Planet ISKCON

Beautiful ISKCON Mira Road Temple (12 km from Mumbai) (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Chanting the holy name is the chief...

ISKCON Govardhan Eco Village a 100 acre sustainable farming community and retreat center, based near Mumbai, India received the 2016 Green Apple Awards for Built Environment & Architectural Heritage Award for it’s Green Building initiatives from the Green Organization, UK, at a special ceremony on Monday August 8, 2016 at The Crystal, London Docklands – regarded as the most sustainable events venue in the UK. Radha Mohan Prabhu from the Bhaktivedanta Manor, on behalf of ISKCON GEV, received this award from the hands of Dr. Paula Owen, Chief Fun Officer of Eco Action Games. During that same ceremony GEV was also honored as the International Green World Ambassadors. This recognition comes as a result of the environmental success of their GEV SYMBIOTIC DEVELOPMENT MODEL Project which won a Green Apple Environment Award, presented at Westminster Palace in November last year. As a result of that success, they are having their winning paper published in The Green Book, the world’s only annual work of reference on environmental best practice that is distributed to environment professionals, universities and libraries around the world by The Green Organisation. Continue reading "ISKCON Govardhan Eco Village receives the 2016 Green Apple Award for Built Environment and Architectural Heritage
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Anish Bikmal is a 15 year old ISKCON Vaisnava who attends South Forsythe High School near Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. as a 10th grade student. He plans to pursue studies in Neuroscience and Psychology. His father and mother, Subal Sakha das and Amrta Gaurangi devi dasi, are from Hyderabad, India and moved to America in 1999, work in the IT field, and are initiated disciples of His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami. In 2014 Anish and his older brother, Anirudh, co-founded an educational website called Motivate and Inspire Inc. ‘To motivate & inspire students by giving quality academic help while raising funds to serve those in need’. Through this site they have already donated hundreds of dollars to various ISKCON projects such as Foof For Life, Govardhan Eco Village and Bhaktivedanta Hospice. Recently, Anish won 1st Place in the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) National competition receiving an award of $1,000. While visiting Mayapur with his family Anish decided that the best use of that prize money was to donate it to the TOVP. His service attitude is an inspiration and example for all ISKCON devotees and especially the younger generation. Certainly Srila Prabhupada and Mahaprabhu are pleased and will give Anish and his family all blessings and mercy. Continue reading "15 Year Old Anish Bikmal Donates $1000 to TOVP
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Best way of Life - Harinam Sankitran in Germany (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: That is my ideal of life, to form a nice ...

For three days, many wonderful devotees and friends celebrated Sri Krishna Janmastami and Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja at ISKCON of Silicon Valley, in Mountain View, California, and after the festivities on the last day Kesava Bharati Dasa Goswami, Rtadhvaja Swami, Vaisesika Prabhu, and I met at my hosts’ house in Menlo Park. For several hours we shared thoughts and realizations and in Krishna consciousness, as advised by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita (10.9):

mac-citta mad-gata-prana
bodhayantah parasparam
kathayantas ca mam nityam
tusyanti ca ramanti ca

“The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.”

In terms of my personal service, they all implored, or instructed, me to immerse myself in the Juhu book, even at the cost (temporarily) of other worthy endeavors, and to arrange my life to facilitate that process and that project, which, they said, was of paramount importance.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Srimati Radharani

“What happens to a living being,” the king asked sorrowfully, “as their consciousness and cognition decays and shrinks?”

“It is so ironic,” the boy said. “By always concentrating on the pursuit of pleasures, a human ruins his chances for attaining any of them; because his powers of cognition and understanding decline, gradually transforming him into an immobile life-form.”

Silence came over everyone as they contemplated this misfortune.

Then the boy said, “If you want to avoid this terrible darkness, never let yourself become obsessed with things that disturb your progress towards the four goals: pleasure, security, morality, and liberation. Of these four goals, be the most interested in liberation, for the fearsome other three are always connected with things that end. Success or failure in those three generates a result in the ever changing qualities of this world. Thus, even the gods cannot avoid destroying the very blessings they bestow in those three areas.”

“How should we progress towards liberation?” the king asked.

