Last year, for the twentieth anniversary of the festival, 80,000 people were reportedly in attendance, with that crowd estimated to be about 90% Mormon. The festival in Spanish Fork has spawned a series of smaller events in other cities run by a travelling team from the Utah temple and has also given birth to the popular “Color Run” phenomenon, employing the same kind of powdered, cornstarch-based colors, and the same spirit of carnivalesque engagement in “sharing love.” Mormon festival-goers are led in chanting Sanskrit mantras and ...

For the last four years a Cambodian youth has been inspired to organize an elaborate yearly Hindu worship within the monastery of a major Buddhist temple (Pagoda) in Phnom Penh with the approval and consent of the local head monk. Not only is it a Hindu worship program, indeed the initiative has developed into the manifestation of a Hindu shrine within the Buddhist compound. On Sunday, April 26, 2017, a group of devotees from our Hare Krishna base center in Siem Reap travelled to the capital city to attend a shorter version of their yearly...

About a hundred people were in the room for our presentation. We started with a kirtan. Then I spoke about the glories of the Bhagavatam. I said, "There is so much news about the world. It's not good news. But the Bhagavatam is good news, in fact, it's great news, because it gives us direction how be completely happy and satisfied and then go to the spiritual world. Vasudeva Datta Prabhu then glorified some great personalities from Bhagavatam. He also mentioned the Fifth Canto, where we find out how to avoid the hellish planets. Aft...

The meanings of personalism and impersonalism may seem clear when the subject is discussed in theory, but in practice these two understandings of eternal existence seem to intertwine and confound the inexperienced spiritual practitioner. The answer lies in how we approach the Supreme Absolute Truth. While espousing the cause of a personal Godhead, neophytes are often seen to behave in a way that reveals longstanding impersonal roots. To understand the highest concept of personalism, let us see how Shrila Prabhupada describes the relationship of Krishna’s...

Ananda Vidya and Lalita Gopi’s service is often not easy. In the wintertime temperatures regularly drop below freezing. The couple have to break the ice in the water trough so that the cows can drink. They struggle to clean the barn when the cow dung is frozen to the floor and the shovel. And they’ve had to wear heavy layers of clothes and gloves, still shivering because the freezing wind blows right through cracks in the doors and walls. Recent developments, fortunately, have made winters more manageable. Former ECO-V project manager ...

On the day of initiation you will be promising to follow the regulative principles and to chant sixteen rounds every day. You may also be promising to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and to remain faithful to his society. Your guru will give a talk either on the significance of initiation or on the ten offences to the Holy Name. Three strands of tulasi beads will be placed on your neck. You will be asked to perform acaman – a purifying ritual involving sipping water and saying a mantra. You will then be called forward to make your obeisanc...

On the tenth anniversary of the first Kulimela, Kulis explore how to create a new and better world for future generations. There’s a consensus that focusing on healthy marriages and happy families will make for a stronger ISKCON. Kulis are encouraged to invest in the future by teaming together on projects that positively affect children in their local communities. They also discuss making lots of small specialized groups in their communities to encourage members’ interests and make them feel like they belong. The conversation is alway...

When Srila Rupa Goswami talked about chanting the holy name of Krishna he said that he wished he had hundreds of tongues to sing it, and thousands of ears to hear it. Not for nothing is his book named the Bhakti-Rasa-Amrita-Sindhu or the Nectar Ocean of Devotion. Strangely enough, he also said that the five primary items in the life of bhakti all had to do with taking shelter of a guru and accepting initiation from a guru. Why strange? Because the very name of Krishna, that sound vibration which made him ecstatic, was the same that had been ...

We are seeing that now more Iskcon centers are celebrating Holi with burning of Holika and throwing the colored dye festival. So there are some points to be mentioned about these celebrations. I was requested by a senior mataji to share this information. So if there is anything incorrect please excuse me and add your comments. I will share something about Holi from Vedic point as much as I have learnt. The coloured dyes are supposed to be thrown with love signifying blessing to the person "may auspicious, wealth, prosperity accompa...

Here is a brief checklist to help you with your testing of a prospective guru. Education. Has he studied Vedic literature sufficiently to become a teacher? Has he become an expert in any particular literature? Has he passed any examinations? Can he recite verses from memory? Does he demonstrate his learning by references when he gives classes? Is he faithful to Srila Prabhupada’s translations and commentaries in his presentations? Are you sure that he does not unduly emphasize any particular portion of the phil...

I often get asked questions by people who are looking for a guru: “What sort of teacher should I be looking for?” is shortly followed by: “And where do I begin looking for someone like that?” After they’ve thought a few moments the next question is: “What sort of things do I have to do before I can become someone’s student?” “What happens if I don’t quite measure up?” Some time later the questions are more about what will happen after they become initiated: “What is he supposed to teach me?” “How do I know if he...

The relationship gets closer, and when the relationship gets closer you find out all the good, the bad and mixed about the person. Those of you that are married know that what I am talking about. You find all about the weaknesses and the strengths and the idiosyncrasies of the person you are now living with. And with that can come familiarity. And with familiarity it breeds, it doesn't have to, but it commonly breeds contempt I know your ugly stuff, you know all my ugly stuff and one points to the other and respect disappears becomes someth...

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, the supreme enjoyer, whose form is transcendental, who is beyond the touch of the three modes of material nature, and who is the all-pervading Supersoul residing in the hearts of all living entities, will appear again in the Kali age. Appearing as the greatest devotee, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will assume a two-armed form of golden complexion in His abode of Goloka Vrndavana manifested on the bank of the Ganges at Navadvipa. He will disseminate pure devotional service in the world Cai...

Another fascinating aspect of Mahaprabhu’s chart is that Mercury—planet of communication, learning, literature, etc.—is debilitated in the house of death (the eighth). Shrila Prabhupada, who refused his college diploma, demonstrated that learning without Krishna consciousness is useless. And Mahaprabhu, after His meeting His spiritual master, went from the “wrangling Pandit Nimai” to an ecstatic bhakta who was simply absorbed in calling upon the sacred names of His Lord Shri Krishna, the mahamantra. This was a great shock to some pandits of N...

In July of 2005, I met the devotees for the first time. I was a young hippie girl, looking for something else that life could offer without really knowing what it was. I went travelling in Europe thinking maybe it could be found there. The East Germany rainbow festival had about 3000 people attending that year, I was there too. By the end of 3 weeks in that festival I was getting tired of it. It felt so fake. All those so called transcendentalist, I felt like I was being cheated. You would see young and old westerner man walking aroun...

Yudhisthira, an Indian king, who ruled about 5000 years ago once said that the most astonishing thing in this world is that people see others are dying every moment but they never ever believe that one day they too would die

Kalakantha das: Two major challenges in ISKCON: 1. Lack of reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. 2. Lack of qualified leadership Solving lack of reading challenge: 1. Personal vows. 2. Study groups. 3. Bhakti Sastri courses. Lack of qualified leaders: 1. GBC College, which has been going on for three years The initial GBC was 100% American. Now it is 60% American. Of those in the GBC college now, none are Americans, yet they come from all other parts of the world.

The perigee (the point situated nearest the earth in the orbit of a celestial body around the earth) of the orbit of Venus (the gross planet out there) coincides with the outer coast of the ocean of ghee (clarified butter). The perigee of Mars is the inner coast of the ocean of milk. The perigee of Mercury is the outer coast of the ocean of milk. The perigee of Venus is the inner coast of the ocean of sweet water. The apogee (the point of the orbit of the moon, or a planet or a satellite that lies the farthest of the earth) of the planet...