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by His Holiness Jayadvaita Swami When Sukla Gupta was a year and a half old and barely able to talk, she used to cradle a pillow or a block of wood in her arms and address it as “Minu.” Minu, she said, was her daughter. And if you believe the story Sukla gradually told over…

A few months before Śrīla Prabhupāda’s first visit to ISKCON Dallas, a strong windstorm hit the area, felling trees. A tall, valuable shade tree in the courtyard of the temple also fell over and remained leaning against an adjoining building, the children’s prasādam hall. The tree still had its roots in the ground, but its…

The six basic principles of Krishna consciousnes are: 1. Since everything comes from something and nothing comes from nothing, there must necessarily be an origin or a source for all that exists. 2. Since so many persons exist within reality the source must possess personality. Otherwise how could it produce personality? 3. That Original Supreme…

From Sri Bhaktyāloka By Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode Aspiring devotees should first take shelter of the lotus feet of a bonafide guru. Without taking shelter of a guru, one cannot achieve anything auspicious. There are two types of people — one having developed intelligence and one having undeveloped intelligence. Those whose intelligence is undeveloped are absorbed…

By Abe Handler Columbia Daily Spectator January 28, 2005 JASON BELLO/CDS Krishna Chaplain Gadadhara Pandit drew a large crowd for a vegetarian dinner in Lerner on Wednesday. Amid the peacoats and denim of Morningside Heights, it is hard not to notice Gadadhara Pandit. Bareheaded and clad in plain, traditional robes, Columbia’s new Krishna chaplain stands…

by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada Question: Are sin and offense the same? Answer: No. One commits sin by disobeying the rules of society, but one commits offense by showing disrespect to the lotus feet of Vishnu and vaisnava. Offense is a million times more dangerous than sin. Sin can be destroyed by atonement, but…

Also today we decorated Lord Narasimhadeva’s face. Lord Narasimhadeva is in the form of Ugra-stambha Sila taken from the very pillar that He appeared from in Ahobilam Dham. We plan to continue serving Him this way and will ask our godbrother Raivat das if he can make a mouth for Him.

In Kali-yuga, if a devotee with a surrendered and loving mood offers a bath, flowers, lamps, food, prayers, and kirtana with sweet music for the transcendental pleasure of his shalagrama-shila, he will eternally enjoy sublime spiritual happiness in the association of the Supreme Lord Hari. — Magha-mahatmya of the Padma Purana

by Krishna-kirti das Historically and culturally, within the last 400 years, Westerners have progressively sought to understand their world through the scientific method, without reference to religion. This characteristic distinguishes Western culture from other cultures. “The fact of the matter is that Western civilization is the only civilization that is explicitly non-religious or post-religious. This…

In preparation for the Earth Summit, the UN conducted a world-wide survey. The only question in the survey went like this: “In your honest opinion, how can the food shortage problem be solved in the rest of the world?” The survey was a huge failure because of the language differences between the various nations: In…