We humans are by nature, growth-seeking, wherever we are, we want to improve things. We want to improve things in different ways. But we all want to improve things.
We come and move into a home. We want to beautify the home. We want to visit a particular place.
We want to go and see the most beautiful places over there. So we want to improve the extremes around us. That’s natural.
But then, as I said, if that is all we are doing, that’s when it becomes a problem. So, we get our externals to a particular level of yukta-ahara. We have a particular level of functionality.
And then we keep some efforts to improve that. But that doesn’t become our driving force. And that’s when we turn inwards.
So, even in our spiritual journey, there can be dissatisfaction, which can be good or which can be bad. So, dissatisfaction makes us want to move forward. That is good.
But the dissatisfaction becomes a perpetual sense of guilt or frustration or unworthiness. That’s not healthy. So, why am I… I want to grow spiritually.
So, dissatisfaction, it can be good if it inspires us to grow. But three things, if it leads us to guilt. Why don’t I have so much spiritual hunger? Why am I not more serious about life? Or it leads to feelings of frustration.
In dissatisfaction, frustration is much deeper. Frustration when nothing is working, I just don’t know why am I here, what am I doing over here? Or that leads to feelings of insecurity. Maybe there is something terribly wrong with me, that’s why.
Maybe I will never grow spiritually. No. We will grow.
Our spiritual growth is the formation of a relationship. It will happen in its own way. Sometimes when we are chanting, we have to focus on Krishna.
Now, or sometimes, if you chant, like in this image, once I was not in focus, my mind said, let me be seriously. Then suddenly, I had this… I was looking at myself from above, you know, am I trying to control my mind and focus on Krishna? Am I trying to control my mind and push it towards Krishna? Or am I trying to control Krishna and push him into my mind? So, the thing is that it will happen in space. So one aspect of… If we are not the whole, we are not God, we are not the supreme, we are the servants of God, then we should also accept that we don’t have control over how fast we will spiritually grow.
We need to accept the ways in which we are growing. We can seek more. But that should not lead to resentment.
That should not lead to strong negative emotion. Either towards God, towards ourselves, or towards the whole process itself. Growth happens naturally.
So, just like a child is not going to grow up overnight. It will also grow up naturally.
It is with shock and sincere sympathy that we learned of the death of Pope Francis, who for many years was not only the spiritual leader of the Catholic believers, but also the conscience of the whole humanity — his voice for peace, mercy, and justice. His life and service were exemplary: he humbly addressed Read More...
This Srimad-Bhagavatam Class by HG Hamsarupa Prabhu covers portions of Śrimad Bhāgavatam Canto 4, Chapter 7, focusing on verses 52-53 which discuss the sacrifice performed by Dakṣa. The speaker weaves between direct commentary on the text and broader philosophical points about ISKCON’s mission and devotional principles. Key points from the lecture: Philosophical understanding: The verses Read More...
A class specifically focused on relationships from a spiritual perspective. The main speakers are Partha Das and Uttama Devi, a married couple who are visiting NYC from Canada to give workshops on relationships. The lecture discusses how to develop healthier spiritual relationships by understanding: The physiological aspects of emotional regulation How our brain works (higher Read More...
Badahari Prabhu stands as one of ISKCON’s most beloved and accomplished kirtan leaders, whose melodious devotional chanting has touched the hearts of countless spiritual seekers around the world. As a dedicated disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Badahari Prabhu has spent decades refining the art of kirtan while deepening his own spiritual Read More...
Srimad-Bhagavatam Class by HH Janananda Swami – 1.2.5, ISKCON Zurich, 8.11.2022 —– The importance of purifying one’s heart through chanting the holy names and following spiritual practices with sincerity How to deal with the departure of one’s spiritual master, emphasizing continued service to their instructions (vani) even in their physical absence The establishment of Varnashrama Read More...
Notes on Appreciation Program for Sruti Sagara Prabhu collected by Krishna Kripa Prabhu [Sruti Sagara Prabhu was an Indian college student at University of Florida, who became a disciple of Kalakantha Prabhu and served as temple president of Krishna House for the last seven years. He is going on to serve as GBC for several Read More...
SB 3.24.37 Dharma, Knowledge, & the Great Wave by Sankirtana Das (ACBSP) at New Vrindaban Bhagavatam class given at New Vrindaban, focusing on Vedic knowledge and dharma. HG Sankirtan Prabhu discusses several key themes: The Vedic paradigm and the relationship between the mind, intelligence, and soul, emphasizing that intelligence can either serve the soul or Read More...
Chaitanya Charan Prabhu stands as one of the most influential contemporary spiritual teachers within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), embodying the rare combination of scholarly intellect, spiritual wisdom, and practical guidance. His journey from a promising career in technology to becoming a globally renowned monk and author demonstrates a profound commitment to addressing Read More...
Shri Abhirama Gopal Thakura was also known as Shri Rama Das. He was a great devotee of Lord Nityananda. On the order of Shri Nityananda Prabhu, he became a great acharya and preacher of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.
He was a very influential personality, and atheists and blasphemers were very much afraid of him. Empowered by Shri Nityananda Prabhu, he was always in ecstasy and was kind to all fallen souls. It is said that if he offered obeisances to any stone other than a shalagram-shila, it would immediately burst into pieces.
According to Gaura-Ganodesha-Dipika (12) in Krishna-lila he was Shridama, one of the 12 prominent boy cowherd friends of Shri Krishna. He was Nityananda’s dear most devotee. Abhiram Gopal’s wife’s name was Shri Malini devi.
Shri Abhirama Thakura had a bullwhip that was imbued with divine power. Its name was “Jayamangal.” Whoever was struck with this whip became filled with Krishna prema. One day Shrinivasa Acharya went to take darshan of Abhiram Gopala. At that time, Abhiram Gopal touched him three times with Jayamangal.
The Thakur’s good wife, Malini, cried out, “My Lord! Do not touch him again. Calm yourself. Shrinivas is only a boy. If you touch him again he will lose consciousness.” As a result of coming in contact with the whip of Abhirama Thakura, Shrinivasa Acharya became filled with Shri Krishna prema.
The main points discussed in this Morning class given at the ISKCON Sydney Temple on Sunday 30th March, 2025 by HH Devamrita Swami are: Earth as a conscious provider: The earth is personified as a conscious entity that supplies all necessities to living beings when humans live in proper spiritual consciousness. Existence of various subtle Read More...
Kalakantha Prabhu emphasizes the critical importance of character in leadership, especially within spiritual communities. The discourse draws from traditional Vedic principles while addressing practical challenges in modern leadership. Main Themes: Leadership by Example: Leaders influence others not just through words, but through personal conduct. Hypocrisy in leaders — saying one thing and doing another — Read More...
In this insightful and lively class, HG Brahma Tirtha Prabhu discusses Canto 3, Chapters 33-34 of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, weaving scriptural wisdom with modern scientific thought and personal anecdotes. He covers themes like the limitations of atheistic and materialistic worldviews (such as Logical Positivism), the importance of consciousness in understanding the cosmos, and how ancient Read More...
Thousands joined the colorful multi-day celebrations which reflects the diversity of the region’s rich diversity. Held at Durban’s north beachfront, the procession, festival-goers were treated to kirtans, prasadam, book tables, dance and cultural presentations, mantra meditation, spiritual discussions, and more. Short workshops and seminars were also held, along with many family-friendly activities, including fireworks, a Read More...
By Dr Sahadeva dasa In the bustling city of Yekaterinburg, Russia, lives an unassuming woman whose quiet life of devotion and service has touched the hearts of many. Known as Rangala Dasi, she is a modern-day saint who has dedicated her life to the selfless mission of spreading spiritual wisdom, particularly through the Bhagavad Gita. Read More...
Morning Class SB 9.4.41 – HG Bhakta Prabhu – 19 April 2025 O best of the Kuru dynasty, after he drank some water, King Ambarīṣa, meditating upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, waited for the return of the great mystic Durvāsā Muni. After executing the ritualistic ceremonies to be performed at noon, Read More...
Everybody needs a bit of pushing because spiritual growth doesn’t feel like a need for nuisance. So, that’s why a little bit of pushing is required. Now, we have to see whether the pushing is actually pushing them towards spirituality or away from spirituality.
So, I was in Texas, not this year, last year, few years ago and there was a car ahead of me and the bumper sticker had a quote Oh God, please save me from your preachers. Save me from your preachers. Normally, in the Christian tradition, God saves us through his preachers.
But if the preachers are too pushing, they are too judgmental, they are too fear-inducing earlier than now. So, we also need to recognize that spiritual growth for many people is a multi-lifetime journey and not everybody will grow at the same pace. So, maybe for some people, what may happen in this lifetime is the Gyan Sukhati.
That they get some favorable appreciation for spirituality. So, we would like everyone to go on the entire spiritual journey. This is spiritual appreciation.
Who knows? They may not take it up now, but it may be that it’s not just we are trying to help them become spiritual. Krishna is in their hearts and Krishna is also wanting them to have a relationship. So, if we open the doors for them, they may not walk through right now, but maybe they go through certain things in their life, one year down the line, five years down the line, and then a big thing happens.
And then if we have opened the door for them, they walk through. But if we open the door and drag them through, then yes, they are not worth it. They will have such a bad experience, they will go, and they will not want to come back.
So, I think little pushing is required, but we have to be observing. What is the pushing doing? If the person is becoming alienated, antagonistic, then don’t stop pushing.
Tallahassee, Alachua, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Tampa
(Sent from Brooklyn, New York, on April 19, 2025)
Where I Went and What I Did
For the fifteenth week of 2025, I remained living at ISKCON Tallahassee for first three days. I chanted Hare Krishna each day at Landis Green, behind the main Florida State University library. In Tallahassee I distributed four “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlets and thirty-nine little cups of halava to promote our Krishna Lunch at the campus, and one Nepali woman joined our temple WhatsApp group. I stayed in Alachua Friday night, and Saturday I went to the St. Augustine Ratha-yatra and subsequent harinama, which attracted the attention of many residents and tourists there, much more than in other cities.
The Krishna House devotees who went to the St. Augustine Ratha-yatra were so enthusiastic, they did a harinama for nearly an hour after returning to Gainesville to benefit students celebrating a recent Gator basketball victory. Sunday I chanted for three hours in Depot Park in Gainesville by myself, except when a mom and son in the playground briefly chanted the response. At Krishna House there was a program of appreciation for Sruti Sagara Prabhu, who completed seven years as temple president there. He plans to go on to become GBC for seven southern states. Monday I chanted at Krishna Lunch in Gainesville for an hour and twenty minutes, part of the time with Satyahit Prabhu. Then I took a bus to University of South Florida in Tampa, where I chanted with Bhakta Bill for two and a half more hours. We made two videos of students chanting Hare Krishna with us that day, a guy from India and a woman from Peru. Tuesday Vivasvan Prabhu joined Bill and me in chanting at USF. Both days we met favorable people who joined our Bhakti Yoga Society there and accepted a small book for free.