“Direct your attention towards the Supersoul.”

“But how,” the king asked, “if there is a veil hiding him from my perception?”

The boy explained how to indirectly perceive the Supersoul in the world that we can readily experience. “Try to see that the All-Attractive shines inwardly and outwardly from the core of every moving and non-moving thing – as the ultimate origin of their consciousness. That brilliant shine is hidden, sheathed within the airs and senses of the body. But one should try to be aware of it, and realize, ‘I am that.’”

“It sounds as if the Supreme Soul is caged within confinements,” the king said. “How can this be?”

“He certainly manifests within these better or worse things,” the boy explained. “But those things are unreal, like ropes mistaken for snakes. By careful consideration, you will see through the illusion and realize that all these ‘snakes’ are just misconceptions of the constantly limitless uncontaminated purity of reality. In truth, the Supersoul is situated in the reality of things, which the stain of karma cannot conquer. This is why we should seek him out!”

Then, moved by a surge of devotional ecstasy, the boy sang of the Supersoul:

The tips of the petals of the lotus of his feet
delight in the dalliances of devotion.

They unbind the bonds of dire desire,
which are wild waves
those devoid of devotion can never damn.

Let us adore that most adorable Krishna,
Vasudeva’s son,
the most brilliant form of consciousness.

The boy then looked affectionately into the king’s eyes and said, with words echoing the same melodious cadence, “Existence is such a hardship. It drowns us hopelessly in a miserable sea of fear, where our life is devoured by six sharks. But if we adore All-Attractive Hari, his adorable feet become a boat that rescues us from that dangerous and terrible sea.”

– Excerpt from an early draft of Part 4 of

Beautiful Tales of the All-Attractive

A translation of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam’s fourth canto

By Vraja Kishor

Parts 1, 2, and 3 of Beautiful Tales of the All Attractive

are available at VrajaKishor.com

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 28 September 2014, Durban, South Africa, Sunday Feast Lecture) 

If we can have Krsna in the foreground, in every situation – first Krsna and then everything – then we have Vrindavan. Simply Krsna is most important in every situation and this is the spirit of Krsna consciousness.

Then there is another level of Krsna consciousness, where Krsna is the backdrop. It is a nice backdrop, we kind of like it and we would not want any other backdrop in our life; but it is a backdrop nonetheless! In our own pastimes… in activities which are on our mind… in our own life and what we are going through and what we are not going through… in what we wish we would be going through… all these things that had never happened… and all that had happened that we had never asked for… like that, so many things and Krsna was always there.

Nice auspicious life, good life, blessed life when Krsna was always there. But how much better could it be when Krsna was always in the foreground. Then such a life it would just dissolve the demarcation between the spirit and matter. We would be walking in the spiritual world. Our feet would not touch the ground!

Just as the demigods, their feet never touch the ground; the demigods are floating above the ground. But the devotees who always put Krsna first, with every step, they walk in the spiritual world. Not just touching the ground but touching cintamani dham – touching these transcendental touchstones. These cintamani stones are for the spiritual world, the land of the wishful fulfilling desire trees. The land of the Kamadeva, the surabhi cows who can give oceans of milk. That abode, the abode of Krsna…

Gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Knowledge about Srimati Radharani, Her relationship with Krishna, Her relationships with Her sakhis and gopi manjaris is expanded throughout the confidential literatures of Gaudiya Vaisnavism. In recent years these books are becoming more accessible to English speaking readers. We are becoming more aware, at least theoretically, that devotion to Srimati Radharani is the topmost expression of Krishna consciousness. Bhaktivinoda Thakura says in one of his songs, “Srimati Radhika is the teacher of the mellow of conjugal love. The pure love between Radha and Madhava is meant to be discussed and contemplated.” Continue reading "Srila Prabhupada’s Presentation of Srimati Radharani
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Vyasa-puja offering 2016 read in the Warsaw temple for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada.
Krishnakshetra Swami: O Master at whose feet all masters sit, O Śrīla Prabhupāda, here is one of your students—by no means a master—bowing at your feet and begging to remain seated there, among my many masters, your followers.
It has been fifty years since you officially established your mission in the form of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. This year we celebrate a half-century of your enduring mission, and I pray to always have a place in your Society for the remainder of my life and beyond.
This year we celebrate your Society’s perdurance, and one aspect of celebration is reflection on successes, but also reflection on challenges, weaknesses, and failures, individual and collective. We do so, always with the aim of reaffirming and better comprehending your vision of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
You often expressed your vision in terms of a “movement,” the “Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.” With your blessings, I wish to reflect on your notion of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, as an appreciation of your vision for the world and as a challenge for us, your followers, to perpetually renew and deepen our comprehension of this vision.
In the Preface to your 1971 unabridged edition of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, you refer several times to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. In one passage there you write, “Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is genuine, historically authorized, natural and transcendental due to its being based on Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.” These four qualifications—authenticity, historical grounding, naturalness, and transcendence—outline the features of this movement that you wished to emphasize; and each of these features you locate as originating in the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa as given in the Bhagavad-gītā as delivered through a proper teacher-student relationship (“as it is”).
To say that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is “genuine” is to contrast it with other, apparently similar, movements which are in one or more ways lacking in authenticity, hence not facilitating proper training in how to serve the Lord. As you wrote (SB 7.9.17 purport), “Humanity must be trained to engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. That is the purpose of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.” We should note that acknowledging that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is genuine does not preclude the possibility that there are other movements of a similar nature which are similarly authentic, or that other missions or organizations than ISKCON might be part of the same Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
To affirm the historical grounding of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to set aside misperceptions that it is a “new religious movement,” calling attention to its pedigree by virtue of disciplic succession. And in case one might express scepticism about the purity and consistency of the message thus delivered (after all, Kṛṣṇa himself admits in the Gītā that the message gets lost in course of time), you point to its “natural” quality: since it is the nature of all beings to serve, and since all beings are part of the Supreme Being, it follows that it is natural for all to serve the Supreme Being. As long as this basic truth is recognized, we can be assured that the essential teaching to be on course.
Finally, you point to the “transcendent” nature of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Here you may be referring to its connection to Kṛṣṇa as the transcendent Lord, and by virtue of this connection you are contrasting this movement with so many social, political, or cultural movements, all of which are tethered to worldly motivations, ideas and ideals. However exalted they may be in their aims, such movements are, at best, limited in their potential to spiritually uplift humanity.
You write optimistically of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement: “It is gradually becoming the most popular movement in the entire world, especially amongst the younger generation.” Just how one might measure such popularity might be a matter of contention; yet your optimism suggests to me that the “movement” aspect of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement may be perceived on many levels, in unexpected places and by cultural trends that one might not necessarily register as being directly associated with Kṛṣṇa consciousness as we presently understand it.
For me, this raises the question how to conceive the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in the broadest terms, aligned with and grounded in your and the previous ācāryas’ teachings, yet truly transcendent in being ever respondent to and fostering solutions to the perceived needs of all kinds of people in the world today. How can we serve and promote the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement as a movement, unfettered by self-imposed limitations that accompany the various forms of unhealthy reification that typically creep into missionizing organizations and institutions? The admittedly vague yet dynamic term “spirituality” may be of help in this reflection.
In her essay “Approaches to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” Prof. Sandra M. Schneiders defines spirituality as “the experience of conscious involvement in the project of life-integration through self-transcendence toward the horizon of ultimate value one perceives” (Schneiders p. 16 in Blackwell Companion to Christian Spirituality, Arthur Holder, ed., Blackwell, 2005). This is clearly a very broad, inclusive definition, with the advantage that a wide spectrum of people could accept it and see themselves included in it. Understanding spirituality in this way, she notes, allows us to recognize that spirituality is “ontologically prior to its specification by history and theology.” The point for us is that, as you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, have said about the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, transcendence is an essential feature: as a movement of spirituality, Kṛṣṇa consciousness is meant to be manifest in the world, in history; but as a movement of spirituality, Kṛṣṇa consciousness always resists containment by the world.
What does this mean for members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness? To me it suggests that we keep alert for opportunities to engage with the world in a spirit of service, to help everyone, in whatever position they are in, to become more deeply “consciously involved” in their own “projects of life integration,” with respect to whatever they perceive as ultimate value. It means that we remain faithful to our own conviction that Kṛṣṇa, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the sum and substance of ultimate value, but that we can appreciate and honor others’ convictions regarding ultimate value as well. It means that we resist the temptations of sectarianism and constantly stretch ourselves to see the Lord’s presence in all sincere efforts by people to deepen their spiritual lives. In this spirit we may affirm your aspiration to “respiritualize” (Path of Perfection, ch. 1) the whole world through the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, and we may thus position ourselves, individually and collectively, as members of ISKCON, in such ways as we can positively advance the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement throughout all spheres of human society.
My prayer, on this day and in this year of ISKCON’s 50th anniversary celebration, is that I may be an instrument—an agent—in whatever small way I can, in the advancement of your mission to foster a truly spiritual movement, one that brings all people together in service to the Lord of all, recognizing and celebrating how indeed everyone follows His path in all respects.
Your aspiring servant,
Kṛṣṇakṣetra Swami

