While helping the deprived, we need to consider why they are deprived.
Intelligence is a tool for thinking; it’s like a sword for cutting through confusions. Just
When someone speaks harshly or acts cruelly toward us, how we respond depends primarily on their disposition.
Krishna Chandra Das of the ISKCON Daiva Varnashrama Ministry (IDVM) has been included in the World Book of Records for reciting all 700 verses of the sacred text Bhagavad-gita from memory in the minimum time of 73 minutes.
The Gita provides empowering spiritual practices that can enable us to control our desires, not be controlled by them.
Devotees in the Czech Republic read the entirety of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is online during a nonstop 27-hour live broadcast on the sacred occasion of Gita Jayanti, December 25th.
Devotees around the world are aiming to distribute at least two million Bhagavad-gitas during the last quarter of 2020, as part of the Prabhupada marathon and the Live to Give campaign.
The nearly hour-long play consisting uses carefully chosen music and dramatic sound effects to make listening to the most important conversation in humankind a memorable experience for the audience.
A good chariot driver sees things others may not, can prompt the right moves, and be there to encourage and support as the warrior makes difficult fighting decisions.
Mature spiritual understanding is not relinquishing responsibility, but assuming responsibility with wisdom.
What if there was one simple solution for all your problems? Something so easy that even a child could do it? Something which costs nothing, is available to everyone and ultimately ends all suffering?
Beneath all apparent differences of race, nationality, sexual orientation or ethnic origin, everything that lives is a spark of that Supreme Being. Are we not, then, all family?
The spiritual world is not an impersonal place – it’s a place of wonderful exchanges, deep friendships and loving interactions.
Not all conflicts are caused by misunderstandings alone; many are caused by malevolence.
I am now older and wiser in the practice of Krishna Bhakti and yet it still moves me, still delights, still informs.
One of the best ways to inspire people to take responsibility is to equip them with spiritual wisdom.
How do we embrace pain? How do we overcome what we fear most?
Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister, put it well, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
For us to persevere through life’s various challenges, we need the fundamental conviction that we can make a difference.
"Slow down, breathe and peer deeper into the mystery of the everyday."
Just as the unexpected revealed Arjuna’s character, and by the Gita’s guidance, took him toward healthy choices, Gita wisdom can guide us wisely when we too encounter the unexpected.
The podcast boom has accelerated in the first half of 2020, perhaps partly due to the appetite for more streaming content while people stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. ISKCON devotees have also embraced the medium.
The current Covid-19 has brought collective pain, fear, and unexpected difficulties. We have to ask – what is out of balance?
The capitalist definition of God’s will for humanity was to pursue piety within productivity. After all, had recent discoveries not proven that God’s plan was for the pious to become wealthy?
Should we join the protests? Should we speak out against a government that oppresses black men and women and attacks those wishing to publicly object to such racism? As devotees, should we protest at all? Is meddling in politics the business of Vaishnavas? Yet if we decline, are we not part of the apathy that perpetuates such injustice?
Over 10 thought-provoking and interactive sessions, the Gita Life online course will be taught by Sutapa Das who will provide a chapter-by-chapter summary, giving very relatable themes and life lessons from the Bhagavad-gita.
“Gita Made Easy”, an 18-day online course designed and facilitated by Amarendra Gaura Das and Sukirti Madhavi Dasi from ISKCON Chennai started off as a course aimed at an audience of 300, ended up with 10,800 people signing up.
Though we need to make judgments when holding people accountable, we needn’t become judgmental.
During a pandemic, the medical care providers are the frontline warriors. Actually, we all have the opportunity to save lives. How? By understanding what life is and what saving it means.
The evolution from seeing Krishna as the supplier of our needs to seeing him as our greatest need usually takes many lifetimes.
Starting at London’s Radha Krishna Temple, and now based in Croatia, Akrura has coached more than one thousand devotees over the past twenty years.
During the traditional swearing-in ceremony within Parliament's main debating Chamber, in his right hand he took a copy of Bhagavad Gita As It Is, along with the traditional King James Bible.
