Local Council in UK laud community charity achievements.
The charity ‘Gratitude’ recently celebrated its 5th anniversary with a special event attracting senior devotees, members of Hertsmere Council, representatives of contributing local supermarkets, charity representatives and other well-wishers. Gratitude saves food from waste and uses it to benefit people in need in the local community via social gatherings that are educational in terms of healthy lifestyle and waste awareness. Their main outlet is St. Theresa parish hall in Borehamwood...

Ratha Yatra at Saranagati, Canada (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Krishna stresses the importance of remembering Him. One‘s memory of Krishna is revived by chanting the maha-mantra, Hare Krishna. By this practice of chanting and hearing the sound vibration of the Supreme Lord, one’s ear, tongue and mind are engaged. This mystic meditation is very easy to practice, and it helps one attain the Supreme Lord. (Bhagavad-Gita 8.8 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/tNdxav

Mantra Therapy Retreat to Scenic Hungary.
Mantra Therapy, the dynamic, contemporary Sanga Group for professionals, celebrated its 8th Anniversary with a special Spiritual Retreat at the beautiful New Vraja Dham in Hungary. 28 attendees, many on their first ever retreat, embraced Bhakti Yoga, immersing themselves in Temple programmes, Motivational Workshops, Meditation, Martial Arts, Hiking, and signature Mantra Therapy style Kirtans. The group were also blessed with a special seminar by Sivarama Swami, and got to experience the “simple living, hi...

True Devotion
Dhirasanta Das Goswami: Once upon a time, the residents of a small village were affected by a famine; the villagers were already poor and had a tough and hard life. Thanks to the famine, they now had to battle with starvation and various diseases.
The village priest was a 70-year-old man who was a great devotee of Krishna; he was moved by the condition of the villagers. As each day passed by, their condition worsened.
Since the famine started, the villagers would visit his
temple thrice a day and pray to Krishna to fulfill the...

Rocking in Dublin with Huntertones Band from New York (5 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: If the surface of the globe is overflood......

Will Artificial Intelligence take over the world?
What are the long-term threats to society posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Will they come to dominate us? But, even before that, can we allow them to make life-and-death decisions? What does it mean to augment humans beyond natural physical and mental limits? These were the questions posed by a multi-faith consultancy event: Faith and AI organised at the St George’s Centre at Windsor Castle. Faith representatives, including Akhandadhi das, met with Gila Sacks, the government’s Directo...

Ladies’ Away Day!
Once a month, the ladies’ residence (ashram) at the Manor, organizes teambuilding activities for the residents. In spirit of the theme “Keeping it Spiritual”, the ashram split into groups and each chose one of the three different aspects of Sadhana (spiritual practice), Sanga (association) and Samraksha (cow protection): Sadhana - we read, discussed and reflected on some of the prayers of Queen Kunti and sang kirtan on a specially organised ashram away day. Sanga - Siddhi-lalasa dasi facilitated a Q&A to ad...

Radha Kunda Seva: July 2018 Photos and Updates (Album of photos)
We are happy to report that this month was the culmination of years of persistent endeavor, ending in excitingly huge success. We have been working for several years to gain non-profit status in India so as to freely promote this service here. Up until now, we’ve only had non-profit status in the West. It has been a difficult, complicated and long process, but it’s finally come through! We are relieved and exuberant at this big accomplishment. As always the cleaning work and p...

Preaching program in Szombathely, Hungary (Album of photos)
Last night Sivarama Swami gave a presentation on Compassionate Liv......

Avanti House explores Faith Ethos.
Teachers and staff from the Avanti House Secondary School in Stanmore came to the Manor for a special presentation by Navin Krishna das (Nitesh Gor). Nitesh who is the Founder and Chief Executive, Avanti Schools Trust, explained “The purpose was to explore the faith ethos of Avanti schools.” All the attendees then received first class hospitality provided by the Visitors and Tours team and kitchen crew. ISKCON is the faith affiliate for the Avanti Schools.

Transcendental Art in ISKCON.
With the help of Bhaktivedanta Manor, in a new academic documentary Professor Gwilym Beckerlegge explores the importance of sacred books and ‘transcendental art’ in the life of ISKCON. The film is now part of the teaching materials of ‘Exploring Religion’ - the Open University’s latest introductory course in the study of religions. The film and the associated book are linked to the part of the course that examines religious texts, including oral traditions and art as well as sacred books. Prof...

