by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja Once a guru went to the house of one of his disciples. The disciple prepared nice food, and after the guru had eaten, the disciple wanted to show his guru-bhakti. In Ayurveda the haritaki fruit is recommended for good digestion, so the disciple came with haritaki for his…

Temple construction is meant for the general populace and neophyte devotees, but the business of advanced and empowered devotees is to write books, publish them and distribute them widely. According to Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, distributing literature is like playing on a great mṛdaṅga. Consequently we always request members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness…

nāhaḿ viśańke sura-rāja-vajrān na tryaksa-śūlān na yamasya dandāt nāgny-arka-somānila-vittapāstrāc chańke bhrśaḿ brahma-kulāvamānāt TRANSLATION My dear sir, I am not at all afraid of the thunderbolt of King Indra, nor am I afraid of the serpentine, piercing trident of Lord Śiva. I do not care about the punishment of Yamarāja, the superintendent of death, nor am…

Regarding your first question, is it offensive to think of Krishna’s Pastimes while chanting, I think you should know that it is not offensive, but rather it is required. One must try for the point when he simply hears Krishna and immediately all of Krishna, His Pastimes, His Form, His Quality, are in his thoughts.…

“However, whatever the field of work, the politics and social manipulation is often much more important than actual skill. I might as well try to learn (or renouce it all and live the worry free, easy life of a saint).” I like that there is a distinction here between the manipulation and politics seemingly required…

“The more you serve Krishna, the more you get better strength to serve Him. Please remember this valuable advice and you will find it very convenient for your progressive march.” Letter to Gopala Krishna das – November 16, 1969

sourced from livescience.com: Meditation alters brain patterns in ways that are likely permanent, scientists have known. But a new study shows key parts of the brain actually get thicker through the practice. Brain imaging of regular working folks who meditate regularly revealed increased thickness in cortical regions related to sensory, auditory and visual perception, as…

October 7, 1972, Camp: ISKCON, San Francisco One evening while in his New Dwarka garden, Srila Prabhupada looked into the sky and said, “So, is the sky the color of Krsna?” A disciple said, “In Krsna Book it says that Krsna is dark bluish like the thunder cloud.” Srila Prabhupada said, “The sky is the…

Yes, there is definitely a vast difference between initiated and non-initiated. One who is initiated is authorized, and one who is not initiated is not authorized. Just like, for example, Pradyumna is attending class in Sanskrit in a college, he is given chance to learn Sanskrit, but he is not equal with the regular students.…

My Guru Mahārāja once said, “The modern world is a society of the cheaters and the cheated.” Unfortunately, the cheated are eulogizing the cheaters, and the small cheaters are worshiping the great cheaters. Suppose a flock of asses comes and eulogizes me, saying, “Oh, you are Jagad-guru.” What is the value of their praise? But…

“If a sincere soul goes out and opens a center in any part of the world Krishna will help him in all respects. Without being empowered by Krishna, nobody can preach Krishna Consciousness. It is not academic qualification or financial strength which helps in these matters, but it is sincerity of purpose which helps us…

from Krishna-kirti Prabhu’s blog: Giri-nayaka Prabhu: “ISKCON is greatly missing communication between public and leaders.” Ekendra das: To them this is neccessary to keep us submissive. If we start to know things we might form opinions before they have a chance to present the information in a way that makes them appear infallable. Giri-nayaka Prabhu:…

Namas te! My name is Doug Osto and I am a new lecturer teaching Asian religions at Massey University (Palmerston North). I would like to offer an introductory Sanskrit paper for anyone interested through Massey’s extramural program. In this way, anyone interested in learning the basics of Sanskrit in New Zealand can learn them anywhere…

“I do not want crowd of Kirtananandas but I want a single soul like Brahmananda, Mukunda, Rayarama, and Satsvarupa. The same example is always applicable that one moon is sufficient for the night as not thousands of stars.” – Letter to Brahmananda: Saturday, November 11, 1967

This is from another devotee’s blog over here. So I’m trying to check in an order, which is a real pain today. This normal looking guy, maybe 45 or 50, comes into the store. I give a quick “hey” and continue with my work. He’s now on the couch, looking at the Krishna Art book.…