I share a quote from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam.I share quotes from The Delaware Diaries by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, which include many inspiring realizations. I share notes on a class by Kalakantha Prabhu, speaking in Gainesville, and notes on a class by Vivasvan Prabhu, speaking in Tampa. I share notes on the appreciation program for Sruti Sagara Prabhu at Krishna House.
Thanks to Dinabandhu Prabhu for his kind donation on the occasion of the St. Augustine Ratha-yatra. Thanks to Adhokshaj Govind Prabhu for driving me to Alachua and St. Augustine. Thanks to Jonathan for driving me from St. Augustine to Gainesville. Thanks to Jackson for driving me to the bus to Tampa. Thanks to Bhakta Bill of Tampa for driving me to and from the University of South Florida to Vivasvan Prabhu’s Tampa temple and for chanting with me at the campus. Thanks to Vivasvan Prabhu for letting me stay at his temple and for coming on harinama on Tuesday. Thanks to Bridget for taking the videos on Gainesville harinama in which I appear. I get by with a little help from my friends.
Itinerary
April 17–22: NYC Harinam
April 23: Flight to Brussels April 24: Layover in Oslo April 25: Kadamba Kanana Swami Vyasa-puja at Radhadesh April 26: King’s Day in Amsterdam April 27: Liege harinama April 28–May 1: Paris harinamas May 2: Sarcelles market harinama May 3–4: Amsterdam Kirtan Mela and Sacinandana Swami seminar May 5: harinama in Amsterdam May 6: harinama in Rotterdam May 7: Flight from Amsterdam to New York City May 8–June 15: NYC Harinam mid June–mid August: Paris – June 22: Paris Ratha-yatra – July 11: Amsterdam harinama – July 12: Amsterdam Ratha-yatra – July 13: Netherlands harinama
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
A student of Buddhism who played the shakers for ten minutes during my harinama on Wednesday said he read a lot of Buddhist philosophy but came to the realization that if you do not do the practice you don’t really gain anything. He said it is like reading books about working out instead of actually working out!
Eduardo (above) told me he knew one of the devotees who used to live at our Tallahassee Krishna House who was a music major. I showed him a photo of Madhu from Facebook, and he confirmed that that was him.
I saw Josh, the student Jagat Trata Prabhu sold the Bhagavatam set to. He plans to read the Gita again over the summer before starting the Bhagavatam. I gave him my contact information. He is already in touch with Adikarta Prabhu.
One student was not interested in learning about the Krishna Lunch. She just said, “I love hearing you sing.”
The last day that I was in Tallahassee, the Krishna Lunch did thirty-five plates, one of the best days for the semester. I see that as Krishna encouraging me in my attempts to increase attendance. I only wish I could increase it more.
The Christian preachers generally quote a verse from John which says that Christ is the only way. The other three gospels, however, do not say that. I made the point to Evelynn, a Christian preacher who often talked to me, bought several books, and liked the halava, that the Christians should focus on the teachings of Christ that are mentioned in all four gospels rather than just one or two, because it is more likely that Christ actually spoke them. She became inspired to go through all four gospels and note down what they have in common. She gave me a pocket Bible when she left because I said the large Bible another preacher gave me was too heavy to carry on my journey. I said I would read one verse a day, and encouraged her to read one Gita verse a day, starting with the instructions of Krishna beginning in Chapter Two. I only lasted one day so far, but I will try to get back into it and inspire her to read the Gita over her summer break.
I was amazed that at least three Christian preachers regularly came by for the free halava. Maybe someday they will upgrate their spiritual practice by becoming vegetarians, as Srila Prabhupada would often advise them.
I share below my harinama statistics for the month of April and for the whole spring semester:
Chanting Hare Krishna in St. Augustine
Govinda Harris was the first kirtan leader to chant Hare Krishna in the St. Augustine Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/rHOohy6hP_Y):
After prasadam, we did harinama on a popular tourist street called St. George Street, and many people interacted favorably with us.
Here Amala Harinama Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on harinama in St. Augustine, and many are attracted (https://youtu.be/_GmEVLPTqaU):
Here three students from Flagler College play shakers and dance on St. Augustine harinama. The guy was from New Hampshire, the woman with the head covering was from Italy, and the other woman was local (https://youtu.be/W8L3x1x8EJM):
I showed the students our web site on the Florida Ratha-yatras, and I told them of details about Ratha-yatra in May on Jacksonville Beach.
Bhadra Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on St. Augustine harinama, and onlookers dance with devotees (https://youtu.be/DNQsaIhv6yg):
The St. Augustine Ratha-yatra was amazing and the harinama after was more amazing. More amazing than that to me was that after driving nearly two hours each way, Nartana Priya Devi Dasi of Krishna House, seeing Gator fans in the streets celebrating a recent championship victory, decided to do harinama in Gainesville for almost an hour to share the mercy.
Here Nartana Priya Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna with Krishna House devotees in Gainesville across from University of Florida (https://youtu.be/LxGicwEZsYU):
Krishna Joshi of Nepal is involved with ISKCON in her country. She was happy to learn of our Bhakti Yoga Society at USF.
When I told this petitioner at USF that I was from New York, he told me he saw the devotees chanting for years at Union Square when he lived there. The next day, we met two more favorable petitioners who had seen the devotees in NYC and elsewhere. I suggested they hold their clipboards in one hand and play shakers with the other, and one guy did so for ten minutes, until USF library security stopped us two minutes before we planned to stop anyway.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.24.28:
“Lord Shiva continued: Any person who is surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, the controller of everything—material nature as well as the living entity—is actually very dear to me.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From The Delaware Diaries, Volume 2 (Tachycardia):
“The devotees practice akarma. Their actions are free from contamination. They do not act for their own interests and minimize their personal needs. I thought a bit about that during the japa. Was it special? It always is. Each day is a new opportunity to be steady and to improve. I can’t expect a particular session to be extraordinary. But gradually, almost without noticing it, you can improve.”
“Bhurijana teaches that each mantra should be fondled and paid attention to, one at a time. If you can chant one good mantra, you are successful.”
“I kept clinging to the idea that I was crying like a child for the mother, Mother Hara. I cried like a child crying to its mother in my chanting. I believe in the chanting because it has been given to me in disciplic succession and because I have chanted for many years with solidity. Chanting is real exchange. Chanting is Krishna Himself. I will never stop chanting, because of my vows and because of the taste I receive. I believe that I have to chant in order to practice for leaving this body and getting a next body favorable to Krishna consciousness. I will never stop chanting because I believe it is the highest form of worship of Krishna. It is easy, and it has been given to use in Kali-yuga as the only means for God realization. One should never think of stopping.”
“My need to be with You and worship You is greater than my need to eat or drink or sleep. It is the prime necessity of my life. It is the need of the soul. Please help me to be aware of this and to act on this.”
“I took shelter in spiritual thoughts, such as (a) reminding myself how important harinama is; (b) recalling statements from the scriptures about how dear the holy names are to great devotees; (c) reminding myself that if you ‘just hear,’ eventually you start perceiving the form, qualities and pastimes of the Lord; (d) asserting that the name is the same as Krishna Himself and is even more merciful than Krishna. You think of these along with your utterance, and it boosts you and keeps you steady.”
“You are the Supreme Person, and yet You are also the friendliest person. You give the most comfort and support. You are the most capable and loving.”
“To be dissatisfied while living in this material world is natural because it is not a satisfying place. But a true devotee remains satisfied in his relationship with You. The true devotee sees the world as joyful because he is with You.”
“My mind has not been wandering but has been staying fixed on the utterance of the names, so I’ve come to expect this. It’s a gain from my previous years’ chanting.”
“The names are absolute. You benefit just by touching them with your tongue. When you put your hand in fire, you’ll be burnt. When you say the Hare Krishna mantras, you become Krishna-ized.”
“Srimati Radharani thought that if Krishna did return and was unable to see Her, then He would be unable to live. So she decided to protect Her life.”
“Hearing of Radharani and the gopis’ yearning to meet with Krishna and hearing their transformations of prema produces a wonderful sweetness in the devotees, and they want to go on hearing without end.”
“I had a sense of enjoyment through the whole session. I really like to chant, and the early morning is the best time. I feel sorry when it’s over and would like to do more chanting.”
Kalakantha Prabhu:
People follow leaders because of fear, ambition, duty, and love.
Children are especially empowered to find your descrepancies.
In Toronto, the devotees do not allow cell phones in classes.
A leader must: 1. Be exemplary. 2. Put the needs of his dependents before his own needs.
Living in the association of devotees there is a constant sharing of Krishna katha which is enlivening for those devotees who have acquired the taste for it.
If we do not have a taste for the holy name, we will look for a taste elsewhere.
Mahatma Prabhu says that we have to make japa the most important part of the day.
We are dependent on Krishna to reciprocate with our sincere attempts to serve Him.
We are either serving Krishna or serving our own mental conceptions about how we will find happiness.
In japa we practice controlling the mind, a virtue that will help us in all circumstances.
The best way to learn something is to teach it.
Srila Prabhupada said that the acarya acquires knowledge, acts according to it, and shares it.
Krishna consciousness philosophy is great, but if we do not apply it, it is like having medicine on the shelf but not taking it or having food on your plate but not eating it.
Actual leaders are beyond the control of their minds.
Our legacy from Srila Prabhupada is to nourish those sincerely looking for God consciousness.
Comment by me: Regarding following a leader because of love, I recall this pastime: “Everyone loves you, Srila Prabhupada!” one disciple exclaimed. Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, that is because I love everyone.”
Vivasvan Prabhu:
Choosing real estate is all about location, location, location. If you choose a place where the neighbors do not like you, you can be forced out.
Vyasadeva was not satisfied by writing all the Vedas, but you can be satisfied by just going out and distributing a few books because the whole disciplic succession is pleased with you.
Someone said, “There is no perfect knowledge.” I said to him, “Is your knowledge perfect?”
In the Sikh tradition, Guru Nanak was a devotee of Krishna, but future gurus became corrupted so they got rid of them and only worship the book.
Hridayananda Goswami used to say that you should read the entire Srimad-Bhagavatam every year.
Notes on Appreciation Program for Sruti Sagara Prabhu
[Sruti Sagara Prabhu was an Indian college student at University of Florida, who became a disciple of Kalakantha Prabhu and served as temple president of Krishna House for the last seven years. He is going on to serve as GBC for several southern states. Devotees at Krishna House decided to have an appreciation program for him. I share some of the many things that were said about him here.]
Kalakantha Prabhu:
Sruti’s father said before Sruti came to UF to study that he won a poetry award in India.
As a eighteen year old he became a undergraduate at UF because it was slightly cheaper than the other school he was accepted at. Soon he became attracted to bhakti. In the beginning he had a mustache to appear older but gave it up. He lost attraction to engineering which he was originally studying but changed to political science in which he excelled.
He helped out with college outreach in Maryland for four years.
I invited him to be ashram leader for a semester and then temple president for the last seven years.
He did amazing well handling COVID.
Prabhupada said coal becomes a diamond under pressure. He has matured wonderfully through dealing with challenging issues.
Sruti’s father:
In Delhi as a child of thirteen or fourteen he would do lots of social service. He would go to old age homes, etc. We did not realize his potential.
His poetry dealt with social issues.
