My invitation had been for two weeks, but the more I read the books, the more I became fascinated by the philosophy. The practices the devotees followed, such as chanting the Hare Krishna mantra and worshiping the deity, were not just something made up but were rooted in the teachings of the ancient Vedas. This immense wealth of knowledge existed before the creation and describes in detail the cyclical events of the creation and destruction of the material universes, giving precise time scales for such events. I realized that no matte...

Jananivas Prabhu’s service was to bring frankincense to Srila Prabhupada’s room in the evening. He mentioned that usually after you fill a room with frankincense, you open the doors and windows so that the mosquitos go out with the smoke. Srila Prabhupada however liked to keep the smoke within the room and stopped Jananivas Prabhu from opening the doors and windows. Since it was Srila Prabhupada’s darshan time, there would usually be many western devotees in the room...

“Worship of Krishna without Radha is not worship but pride. It is another unauthorized philosophy nourished by the concept of an impotent God. Krishna is alone the enjoyer; all others are to be enjoyed. The origin of all the enjoyed, or the asrayas (abodes of love) is Sri Radhika. To serve God under the subordination of His servant is the core of Vaishnava philosophy. Other philosophies devoid of subordination to the original shelter, or asr...

The bittersweet aesthetic of “My Sweet Lord” touched the hearts of millions. Love in separation is one of many aesthetic qualities in Vaishnava theology, and some of these qualities are illustrated in George’s other lyrics. In making observations about George’s songs, I am not arguing that he attained the highest states of bhakti, nor do I want to pass judgment on anyone. George was seriously spiritual-minded. The Vaishnava journey to Krishna, in progressive stages of love, is reflected in his songs. He struggled in life, found some balance, and never departed from his...

In spite of the fact that everything comes from the Supreme Being, He is still aloof from it all. He does not disengage Himself from His eternal pleasure pastimes with His devotees in the spiritual realm. So, in the process of creating the material worlds, the Supreme expands Himself into various forms, which are His plenary parts. Krishna is the primeval Lord, the original Personality of Godhead, so He can expand Himself into unlimited forms with all potencies. They are no different from Him, but may exhibit differences in form. He first expands Himself i...

The Bhagavad-gita is no doubt a major spiritual treatise and one of the world’s greatest classics. Understanding that a hierarchical concept of reality characterizes the Gita can help us see coherence of the Gita’s message. The Bhagavad-gita speaks on two major levels of reality and a third, intermediate, one. We can use the Sanskrit words dharma and moksha to treat the two main levels, and the word yoga for the third. Dharma refers to a set of values repres...

The transcendental land of Vrndavana is always spiritual. That spiritual land is populated by goddesses of fortune, who are known as gopis. These are all beloved of Krsna, and Krsna is the only lover of all those gopis. The trees of that land are kalpa-vrksa, wish-fulfilling trees, and one can have anything he wants from them. The land is made of touchstone and the water of nectar. In that supreme abode, all speech is song, all walking is dancing, and one's constant companion is the flute. Sur...

A successful model Evgeniya Fedorova from Saint Petersburg, representative of the Vaishnava Culture, shared with the HARE KRISHNA lifestyle blog her story about how to turn non-sattvic business into a sattvic one, how to be a vedic and a modern girl at the same time and what kind of mantra she has been waiting for all her life.

Over 35 years ago I sat before the fire and took the same vows. I am grateful to still be practicing. Later that day I heard a talk which shared 4 reasons why devotees sometimes give up the process of Krishna consciousness, the one they once started so enthusiastically. Turning them into positives, here are 4 things, if we do them well, that can bring us success in our spiritual endeavor, which is to awaken love for Krishna and live to in congruence with that wholesome truth. Humility, offenses, sanga, knowing the path.