Religion without philosophy is sometimes fanaticism: Just as people can be healed by different treatments, people can become lovers of God by practicing different religions: Christianity, Islam and Hinduism, for example. The decisive test for a religion is whether it enables its followers to become spiritually healthy, to become lovers of God. In this light, religious fanatics are like narrow-minded proponents of a particular medical therapy who are ready to destroy the books and the infrastructure associated with other therapies.

When one studies the life and works of several prominent scientists, such as Newton, Planck, Pasteur, Einstein and Schrödinger, one discovers that they were inclined towards spirituality in comprehending their worldview of nature and reality. Their reflections are thus great assets to the works of Bhaktivedanta Institute that focuses on 'Theistic interpretation of empirical observation'.

While treading the path of sadhana-bhakti, scorching rays of contrary mentalities burn in our head; our feet stumble on pebbles of misconception; thorny bushes of material desire obstruct our passage. Although our mind screams with good reason to retreat, we somehow push on. Stumbling to the ground we notice something shimmering on the roadway. Reaching out we grasp a polished gemstone - Is this meant for me? Suddenly the entire pathway is paved with such gemstones, fragrant flowers line our path and a cloud bank of amazing sweetness shades us. How magic...

His Divine Grace saw Krishna Consciousness as a 'science" in the sense material scientists define science too.Thus, there is a place within our siddhanta for a scientific study of matter to be in the contemporary sense of the word, as pointed out by Srila Prabhupada. We have taken it that the Bhaktivedanta Institute has to fulfil this instruction. This point needs to be fully grasped to adequately understand the work of Bhaktivedanta Institute as a truly scientific institute, presenting the scientific basis of Krishna Consciousness in a rigorous manner, as Sr...

Once upon a time, a youth in the prime of his stupidity, was given a sum of money by his father and told, ‘You are old enough now, go on, go out and start a fine business on your own and prosper.’

CHENNAI: The conch and the Sudarshana Chakra are unmistakable. Although the figures do not match popular images of Kirshna sporting a peacock feather, archaeologists are convinced that the coins are of Krishna, revered as an avatar of Vishnu.

On the occasion of the acceptance of the renounced order of life by Badrinarayan Swami—some relishable instructions from Srila Prabhupada.

Models of the Pancha-tattva were made after researching the scriptures on the exact dimensions, proportions and qualities of each member, who were made in accordance to the descriptions found. It was decided that each deity should have an individual pose. Thus each is holding His hands differently. Lord Chaitanya with His hands wide open worships Lord Krishna to teach all the conditioned souls how to take shelter of Him.

This beautiful neem Deity of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu is the Deity that Srimati Visnupriya, wife of Lord Gauranga worshiped for 80 years after Lord Caitanya took sannyasa.

In 2012-13, as I was bringing my book – Mahabharata: The Eternal Quest - to completion, I kept asking myself: what about the Mahabharata would be most relevant to today’s readers. The book has endured for thousands of years. It’s revered by millions of Hindus all over the world. But what does it have to say to anyone else? Is Mahabharata just for Hindus or does it have a place in world literature, or in the very fabric of our diverse cultures?

All of us undergo times when our mind just doesn’t let us do what we need to and want to do. We try to study, but the mind goes blank. We try to work, but the mind doesn’t focus. The mind’s obstinacy that troubles us when we are meeting our worldly obligations often rises to scary heights when we engage in devotional activities like chanting.

“I am my worst enemy.” Some of us may have felt like this when we came under the grip of sudden, irrational impulses, and spoke and acted in ways that hurt others or ourselves or both. We make plans and efforts to change our illogical, uncongenial behavior, yet the heat of the moment often overpowers us. When we repeatedly succumb to the same self-defeating behavior, we may become possessed by the gloomy thought: “Maybe this is just the way I am; maybe this is my unchangeable nature.”

It was a momentous winter’s day when Descartes sat down with the sole intention of demolishing all of his opinions. Descartes began by rejecting all knowledge gained from the senses, as the senses sometimes deceive. He concluded that whereas the empirical sciences can be classed as dubious, the abstract sciences such as arithmetic and geometry cannot. However, so determined was he to call into question all of his knowledge, that he conceived of a cunning and powerful demon, who was exerting all of his power to deceive him, even in matters related to th...

The pure devotee of Krsna cannot bear to watch the unfortunate souls of this world squander their lives in the useless pursuit of temporal, painful enjoyments. Seeing such “enjoyments” as the binding karmic links to an endless chain of births and deaths….The pure devotee cannot bear to see their suffering.

Thank you, Gadadhara Pandit Dasa for being an authentic human being. Gadadhara Pandit Dasa is the first Hindu to be part of the campus ministry at Columbia University through the Union Theological Seminary. Pandit gave a lecture on Feb. 14, 2014 at Yoga on High in Columbus. The goal of the lecture was to relate some of the philosophical questions raised in The Matrix movie to traditional Hindu beliefs as expressed in the Bhagavad Gita, which is considered to be the major Hindu holy text.

Before passing judgment on Krishna, we need to understand the application of humility in the context of the philosophical reality and compassionate necessity that underpins the Gita.

I always wondered why Srila Prabhupad said we are Krishna’s dog. This thought always bothered me why he chose a dog. Few days ago one of a very old friend of my family engaged himself and me in a long conversation. This uncle mentioned about qualities of Dog. He said a dog has up to 40 qualities; out of which one of the most important qualities is his humility. No matter how much you hit your dog, scold them, be rude to them they will still wag their tails on seeing you.

Unlike high school's there is no direct learning outcomes set by SACRE (Standing Advisory Committee on Religious Education) which frees the primary teachers to explore in their own unique manor; those requesting visits have asked me to cover festivals. Which raises a unique challenge, I cannot just put together one presentation that covers all; (a one size fit's all approach which many feel comfortable with) but a multiple layered approach given the vast age range.

I have been collecting clippings and articles written by His Holiness Radhanath Swami maharaj from the Mumbai edition of ‘The Free Press journal newspaper, I collected his writings for a few months and to share them with everyone, so here I present this compilation named ‘Gems of Wisdom’.

I met her on a leading social networking website, her name was Nazia Mujeeb and she had a picture of Krishna in her profile, it surprised me that how a young muslim girl living in Mumbai had Krishna’s picture on her page. I sent her a friend request which she accepted as even I had Krishna in my profile, I started telling her more about Krishna and ISKCON on that website.

When the community was first established under the guidance of ISKCON Founder Srila Prabhupada in 1968, it became, for many years, a shining example of the best that ISKCON had to offer. Prabhupada would often direct devotees from other newly emerging communities to study what the devotees at New Vrindaban were doing and to follow their lead in areas such as cow-protection and Deity worship. Meanwhile the cooks, jewelry makers, craftsmen and seamstresses were among the best in ISKCON.

Mantra meditation is like a workout for the mind. It strengthens us by first straining our mental muscles. We need to willingly go through the strain to get to the rewards of peace and joy.

Some years ago in Bangalore I met an elderly Indian woman in love with London. She had been living there for a long time and could not wait to go back. Seeing the Vaisnava tilak on my forehead she told me about “a wonderful book” she’d just read: “My conversations with God.” Therein, “God” tells the author there is nothing wrong with sex and money—and so many other things in support of hedonism. “In any case, the woman concluded, “all scriptures are manmade, so there is no meaning to all these restrictions we’ve been brought up with...