In the material world the three gunas function simultaneously. In some situations and individuals sattva will prevail, in others rajas or tamas. They all are necessary for the proper function of the material machine. But when a mode becomes in excess and overpowers the rest of the rest of the gunas then it shows its destructive tendency. Getting out of balance is the door to hell.

“Lord Shiva, the spiritual master of the entire world, is free from enmity. He remains ever peaceful and self-satisfied. Among the devatas, no one is greater. How, then, is it possible that Daksha could be inimical towards such an auspicious personality?” (SB 4.2.28)

The aim of this paper is to present how the “No Objection” procedure, the mechanism the GBC has established to encourage devotees to serve as diksa-gurus in ISKCON, is not contrary to Gaudiya Vaisnava siddhanta. We will examine how the system came to be and why it remains in place as the best option available for now for the GBC to ensure as best it can, that ISKCON has qualified diksa-gurus available to its aspiring bhaktas. It will also look at how the procedure be...

On the occasion of ‘Narottama Purnima’, the birth anniversary of Prema Bhakti Mahajan Srila Narottama Das Thakur Mahasaya with fully auspicious festivity in Kheturi Dham, Godagari, Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabu left behind Krishna Prema through Padmavati, the river Padma flowing by the side of Prematali, the most auspicious holy place for the vaishnavas. At the age of twelve Narottama dasa Thakura had a vision of Lord Nityananda in a dream....

“Therefore sometimes, when people say in India, ‘Swamiji, you have done wonderful.’ And yes, I do not know. I’m not a magician. But, so far I am confident that I did not adulterate the words of Krishna. That’s all. That’s my credit. I did not like to take the position of Krishna. I remained a servant of Krishna, and I spoke what Krishna said. That’s all. This is my secret. So everyone can do that. There is nothing magic. The magic will act as soon as you become a pure devotee of Krishna. The magic will be done by Krishna, not by me or you. He will do it. " (Sri...

Harold S. Kushner, a Massachusetts rabbi's best-selling book proposes a radical solution to the problem of evil. Does it work? Kushner is still hostile. Because God did not satisfy his demands, Kushner must think of Him as ineffectual and weak. Kushner once thought of God as a parent who always gratifies our desires. But now Kushner views Him as needing our forgiveness—for having failed as a parent: “Are you capable of forgiving and loving God even when you have found out that He is not perfect, even when He has let you down and disappointed you by permitting ba...

In the preface to Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Beatle Guitarist and songwriter George Harrison wrote, “All you need is love (Krishna)”. I am glad that he specified what he meant by love. The Hare Krishna movement took roots in the Western World, by the grace of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Shrila Prabhupada, during a time of free love, which he came not to stop, but to redirect. He gave us the Nectar of Devotion, where he explained how “Our love can be fully satisfied only when it is reposed in Krishna.”

Sriman Kedarnath Dutta, later known as Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur (1834-1914), belonged to the kayastha community of Bengali intellectual gentry that lived during the Bengal Renaissance and attempted to revive key strands of Hindu tradition and practice. In his youth he spent much time researching and comparing various religious and philosophical systems, both Indian and Western, with a view of finding among them a comprehensive, authentic and intellectually satisfying path. He tackled the task of reconciling Western reason and tradition by exploring religion ...

The stars are still smiling in the sky, the birds are still sleeping in their nests, the big trees and the small plants are curiously looking around enjoying the spectacle, the water in the nearby Ganges are resting peacefully, the cool breeze is singing shyly occasionally touching the sacred river gently and immediately racing to catch up with the devotees who are quickly walking towards the temple. Men, women, children walk briskly lest they miss the momentous opportunity. When clock calls 4:30 a.m., pujari blows the conchshell reverentially and opens the gigantic...

Modernized material benefits are like the dust of material contamination. When this dust is agitated by the whirlwind of fruitive activity, it overcomes the heart. Thus the mirror of the heart is covered with dust. There are many desires to perform auspicious and inauspicious activities, but people do not know how life after life they are keeping their hearts unclean. One who cannot give up the desire for fruitive activity is understood to be covered by the dust of material ...

Yesterday, Makara-sankranti, January 14, 2018, was the fortieth anniversary of the Juhu temple. On this occasion, I share with you three sections from my forthcoming book, *I’ll Build You a Temple: A Good Fight and a Promise Fulfilled*, about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu-—“Opening the Juhu Temple,” “After the Opening,” and “Concluding Reflections”—-and a link to me reading those sections in video I have also attached a scan of the Newsweek magazine article about the opening, mentioned in my account. May Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari bless us ...

What could I draw public attention to with my little insignificant padayatra which paralleled his Salt March? At the age of 62 (Gandhi was 61) I began the 22 day journey (the same amount of days Gandhi walked) on November 22nd, concluding on the full moon of 4 December 2017. Although I began as one man and my influence over others was that I would also finish alone, still it was important for me to have a message that would take my yatra just that one step further ...

In 1972, Srila Prabhupada and some of his disciples went on parikrama around Sri Navadvipa Dham, and since that time ISKCON Mayapur has been performing Navadvipa parikrama. The ISKCON Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama has been steadily increasing in size – from seventy devotees to ten thousand devotees and beyond – and is continuing to grow, not only in size but in activities, destinations and transcendental bliss. In 1996, the year of Srila Prabhupada’s centennial, the ISKCON Ma...

After I had read many of the books about Srila Prabhupada for a second or third time I found myself thinking, “Didn’t it say something about that pastime in another book?” And I would pull out a different book and read about the same event or time period from a different perspective. Or whereas in the Lilamrta it might say that Srila Prabhupada traveled to Australia and then back to Bomb...

How to judge whether the hearing is being done properly by measuring its effect: "A devotee should always see that his Vaisnava qualities increase with the advancement of his Krsna consciousness. A devotee should be blameless because any offense by the devotee is a scar on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The devotee’s duty is to be always conscious in his dealings with others, especially with another devotee of the Lord." (Bhagavatam 3.16.5, purport) Herein lies the secret to improving our dealings with one another and, by the cooperative spirit that ...

"...as we were walking back to the ashram to honor prasadam I noticed some altercation was going on with the security guards. On enquiry I found out that they had caught a shoe thief and had garlanded him with a garland of shoes, as was the custom with shoe thieves"

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada established ISKCON when it consisted of one rented storefront in New York City. He wrote purposes for his new society—to teach spiritual knowledge, consciousness of our existence as a soul part of the Supreme Godhead Krishna, and a simpler natural way of life

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshiped with the prayer name brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca. Thus it is clear that the Supreme Personality of Godhead respects and protects the brahmanas and brahminical culture, as well as the cows; in other words wherever there are brahmanas and brahminical culture, there are cows and cow protection. In a society or civilization which there are no brahmanas or brahminical culture, cows are treated as ordinary animals and...

To this day, the ISKCON Mayapur Food for Life strives and, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, succeeds in fulfilling this instruction. Over the last eight years, the ISKCON Mayapur Food for Life program, under the Sri Mayapur Food Relief Trust, has distributed over three million, nine hundred and twenty-five thousand, seven hundred plates of prasadam (3,925,700 plates). By the end of this year, the number of plates will have reached four million.

“Kindly help me,” was Srila Prabhupada’s heartfelt request to devotees in Los Angeles in 1975. “Print as many books as possible in as many languages as possible, and distribute throughout the whole world. Then the Krishna consciousness movement will automatically increase.” Today, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust has translated Prabhupada’s books into 89 languages, but there are still unique challenges in getting them to people. What if you’re a book distri...