5244 years ago, on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna delivered the most confidential and topmost knowledge to Arjuna, a warrior prince, and to humanity at large, in order to help all devotees understand the purpose of life.
What makes some people resilient and some people weak? It’s primarily because of the way they look at things, especially when they go wrong.
Those who relapse aren’t always witless or will-less, they are often weapon-less.
Why do we deviate? Because our mind is restless. We become committed when we learn to maintain focus in spite of our mind, not because our mind maintains focus.
Some people are chronic complainers who justify their negativity, irritability and disagreeability self-righteously, “Can’t you see how many things have gone wrong in my life? What else do you expect from me?”
The world is like a mega-theater where multiple stories are being enacted. Herein, we can enact a grand story, provided we understand ourselves.
The book has been available in translation for many years in Hungary, but could only be obtained through book distributing devotees. However, 2019 has been announced to be the year of Bhagavad Gita in Hungary, therefore the organizers thought it was timely to make the Gita available through bookshops.
When someone’s misbehavior irritates us, we may tell them off: “Why are you letting your mind take you for a ride?”
We all have an enemy within us: our dark side. This dark side is comprised of our lust, anger, greed, envy, arrogance and illusion. Such dark drives are stored as impressions in our mind.
A new textbook for schools in the Telegu language, entitled “Bhagavad-gita for Complete Success in Life,” has been written by an ISKCON devotee and published by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the organization that manages the famous Venkateswara temple.
Dubbed “The Astounding Bhagavad-gita,” the book measures 2.80 x 2.00 meters (9 x 6.5 ft) and is billed by its creators at the Mediterranean branch of the BBT as “the largest principal sacred text ever printed.”
When we practice bhakti, we often expect to become freed from problems. And if that expectation is not met, we become disheartened.
Fifteen people from the North London and Cambridge area participated, many of whom were already interested in yoga and wanted to learn about Bhakti too.
We long to be free. And we long for love. Yet love and freedom don’t seem to go together.
The word “soul” sometimes refers non-literally to the things that matter the most to us. Such a non-literal usage features in the phrase “to sell one’s soul.”
The giant book is funded by ISKCON Italy through donations and designed by the Mediterranean branch of the BBT, which claims it will be the largest sacred text in the world.
Some people say, “Everything that happens is God’s will.” They may think that such a statement conveys their unquestioning faith, but does it really? Or does it raise disturbing questions that detract from God’s goodness?
Just as our phone disturbs us externally, our mind disturb us internally.
One of my favourite BBC Radio Four shows is Desert Island Discs. At the end of every show the guest is figuratively sent to the island with a copy of the Bible and the entire works of Shakespeare. They can also have a book of their own choice and some important item.
Gopal Krishna Goswami updated the Prime Minister with the various programs and activities being carried out by ISKCON – in India and internationally. He invited the Prime Minister to unveil the world’s largest Bhagavad Gita which was designed and printed in Italy by a dedicated team of devotees led by Madhu Sevita Das.
As long as we are living in this world we have to act, none of us can remain idle and not do anything.
Professional BMX freestyle rider Joris Coulomb always chased adventure. He didn’t realize that one day it would take him to a place of deep meaning where all his questions about life would be answered.
When we function in the world, our desires direct our vision, consciously or subconsciously.
Prabhupada disciple and Gainesville Krishna House leader Kalakantha Das may not be your typical rapper. He is, after all, in his words “a sixty-four-year-old white guy.” But his new book “Bhagavad-gita: The Rap of God” is already getting rave reviews from contemporary audiences.
Achievers often talk about the courage needed to dream big and to work untiringly for actualizing the dream.
Life sometimes brings us to a dead end. In the face of overwhelming obstacles, everything seems lost. We feel as if we have lost our way completely, not knowing where to go or what to do.
When we face perplexities or adversities, we may protest, “Why is this happening to me?” And if we accept God as the supreme controller, we may protest against him, “Why are you letting this happen?”