Syamakisora Prabhu, board member:
I have known him for years. Most people from India come here to make it big materially, but he excelled spiritually.
Sruti’s fiancee:
I know him briefly, but I happy to hear all these nice things about him.
I feel so welcomed here.
Mukhya Nivasini Devi Dasi:
I’ve worked with you for four years.
I am lucky to have met you. You’re kind. You offer service.
Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi:
You have become my brother. We had the pleasure of serving together. We brainstormed so many ideas in that office. We are excited to see you going forward.
Gopal Prabhu:
I know him from when he was 18, and he grew up to be our boss. I am proud of him. It is said that sruti is like our mother.
Jonathan:
I was convinced you were a good person when you talked to a homeless person and figured how to engage him in Krishna’s service and be transformed.
Naveen Shakti Devi Dasi:
You are down to earth. A true leader by example.
Brajananda Prabhu:
The people you meet in your foundational years have a special place in your heart.
We have done many things together.
Premamrita Devi Dasi:
Appreciating you is appreciating coming to Krishna consciousness. You were my first temple president. I am so grateful. You have been a mentor and a protector.
Amrita Keli Devi Dasi:
I am so happy to see this beautiful rite of passage.
I also met him at age 18.
He once ate so much halava at Thanksgiving that he rolled on the floor laughing.
In 2010 I went to take Bhaktisastri in Vrindavan, and Sruti’s family took such nice care of me. My family was also grateful for that.
I watched from Jacksonville as you did so many things here at Krishna House.
Thank you for encouraging us in our service.
Chris:
He was funny, he was a great singer, and he made me feel welcome. He engaged me in a lot of service.
Adi Shyam Prabhu:
You have always been caring and kind despite having so many responsibilities.
Ananta Vallabha Prabhu:
He is a leader who inspires others to become leaders. He was a leader of my sadhana.
I feel I was one of the difficulties during COVID that he had to manage.
He drove me all the way from Gainesville to Potamac for my initiation.
He asked me, “Tell me how I can improve.”
Narottama Dasa Thakura Prabhu:
Your relationship with Nanda was one of the most humorous things to see. Once Sruti really wanted Nanda to put jalapeños in the chili. She didn’t want to because they would be too spicy for some of the devotees. Finally he said, “As the temple president, I order you to put jalapeños in the chili.” That was funny because to speak like that was completely out of character for him. She didn’t care. She wasn’t going to put jalapeños in the chili no matter what.
He was deep and also funny and friendly at the same time.
Nitai Gauranga Prabhu:
He has been a big brother.
He personally upholds the Krishna House morning program, including singing the morning tune. He was very timely. He served the parampara.
Shyamala Kishori Devi Dasi:
You are the first friend who became a temple president.
You inspire new people in Krishna consciousness.
The strong desire to do something for Lord Caitanya and Prabhupada’s movement is not there in everyone, but it shines in you.
Nila Mañjari Devi Dasi:
Thanks for being supportive and personable.
I was inspired by your using Yamuna’s cookbook and encouraging people to do new things.
Advaita Acarya Prabhu, Krishna House manager:
You get to really understand someone when you work with them.
I am happy you are being upgraded.
He was available and showed kindness to everybody.
He does not let people take away his japa period, and I think that is a secret of his.
Hearing, sruti, is our first service.
Wife of Advaita:
We love you, Sruti. You have helped us through so many emergencies together.
Brahmatirtha Prabhu:
Management is a challenge because those above you think you are doing a bad job, and those below you think you are doing a worse job.
Srila Prabhupada supported his managers. He saw they had relieved him from a burden.
Sruti’s family raised him well.
We are not going to get anymore pandemics as the US has put a tariff on viruses.
Sruti: Especially from China.
In 1989 for weeks Krishna House cooked a feast for the police who were dealing the aftermath of four students being murdered. Similarly Sruti, during the COVID, served so many first responders.
Nate:
Everyone has an idea how to run Krishna House. Sruti had to deal with that.
He showed tolerance and had no fanatical mood. He encouraged me to go deeper.
Bruce:
You were available to talk.
Kunti Devi Dasi:
Although you are temple president, you manage through friendship, hearing and joking.
You have an open nonjudgmental ear.
Thank you for your friendship.
Kalakantha Prabhu:
Everyone give him your blessings to become County Commissioner of Alachua and GBC of ISKCON for the Southeastern US.
Sruti:
Thank you for your love and affection. That helps me grow in life.
I would serve prasadam and eat with the devotees, and hearing Kalakantha Prabhu reading Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, I came to realize how amazing Srila Prabhupada was. I decided my desire to benefit society could best be achieved by serving Srila Prabhupada’s mission.
Krishna consciousness was lost after Krishna disappeared. Madhvacarya Prabhu revived it. Then Caitanya established it. Then it disappeared again. Then Prabhupada established it worldwide.
My inspiration is to keep serving Srila Prabhupada’s body.
As temple president of Krishna House I could serve and help Krishna’s mission grow.
I learned from Maryland, my hardest four years, that I should care about devotees.
I really have benefited whenever I took care of devotees. Krishna sees it and blesses you.
Krishna Kripa Das:
Niranjana Swami was my bhakta leader. Because he did that service nicely, he was promoted to temple president. Because he did that responsibly he was promoted to GBC. I see that the same is true with Sruti.
Sruti is respectful to senior people, which is a good quality recommended by Lord Caitanya that not everyone has. He was respectful even to me who am only senior by age. Once he asked if I wanted anything. I said I could use some nail clippers. Less than an hour later, he returned with some nail clippers. I had asked the temple president in Tallahassee for nail clippers two weeks before and had not gotten any, but Sruti surprised me by being right on top of it.
A lot of devotees go to bed at 8:00, 8:30, or 9:00 p.m., so you cannot interact with them after that. Sruti, however, I could count on talking to at 10 p.m., which was nice for me. Sruti: You exposed me!
Whenever I came to Krishna House, I found Sruti was always welcoming.
One devotee: In America, people say, “How are you doing?” But they keep walking by before you can answer.
Sruti: I was told to ask, “How are you doing?” but not to disappear.
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These verses from Bhagavad-gita describe samadhi, the goal of the yoga system, a pleasure so great that it vanquishes all material miseries, and which continues without interruption. Would you all like to experience that? You can by chanting Hare Krishna, the most recommended spiritual process given in India’s vast Vedic literature for this age.
yatroparamate cittam
niruddham yoga-sevaya
yatra caivatmanatmanam
pasyann atmani tusyati
sukham atyantikam yat tad
buddhi-grahyam atindriyam
vetti yatra na caivayam
sthitas calati tattvatah
yam labdhva caparam labham
manyate nadhikam tataḥ
yasmin sthito na duhkhena
gurunapi vicalyate
tam vidyad duhkha-samyoga-
viyogam yoga-samjñitam
“In the stage of perfection called trance, or samadhi, one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This perfection is characterized by one's ability to see the Self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the Self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness, realized through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of the greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.20–23)
Sometimes while trying to sell Bhagavad-gitas, I would use these verses to attract people to the books.
Kripamoya Prabhu, a beloved disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, has been a cornerstone of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) for nearly five decades. Based in England, his life is a testament to devotion, teaching, and service. Through his books, music, classes, and personal guidance, Kripamoya Prabhu has inspired Read More...
Dear Devotees and Disciples of His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami,
Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I am very pleased to announce that from April 29 (Akshaya Tritiya – US) until May 10 (Nrsimha Caturdasi – India), I will be matching all worldwide donations during our TOVP Gopal Krishna Goswami 13 Day Matching Fundraiser. During these auspicious 13 days you can give a donation of any amount to help TOVP construction, or if you are a disciple of H.H. Gopal Krishna Goswami you can sponsor one of three unique medallions (gold, silver or bronze) with his image. Visit the webpage below for more details.
Over the last two years since the covid disaster, we have made significant progress in completing the TOVP. We finished the Nrsimha Wing and celebrated the Grand Opening in February, 2024. And this year we opened the historic A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Legacy Museum, which will eventually become the world’s largest museum for any single person in history, with a size of 21,000 sq. ft.
We are now on target to open the TOVP during a 3-month long celebration from December, 2026 until Gaura Purnima, March, 2027. And we need the solidarity of support from every devotee in ISKCON to make this possible for the pleasure and glorification of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Please visit the Gopal Krishna Goswami 13 Day Matching Fundraiser webpage from April 29 – May 10 and do your part, whether for the first, second or even third time, to help us collectively achieve this amazing accomplishment, and I will personally match every donation, dollar for dollar, from any part of the world.
Bhagavad Gita’s Teachings for Modern Life In a conversation on The Ranveer Show, HH SB Keshava Swami discussed the Bhagavad Gita’s relevance to contemporary life. The Gita’s wisdom, he noted, is not a linear progression of knowledge but rather a spiral, where repeated readings and reflections lead to deeper understanding. This ancient text offers a Read More...
HG Mahatma Prabhu narrates the story of Lord Nirshinga’s defeat of the demon Hiranyakashipu, bringing relief to the oppressed. Various celestial beings celebrate the end of Hiranyakashipu’s reign of terror, highlighting the significance of divine intervention in restoring order. The class underscores the necessity of virtuous leadership and the unwavering protection granted to devotees. ISKCON Read More...
A recent discourse at Bhaktivedanta Manor explored the essentials of community building within the Hare Krishna tradition. Speakers emphasized the need for respectful deliberation amid differing opinions, highlighting Lord Chaitanya’s example. The discussion underscored the value of cooperation over competition and the importance of engaging youth by providing them with meaningful roles and spiritual education. Read More...
King Prataparudra, ruler of Odisha and a devoted patron of Lord Jagannath, yearned deeply for the grace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. However, Chaitanya, adhering to a renunciant lifestyle, avoided interactions with royalty to shun worldly attachments. The king sought help from close associates like Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and Ramananda Raya, who attempted to mediate but faced Read More...
Gregg: This 8MM Reel to Reel I found. I made a movie from this Reel to Reel for your enjoyment. This is the only devotee film or Iskcon film that was found. Viviana: You can see how surrender they were, in a world where everything was against them they were so determine to serve Srila Read More...
Translation [Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] Although Lord Balarāma had stopped killing the impious, Romaharṣaṇa’s death was inevitable. Thus, having spoken, the Lord killed him by picking up a blade of kuśa grass and touching him with its tip. Purport Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “Lord Balarāma had avoided taking part in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, and yet because Read More...
“Jesus Christ was such a great personality—the son of God, the representative of God. He had no fault. Still, he was crucified. He wanted to deliver God consciousness, but in return they crucified him—they were so thankless. They could not appreciate his preaching. But we appreciate him and give him all honor as the representative of God.
Of course, the message that Christ preached was just according to his particular time, place, and country, and just suited for a particular group of people. But certainly he is the representative of God. Therefore we adore Lord Jesus Christ and offer our obeisances to him.”
(Science of Self-Realization, Chapter 4)
“Just like Lord Jesus Christ. He was being crucified. Still, he was saying, ‘My father, they do not know what they are doing.’ Is it not? He is so much compassionate that ‘These rascals do not know what they are doing, rascals. Still, I request You to forgive them.’ This is Vaiṣṇava. Personally he is suffering, but he is still compassionate.”
