The stranger came out of the shadows, pointing his huge gun at me. He came right up to me and stared in my face, apparently a bit confused by my answer. After finding no weapons on me, not even a pocketknife, the man was even more confused, but he considered me harmless, and therefore he relaxed. But then from the darkness another soldier appeared, shouting and swearing. “On the ground!” he yelled. As I lay on the ground he searched me. Not finding anything, he got mad. I was still chanting. The two soldiers started arguing about wh...

It’s by English scientist Alfred Wallace, the co-founder of evolution. In his book My Life: A Record of Events and Opinions, he eloquently wrote how he outgrew the narrow-mindedness that rejected naturalism. “The facts did not fit into my then existing fabric of thought. All my preconceptions, all my knowledge, all my belief in the supremacy of science and of natural law were against the possibility of such phenomena. Every other possible solution was tried and rejected

The contentious discussion on human placements resurfaced recently, though it is ongoing. The involvement of devotee doctors serving at Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai has added extra range to it. Suddenly it seems, we are confronted with samples of varnashrama-dharma being practiced ‘outside’ of our ISKCON world. Some devotees are opposed to this because they say it does not conform to Srila Prabhupada’s ideal of ISKCON being a preaching movement. Others contend that everyone has a right to serve Krishna through their human o...

If Srila Prabhupada visited you, Maybe just for a day or two, and came by unexpectedly, I wonder what you'd do. Oh, I know you'd give your nicest room, To such an honored guest, And all the food you'd offer, Would be the very best. And you would keep assuring him, You're glad to have him there, That serving him within your home, Is a joy beyond compare. BUT If you saw him coming, Would you meet him at the door, With arms outstretched to welcome, This honored visitor?

During this particular month, thanks to the Book Marathon, most of us would be engaged in bringing new souls to Krishna Consciousness everyday. It is hard, agreed! But it is truly worth it. With each temple congregation battling to make it to the top of the highest distributors list, we Damodardesh (Dubai) vasis are bereft physiologically of the opportunity to distribute books. As per law, we are not allowed to distribute any books on streets or anywhere publically. All we can do is, contact people when we can, take their details down and ...

Response to the author of “No More Cattle Raising on the Planet of the Trees” "Your suggestion that in the future any mistakes which are found can be reported to Satsvarupa Maharaja, Jayadvaita Prabhu, Radha Ballabha Prabhu, or yourself, and after sufficient investigation and confirmation these mistakes can be rectified is accepted. As we are working on this Fifth Canto planetary system, whatever corrections are required to be made, we will get approved by His Divine Grace and then send them on to you so that the new edition will be...

I first heard about Bilvamangala Thakura Dasa, who is blind, when I arrived at the ISKCON temple in Belgaum, Karnataka, where he lives. When I saw him at the early-morning mangala-arati, he was dancing and singing joyfully, and shouting “Gauranga!” and “Jaya Srila Prabhupada!” Later he sat down to chant his japa and after a short break joined in Guru-puja and the Bhagavatam class. His day begins before 3:00 A.M. He chants all the prayers sung during mangala-arati, even the prema-dhvani prayers (jaya om vishnupada, etc.), during w...

First, desire for an achievement develops in mind. But, to convert that desire into a goal one has to use his intelligence. For that purpose an action plan has to be devised. Time frame for the activity, identification and acquiring resources, review of the progress, etc. become the important points. When all these are nicely arranged, then the desire gets converted to goal. When the goal is achieved it results in great enthusiasm in the performer, who endeavors to set further higher goals. If these things are missed out, desire r...