Category Archives: Krishna Consciousness

Krishna Consciousness is Ageless

Posted on by under A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Krishna Consciousness

Whatever we say we say to everyone. It doesn’t matter what is his age. Krishna Consciousness teaching does not depend on the age. It is the eternal platform of the soul. This is the meaning of transcendental; that is is beyond any consideration of material qualifications such as age or intelligence. Just like thunder in the sky does not need any explanation to any old person or to a young child, similarly, the transcendental sound vibration of Hare Krishna and preaching of Bhagavad-gita philosophy will act on everyone, regardless of whether or not they are understanding at first. When preaching you only repeat what you have heard from the disciplic succession and this will act. (Prabhupada letter to Prahladananda 5th October, 1969)

Remembering Krishna

Posted on by under A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Chanting Hare Krishna, Krishna Consciousness

Remembrance of Kṛṣṇa is not possible for the impure soul who has not practiced Kṛṣṇa consciousness in devotional service. To remember Kṛṣṇa one should chant the mahāmantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, incessantly, following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya, being more tolerant than the tree, humbler than the grass and offering all respect to others without requiring respect in return. In such a way one will be able to depart from the body successfully remembering Kṛṣṇa and so attain the supreme goal. (Prabhupada purport Bg As it is 8:5)

Full text and purport

Continue reading →

Proper Offering

Posted on by under A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Krishna Consciousness, Prasadam

The process is that everything is offered to the Spiritual Master, and the Spiritual Master is supposed to offer the same foodstuff to the Lord. When a thing is offered to the Spiritual Master, he immediately offers to the Lord. That is the system, and as we come by parampara system, it is our duty to go through the right channel—namely, first the Spiritual Master, then Lord Caitanya, and then Krishna. So when we chant prayers, we do this, Bande ham Sri Guru . . . and gradually to the Goswamis, then to Lord Caitanya, and then to Radha Krishna. That is the praying system. But offering the prasadam to present everything before the Spiritual Master whose picture is also in the altar, means that the Spiritual Master will take care of offering the foodstuff to the Lord. Therefore simply by chanting the prayer to the Spiritual Master, everything will be complete. (Prabhupada letter to Harer Nama 28th May, 1968)

Offering Prasadam

Posted on by under A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Krishna Consciousness, Prasadam

Srila Prabhupada: “Regarding your 2 question, For offering prasadam simply prayers to the Spiritual Master is sufficient. The process is that everything is offered to the Spiritual Master, and the Spiritual Master is supposed to offer the same foodstuff to the Lord. When a thing is offered to the Spiritual Master, he immediately offers to the Lord. That is the system, and as we come by parampara system, it is our duty to go through the right channel—namely, first the Spiritual Master, then Lord Caitanya, and then Krishna. So when we chant prayers, we do this, Bande ham Sri Guru . . . and gradually to the Goswamis, then to Lord Caitanya, and then to Radha Krishna. That is the praying system. But offering the prasadam to present everything before the Spiritual Master whose picture is also in the altar, means that the Spiritual Master will take care of offering the foodstuff to the Lord. Therefore simply by chanting the prayer to the Spiritual Master, everything will be complete.”

Srila Prabhupada’s Letter to: Harer Nama — Allston, Mass 28 May, 1968

Preaching in Russia

Posted on by under A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Kali-yuga, Krishna Consciousness

The following is a wonderful article written by Govinda Dasi and published in Dandavats in 2016. It was recently posted on Facebook. I thought this was an especially good time for presenting this once again.

Back in New York, in early 1967, Srila Prabhupada often sat in his room and slowly turned the world globe, studying the geographic demarcations of various countries on the Earth planet. He would sometimes say, “Brahmananda, you will go to Russia, Goursundar, you go to Japan, Rayarama, you will go to Europe…” and so on. Even though he had merely a handful of sincere American youths, most of them in their late teens or early twenties, he had big plans. Clearly, he wanted to open preaching centers in every country on Earth. His vision was huge–he planned to spread the Hare Krishna movement all over the world! But he was especially concerned about Russia.

Russia, at that time, was the very heartbeat of the communist/atheist world. The message of atheism, the no-God philosophy that is the destroyer of religiosity, had established itself aggressively in Russia. It had also consumed many other surrounding countries, forcing atheistic education on their children, and punishing those who were Godly. Russia, during the 1960’s, was very aggressively moving toward world domination. At least that was their ambition.

Continue reading →

THE ESSENCE OF EVERYTHING IS THE SUPREME LORD

Posted on by under A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Krishna Consciousness, Uncategorized

Sometimes when I am sitting and reading from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad Bhagavatam, a verse or sentence from the purport just jumps out from the page almost like it is in 3D, and I catch a glimpse of what the Spiritual World must be like. It is beyond even my imagination, but sometimes I catch a glimmer of light, through a transcendental window, by the grace of my spiritual master His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

…The transcendental abode of the Lord where the trees are all desire trees and the buildings are made of touchstone. The Lord Govinda is engaged there in herding the surabhi cows as His natural occupation.

“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs or gopīs.” (Bs 5.29)

…The Lord Govinda is engaged there in herding the surabhi cows as His natural occupation. And those who are artists, overtaken by the beautiful creation, should better see to the beautiful face of the Lord for complete satisfaction. The face of the Lord is the embodiment of beauty. What they call beautiful nature is but His smile, and what they call the sweet songs of the birds are but specimens of the whispering voice of the Lord.

Continue reading →

Nam Hatta: The Onus is On You

Posted on by under A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Caitanya-caritamrta, Hansadutta das, Krishna Consciousness, Uncategorized

Nam Hatta: The Onus is On You

by Hansadutta dasa

In Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, Chapter Seven, Lord Chaitanya’s method of preaching and Prabhupada’s comments regarding the process of preaching Lord Chaitanya practiced while traveling throughout South India (a period of about two years) are very necessary for all devotees to study and understand clearly.

Because of the circumstances under which most of Prabhupada’s early disciples joined the movement, a widespread misunderstanding has become a great obstacle for people in general to accept and practice Krishna consciousness in a realistic and progressive way under all circumstances. That misunderstanding is that a serious candidate for accepting and advancing in Krishna consciousness must abandon his worldly environment and responsibilities to join a temple ashram and live a communal or communistic life style under the rigid authority of an ISKCON GBC or guru. Nothing could be further from the truth, as we can plainly understand from the following descriptions of Lord Chaitanya’s preaching method and Prabhupada’s purports, which clearly support and obviously encourage the process introduced by Lord Chaitanya in His dealing with the Kurma brahmana and everyone He encountered throughout His two years of traveling and preaching in South India.

Continue reading →

Natural Disasters: Adhidaivka

Posted on by under A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Kali-yuga, Krishna Consciousness, Uncategorized

Every time we turn on the News, look at a Newspaper or open up our Web browser, we are bombarded with news of natural disasters; forest fires,flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Some people blame it on climate change or global warming, others say it is a result of to much sinful activity. But whatever the cause, it is clear we are all in danger, and are all susceptible to the threefold miseries; miseries caused by the mind and body, miseries caused by other living entities, and miseries caused by natural disasters.

The following post deals with the threefold miseries and a spiritual approach to understanding “What am I, and why am I suffering from the threefold miseries?”

Continue reading →