“The funeral ceremony of a sage who has died in the forest, a fight between two goats, a thunder clap in the morning, a quarrel between husband and wife, all begin in grand style but the outcome is insignificant.” [ Canakya Pandit, Niti Sastra ] A devotee’s life is characterized by unshakable faith in the Lord, the spiritual master and the devotees. Because in marriage a husband sees his wife as Krsna’s devotee and a wife sees her husband as Krsna’s property, their faith in each other is strong and no adverse material circumstances can break their relationship...

The opulent outfits offered to the Deities are all designed, stitched, and embroidered by a team of 28 local devotees who work year-round to create the Lord’s beautiful clothing. Resident devotees also hand make most of the jewelry worn by the Mayapur Deities. Approximately 35 devotees are engaged in caring for the Deities’ paraphernalia rooms and paraphernalia. These devotees clean, polish, organize, and in other ways ensure that the Lord’s belongings are mai...

Over the next weeks and months, Sruti Dharma will undergo both radiotherapy and chemotherapy supported by a host of holistic treatments. He has a superb team of health care professionals who are evaluating further treatments available outside of the UK. During this time of treatment he requires to rest and recuperate. He is at home with family and still very much keeping up with temple matters and the construction plans for the Shree Krishna Haveli community facility. The f...

You see, the horrible truth to the matter is that every devotee is a potential maha thief. It is hard to trust anyone, save and except the self-realized souls, to be alone in the same room with maha prasadam. That is why the maha cabinet is necessary. Without it, none of the maha prasadam would ever live to see the sun rise. I believe that the situation is much more acute at New Vrindaban than in other temples around the world. I remember that in the first temple I stayed, ...

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...