I recently connected with a childhood friend who also became a monk. As you can imagine, we had lots to talk about, and lots in common. In his tradition, one of the monastic vows is to never touch money; and if he does, even by accident, he observes complete fasting for a day. Serious detachment. Admittedly, if I had adopted that vow I’d be dead and cremated by now – financial transactions seem a staple part of my daily life! But money is dangerous, and time and time again we see how it can attack the integrity of life. It’s so easy to sell out on principles and...

The following history from the Valmiki Ramaya is full of import for anyone who wants to be a guru, GBC, temple president or leader in ISKCON or any spiritual institution. "Sri Rama said to Laksmana who was seated there and who was characterized by auspicious marks, ‘O Long-armed Laksmana! Go out and call by turn those, who have come with some business’. Having listened to Sri Rama’s order, Laksmana endowed with auspicious marks, going to the palace-gate himself called t...

Learning to appreciate the devotees is a Vaisnava etiquette that helps us in our quest for purification, especially the appreciation of senior devotees. I have always been slow to understand this but as time passed I began to develop a certain admiration for those devotees who came before me. This is due largely to the fact that I have become a senior devotee. I can't say that I always act like a senior devotee so I guess I am senior by default, simply because of tim...

So actually, these bodily activities which we are now engaged in are not our actual life. Therefore, the Vedic mantra says, "O human race, please wake up. Just utilize the opportunity which you now have." You have a special opportunity. And what is that? This human form of life. Utilize it; don't waste it. Don't go on sleeping. This very same matter is taken up by Sri Krishna. Those who are accustomed to the yoga process know this. The first principle of the yoga process is to control the senses. This is so for every process. In any bona fide process fo...

This was one of Srila Prabhupada's qualities. He was very careful not to discourage anyone through criticism. If they were capable of dealing with it then he would chastise them. Otherwise, he was the greatest transcendental diplomat there ever was. His only goal was to infect as many people as possible with love of Krsna.

What is the appropriate response of a Vaisnava or person of faith during a time of national or global crisis? The examples of great souls and of scripture can help us understand what a Vaisnava response can look like. From a certain perspective, we are always in a time of crisis. In the material world, there is danger at every step. Although the material world is the wonderful creation of the Divine, it is not our home, and our material position is never secure. A large part of spiritual practice is meant to help us realize this, and to seek to connect wi...

Prabhupada never accepted anything for himself, nor did he ever enjoy the facilities offered to him by his disciples and followers. Those who had the good fortune to personally serve or spend time with Srila Prabhupada all attest to this fact. He was cent percent engaged in the service of Krishna 24 hours a day. It was his total surrender and dedication to the Lord's service which inspired so much love and adoration in the hearts of his followers. Srila Prabhupada not only talked the talk, but he walked the walk. Everyone respected Prabhupada, even those who didn't agree wit...

"One should become like the ocean. The ocean is filled by many thousands of rivers, and millions of tons of its water evaporates into clouds, yet the ocean is the same unagitated ocean. The laws of nature may work, but if one is fixed in devotional service at the lotus feet of the Lord, he is not agitated, for he is introspective. He does not look outside to material nature, but he looks in to the spiritual nature of his existence; with a sober mind he simply...

Discussion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which describes the character and pastimes of devotees and the Lord, is very quickly effective. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has been organized for this purpose. In every center of this Society—not only in the morning, evening or noon, but practically twenty-four hours a day—there is continuous devotional service going on. Anyone who comes in contact with the Society automatically becomes a devotee. We have actual experience that many karmīs and others come to the Society and find a ...

What are the various definitions of inattention while chanting? A. O Lord! All anarthas are produced when we do not pay attention to our chanting. The exalted devotees have defined inattention as indifference, laziness, and restlessness. (Harinama-cintamani) Q. What is the symptom of a restless chanter? A. Those who are afflicted with restlessness try to finish their prescribed rounds as soon as possible. One should be extremely careful not to commit such an offense while chanting. (Harinama-cintamani)

"Both the Vaishnava theists and the materialists each present their own set of amazing stories. The choice is . . . which set of amazing stories to believe." It is the grand conceit of the materialistic worldview that “man is the measure of all things.” When we dig a little deeper, we find that this premise is based on a profoundly arrogant presumption, namely, that all reality can ultimately be subordinated to our sense perception and intellect.

Sometimes people think that the ancient Vedic literature no longer has any real usefulness in this day and age. That it is little better than an antique of foregone days. However, this article shows the universal and ever-relevant nature of the Ramayana, and how it explains the symptoms of society when there is no ruler, or when there is an unqualified leader. This is from the discussion between Markandeya and the great sages and Visishtha when they urge him to install a proper king onto the throne. When there is no such ruler of a country, they describe an assortmen...

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 ...