Topic: Practices, see also Sadhana
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A devotee offering flowers to Krishna's Deity form
Practicing Krishna consciousness is dynamic, real, and practical, not just something to think about. It means to focus the mind and senses by actively serving the Supreme Person. Anything done in Krishna's service is beneficial, but the most recommended practices of Krishna consciousness are:
Hearing about Krishna from books like Srimad-...
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Devotees of Krishna worship Him in various Deity forms with the understanding that God is the source of all energies—the Absolute Truth—and can appear before us in any form He likes. Everything about the Supreme Person, including His form, is spiritual and worshipable.
Vedic scriptures first of all define who is Supreme and who isn't. They also describe the science of Deity worship in detail—...
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from the Perfection of Yoga
by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
In India there are sacred places where yogis go to meditate in solitude, as prescribed in Bhagavad-gita.
Traditionally, yoga cannot be executed in a public place, but insofar as kirtan—mantra-yoga, or the yoga of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama,...
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This is the eighth in a series of articles on offenses to be avoided when trying to progress spiritually by chanting God’s names. This article discusses the offense of not having complete faith in the spiritual nature of chanting Hare Krishna and holding on to material attachments.
A real summer job—not babysitting! I made it to the hotel before six in the morning so as to have the breakfast...
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Whether one chants meditatively on beads or exuberantly with musical instruments, the Hare Krishna mantra is the easiest and most potent means to spiritual advancement.
“O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have millions of names, like Krishna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There...
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He sought enlightenment on an isolated beach through music, meditation, and marijuana, it came to him in a way he'd never expected.
Video of Sarvatma dasa chanting at the 2007 Ukraine kirtan festival.
Having had some mystical experiences as a teenager that convinced me of the existence of God, I left my native country, Argentina, for Salvador, capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia, famous for...
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We can learn to love the early-morning hours—the best time for spiritual practices.
“No school!”
My student’s excitement ripples through his arms, which boast the muscles of early youth.
“I can sleep late!”
He smiles.
I sigh.
School for my students means not just academic study but also rising before sunrise to worship Krishna. Why doesn’t this student love the pre-dawn hours?
I look back...
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There's a lot of talk these days about how to relieve stress. We often feel stress because of change, and change comes under the larger headings of fate and time, and of Krishna’s will. How does a devotee of Krishna handle the stress of feeling his life suddenly subject to upheaval?
A devotee turns to the scriptures for shelter. The Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam are full of advice about how...
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The term science refers to knowledge we can reliably verify by practical methods. So to study a subject scientifically, we must clearly understand how to use our senses to obtain trustworthy knowledge of what we are studying. This article, which concludes a series from the book Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science, examines how a person can take advantage of his innate transcendental senses to...
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Our consciousness and behavior are certainly affected by the company we keep. This is especially true for those who want to enhance their spiritual consciousness. In this episode, Mahatma dasa explores some of the many reasons why building relationships with spiritually-focused people can profoundly help awaken our own Krishna consciousness.
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In episode #3 of his Sadhana series, Mahatma dasa gives many practical hints about how to develop a strong practice of bhakti-yoga. He discusses how we humans develop habits, and the benefits of becoming habituated to behavior which helps us advance in spiritual life and become truly fulfilled.
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Recently I took time out from traveling and lecturing to work on my practice of japa (quiet chanting on beads). Although I have been following Srila Prabhupada’s order to chant at least sixteen rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, I knew my japa had become poor and needed special care. I tried doubling the minimum quota and chanted in the early-morning hours in the company of other chanters...
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During Arati several articles are offered to the Deity while ringing a bell: incense, ghee lamp, water, cloth, flowers, yak-tail fan and peacock fan.
The articles used in Arati represent the material elements in their pure form and correspond to the sense objects. In other words, the Arati articles are satisfying to the senses and represent our offering all the elements in the Lord’s creation...
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Deity worship means caring for the Lord as a person. By serving the Deity we understand ourselves to be His servant, with practical service to offer. Krishna is a person, and when we care for Him He reciprocates with us by purifying our heart and bringing us closer in our relationship with Him.
Here’s what a typical day of service to the temple Deity might entail:
The Lord is awakened early in...
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Perhaps the main reason for the widespread dismissal of religion as “blind faith” is that many systems of theistic thought are not backed up by any verifiable direct interaction with the Supreme Person. Why is this so, we may ask, if the Supreme Person is as readily accessible as the proponents of bhakti-yoga claim? The following statement from Srimad-Bhagavatam [2.6.41] suggests an interesting...