August 5th, 2016

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Janmastami & Srila Prabhupada Vyas Puja Celebration in Nava Vraja Dham, Hungary (2016)
Srila Prabhupada: One is understood to be an eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he considers himself a servant of the holy name and in this spirit distributes the holy name to the world. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 8.16 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/9BFeo5

The Ācārya of the Golden Age!
The first-ever Pencil Shading book in ISKCON released by Rūpa Raghunātha Vāṇī Publications!
The Ācārya of the Golden Age was offered to Śrīla Prabhupāda on his Śrī Vyāsa-pūjā by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on this auspicious Fiftieth Anniversary of the incorporation of ISKCON!
About this unique book, His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami said, This book will give wonderful meditation on Prabhupāda to kids and make them Prabhupāda-conscious!
How will The Ācārya of the Golden Age benefit this and the future generations of kids? It will bring out their innate creative abilities and enable them to develop into talented artists who can be positively contributive to Śrīla Prabhupādas ISKCON and humanity at large.
The Ācārya of the Golden Age has three levels of Pencil Shading: 1) sketching, 2) basic shading, and 3) advanced shading. The Pencil Shading skill is doubtless a little demanding; but with constant practice, any kid can perfect himself/herself. When a kid is able to get up to the first-level of Pencil Shading successfully, we should appreciate his/her efforts. We should definitely fan kids interest in something so rewarding as Pencil Shading artwork for Kṛṣṇa. Such encouragement will reward ISKCON with numerous artists and much artwork in the near future.
Last but not least, Rūpa Raghunātha Vāṇī Publications hopes to please all of our ISKCON devotees through its endeavor to give kids of ISKCON devotees a gift of artistic talent, besides hoping that devotees worldwide will allow their kids to take advantage of our humble offering to Śrīla Prabhupāda on this holy Fiftieth Anniversary of the incorporation of ISKCON: The Ācārya of the Golden Age.
For further information, please write to us at: ruparughunathavani@gmail.com
Now The Ācārya of the Golden Age book is available in ISKCON, Sri Mayapur Dham Sankirtana Shops - to get your copies please contact us.

This is the work of Kardami Kapila Prabhu, during Janmastami at Bhaktivedanta Manor. (Album with photos)

Taking part in last week's celebrations were Jagattarini Dasi and Bhurijana Dasa. The pair joined the movement at the height of the counter culture of the late-1960s. "We were young and those were hippy days," Ms Dasi said. Prior to becoming a Hare Krishna, Ms Dasi was a young Australian actress that went by the name Janne Wesley and starred opposite Mick Jagger in the 1970 film Ned Kelly. She said a visit to a temple in Los Angeles changed the course of her life. "Something was deeply moving for me at that point and I decided that I wanted to explore what the teachings were and what the lifestyle was," she said. "I stepped into another realm." Continue reading "Hare Krishnas mark 50 years with 4,000-strong festival at Perth temple
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Bhaktivedanta Manor - Packing away the Janmashtami festival (Album with photos)
More than 70.000 guests visited the Manor and participated in a large variety of events who brought Lord Krishna closer into every body’s life. Bhaktivedanta Manor’s Temple President, Srutidharma prabhu, seen in this photo engaging in dismantling the temporary structures used during the festivities.
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Vrindavan: A Green Paradise! (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: On our way to Tibet to circumambulate sacred Mount Kailash in two weeks, we stopped in Vrindavan to seek the Lord’s mercy and blessings. Heavy monsoon rains have turned Vraja into a veritable green paradise, especially in and around beautiful Radha kunda and Syama kunda.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/tcLp3L