Last week, a friend requested some ancient insights on stress management. Gita to-the-rescue again.
The Bhagavad-gita (16.13-15) outlines how the possessive mentality can make people ungodly, even demonic.
The program organized by Ramlila Das, a youth outreach coordinator in Surat, included skits, prayers, kirtana and a lecture by Bhakiprem Swami.
We like to think of ourselves as innocent people who are misunderstood but Krishna, in the Bhagavad-gita, has another judgment.
During our life-journey, we sometimes take wrong turns. We make mistakes, indulge in immoral pleasures or get caught in harmful habits. These take us away from our life’s purposes and principles.
BMI-Bhaktivriksha in Bloomington, Illinois, USA conducted its first 10-week course of Bhagavad Gita As It Is for children from ages 9-16. The initiative was met with great enthusiasm, and all the twenty-eight children who participated in the program graduated and received their certificates during a ceremony on Saturday December 16th.
When recovering alcoholics have stayed sober for some time, they may feel tempted: “Let me take just one drink – what harm can it do?”
After successful organization of the Bhagavad Gita contest for school children in 2014-15, wherein more than 3,000 students participated, Shikshashtakam Das (Chief, ISKCON Nashik, Maharastra, India), immediately had a thought to do it for the teachers next time.
“Without a doubt, the most exciting element of the campaign was to see the cooperation of the devotees, leaving their differences aside and uniting in a common purpose. It was possible to see how Prabhupada's books are powerful and go beyond anything we can imagine. They are not just books, but tools for individual and collective illumination," says” BBT Brazil director Nanda Kumar Das.
The spiritual world exists not just at a different location but at a different level of reality.
The Bhaktivedanta Gita Academy started in 1994 under the direction and guidance of Bhakti Purusottama Swami, and is located north of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. It provides various courses on our Vedic literature, such as the Bhagavad-gita As It Is and Srimad Bhagavatam.
The App is currently available for iPad and iPhone, with an Android version being planned. It contains the full text of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita as it is. You can make notes. You can adjust the font type and size, search the text to find what you need and choose between scrolling or swiping pages.
Elaborating on the verse 2.70 from the Bhagavad-gita Anuttama Dasa explains what ancient wisdom suggests about how to defeat stress, one of the most common diseases of the modern world. A video by Karuna Productions.
Spiritual knowledge given in the Bhagavad-gita is like a life-saving medicine.
A video by ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry.
People from different ethnic groups share their relaizations of the basic teaching of the Bhagavad-gita. A video by Flute and Feather Films
Sometimes, life seems to hand out one reversal after another and all that we are doing seems to be falling apart. We may feel that the universe is hostile; we may question the benevolence or even the existence of God.
A video by Krishna Wisdom describing the nature of the soul, based on the ancient teachings of the east, taken from the Bhagavad Gita - As It Is, by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Many people had been angry by the failures or inaction of one side or other; angry with a do-nothing government which doesn't consider their needs; angry with the moral failures of leadership. And rightly so. But anger and frustration don’t provide a platform from which to make a sound decision.
Whether its shoes, gadgets, clothes or cars, most things I buy seem to break down, play up or fall apart, costing me a small fortune in the process! One acquisition, however, that has stood the test of time, is the wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita.
A brand new exhibit of artwork from Kim Waters and Chris Murray’s classic 1980 book, Illuminations from the Bhagavad-gita, opened at the Museum of Sacred Art (MOSA) in Radhadesh, Belgium on May 28th. The exhibit features all Kim’s original illustrations from the book, which is illuminated with translated verses from Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is.
“In this program, our aim is to distribute 5,000 copies of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is, and to have recipients take an oath during a fire ceremony to read at least one page daily.”
On May 26th, Kamla Persad-Bissessar was sworn into office as Prime Minister of Trinidad with her hand on Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita As It Is.
