We're in the right company at the right time, and our CEO, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, has all the right values, and He wants all of us to be spiritually wealthy. All we have to do is to invest every day, or, if you like, if you don't mind being extremely spiritually wealthy, you could just invest all the time. Nobody can stop you, and there's no limit to it, and there are no layoffs. So we can only lay ourselves off. Lord Caitanya won't do it. We should do the best we can to take advantage of thi...
Mar 01, 2025•14 min
Prabhupāda said, "Come to Vṛndāvana for three days or three years." Three years means you have some bona fide service you've been appointed to perform in the Dhāma, or you're here to take a little time to experience the Dhāma, but come here very carefully, gingerly, walk with humility to the various places. And don't assume that you're a great rasika Vaiṣṇava, because you're here. And this is indicated in this prayer of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. He was meticulous in inculcating th...
Feb 27, 2025•1 hr 22 min
When we're facing externally, we've turned away, and we don't realize our relationship. But when we do turn towards Kṛṣṇa, we become insiders, that means we're inside Kṛṣṇa. We're inside the family again. In Gajendra's prayers, Gajendra remarks that, "My Lord, You're never inattentive to me. It's not that when I pray, then that's when You pay attention." He said, "You're always paying attention." In fact, we're intimately connected with Kṛṣṇa, and we're never intimately connected with the materi...
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 11 min
It is helpful to come down to what the basics are, and then, as Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said, "Follow the simple path strictly." I just received a quote the other day from a friend, in which Prabhupāda said, "It's illegal to collect a lot of obscure quotes from a lot of different śāstras, just to show that you know more than other people about a topic." He said, "You only need a few books, but get to know them really well. Go deeply within several of these books—Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, Ne...
Feb 24, 2025•59 min
So, it's a very exciting life, depending on Kṛṣṇa. And Prabhupāda speaks in one lecture, saying that we have these four regulative principles. One of them is gambling, he said, but we have a replacement for gambling, and that is surrender to Kṛṣṇa. It seems like a gamble, but it's not, as one of Prabhupāda's Godbrothers once said, "Surrender to Kṛṣṇa—it's all gain and no risk." But the material world is all risk and no gain. So whatever you get, you're going to lose anyway. But there's this fear...
Feb 23, 2025•1 hr 34 min
Prabhupāda would sometimes come and mostly attend Bhagavad-gītā classes. Sometimes in Vṛndāvana He would come and listen to His students speak, and you'll hear on some recorded lectures, Prabhupāda would defer to Pradyumna. Like once, Prabhupāda was sick, and He asked Pradyumna, "You speak." He didn't let him speak that long, but Prabhupāda did attend classes, and He set an example of what you talked about before, and what Viṣṇu-gadā Prabhu was referring to, when somebody's asked to speak there,...
Feb 22, 2025•41 min
Oftentimes people just aren't fully informed. They're different types of people, and their motives may be different. And oftentimes, when people get a hold of a Śrī Īśopaniṣad, for instance, and they read it, and then they say, "Oh, okay, I'll worship Kṛṣṇa," or we have experience in presenting Kṛṣṇa consciousness in a systematic way to people, and it's often, or always, a conundrum when to bring up the point that God's a person. In fact, in any presentation anywhere, there's always a reticence ...
Feb 20, 2025•1 hr 18 min
The word sampradāya has a specific meaning, which is a bequeathment, which means to pass down, and in this case, the greatest gift. And we are a sampradāya of givers, and what we give very specifically—because, although there are many ways that one can try to help others—we give the light of knowledge through the Guru paramparā's teachings so that people can extricate themselves from the material world, as Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught Sanātana Gosvāmī: māyā-mugdha jīvera nāhi svataḥ kṛṣṇa-jñāna—it...
Feb 19, 2025•2 hr 37 min
We find in the Bhāgavatam, in the second verse of the First Canto, the amazing statement: 'sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate ’tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt.' And that is, that when somebody applies himself or herself to hearing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, then the Lord feels compelled to stay within that person's heart, or as Prabhupāda says He remains packed up within the heart of that person. He won't leave because He's so attracted by the Bhāgavatam and to a person who would give attention to hearing Bhāga...
Feb 19, 2025•1 hr 36 min
Prabhupāda was answering about the position of an advanced devotee. He said, "A pure devotee doesn't mean omniscient like Kṛṣṇa," because one of the interlocutors had asked Prabhupāda, "What if we see that an advanced devotee or the spiritual master has to wear glasses or forgets a verse?" And Prabhupāda said, "Oh no, then they've not understood." And then he said, "Advanced means bhakti-saṁsanāt—that the person is fully absorbed in thinking about how to spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement a...
