In the Dallas temple, before the devotees and the Deities in early 1983, H.H. Tamal Krsna Goswami read out a letter from Srila Prabhupada: "My dear Tamal, the temple is likened to a military training camp where persons come and are trained as soldiers. After being trained they are sent out into the field to live an ideal devotee life preaching and living by example, or they remain in the temples to serve in one of many varieties of service. Those who are not strong enough to live outside the temple maintaining sadhana they can remain in the...

In Srimad Bhagavatam in ninth canto, there is a story of Shaubhari muni. He was a very powerful yogi. Millions of time more powerful than any materialist today in his ability to fulfill his material desires. He had attained very great mystic powers. And of course when one becomes very powerful spiritually or materially, the tendency is to become very proud and in pride, the greatest danger is that we can offend saintly persons. So Shaubhari Muni, as it is described, ...

Part of our ISKCON folklore is a story of early devotees wondering who were those māyāvādīs Śrīla Prabhupāda always rallied against - because no one knew any particular māyāvādī at the time, and then it hit them - they (we) are the māyāvādīs! Not by our professed ideology but by our attitudes and by the quality of our relationships, which were often very impersonal in nature. A lot of Bhāgavatam classes were spent on uncovering impersonalism in our lives afterwards. Otherwise a question arises - why would Śrīla Prabhupāda travel to the western countries to fight māyāvād...

I felt disillusioned by the whole show of this world. Nothing seemed attractive. I didn’t care much for anything anymore. I started reading some semi-spiritual books that served to tantalize me but were not nearly potent enough to satisfy my inner hunger for the Absolute Truth. I felt myself waiting for something to happen. One fine afternoon Marc stumbled upon an old friend of his he had been searching for ever since we had met. As it turned out, this friend had become a Hare Krishna d...

I recently read one of the latest books by Ian Stevenson, entitled European Cases of the Reincarnation Type. Dr. Stevenson is a research professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia, and he has been doing research on the subject of reincarnation for more than thirty years. Over this period, he has accumulated several hundred accounts of young children who consciously remember details of past lives, exhibit birthmarks or phobias connected with a former person’s death, or even speak f...

The seven subterranean planets, i.e. those are below the earthly plane (not to be confused with the earthly globe) known as Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talātala, Mahātala, Rasātala and Pātāla (SB 5.24.7) are, in fact, more opulent than the Heavenly planets!!! In those subterranean heavens, known as bila-svarga, “there are very beautiful houses, gardens and places of sense enjoyment, which are even more opulent than those in the higher planets because the demons have a very high standard of sensual pleasure, wealth and influence”. (...

How we value, acquire, use, and relate to money reflects our inner state of being. Krishna determines how much money each of us receives. It may appear accidental that one person is born into wealth and another into poverty, or that one person goes from rags to riches and another doesn't, but Krishna's law of karma destines these things. Srila Prabhupada says, "Everyone is thinking, 'If I become greedy, I shall get more.' That is not possible. You cannot get a farthing more than what you are destined." (Lecture, October 3, 1973) And he...

A Krishna conscious person should not be a fool. He can explain how these universal planets are floating and how the soul is evolving through different species of life. There are different departments of scientific knowledge – physics, botany, chemistry, astronomy, and so on. Krishna says, yaj jñatva: “If through Krishna consciousness you understand the knowledge I’m presenting, then you'll have nothing left to know.” That means you'll have complete knowledge. We are hankering after knowledge, but if we are in knowledge of Krishna consciousne...

"The word ‘envy’ is applied in many places and is used in connection to various things – envy of another’s good fortune, being disturbed at seeing the wealth of others, displeasure and jealousy etc. are some of the various examples. Wherever the word ‘matsarya’ (envy) has been explained in the Vaisnava scriptures, it is fully understood that its influence is the competitor of divine love (prema). dharmah projjhita-kaitavo ‘tra paramo nirmats...

Providing a strong challenge to established academic perception and methodology, Drutakarma Dasa presents the Vaisnava Hindu worldview on the fundamental concepts to the approach to and interpretation of the archaeological record. His presentation is articulate and thorough and the extensive research he has undertaken to support his thesis is very impressive. He contrasts the currently accepted time concept, which closely resembles the Judaeo-Christian model, with the ancient Puranic model and shows us how each tends to supports its own world view. But Drutakarma argues ...

For centuries man has been growing deluded by wealth and the material, but the disintegration and degeneration of society caused by this materiality is reaching a turning point. The plague of natural disasters, the growing numbers of civil wars, the increase in refugees, the global recession, inabilities of governments to provide basic amenities to the poor and security to nations are signs of the effects of how through the propagation and promulgation of greed and aspiration for material greatness, so...

