“We have a lot of clashing in our country on political, racial and even religious grounds, but we are all spiritually interconnected,” said His Holiness Bhakti Swami Chaitanya, governing body commissioner for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in South Africa.

Your Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini, Your Excellency President Jacob Zuma, Distinguished KZN Premier Dr Zweli Mkhize, ministers and government officials, ladies and gentlemen

On a warm summer evening in Ann Arbor, Michigan, just over forty years ago, I chanced upon a group of sannyasis chanting the holy names on the lawn of a university. I came forward to listen to their singing, intrigued by their dress, their demeanor, and their obvious joy

You told me personally: "Preach boldly and have faith in the holy names." That one instruction gave birth to all the good fortune in my life and will continue to maintain me until my final breath.

Therefore the preaching of Krsna consciousness must be done very carefully by the members of the Krsna consciousness movement, especially the sannyasis. This will create an auspicious atmosphere

"A thief accused Alexander the Great that, 'What is the difference between you and me? I am a small thief and you are a big thief. That's all. Why you are punishing me? You are a big thief. You are doing same thing."

I can understand that it is not an easy manner to travel extensively over long periods of time without proper food, rest, and sometimes it must be very cold there also, and still, because you are getting so much enjoyment, spiritual enjoyment, from it, it seems like play to you

Victory! Victory! Victory! I behold something wonderful: all the inauspiciousness of the living entities is destroyed, no one is going to hell, Yamaraja has no more work to do and the effects of Kali-yuga have ceased to exist. This is because all over the world an increasing number of Lord Visnu’s devotees are singing His names while dancing and playing musical instruments

It was my last week in Sri Vrindavan Dhama. I wanted to take advantage of my final precious days in the holy dhama, so I took a small group of devotees to Radha Kunda for parikrama. During our circumambulation of the sacred lake, a Vrajavasi man invited us into his home for fresh, hot chapattis which his wife and daughter served us with yogurt

Human energy should be properly utilized in developing the finer senses for spiritual understanding, in which lies the solution of life. Fruits, flowers, beautiful gardens, parks and reservoirs of water with ducks and swans playing in the midst of lotus flowers, and cows giving sufficient milk and butter are essential for developing the finer tissues of the human body

Today on the occasion of your Vyasa Puja it is with great pleasure I report to you that once again hundreds of thousands of people have received the great mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu on the Baltic Sea coast in Poland. That mercy has taken the form of your books, the holy names, prasadam distribution, and the blissful association of many wonderful devotees

He makes a song of the names 'Hare,' 'Krsna' and 'Rama,' and by giving it to the mass of people destroys all obstacles such as sorrow, delusion, greed, and suffering. He grants devotional service to the multitude of devotees who are eager for the shelter of Lord Krsna's lotus feet

"Our only hope is to chant Hare Krishna and rectify the whole situation. I think this is possible. It has been proved in Calcutta that the Naxalites were very much against us holding our Hare Krishna festival, but still later on they became sympathetic and did not cause any harm for us. If we follow the same principles everywhere... [governments] all over the world will come forward sympathetically for advancing this movement."

I boarded an Aeroflot flight from Kiev to Moscow and quickly went to my seat. After the austerity of flying hundreds of times with Aeroflot throughout Russia, I had finally been upgraded to business class...

As soon as I arrived in Johannesburg I caught a connecting flight to Durban. On the plane I was struck by the diversity of the passengers. "Muslims, Hindus, Christians, and Jews," I thought as I made my way to my seat. "People of African, European, and Chinese descent. It's all here. I'm happy to be back in the Rainbow Nation."

"Out of His causeless mercy, the Supreme Personality of Godhead presents Himself before us so that we can see Him. Since we have no transcendental vision, we cannot see the spiritual sac-cid-ananda-vigraha ... We can only see material things like stone and wood, and therefore He accepts a form of stone and wood and thus accepts our service in the temple..."

Dearest BB Govinda Maharaja, I'm sorry I can't be with you in Moscow at the auspicious celebration of your sixtieth birthday. I'm far away, but I want you to know that I am thinking of you and remembering you throughout the day

One morning in Vrindavana, I was sitting in my house chanting my rounds when my disciple Narottam Das Thakur Das came to see me. He offered his respectful obeisances and then spoke. "Guru Maharaja," he said, "it's been a long time since I have visited Govardhana Hill. If you don't have any service for me today, I would like your blessings to go on Govardhana parikrama."

Life on the festival tour in Poland this summer was austere - the cramped living facilities, the long hours, and the hotter-than-normal weather - but our three hundred devotees kept their spirits up all the way through. Many said that it had been our best tour, as proved by the largest crowds ever

On this auspicious day 114 years ago, you appeared in this world to bestow causeless mercy on the fallen souls of this age. At the time of your appearance your glories were unmanifest like a lotus flower that remains closed in the darkness of night

The splendid path of pure devotional service, which bewildered the great sages in the past, which material intelligence has no power to enter, which Sukadeva Goswami was not able to understand, and which merciful Lord Krsna never revealed even to His closest friend, is the place where the dear devotees of Lord Gaura happily enjoy pastimes