By Radha Mohan Dasa

On 2nd February, Dr Diviash Thakrar and Nilesh represented Bhaktivedanta Manor at a local Tu BiShvat festival, the Jewish tree-planting celebration. The ceremony was led by a mix of civic leaders, faith representatives, and local community members. Its purpose was to foster unity across different faiths, highlighting the connections that bring communities together rather than the differences that divide us. In this way, the event celebrated shared values and collective harmony.

For the full details, click here.

Source: https://iskconnews.org/bhaktivedanta-manor-representatives-planting-seeds-of-unity-in-uk/

As ISKCON approaches its historic 60th Anniversary in 2026, devotees across North America are preparing to honor a legacy that has transformed countless lives and shaped spiritual communities worldwide. To mark this miraculous milestone and heartfelt offering of gratitude to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda and his extraordinary vision, ISKCON New York will host a weekend celebration under the theme “Origins: Celebrating the Past – Envisioning the Future.”

At the core of the celebration is the unifying concept “60 Incredible Years – 60 Impactful Stories.” This initiative seeks to illuminate how ISKCON has touched individuals, families, and societies over six decades—while also inspiring reflection on the future we are collectively shaping. Through personal narratives of service, transformation, faith, and dedication, these stories will demonstrate ISKCON’s enduring relevance and its ability to uplift everyone.

In preparation for this celebration, the organizing team will reach out to temples in North America and invite devotees to share stories that inspire, heal, and inform. These narratives will highlight ISKCON’s positive values, individual and collective endeavors, and the priorities shaping its present and future. The purpose of this campaign is to strengthen unity among North American temples by connecting, engaging, and involving communities in a spirit of revolutionary cooperation and appreciation —especially in preparing and empowering the next generation.

Ultimately, these stories will stand as living testimony to ISKCON’s mission: to transform lives and make a meaningful difference in the world through devotion, service, and compassion. We request that everyone submit their short stories by JUNE 15 here or via email.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/celebrating-iskcon-60-incredible-years-with-60-impactful-stories/

Śrīla Prabhupāda Connect Day is an initiative to help devotees deepen their relationship with Śrīla Prabhupāda—not just as a historical figure, but as our eternal guide, well-wisher, and spiritual master. This special day is part of the ISKCON Global 60–50 initiative, commemorating 60 years of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s miracles that continue to shape lives all over the world.
 

On 9th February 2026, devotees remember, honor, and reconnect with Śrīla Prabhupāda through association, hearing, kīrtana, and shared realizations. The day was designed to remind us how Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mercy is still active and how his vision continues to guide ISKCON today.
 

The day began early with Maṅgala ārati, darśana ārati, and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class from His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda. This beginning set the mood for the entire day. Shortly after, HG Gauranga Dās Prabhu from Govardhan Eco Village gave a brief and inspiring presentation on the preservation of rare manuscripts and sacred texts, lovingly handed over by HG Jahnaviās Prabhu. These valuable works are now being preserved and made digitally accessible to the public, ensuring that Śrīla Prabhupāda’s legacy continues for generations to come.
 

This was followed by ārati by HG Rameshwar Prabhu and a procession to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s room at the Lotus Building, creating a deeply emotional and prayerful atmosphere. From there, the main event began, featuring senior Vaiṣṇavas, devotees, and students sharing realizations on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s life, miracles, compassion, and unstoppable mission.

Throughout the day, speakers reflected on how Śrīla Prabhupāda empowered ordinary people to do extraordinary service, how humility and cooperation were central to his teachings, and how sincere devotional practice attracts Krishna’s mercy. Kīrtans, talks, and panel discussions reminded everyone that what Śrīla Prabhupāda began is not finished—it is only expanding.
 

Śrīla Prabhupāda Connect Day is not just a program—it is a reminder. A reminder to stay connected to our spiritual roots, to appreciate the sacrifices of Śrīla Prabhupāda, and to carry his mission forward with sincerity, unity, and gratitude.

To catch up: https://www.youtube.com/live/wNhfCZJgesM?si=Tbpugo6h11Wef-bK
 

Hare Kṛṣṇa 
All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Source: https://www.mayapur.com/en/blog/rla-prabhupda-connect-day-9th-february-2026

Though Prabhupada was present for only the first eleven years of ISKCON’s fifty-year history, he continues to guide and inspire his followers to expand what he began.

“It’s an astonishing story. If someone told you a story like this, you wouldn’t believe it. Here’s this person, he’s seventy years old, he’s going to a country where he’s never been before, he doesn’t know anybody there, he has no money, has no contacts. He has none of the things, you would say, that make for success. He’s going to recruit people not on any systematic basis, but just picking up whomever he comes across and he’s going to give them responsibility for organizing a worldwide movement. You’d say, ‘What kind of program is that?’ There are precedents perhaps. Jesus of Nazareth went around saying, ‘Come follow me. Drop your nets, or leave your tax collecting, and come with me and be my disciple.’ But in his case, he wasn’t an old man in a strange society dealing with people whose backgrounds were totally different from his own. He was dealing with his own community. Bhaktivedanta Swami’s achievement, then, must be seen as unique.”

– Historian of Religion Prof Thomas Hopkins in Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna: Five Distinguished Scholars on the Krishna Movement in the West

This astonishing story has continued for many decades after Hopkins’s insightful observation, made in the early 1980s, though of course not at the same dramatic scale or pace. In this article I will try to document how the legacy of bhakti-yoga that Srila Prabhupada brought to the world is continuing and expanding even now.

