Malaysia Kirtan Mela 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: There are two ways of association–by vani and by vapuh. Vani means words, and vapuh means physical presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but vani continues to exist eternally. Therefore we must take advantage of the vani, not the physical presence. The Bhagavad-gita, for example, is the vani of Lord Krsna. Although Krsna was personally present five thousand years ago and is no longer physically present from the materialistic point of view, the Bhagav...

Sunday Harinama in Vladivostok, Russia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Perhaps, throughout the whole world, it is the first time – we are preaching Bhagavad-gita as it is. We are the only institution in the world that we are preaching Bhagavad-gita as it is, and people are liking it. Before that, for the last two hundred years, so many swamis, yogis and…, they tried to preach Hindu philosophy, Vaisnavism. Not a single person was a devotee of Krsna, not a single person. Now you see so many young men. Why? Why this difference? Because...

A rare video footage of HDG Srila Prabhupada (1 min video)
He is interviewed by a journalist in his arrival in Australia.
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TOVP: First sample of the iron casting of the grills, fences and railings (Album with photos)
Sadbhuja Das: This is the first s......

Ludhiana Rath Yatra (3 min video)
Amazing, Astonishing and Aflatoon devotion and enthusiasm for Lord Jagannath.
Watch it h......

Harinama and distribution of prasadam in Santiago de Cali
City in Valle del Cauca, Colombia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Let us remain in our position, but at the same time, simultaneously, side by side, let us have spiritual culture. Just like we are holding this class. This is also spiritual culture, sravanam kirtanam [SB 7.5.23]. With your multifarious duties you come here thrice in a week and try to understand. This is also spiritual culture. This will not go in vain. This will give you impression. Even you stop coming here, that impres...

Festival Sadhu Sanga 2016 in Warsaw, Poland (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Life should be molded in such a way that in every step or action, we shall feel the presence of the Lord. That is spiritual life. That is spiritual life. You need not change your present occupation. … The aim is toward Krsna. … Now, suppose a man or woman is in love, and the man is a third person, beyond the husband of the wife, beyond the, of the woman. Now, it is a example given in scripture that the woman who is fallen in love, the woman of man with other ...

Vrinda Kunda 16-12-16 (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: Last week we visited Ter Kadamba and Vrinda Kunda. Near Ter Kadamb......

Modernization Without Westernization – Reflections on the Middle East’s spiritual potential.
Chaitanya Charan Das: While in a prominent city in the Middle East, I stayed with a devotee whose house was on the seventeenth floor of a skyscraper. During my travels to Australia, USA, Canada and UK, the devotees who have hosted me have had houses ranging from one-room apartments to multi-story villas. But this house was the highest height at which I had stayed. Though I may have spoken at greater heights in hotels, I didn’t have the time to ...

Detachment from material pleasures by HG Akruranath Prabhu Recorded on 12-11-2016, ISKCON of Silicon Valley (video)
Srila Prabhupada: Krsna’s mercy is always there. It is your misuse of free will. You are given the opportunity – that is fortune. But you do not accept the fortune. That is your misfortune. That is stated in the Caitanya-caritamrita. Lord Caitanya said, ei rupe brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva [Cc. Madhya 19.151]. Kono – some fortunate man can accept it. Because mostly they are unfortunate. Just see, throughout the ...

Vrindavan is becoming cold.
Vrindavan Lordships draped in warm clothes to ward off cold.
As winter continues to grip Vraja with its harshness, even the Lordships of Vrindavan do not remain unaffected. The winter ‘seva’ began in the Saptadevalaya Temples from Vyanjan Dwadashi. The ‘Khichdi’ made of varieties of pulses is being offered to the deities.
Not only is a change in their attire and cuisine, there a variation in their routine too with a late rise from sleep and early schedule to bed.
At the various temples of ...

Let’s all Hare a great time.
Hare Krishna devotees parading in the Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead on Friday.
Hemeltoday: Our photographer David Satchel was sure to be there when Apsley Community Centre held a Hare Krishna Festival.
The event offered visitors of all creeds the chance to enjoy music, dance and food free of charge.
Giridhari Das, a Hare Krishna monk who heads up the UK Hare Krishna Festival team, said: “Whether local carnivals, theatres or town halls we like to be with the people.”
Source:

“I will love you, if you will love me.”
Satsvarupa das Goswami: The first initiation was on Janmastami in 1966 and it was so lackadaisical that people got initiated without seriously considering whether they were going to follow the four rules.
I wanted to stay independent. I didn’t think I was ready to get initiated, and besides nobody had asked me to get initiated. So I stayed home and typed for the Swami.
The day after Janmastami I showed up at his door and he said, “Oh, you did not come for initiation yesterday.&rd...

