ISKCON Auckland NZ: Rathyatra 2017 (Album with photos)
The best way to bring in the new year!
Find them here:

A visit to Rose Forkash (now Rajani-priya dasi).
Giriraj Swami: Tonight, Swarup Damodar, Sukumari, Nikunja Viharini, and I went to visit Rose Forkash (now Rajani-priya dasi) at her home in Carpinteria. For three hours, she enlivened and inspired us with stories of her and her family’s association with and service to Srila Prabhupada. And Swarup Damodar gave me a wonderful exchange with Srila Prabhupada about her and her daughter, to read out loud:
Ramesvara: We have one mother in Los Angeles of a girl named Lila-sakti. She’s a big book d...

Evidence Of Their Devotion (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: On our way back from Nathdwara to Vrindavan we stopped in Ja......

The Struggle To Feel Alive With A Passion To Give.
I must discover and name my gift—yes, that is a practice, but more.
I must also share it now, not just keep talking about it,
like a prisoner in a cage,
because I will never be completely ready
to be who I want and pray to be.
I used to be a workshop and training junkie,
wanting titles and certifications,
but it was never enough,
because inside of myself
I didn’t feel worthy to teach,
feeling incomplete and insufficient,
thinking my sad past story...

In Life or Death - Take Shelter!
After leaving the hospital a few weeks ago, my firm determination was never to return. It was by far, one of the most painful experiences of my life. Yet, today I did. This time, to the ICU, a place I cringed to think about. However, the visit was for a completely different purpose. The daughter of a devotee from Pune, passed away at a very young age in California Medical Center Hospital here in San Francisco, due to organ failure. A group of devotees and I had the opportunity to be next to her body and pray for her. Lif...

Reconnection, a film about Vrindavan.
BB Govinda Swami: Recently you have seen promotional activity regarding our movie about Sri Vrindavan Dham, Reconnection.
It’s a story about a person who transcends trials in his life … through the transformative experience of visiting Vrindavan.
Let me give you a little background … because the story of Reconnection actually did not start in Vrindavan. ...

Balancing Feelings Of Unworthiness
Mahatma das: It’s common for devotees to feel unqualified or unworthy to serve guru and Krsna. This is helpful when it is a natural symptom of spiritual advancement. But it is detrimental when, out of an unhealthy psychology, we either feel unworthy of receiving Krsna’s grace, or feel unworthy of being loved by Krsna. Spiritual unworthiness and material unworthiness are not the same. One is a by-product of a high level of Krsna consciousness and the other is a symptom of an unhealthy mental or emotional st...

Identifying the Deity as Bhagavan.
Question: Kindly inform me on what basis we identify Krishna/Bhagavan Vigraha, which is sat chit ananda, with deity/archa which is made up of matter. I want to know the Gaudiya logic and appropriate scriptural backing.
Romapada Swami: The Personality of Godhead is the source of all energies, both material and spiritual. Because He is full of inconceivable potencies, God can convert His different potencies according to His own will, much as an expert electrician can employ the same electric energy for both heating ...

Raval - Gokula in Vrindavana (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: On Christmas Day, we did parikrama of Radharani’s Birthplace Raval, and some very beautiful places in Gokula! We even took a boat ride on the Yamuna! At the end, we visited the Samadhi of Ras Khan, a Muslim who became a Vaishnava and wrote enchanting Braja Poetry. His place is like the forest that we always imagined Vrindavan would be! Pics thanks to Vittalrukmini Das!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/2idvsj

Govardhana Parikrama with Italian devotees (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: My Guru Maharaja used to say, prana ache yara sei hetu pracara. A person can become a preacher if he has got life. A dead man cannot become a preacher. So you must be very enthusiastic that “I shall preach the glories of the Lord to my best capacity.” It is not that one has to become very learned scholar to become a preacher. Simply it requires enthusiasm, “My Lord is so great, so kind, so beautiful, so wonderful. So I must speak something about my Lord.&...