From a recent class of HG Patri Prabhu. In my early days at the temple, there was a young man I knew — a fellow student at university. By Krishna’s arrangement, he eventually chose the life of a brahmachari, a celibate monk dedicated to spiritual practice. It wasn’t just my doing; it was Krishna’s mercy Read More...
By Sri Nandanandana dasa (Stephen Knapp) An important part of the Itihasas are the Puranas. The Puranas are the histories of the universe and contain many stories that took place on earth or even on other planets and dimensions, or in which superhuman powers are commonplace. As we pointed out earlier, Vedic knowledge often consists Read More...
This interview is with HG Sukha devi dasi, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, focusing on her experiences in the Krishna Consciousness movement and her service as a mother. Initiated in 1971, she served in the Boston and Pittsburgh temples and married Mahendra Prabhu. The interview covers her early days in the movement, her relationship with Read More...
George Harrison’s spiritual journey stands as one of the most profound and influential connections between a Western artist and the Hare Krishna movement. His relationship with Srila Prabhupada, founder of ISKCON, and his devotion to spreading the Hare Krishna mantra, left an indelible mark on the global spiritual landscape. A Deep Spiritual Connection George Harrison’s Read More...
In a World torn apart by Darkness and Chaos… Witness the Appearance of the Legend, The Half-Man, Half-Lion Avatar-Lord Vishnu’s Most Powerful Incarnation. The demon Hiranyakashyap seeks revenge on Vishnu and declares himself a god. His son Prahlad remains devoted to Vishnu. Vishnu manifests as Narsimha to defeat the demon and restore balance. View this Read More...
This class explores Śrīla Prabhupāda’s views on race and culture, challenging modern interpretations that label them as prejudiced. It argues that his statements, rooted in Vedic philosophy, are consistent with observed reality and that criticisms often stem from a clash with modern liberal egalitarianism. The author defends Prabhupāda’s perspective, emphasizing the importance of understanding karma Read More...
Persons who have realized it have studied that the planets known as Pātāla constitute the bottoms of the feet of the universal Lord, and the heels and the toes are the Rasātala planets. The ankles are the Mahātala planets, and His shanks constitute the Talātala planets. Purport Outside the bodily existence of the Supreme Personality Read More...
Join us from 11:00am onwards for an ecstatic Kirtan Festival on the Divine Appearance Day of Lord Nrsimhadeva at 1229 Coatesville Riverhead Hwy, Kumeu (Sri Sri Radha Giridhari Temple - ISKCON Auckland)
Sri Nrsimha Caturdasi, the divine Appearance of Lord Narasimha Deva will take place on Sunday 11th May 2025.
ISKCON Auckland invites you and your family to join us for the morning (Mangal Arati) program at 4:30 am. Participate in the Maha Yagna of Lord Nrsimhadeva at 4:00 pm. Followed by Abhishek, Arati, Maha Prasadam Feast & Sayana Arati.
So now, what does bring what is in our consciousness to Krishna mean? It means, it can mean two broad things. One is that when we live in the world, so there are certain internal things, internally we are attracted to certain things, and externally there are some attractive things. Now we can call the external attractive things as maya, as sense objects, and that is true, but that’s one way of looking at it.
We could call them as these external objects, we could call them as vishaya. Vishaya is sense objects. But another way of looking at this is, it is vibhuti.
It’s what Krishna talks about in the 10th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. There are many attractive things in this world, and if we can develop the vision to see that the attractiveness of these objects comes from Krishna, then this is already in our consciousness and we can connect with Krishna. So if somebody has a great interest for art or music or decoration or whatever it is that they have interest in, then those things will naturally be there in their consciousness.
And can they connect that with Krishna? Okay, so for them they can remember Krishna in many different ways, but if they have to do some art, they just get completely immersed. If they have like, they all get into some music, they get completely transported to another domain. So what is naturally in our consciousness, that could be because maybe that person grew up in a place where there was a lot of beautiful art, a lot of musical culture was there, whatever it is.
It could be externally, it could be internally. So internally, when we are internally attracted to something, we can say that that is, in a negative sense, it’s our vasana. We all have lust, anger, greed, all this.
But our internal attraction could also be the vritti that we have according to our varna. Varna means, it’s not simply category of Brahman, Kshatriya or Shiva. It’s actually the natural attraction of our consciousness to certain things.
So if we are naturally attracted to some things, then we could use those to connect with Krishna and to serve Krishna thereby. So what does this mean practically? That if we already have some natural interests or talents, so say if somebody has a lot of interest in say, architecture, then would say the interest in architecture is mundane. Or maybe they say, I like to see different architecture, but let me look at say, architecture that is connected with sacred things.
Maybe what kind of temples were built? What is the architecture in that? So the interest in architecture is already in our consciousness. We can bring it to Krishna. So to bring what is in our consciousness to Krishna, that is also one way to cultivate Krishna consciousness.
And that way, because that thing is already in our consciousness, it will be easier for us. We can very, you could say comfortably and joyfully connect with Krishna in this way. So it is important for all of us to find that.
It is important to help our children find that. I was in America and staying in one devotee’s home and I was in, America is here only. So anyway, so this is the only that the mother is a double PhD, the father is a PhD, the brilliant, you know, that those combined genes are there in their kid.
So this kid, he was 10 and he was in the, he was in the part of the American National Robotics team. Apparently, the robotics Olympiad is there. And he was going to represent America.
And I was talking with the kid, he was brilliant. And then his mother was telling me, till 5, he was very interested in Krishna. And then he discovered robots and he forgot Krishna.
So now, he was always talking about robots only. So then I was talking to the parent, then this boy came and started talking with him. And then I asked him that, when you make robots for these competitions, what kind of robots do you make? So he said that mostly it’s Amazon which is funding the robotics industry.
They want very efficient robots for packing, unpacking, transporting. They want to replace labor with robots as much as possible. So they are the main driver.
So robots with efficient movements of body. That’s what we look for. So then when I was asking a few questions about robots, it was, he was so enthusiastic.
It was like the Ganga flowing through his mouth. When my pundit asked Keshav Kashyap to glorify Ganga, he spoke 100 words spontaneously. So I felt he was so enthusiastic.
I asked him that, in these robotic competitions, do you like innovative ideas? He said, yeah, innovation is appreciated very much. Then I said, what do you think about making a robot of Krishna speaking the verses of the Gita? So he said, no, that’s not a good idea. And he walked away.
Then I continued talking with his parents. And after five minutes, he came back, you know, that’s not such a bad idea. Nobody else will think like this.
And then he said, nowadays there’s this whole emphasis on diversity and inclusivity. So I’ll think about it. Then a week later, his parents called me and he says, you know, he’s now reading the Bhagavad Gita to find out which verses will sound cool on his robot.
So the idea is that if there are some things you’re naturally attracted to, we don’t have to simply dismiss them as mundane. Sometimes we have to be a little more creative in seeing how those things can be connected with Krishna. So let’s bring what is in our consciousness to Krishna.
Yes, Prabhuji, so we often hear that Krishna has unconditional love for us no matter what, but if we commit some mistakes that are even beyond what we would have expected from ourselves, does Krishna’s opinion of us change or does it still remain unconditional love and how do we understand that? Okay, so is Krishna’s love for us, is it unconditional? Well, again, all the answers to the questions are yes and no. So, why? Because, see, at one level, love itself, you can say love should be unconditional, but love itself is a condition, you know, it’s a condition, it’s a state of heart, isn’t it? So, now when you use the word condition, when you put it this way, the word condition, it can mean two different things. It can refer to terms.
Like somebody tells them, we have a warranty on this product, but conditions apply. They’re like terms. But condition can also refer to a state.
You know, what is the health, what is the condition of the patient now? So, what is the state? So, love, you could say, are there conditions in love? But the thing is, love is also itself a condition. So, it’s because love is a condition of the heart and that condition of the heart has to be cultivated. So, basically, now we are talking something differently.
We’re talking about does Krishna love us always? Yes, Krishna loves us always. There’s no doubt about it. So, in that sense, whatever we do, Krishna is not going to abandon us.
अपिचेदसि पापेभ्यः सर्वेभ्यः पापकृत्तमाः सर्वं घ्यान प्लवेनेव वृजिनम् संतरिश्यसि Everyone, no matter how many wrongs they have done, they are still loved by Krishna and they will be elevated and liberated by Krishna eventually. So, one advantage of we being, of our finiteness, of the fact that we are finite beings, is that, that we as finite beings can never do anything that will stop the infinite’s infinite love for us. So, the finite can never stop the infinite’s infinite love.
So, we don’t have the power to do anything that will make Krishna stop loving us. At the same time, love, from Krishna’s perspective, he will always keep loving us. But love also requires a condition of our heart.
Krishna loving us is one thing, but we experiencing Krishna’s love is another thing. So, the sun always gives light to everyone, but if I close my eyes, I cannot see that light. So, is the sun still giving light? Yes.
So, Krishna always loves us, but our actions change the condition of our heart. And that’s when we stop being able to experience Krishna’s love. So, Krishna still cares for us always, but it’s just that we don’t experience his care, or we experience his care less and less.
So, another way to put this is that if Krishna is here, then around Krishna there are circles of love. So, everybody is in one such circle, but these circles keep becoming bigger and bigger. So, for example, the Gopis of Vrindavan are in the innermost circle.
Then the Vrajavasis in Chandralaya are in another circle. Then we could say all spiritual world residents are in another circle. Then we could say pure devotees, even in this world, are in another circle.
Then we can say all devotees are in another circle. And then we can keep going forward. We’ll have Krishna says, So, all living beings, even the most sinful of sinful people, they are all in one of the circles of Krishna’s love.
So, in that sense, Krishna’s love is unconditional. But it is for us to decide if we are here, whether we want to move towards Krishna or away from Krishna. We will never go out of one of the circles of Krishna’s love.
But if we go to an inner circle, we will relish his love more. And the reality of his existence, his love, all that will become more and more evident for us. Thank you.
Shaunaka Rishi Das stands as a towering figure in the realm of Hindu studies, interfaith dialogue, and spiritual leadership. As the Founding Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (OCHS), he has dedicated his life to bridging the gap between academia, spirituality, and global interfaith cooperation, earning widespread recognition for his contributions. Founding the Read More...
Namaste. Krishna. So welcome, everyone, for our Sunday program. So let me start with thanking today’s sponsors. Today’s main sponsor we have is from BISAL, Gochan, and, sponsoring for Liam Gautam’s first grand ceremony, Anna Prasan.
So can you please come up? Okay. Thank you. Let’s take picture. They got married here many years ago.
How many years ago? Five. Five years ago. Okay. That’s Thank you.
Thank you very much. So next, we have Shivani Bagel sponsoring for her birthday. Happy birthday, Shivani. Can you please come up? Hare Krishna.
Thank you. So next, we have Mandira Srestha sponsoring for husband, miss Sombar Srestha. Sabi Badev, Sombar ji, please come up. Happy birthday. Thank you.
Pastor, thank you. So the next we have in the memories, we like to request everyone, please and for three times. We have Imangshu and Archana Srivastava in memory of Krishna Srivastava. If you can come up. Hare Krishna.
