As the Greek oracle proclaimed, ‘know thyself’, and this is the first instruction in the Gita. It tells us we are parts of the Supreme Spirit and therefore we have the same nature—not only of eternality, but also pure knowledge and bliss. There is evidence for this as well in that we can see how we are always aspiring to attain those three states. Take the first, eternality. We constantly strive to secure our ongoing existence, seeking good health, longevity ...

The Boat Festival has its roots in Goloka Vrindavan, the spiritual eternal realm. One of the boat pastimes is described in detail in Gopal Champu by Srila Jiva Goswami. One day the gopis, loaded with pots full of yogurt and butter, came to the banks of Manasi Ganaga, wishing to cross the river. They met a boatman who gladly agreed to help. When the boat was already far away from the bank the boatman stopped rowing, saying that He was too hungry. The gopis gave Him...

Srila Prabhupada has stated that, “The first sense you will realize Krishna with is your tongue”. The meaning is clear. All of our advancement in spiritual life comes from chanting Hare Krishna. Therefore, by this process of chanting Krishna’s names, one will eventually learn to see Krishna everywhere. But for the prasadam addict, the statement has another meaning. He thinks, “The more I eat, the closer I come to God”. Or again, there is the statement that one sho...

Sometimes the car becomes blocked. But some fellow pushes it. We have got this experience. What is that called? Chocked up? Then you get down and push the car and – brut-brut-brut-brut-brut – it goes. Similarly the bhakti-rasa [feeling of devotion] is there in everyone's heart. Nitya-siddha krishna-bhakti. Because we are part and parcel of Krishna. . . . So the fact is that we have got devotion for Krishna. That is a fact. But some way or other we are separated...

Śrīla Prabhupāda describes in his purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.11.1: “Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has also given us a nice weapon for this age, as stated in the Bhāgavatam: sāṅgopāṅgāstra—in this age, the nārāyaṇāstra, or weapon to drive away māyā, is the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra in pursuance of the associates of Lord Caitanya, such as Advaita Prabhu, Nityānanda, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa.” This weapon of the holy name was ut...

I had watched the destruction done in less than two minutes with astonishment and disbelief and I simply had no idea what to do next. I felt like a complete failure and was so traumatized with what had just occurred, I started telling all those who were asking me what to do: “Tell everyone to go home. There isn’t going to be a parade!” I began to work my way through the crowd and eventually got back into the temple and headed straight back to the roof, which was t...

The Laddu Sadhu. Who is there who can sufficiently describe the wondrous attributes of this illustrious sweet ball? This must surely be Madhumangala, who is mentioned in many Vaisnava books and songs as a great lover of laddus. Being a brahmana boy, he used to promise to give Krishna benedictions in exchange for laddus. So if a laddu is so potent as to be able to distract the attention of one of Krishna’s most intimate friends, who can calculate its effect upon an ordinar...