By Bhanu SwamiIn ISKCON, there is some ambiguity in the term "fasting". This ambiguity is reflected in the VCal computer program, and it is often perpetrated in many printed calendars produced by ISKCON centers. Sometimes "fasting" means fasting from grains all day, as on Ekadasi. Sometimes it means not eating anything, even non-grain prasad, until a certain time, as in the phrases "fasting till noon on Ekadasi" (which is mentioned for the Ekadasis that occur before Vamana and Varaha Dwadasis) or "fasting till mo...
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- 26 Mar 2015
By Bhaktisiddhanta SwamiA most positive event within the century, and unprecedented victory in the age of Kali; a new government supports the saints and sadhus in their concerns for preservation and restoration of the Yamuna, the wife of the Supreme, the cynosure of cultural India. As stated in the Skanda Purana the prediction of disappearance of the Yamuna after 5,000 years of entrance into the Kali-yuga; has been temporarily delayed because of the presence of the devotees of the Lord.
...- 26 Mar 2015
By Demian MartinsO Krishna, sanctifier of the world! You are always favorable to the inhabitants of all the planets of the universe, including the demigods, who are able to give all sorts of material favors, and You bring happiness to everyone. O Lord of time, protector of the devotees! The whole existence rests within You, the Cupid of Vrindavana. Please remain dwelling happily here, being present before our eyes according to Your own will
...- 25 Mar 2015
By Indradyumna SwamiThe skinheads moved quickly into the crowd of dancing young people and stood there for a moment, as if waiting for a signal. The security men moved toward them. Sri Prahlada and the band, oblivious to the danger, were singing another song which contained the maha-mantra and the drummer played a driving beat. I jumped onstage—it would be a good vantage point if there was a fight—when to my amazement, I saw some of the skinheads begin to tap their big black boots to the music. Then, as our po...
- 25 Mar 2015
By Guna Avatara DasaWorld Alliance of Religion’s Peace Dialogue was conducted on Monday 23/03/2015 in Pannasastra University of Cambodia Siem Reap Campus. The meeting was attended by different faiths as Buddhism represented by a number of monks from monks from pagoda in Siem Reap, some Moslem, Baha’I Community, and ISKCON Cambodia represented by HG Kala dasa Vanacari Prabhu. HG is Srila Prabhupada disciple from Canada who has been preaching in Cambodia since 2013.
...- 25 Mar 2015
By Ravindra Svarupa dasaSrila Prabhupada: The Founder-Acarya of ISKCON—A “Soft-Ritvik” Work? ISKCON Now A “Fifth Sampradaya”? A Reply to These And Other Criticisms. As part of a strategic planning effort by ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission to undertake certain foundational projects to secure the long-term future of ISKCON, I devoted considerable time and effort to researching and writing a scholarly essay on the significance of Srila Prabhupada’s position as ISKCON’s Founder-Acarya. In February...
- 24 Mar 2015
By Kesava Krsna DasaScientists are fond of saying that there is no purpose to life, and yet they live their lives full of purpose. They like to marry and have children, and keep pets. They like to keep photographs of loved ones and they love their families, even though love is simply a chemical stimulant for them. Scientists have purposeful ambitions within a ‘purposeless’ world. They want to see purposeful improvement within human society while at the same time they say that determinism and sheer survival...
- 24 Mar 2015
By the GBCThis is from the ISKCON GOVERNING BODY COMMISSION SOCIETY's annual global meetings which took place at SRI MAYAPUR DHAM, FEBRUARY 6 – 16, 2015. Zonal Assignments for GBC Members, Zonal Assignments for Special Committees, Zonal Assignments for Non-GBC Members, according to areas that can be effectively supervised and realistically and regularly visited – based on geographical, cultural, linguistic, and geo-political considerations.
...- 24 Mar 2015
By Muralidhara-priya DasOn Saturday, March 14, the first TOVP program was inaugurated at New Raman Reti Dhama in Alachua, Florida, America’s largest devotee community. A packed temple room of 300+ devotees from all over Florida had come and were engaged in ecstatic kirtan while having darshan of Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and receiving Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Sitari on their heads from Jananivas prabhu’s own hands. After the kirtan Mukhya dasi, the Temple President, welcomed all the devotees and introduced the...
- 23 Mar 2015
By Pancagauda dasAt least one hundred Prabhupada disciples, including several who helped build Krishna Balarama Mandir, are attending the epic five-day celebration of the Vrindavan temple’s 40th anniversary from March 24th to 28th 2015. They are recalling the even grander original opening festival from April 16th to 27th, 1975. Attended by 1,000 devotees, it was the culmination of a ten-year struggle by ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupada to get a temple established in the sacred village Lord Krishna grew up in ...
- 23 Mar 2015
By Ramlakshman DasAs part of the on-going ISKCON LEADS educational program, the ISKCON Daiva Varnasrama Ministry (IDVM-India) presented three days of Varnasrama Seminars to a group of 30 students who had been selected from various ISKCON centers in India. ISKCON LEADS was established by the GBC some years back to provide systematic training for future leaders within our ISKCON society. The word LEADS is an acronym for “Leadership Education And Development System” whose chairman is HH Bhakti Brihat Mrdanga Maha...