So the next we have P Chandra Chudamani in memory of P Parvati. So like to chant one mantra for three times. The next, we have Ram Kumar Kasap in memory of his sister-in-law, Okay. Okay. Can everyone see the screen?
Okay. So so today, today’s program, we have, chanting Kirtan usually happens after the program here. We move to 02:00 because at, we’re going to have a class. My highest grace, probably here at the temple. Yeah.
Yeah. Right here. So the will be starting at 02:00. Okay. And, Hindi class means not Hindi speaking class, but in in Hindi will be downstairs by Sam Krishna Prabhu.
And connect with it. Oh. To you, one bath. Okay. And we have a program down in the same place.
Our old Yeah. Next to the bathroom where my office is to be. So so there and then what we have is right below us. Okay? There is a sign there that says.
Yeah. And, that’s all. Will be also downstairs. Right? Yeah.
Okay. That’s good. I’m giving a is here. Haribol. Hare Krishna.
Is Sachi Prabhu here from Nivindavan and his wife downstairs? Mataji is here. Can you please stand up? So we like to welcome our new newly moved in devotees at the temple. So family, Shaji Prabhu and Mataji and two kids, they’ll be helping us with lot of catering, hopefully, restaurant, and so on.
Let’s welcome them with big round of applause. Thank you. And we also like to welcome Gorvani Prabhu. Haribo, welcome. I just saw him singing with he was singing and Soni Nigam was sitting next to him, following him.
So that was good achievement. Thank you. Thank you. Krishna. Hare Krishna.
Thank you all for coming today. Am I audible to everyone today? So, I’ll speak today based on the Bhagavad Gita on the topic of spiritual growth. So I’ll answer three questions. I’ll be writing something and drawing something over here.
So what do we mean by spiritual growth? Why would anyone pursue spiritual growth? And how can we pursue spiritual growth? Nowadays, the word spirituality is used very widely and often it is used to mean anything that makes us feel good. Oh, I went to that mountain trek.
It felt so spiritual. Or I went to this place. It felt so spiritual. So we often associate spirituality with anything which makes us feel calm, good, peaceful. Yeah.
That’s one aspect to it. But we will speak about this based on the Bhagavad Gita that spiritual growth can be explained in a simple way through one diagram. So everything that I speak today will be centered on this one diagram. See, normally, when we go through life, for us, there is the world. And the world is very big.
And God, even if he exists, he’s small. So when I started my spiritual journey about thirty years ago, I when I came to know about the Bhavita’s wisdom, I started sharing it with everyone. And one of my uncles told me, yeah, I believe in God. He’s happy there. I’m happy here.
So the idea is God doesn’t feel very important or relevant for us. The world is very important. World means that, okay, what kind of job I have? How is the weather today? Do people respect me or not?
Or how many people are following me on social media? So the world is very big. Now this bigness is in terms of not just the size, but we think the world matters a lot for me. The world will determine how much happiness I get in my life, and the world will determine how much distress I get in my life. So it’s big not just in physical terms, but in psychological terms in terms of how much it mattered to us.
But if this is this path of spiritual growth, as we grow spiritually, what happens is the world becomes small and God becomes big for us. That what happens in the world matters. But our relationship with God, that matters even more. So, This is the basic journey talked about in the Gita from 7.16 to 7.19. At 7.16, Krishna says different reasons people may come to him.
But in 7.19, he says, That’s a person who understands God as the supreme reality. Krishna is what matters most in my life. Such a person is very rare. So for the person whom the spiritual matters more than the material, the source of the world matters more than the world, that person is a spiritually advanced person. Now, when we say God becomes bigger and the world becomes smaller, why why would somebody do that?
In one sense, we see the world in front of us and yes, I can eat this, I can watch this, I can buy this, I can wear this. These things are tangible. So in one way to understand this is, the world refers to the externals, that is things. And God is inside us. So we all want to improve the quality of the things inside outside.
But God is the one who can most enrich the quality of our thoughts. We may have the best things in the world but one of the things most lacking in today’s world is peace of mind. People go, oh my mind is so restless, mind is so agitated. Because we are so caught in improving the externals that what effect it is having on our internals, we are not that concerned also. What to speak of being aware of it.
So, God can enrich us with wonderful things externally. But what? When God becomes big, that means our thoughts become enriched, our thoughts become elevated. So broadly, this is spiritual growth. Spiritual growth means the invisible reality, the reality of our thoughts, their quality, and the direction of those thoughts going towards god Krishna, that becomes the most important thing for us.
So now so I said I’ll answer these three questions. What? I’ll keep some time for question answers also. So what is spiritual growth? God becomes bigger in the world for us.
Now why may somebody pursue spiritual growth? Broadly, there are two reasons. Generally, most of us, if we consider this is the world over here, so most people are caught in the world. No. I want to become famous.
I want to become wealthy. I want to become powerful. I want to become popular. And if God is above us, when will our vision turn from the world to God? There are broadly two reasons.
The first reason is when we think, I am not good enough for the world. I am not good enough for the world. That means, oh, I have this problem and I can’t solve this. Or, I have this desire, I can’t fulfill it. Maybe some maybe some money is up there that God will help me.
When I was in India, I was staying in Pune in our the ashram where I was staying, the temple was right next to a school. And we realized that April and May seemed to be the month of students’ devotion. That the students would not come throughout the year, but April and May, they would start coming. Why is that? Exams.
Oh, I’m not really prepared well enough for the exam, but, oh, God help me. So, when we face problems in life which we feel we can’t solve, that is the time this is where we feel I am inadequate, I am insufficient. That the world is big, the world is troublesome, and I need some resources beyond myself to help in facing the world. So, in the Christian tradition, there is that prayer, oh father, thou art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Give us our daily bread.
The idea is that at a time when there was scarcity, where there was shortage, so people were not sure whether they would get bread. And then we go to God for getting something which we feel we cannot get on our own. Nowadays, most people, especially in the world, western world, are not really worried about bread. They may be worried about butter for their bread, but bread is so, that particular prayer may not resonate. So, God is not so much seen nowadays as a cosmic supplier, as a cosmic therapist.
We go to God, but I am not good enough to control the world, to get things right. I don’t have peace of mind. So you go to God to get peace of mind. But basically, at this point, I am not good enough for the world. And so Krishna talks about this as people who are distressed and people who are desirous.
So distress means, oh, I have this trouble, I cannot deal with it. Desire is, I want to get this, but I’m not able to get it. So please, oh, God help me. So yesterday was Hanuman Jayanti. A few months ago, I was in India in Varanasi, and I was going for a talk and I saw there’s a small Hanuman temple on the side of the road and on top of the Hanuman temple it was written.
I was quite amazed by that prayer. It’s in Hindi. I’ll say it in Hindi further. I’ll speak in English. You are a celibate from birth.
Please give me a woman. So it is you’re praying to God, but what we are praying is, okay, I cannot get something God by order. Oh, God, please help me to get it. So this is where I am not good enough for the world. Now this was also to some in some ways, my introduction to spirituality.
Many of you noticed when I came in, I need crutches for walking. So when I was one, my mother took me to a polio clinic, to the hospital, to get a polio vaccine. But somehow, we live in a small town in India, and the fridge in which the vaccine had been kept was had had a poor outage the previous night, and the caregivers didn’t notice that. So because of that, when that vaccine was given to me, the germs had increased because of the increased temperature, and the vaccine, instead of preventing polio, ended up causing polio. So now I don’t remember that, but my first memory of that was I was about two and a half or three, and a distant relative had come to meet, that she was consoling my mother.
It’s so sad your son got polio. And I remember my mother’s voice, very calm, clear, confident. She said, whatever he lacks physically, God will provide him intellectually. Now, I don’t know why she said that, but somehow they had stayed with me. And I found that, yes, as I grew up, I couldn’t play outdoor game like other kids could.
I could say this was unfair. I didn’t do anything to do deserve this physical disability. But then as I started studying, I could read things fast. I could remember things quickly. I could articulate things well.
So I some part of me told me from inside that, yeah, I didn’t do anything to deserve this intellectual ability either. So, life is unfair, but in the big picture, life is fairly unfair. Fairly unfair means sometimes we get more than what we deserve and sometimes we get less than what we deserve. So, basically, when we pray to God, sometimes our prayers may be answered, sometimes they may not be answered. But at this level, we go to God because I have problems and I feel I can’t solve them on my own.
And so this is where I am not good enough for the world. Now there is now in this case, what happens, even when we approach God, the interest is not in God. The interest is in the world. So basically, God is like the means and the world is the ends for us. That so if God fulfills our prayers, thank you, God.
Bye bye. And if God doesn’t fulfill, what is the use? I’m not going to come here again. So at this level, it’s good that we are starting a relationship with God, But this is not a very steady relationship. And most of the religions in this world, they operate at this level.
So here, God is a tool to get the things that we want. But God is happy that at least we are connecting with him for that reason. I’ll be connecting with him that, oh, even if you’re in trouble, like a child who has become young and has gone away from the parents, child gets in a lot of trouble and finally comes to the parents. Can you help me? Are the parents going to say, you know, you remembered only when you needed some help from us?
No. The parents are going to say, if you’re in so much trouble, why didn’t you come earlier to us? Well, the parents are going to be happy with the child connected with them. Similarly, Krishna says the word Udaraha. Udaraha means, oh, you’re charitable.
You are so good that you are connecting with me. And Ramanacharya in his commentary here explains that normally, you know, if there is a charity, there’s a giver of charity and there is a receiver of charity. So normally, we would consider the giver to be charitable. But here, it is we who are going to God. And Krishna says, if we go to God, Krishna says, it is we who are charitable.
So how when we are receiving charity, why would Krishna consider that charitable? Because Krishna is so eager that we have a relationship with him. Like the parents are so eager to have a relationship with the child, even if you need money from us, at least stay in touch with us. So that is Krishna’s love for us, that he wants us to be in touch. So even when we are the receiver, Krishna says, oh, you are so kind, you are so charitably.
So he says that in 7.18 in the Bhagavad Gita that even if you come to me for any reason, that is good. So why might somebody consider, going back to the starting diagram, so when we are not able to fulfill our desires, at that time we may consider, oh, the world is big, but maybe there is somebody bigger who can control the world and who can make things happen that I can’t make them happen. So at that time, God becomes bigger than us. Now the other dynamic, there’s another reason why we people may turn towards God. That is if the world is here in front of us and God is above us.
The first reason is that I am not good enough for the world. The other is the world is not good enough for me. The world is not good enough for me can seem very egoistic, but this is not a matter of ego. It’s a matter of realization. Realization that the world promises many things, but it doesn’t deliver on those promises.
Even when our desires and dreams are fulfilled, still they fall short of our expectations. They don’t live up to the promise. So that’s when a person starts thinking, maybe there is something more in life. I I want to be happy always, but nothing in this world really provides lasting happiness. Maybe there is something beyond this world.
This is the fourth category which Krishna calls as gyan. Among the categories of people who come to him, he says in seven sixteen, that those who have got the knowledge to understand the insubstantiality of the world, that what the world offers is not enough. And that is the time they turn towards God. Okay, I can get fame, I can get power, I can get wealth, I can get lots of things. But all of us to some extent have had some of our desires fulfilled.
