By Romapada SwamiKarma is only created in the human form of life. But it is said that karma does not act on a child or on grown-up persons with child-like or animal-like intelligence. For example: according to Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 13 verse 1, Srila Prabhupada describes an interesting story of Manduka Muni who was wrongly sentenced to be impaled for an action he did not commit. The story is narrated as follows. Once upon a time the state police caught some thieves who had concealed themselves...
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- 18 Feb 2016
By Sri Gauranga DasOn Sunday 14th February 2016, ISKCON Nairobi held its first ever Gita Champions League prize giving ceremony. The Chairman of Hindu Council of Kenya Mr. Nitin Malde graced the occasion and enlivened the audience with his inspiring address. The National Secretary of Hindu Council of Kenya Mr. Kamal Gupta, His Holiness Bhakti Vasudeva Swami a travelling sannyasi, senior members of ISKCON Nairobi - Madhava Das and Rukma Das and Mrs. Mahida headmistress of Nairobi South Nursery, Primary and...
- 17 Feb 2016
By Anya KultyshkinaKerala is the most materially educated state in India. Almost all local people know English. That is why even those devotees who do not know the local languages of India can go there and preach Krsna consciousness. There is a need to bring Krsna consciousness to this area, because although the people are materially educated, spiritual knowledge is lacking. Because of contact with Europeans, first with Vasco Da Gama in the 15thcentury and later with the British dominion, many Christian c...
- 17 Feb 2016
By Sundar Nitai dasWhen we approached Paul in his office two weeks earlier to present our humble request for translation of one of Srila Prabhupada’s books, we were anxious and excited, but Paul’s genuine warm personality drove the anxiety away. Our excitement remained. Paul advised us to send our work to him and we sent him the Maha mantra and its explanation. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught that the holy name of the Lord is the sound incarnation of the Lord and that since the Lord is the absol...
- 17 Feb 2016
By Sacinandana SwamiThe Govardhana Retreat has been going on since 2000 – the first with only thirty students under the trees surrounding Giriraja (we still remember having to crawl under a barbed wire fence to get to our spot!), the most recent with almost a thousand students, now at a rented ashram. As the number of students has grown, so too has our desire to serve this ever-expanding community of devotees by building our own centre at Govardhana, along with our awareness that we needed our own plac...
- 17 Feb 2016
By Bhagavan DasAmong the activities carried out in the holy atmosphere of Nova Gokula, there was a lot of contact with nature: a visit to the stables, work in the garden and bathing in the river were some opportunities provided for participants for enjoying the simple life, away from the artificiality and pollution in urban environment. Vaikuntha Murti, Secretary for the Youth of ISKCON Brazil and Subhadra's husband, says: “The visit to the goshala was surprising because many of them had little contact ...
- 15 Feb 2016
By Gunacuda dasiHrimati dasi: As a mother of two alumni students of the SMIS school, I must say that Sri Mayapur international School is an ISKCON school that works. The school gives the students am opportunity to fully develop their own individual skills, while growing up in an Krishna Counscious environment without sacrificing and still enjoying their childhood. After completing their education at SMIS, one of my boys has become a full time Sankirtan Bramachari, while his twin brother is studying medici...
- 11 Feb 2016
By Samba DasThe Bhaktivedanta Academy Gurukula In Mayapur is already around 90% self sufficient in food production. Now with the development of the Varnasrama College we aim to teach self sufficiency in other areas of life. Our first project is to work with the boys to create a timber frame house based on a vernacular found across South East Asia. Why Timber Frame? Back in the 70’s and 80’s many trees were planted in Mayapur to be used as cash crops. One of the species, that thrives in frequently flood...
- 11 Feb 2016
By Mathura Lilesvari Devi DasiThaipusam is a festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon day in the Tamil month of Thai (January/February). It is mainly observed in countries where there is a significant presence of Tamil community such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. The festival commemorates the occasion when Mother Parvati gave Lord Skanda a Vel "spear" so he could vanquish the daityasura Soorapadman. Thaipusam is a public holiday in Malaysia. Thousands of Hindus gat...
- 11 Feb 2016
By Chaitanya Charan dasMaharaja has won the hearts of thousands, if not millions, all over the world because of his capacity to connect at the level of the heart with people. That is not a skill we get genetically or learn by some self-help training. We can form heart-to-heart connections with others only when we have genuine respect and concern for them. And Maharaja has always had that in abundance, even from his pre-devotional days. I remembered an incident during his spiritual search. A sadhu had ser...
- 10 Feb 2016
By Radha Mohan das His Holiness Sivarama Swami has begun a long-term project to build a template for social structure in the ISKCON farm community in Hungary, based on the ancient varnasrama system.During a two part seminar on the subject delivered at the Manor, Maharaja described in no uncertain terms about how Srila Prabhupada had wanted the development of varnasrama, the backbone of a practical society that complements the process of devotional service.
...- 9 Feb 2016
By Purushottam Nitai DasAt the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna put aside his weapons and with tears in his eyes looked at Krishna expecting compassion. But in return he got chastisement. Tears of sorrow did not impress Krishna but rather it displeased him. If a child refuses to appear in an exam then his mother won’t be sympathetic although her child may give several reasons for not giving the exam. Mother being the best well -wisher of her child knows how important exam is for her child’s career. ...