Acharya Theatrical Distribution (3 min video)
The big news is, we have a distributor who wants to represent our film for distribution in movie theaters in the US and Canada. The company is Abramorama in NYC and recently represented Eight Days a Week, a film on the Beatles by director Ron Howard. Abramorama’s CEO wrote me this after seeing our latest edit:
I watched your film. I think it’s terrific: consistently smart and interesting. I’m certain there’s an audience for it even beyond the core.
Watch it here:

Nathdwara On New Years Eve (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Nathdwara is a town in India’s western state of Rajasthan. It is located in the Aravalli hills, on the banks of the Banas River in Rajsamand District. It is most famous as the home of the Sri Nathji deity. Sri Nathji was discovered at Govardhan Hill in Vrindavan by Sri Madhavendra Puri. He is dearly loved by devotees all over the world. New Years Eve was like any other day in Nathdwara – everyone was rushing to the temple to Sri Nathji. We also rushed to see the Lord and pray...

Can one become his own guru?
Question: “While going through Srimad Bhagavatam, in Canto 11 Chapter 7.19-21, it is revealed that one can become his own guru and experience Krishna’s full potencies. This is contradicting to what Krishna says in BG 4.2, which states that one must learn this knowledge from bonafide spiritual master coming in the line of disciplic succession.”
“So, does Krishna approve both or only the process mentioned in BG 4.2? If He approves the former, where is the question of bogus gurus since everyone can ...

New Year prayer for all the devotees.
May the cowherd boy who is a festival of ecstatic bliss for the hearts of the fortunate creatures residing in the groves of Govardhana, who eagerly enjoys loving pastimes in the forests of Vrindavana with the gopīs, and whose complexion is as splendid as a great sapphire, eternally enjoy transcendental pastimes in our hearts.
Selected verses from Sri Vraja-riti-cintamani by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/Pnc1km

Srila Prabhupada Praised at ISKCON 50 Event in Peruvian Parliament.
On December 12th, Peruvian devotee Bhadra Rupa Das was presented with an honorary doctorate by the National University of Education, Peru at the Peruvian Parliament in Lima. But he quickly turned what was set to be an event in his honor into one in praise of Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON, and ISKCON’s 50th anniversary. The prestigious Parliament setting was a rare opportunity, as the honorary degree is normally presented at the university itself. The ceremony, which turned out to ...

ISKCON-Delhi: New Year Celebration (Album with photos)
Cultural Program, Drama, Lecture, Kirtan.
Fin......

ISKCON Auckland NZ: New year's eve Harinam (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: I am very glad to learn also that you are feeling joy while chanting the mantra Hare Krishna. Yes, it is exactly like this. If anyone chants this mantra in good faith and in simple understanding, then surely this transcendental vibration will act immediately in spiritual bliss. Please therefore continue to chant this mantra as many times as possible throughout the day and night. I do not think there is any inconvenience or loss on your part if you do so all the time. Even...

156 Ton Bhoga at Radha Kunda! (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: Ring in the New Year with 156 tons of fruit bhoga offering at Radha Kunda on New Year’s Eve. The offering was done by Sri Balak Yogeshvar Das Maharaja! Was not nearly as crowded as I imagined and got darshan everwhere with ease. Photos thanks to Vittalrukmini Das!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/jp8uAm

Kirtan-Fest Atlanta (2016) (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Devotees who are always absorbed in thoughts of Krsna will soon see Krsna face to face without a doubt. In other words, devotees who are always engaged in Krsna consciousness and are fully absorbed in thoughts of Krsna certainly return home, back to Godhead. They then see Krsna directly, face to face, talk with Him and enjoy His company. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (4.9): tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so ‘rjuna. Because during his lifetime a pure devotee is alwa...

“Mangal sweets from the temple are better and easier to get.”
I eagerly gathered my utensils and ingredients to prepare my favourite Mangal* sweet—burfi. I couldn’t wait to offer this decadent, creamy, condensed milk fudge to the Lord on Diwali and Govardhan Puja. I boiled four litres of milk in a sturdy thick-bottomed pot and began to stir. “How hard could it be?” I thought. “After all, it’s just a matter of continuously stirring the milk and sugar until it’s reduced to a brown sticky mass.” B...

UK-The Final Offering. Manor devotees surpassed last year’s number of SP’s books distributed during the Marathon!
Sutapa Das: We finished counting the scores yesterday evening. More to come in, but we have to stop somewhere. Nikhil prabhu and myself went to Srila Prabhupada’s darshan room to offer him the final results. In that transcendental tirtha, Mahaprabhu’s commander-in-cheif looked effulgent and absorbed, ever exuding the purity and potency which drives this movement forward. As Prabhupada glanced over each devotee’s...

Govardhan 26-12-16 (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: Nija nikata nivasam dehi govardhana tvam. O Govardhana! Just give me ......