Recently as members of the Grihastha Vision Team we toured 8 countries and over 21 cities in 85 days covering 35,000 kilometers. This included one 24-hour train ride across Siberia. During that surreal ride, Uttama said she felt like she was in a James Bond movie, on a mission for Srila Prabhupada. 24 hour train […]
The Grihastha Vision Team 15 years of Progress
In 2004 The (North American) Grihastha Vision Team was formed from a seed planted by Srila Prabhupada in 1979. Krsnanandini, head of the GVT, describes a mystical dream, “Srila Prabhupada had returned to earth and was giving darshan to hundreds of devotees from everywhere around the world; China, Africa, Spain, South America, Europe, United States, […]
Misconceptions about the Brahmacari Ashram
“There are a lot of misconceptions about the brahmacharya ashram in our society. The first is that a brahmachari (student monk) is meant to remain a brahmachari forever. And if a brahmachari decides to (inevitably) change ashrams to get married or to even simply not wear saffron cloth anymore, this is considered a “falldown” and […]
Women in Vedic Culture
The respect and honour that vedic traditions had for women needs to be preserved, in order to address the turbulence which exists in modern society. by Stephen Knapp Stephen Knapp(Sri Nandanandana Dasa) grew up in a Christian family, during which time he seriously studied the Bible to understand its teachings. In his late teenage years, […]
Femininity Honored
sristi-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir eka chayeva yasya bhuvanani bibharti durga icchanurupam api yasya ca cestate sa govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami “The external potency, maya, who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit [spiritual] potency, is worshiped by all people as Durga, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the […]
The Wealthy Marriage
Confirming the old adage that money cannot buy happiness, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of $137 billion, is divorcing from his wife of 25 years. On the other hand, extensive research by the Gottman Institute has shown that one of the traits of a successful marriage is affluence, but of a much […]
Devotee Men and the Contexts that Shape (and have Shaped) Our Lives.
Keynote Speech Men’s Retreat New Vrindaban, October 6, 2018 (to listen, click here) Presented by Professor Burke Rochford The telling of history is almost always a narrative about men. When historians dig out historical documents as they seek to reconstruct and analyze history,it is inevitably a project that tells us far more about men […]
Services for Married Couples and Families
A few months ago my wife, Archana-siddhi, and I visited the ISKCON temple in Alachua, Florida. We always appreciate this large devotee community, though it seems there is never enough time to visit all of our dear friends. Apparently now, we would have to spend a few months here to properly honor our friends by […]
How Scared You Should Be
By choosing service to Krishna over service to material illusion, we can progress toward fearlessness. I PULL OUT THE stack of mail from our mailbox and bring it into the house, where I plop it down onto the kitchen table. I begin the ritual of sorting out the few important items from the plethora of […]
Research on Effects of Media
We all have heard Srila Prabhupada warn us that television and media strengthen our materialistic mentality and divert us from service to Krishna—our consciousness being formed largely by our association. However, it is often difficult to keep our children away from the influences that are so pervasive in our culture. Aggression and Television Viewing: The […]