Author: Editor

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It is offensive to envy a guru who is Krishna’s pure devotee, to consider him an ordinary man or disobey his instructions. Prabhupada sometimes quoted a text warning us: Spiritual realization is difficult and sharp like a razor’s edge. A sharp blade gives a good shave, but inattentiveness, or committing offenses, causes bloodshed. Fortunately, in the association of devotees, we learn to avoid offenses.

The Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita mentions (around 1976): “The Library Party is having continuing success with standing orders for public libraries as well as universities. More importantly, they are now selling the softbound Bhagavad-gita As It Is as college texts.” The Library Party’s strategy and tireless efforts integrated Krsna’s teachings into academic settings, thereby reaching a broader audience and gaining a great deal of scholarly recognition. Describing Srila Prabhupada’s visit to the ISKCON temple in Detroit, in 1976, Satsvarupa dasa Goswami writes in the Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita: “This was Prabhupada’s first visit to the Fisher Mansion in Detroit, which was now…

by Mahatma das (based on the talk 2022) For a follower of Prabhupada, loyalty to ISKCON is a manifestation of devotion to Prabhupada. To stay and work in ISKCON is to stay and work with Prabhupada. So whenever one talks about ISKCON, in one’s mind and heart, one just talks about devotion to Prabhupada. If one stays in ISKCON, work within ISKCON – one is staying with Prabhupada, work with Prabhupada. While those who leave ISKCON may think that they are not be leaving Prabhupada, and I don’t think we should accuse them of that, but in one’s heart, one’s…

    The word “Acarya” in Founder-Acarya means that Srila Prabhupada is the ultimate teacher by his own example in ISKCON. Being a perfect teacher by example, therefore, everything he does is instructive because, as followers, we are meant to aspire to strictly follow his example. Prabhupada would oftentimes speak about the difference between following in the footsteps and imitating. He would say that following in the footsteps of the previous acaryas means that we follow the same path they themselves walked. It also means to follow their instructions. Therefore, mahajano yena gatah sa panthah….they leave behind instructions by which…

To help us understand this philosophical seed of the founder-acharya principle, we will now hear how the acharya-sampradaya culture inspired one famous disciple to appeal to his great guru in relation to their worshipable acharya.

A short story of how I was officially rescued by Srila Prabhupada and how I joined ISKCON in Mayapur in the winter of 1973. At that time my mother was already an initiated devotee and had received Brahmanical initiation. There was a shortage of cooks who could cook for Radha Madhava, but at that time they had my mother who did all the cooking. She cooked so well that Srila Prabhupada himself tasted it and even arranged for her to travel to Vrindavan to cook for him during his stays there. At that time my mother and father were having…

Editorial In 1976, at the height of the Troubles, and many years before a lasting peace was achieved, a large bus with large Sanskrit lettering on the side pulled into Belfast carrying an international crew of Hare Krishna devotees. They brought the seeds of true peace with the blessings of Srila Prabhupada. This unexpected event, completely unrelated to the gloomy and tense atmosphere of deeply divided and policed Northern Ireland, brought a striking contrast to the street, as vivid as the contrast between the dark and conservative clothes of Belfast onlookers and the bright and cheerful robes of the Hare Krishnas. The…

Following is the summary of the second part of the seminar held by late Bhakti Charu Swami in July 2014. This text makes it clear that Srila Prabhupada’steachings are the foundation for ISKCON and that the organisation itself is necessary to effectively spread those teachings. The author, member and the chairman of the GBC Srila Prabhupada Committee, concludes by asserting Prabhupada’s unique importance and predicting that his stature will only grow with time. We must understand who Srila Prabhupada is in the lives of the members of ISKCON.  Srila Prabhupada is the main guiding factor in ISKCON through his teachings. The respective gurus are there, but they are just representing Srila Prabhupada. The second thing to consider is that in order…

After a final review by GBC members, the Srila Prabhupada: The Founder-Acarya of ISKCON was accepted and approved by unanimous vote as a “GBC Foundational Document.” Thus came to be published in February 2014 by the ISKCON GBC Press. In February 2015 an accusation against Srila Prabhupada: The Founder-Acarya of ISKCON began to be propagated on Facebook and other social media frequented by devotees in and around ISKCON. The item thus circulated—which gives the appearance of having been extracted from a larger text—reads as follows: Ravindra’s Founder Acharya Doctrine is also a way of over emphasizing Prabhupada so as to…