The Gita Champions League (GCL) is a competition based on the teachings of the ancient book of knowledge, the Bhagavad Gita. This contest was a fun, inspiring and motivating way to help everyone to absorb themselves in the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, enrich and refocus their life in the right manner. GCL was a written test primarily targeting students from Class 5 to 8.
A new e-book by Chaitanya Charan das Belong addresses our heart’s longing to belong to something bigger than ourselves – a longing that is nourished and fulfilled by the Bhagavad-gita’s transformational message of spiritual love. While presenting that message in accessible 300-word nuggets, Belong shines the light of the Gita on many themes important for our inner growth.
In this video Iksvaku das explains the purpose of :The Gita Program" and how it can benefit every ISKCON center and devotees engaged in presenting Krishna-consciousness to facilitate and encourage newcomers in their understanding of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is.
Work is essential for survival, as the Gita acknowledges. When work becomes the sole definer of our self-identity and self-worth, it degenerates to an indulgence, even an addictive indulgence.
Popular wisdom, from doctors and moms alike, is that yoga and happiness go hand in hand. But are "real" yogis immune to despair? Is despondency somehow antithetical to yoga?
Supporters and well-wishers of ISKCON who attended a 50th Anniversary gala event in Ahmedabad sponsored over 12,500 Bhagavad-gitas.
The new book by Chaitanya Charan Das features 121 reflections on the Bhagavad-gita that make its insights appreciable in brief, relishable nuggets of wisdom. The book published in hard copy on Janmashtami 2015 is already nearing the end of its first print run and will go for the second print soon. Recently released on kindle, it is now available free on January 10th.
When I lay down in my comfortable apartment in Budapest, all I could see are images of little children lying on the dirty floor of Budapest’s railway stations waiting for their transfer to a new, safer and better life.
All of us are like Arjuna in so many ways. We stand on the battlefield of life faced with all kinds of challenges which often seem overwhelming. Sometimes we too don’t know which way to turn but the message of the Gita is also there for us.
A standard war strategy for defeating a strong enemy is divide and rule. The Bhagavad-gita (06.06) states that the mind can often act as our enemy. Acting inimically, it targets us with this strategy when we practice bhakti-yoga.
For over 45 years, Hridayananda das Goswami has shared the wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita with ISKCON communities and at prestigious universities around the world. His new publication A Comprehensive Guide to Bhagavad-gita is the fruit and culmination of a long, distinguished career of studying, teaching, and living the text.
Sometimes when we commit mistakes, we may become embarrassed, irritated or enraged with ourselves. If we become excessively disturbed, that often becomes a second mistake.
"My parents too supported my idea of participating in the contest," said Maryam, who received the prize from ISKCON on March 15.
The human heart is very sensitive to words. Few things can dishearten an inspired heart as much as callous or critical words. And conversely, few things can enliven a depressed heart as much as comforting or compassionate words.
The world of love refers ultimately to the spiritual world, Krishna’s personal abode where there is endless love. There, Krishna exists eternally, the soul exists eternally, and their love exists and expands eternally.
In Australia, devotee academic Padma Dasi was chosen to receive first prize in a Bhagavad-gita As It Is Essay Competition amongst 200 university and tertiary education students across the country. The competition was organized by Satya Armstrong and other disciples of ISKCON guru Bhakti Charu Swami to encourage people to delve more deeply into the ancient spiritual text.
One of the most astonishing miracles of placing Bhagavad Gitas in motel rooms was a story of a man who was saved from committing suicide by reading just a few pages of Bhagavad Gita.
Exactly echoing a message found in the Bhagavad-gita, a UK senior judge recently declared that “almost all of society’s social ills can be traced directly to the collapse of the family life.”
In today’s stress-filled environment, corporate leaders are increasingly turning towards the world’s time-honored traditions for relief and insight. “10 Leadership Sutras from Bhagavad Gita” serves this need by presenting the wisdom of one of the world’s greatest philosophical classics in condensed sutra-like nuggets by drawing on the rich commentarial tradition of the Gita.
Swaraj was attending the celebrations marking 5,151 years of the Bhagwad Gita in Delhi.