Notes from a class by Krishna-kripa das.
Manidhara Prabhu: It is the blessing of the 1960s and 1970s that people were doubting everything.
Srila Prabhupada challenged and debated with his disciples. He did not like them to accept things blindly.
When asked about to what say to Christians, Srila Prabhupada would make the point that they are not following the Bible. The Bible says ‘thou shall not kill’ but the Christians are killing so many animals.
We have answers for all questions in Krishna consciousness.
In Sweden, schools would visit the temple because they have a conception that people should be informed about everything. So we would sometimes have three schools a day. I would always ask them for questions. It was a challenge for them because they are not taught to inquire.
When people understand that we are not escapists but are providing a viable alternative, they will take it seriously.
I was talking to a lady who was suffering very much. I said to her, “Suppose you are not your body?” She was happy just to consider that. We cannot eliminate suffering but we can understand the reason for suffering, and we can elevate our consciousness so we can tolerate the suffering.
Srila Prabhupada told a paralyzed person that his condition was a blessing as another person may be in illusion thinking he can enjoy, but being paralyzed he could very soon understand this is an illusion.
Every second must be used in Krishna consciousness.
People say that I have to do this and that, and I have no time to hear about Krishna. But whatever our situation, we can try to always increase our hearing.
Srila Prabhupada said we do not need temples. We must simply create a situation for people to hear and chant of Krishna.
Taking care of cows is hard work, but it also provides facility to remember Krishna.
We have hard work in Krishna consciousness, but it is work that benefits. We are not working to produce useless products.
In Germany the philosophy is that you have to work. Why? To eat. And why to eat? So you can work.
They took people from the villages to work in the city so they could make money to go to the villages for vacation.
We go from village to village and chant Hare Krishna on padayatra. What do we do for vacation? This is our vacation.
In Slovenia devotees would use motorbikes to go to remote regions of the country. People would buy whole sets of books because they were so impressed people came to visit them. That developed into padayatra. On the padayatra, people would use bicycles to visit remotely located people, and they were so happy to encounter the devotees again.
Padayatra gets devotees together. That is an important part of it.
One devotee said I did 15 years of book distribution and 25 years of management. What can I do now? You could do padayatra. Even on wheelchairs, you could do padayatra.
The spirit of this movement is: “I got something. I should give it to others.”
We know people are not interested in philosophy. On padayatra, they see the oxen and chanting and the dancing. We give people a visual presentation, and they wonder, “What is this?”
We should not be old devotees who are sour. This means something is wrong. We are identifying with our body. Srila Prabhupada was the most old and the most poor, but he was the most ecstatic.
We have to accept Krishna consciousness as it is and share it with others.
As the Bhagavad-gita says this process is “su-sukham” (very joyful). If it is not that way for us, then we are doing something wrong.
One devotee told me that after being Srila Prabhupada’s servant for three months, he slept for three weeks.
Srila Prabhupada once said, “Don’t ask if I am sick. I am always sick.”
Srila Prabhupada was so transcendental, he extracted his own tooth once in a airplane.
A body is like a time bomb. It is just a matter of time before it will explode.
We have a padayatra calendar with photos of people enjoying our festivals. We should not lose this spirit.
We may not consider ourselves preachers, but our lifestyle is itself preaching.
My former artist friends were so shocked that I became a devotee that they began chanting Hare Krishna.
In German our opponents would have different mantras, “Get a job.” And we would come up with responses, “But I am working.”
We can practice Krishna consciousness in different situations. Our only obstacle is ourselves.
As devotees we have to be introspective and be situated properly. If we are not situated properly, if other things are there, we still will not be satisfied.
Sometimes we are so absorbed in this body, we are not aware of how to best operate this body.
As a youth I was so conscious of death that I had very few friends because no one wanted to talk about it. When I met the devotees, they would talk about death, which I appreciated. Although they talked of death, they were happy. Thus I was very curious.
Vedic culture means to be satisfied with what you have. Village life in the West was closer to Vedic culture. People had problems, but they were local problems. Previously people in general did not travel. Only the sannyasis and the brahmacaris traveled. Now we have global problems. In my own life, I experienced as I moved from the city to the village, my mind became more peaceful.
Sometimes people challenge the widespread distribution of Bhagavad-gita because Krishna says it is not for nondevotees, but we should not question Srila Prabhupada’s order.
Srila Prabhupada was proud that people could not longer identify his disciples as Americans.
Things seem to be miracles to us but they are not miracles to Krishna.
There are three types of people. Innocent people have nothing against Krishna consciousness. They simply have not heard. Then there are others who are spontaneously inimical. We tried to hide by wearing wigs, but people could identify us anyway. The German police advised people to capture Hare Krishnas. They could be identified by their bright countenance.
Krishna promises to preserve what we have and supply what we lack. What insurance company can promise that?
We have to engage our body, mind, and words in Krishna’s service.
