By Madhava SmullenThe first annual Festival of Inspiration, held in 2001, quickly lived up to its name. It put New Vrindaban, which had recently rejoined ISKCON, back on the map as an important place of pilgrimage for North American devotees. And it introduced a new breed of festival â the Krishna conscious vacation â now hugely popular in ISKCON. This was the first time that devotees from all over could come to hear dozens of senior teachers speak on a wide variety of spir...
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- 3 May 2014
By Bhakta BharathOn April 27, 2014 devotees from all over Bangalore assembled at Sri Sri Narasimha Giridhari Mandir (ISKCON Bangalore) for the celebration of a massive "Festival of Kirtana". The Festival was dedicated to Srila Vrindavana Dasa Thakura and Sri Gadadhara Pandita. Festival of Kirtana features singing, dancing and honouring prasadam. The process of chanting, dancing and feasting on prasadam was introduced by Lord Sri Chaitany...
- 3 May 2014
By Braj Vilas DasThe office is located above the life membership office and its Grand Opening was celebrated by their presence with a Guru puja to Srila Prabhupada and enthusiastic kirtan of hundreds of resident devotees. This auspicious celebration commenced on sunday morning 27th of April 2014. We thank the leaders of Mumbai yatra for their devotion to the TOVP project and hope to accomplish many fundraising events in the near future in Mumbai.
...- 3 May 2014
By Parasuram dasaWe are presently standing in the middle of a massive Harinam party in Amsterdam, for the King's Day celebrations. About 150 devotees, many are young boys and girls which gives us hope that the movement is moving . Fired up dancing brahmacaris in saffron robes, and the energy is contagious, the general public can't control themselves, they are caught up in the dancing frenzy.
...- 30 Apr 2014
By Basu Ghosh DasBhavnagar is one of the large cities of Gujarat, located in the Southeastern side of the Saurashtra peninsula. Named after itâs founder, Raja (King) Bhavsinhji Gohil, it was founded in 1724.1. Presently Bhavnagar is the sixth largest city in Gujarat, after Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda (Vadodara), Rajkot and Jamnagar.2 The population of Bhavnagar is six lakhs (6,00,000)3, but unofficially it is probably more.
...- 30 Apr 2014
By Vraja Vilasa dasFriday, May 2nd, is Akshaya Tritiya, considered to be an extremely auspicious day on the Vedic calendar. It is a day bereft of all inauspiciousness and any endeavors engaged in on this day will have all success. It is totally unnecessary to check the muhurtha (time of day) for any activity undertaken on this day. The word Akshaya means âthat which never diminishesâ. Whatever services or dana (gifts) offered to the S...
- 30 Apr 2014
By Vijaya dasaHere's some big news from the world of book distribution. For the first time Cuba has reported a book distribution score! I have been hearing about devotees from Miami going there to hold programs with favorable people and even going out on book distribution. Now they have reported scores. This is very auspicious. People of Spanish decent are generally quite pious, as Srila Prabhupada noted when he visited Mexico and Venezuela. Cubans are no exception. Some very nice devotees in Miami ...
- 29 Apr 2014
By Praghosa dasa"So our request is. Everyone who is present here. Today is Radhastami. So pray to Radharani. And She is hare, hara. This hare, this word, is Radharani. Hara, Radharani. Radha or hara the same thing. So Hare Krsna. So we are praying to Radharani, "My Mother, Radharani, and Krsna." Hare Krsna. "O Krsna, O the Lord." Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, the same thing, repetition. "O Radharani, O Krsna." "O Radha-Krsna." "Radhe-Krsna" or "Hare Krsna," the same thing. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna...
- 28 Apr 2014
By Premvilas dasThe farm is 30 minutes from Eastern Kentucky University, in Richmond and within one hour driving distance to Louisville and Lexington. These are the two largest cities and boast the two largest Universities in Kentucky. Cintamani Dham is easily accessible by road or flight or, you can swim right on down the Kentucky River. Why not? True to its name, Cintamani Dham is 250 acres of pure bliss. Nestled in a beautiful valley, surro...
- 27 Apr 2014
By Madhavananda DasObtaining the mercy of a pure devotee is an absolute necessity for those who aspire for the service and association of the Supreme Lord in the spiritual world. Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami writes in madhya-lÄ«lÄ 22.51. One may do...
- 27 Apr 2014
By ISKCON KuchingISKCON has been existing in Malaysia for the past 32 years. The government of Malaysia have been very supportive towards ISKCON in the past years. Despite having a Muslim majority, devotees are allowed to have public Ratha Yatras in this country. Malaysia probably has the most number of Ratha Yatras compared to any other country in the world. More than 30 each year. Devotees from ISKCON Kuching, headed by HG Kripa ...