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has sent a message of goodwill on Gita Jayanti, the day the Bhagavad-gita was first spoken. In her message she reminds us of the value of Lord Krishna's teachings and the need to remember that we are all spiritual beings living in the material world
We live in an age that that cherishes equality for all and celebrates the breaking down of barriers such as race. Intriguingly, a similar egalitarian spirit is enshrined in the Bhagavad-gita written millennia ago.
My friend cringed when he heard that the final instruction of the Bhagavad-gita is to surrender to Krishna wholeheartedly. "Am I a criminal that I should surrender to Him? Better worship a God who is more humble and down-to-earth!"
Tulsi Gabbard presents Mr. Modi with her personal copy of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the one she had sworn in to when she was elected to be a member of the US Congress.
Performance of the Song of God at the ISKCON Hare Krsna Temple in Granby Street, Leicester for Janmastami The Appearance day of Lord Krsna on 17th August 2014. With Sanjay Gadhia as Krsna and Jay Anadkat as Arjuna.
The North European branch of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) announced that Srimad Bhagavad-gita, The Complete Sanskrit Text in Roman Transliteration – popularly known as the BBT’s “chanting Gita,” is now available in all flavors at bbtmedia.com.
"Today I went to the maharaja of Japan, I have given one to him, because I don't think that I have anything more to give and the world also does not have anything more to get than this."
The Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr. Bhupendra Singh Hooda and ISKCON GBC Gopal Krishna Goswami laid down the foundation stone for the upcoming ISKCON temple at Kurukshetra on 18th August, 2014, which was also celebrated as Krishna Janmastami, appearance day of Lord Krishna.
Gita wisdom reconciles the goodness of God’s creation with the weakness of his creatures by differentiating between our pure core as souls and the shell of impurities such as lust.
"Our children need to be engaged in our ever blissful spiritual culture and values. The only way, they can experience this bliss, is by engaging in pure spiritual connection with the process of Bhakti Yoga. Engaging their intelligence, mind, and senses in the devotional service to the Lord." This was the essence of the just concluded successful Children’s 4th Annual Gita Camp, held at Houston Hare Krishna Temple from July 7 – 13.
On July 22nd, 2014, ISKCON Zonal Secretary for Mumbai Juhu, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan Devakinandan Das and ISKCON Indian Communications Director Vrajendranandan Das met the honorable Speaker of Lok Sabha, the Parliament of India Srimati Sumitra Mahajan.
In Bhagavad-gita Lord Sri Krishna indicates one of the essential steps in the bhakti process is acceptance of the shelter of such a Postal Peon, a guru, who helps connect one with Krishna, as well as assists in progressively fully restoring one's relationship with Him.
ISKCON Governing Body Commissioner and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) trustee Gopal Krishna Goswami met the honorable President of India, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee on 12th June, 2014 at the President’s official residence in New Delhi and presented him the BBT’s deluxe edition of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is along with the maha-prasad of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi.
It’s almost noon. The organisers Rasika Siromani Devi Dasi, Rama Vijaya Das and Govinda Charan Das are discussing last minute festival details over breakfast at the registration tables. Just across the street, surrounded by picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains, there are around 1400 devotees immersed in chanting the Holy Names.
History, if seen from a purely materialistic perspective, seems to be nothing more than a list of names of dead successful people. Decade after decade, century after century, millennia after millennia, people come, people live, people die.
People with cursory knowledge of the Gita’s philosophy sometimes ask: “When the world offers both pleasures and pains, why does the Bhagavad-gita call the world a place of misery?”
Many people think of surrender as passive acceptance. However, surrender involves not just acceptance but also action.
Bukvoed, one of Russia’s leading bookstore chains, has been selling Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is from a prominent stand at one of its specialist stores in St. Petersburg since last year. The bookstore, called “The Shop of the Most Essential Books: In All Senses,” stocks about 60,000 titles, with many unique books on spiritual traditions, world religions, spiritual practices, history, astrology, philosophy, psychology, health and business.