Srila Prabhupada did not want us to tell new people about Krishna’s pastimes. We should simply explain how the soul is different than the body and about reincarnation.
It is Krishna’s mercy we do not remember all our frustration in previous lives. We would commit suicide as children otherwise. We take birth as optimistic babies.
We should give Bhagavad-gita only as far they can understand.
Once Srila Prabhupada said to a reporter, “We will not discuss God [a surprise for the reporter]. We will only talk about how we are not the body.”
Krishna spoke Bhagavad-gita on the battlefield to Arjuna, a professional soldier, while he spoke Uddhava-gita to Uddhava, a brahmana in the forest.
Sometimes people ask who forbade us to engage in intoxication, but no one forbade us. I can go into a pub and drink anytime I want, but I do not want to.
If we explain the combination of man and women is simply meant for insemination, the women understand it but the men don’t.
They are many problems caused by illicit sex, like AIDS, fear, lamentation, but how many problems are caused by celibacy? Still because people are lusty they cannot give up the habit.
After the revolution, there was propaganda against vegetarianism but not now.
When discussing vegetarianism, I offer to a meat-eater, “Here is a knife. Chase after an animal. Kill it. Take out the intestines.” But they would never do it.
In my town, there was riot, but the people would not have rioted unless they were intoxicated.
People worry how they will live without meat, but I never saw devotees dying of starvation. More likely there is the opposite problem.
We should never stop giving Krishna consciousness to others, in any circumstances, following Srila Prabhupada’s example.
We do not have to worry about renunciation. By nature’s way, as we age, we naturally become more renounced. We just have to be determined not to become more foolish.
The worries of old age and death are minimized for the devotee who has given up trying to enjoy the material world.
For the materialists to do the equivalent of padayatra would be very difficult. The people are not fully trained, they come and go, they have primitive facilities, etc.
If someone asks how do you organize ISKCON, the actual answer is no one knows. Krishna is in the heart of everyone, and He is the main manager. Krishna inspires people in the heart. If we were completely in Krishna consciousness, our activities would be completely harmonized.
I was too sick to distribute books and Bhakti Bhusana Swami invited me to travel with him. We would go door-to-door, open the door, and say, “We are here,” and we would come in and present Bhagavad-gita. People were shocked. Our tour ended in Berlin, where we had a hundred and twenty guests at the Sunday feast. There was just Maharaja, me, and two brahmacaris. We would alternate between lecture and prasadam till 4 a.m. During the year we were they there, thirteen new people became devotees due to Bhakti Bhusana Swami’s expert preaching.
Krishna consciousness is never static. If we do not endeavor, we will go backward. It starts by preaching to yourself to get up in the morning.
I lived in a temple where the temple president removed the hot water tap. This is external. We have to understand the meaning of our austerities. If we have warm feet and we can distribute more books, then it is better.
Even if people are crazy we do not hold that against them, because if they remain engaged in the practice seriously, they will ultimately attain perfection.
I was given the craziest people on my book distribution party. They would get in fights in the van, and I would alternate speeding and breaking to get them to stop.
One devotee was so crazy they told me to take him and not bring him back. He could not even chant the Hare Krishna properly. He had the good quality of being willing to hear. By distributing the books, he came to the point of being almost normal on the streets, and he could eventually chant the mantra properly.
Srila Prabhupada stressed that purity and simplicity were our qualifications.
The devotee has nothing to lose. He has lost everything already. We just have Krishna to give. Simple people can understand.
If someone begins the practice of Krishna consciousness, that is really quite high. We prepare the people for that point. That is also preaching.
People see we are not acting in the standard way, and they begin to ask questions of their own accord.
It is good we were not blackmailed in the media in Czech as we experienced in Germany.
We give people a practical alternative way to live.
Srila Prabhupada was happy seeing the next generation coming because with each succeeding generation, Krishna consciousness is more natural.
In Moravia, the devotees bought a pub and turned it into a temple. This is happening and will happen more and more.
When the switch is turned off on our technology, we will still have the cart and cows.
We have good cooks here in Czech. Srila Prabhupada liked to encourage local talent.
At the last visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor, it was guru puja, and Srila Prabhupada raised his hands indicating to speed up the kirtana, and in seconds it became most ecstatic.
Srila Prabhupada did not criticize the conditioning of his students but engaged them for their purification.
Our German book distribution party was number one, and we were told Srila Prabhupada wanted to see us. We had two groups the Nrsimha group, who were very heavy, and the Govinda group who were more peaceful.
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Just as you have already understood the benefits of this Krsna Consciousness Movement, try to realize and assimilate it more and more and distribute it to the suffering humanity. Our movement is the greatest gift to the human race. They may not immediately appreciate it, but time will come and history will give evidence that this movement saved the human society from being fallen into barbarianism. [Letter to Jayasri, 13 November 1969] Continue reading "The amazing accomplishments of His Divine Grace
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The Clumsiness of Those Early Days