- 9 Feb 2016
By Sajjanasraya dasaAn Istha ghosti is a wonderful opportunity to understand the hearts of the devotee. We express our feelings, and give suggestions to improve our divine service and to increase our sense of belonging in our devotional community. The essence of everything is serving and doing things for Krishna with love, attention, care, respect, concentration and helping others to know their best friend. If people are ready to listen we can tell them directly about Him. Those who aren’t ready to h...
- 8 Feb 2016
By Jaya Sada Gosai DasaOn the 26th of January this year, ISCKON Adelaide celebrated its 3rd annual Rath Yatra. Lord Jagannath took to the streets as a part of the Australia Day Parade, His rath being designated as one of the floats. But, true to form, He stole the show yet again. With His huge, delighted eyes and inimitable smile, the Lord of the Universe appeared to be in rollicking good cheer. He was primed for an afternoon of wanton mercy distribution and thousands of unsuspecting onlookers reaped the ...
- 7 Feb 2016
By Nandarani Devi DasiIn ISKCON Sri Lanka, the Gita program was initiated last year. The program started with a short advert on newspaper and 25 people enrolled for the program. This program consists of 12 classes and was conducted on basis of 2 classes per week. The participants of the program were interested in the content and on the matters discussed in the class. At completion of the program all the participants were tested on their knowledge on Gita. Further certificate of completion of the program w...
- 6 Feb 2016
By Vijaya DasaWell, prabhus, it looks like a new pace has been set by Mayapur. Mayapur was again the No. 1 temple in the world in 2015. But not by much! Mayapur did 1,576,532 book points, and New Delhi did 1,533,199. Mayapur won by only 43,333 book points. What is amazing is that New Delhi more than doubled what Mayapur did during the marathon! Every year there is an intense transcendental competition between the two temples, and what a competition it is: They both increased their book distribution by 12%...
- 6 Feb 2016
By Mandakini devi dasiPreaching Krishna Consciousness in a largely atheistic, impersonal and demigod worshiping society who shun organised religion is a special skill. Devotees in the province of Taiwan are yielding positive results with a well- established and easily digestible approach. The pioneers in this field have determined that success will surely reach the inner core of the population with the regular distribution of lunch boxes, spiritual books and Harinama. However, particularly by offering Ha...
- 5 Feb 2016
By Jahnu DasHare Krishnas don't have to believe in God. We know who God is, what He looks like, what He wants, why and how He created the world and who and what the soul is. This info is available in the Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita is the only book in the world in which someone claiming to be God, describes in detail about Himself, the soul and Nature and how they inter-relate. Also, we don't have to believe in Evolution or Darwin's theory, as there is no empirical evidence to support that theory. In...
- 4 Feb 2016
By Toronto Sankirtan TeamFor your pleasure Srila Prabhupada, the Toronto chapter of your Sankirtan Army, had a glorious year 2015. We organized many sankirtan festivals, participated in several multicultural festivals in and around the city, knocked on thousands of doors, placed books in countless venues from hotels to homeless shelters. We distributed several thousands of books, distributed huge quantities of prasadam and reached out to many more souls, with a hope to connect them to you. The Toronto San...
- 4 Feb 2016
By Anuttama dasWe all get messages that there is something beyond ordinary life, and that what we are doing is not the all in all. Whether it's through a holy book, experiencing the loss of a loved one, an intuition, deja vu, or just watching Matrix or Star Wars and wondering about our origins – we all are reminded from within from time to time, that there is more to life than a few years of hard struggle and mixed results. Do we respond to that call, or just shake it off?
...- 3 Feb 2016
By Zayani BhattTemple Presidents and communications teams from ISKCON temples across the UK gathered at Bhaktivedanta Manor to mark National Communications Day 2016 on Saturday 30th January. The day was dedicated to workshops, presentations and discussions centred on the communications strategy for the year, ideas for the 50th year celebrations and essential media training. The national communications team intends to enhance cohesion across ISKCON temple communications throughout the UK and provid...
- 3 Feb 2016
By Gaura VaniWhen you listen to this audiobook you feel as if you are in his private room hearing him recount every detail of his often perilous and sometimes humorous—but never dull—journey across the earth. The intimate experience of hearing Radhanath Swami tell his story lasts for nineteen hours and is enhanced with thematic music and tasteful sound effects. The book itself touched the hearts of people around the globe. Ram Dass, teacher and author of Be Here Now, described it as “fascinating ...
- 2 Feb 2016
By Madhava SmullenPossibly the hottest topic at the Fall 2015 ISKCON New Vrindaban and Eco-Vrindaban Board Meetings, and certainly the one that drew the most interest, was the Community Dialog about a proposed new “Village Association.” For decades, New Vrindaban residents have felt a need to be heard more by the ISKCON management and to have more influence on how their community is run. So with a possible solution at hand, they were buzzing as they crowded into the Palace Lodge community hall after l...
- 2 Feb 2016
By Kesava Krsna DasaSome spiritual practitioners think that now they have achieved some reasonable control of the physical sex urge, they are well nigh up there in the wispy clouds of victorious abstinence, deserving of respect and honour. Wrong! Congratulations on becoming a decent human being. Welcome to the world of subtle selfishness. Srila Prabhupada states: 'Illicit sex is the most prominent sin due to lusty desire.' This is because it is sometimes called ' adi-rasa ' the primeval, original plea...
- 1 Feb 2016