On Januray 7th, 2014, the China Social Sciences Press proudly announced the historic release of two ancient cultural classics of India: Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad-gita As Is. The two released works are authored by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, and translated into Chinese by Jahnava Devi of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
We are all innately pleasure-seeking whatever we do, we do it for gaining pleasure. But pleasure has a peculiar nature it eludes those who pursue it as their exclusive purpose.
On the 21st and 22nd of December 2013, 45 youth from all over Bali, Indonesia, gathered for a retreat to study the Bhagavad-gita. Surprisingly, none of them had to even open their Bhagavad-gitas as the entire knowledge, practical applications and philosophy of the Gita was taught through games, dramas, presentations, kirtan and moments of contemplations.
On the 21st and 22nd of December 2013, 45 youth from all over Bali, Indonesia, gathered for the Nava Yauvana Sanga 2013 to study the Bhagavad-gita in a unique way. A video by Premakanda Dasa.
“Exploring the Bhagavad gita: Philosophy, Structure and Meaning,” a book by ISKCON Academy of Arts and Sciences member Dr. Ithamar Theodor, has received its second prestigious award. Theodor’s unique contribution is his articulation of the Gita’s structure, thus highlighting the ancient wisdom text’s relevance in contemporary philosophy.
Suppose patients get the right medicine, but don’t value it. Or suppose they value it but don’t take it. Either way, they continue suffering.
It's quite natural for those of faith to turn towards God during difficult times. Even if one has a regular spiritual practice, their practice can increase and improve during times of difficulty.
I was searching for some answers to the perennial questions of life, who am I. One day I had wondered in the Timmins Library searching for some good books.
Visakha Dasi has just released a new short video A Bumpy Journey Toward Harmony with the Bhagavad-gita. It is a 24-minute DVD with music, sound effects, provocative wisdom and over 250 stunning photographs.
In a novel experiment, a group of students at the Gandhi Medical College in Bhopal, India, have turned to Gita for peace to mind and soul and overcome stress.
The battlefield setting of the Gita often prompts people to ask the question: “How can God instruct a peace-seeking person to fight a deadly war that caused so much suffering?”
As we learn of the spiritual reality it’s easy to begin neglecting what we may see as temporary, mundane and inconsequential social intercourse.
He speaks about his godhood so that we can appreciate the beauty of his concealing something that glorious for the sake of love.
As students of the Gita, we may face this question. “How can we live according to the Gita’s ancient tradition in today’s world?” By being flexible but not fickle.
Elaborating on the verse 2.70 from the Bhagavad-gita Anuttama Dasa explains what ancient wisdom suggests about how to defeat stress, one of the most common diseases of the modern world.
Produced by Karuna Productions with the sponsorship of ISKCON Communications and Odyssey Networks. (www.karunaproductions.com)
If we grasp the full scope of our existence, we can understand the significance of each event that we struggle through. Since most of us lack such vision, we need to develop faith that Lord Krishna arranges everything for our ultimate benefit, even if at present we cannot understand how.
Sometimes when we pray to Krishna or chant his holy names, we feel no fulfilling presence – just a desolate silence within. How should we deal with such phases of inner emptiness?
Truly a feast for the eyes, the new book comes from the Mediterranean division of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, which previously brought us luxury coffee table books like Krishna Art, Darshan, Art of Transcendence, and Prabhupada.
To survive and thrive in our hyper-competitive culture, we usually hide our weaknesses and hype our strengths. Such a strategy may be necessary in material life, but it is unnecessary and even undesirable in spiritual life.
Nowadays teachers use experiential learning to increase the students’ assimilation of the subject. Krishna uses the ultimate experiential learning method when he transforms a battlefield into a classroom where he speaks the Gita to Arjuna. Krishna uses a real-life experience, in fact, one of the most intense of real-life experiences: a battle.
I first learned of the tragic shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, while on my way to work. One of my fellow commuters shared whatever scant details were known at that time with the rest of the train car. There were gasps and exclamations, and then we all fell silent.