Nobody can say all their desires have been fulfilled, but it takes a sharp intelligence and of course some divine mercy to recognize this one truth, you know, that fulfillment of desires does not equate with fulfillment of heart. If one can get this particular realization, it’s one of the strongest stimulations for spiritual growth. We all have many desires that drive us. I want a bigger house. You know, I want more designer clothes.
Now I want more followers on social media. We all may have many different kinds of desires. I want to be the CEO of my company. Yes. Now these desires may drive us and yes, we can all have desires and we can pursue them.
But when we start thinking that the fulfillment of these desires will make me happy, in reality we find, yes, it makes us happy. But not for very long. For a little bit the happiness is there and after that it just disappears. So that’s so the whole world’s propaganda is, okay, fulfill this desire and fulfill that desire and fulfill that next desire. Most people will say that’s the nature of life.
You know, you fulfill one desire and then you move to the next desire. You move to the next desire. But, you know, fulfilling every desire is hard work. And how long are we going to keep walking on this treadmill of desires? Try to fulfill it and when?
When will we actually get fulfillment? So what the Gita’s message is about, no, it is fulfillment of desires that are largely associated with getting things. Improving the quality of things that we have. But that does not fulfill the heart. So you could say over here, here it is that we approach God as a shock absorber.
Shock absorber means that life gives us a lot of shocks and life does not fulfill our desires, life hands us unwanted trouble And then we turn to God, like, oh, I want to soften the shock of life. But at this particular point, when the world is not good enough for us, this is where God becomes a goal transformer for us. It is at this point, we don’t turn towards God to turn back towards the world. No. This is not the we turn towards God because we are interested in God.
So this is the state of being, of being wise, of being enlightened. When I was studying my engineering, since my childhood, I always had the desire to be number one in my class. And India is a country where there is a lot of academic pressure for performance. And I was very good at my studies. There are many times when I was joined number one.
There’s one year when I became number one in my class, but somehow my teacher did a wrong assessment and another student came number one. Then when I looked through the question, answer paper, I saw that actually I had she had given me a wrong answer for an answer that was correct. I told her that and she said, yeah, it’s true. Actually, you are the first. But, she said, This is my first year in the school.
And, if a teacher makes a mistake, it’s a problem. But, if the mistake is very visible. Who comes first to the class? It will be very embarrassing for me. Can you let it go?
One part of it, I didn’t want to let it go. I want to be first. But I talked with my mother. The mother said, you know, if she’s requesting you, she’s your teacher. You should listen to her.
So I let it go, but a part of me was still craving. I want to be the first in my class. Unambiguous, like, no. This undistinct number one. So then, I studied engineering.
At that time, I gave the, GRE exam for coming to America. And since my childhood, I allowed English and English words, so I was very good at vocabulary. Often, Indians, when they do GRE, they’re always good at math and analytics, but language, they are a struggle. So when I gave GRE, I came first not just in my college, it was the first in the history of my college. I was first in the entire state of Maharashtra.
There’s several millions of people and students also. So I was on top of the world. Yahoo! Kind of thing. But then, you know, when the mark sheet came by post, at that time we didn’t have emails.
So, I was very happy. But after five minutes, I realized that looking at the mark sheet doesn’t give much happiness. And then, the congratulations started pouring in. I became a celebrity in my college. And everybody was congratulating me.
I was very happy. But then somehow it happened that three of my friends, you could say acquaintances, not very close friends, but three of people whom I thought were friends, they all forgot to congratulate me. And now, when the first person forgot to congratulate me, you know, at that time, I was annoyed. When the second person forgot to congratulate me, I was irritated. When the third person forgot to congratulate me, I was enraged.
What is going on? I didn’t want to sound pathetic by asking them, why are you not congratulating me? It would sound so needy. So I was wondering what to do, and somehow, it was at that time, I felt as if I had an out of body experience. Not literally, but almost conceptually.
I felt as if I was looking down at myself from above. And that part of me which which was looking down at me from above, it said, hey, wait a minute. You thought coming number one will make you happy. But instead of making you happy, it has only made you more dependent for your happiness on others. Isn’t it?
That in the past you could just hang out with your friends but now you are becoming so needy for their appreciation, congratulation, felicitation. So I looked ahead in my life, I thought whatever I plan to achieve, you know, I might come to America, I might get to an Ivy League university, I might write some award winning papers, whatever, I might do some discoveries or make some inventions, whatever I thought would be success, I realized that all of it would still keep me dependent on this external validation appreciation. And I started wondering, is this really what life is meant for? Is this what will bring me happiness? That’s when, fortunately, a friend gave me the Bhagavad Gita.
I read the Gita in my childhood, but it’s only as a book of official piety to memorize my some verses, to please my parents, to win some Gita Shloka celebration contests. But here I pour it as a book of wisdom. And then I found a verse six twenty two in the Bhagavad Gita. Says that and that state, this is talking about the state of spiritual growth. What I talk about here, God becomes big.
Says at that stage, what happens? We become free from all external dependency. See external dependency when we are when the world is very big for us then what happens? Two things. You know, we are always craving for something more.
Whatever I have, I crave for something more than somebody does not have. And then we are also lamenting for what we have lost or what we may lose. So it says that in this stage, when Krishna becomes the biggest reality for us, when we become absorbed in Krishna at that time, there will be no more craving. Things will go there will always be things which we don’t have in life, but there will be no more craving for those things. And even then things will go wrong in our life.
But that won’t disturb us so much. Why? Because our consciousness will be directed somewhere higher. That’s when I felt this is what I want to achieve in my life. And that’s what I’ve been trying to do for the last thirty years.
I’m still on the journey, but essentially what happens when we come to this stage of where Krishna becomes the world becomes smaller and Krishna becomes bigger for us as compared to when the world is big and Krishna is small. So what happens? Two things. So this topic I’m discussing is, why do we seek spiritual advancement? So when the world is big, then what happens?
The world always has ups and downs, and those ups and downs also affect us. We’ll always be unsteady. In fact, for some people, the world’s ups and downs affect them even more. Like, when good things happen, they go way up. When bad things happen, they go way down.
Like, when they when good things happen, they almost become manic in their energy. They feel like they’re gonna shake the whole world. And when something bad happens, they go so down that it seems the whole world can’t shake them out of their bed also. So, it is psychologically this is often called as the manic depressive personality. At one time they have huge energy, positive, completely no energy at other time.
So when the world is very big for us, the world’s ups and downs, they become very turbulent for us. And then we we can’t be steady. We can’t be counted on because we become very temperamental and moody. So, when the world becomes small for us, the world becomes small and the world’s ups and downs also become small for us. So basically, when the world becomes small, then what happens?
If the world is small for us, we become materially or externally peaceful. So we become steady, we become calm. This is what what is very much lacking in today’s world is the peace of mind. We may achieve a lot of things in life, but the peace of mind is lacking because many reasons, but one of them is the world has become very big for us and anything going wrong in the world feels like the end of the world for us. Especially now with the political upheaval that are happening.
You know, if we are too obsessed with the world, too fixated with the news, we’ll be in a constant stage of not just restlessness, but turbulence. So now the world is important, no doubt, but it is not the most important thing. Why? Because ups and downs keep happening. If you look at our own life, we look at say five years ago, ten years ago, if we really remember, there is some problem troubling us at that time and we thought, if this doesn’t work, it’s going to be the end of my life.
And we survived that. So, yes, life is tough, life has its ups and downs, but the world doesn’t have to be so big. Now the problem is why people want the world to be big is because many people think the world is the only source of happiness. If the world becomes small, then they think that the source of happiness also becomes small. Isn’t it?
But the thing is, the world is not the only source of happiness. When God becomes big for us, then we access happiness in our remembrance of God, in our relationship with God. Which is composed by Kulushikar Maharaj, he says that he has been a king, a very powerful and prosperous king. He probably had luxuries and comforts and pleasures that most of us can only dream about. And yet he is saying that among all the pleasures that I have enjoyed in my life, there is no pleasure that comes anywhere as close as the pleasure of remembering my Lord.
So what happens is, we become materially peaceful, but we become spiritually or internally joyful. So this is the state of spiritual growth. Materially peaceful, spiritually joyful. Externally, yeah, life will have ups and downs, but they will come and go. External things, they don’t matter that much.
That is not that we neglect the world. Here the world also matters to us, but here for us, the world is the means and Krishna is the ends for us. That means that, yes, if I can get a bigger house, I could have a bigger altar in my home, I could have spiritual programs. If I have a bigger position, I can do more service. So it’s the world is important, but it’s not the most important thing.
If it works, well then good. If it doesn’t work, it’s not the end of the world. So why grow spiritually? For these two reasons. I talk about that because it can that is what will actually make us peaceful externally amid life’s ups and downs.
And that’s what will give us a joy, give us access to a joy that does not depend on external things. That is through our remembrance of the Lord, through our love for the Lord. Then I talk about the last part then we can conclude with a few questions, is how. So how do we grow spiritually? So I talk about spiritual growth means that the world starts becoming smaller and God starts becoming bigger.
And how do we do that? That’s basically by two things. Krishna talks about this in 6.35 in the Bhagavad Gita. The way to spiritual growth is through abhyasa and vairagya. Now these two words can be understood in many different ways.
But I’ll explain this in a in a simple psychological way over here. That abhyas means persistence. We keep doing something. Vairagya means abstinence. So, what does persistence and abstinence means?
That if we expose our mind to God, then just that repeated exposure will make God bigger in our mind. If we keep coming to the temple regularly, if we keep hearing about Krishna regularly. So, by hearing that, we’ll understand Krishna’s glory, we’ll understand throughout history, throughout the history of humanity how God has protected people, how God has enriched people’s lives, becoming the association of spiritually minded people. We’ll see that that’s not just a historical truth, it’s a truth that is happening even today. So persistence in exposure to God.
So just coming in holy association, coming to temple, chanting the names of Krishna, by this exposure, God will start becoming for us, bigger for us. And abstinence means, abstinence again, persistence in exposure and abstinence in exposure to the world. Now we cannot function in the world with closed eyes, but there are many things which just keep agitating us. If somebody is constantly scrolling on social media, oh, you know, this happened over here, that happened over here, that happened over there. It just keeps us restless.
So abstinence doesn’t mean no exposure. It just means we minimize the exposure. The more we expose ourselves to the world, the more the world starts becoming bigger and bigger. Nowadays, with social media and breaking news, anything that happens anywhere in the world, it just becomes so constantly there in our mind. And sometimes, we are more concerned about, say, what is happening in Serbia than what is happening in our spouse’s life.
We become completely disconnected. I saw one cartoon where one man was telling his friend, yesterday, my broadband Wi Fi went down. So I spent some time with my family. They seem to be nice people. So abstinence.
No need to expose ourselves unnecessarily. Doesn’t mean we’re ignorant or oblivious, but there’s no need to expose ourselves constantly. And how do we bring about persistence? Persistence is best brought about by bonds. Bonds means make a commitment.