- 27 Apr 2014
By Shyamananda DasaThe hordes of demons killed by the Lord during His pastimes on the earthly realm represent the different anarthas we have stock piled in our hearts during our long sojourn in the material world in different species of life. The demon named Vatsasura who took the form of a calf and tried to kill Sri Krishna was killed by the Lord during His boyhood pastimes in Vrndavana. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura in an article titled 'Vatsaura' reveals an esoteric meaning of the Lor...
- 27 Apr 2014
By Priyavrata DasConsuming dairy from a loved, respected and protected cow is perfectly in line with the essential ideology of veganism -- non-violence. But if you're a fanatical vegan, you won't bring yourself to accept such a possibility. So it is best to avoid trying to press that ideal into a new form of the ideology, ...
- 27 Apr 2014
By Kanupriya Devi DasiDevaki Mataji concluded the discussion explaining how materialistic culture promotes envy and competition, whereas spiritual culture promotes care and selfless service to one another. A beautiful plaque for the Institute for Spiritual Culture was unveiled, which was later mounted near the entrance of the Goshala Building, where the Institute is located.
...- 26 Apr 2014
By Chaitanya Charan dasLokanath Swami: Baladeva Das was not just a tireless BTG distributor; he was also a prominent supporter and fundraiser for the Prabhupada Ghat project in Pandharpur and an active preacher in the Alandi-Pandharpur Dindi yatra (an annual mass pilgrimage of tens of thousands that lasts for nearly a fortnight). By his exemplary devotion, I am sure that he returned back to godhead.
...- 23 Apr 2014
By Parasuram dasDhaneswara prabhu (acbsp) author of 'Spiritual Economics' joins the Saturday Night Harinam in London. The Harinam started at 1pm and continued till 10pm, with a prasad break at 6pm. Everybody who came on that Harinam felt surcharged, walking on air.
...- 21 Apr 2014
By Radhanath SwamiSrimad Bhagavatam class (10.44.04) at ISKCON Chowpatty, 2014-04-19
...- 21 Apr 2014
By the Governing Body Commission of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness"Any person who is seriously desirous of achieving real happiness must seek out a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of a spiritual master is that he must have realized the conclusion of the scriptures by deliberation and arguments and thus be able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken complete shelter of the ...
- 21 Apr 2014
By Sita Rama dasaThe original home of the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the spiritual world. In the spiritual world both the Lord and the living entities live together very peacefully. Since the living entity remains engaged in the service of the Lord, they both share a blissful life in the spiritual world. However, when the living entity, misusing his tiny independence, wants to enjoy himself, he falls down into the material world
...- 20 Apr 2014
By Visnu Murti dasaVanipedia happily announces to everyone that the *Srila Prabhupada's Audio to Text Fidelity Project *created to proofread all the lectures & conversations of Srila Prabhupada is *now launched.* Already there are three devotees (Rishab, Uma and Surya) involved, and now we are ready to engage more proofreaders.
...- 20 Apr 2014
By Dulal Chandra dasa George Harrison's lyrics to My Sweet Lord drew many to the path of Krsna Consciousness and also provide insight regarding states of mind conducive to steady advancement - patience and confidence. The advancing bhakta [sadhaka] must remain equipoised when confronted with the realization that meaningful spiritual advancement "takes so long" on the one hand, and fully confident that mercy is forthcoming through Krsna's pure devotees, "it wont t...
- 20 Apr 2014
By Chaitanya Charan dasConsider the experience of seeing a beautiful sunset. We can directly experience the beauty of the sunset. But can any scientific experiment measure that beauty? Science could perhaps measure some parameters like the intensity of the sunlight, but such measurements would do little to convey or explain the actual experience of the beauty.
...- 19 Apr 2014
By Mayesvara DasaAt the present moment, society is in a chaotic condition, and everyone has given up the cultivation of spiritual life, which is especially meant for the brÄhmaá¹as. Because spiritual culture has been stopped all over the world, there is now an emergency, and therefore it is now time to train those who are considered lower and condemned, so that they may become brÄhmaá¹as and take up the work of spiritual progress. The spiritual progress of human society has...
- 19 Apr 2014
By Mukhya Devi DasiThe Festival of Colors 2014 was a grand success with more people than last year and many more attendees from outside the devotee community coming over to play Holi. Devotees invited colleagues and friends; we networked extensively on Facebook; advertised on Google, in local print publications, press releases all over Florida and on radio, too. We borrowed friend's mailing lists, and the word went around. We shared our community, chanting the maha mantra, prasadam, and Kri...
- 18 Apr 2014