- 23 Mar 2015
By Brhat Mrdanga dasIskcon Cape is proud to offer this beautiful painting of Lord Gauranga on auction. This painting of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was done by Bhakta Gilbert Ngobeni on the Appearance day of Lord Caitanya, as an offering in 2015. Iskcon Cape would like to auction this piece for the benefit of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, All proceeds from the sale of this one of a kind painting will go to the construction of the TOVP project in Mayapur India.
...- 23 Mar 2015
By Praghosa dasThe TOVP North American Tour with the Lords' Padukas and Sitari, along with Jananivas prabhu, can be viewed live on many North American temples' live broadcasts available through Krishna.com and also on MayapurTV.
...- 23 Mar 2015
By Mahavisnupriya devi dasiSrila Prabhupada appeared in this world on Lord Krishna’s request to teach us how to live a pure life of Krishna consciousness which also includes how to finally pass away from this world. For us, planning for our final chapter of life involves getting many material decisions made beforehand. Planning ahead or laying out a road map lets our transitioning from this mortal world move more smoothly while not leaving our loved ones in crisis or grappling with unknowable but important issu...
- 22 Mar 2015
By Chaitanya Charana DasaThough others before Karl Marx had promoted the idea, he made it famous: “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” What does the religion-as-opium argument imply? Atheists allege that just as opium intoxicates people with illusory feelings of well-being without offering any real relief, so does religion. Only when people shed the false hopes offered by religion will they strive for ...
- 22 Mar 2015
By Govardhan Eco Village staffGaltare Village is the home of Radhanath Swami’s project, Govardhan Eco Village, a model farm community and retreat center highlighting the importance of spiritual ecology. The procession, with a chariot carrying a Deity of Krishna, passed through the narrow streets of the village, as 2000 villagers pulled the chariot, sang kirtan and danced joyfully.
...- 21 Mar 2015
By Devaki Devi DasiOne might ask: "How is it, that a woman is delivering a seminar for men?" Actually, this course is all about women - what men always wanted to know about women, and never even thought of asking....! And who else should give such a seminar but a mother...! Our audience was greatly interested in the presented topics - listening with wrapped attention, asking good questions and engaging in lively discussions.
...- 21 Mar 2015
By radhanathswami.comDuring the evening Satsanga Swami Vimalananda Saraswati introduced Radhanath Swami to an international gathering of 150 yogis and devotees; leaders of the society, including General Secretary Swami Padmanabhananda Saraswati, were present. “We met each other for the first time in the 1970s on a mountaintop monastery in the United States. There we chanted the holy names and danced together,” Swami Vimalananda Saraswati fondly recalled. He glorified Srila Prabhupada, the Founder Acharya of t...
- 21 Mar 2015
By thehindu.com“We shall impart the knowledge of ‘Bhagwad Gita’ to students to make them independent and sharpen their power in decision making,” Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai’s (MCGM) Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ramdas Bhausaheb said. He was speaking at a prize distribution function of ‘Gita Champions League’ contest, organised by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) here on March 15. Mr. Bhausaheb said MCGM has 1,200 schools with a total strength of 4,78,000 studen...
- 21 Mar 2015
By the TOVP TeamThe devotees showed an overwhelming response to the presentation by making pledges toward the temple construction to the tune of $850,000. Next, the team traveled to Dallas, and made a similar presentation at the temple on Sunday. More than 300 people from the congregation attended, with another surprising response of $1,000,000 in collective pledges. The temple president of Dallas, Nityananda Prabhu, was pleasantly surprised by the generosity, since he was expecting us not to collect any more than...
- 20 Mar 2015
By Dr. Demian MartinsI am glad to announce that while searching for Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana’s works, I found a manuscript of Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Hari-namamrta-vyakarana. Just as Srila Jiva Gosvami’s Sat-sandarbhas were based on Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s notes on the Srimad-Bhagavatam, similarly Srila Rupa Gosvami’s grammatical treatise is the work which inspired Jiva Gosvami to write a full-fledged version of it.
...- 20 Mar 2015
By Madhava SmullenThis year, 600 to 700 devotees from all over the USA, Canada and beyond are expected to flood into the emerald hills of New Vrindaban, West Virginia from Thursday May 7th to Sunday the 10th for FOI’s unmissable 15th Anniversary event. World-renowned kirtan singers Agnideva Das and Karnamrita Dasi will kick off proceedings on Thursday with an evening of ecstatic kirtan and bhajans from 6 to 10pm.
...- 20 Mar 2015
By Mayapur staffMr. Cesare Bieller, Consul General of Italy at Kolkata, visited ISKCON Mayapur. Around 40 different nationals live peacefully as a community in Mayapur. We have few devotees from Italy residing at Mayapur and they came together to welcome and meet the Italian Consul General. Ganga Das (an Italian National), our Deputy Director had invited Mr. Cesare Bieller to visit Sri Mayapur. Ganga das took him on a tour inside the campus, temple and had organised a meet with Italian devotees.
...- 19 Mar 2015
By Srutakirti dasSrila Prabhupada said. "She tells me she is eating just a little bit, but she keeps on gaining weight. You don't know anyone who keeps on gaining weight without eating, do you?" "Yes!" Srila Prabhupada said. " She has to be eating very much. She tells me she is not eating, but I know she is eating. She complains to me about her health, that she doesn't feel well. I told her, 'You are so fat. How can you be healthy?' She said, 'I don't know how. I am hardly eating at all. I don't know how I am so ...
- 19 Mar 2015