The impenetrable shell of the tortoise, the breathtaking swiftness of the leopard, the incredible color-changing ability of the chameleon: the variety in nature is amazing. Compared to these animals, humans have no extraordinary ability; their bodies are soft and vulnerable, they can do little to camouflage themselves when in danger. And yet humans stand far above all other species.
Yogesvara Das (Joshua M. Greene) has been studying the Bhagavad-gita for a long time. For forty-three years to be exact, since he joined ISKCON as a student in London in 1969.
Great sages explain that just as we bathe in water everyday to cleanse the body, we should similarly bathe in the words of the wisdom literatures on a daily basis to cleanse our consciousness.
In his paper "A theory of motivation", Abraham Maslow outlined the famous “Hierarchy of Needs" model. He explained that individuals are driven to pursue various things in life. However, only when basic needs are met can one begin to focus on higher pursuits.
“God is so great that we tiny creatures can never know him.” So claim some people. At first sight, this position seems reasonable and even humble. However, it neglects the reality that God is so great that he transcends not only affirmation, but also negation.
Many mass killers and criminals have become heroes and they have their fans. How many times have we heard the excuse, “The devil made me do it” as a way of absolving oneself from guilt, when actually the attempted fulfilment of perverse desires is the ugly truth?
A dramatic presentation by the Bhaktivedanta Players of the Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK.
The Bhagavad-gita explains how the various traditions all stem from a divine source, and all offer the potential of spiritual elevation. How can we overlook striking contradictions in the various historical and cultural accounts? Could this be a naive ‘new age’ attempt to avoid confrontation and create ‘peace, love and unity’?
A Siberian court is set to give a key ruling on the Bhagavad Gita ban row on Tuesday. Last December, the trial court had rejected the petition to ban the book. The petition termed it an 'extremist literature, which incites social hatred and violence against non-believers' in Russia.
No less an authority than the Encyclopedia Britannica states that "in monotheistic religions, evil does not originate within the divinity nor in general within a divine world." Thus, God is barred from hell, an eternal realm of misery.
Some Russian prosecutors think that Krishna is personified in the teachings of Moscow Society for Krishna Consciousness as a deity of "death and destruction”. They accuse the Russian Hare Krishnas of many sins, which can be summed up with the word “extremism”.
Experts and scientists gathering at the all-Russian conference "Bhagavad Gita in history and modern society" at the Tomsk University on Friday said they were perplexed over the Tomsk prosecutor's office's lawsuit seeking to declare "Bhagavad Gita as It Is" commentary extremist.
A senior official in the Tomsk Prosecutor General's Office says an effort to ban a Hare Krishna book it considers extremist literature will continue despite being recently thrown out of court.
One of our monks recently made a transition back into the ‘real world’. He recently went for an interview. It was his big break. Frustrated, he came back and complained “in this world it’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know.”
The ruling by the Tomsk city court in Siberia on December 28 to throw out the six-month-old case to ban the holy Hindu scripture Bhagawad Gita, is an unprecedented event of unique importance in the entire history of Indo-Russia relations.
Russian ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin regretted that the case was being heard in the university city of Tomsk, famous for its secularism and religious tolerance, and reiterated the secular credentials of Russia.
The Hindu American community expressed shock and outrage over a recent attempt in Russia to ban the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s holiest scriptures.
Angry MPs forced the adjournment of the Lok Sabha till 2pm after Biju Janata Dal leader Bhartruhari Mahtab raised the issue in the house and asked the government to intervene immediately to ensure the religious freedom of Hindus in Russia.
Family split-ups have helped create an underworld of anarchists bent on destroying what little is left of harmony and tranquility. Family structures and values are not the total answer. However, today's departure from long-term committed relationships generates a seedy undercurrent of gratuitous violence that creates unnecessary fear.
Whether you're for "the changes," against them, or neutral, here's another opportunity to see what the changes actually are.