I’ll come every week to the temple, or every day, I’ll put some time aside for my sadhana, for my puja, for my chanting. And abstinence is established through boundaries. So bonds and boundaries. Boundaries means, you know, I’m not going to spend, say, more than fifteen minutes on social media. Or if I have to watch TV, I’m not going to spend hours watching TV.
Okay? For some time. Whatever it is that agitates our mind, infatuates our mind with the world, set some boundaries for it. Bonds and boundaries are very simple and powerful ways by which we can actually grow spiritually. When Srila Prabhupada started the Krishna consciousness movement, he gave us bonds and boundaries.
The bonds at the time of initiation are chant Hare Krishna, and we chant a prescribed number of rounds. And the boundaries are the things which agitate and addict the mind to the world. Gambling, intoxication, unrestricted sexuality, those kind of things, we minimize our exposure to that. So I’ll conclude with a diagram which can be a checklist for us. If we feel that we are not growing spiritually, we can see for us, there are bonds and there are boundaries.
So now if there are no bonds and no boundaries, then spiritual growth will be impossible. If I’m never going coming to the temple, I’m never exposing myself to Krishna at all, I’m unrestrictly exposing myself to the world, then there is no chance for spiritual advancement. We are not giving ourselves the chance at all. Now, if there are bonds but no boundaries, that means, yes, I am practicing spirituality. I do my sadhana, I do my japa.
I do my puja. But after that is done, it’s like the you turn into a completely different person only. And then people, after their ritual is over, like, they’re as materialistic or more materialistic than newness. Then what happens is, it’s like the bonds are lighting the spiritual fire and then the no boundaries is extinguishing the fire. So what will happen is, we will not grow much.
On the other hand, if there are only boundaries but no bonds that means, don’t do this, don’t do this, don’t do this. Then what will happen is if there is no it’s like okay don’t expose yourself to the world. But we all need happiness. We all need some higher sense of purpose and progress. When that is not there, then there will just be suffocation.
The bonds are there. We are exposing ourselves to Krishna. But But what is happening? Because sorry. The bonds are not there.
The bond are there. Don’t do this. Don’t do this. Don’t do this. Many people who grow up in a traditional culture, if they they just get the rules on the traditional culture.
But the purpose of the rules is not told to them. And then it becomes, you know, this is so suffocating. There is an atheist, gag against Christianity and that can apply to any religion. In the in the bible, it says in the beginning was the word and the word was God. So what this atheist gag is that in the beginning was the word and the word was no.
The word was no means what? No. You can’t do this. You can’t do this. You should not do this.
You should not do this. So Srila Prabhupada once told some of the devotees who were doing youth outreach. He said, if you present Krishna consciousness, to young people as just a set of rules and regulations, he says, you are doing a great disservice to them. That it’s not it’s not about rules. It’s about a relationship.
Now every relationship has some rules naturally, but the rules don’t feel suffocating if the relationship is important for us. So when we focus on that point of having a relationship with Krishna, then when we have bonds and we have boundaries. Krishna is important for me. So it’s not that I won’t do this and I I won’t do I I don’t wanna spend too much time on TV, I don’t want to spend too much time on this, I don’t want to spend too much time on. It’s not that.
There is something else I want to spend time on. This is what is much more important for me. So this, if we have bonds and boundaries, actually, we will be flourishing and we will be relishing. We’ll be flourishing spiritually and we’ll be relishing spiritual growth. This is the stage which is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu called us It said we get entrance into an ocean of happiness and every moment becomes increasingly joyful.
Life will still have ups and downs. And yes, life is tough, but we will have an inner shelter, an inner source of satisfaction. And that happens when we embrace both the bonds and the boundaries. That’s how spiritual growth becomes dramatically transformational for us. So I’ll summarize.
I’ll discuss about the topic of spiritual growth today and broadly three points. The first question was, what is spiritual growth? So we had this diagram that initially for us, the God is small and the world is big. But as we grow spiritually, the world becomes small and God becomes big for us. So essentially, God, in this case, we could say God is the enricher of our thoughts.
So our inner world becomes bigger for us. And the world is basically associated with things. So what kind of things we have, they become not that important. The second part was, why? Why would anyone seek spiritual growth?
So I talked about why in terms of two aspects, the causes and the effects. So what is why would somebody seek spiritual growth? The causes are twofold. One is as a shock absorber that I am not good enough for the world. So if I am here, the world is here, and God is above.
So when would somebody turn towards God? That I am not good enough for the world. That, oh, I have this problem. I have that problem. I can’t deal with it.
So maybe God will help me to deal with it. And the second is as a goal transformer. That here, the world is not good enough for me. That I have achieved many of my desires. But here, I understand that fulfillment of desires does not lead to fulfillment of heart, and therefore, we turn towards something higher.
We turn towards God. And, when this happens, what is the result of spiritual growth? Broadly, when we grow spiritually, as God becomes bigger and the world becomes smaller, then what happens? The world’s ups and downs also become small for us. So we become materially peaceful.
So this is in terms of the this is what the causes. Now the effects of spiritual growth is that we become materially peaceful and our connection with God increases, then we become spiritually or internally joyful. And then how do we go about doing this? It is by the two principles of so this was 7.16 to 19. This is the journey that Krishna talks about in the Bhagavad Gita.
Then, I talked about this in terms of 6.22 in the Gita. And the last was 6.35. So how do we grow spiritually? How? There are two parts over there.
One is the persistence. We keep ourselves ex exposing ourselves to God. We keep singing Krishna’s kirtan, keep coming for darshan, keep doing puja, and there is abstinence. So we abstain from exposing ourselves excessively to the world. So persistence is what we can do through establishing bonds, making commitments, and we can have abstinence by establishing boundaries for ourselves.
And if we do this for every one of us, the world will become smaller and God will become bigger. That doesn’t mean we reject the world here. The world, at this stage initially for us, God is the means and the world is the ends. But here the world becomes the means and God becomes the end. We still care for the world, but not more than God.
And each one of us can check. If we don’t seem to be growing, then what is the reason for that? We discussed this this four quadrants that if there are no bonds and no boundaries, then spiritual growth is impossible. There are bonds but no boundaries, then spiritual growth becomes difficult unnecessary difficult because we are lighting the fire and dousing the fire. If there are only boundaries and no bonds, it feels suffocating.
Why can’t I do all these things? But then here, if there are bonds and boundaries, our spiritual in our spirituality, we start flourishing and then we start relishing our spirituality. This is where the Bhagavad Gita can take each one of us in our spiritual journey where all of us can experience inner happiness. We can become peaceful with respect to the ups and downs of the world and we can become joyful in our relationship with Krishna. So let us pray to Krishna.
My dear lord, please help me to grow on the path of spirituality and come closer to you and find joy in you and be more peaceful with ups and downs of life. Thank you very much. Do we have few minutes for questions or questions we have? Okay. Does anyone have any questions?
Okay. Do we have a mic for that? Okay. Before mic comes to you. So much of what I spoke today is from this latest book of mine, Gita for the CEO.
As Harper Collins asked me to write this, because many people are interested in eastern wisdom and how that can help us to grow in spiritual life or in our professional life. So I presented the Gita as a conversation between two corporate leaders and a very simple diagrams like the kind which I drew to explain the concepts. But this is one book. Then there’s another book here called prayers inspired by Bhagavad Gita that I talk about making God bigger for us. So this book is a very easy way in which you can just have some simple meditations.
Each book has a picture of Krishna and a small prayer and a verse from the Gita and it’s poetically rendered and a small prayer reflection. So like that, there are one twenty two prayers from the Bhagavad Gita. And whatever our prayer needs might be, you can look at the table of contents and find. It’s very easy book if you want to do your daily chanting, you wanna calm your mind devotionally, that can be helpful. And this is a small book, Living with the Ramayana.
So if anyone want to know about how living the Ramayana, how the Ramayana system is applicable in today’s world, it’s also available. So any questions? You have the mic? Yes, please. Okay.
Sorry. How do we grow sadhana? How do we Grow sadhana. Grow Our sadhana. Grow our sadhana.
Yes. I think the way is two fold. First is that each one of us is to find out that what are the activities that give me an experience that that God is bigger than this world. So the point of sadhana is not just to meet a particular target or to reach a to follow a particular rule. It is to get an experience of God.
So, think of which activities actually give us that experience. Maybe it is when you confront our deities and pray. Maybe when we get a kirtan. Maybe when we go to a holy place. So, cherish those activities.
Try to do those activities more. Remember those activities. Write down those memories. So we all need that some experience that there is a reality beyond the reality that experience on daily basis. And then with that as our motivation.
That experience that glimpse of a higher reality that will be the spur for us. What I experience once I can experience more. I want to experience more. And the second thing is so personal experience second is association. Try to whichever limb of sadhana we want to strengthen, try to see who are the devotees who are taking that more seriously.
Try to spend more time with them. Try to associate with them. And with their association, we’ll also get the inspiration to become more serious about the hardhana. Okay? Yes, please.
Okay. So if yeah. Correct. So if you’re feeling guilty, I would say that two things that guilt can be a good thing if it inspires us to avoid doing things which are wrong. But sometimes, what happens is we may just not have the capacity to do something.
Say, a particular standard, maybe just we don’t have a schedule, we don’t have that particular level of spirituality. So if I consider I am here, and here is Krishna on one side, And here is some temptation, some wrong action. Now guilt should come here in between me and the wrong action. So this guilt is healthy. So when I’m doing something wrong inside me I feel bad.
I should not do this. But sometimes what happens is guilt ends up over here. So when this is actually pseudo guilt. If something is pseudo means false. If anything is discouraging us from connecting with Krishna, they said this is Maya.
I’m not going to feel bad about this. I’m going to do what I can in my capacity to connect with Krishna. And maybe that standard is not possible for us right now. That standard will come later. So what can I do right now?
Let me do that, and let me take a step forward upward from that. So we move that way. We’ll find that that that guilt will be something which we can deal with. In general, consulting with some devotees, some guides, some friends will also help us understand whether we are actually sliding down and we have to stop ourselves from that, or whether we are in our situation being too hard on ourselves. So whether our guilt is actual guilt or pseudo guilt through our own introspection of its effect on us and through association, talking with somebody who is trustworthy and taking the guidance, we can respond to it properly.
Yeah. So which boundaries we can apply at our particular level? The boundaries are not fixed. So some devotees can say can pass without water. But some devotees may not be able to.
They shouldn’t have to feel guilty for that. But that doesn’t mean, you know, we have to eat seven times a day. Isn’t it? So we all can have a boundary that works for us and gradually we can, we can extend those boundaries or strengthen those boundaries. Thank you.
One last question. Yeah. Krishna Krishna asserts that you should detach yourself from the fruits of your labor. Correct? Right?
Mhmm. But you corroborate that by saying when you are, at the best of your spiritual growth, your world happiness is like this, and your spiritual happiness is like this. But can you argue that you should have your positives be happy, kinda like a boost, but then the negatives you ignore so that instead of your happiness being like this, it’s kinda like this. So what’s wrong with that idea? Yeah.