Pol’and’Rock - 2nd Day (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: As hundreds of thousands of people flooded the Pol’and’Rock Festival, Krsna’s Village of Peace went into action. From Ratha Yatra down the main avenue, to prasadam distribution and continuous kirtan in our Mantra Yoga tent, the sincere efforts of over 700 devotees caused a tidal wave of mercy.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/qJ3yG6

Rathayatra in Vladivostok (Album of photos)
Vladivostok is a major Pacific port city in Russia overlooking Golden Horn Bay, ne......

Welcome to the Conch Aug 2018 Issue.
The monthly newsletter for the community of ISKCON New Govardhana (Krishna Farm)
Table of Contents: Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Lord Balarama Appears
Historic Building Breathes New Life
52 Years and Counting!
Krishna Pad News
Northern Adventures
Maha Jewellery by Manjula
In Focus: Krpalu Krsna Balarama Dasa
Magic in Krishna’s Gardens
The Lord’s Plan
Ratha-Yatra Snapshot
Read it online here: https://conch.org.au/c...

Chant and be Still!
Ananda Vrindavaneswari: There is a great connection between stillness and listening. “Don’t move” we say when we hear some noise around the house in the middle of the night. In yoga we hold the body still in order to hear the breath. We will hold the shoulders of our child while we tell her something important.

In the tradition of mantra meditation, the repetition of a sacred sound, how we listen, how we hear the mantra is the difference between a successful practice or not. Although in the Krishna Bhakti p...

Pol'and’ Rock 2018 - First Day (10 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: n this video we see the buildup to this year’s Poland’and’Rock festival, formally known as Polish Woodstock. Krsna’s Village of Peace plays an important part of the event. The sheer numbers of people who come to our village attests to that! We plan to distribute 150,000 full plates of prasadam in 72 hours!
...

Maha-Harinama with HH Sacinandana Swami and Pandava Sena - Stockholm 4 Aug 2018 (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: A person w......

Krishna calls just another soul back to Him!
Shastrakrit Das: All you kind hearted Mahatmas out there please listen to this nectar: His name is Omkar, hardly 10 years old. He approached my book table and told me that recently he finished reading The Bhagavad Gita as it is cover to cover in two weeks. I asked him what is his conclusion after reading the Gita. He said that “Krishna is simply awesome”, I asked him where he got the Gita from? He reminded me that I gifted him the book couple of months ago. I asked him what book he wants to read ...

Gundica Marjana 2018 at New Govardhana, Australia (4 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: The first result of chanting the maha-mantra......

Sri Krishna Haveli project update (Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK)
Construction work on Bhaktivedanta Manor’s new Haveli has begun and is in full swing with a date of completion for Janmashtami 2019. • The Primary school & Preschool have been relocated. • Radharani’s bakery has been relocated. • New access roads to car parks are in use. • New greenhouses for Tulasi devi are completed • The Site perimeter has been erected for construction • Over 100 truck-loads of subsoil has been removed to level the site &b...

Spiritual retreats, UK.
The College of Vedic Studies (CVS) is now organizing no less than 6 retreats a year. There have been five retreats since last September, including Buckland Hall in Wales, Radhadesh Temple in Belgium and the Goloka Dham temple in Germany. Retreat attendees have a chance to immerse themselves in the daily practice of Krishna Consciousness and the association of devotees, away from the mundane routines of life. Asha Bhimji shares her experience: “My highlight over the last few years has been the CVS retreat to the Goloka Dha...

Known American rapper and occasional producer KRS-One, a longtime friend of the devotees, presents in this video his own version of “you are not this body”
...

Senior Padayatra bull Narasimha completed 1 and a half round walking around India in 13 years!
All India Padayatra NEWS (1 min video)
By Acarya Dasa and Prajeesh Prabhu
On August 3, 2018, All India Padayatra left Pandharpur Dhama for onwards journey and reached Ajote, a small village 10 Km from Pandharpur. We left our senior bull Narasimha at Pandharpur gosala. He was with the padayatra for more than 13 years and completed 1 and a half round walking around India i.e. Tirupati to Tirupati and Tirupati to Pandharpur. The next senior bull Nandk...

TOVP’s outer wall update (Album of photos)
Sadbhuja Das: One section of the temple room outer wall is completed!
This is how the visual effect will be. This gives you an idea and indication of the detailing that we are doing.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/sC5Ats