Continuing Bhāgavatam’s description of the amazing conversation between Pṛthu and the Four Child-Sages…

“Why does this veil hiding the true self and Superself exist in the first place?” the King asked with deep feeling.

The boy-sage explained that it exists because of attraction to perceiving objects independently and externally.

“How does this loss of self occur?” the King asked in exasperation.

“In the same way that grasses on the banks of a lake suck out the lake’s water,” the boy explained.

Asked to elaborate, the boy said, “Senses attracted to sensory objects drain and pull on the mind’s attention. Without that power of attention, the intellect’s power of comprehension fades. As comprehension fades, its resources – memories – decay and dissolve from disuse. Without a library of memory, cognition itself decays. Cognition is the core of the self, so scientists describe this vicious sequence as ‘self-destruction.’”

The king was silent and grave.

The boy-sage solemnly said, “Nothing in the world could be worse than this. Thinking other things dearer, we destroy our own selves.”

It is indeed so sad! Thinking, this object is the most important thing in the world, we allow ourselves to decay and die due to our infatuation with it. Our infatuation with independent perception of external objects is so strong that we forget about the entity who even makes such perception possible – the counscious self. Thus as our malnourished consciousness withers and crumbles, our ability to perceive the objects we love also diminishes, withers and crumbles. We lose everything by losing our self. 

– Excerpt from an early draft of Part 4 of

Beautiful Tales of the All-Attractive

A translation of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam’s fourth canto

By Vraja Kishor

Parts 1, 2, and 3 of Beautiful Tales of the All Attractive

are available at VrajaKishor.com

This is an excerpt from a poem I wrote for Srila Prabhupada:

Srila Prabhupada, by all adored

A true follower of the lord

He toiled hard with every limb

Around the world were signs of him

There was no person so very great

No power in heaven could master fate

Caitanya’s message, he answered the call

He gave the mercy to one and all

Srila Prabhupada was the modern day saint who lovingly saved so many from the grip of maya. His Vyasapuja is celebrated after Krsna Janmastami in all ISKCON temples around the world.