"Make Homes Into Centers" Congregational development is an untapped field that presents new opportunities for all kinds of preachers,. It incorporates a systematic method for contacting and cultivating new devotees and engaging them in service. New people and potential devotees should, as far as possible, be brought into the loop, their details taken and follow-ups commissioned. As Srila Prabhupada said, we have to fan the fire and cause it to burn.

Lord Ram constructed a bridge to Lanka across the Ocean. Lord Ramchandra does not require a bridge to cross over the ocean, he is God, but in order to glorify his followers, good devotees like Hanuman and others including the little squirrel, Lord Ramchandra constructed a bridge to Lanka across the Ocean. Lord Ram gave them a chance, they simply chanted 'Jai Shri Rama' and threw stones into the water and the stones started floating, such is the potential of the holy name.

When the majority of people in a country are influenced by commercialism and addicted to the four most karmically implicating activities--meat-eating, intoxication, illicit sex, and gambling--there will definitely be reactions to endure in the future. This is the universal law. There is no amount of economic planning, defense buildup, agricultural arrangement, or even weather forecasting that will help us to avoid unexpected karmic reactions. If the ruler of a country receives one-sixth of the aggregate good or bad karma of the citizens, then the citizens themselve...

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato described in his myth of the cave (also known as "The allegory of the cave") the human condition by picturing human beings in a dark cave with one single light coming through the entrance to the cave. Just that the people inside don't look at that light: they are chained to the walls of the cave, face to the walls. All they see are the shadows reflected on those walls. They can not even see themselves but as their own shadow on the wall. This goes on up to a moment in time when their natural intelligence makes them question if this is all? Is th...

When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was in Mayapur, Chand Kazi was the Chief Magistrate of Navadvipa. It is described in Sri Navadvipa Dhama Mahatmya by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, when Lord Nityananda Prabhu while taking Jiva Gosvami on Navadvipa-Mandala Parikrama, entered Chand Kazi’s Village, Lord said, "O Jiva, hear My words. The Chand Kazi's village is none other than Mathura. After performing kirtana, Gauranga gave love of God to the Kazi and liberated him. Mathura's King Kamsa of Krishna-lila became Chand Kazi in Gaura-lila. For that...

Sri Kavi Karnapura states in Gaura Ganodessa Dipika that in Vraja lila Gadadhara Pandit is the daughter of King Vrsabhanu-Srimati Radharani. Gadad­hara Pandit served as Lord Gaura's chief assistant during His Navadvipa-lila. Sri-Sri Radha Krishna in Vrndavana appear as Gaura-Gadadhara to perform pastimes in Navadvipa in the forest groves beside the Ganges.

Our devotional service gets spoiled when we fail to exercise discretion in the company we keep. One must remember that association always causes transfer of desires. Therefore, it’s imperative that those aspiring for pure devotional service should carefully protect their bhakti-lata by nourishing it in the divine light and company of knowledgeable self-realised souls – and thus augment their chances of relishing the complete nectar of devotion in this very lifetime, and associating with the ambrosial pastimes of Lord Shri Krishna in the life here after.

When dissimilar individuals or concepts are harmonised, it’s called ‘unity in diversity.’ Such unity isn’t based on mere tolerance of psychological, personal, or ideological differences but is based on an understanding that differences are natural and can enrich us. Discovering how we’re united despite our differences can make us more fulfilled, broader devotees of Krishna. This sort of unity doesn’t mean uniformity and this sort of diversity doesn’t mean fragmentation. In Srila Prabhupada words, “In the material world there are varieties, but there is no agreement. In the...

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, European scholars and scientists began to come in contact with the culture of India, and many were impressed by the antiquity of Vedic civilization and the deep spiritual and material knowledge contained in the Vedic literatures. However, other European intellectuals were dismayed by these developments. For example, in 1825, the British scholar John Bentley wrote as follows of his conflict with the scientist John Playfair, who was an admirer of Indian cu...

Maya forces us to believe that happiness can be attained in this material world. Srila Prabhupada points out, “This place is miserable. But maya’s illusion, we are taking this miserable condition of life as happiness. This is called maya. There is no happiness in this material world. Everything miserable.” Lecture on BG 2.6 -- London, August 6, 1973.

The shastras instruct us about the importance of humility; so why is achieving true humility so challenging? True humility does not mean self-hatred. It’s an acknowledgment of our own limitations, and that is all. As I have heard some wise friends say, one who is humble does not think less of himself, but thinks of himself less. We should seek that humility which does not diminish our sense of self-worth but abhors narcissism and self-promotion.

If we do a comparative study, we can recognize numerous aspects of the Vedic culture, Krishna consciousness, in many of the Native American traditions. In order to show this, I conducted an interview with Felicity O’rourke who is a member of the Anishnaabi Native American tribe. This describes many of the similarities she recognizes between Vedic culture and her native American traditions. She explains: My family did not have a very strong Native American upbringing because my mother’s grandmother was the one who had a lot of the old ancient teachings a...