What a coincidence!
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On a Monday afternoon, in the recent mid-year marathon, Bal Gopal, my husband, and I were trying a little book distribution along the busy Lambton quay in Wellington. Nobody was showing much interest at all. We were on our way home from serving Krsna Food and had to stop at the bank to deposit the
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Atheist take Prabhupada’s books
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I approached a couple in downtown Denver and offered them books. Immediately the man said, “Not interested — we’re atheists.” I responded, “You know, with all of the advancement in science, none of the scientists have a clue what consciousness is. They speculate about it, and that’s it. There is no agreement among them what
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Vamsidasa Babaji Disappearance
→ Ramai Swami

Vamsidasa was born as Bhairab Chandra in the year 1859 in the village of Majitpur in current Bangladesh. He was the oldest of the seven children of Sanatana Mallabrahma and Srimati Sarvasundari.

He would stop at a Gaura-Nitai temple and relish the association of Narottama Dasa Babaji, a devotee who stayed at the temple. From him Vamsidasa learned many bhajans of Narottama Dasa Thakura and developed a great attraction for Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu.

His parents, worried by his growing attraction to spirituality married him. However soon after this Vamsidasa left his wife and his six months old son and became a renunciant. He took initiation from Narottama Dasa Babaji, who gave him the name Vamsidasa.

Even though Vamsidasa had lived a hard life as a youth, as a babaji he became extremely austere. He was always dressed in one simple loincloth and nothing more. He rarely attempted to procure any food and would often go without eating, sometimes for several days. It was common for him to abstain from both food and water for a day or two.

He took very little care of his health, and would bathe in freezing water even when he was sick. Despite all this Vamsidasa looked vibrant and healthy. He was over six feet tall and was constantly traveling. Even at the age of eighty he walked so fast that many of his younger associates could not keep up with him. Much like the Gosvamis of Vrindavana he survived solely on spiritual energy.

Even amongst the babajis, Vamsidasa is unique. He was on the avadhuta platform, that is he was completely beyond any rules and regulations. His hair and beard were uncut and matted. He rarely took a bath and he wore nothing more than a loin cloth. His eyes looked wild and his behavior intimidating.

Despite his seemingly dis-organized life, Vamsidasa had a keen sense of discrimination when it came to people. He not only shunned the company of non-devotees he also avoided the pseudo-Vaishnavas who would often flock by his side to bask in his glory. He rigidly abided by the principle of adopting that which is favorable to Krsna and rejecting every thing else. 

Vamsidasa had three sets of Deities that he carried along with him. He had a small Bala-Gopala (Krsna in the form of a child) that he was extremely attached to. He also had six inches metal Deities of Radha-Govinda and larger three feet wooden Deities of Gaura-Nitai.

He always carried his Deities with him and would continuously talk to Them. His mood of worship was that of an affectionate parent. He would talk to Gopala lovingly, sometimes angrily and sometimes pleadingly. He rarely spoke to any one but his Deities. In his unending conversation with the Deities he would often stop as if to listen and then continue talking.

When Vamsidasa was visiting Puri during Ratha Yatra, the cart stopped closed to where he was standing. Despite the efforts of everyone assembled the cart would not move. Then Vamsidasa came and after some intimate conversation with the Lord, the cart moved on with ease.

When Vamsidasa became too old and infirm, he would have trouble going out to do madhukari (begging food from devotees). Once in such a situation he exclaimed to his servant, “Did you hear what Gauranga was saying? He has told Vamsidasa, ‘you do not go begging for three days. Now you are too old, so I will feed you.’

On March 17th 1944 Vamsidasa returned to his home town of Majitpur. He did not actually enter the town as it is traditional for renunciants not to return to their former family. He lived there for some time and finally on Caturthi, July 23, 1944, Srila Vamsidasa Babaji Maharaja concluded his earthly pastimes and resumed his service to Lord Krsna in Goloka.

Cent percent thinking of Krishna
→ Dandavats

“Because you do not love Krishna cent percent, therefore material desires. The balance is filled up by material desires. Just like in a glass there is some ink, and if you fill up with water, the full glass, the ink will vanish; there will be no more ink. It will be all, all white. This
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ISKCON Hosts Tribal Ministry Program
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Gauranga Das speaking for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs   We are happy to inform you that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India came up with the concept of ‘Manthan Shivir’, an informal gathering of the national and state tribal department Ministers and officers to share best practices. Thanks to some of our […]

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The Matrix (Maya-Tricks!)
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The Manor’s resident drama group, the Bhaktivedanta Players, put on a rather profound new play in the recently refurbished Victorian-style theatre auditorium. It was essentially a spoof of the Hollywood 1999 blockbuster ‘The Matrix’, delivering a Krishna conscious angle on points explored in conversations between the main character and the mystical teacher ‘Morphus’. “The play […]

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Kartik Navadvipa Parikrama 2022
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Registration is open now It is our great pleasure to announce ISKCON MAYAPUR’s 10th annual six-day Kartik Navadwip Mandal Parikrama during the most auspicious month of Kartik (organized by the Mayapur Chandra’s). The Parikrama dates are the 27th, 28th, 30th, 31st of October, 2nd, and 3rd of November 2022. There will be two days break, […]

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ISKCON News In a Minute
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Two Ukrainian devotees whose lives were dedicated to serving prasadam to 1000s of devotees at Donbass lost their lives by a missile strike. Krsna-tattva Prabhu & Madana-gopal Prabhu had just returned from prasadam distribution to the Food For Life base when a missile attack destroyed the building, and they were buried under the rubble. Another […]

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Loneliness in Monastery
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image curtodosy of Premanjana Das A monastery is a place where the monks who are dedicated to cultivating spiritual life live as renunciants. Living in the association of like-minded persons who are similarly aspiring and dedicated to spiritual goals empowers a person to pursue this path which is considered challenging and glorious in our scriptures. […]

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4-Day Devotee Sanga Retret With Mahatma Prabhu
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Please join us for 4 blissful days in the association of Mahatma Das ACBSP. We will retreat at the beautiful Gita Nagari Eco Farm and Sanctuary, which has very comfortable accommodations for families, couples, and singles. Situated in the farmland of Pennsylvania, we will spend time with nature and the cows, come together for the […]

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TOVP Bas Relief Panels Update: Rasa Lila and Ratha Yatra Panels
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We have just installed the two remaining bas relief panels on the walls of the ventilation shafts of the Temple Room. These are large 16ft./5m. panels made of fiberglass and reinforced with metal inserts. The weight of each panel is more than 550lb./250kg. One panel shows the Rasa Lila dance of Lord Sri Krishna and […]

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Forgiveness
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Hare KrishnaBy Raghunandana das

We can say that forgiveness is an essential part of an authentic spiritual practice. It calls us to let go, to understand, to be humble, and to reflect on our own shortcomings. Forgiveness is big, and to practice it is sometimes very difficult. Today we will explore forgiveness connected to the practice of Bhakti Yoga. Continue reading "Forgiveness
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