By the GBCWhereas notwithstanding the launching of a full-time, world-wide Fund Raising Campaign, the TOVP’s very nature and magnitude is unprecedented in size and quality of materials and works—as specified by Srila Prabhupada—and in spite of the frugality of expenditure as evidenced by its accounts, remains in critical need of further funding to keep the construction going without interruption to prohibit any further increase in budget and delay, especially as it now enters the crucial finishing stages; ...
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- 5 Apr 2015
By Madhavananda dasOne may ask how it was that the brahmacari was obliged to maintain his aged mother? Since he had devoted himself to religious pursuits and was strictly following the vows of brahmacarya, would he not be free from this obligation as per the following injunction of Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.41? Anyone who has completely given up all worldly relationships and has taken absolute shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord, who gives us salvation and who alone is fit to be taken shelter of, is no longer a de...
- 4 Apr 2015
By Sivarama SwamiOne morning Mother Yasoda resolved to propose the match of Radha and Krsna to the queen of Varsana. While Radhika was preparing to go home, Yasoda held her hand and said, “Radha! You are now of marriageable age. I know no one more suited for You than my son.” Taking Radha’s small hand in hers, Mother Yasoda gazed at the auspicious signs on Radha’s palms. With tears in her eyes, Yasoda reached for a tray of turmeric and gently wiped Sri Radhika’s pinkish palms until they were colored yell...
- 4 Apr 2015
By Jagannath DasMumbai: Marryam Siddiqui, a Muslim girl, has won first prize in an inter-school Bhagavad Gita competition which was held in Jan 2015 in Mumbai. The 12-year-old Class VI student of Cosmopolitan High School won the 'Gita Champions League' contest for explaining the teachings of the scripture in the best possible manner. Around 3,000 students participated in the event, which was organised by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) in January 2015.
...- 4 Apr 2015
By Ravindra Svarupa dasaSelves are beings that experience, centers of consciousness, subjects. Matter does not experience; it is without subjectivity, it is completely an object. Selves live; matter is lifeless. When the selves enter the alien, material energy, they acquire and animate bodies ma& out of lifeless matter. Driven by a desire to forget Krishna and their relation to Him, they identify themselves with bodies of matter- In this way the self becomes a divided being.
...- 4 Apr 2015
By Mahaksa DasI was thinking about those devotees in our movement who have stopped to drink milk at all. I have realized it is a form of strike. I use to drink proper milk but I will strike with you. We should get boards, stand before temple on Sunday feast of LOVE as Srila Prabhupada established and demand our spiritual rights. We should have signs like this: "We giving you donations and you buying cars, BUT WE WANT COWS!" "You give to our children poisonous food and milk, instead of liberating us, you are imp...
- 4 Apr 2015
By Mahavrata Devi DasiThe celebrations of Ram appearance in Nigeria Nanda Gram temple this year was unique and filled with tension. Reasons was that the celebrations fell same day with the country general elections, as Nigerians went out to vote their new president. many devotees and guests also used the opportunity to take shelter in the temple for fear of post election violence. Despite the tension, the activity went smoothly as planed. Devotees started by chanting bhajans, followed by abhisek, fire sacrifice, ...
- 3 Apr 2015
By Sri Chaitanya Chandra DasGrowth of technology is like growth of cancer cells. These cells destroy the body on which they themselves are feeding, leading to their own destruction ultimately. Technology is growing, trying to exploit and destroy mother earth but that would ultimately lead to destruction of the technology users themselves. Technology can be utilized but as moderately as possible. Prabhupada says that just like the human body temperature is 98 degree Fahrenheit normally. If it shoots too high or too...
- 3 Apr 2015
By Sadbhuja DasPadmanabha Balakrsna Acharya is the governor of Assam, Nagalnd and Tripura. He has come to Mayapur during his visit to West Bengal. Padmanabha Acharya has been very fortunate to be able to serve Prabhupada by welcoming Him in is his house for 40 days, during the opening of the Iskcon temple in Mumbai. He is very please with the service put into the Temple of the Vedic planetarium and by seeing Prabhupada's vision manifesting.
...- 3 Apr 2015
By Mahakarta DasChief Minister for Western Province of Sri Lanka Hon. Prasanna Ranatunga participated in this festival and received the blessings from Sri Sri Radha Rajagopal. His presence on that day made the event even more remarkable. The Hon. Minister also visited and inspected the new Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple construction site and was happy that a temple for Lord Vishnu is being constructed. He also told that he will give the necessary assistance from his office towards the new temple construction project...
- 2 Apr 2015
By Chittahari Krsna DasHis Holiness Bhakti Prema Swami received initiation from His Holiness Bhakti Caru Swami Maharaj . He came in Krishna Consciousness in 1994. Since 1994, when he was 27, he is serving in the mission of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. He sings Vaishnav Bhajans melodiously and beautifully explains their purports. He focuses on establishing loving relationship with devotees and everyone else. He preaches in English, Hindi and Bengali in Ujjain and many other places of Madhya Pradesh especially...
- 31 Mar 2015
By Vishakha Devi DasiIt was at a tent program in the center of Mumbai during a warm March evening in 1971 that I first encountered actual knowledge. Srila Prabhupada was speaking, and although I missed much of what he said because of his accent, I sensed that I was hearing something worlds apart from all that I’d ever heard before. The experience was scary but exhilarating, and something in me that had been sleeping began to stir. Because Prabhupada was noble, learned, and gentlemanly, despite myself (I was an ...
