Why do many rich people end up giving their money to charity? Because they find that just piling up money and stuff gets old. Deeper, lasting happiness only comes from pleasing others. People who never learn this seem sad and pathetic. For a sustainably happy life, the Gita advises sacrifice for others at every stage of life, culminating in sacrifice for the Supreme. Though we belong with God, because we have become separated from Him we live in an uncongenial place w...

We are most pleased to report the great success of the recently completed Phase 1 of the TOVP South India Tour from July 13 – 21. Over $3 million in pledges was raised from hundreds of enthusiastic devotees as well as from commitments by the temples themselves, many of which sponsored Kirtanam Pillars of Devotion. We give all the credit to His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja who is the inspiration and driving force behind these temples which he helped to establish.

Murari Gupta continued narrating the story to Damodara Pandita. Murari said, "After hearing Rukmini Devi's wonderful words, Krishna's heart danced in ecstasy. His lotus eyes, reddish like the rising sun, filled with tears of compassion. Sitting on His throne, Lord Krishna gently placed Rukmini on His lap and consoled her. He held Rukmini's chin with His right hand and lovingly looked at her. Waves of nectar overflowed from the ocean of prema within their hearts.

ISKCON is a spiritual organization personally established by Srila Prabhupada. We must take care that it doesn’t become material. Anything (husband-wife relationship, Deity worship, even prasadam) can turn material by one’s consciousness. In any Society, there must be some organization and management, otherwise there will be chaos. Even in the spiritual world, Krsna’s friends are subdivided and supervised (Lord Balarama is group leader for his cowherd boy friends; Candravali and Radharani head up left-wing and right-wing gopis, etc). ISKCON is no different. In ord...

"This evening you can make me some puffed rice and peanuts," he said. "It will fill me, but it is not heavy. What I ate last night made it difficult for me to get up and do my translating work. With puffed rice there is no indigestion." I left his room and began to prepare the puffed rice and peanuts. He told me to serve it with sliced cucumber and ginger root on the side. First, a chaunce was made and then the puffed rice and peanuts were put into the wok and cooked until all the grains were t...

From time to time we hear that a certain devotee is “mature”. We know it is a positive thing, but what does it really mean? How can we become the kind of devotee that others will call “mature”? What is the evidence regarding “maturity” in our revealed scriptures?

I will tell you how I found out about it, and this story is a classic example of the dreadful reality faced by all the suffering souls of this material world. It also shows clearly what Srila Prabhupad has saved us from and why we should feel eternally indebted to him. It all started when I received a phone call from my parents saying that Dad was sick with cancer. I believe in omens, and my right eye started twitching profusely, so I knew that the outcome wouldn't be good. That was in the beginning of November. But Dad was optimisti...

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada perfectly exemplified flawless devotion of the highest order, yet many are his severe cautions and stern admonishments against the impatient and impetuous impudence of those exceedingly foolish persons who are mistakenly disposed to consider themselves pre-eminently qualified to automatically ascend to the highest spiritual stratosphere of spontaneous devotion merely because of the apparent extent of their own imagined penultimate fitness to receive the most intimate connection conceivable with topmost Divinity.

Have you heard kirtana leaders say “Chant from the heart!”? What do they mean by this? We have three hearts: the physical pump, the emotional heart and the spiritual heart. Whenever we want to align ourselves to the chanting of the Holy Name we refer to the third heart, the heart in which we experience spiritual feelings. For instance, when you read the Srimad-Bhagavatam or chant, have you noticed that you feel relieved? You feel as though you are above the clo...

Why should one surrender to someone? Can’t one be independent? It’s within everyone’s experience that there are problems in this world. One tries to solve them by one’s own efforts, and to some extent, one becomes successful too. However, material solutions are temporary. Because the problems arise again and again. To permanently solve them, one needs help from superior powers. So, like Gajendra, one should surrender to God (madrk prapanna). This proposal, or rather this conclusion of all scriptures, doesn’t seem palatable to an average human engrossed in material pursuits. ...