Feb 17, 2025•59 min
So, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta [Sarasvatī Ṭhākura], he came here. This is the last place that he came before he left this world, in Kolkata, at the Bāg-bāzār Math, where we were at two days ago. And it was here, as Vaiśeṣika Prabhu was saying, that one gṛhastha devotee from Bombay at that time wrote him a letter and said, "Guru Mahārāja, I'm very unfortunate. I'm... I'm a gṛhastha. I can't do service like the brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs. What can I do?" And it was here that he got that letter, and it w...
Feb 17, 2025•8 min
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has kept his place of bhajana here, and the name Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta is indicative of his personality. As we hear from the Ādi-līlā of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kavirāja Gosvāmī gives this admonition: siddhānta baliyā citte nā kara alasa, ihā ha-ite kṛṣṇe lāge sudṛḍha mānasa—that in order to have a determined mind, one's mind has to be determined. One has to be determined to carry on with one's devotional service. And actually, the word "determine" has th...
Feb 17, 2025•38 min
The Personified Vedas say in their prayers to the Lord that this is your greatest pastime, the way you extend yourself to the living beings in this world. And so the attitude and the order. If we pick up an order from the Lord and take it seriously and apply it, especially the order of how to assist him in saving conditioned souls, then Haridas Thakur said, we just want to alleviate your anxiety. And Prabhupada comments there that this is the best kind of service, is to alleviate the anxiety of ...
Feb 16, 2025•1 hr
Here in Jagannātha Purī, the chief of the devotees, Haridāsa Ṭhākura —in general society, which was concerned with caste, creed, rules, and regulations, Haridāsa Ṭhākura was not well considered within the Hindu culture. And even with Advaita Ācārya back in Navadvīpa, when performing a śrāddha ceremony at the end, you're supposed to offer the prasāda to the most qualified Vaiṣṇava that's available. And Advaita Ācārya would take that śrāddha-pātra, and He would give it to Haridāsa Ṭhākura. And Har...
Feb 15, 2025•48 min
There's a devotee named Sudāma who dressed up as a Hare Kṛṣṇa in Hawaii for Halloween. And on a dare, his friends told him, "Why don't you jump in the van with the Hare Kṛṣṇas?" because they go out chanting on Halloween. And being a joker or a prankster, he jumped in, and then he took it a step further by getting in the van with them and going home and taking prasādam. And it was all fun and games, and it was to impress his friends. Then he found himself on the other side of the world. He was ba...
Feb 14, 2025•39 min
Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, a practical matter, that by studying this dialogue, the Bhagavad-gītā, which is the Vedic intelligence we just heard, He said that you worship Me by your intelligence. And if you read Bhagavad-gītā every day, then your intelligence can be purged of the lower modes of material nature. And obviously, by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then you come to "tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye ceta etair anāviddhaṁ sthitaṁ sattve prasīdati." (SB 1.2.19).This also ind...
Feb 14, 2025•50 min
Śrī Īśopaniṣad, everyone knows the verse, 'vāyur anilam amṛtam, athedaṁ bhasmāntaṁ śarīram, oṁ krato smara kṛtaṁ smara, krato smara kṛtaṁ smara (mantra 17).' Let this temporary body be burned to ashes. Let the air of life be merged with the totality of air. Now, my Lord, please remember all my sacrifices, and because You are the ultimate beneficiary, please remember all that I have done for You. And in his purport, Prabhupāda says you don't have to remind the Lord; He knows what you've done for ...
Feb 13, 2025•1 hr 3 min
After Hiraṇyakaśipu was killed, the Lord continued to be very angry, and the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, could not pacify Him. Even mother Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, the constant companion of Nārāyaṇa, could not dare come before Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. Then Lord Brahmā asked Prahlāda Mahārāja to go forward and pacify the Lord’s anger. Prahlāda Mahārāja, being confident of the affection of his master, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, was not afraid at all. He very gravely appeared before the Lord’s lotus fe...
Feb 11, 2025•18 min
So, in the teachings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He said that in the Śikṣāṣṭakam, we should take to chanting and we should purify the heart. And He said also that it avails us to all good fortune—who would like the white lotus of good fortune to appear in his or her heart or life? And this is something Prabhupāda mentions in the story of the Guṇḍīcā-mārjana. And that is that not only does one have to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, but one also has to be careful to avoid the ten offenses. And he says that when th...
Feb 11, 2025•48 min
Pray for Lord Nityānanda to break any of your anarthas, attachments to unnecessary things—that's a pretty bold prayer. "Please break them, throw them in the river," and then say, "I don't know what happened!" Lord Nityānanda, is adoṣa-darśī. He's one that we can approach because He doesn't see anybody's faults. This is mentioned by Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He gives an elaborate commentary about the qualities of various levels of people. And some people, they are ve...