What’s wrong with that idea is that it’s psychologically not possible. That if say, if I love cricket and when India wins, I’m extremely happy. India loses, I’m detached from cricket. It won’t happen like that. To the extent I take joy when India wins, to that extent I’ll be frustrated when India loses.
So if the world is all that we have in our eyes, then to the extent we get joy in the positives, to that extent the there’ll be pain in the negatives. That’s just the nature of duality. But your point is well taken. There is validity in that point. Thank you.
You know, the so the way the point is to be applied is by having a higher vision. So when I Krishna says be detached from the fruits of the work. Detached is not apathetic. Detached is not irresponsible. Now the same Krishna, if you see in February, that is the verse Here Krishna is saying be detached.
But just six verses earlier, two forty one he says, He says, be one pointed. Don’t have too many goals. Don’t get caught in too many things. So now how can we be both one pointed and detached? So the key is, it is be detached from results.
Be one pointed in goals. Now what is the difference between goals and results? Goals and results are not the same thing. Goals are what we set before we do an activity. Results are what we get after we do the activity.
So before we do an activity, we should have a clear goal. And that’s how wholeheartedly we’ll be able to work for it. But what we understand is that the results don’t come solely because of my efforts. There are many factors beyond my effort that shape the results. And sometimes those factors will work in my favor, sometimes they may not work in my favor.
So it’s detachment is not lack of commitment. Detachment is recognition that there is a bigger reality. So the way we can have the in the positives we are happy, in the negatives we don’t become unhappy is if we are not attached to the results, but we are attached to Krishna. Krishna, I want to offer you the best in the world. So I would like to get the best so that I can offer it to you.
But if it does not work you work still I will offer my heart to you. So that way with the positives you can be happy, with the negatives we won’t get that disrupted by it. Okay? Thank you very much. Thank you.
Many guilty thoughts which are coming in between the prema bhakti for Krishna. Would say that. Mhmm. Don’t let the rituals and your ability to follow rituals affect you so much. Okay.
Focus on the point that ultimately, Krishna is Bhavagraha. Okay. Focus on the point that ultimately Krishna is Bhavagraha. Bhavagraha. Bhavagraha means he looks at the heart.
Heart. Not Want to offer our heart. No. And now rituals also have their value, like, in this kind of Shuddhi. Mhmm.
But the important thing is to connect with Krishna. Mhmm. And sometimes some people can get so caught in the Mhmm. That because of that, they don’t connect with Krishna, and they become judgmental toward them. Mhmm.
So so mainly, like, focus on dos rather than don’ts. You would say that that’s true. But my what I would say is that even among don’ts, don’t take all don’ts to be the same. Mhmm. So for example, if you’re not able to wash our hands particularly in a particular way before doing a particular product, that’s one thing.
Mhmm. Somebody says, I’ll eat meat. Mhmm. I’ll eat meat. That’s That’s a completely different Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. So there are some tones that are important Yeah. Yeah. But some tones are not that important.
Got it. So try to get a sense of perspective. Krishna. Hi, Krishna. Good to see you again.
Oh, so good to see you. Hey, buddy. A year ago, I ordered the two the Maya two books, two park book. Okay. And I was supposed to come.
I waited, like, one year. I never got it. Do you have the other part, the two two part in my your book? You ordered it last time? Yeah.
And Madhava was gonna give me the double set, and he gave it to someone else. Doesn’t matter. I still love him, the people who sponsored me. But I’m waiting now. It’s time for me.
I’m right ready to go. Two parts, not just one. You had this one already? No. I don’t have it.
Either one. This one, I’ll give you. This is this is the second part of the book. The first part that I’m gonna give to you, I’ll I would send to you. There should be some more books here.
Alright. Okay. That okay? Love you. Yeah.
I feel like he has given a lot of healing and relief for you. My family’s dead. This is Passover. They gave me COVID in the hospital. This is miss, blood clots all over, and I will die early.
Christian saving me all over. Micro blood clots. For her surgery in in in the ICU when I woke up. No mask. 02/2020.
The nurses’ aid Life is quite adventurous, sir. Okay. But how do I get the other Other am I? The other part? I’ll just take Prem Sindhu.
You know Prem Sindhu? Oh, Prem Sindhu? Prem Sindhu? I’ll tell him about you. He will give you the property.
He’s outside. I’ll tell him. Okay. And I wanna buy this one too. I don’t know the $10.
Yes. I think I should have that. Okay. It’s outside there. I’ll just give it to you if you want.
This thing is is, inside of top of the list. We we need we need you to keep accessing. I would love to come soon. Why won’t you come back again? Just tell me.
Krishna is gonna see. I’ll try to come earlier. I would love to come earlier. I would love to come earlier. You’re very important to this temple.
You have a long line, so I can’t tell you everything, but I’d love to tell you something else. I think you’d be a great help in getting more Americans here. Okay. Great, Krishna.
It is with shock and sincere sympathy that we learned of the death of Pope Francis, who for many years was not only the spiritual leader of the Catholic believers, but also the conscience of the whole humanity — his voice for peace, mercy, and justice. His life and service were exemplary: he humbly addressed
This Srimad-Bhagavatam Class by HG Hamsarupa Prabhu covers portions of Śrimad Bhāgavatam Canto 4, Chapter 7, focusing on verses 52-53 which discuss the sacrifice performed by Dakṣa. The speaker weaves between direct commentary on the text and broader philosophical points about ISKCON’s mission and devotional principles. Key points from the lecture: Philosophical understanding: The verses
A class specifically focused on relationships from a spiritual perspective. The main speakers are Partha Das and Uttama Devi, a married couple who are visiting NYC from Canada to give workshops on relationships. The lecture discusses how to develop healthier spiritual relationships by understanding: The physiological aspects of emotional regulation How our brain works (higher
Badahari Prabhu stands as one of ISKCON’s most beloved and accomplished kirtan leaders, whose melodious devotional chanting has touched the hearts of countless spiritual seekers around the world. As a dedicated disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Badahari Prabhu has spent decades refining the art of kirtan while deepening his own spiritual
Srimad-Bhagavatam Class by HH Janananda Swami – 1.2.5, ISKCON Zurich, 8.11.2022 —– The importance of purifying one’s heart through chanting the holy names and following spiritual practices with sincerity How to deal with the departure of one’s spiritual master, emphasizing continued service to their instructions (vani) even in their physical absence The establishment of Varnashrama
Notes on Appreciation Program for Sruti Sagara Prabhu collected by Krishna Kripa Prabhu [Sruti Sagara Prabhu was an Indian college student at University of Florida, who became a disciple of Kalakantha Prabhu and served as temple president of Krishna House for the last seven years. He is going on to serve as GBC for several
SB 3.24.37 Dharma, Knowledge, & the Great Wave by Sankirtana Das (ACBSP) at New Vrindaban Bhagavatam class given at New Vrindaban, focusing on Vedic knowledge and dharma. HG Sankirtan Prabhu discusses several key themes: The Vedic paradigm and the relationship between the mind, intelligence, and soul, emphasizing that intelligence can either serve the soul or
Chaitanya Charan Prabhu stands as one of the most influential contemporary spiritual teachers within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), embodying the rare combination of scholarly intellect, spiritual wisdom, and practical guidance. His journey from a promising career in technology to becoming a globally renowned monk and author demonstrates a profound commitment to addressing
The main points discussed in this Morning class given at the ISKCON Sydney Temple on Sunday 30th March, 2025 by HH Devamrita Swami are: Earth as a conscious provider: The earth is personified as a conscious entity that supplies all necessities to living beings when humans live in proper spiritual consciousness. Existence of various subtle
Kalakantha Prabhu emphasizes the critical importance of character in leadership, especially within spiritual communities. The discourse draws from traditional Vedic principles while addressing practical challenges in modern leadership. Main Themes: Leadership by Example: Leaders influence others not just through words, but through personal conduct. Hypocrisy in leaders — saying one thing and doing another —
In this insightful and lively class, HG Brahma Tirtha Prabhu discusses Canto 3, Chapters 33-34 of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, weaving scriptural wisdom with modern scientific thought and personal anecdotes. He covers themes like the limitations of atheistic and materialistic worldviews (such as Logical Positivism), the importance of consciousness in understanding the cosmos, and how ancient
Thousands joined the colorful multi-day celebrations which reflects the diversity of the region’s rich diversity. Held at Durban’s north beachfront, the procession, festival-goers were treated to kirtans, prasadam, book tables, dance and cultural presentations, mantra meditation, spiritual discussions, and more. Short workshops and seminars were also held, along with many family-friendly activities, including fireworks, a
By Dr Sahadeva dasa In the bustling city of Yekaterinburg, Russia, lives an unassuming woman whose quiet life of devotion and service has touched the hearts of many. Known as Rangala Dasi, she is a modern-day saint who has dedicated her life to the selfless mission of spreading spiritual wisdom, particularly through the Bhagavad Gita.
Morning Class SB 9.4.41 – HG Bhakta Prabhu – 19 April 2025 O best of the Kuru dynasty, after he drank some water, King Ambarīṣa, meditating upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, waited for the return of the great mystic Durvāsā Muni. After executing the ritualistic ceremonies to be performed at noon,
Kripamoya Prabhu, a beloved disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, has been a cornerstone of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) for nearly five decades. Based in England, his life is a testament to devotion, teaching, and service. Through his books, music, classes, and personal guidance, Kripamoya Prabhu has inspired
Bhagavad Gita’s Teachings for Modern Life In a conversation on The Ranveer Show, HH SB Keshava Swami discussed the Bhagavad Gita’s relevance to contemporary life. The Gita’s wisdom, he noted, is not a linear progression of knowledge but rather a spiral, where repeated readings and reflections lead to deeper understanding. This ancient text offers a
HG Mahatma Prabhu narrates the story of Lord Nirshinga’s defeat of the demon Hiranyakashipu, bringing relief to the oppressed. Various celestial beings celebrate the end of Hiranyakashipu’s reign of terror, highlighting the significance of divine intervention in restoring order. The class underscores the necessity of virtuous leadership and the unwavering protection granted to devotees. ISKCON
A recent discourse at Bhaktivedanta Manor explored the essentials of community building within the Hare Krishna tradition. Speakers emphasized the need for respectful deliberation amid differing opinions, highlighting Lord Chaitanya’s example. The discussion underscored the value of cooperation over competition and the importance of engaging youth by providing them with meaningful roles and spiritual education.
King Prataparudra, ruler of Odisha and a devoted patron of Lord Jagannath, yearned deeply for the grace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. However, Chaitanya, adhering to a renunciant lifestyle, avoided interactions with royalty to shun worldly attachments. The king sought help from close associates like Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and Ramananda Raya, who attempted to mediate but faced
Gregg: This 8MM Reel to Reel I found. I made a movie from this Reel to Reel for your enjoyment. This is the only devotee film or Iskcon film that was found. Viviana: You can see how surrender they were, in a world where everything was against them they were so determine to serve Srila
Translation [Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] Although Lord Balarāma had stopped killing the impious, Romaharṣaṇa’s death was inevitable. Thus, having spoken, the Lord killed him by picking up a blade of kuśa grass and touching him with its tip. Purport Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “Lord Balarāma had avoided taking part in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, and yet because
