Expand The Bliss USA

01/26/2025

Have you heard of Satvatove Institute ? Here is a brilliant video of the founder’s recent visit to our BLISS center in London. The Satvatove Institute is based in Alachua, FL. Check it out!

We're a group of Hare Krishna devotees under the guidance of His Grace Purujit prabhu who are passionate about spreading the message of Srila Prabhupada. We ...

01/22/2025

Mahapurusa: Prabhupada, is there any contradiction, because Lord Jesus Christ and Lord Caitanya both appeared in the Kali-yuga, and Lord Jesus Christ said that "The only way to God is through me. Just believe in me or surrender to me," and Lord Caitanya taught that hari-nama is the only means of spiritual realization in this age?

Prabhupada: So where do you find the difference? If Lord Jesus Christ says "Through me," that means he's representative of God, and hari-nama is God. So either through the representative of God or God, the same thing. God and God's representative, there is no difference.

Even in these ordinary dealing, if I send some representative, if he signs something on my behalf, I have to accept that, because he is my representative. Similarly, God has to be approached through God or through His representative. The same thing. Only the difference may be of understanding.

Because Lord Jesus Christ spoke to a society that was not very much advanced. You can understand that such a great personality, God conscious person, was crucified. Just see the condition of the society. In other words, they were low-grade society. So they were not able to understand the whole philosophy of God.

That is sufficient: "God created. Just take it." They were not intelligent to understand how the creation took place. Had they been intelligent, they would not have crucified such a great personality like Jesus Christ.

(Lecture on Teachings of Lord Caitanya – October 2, 1968, Seattle)

01/20/2025

Purujit Das interviews Hansadutta Das at the Bhaktivedanta Lives In Sound Society (BLISS) in Berkeley, California, USA.

01/20/2025

by Her Grace Krishna Prema Devi DasiLivestream Classes everyday with His Grace Purujit dasa and the devotees from BLISS London https://www.facebook.com/expan...

01/11/2025

A beautiful insight into a day on harinama with the BLISS devotees in London.

BLISS London is again in the streets of London spreading the influence of the magical Holy Name of Krishna! We're a group of Hare Krishna devotees under the ...

01/10/2025

“The process of understanding Kṛṣṇa is sevonmukha – by rendering service. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. Realization of Vāsudeva is possible by rendering service, beginning with the tongue. The tongue has two functions – to vibrate and to taste. So if one repeatedly hears and vibrates the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and tastes prasāda, food offered to Kṛṣṇa, by this very simple method one will realize Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa will reveal Himself. It is not that by our endeavor alone we can understand Kṛṣṇa, but our endeavor in loving service will make us qualified, and then Kṛṣṇa will reveal Himself (svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ).”

—Srila Prabhupada
(Teachings of Queen Kuntī)

12/29/2024

Srila Prabhupada: “Kṛṣṇa is the supreme enjoyer, Kṛṣṇa is the supreme proprietor, and Kṛṣṇa is the supreme friend. If you know these three things, then your knowledge is full; you do not require to understand anything more. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. If you simply understand Kṛṣṇa by this formula, then your knowledge is complete. You don’t require any more knowledge. But people will not agree. “Why should Kṛṣṇa be the proprietor? Hi**er should be the proprietor. Nixon …” That is going on. Therefore you are in trouble. But if you understand these three things only, then your knowledge is complete. But we will not accept. We will put forward so many impediments to understanding these three things, and that is the cause of our trouble. But in the Bhagavad-gītā [5.29] Kṛṣṇa plainly says:

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

[“A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.”]

But we won’t take this. We put forward so many false proprietors, false friends, false enjoyers, and they fight one another. This is the situation of the world. If people would take this knowledge, there would immediately be peace (śāntim ṛcchati). This is knowledge, and if anyone follows this principle, he is honest. He does not claim, “It is mine.” He knows, “Everything is Kṛṣṇa’s, so therefore everything should be utilized for Kṛṣṇa’s service.” That is honesty. If this pencil belongs to me, the etiquette is for my students to ask, “Can I use this pencil?” Then I will reply, “Yes, you can.”

Similarly, if I know that everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, I will not use anything without His permission. That is honesty. And that is knowledge. One who does not know this is ignorant; he is foolish. And a foolish man commits crimes. All criminals are foolish men. Out of ignorance one breaks the law. So ignorance is not bliss, but it is folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss. That is the difficulty. The whole world is enjoying ignorance. And when you talk about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they do not very much appreciate it. If I say, “Kṛṣṇa is the proprietor; you are not the proprietor,” you will not be very much satisfied. [Everyone laughs.] Just see – ignorance is bliss.

(Except from “Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers”)

11/30/2024

“Politics involves accepting one group of men as enemies and another group as friends. Everything in politics is based on this philosophy, and the entire world, especially at the present, is engrossed in it. The public is concerned with friendly countries and friendly groups or enemy countries and enemy groups, but as stated in Bhagavad-gītā, a learned person does not make distinctions between enemies and friends. Devotees, especially, do not create friends and enemies. A devotee sees that every living being is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa (mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [15.7]). Therefore a devotee treats friends and enemies equally by trying to educate them both in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Of course, atheistic men do not follow the instructions of pure devotees, but instead consider a devotee their enemy. A devotee, however, never creates a situation of friendship and enmity. Although Prahlāda Mahārāja was obliged to hear the instructions of Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka, he did not like the philosophy of friends and enemies, which forms the basis of politics. He was not interested in this philosophy.”

Excerpt From
Srimad-Bhagavatam
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

09/26/2024

sarva-kama-dugham divyam
sarva-ratna-samanvitam
sarvarddhy-upacayodarkam
mani-stambhair upaskrtam

TRANSLATION:

It was a wonderful structure, bedecked with all sorts of jewels, adorned with pillars of precious stones, and capable of yielding whatever one desired. It was equipped with every form of furniture and wealth, which tended to increase in the course of time.

PURPORT:

The castle created in the sky by Kardama Muni may be called "a castle in the air," but by his mystic power of yoga Kardama Muni actually constructed a huge castle in the air. To our feeble imagination, a castle in the sky is an impossibility, but if we scrutinizingly consider the matter we can understand that it is not impossible at all. If the Supreme Personality of Godhead can create so many planets, carrying millions of castles in the air, a perfect yogi like Kardama Muni can easily construct one castle in the air. The castle is described as sarva-kama-dugham, "yielding whatever one desired." It was full of jewels. Even the pillars were made of pearls and valuable stones. These valuable jewels and stones were not subject to deterioration, but were everlastingly and increasingly opulent. We sometimes hear of castles thus bedecked on the surface of this earth also. The castles constructed by Lord Krsna for His 16,108 wives were so bedecked with jewels that there was no need of lamplight during the night. (SB 3.23.13)

09/21/2024

These were really fun to make 😊 Krishna’s service is blissful!

09/20/2024