- 31 Mar 2015
By Anuradha Devi DasiHeld in a spacious açrama, far away “from the madding crowd,” the retreat bestowed upon us many blessings. I was happy to leave behind computer, internet, phone, and the comforts of my daily life, and just be absorbed in bhajana. As Praçäntä Devé had explained in the opening ceremony, "To go on a retreat means to get away from all our pressures and worries to simply become absorbed in cultivating our relationship with Kåñëa and the devotees, so we may return to our life strengthene...
- 31 Mar 2015
By the GBCWhereas the desire of the international GBC is that a retirement village be created in Sridham Mayapur that would operate under the direction of the international GBC Resolved: That the Retirement Village/Elders’ Enclave is under the exclusive direction of the international GBC Body. There is no direction or control from any other ISKCON entity.
...- 31 Mar 2015
By Jai Sita Rani Devi DasiSita Swayambara in Sri Jaganatha Mandir, Kuala Lumpur, 2nd Malaysian Chinese Hare Krishna Global Convention, Lovely Planet is now in Malaysia, Seberang Jaya - Temple Update 25/3/2015, Praying for protection at New Godruma Dhama farm, Bhakti-groove in Klang, Farm Fresh Products at Sri Jagannatha Mandir, Kuala Lumpur and more...
...- 30 Mar 2015
By Sadhu Jivan DasFor the first time in history of Punjab a cultural youth festival was conducted by ISKCON Ludhiana at the famous Lovely Professional University in which more than 400 Engineering students participated. Program was inaugurated by Mr Singhla (Director General ) and other faculty members amidst a warm lamp lighting ceremony. Program started with a video show presenting nationwide activities of IYF (Youth wing of ISKCON).
...- 30 Mar 2015
By Rama Vigraha dasWhat do you do with teenagers during a school break? Hike, camp-out, travel! It really gets the spider webs out of their heads and they love it. Thanks to the generous donation of Nitesh Patel from LA and the mercy of Lord Narasimha, we finally packed our backpacks and headed towards Ahobilam in South India. The train ride let the boys cut up with all the sleep they think they have missed, and eating sandwiches was definitely not a problem.
...- 30 Mar 2015
By Vijaya DasaFebruary turned out to be a great month for the Pune temple: It was the No.1 temple in the world. Look out, Mayapur and New Delhi! Pune is entering the transcendental competition. Rightly so, since 160 brahmacaris live there. I just visited the recently constructed Pune temple, where the presiding Deities are Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, Sri Sri Radha-Vrndavana-chandra, and Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra - all very beautiful Deities. The temple is one of the most beautiful in the world. Krsna certainly r...
- 30 Mar 2015
By Jagannath DasThis evening, March 29th, 2015, MP Ms. Hema Malini Visited ISKCON Vrindavan. HH Gopal Krishna Maharaj, HG Panchgauda and HG Deena Bandhu Das greeted her in Temple. She has a deep affection for Krishna Balaram. She ate Krishna Balaram's Prasad with deep interest which was given to her by and HH Gopal Krishna Maharaj requested her to be the Chairman for Next Years ISKCON's 50th Anniversary, She Readily accepted it.
...- 29 Mar 2015
By Yonka Yancheva Once I had to do a painting for an ISKCON center in Bulgaria. It was a picture of Radha and Krishna appearing from both sides of the altar. I decided to start with Krishna. When the time came to start painting the portrait of Srimati Radharani, I was in this mood that I could do anything very easily, without making an effort. I thought I would paint her in a day. Haha- big mistake. The first time I painted her, it didn’t work. I painted her again, and it didn’t work either. I tried once more...
- 29 Mar 2015
By Chaitanya Charan dasMany people treat devotion as a calling to which some are called and some (they) aren’t. Thus, they rationalize delaying their practice of devotion till some uncertain future when they will feel the call. It’s true that many great saints had life-defining moments of calling – moments that folk narratives about them glamorize. But such narratives often neglect the reality that those saints’ devotion was not just a calling but also a choice, a choice they resolutely exercised lifelong...
- 29 Mar 2015
By Dusyanta dasaUnless we understand and accept that eating is intrinsically linked to agriculture then our understanding will always be flawed and incomplete. What we put into our mouths is based on a huge agricultural system that began months before we even bought or grew the food. The way our food is farmed bears down exactly on whether there is violence in our food, whether the environment has been exploited and damaged, whether animals have been slaughtered, whether artificial pharmaceutical fertilisers, her...
- 28 Mar 2015
By Sukanti Radha Devi DasiHG Praghosa das recently announced in Mayapur that 2015, the 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the Western world, as The Year of the ToVP. Here in the British Isles we want to support that statement of HG Praghosa prabhu by embarking upon a “1 million £ plus” challenge and by creating awareness of The temple of Vedic Planetarium this year. The Temple of Vedic Planetarium team upon invitation, will visit any temple, centre or festival, serving in harmony with those...
- 28 Mar 2015
By Hrdaya Caitanya dasI have had a few queries from some devotees about the last title of our prasadam distribution venture – 'Banana Plates to Gold Leaf' – so for anyone else who might be curious and found it too cryptic it as simply a reference to the banana plates we serve the prasadam on, and the gold leaf that will be part of the stunning Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. So we were out again on Wednesday and this time it was pretty hectic. Firstly before leaving the ISKCON campus our motor rickshaw broke...
- 28 Mar 2015