Bhakti Vinode, head gardener at Krishna Eco Farm in Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, on past lives and plants with souls. "I have been on the farm since 1989, having first been to a Krishna farm in Watford in 1981. Back then, I was living in a squat and hanging around the West End of London, drinking and getting into trouble. But the Krishna way of life gave me a new goal, rather than always thinking about where I could get my next fix from. I live right next to the farm in Lesmahagow. We’re on a long, winding hillside. We’ve converted the old farmhouse at the top of the hill i...

I made a seminar presentation, in which I shared my experience of attempting to help terminally ill devotees to prepare for death, I asked the seminar attendants the question: “What would you do if you were told you have terminal cancer and you have two or three months to live?” Some devotees replied that they would go to Vrindavan or Mayapur to prepare for leaving their body. Others said that they would chant constantly and hear Krishna Katha without interruption. Bhakta Pol was able to visit the holy dhamas and intensify his s...

Tirupati is the place of Lord Sri Venkateswara Swamy, who is the all-pervading Lord of the Universe also known as the Lord of the Seven Hills. Tirupati is one of the holiest places of pilgrimage where Lord is worshiped in the mood of awe and reverence. Tirupati is the home to the world’s richest temple, where thousands of pilgrims visit daily to take darshan of Sri Venkateswara Swamy, also popularly known as Balaji. The magnificent temple of Lord Venkateswara Swamy is located on the 7th peak, Venkatachala (Venkata Hill) of Tirumala. It...

Modern civilization achieved great results in countless fields, nevertheless it produced a shadow culture inclined to obsessive identification with the body, and the need to acquire richness in order to satisfy ambitions of power and exorcise fear, even knowing that, by definition, richness is like the sea water: the more you drink it the more thirsty you are. The fake myth of an easy life based on sense pleasures is the heaviest of calamities, the most painful and dreadful of all. Richness, aging, youth, beauty do not guarantee happiness, otherwi...

Unless we simplify our dietary habits, it is not possible to achieve self-sufficiency in our village community projects and it is not possible to become simple. Our conditioning with opulent food that comes from three thousand different destinations is what we look to replicate in our agricultural practices. Even if by some intelligent arrangement if this is possible, we loose the purpose - the simplicity. How much true is Srila Prabhupada's statement - "Use ONLY what you produce, produce ONLY what you need"! Our conditioning, thanks to "Green revolution" and other ongoing effort...

One day of Brahma equals 4 billion, 320 million years. Since Brahma’s night is of the same length, and he lives for 100 Brahma years, in earth time, his age is 310 trillion years. According to Vedic estimates, Brahma has lived about half of his life so far, and a similar period will elapse before he dies, Brahma also being under the control of kaal (time) and mahamaya (the Lord’s external creative potency). Both are insurmountable potencies of the Supreme Lord Visnu. Brahma’s present age is about 155 trillion earth years.

My Glorious Master is an excellent and well written history of an era of Krishna consciousness that would be lost to memory except for the few rare and valuable accounts scribed by far-sighted devotee-writers like Bhurijana. The author’s literary skill captures the reader’s interest in such a way that his journey into spirit is not only shared, but the reader becomes gradually Krishna-ized through the association. The book is rightly titled, for what greater glory can there be for a genu...

Many people know what their problems are, but are unwilling, or don’t believe it is possible for them, to do the difficult work of change and transformation. Or there may be too much secondary gain for staying the same, regardless of their unhappiness or dissatisfaction. We may wear our past wounds like a badge of honor, hoping to get sympathy strokes from other, as in "woe, is me.” Some call this "wound-ology." Being creatures of habit the thought of change, even positive, beneficial change, is challenging for most people, even if they are currently miserable, and thin...

My dear god brother H H Purna Candra Goswami went to his samadhi some time back and we heard many praises. HH Bhakti Vijnana Goswami was lamenting that Purna Candra Prabhu was not so well known world wide since he had much to offer. He did leave us a very beautiful book that I think should be studied by anyone who is serious about spiritual advancement while serving, in any position, within ISKCON. The book is titled, UNSPOKEN OBSTACLES ON THE PATH TO BHAKTI. The title says a lot. Most of the devotees who spoke at his samadhi function mentioned his deep philosophical thinking e...