Sending and receiving a letter to an inmate is just as exhilarating and rewarding: connecting one-on-one with a receptive soul, even more so one who is suffering and conscious of his/her suffering and seeking help, is the most rewarding activity I have ever experienced. Given that I have in my possession the key that will unlock their prison, the knowledge that will end all their suffering, it follows naturally that it is my duty—and privilege—to make sure that as many inmates as possible get hold of it too.

Why is that thousands of these Orthodox monks can chant day and night non-stop but we can't? Now that many of our devotees are retired from active duties and call themselves vanaprasthas perhaps it's time for our society to start talking about increasing the number of our daily rounds. Not compulsory, of course, but for those who can it could be encouraged. Another important aspect is that in Orthodox Christianity following preceptors is the only way of spiritual progre...

"Do we have to give up technology and return to village life?" We don't have to give up technology, but we do have to give up the illusion that technology can make us happy. If we are diseased, we don't have to give up the painkiller, only the illusion that the painkiller can cure our disease. We have to adopt the cure of spirituality for attaining real happiness. And since technology pervades our modern world, we can use the Vedic principle of yukta-vairagya, devotional renunciation: Wi...

As the United Airlines jet descended on the San Francisco Bay area, Srila Prabhupada turned to his disciple Ranacora and said, "The buildings look like matchboxes. Just imagine how it looks from Krsna's viewpoint." Srila Prabhupada was seventy-one years old, and this had been his first air trip. Ranacora, nineteen and dressed in a suit and tie, was supposed to be Srila Prabhupada's secretary. He was a new disciple but had raised some money and had asked to fly to San Francisco with Prabhupada. During the trip Srila Prabhupada had spoken little. He had been chanting: "Ha...

Today, January 14, Makara-sankranti, marks the anniversary of the grand opening of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari’s temple and cultural complex in Juhu, Bombay. Two days after the opening, The New York Times ran an article on the front page of its second section, with the headline “Hare Krishna Sect Displays Vitality At Its New $2 Million Temple in India”: “JUHU, India, Jan. 15—Several hundred members of the Hare Krishna sect, chanting and singing and clapping, opened a $2 million temple and cultural center here this weekend in a colorful festival of devotion. “To ...

A few months back I had the good fortune to get association of a senior Vaishanava. During the lecture one line that really touched my heart was the advice that we should daily pray to Prabhupada to ‘make me an instrument of your compassion in this very life time’. It was seemingly a simple statement but it touched my heart and I started following it since then. Just by praying like this daily to Srila Prabhupada had some effect on my dull consciousness, inspired me to some act and brought newer realisations. I searched for this topic and found some very inspiring statem...

We all have attachments in this material world. The secret of success is to dovetail these attachments to Krishna. This is easy said, than done. However, if you have access to a mature devotee, then the doors of detachment will start to open into the garden of Bhakti. We have five senses which are controlled by the mind, anyone of these senses can be captured by the illusory nature we live in. When one goes through a phase of addiction, it is a way to escape from the realities of life. We can see in the UK that binge drinking is a major problem for the local council...

Very few can immediately give up all material activities; therefore, mundane morality must be observed. But we must understand the fallacies, otherwise materialism will go viral in the movement. If we cannot, at least analytically, distinguish the difference between material and spiritual activity, we must strongly identify with the material body. Members of any group are connected by a collective identity. To see our spiritual connection, members of ISKCON must understand the philosophy. If we become dependent on the service of too many people who do not und...

The different between Krishna’s appearance in Vrindavana and His appearance in Mathura and Dvaraka is described in, Yamala Tantra: “The Krishna known as Yadukumara is Vasudeva Krishna. He is different from the Krishna who is the son of Nanda Maharaja. Yadukumara Krishna manifests His pastimes in the cities of Mathura and Dvaraka, but Krishna the son of Nanda Maharaja never at any time leaves Vrindavana.

Haridas spoke to the Lord with folded hands, “O Lord, I have known only misfortune yet You give me so much hope. Just allow me to partake of the remnant of foodstuffs of Your devotees totally surrendered to Your lotus feet. Let this activity be my permanent and most prominent service life after life. My sinful birth and existence is miserable, without remembering You, but now please make my life successful by granting me the remnant of Your servitors.

The ideas expressed here are especially relevant in dealing with conflicts in communities and families. By our consciousness and actions we can further add to the problem or be part of the solution. Everything in existence is energy—even science tells us that—though as followers of Bhagavad-gita we understand that there is the spiritual energy behind matter. The material world is called in the Gita's 7th chapter, Krishna's separated energy. Then, this one energy as a whole, is broken down into what we might call specific material energies of earth, water, fire, air, et...

Everyone falls short, or doesn’t progress as fast as they would like, on their spiritual journey. Can we ever think we love or serve Krishna sufficiently, when even great souls consider themselves deficient in devotion? Therefore, I always feel it is essential to portray my struggles as well as successes, so that devotees will be comfortable accepting and acknowledging where they fall short—at least with a select group, or a confidential friend. It is a sad truth that too many don't have such a friend and suffer without loving support, or even die alone, forgotten. If...