Glories of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura by HG Vaisesika Prabhu (video)
Srila Prabhupada: May the glorification of the transcendental name, form, qualities and paraphernalia of the Supreme Personality of Godhead protect us from the influence of bad planets, meteors, envious human beings, serpents, scorpions, and animals like tigers and wolves. May it protect us from ghosts and the material elements like earth, water, fire and air, and may it also protect us from lightning and our past sins. We are always afraid of these hindrances to our ausp...

Disappearance Day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur on 17th Dec 2016 at ISKCON Juhu (4 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: When Lord Caitanya asked Ramananda Raya what is the most painful experience in human society, Ramananda Raya replied that separation from a pure devotee is the most painful experience. In other words, when there is no devotee of the Lord present, there is great suffering in society, and association with other people becomes painful. In Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.30.6–7) it is stated that if one who is bereft of the association of a...

Feelings of incompleteness diagnosed and cured.
Practically everyone I meet claims that they are plagued by anxieties or sadness of one kind or another. For instance, a student that I met at San Francisco State University recently, told me that he was worried about the rising cost of tuition. A young woman I met in Canada was sad because her mother had just been diagnosed with cancer. And people everywhere – on all income levels – are apprehensive about the world’s economy.
Angst is in the air, but each person feels that his or her...

Noticing Krsna…
A construction supervisor, working on the sixth floor of a building, calls a worker on the ground floor. Because of the construction noise, the worker doesn’t hear his supervisor.
To draw his attention, the supervisor throws a dollar bill at the worker. It falls right in front of him. He picks it up and puts it in his pocket and continues working.
In hopes of capturing the worker’s attention, the supervisor throws a ten dollar bill at him. Again, the worker simply picks up the money without looking up, puts it ...

Children Festival 2016 in Iskcon Slovenia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Practically we see, with the advancement Kali-yuga, people are forgetting his relationship with Krsna, and the price of commodity and the food grains, the price is increasing. They cannot eat sufficiently. So many people are dying of starvation. If they cannot eat, how they will live? Therefore Krsna gives His instruction. He’s the supreme ruler. He gives this order: annad bhavanti bhutani [Bg. 3.14], “You require food grains.” This is practical. Who will...

ISKCON Connection (4 min video)
Introduction to ISKCON Connection.
In a new Youtube video ISKCON GBC members and gurus including Lokanath Swami, Gopal Krishna Goswami, and Radhanath Swami, request those who identify with ISKCON to register as a member at iskconconnection.org.
ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission defines a member of ISKCON as someone who accepts the teachings of Lord Krishna as presented by Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada, wishes to be counted as part of the spiritual family of ISKCON, and agrees to practically support its ...

Finally available: the highly acclaimed memoir from
Srila Prabhupadas personal photographer: Visakha Dasi Five Years, Eleven Months and a lifetime of unexpected love. Brilliant photographs a talented writer her descriptions are lyrical and evocative. Kirkus Reviews...

Conclude ISKCON 50 with an overlay on your Facebook picture.
By ISKCON 50 Global Office
The Global Office for ISKCON 50 has released a 50th anniversary overlay that can be used over your profile picture on FaceBook. The overlay which was developed by a team in India led by Advaita Das and Toshan Nimai Das to conclude the 50th anniversary with a high note on social media. “We have seen several successful social media campaigns such as Digital India and the Paris solidarity movement after the bombings when people overlaid their profile pictures with a flag,” explained Toshan Nimai Das. “Simi...

Questions to Move You Forward
1. Do you talk about what’s wrong with people or do you talk about what’s wrong with yourself and how you can improve?
2 Do you procrastinate on your goals and tell others why you can’t achieve them or do you work on your goals?
3. Do you spend more time watching TV, surfing the net, and reading the news than you do hearing and/or reading sastra?
4. Do you allow yourself to become distracted when you chant japa or do you make an effort to be focused, present and prayerful?
5. Do you shy awa...

Let Krsna into your heart through your ears!
When I listen to Srila Prabhupada speak, I marvel at all the verses that he knows and recites and how his knowledge is flawless. I meditate on him sitting before his Guru Maharaja, hearing with rapt attention. I also think about where and when Srila Prabhupada was when he memorized each sloka that he knows. I pray that I can someday see all this.
Srila Prabhupada told us that he was very enthusiastic to hear from his Guru Maharaja even though at first he didn’t understand everything that his Guru M...