The Butter Thief
This Lord Krishna Blackish, plump Standing on the shoulders of His pals, His two hands around the covered bowl of butter hanging on ropes from the ceiling, has stolen my understanding.
Economic Sanity
Unemployment. Inflation. Recession. High interest rates. Mounting personal, national, and international debt. Depression. The litany of economic woes pours from television, radio, and printed page, and no one can seem to explain them, much less do anything about them.
Ideology for an Ideal Community
Historically, men have chosen to sacrifice individual autonomy for the benefits of life within human society. Nations, communities, tribes, communes—all attest to the truth of John Donne’s famous adage: “No man is an island.”
Srila Prabhupada: Carrying Krsna’s Message to the West
In 1952 Srila Prabhupada began preaching Krsna consciousness in Jhansi. With the support of local doctors and businessmen, he began an organization—the League of Devotees—dedicated to spreading Krsna consciousness in India and abroad.
Gurukula: Teaching Only About Krsna Makes Sense
Observers of the Krsna Consciousness Society’s educational system often admire the joyfulness of the Society’s children, but they also sometimes criticize the devotees for teaching “only about Krsna.”
Srila Prabhupada in Calcutta 1944
With World War II raging in Europe and the Far East, Srila Prabhupada launches BACK TO GODHEAD magazine and addresses the issues of the day from a Krsna conscious viewpoint.
The Biography of Srila Prabhupada
Absolute is sentient, Thou hast proved, Impersonal calamity Thou hast removed. This gives us a life Anew and fresh. Worship Thy feet, Your Divine Grace.
Hare Krishna: Brainwashing or Liberation Through Free Will?
Critics sometimes charge that Krsna consciousness is “brainwashing.” Supposedly it forces an otherwise free-thinking person to conform to such a degree that he loses his identity and becomes a “mindless robot”.
Prabhupada: Inspired by the Disciplic Succession
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was dedicated to using the printing press as the best medium for large-scale distribution of Krsna consciousness. He thought of the printing press as a brhat mrdanga, a big mrdanga.
Is This Airplane Trip Really Necessary?
The crash of a Boeing 737 jetliner in which 78 people died, raises the perennial question of why people feel compelled to travel so much. Domestically, Americans travel more than a trillion miles every year by air, rail, car, and bus, at a cost of $250 billion.
Srila Prabhupada’s Initiation
Abhay considered Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura his spiritual master from the time of their first meeting in 1922, but business and family commitments kept Abhay from participating full-time in Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s mission to spread Krsna consciousness.
The Ideal King Lord Ramacandra Reigns in Washington
From time to time God incarnates on earth to impart His instructions and enact His pastimes. One incarnation is Lord Ramacandra, who appeared in India millions of years ago as the ideal king. His purpose was to teach us perfect government—God-centered government.
Srila Prabhupada’s Childhood Ratha-Yatra Chariot Festival
Abhay wanted to have his own cart and to perform his own Ratha-yatra, and naturally he turned to his father for help. Gour Mohan agreed, but there were difficulties. When he took his son to several carpenter shops, he found that he could not afford to have a cart made.
The “Krsna” Books: Antidote for Suffering
Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna books directly tell us what God is like in His original, personal form and what He and His liberated associates are doing in the eternal, spiritual world.
Srila Prabhupada Meets His Guru
Srila Prabhupada (then known as Abhay Charan De) was skeptical: he had seen too many “holymen” at his father’s house—professional beggars, ganja smokers, and the like. But this person was different . . .