ISKCON NewsThe News Agency of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

If we grasp the full scope of our existence, we can understand the significance of each event that we struggle through. Since most of us lack such vision, we need to develop faith that Lord Krishna arranges everything for our ultimate benefit, even if at present we cannot understand how.

“Religion is the opium of the masses” is the argument often used by atheists to dismiss religion without addressing the substantial issues it addresses. Though many atheists have used this quote, its most well-known proponent is Karl Marx: “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”

Abused, unloved, unwanted, neglected children are an image of pain that tugs at the heart of any caring person. And what is modern technology's answer? Birth control. Politicians, scientists, educators, and even religious leaders advise contraception—and its commander in reserve, abortion—as the answer to many social and economic woes.

“Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be”- says Goethe.

Sometimes when we pray to Krishna or chant his holy names, we feel no fulfilling presence – just a desolate silence within. How should we deal with such phases of inner emptiness?

You’ve heard it before and may be experiencing it now: Parenting an adolescent or older child can be tough. Frequently, older children can shock you with their self-centered, rude, irrational, ungrateful, lazy and defiant behavior.

The lap of all auspicious Giriraj, the potency of the merciful dham, and the divine vibrations of Harinam Prabhu, these were the most transcendental fragments of the milieu which housed the International Vaishnavi Retreat this year.

Faultfinding comes easy for most of us; it gives a much-craved boost to our false ego by making us feel superior to the faulty.

Physically, psychologically and spiritually we will go through many changes in the natural course of our lives and our marital relationship may need to adapt accordingly. Yet some basic, vital qualities are present throughout all healthy marriages.

Human relationships are riddled with argument, quarrel and conflict. It’s a symptom of the age. But that’s not a problem per se, since every disagreement is pregnant with positive and negative potential.

When we fail and lose heart, that’s because we are letting ourselves becoming too self-absorbed in our problems, our failures, our hopelessness.

It had never occurred to me to think of God as a therapist when I began to spend time, 10 years ago, at an evangelical church in Chicago. Does it work? In my own research, the more people affirmed, “I feel God’s love for me, directly,” the less stressed and lonely they were and the fewer psychiatric symptoms they reported.

In worldly spheres, as people grow in age they tend to slow down and do less. Work now, retire later. The youthful years are considered the most fruitful. In spiritual spheres, however, the older years may well be considered the “business end.”

Angkor is the pride of Cambodia, and as a Vaishnava this once city was centered on the temple; where inhabitants lived within the complex and all roads led to the temple, it is easy to feel the roots our Vedic tradition in a place, again, further than India. Angkor’s magic lies in its profound spirituality that has maintanted throughout the centuries.

How many of us wonder why, in spite of vigorous book distribution and innovative outreach we still appear irrelevant in society? What does it mean to be relevant? Have we generally consigned ourselves to just being isolated spiritual people with near impossible Vedic world objectives? Perhaps the Durban festival holds some clues.

Most marriage will face times when this power of commitment is drawn upon. Doing so gives one the strength to surmount obstacles. This is what separates sentiment from actual love.

Krishna’s opening words of wisdom in he Bhagavad-gita are quite fascinating. Before even discussing the intricacies of God, the soul, the universe, for anyone seeking inner peace and spiritual connection, Krishna explains the absolute necessity of developing unyielding tolerance.

Stacey Kramer happened upon a counterintuitive phenomenon. An excruciating struggle with a dreaded disease changed her life for the better! I would have been a skeptic had I not myself come upon this realization through a horrific ordeal.

Shri Chaitanya, the most recent avatar of Krishna or God, took birth on this day, in the small town of Navadvip in West Bengal in the year 1486. He appeared not as God, but as a devotee and kept his divinity hidden from most. He did this to demonstrate the mood and behavior an adherent should aspire for.

Being too busy. A caricature by ISKCON devotee artist Akrishna Das, Budapest, Hungary.