Feb 09, 2025•1 hr 20 min
Those who take shelter of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, who is merciful to all, He is called adoṣa-darśī. He doesn't see the faults in anyone. Adoṣa-darśī means anyone who approaches Him with some eagerness in his or her heart to serve, He empowers them and gives them pure devotional service, which is impossible to get otherwise. So the process of devotional service comes through eka-cakra and comes through Nityānanda and Gaura. Without approaching Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, it's impossible to...
Feb 09, 2025•28 min
When we're coming on this Yātrā, we all have problems. Some of us have debts in America. Some of us have a boss who's a rotten person. Some of us have problems in our married life. Everybody has problems in this world, but when we come here for the few days that we're here, we leave those problems behind, and don't worry, they'll still be there when you go back. We're attached to them sometimes. And we come here and we have a respite and a real vacation, in the sense that we come and we're able ...
Feb 08, 2025•46 min
Everything else will be disappointing in this world, except for chanting the holy name. So you can always increase the quality and the quantity, and you can always arrange to broadcast the holy name in writing and out loud in various places around the world, and everyone will benefit from it. And that's the campaign of our—the head cabinet member for chanting the holy name, Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura, the nāmācārya—is that, that's what He taught. So we can just follow that. (excerpt from the talk) -...
Feb 08, 2025•17 min
It's just so helpful hearing about these two iconic figures in bhakti, and it's even more inspiring because of the fact that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu authorized it and did it himself. What to speak of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, there is a way in which you always win with the basics. And if one maintains determination to overcome any obstacle, and also has a sincere prayer that "I don't want anything else, but You, Kṛṣṇa," then Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā: "teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhaj...
Feb 08, 2025•7 min
The first Back to Godhead magazine I got enlightened me, and I realized that as I wrote in my notebook—not back when I got my first Back to Godhead magazine. But this relates: It's not that there are many problems in the world. The world itself is a problem, and that's the idea when you're able to categorize properly. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ, what are we pointing to? What are we talking about? What are the qualities of the energy? That's when you can solve the problem. You have to do it...
Feb 07, 2025•56 min
Kṛṣṇa says, "You can meditate upon me as the one who knows everything." So, there's a way that when you're chanting, if you take Kṛṣṇa's advice and think of him as the one who knows everything, it can avoid the kind of distraction the mind has when it's constantly trying to fix everything. One of the ways I notice I get distracted is my mind's thinking, "Yes, but I got to fix this," "Yes, but I got to fix that." But if you know that Kṛṣṇa already knows everything, besides, he knows how to fix ev...
Feb 06, 2025•14 min
The heart is the driver, and the body is the chariot. So when we come to these places, the pilgrimage of the heart, we come here and feel that spiritual energy. And, of course, we talk about the past times, we talk about the philosophy, but the feeling that we get when we come home to these places, that transforms the heart. And home is where the heart is. So we pray here, "Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, Dear Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Dear Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, if you so desire, please instill in our ...
Feb 05, 2025•34 min
Compassion is one of the features of Advaita Ācārya, and also this idea of servitude towards the Lord, where he declares, "caitanyera dāsa muñi, caitanyera dāsa," (CC Adi 6.86) that "I am a servant of Lord Caitanya. I'm the servant of Lord Caitanya. I'm the servant of Lord Caitanya. I am the servant of the servants." And this is the foundation for perfection in spiritual life—that is, to come to this position of being a servitor. Fortunately, we have Chaitanya Mahāprabhu to worship in this mood ...
Feb 04, 2025•54 min
So, during this time, we get an opportunity to leave aside all of the considerations and give full attention to chanting of Japa and a few points extrapolated from the Prabhupāda's teachings. One is that practice well, well you can. He gave an analogy of learning to fly an airplane and said that at some point, you have to fly solo. So get used to taking responsibility for your japa. Then, if you practice well, you will have the shelter of Kṛṣṇa very readily by calling out: āpannaḥ saṁsṛtiṁ ghorā...
Feb 04, 2025•16 min
From a letter that Prabhupada had written to send to the police: Our basic mission is to propagate the saṅkīrtana movement chanting the holy names of God all around the world, as was recommended by the incarnation of the Lord Śrī Caitanya, Mahāprabhu. People in this age are reluctant very much to understand about God consciousness on account of their unfortunate condition of life. They're working hard day and night simply for sense gratification. But this transcendental vibration of saṅkīrtana w...
Feb 03, 2025•10 min
