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...
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- 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
By Urmila Devi DasiAnyone who has worked with children knows they are vulnerable to their environment. Yet children also carry from their previous lives a complex burden of good and bad karma and a particular tendency of character. In fact, the mentality of the parents during conception attracts a particular soul—with particular inclinations—to become their child. Because of this, enlightened parents prepare themselves so that they can be in spiritual consciousness during conception. Thus their child ...
- 1 Feb 2016
By Ithamar TheodorIt is sometimes said that Srila Prabhupada built a house in which the whole world can live. Inspired by this idea, I would like to suggest a three-storey house model as a reflection of the nature of ISKCON. The idea is grounded in the Bhagavad-gita and is designed to offer a supporting framework for the sankirtana movement, as well as to further the ongoing discussions of implementing varnasrama within ISKCON. The house described here has three storeys, each having fundamental distinctio...
- 1 Feb 2016
By ISKCON 50 Global OfficeThe Global Office for the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON has called upon all ISKCON temples around the world to ’50-ise’ their regular festivals in 2016 by following a few simple steps. “We need to take every opportunity to spread awareness about our 50th anniversary to the general public,” said Anuttama Das, GBC Minister for Communications, and a member of the International Executive Committee for the 50th Anniversary. “Our regular festivals such as Gaura Purnima, Rama N...
- 31 Jan 2016
By Madhava SmullenThe Service Appreciation Ceremony – a semi-annual custom introduced in 2014 that honors those who have contributed years of service to the New Vrindaban village – was held for the third time at ISKCON New Vrindaban’s Community Hall on Sunday December 6th, 2016. Previous ceremonies honored the late Madhava Gosh and his wife Vidya, Kripamaya and his wife Krsna Bhava, Malati Devi, Navin-Shyam, Jamuna, and Kacey Orr for diverse services from GBC to board member to cow and garden care. ...
- 31 Jan 2016
By Vaillant GeorgeThis paper proposes that eight positive emotions: awe, love (attachment), trust (faith), compassion, gratitude, forgiveness, joy and hope constitute what we mean by spirituality. These emotions have been grossly ignored by psychiatry. The two sciences that I shall employ to demonstrate this definition of spirituality will be ethology and neuroscience. They are both very new. I will argue that spirituality is not about ideas, sacred texts and theology; rather, spirituality is all about e...
- 30 Jan 2016
By Urmila Devi DasiOne of the most obvious qualities of the air is its subtlety. Although air is all around us, pushing on our body with a pressure of fifteen pounds per square inch (one kilogram per square centimeter), we are practically oblivious of it. We usually breathe unconsciously too, so subtle is the air moving in and out of our lungs. We see air only through its effects, such as when it moves branches and straw or carries smoke and water vapor. Krsna too is almost imperceptible to a materially ...
- 30 Jan 2016
By Sonup Sahadevan Hema Malini will release Krsna mobile app on the occasion of International Society for Krishna Consciousness' (ISKCON's) Golden Jubilee celebrations in the first week of February. This mobile app Krsna will give darshans from all over the world and will also include music, chants and chapters of Bhagvad Gita. Veteran actress Hema Malini and her love for Lord Krishna is quite well-known. The legendary actress has paid her ode to the Krishna through many of her classical dance performance...
- 28 Jan 2016
By your servants from Russian & CIS ToVP teamWe are grateful to you for engaging us in fulfilling Srila Prabhupada’s personal desire – construction of the magnificent Temple of the Golden Age! Please accept our efforts as an offering. For 2015, we collected and transferred to a bank account in Mayapur over USD 160,000. This money was collected by many different ways. Particularly, we invited donors to pay for square feet and bricks. They paid for 300 square feet, 37 Nrisimhadeva bricks, 54 Mahaprabhu...
- 28 Jan 2016
By Indira RodericksMUMBAI: Empowering the young with a new level of spirituality will be one of the foremost missions of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), as it gears up to celebrate its fifty years. Iskcon, also known as the Hare Krishna movement, has expanded widely since it was founded by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupda in New York City in 1966. Although Mumbai is home to three temples, Juhu, Girgaum and Mira Road and the under-construction temple at Kharghar, a mammoth rath y...
- 28 Jan 2016