On the auspicious occasion of Gita Jayanti, the advent day of Srimad Bhagavad Gita, students from all grades put up an all day long celebration program. Arrays of colorful placards depicting the shlokas of Bhagavad Gita, the thematic displays of Bhagavad Gita teachings, high-spirited book distribution and the exuberant kirtans made it an event that gurukulis will always cherish.
BBT announces new revisions for Prabhupada`s Bhagavad-gita Chapter Five.
One bit of profound advice that Socrates gave to his disciples was to practice dying everyday. Although this may sound impractical, the undertone to this insight is very useful -- to cultivate awareness of and face our deep-rooted insecurities, the epitome of which is death itself.
Volunteers of The Pancajanya Project (www.MotelGita.org), a branch of ISKCON dedicated to placing at least 1 million Bhagavad-gitas in guest rooms across the U.S., distributed 30,000 Bhagavad-gitas at the Asian American Hotel Owners Association's annual convention last year and look set to reach the same number this June.
"Bhagavad-Gita At a Glance: A companion guide for Preachers, Teachers, Students" is the latest literary effort by Narayani Devi Dasi.
Most of us are aware of the benefits of being positive in Krishna consciousness, and so do those who seek material success.
“Asian-Indians own almost 65% of the total motel rooms available. Our goal is to place Bhagavad-Gita As It Is in every one of those rooms,” says Milan Doshi from the Pancajanya Project. “The motel owners we already approached were very receptive. They liked the idea of placing Bhagavad-Gita As It Is in their own motels. They also gave us recommendations for their friends are relatives in the industry!” Approaching motel owners on an individual basis has proven successful.
NEW DELHI: The next time you hear someone recite verses from the Bhagavad Gita, pay more attention. The wisdom of the ancient Indian scriptures may come in handy in tackling issues from management strategies to corporate governance in today's highly competitive world of business.
On the 9th of December, Moscow Hare Krishna followers celebrated the festival of Gita Jayanti, or the birthday of the Bhagavad Gita.
The Gita Jayanti is celebrated all over India and other parts of the world on Ekadasi, the eleventh day of the lunar month of Margaseersha (December-January). It was on this day over 5000 years ago that Vedic King Dhritarastra heard the Bhagavad Gita as narrated by his secretary Sanjaya.
Exactly echoing a message found in the Bhagavad-gita, a senior judge recently declared that “almost all of society's social ills can be traced directly to the collapse of the family life.”
In a speech in Brighton to lawyers from Resolution, formerly the Solicitors' Family Law Association, Mr Justice Coleridge warned of a "cancerous" increase in broken families and said the government must take "comprehensive action".
NEW YORK: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will try to place copies of Bhagavad-gita in hotels and motels owned by Indian-Americans and in libraries in the US. The governing council of VHP's America unit passed a resolution to this effect at a recent meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Newport News, Virginia – The latest issue of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies (JVS) – a highly respected biannual, interdisciplinary refereed publication dedicated to the in-depth study of Vaishnavism – takes on the theme of the “Bhagavad Gita Coming West” and includes an exploration of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is authored by ISKCON founder-acarya Srila Prabhupada.
This Thursday is Gita Jayanti when Vaisnavas around the world celebrate the dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna found in the classic Vedic text Bhagavad-gita. In ISKCON centers, Hindu temples, villages and homes devotees commemorate Gita Jayanti as the day when the Bhagavad-gita was spoken amidst the opposing armies on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
“My first experience spending time on Skid Row was in 1972 when I stood on street corners chanting Hare Krishna,” Nrsimhananda says. “We used to visit the area once a week and distribute prasadam (spiritual food) to the “less fortunate.” We were outsiders, and so were they. We opted out of the 9-5 rat race; so had they. We slept on the floor; they were asleep on the sidewalk. We liked to get high on chanting the names of God; they had their drug of choice.
Vodafone-Essar mobile users in India now have access to the entire Holy Bhagavad Gita thanks to a partnership with Mobifusion, one of the world's leading mobile content providers.