Canberra devotees gathered to honour him with homages, puspanjali, worship, kirtana and feast.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 June 2014, Stockholm, Sweden, Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 22.75)

Sadhana-bhakti is like the Ganga. When we take bath in the Ganga, in Mayapur then on the side of the river, the water is not moving very much – it is slow. If you want to move in the water then you have to swim on your own strength but you go a little further into the river, you do not have to swim on your own strength, the current will just grab you and take you along.

So it is like this. Only in the beginning of bhakti is it depending on our endeavor until we get swept up in the current of attraction to Krsna. That attraction is very natural because Krsna has so many genuinely amazing qualities.

Bhaktivedanta Manor Janmasthami 2016.

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On August 26th, ISKCON worldwide celebrated its founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's birthday by offering hommages. 

The average person spends 23 days a year on the phone. Ironically, we seldom use them for the purpose they were invented – to audibly speak to people.

ISKCON’s 50^th Anniversary was commemorated in style in Sydney, Australia from August 19 to 21 with a weekend of celebrations. The weekend’s events started on Friday night with Bhakti Film Fest and a patron’s dinner. The highlight of the weekend was a theatrical, musical, and multimedia performance at the iconic Sydney Opera House with 800people attending two performances.

The good news is that in this age of Kali, Sri Krsna came in the mood of Srimati Radharani. And as we read in the purport, Srimati Radharani is the tenderhearted feminine counterpart of Krsna. In The Nectar of Devotion also, Srila Prabhupada says that Srimati Radharani represents the compassionate nature of Krsna. Because Krsna is the father, He might be a little strict (which is sometimes necessary and beneficial), but the mother may be more compassionate, more understanding, more encouraging. Therefore devotees approach Krsna through Sri Radha. "Because Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is very difficult to approach Him. But the devotees, taking advantage of His compassionate nature, which is represented by Radharani, always pray to Radharani for Krsna's compassion." (NOD Ch 22) Srimati Radharani, among other qualifications, is a maha-bhagavata. She sees that everyone is a better servant of Krsna than She. So if someone approaches Her with a desire to serve Krsna, She'll very easily recommend the person to Krsna, and when Radharani recommends someone, Krsna is bound to accept, because ultimately Krsna wants to please Radharani. Transcendentally, Krsna comes under the control of Radharani. Thus in Radharani's hometown of Varsana, the devotees have a saying: "Whatever Radha does, Krsna likes. Whatever Radha likes, Krsna does." So if Radharani wants Krsna to accept us, then Krsna will accept us. Continue reading "Sri Radhastami
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Embedded with various flowers here and there, tied together using jewelled strings; decorated with lines of deeply fragrant jasmines; having a spherical arrangement of jewels hanging at the back from [three] lines of excellent jewels — 0 Radhe! When will I see the excellent dhammilla hairstyle created by the hands of Sri Hari himself? Rasa-kulya Commentary: The term dhammilla means, “Hair tied together in a topknot.” This term indicates that Radha’s hair had been intricately tied in various ways. Previously [in the preceding verse], a hairstyle named kabara was described. The dhammilla style of tying hair is different from the kabara. Connoisseurs expert in conjugal mellows know the details of this hairstyle. Continue reading "Radha’s Hairstyle
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Because of the special attention She received from Krishna, that gopi thought Herself to be the most fortunate woman. She told Krishna that She could walk no further and that He would have to carry Her on His shoulders. Hearing these words, Krishna consented and suddenly disappeared. Now alone in a secluded place, that gopi felt extremely anguished. She desperately began looking for Krishna everywhere. Being unsuccessful, She sat down and cried most piteously. When the gopis found Her in that state, all their hearts melted in deep sympathy. They then heard from Her what had happened. All the gopis then went out together to look for Krishna in the forest. They went as far into the forest as the moon-rays could reach. Unsuccessful in ?nding Krishna, they went back to the banks of the Yamuna river praying for His audience. There they sat and simply sang Krishna's glories in utter helplessness. Continue reading "Lord Krishna’s Disappearance From The Rasa Dance
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Istagosti with Tirupati temple brahmanas.

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