The Unconditioned State
Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is not conditioned. When He speaks, it is from the Absolute level. He is within the heart of the hearer. In that position, His words cannot be false.
Reflections on the Mantra
By Allen Ginsberg Mantram (singular), mantra (plural) is a short verbal formula like Rolling Stones’ “I’m going home,” or Gertrude Stein’s “A rose is a rose is a rose,” which is repeated as a form of prayer meditation over and over until the original thin-conscious association with meaning disappears and the words become pure physical […]
Transcendental Art
Paintings are needed in all the temples, as well as for illustrations in books. For these two reasons an art department has been set up in ISKCON for production of Krsna-katha art (art based on the pastimes of Krsna).
Children In Krsna Consciousness
Any child can chant Hare Krsna and dance and feel transcendental ecstasy. That is the special facility of Krsna consciousness—even a child can perform it.
Kardama Muni, A First-Class Yogi
Kardama Muni practiced meditative penances on the bank of the Sarasvati River for a period of 10,000 years. It is understood that the yoga system, in order to be rightly practiced, must be performed by persons who possess a very long duration of life.
Experience of Karma Yoga
In Karma yoga, when you are working for Krishna, you can do your office tasks, speak to people on business, and do whatever you duty happens to be, for it all becomes part of your single aim: to return to God.
Liquid Beauty
Why is the attraction between male and female so powerful? What is the essence of this attraction? And why does the Vedic literature call it illusion?
From Judaism to Krsna
I was Jewish, and my early education was steeped in the lore and culture of Judaism. Weekly my mother would send me for my violin lesson and dance class.
Reflections At The Zoo
I spent an afternoon at the Zoo with my two-year-old son. As I carried him from the elephant compound to the lion house to the bird sanctuary, I began to wish I had heeded my wife’s advice to bring along the stroller. “Why He knows how to walk.”
CHANT Hare Krishna!
The name Krsna means “the all-attractive one,” the name Rama means “the all-pleasing one,” and the name Hare is an address to the Lord’s devotional energy.
Simply Wonderful Sweets!
The art of making these sweets has been preserved through generations of specialized sweet-makers in India. There the sweet repertoire is extensive and elaborate, and although preparing such sweets may appear simple, to do it masterfully requires great skill.
CHANT Hare Krishna!
In Sanskrit, man means “mind” and tra means “freeing.” So a mantra is a combination of transcendental, spiritual sounds that frees our minds from the anxieties of life in the material world.
My Encounter With the Art of Perfection
The promise of art is illusory. Art cannot save us, no matter how beautiful and well wrought its objects may be. They are, essentially, fictions. At best, art may palliate the pains of life, but even in this it dangerously misleads.
Coming to Krsna — A New Day, A New Life
A pretty girl wearing an exotic Indian dress and carrying a handful of flowers and a shoulder bag full of books pinned a flower on my lapel and asked, “Have you ever read the Bhagavad-gita? This book will answer all your questions about life.”
A Different Kind of Ice Cream
Ice cream, the ingredients don’t vary much from one brand to another. But ice cream that’s been prepared for Lord Krsna and offered to Him with love and devotion stands above all others.
True Happiness Must be Eternal
There are those who will say, “Ah! These Hare Krsna people are just escapists. They cannot face up to life.” And our reply is simply, “Yes, we are escapists. You stay here; we will leave!”
The Spiritual Master: Emissary of the Supreme Person
How can one know that the spiritual master is bona fide? What is the duty of the spiritual master? What are his symptoms? These and other questions concerning the spiritual master and Krsna are discussed herein by way of authoritative evidence.
Karma-yoga-Action in Krsna Consciousness, Part 5
As the Fifth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita opens, Arjuna is asking Krsna practically the same question he asked at the beginning of the Third Chapter, namely whether there is a difference between renounced action and inaction or between knowledge and devotional service.
Poem by Kirtanananda
Govinda, Krishna—awaken me, I plead. Cut off these ears, Pluck out these eyes, That I might hear and see indeed. Take all I have, my brief life, And then I shall live in Thee.
Krishna: the Divine Lover
Krishna is our Lover. We are His creation, and He is the Lover of the creation. Like the clever Lover that He is, He hides Himself from us at times so we may long for Him and call to Him.