In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, European scholars and scientists began to come in contact with the culture of India, and many were impressed by the antiquity of Vedic civilization and the deep spiritual and material knowledge contained in the Vedic literatures. However, other European intellectuals were dismayed by these developments. For example, in 1825, the British scholar John Bentley wrote as follows of his conflict with the scientist John Playfair, who was an admirer of Indian cu...

Maya forces us to believe that happiness can be attained in this material world. Srila Prabhupada points out, “This place is miserable. But maya’s illusion, we are taking this miserable condition of life as happiness. This is called maya. There is no happiness in this material world. Everything miserable.” Lecture on BG 2.6 -- London, August 6, 1973.

The shastras instruct us about the importance of humility; so why is achieving true humility so challenging? True humility does not mean self-hatred. It’s an acknowledgment of our own limitations, and that is all. As I have heard some wise friends say, one who is humble does not think less of himself, but thinks of himself less. We should seek that humility which does not diminish our sense of self-worth but abhors narcissism and self-promotion.

If we do a comparative study, we can recognize numerous aspects of the Vedic culture, Krishna consciousness, in many of the Native American traditions. In order to show this, I conducted an interview with Felicity O’rourke who is a member of the Anishnaabi Native American tribe. This describes many of the similarities she recognizes between Vedic culture and her native American traditions. She explains: My family did not have a very strong Native American upbringing because my mother’s grandmother was the one who had a lot of the old ancient teachings a...

As Krsna displays His attractive three-fold bending form, His left side stretches up broad and straight, without showing the three lines on His belly. His right heel is raised, and His left foot appears to be kissing the earth. His well-shaped left knee is slightly contracted, and His waist is gently curved. His garland and thin caddar are swinging to the left side. It is very pleasant to see His arm pit as He effortlessly holds His strong left arm aloft. ... The pollen fell on His right cheek and He looked so ...

Some may consider that in this age the pancaratra is not so relevant and that it is sufficient to simply focus on the chanting of the Lord's holy name. Some misunderstand the appropriate mood of temple worship in ISKCON temples. This is manifest in different ways. How the deities are dressed, the mood of worship, or our interpretation of our relationship with the Lord, the way we interact with the deities, how strictly we follow the worship process and the rules a...

“This is possibly the only temple in China where we are still praying to a Hindu God,” says Li San Long, a Chedian resident, with a smile

The concept of evolution of species, generally attributed to Charles Darwin, actually had its origin thousands of years ago in ancient India, and formed the basis of the illuminating philosophy of the Vedas. Since Darwin lived at a time when the profundity of the Indian wisdom already made an indelible impression on the minds of the western savants, it is hard to imagine how Darwin could possibly have escaped the compelling influence of the Indian thoughts while formulating his theory of evolution. Darw...

Material desires comprise a similar gravity force that acts on us by dragging our consciousness down to the material level. If we neglect this force, our consciousness will naturally, obviously, inevitably, be pulled down by it to sensual contemplations, and we will fall from our devotional standards to disaster.

Implicit in current theories of evolution are two basic assumptions: first, that the myriad living forms have come into being exclusively by chance and the action of natural laws; and second, that consciousness and all life processes are nothing more than physiochemical interactions. In many arenas, both within and without the academic world, a debate is raging to determine the truth or falsehood of evolutionary theory and its implied assumptions. And for good reason. For if it is indeed true that li...