krishna consciousness is the yoga of bhakti, or service to Krishna with love. As with any type of yoga, practicing bhakti-yoga in an atmosphere where we’re deluged with information can be tough. The digital age seems to control us, as yesterday’s inventions become today’s necessities. When I compare my childhood to that of kids today, I wonder how they can concentrate on anything, their minds so easily disappearing into a virtual world that’s becoming more and more like the bricks a...

I will have to tell you that today science education- people are taking it as very important. Scientific civilization, or scientific knowledge or scientific education, people are becoming engineers, doctors, telecommunication engineers, IT’s. It is important–the material education. But unless those fields of knowledge are applied in the understanding of higher or deeper dimension of knowledge it becomes a total material waste. In other words if one is not able to understand what the most important duty of the life is, it becomes useless.

When a devotee is weak, is having difficulty, or in a spiritual crisis, the Vaisnava family should be there to uplift and restore their strength and enthusiasm. Selfless service to each other, with Krishna in the center, creates trust. Trust nourishes love. Loving relations in Srila Prabhupada's service is the string that binds all of us together on the necklace of bhakti.

The Vedic literature explains that what is one year for us, is just one day for the demigods in swargaloka. It's not that they just have longer days: they really perceive the time differently. Similarly, what is 4.3 billion years for us, is just a day for the inhabitants of Brahmaloka. Their lifespan equals trillions of years of our time.

When I was a young devotee, I was strict about attending all the temple programs. But I found myself critical of devotees who didn't always attend. One devotee suffered from an illness and did her best to come when she could. But I felt she could do better. Not long after those thoughts contaminated my consciousness, however, I became ill and often missed mangala-arati, the early-morning worship. Krishna accomplishes many things by one action, and one result of my illness was a diminis...

Women in general are unable to speculate like philosophers, but they are blessed by the Lord because they believe at once in the superiority and almightiness of the Lord, and thus they offer obeisances without reservation. The Lord is so kind that He does not show special favor only to one who is a great philosopher. He knows the sincerity of purpose. For this reason only, women generally assemble in great number in any sort of religious function. In every co...

“The Latin poet Virgil, has written, ‘Love conquers all’. The second part of what he wrote, in many ways is instrumental. He said, ‘Love conquers all, so let us all be conquered by love’. This is the principle of bhakti. The first and great commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind and soul, and the natural consequence of that is that you will love your neighbor as yourself. And according to the Bhagavad-gita you will see every living being as your neighbor.” “But that a...

“My devotee is so dear to Me. He is My devotee because He always takes Me into the core of his heart, and he is always praying to Me, "Please let me engage in Your service." My devotee doesn’t want anything else. He is always thinking how he can serve Me. So therefore, I approach My devotee and I say, "Please let Me give you something." But My devotee says, "I don’t want anything." And the Lord says, "I want to give you something. Anything!"

Discussions about the relationship between science and religion usually end in a stalemate: Scientists accuse religionists of relying too much on faith, which they say is experimentally unverifiable, while religionists accuse scientists of relying too much on physical and chemical laws, which they say fail to measure the emotions and sentiments of a conscious living entity. The scientists fail to address or even acknowledge consciousness and its attendant needs; reli...

"I have another story; this one was told by my father. My father's elder brother was running a cloth shop. Before closing the shop my uncle would put out a basin filled with rice. Of course, as in any village, there were rats. But the rats would take the rice and not cut even a single cloth. Cloth is very costly. If even one cloth had been cut by a rat, then it would have been a great loss. So with a few pennies' worth of rice, he saved many dollars' worth of cloth. This Krishna culture is practical. They are also part and parcel of God. Give them food. They'll not create any dist...

Arjuna was a warrior, a ksatriya. A warrior is so by intrinsic quality, not by external denomination. For him, to desert an important battle and take the path of a hermit in the forest would have been artificial. Artificial things don't match one's internal quality or genuine predisposition. So, they deprive one from the strength coming from within. Without this internal force, any goal, material or spiritual, would be hard to pursue in the long run.

I know that Supreme Personality of Godhead who is transcendental to all material conceptions of darkness. Only he who knows Him can transcend the bonds of birth and death. There is no way for liberation other than this knowledge of that Supreme Person.“There is no truth superior to that Supreme Person because He is the supermost. He is smaller than the smallest, and He is greater than the greatest. He is situated as a silent tree, and He illumines the transcendental sky, and as a tree spreads its ...