Srila Prabhupada wanted to share his love for Krishna with the whole world, and to fulfill that divine aspiration, he urged his followers to distribute more and more books, build more and more temples, and inspire more and more people to take to the practice of bhakti-yoga. Therefore, the movement he started, popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement, has often used success in these activities as its definition of success. And rightly so, because these activities have been and will continue to be pivotal in shaping the movement’s composition, outreach, and trajectory. But the movement often gets reduced to these highly visible activities alone, and much has already been written on them. Therefore I will dwell on other ways in which the bhakti legacy moves on. I will not attempt a comprehensive analysis of the entire movement, a task best left to a historian. Nor do I claim that my examples of ongoing legacy are the most important or the most representative; these are just the examples that strike me from my limited perspective as a second-generation Indian member of the movement.

Emergence of a vibrant congregation

Perhaps the single most striking feature of the Hare Krishna movement’s history is its shift from a temple-based movement to a congregation-based one. The word congregation conventionally refers to any group of people who come together, including for religious purposes. Within the ISKCON lexicon, however, it generally refers to people who worship at the temple but live independently, outside the temple management structure. Though the term congregation member is not used uniformly throughout the ISKCON world, when I use it here I’m referring to both initiated devotees and people who have not yet made that commitment.

ISKCON started in America and then spread to other countries, mainly in the Western world. Its devotional culture was so utterly different from mainstream Western culture that devotees felt the only way they could practice their adopted spiritual culture was by moving into the temple, which offered a safe haven from the materialistic outside world. Predictably, many of the movement’s early members were renunciants. Even many married couples, sometimes with children, lived and served in the temple, which provided for their basic needs. But as the years passed, most devotees found their initial zeal of having joined an exotic movement cooling down. And more and more devotees got married, started families, and pursued careers, thus leaving the temple environment. For its first decade or so, more than ninety percent of ISKCON’s members lived in the temple. Now more than ninety percent of its members live outside. Among some of the movement’s leaders, this dramatic shift in demography initially caused some concern that ISKCON’s spiritual standards would be diluted. But what emerged was not so much dilution as consolidation – the movement became stabler as devotees settled to a level of practice they could sustain throughout their lives. Indeed, dedicated congregation members now manage temples. They also occupy the highest ecclesiastical positions in the movement, including those of gurus and Governing Body Commission (GBC) members.

As the composition of the movement has changed from temple-supported renunciants (including families) to financially independent householders, its mode of interaction with the world has changed from renunciation to penetration. In its first few decades, dhoti- or sari-clad devotees dancing and distributing literature were the movement’s defining face. They exist even now, but they no longer represent the movement’s cross-section. The well-educated, influential professional is as much integral to the movement as to modern society. The tech-savvy colleague in the office may well be a Hare Krishna, a modern bhakti-yogi who has both penetrated into and integrated with the mainstream culture. According to individual nature and commitment, each member performs a delicate dance of balance between tradition and modernity.

Establishment of vibrant systems of education

Srila Prabhupada emphasized that devotees should systematically study the Vedic scriptures he translated and commented on. Such study would deepen their philosophical conviction and fine-tune their spiritual practices. Accordingly, ISKCON temples diligently conduct a daily morning class on the sacred Srimad-Bhagavatam. Additionally, ISKCON has come up with programs for systematic scriptural study catering to all its members, from newcomers to seasoned practitioners. Most centers periodically conduct introductory courses on the Bhagavad-gita that give newcomers an overall grasp of its coherence and relevance. For regular practitioners, many temples and educational centers offer the Bhakti Sastri course, which provides progressive study of the movement’s essential literature. Thousands of students all over the world have availed themselves of the course, the teaching of which is supervised by the ISKCON Board of Education. Additionally, many devotee communities have started schools to provide their children with a holistic education that teaches not just material knowledge and skills that secular schools offer but also spiritual wisdom and values that the tradition offers. Further, for youth studying in universities, several temples have started customized youth centers near colleges. These centers provide students havens for community and spirituality where they can de-stress from the academic tension of their competitive careers.

Evolution of multifarious community support systems

The movement has developed other community-support systems as well. ISKCON has been at the forefront in reaching out to the larger community through its extensive food-relief programs. Hare Krishna Food for Life is the world’s largest vegetarian food-relief organization. With projects in over 60 countries, it provides more than 1.5 million free meals daily, including in disaster areas in various parts of the world. The Indian wing of this initiative, ISKCON Food Relief Foundation, runs a Mid-day Meal program, providing nutritious and delicious krishna-prasada every school day to over 1.2 million students from all backgrounds.

To provide philosophical and practical guidance to members, devotee communities in various parts of the world have developed devotee-care systems, such as the counselor system. To help devotees find compatible spouses, leaders of several devotee-communities have set up marriage boards and other matrimonial portals, physical and digital. To help train talented and dedicated young devotees to take up the mantle of the movement’s leadership and thereby enable a smooth succession from one generation of leaders to the next, various leadership-training forums have also been established.

Devotee professionals have also set up hospitals and hospices. The bhakti tradition places great importance on departing from the world in a spiritually conducive circumstance and consciousness. Accordingly, devotees have set up a hospice in the holy land of Vrindavan, where committed practitioners can prepare to face life’s final exam – death – in a setting that is medically and spiritually favorable. As the body takes its inevitable course towards destruction, the soul takes its conscientious course towards spiritual elevation, if not liberation. Similar hospices are planned for other places, including Mayapur, West Bengal, home to the movement’s world headquarters.

Spreading of eco-friendly culture

Srila Prabhupada repeatedly stressed the principle of simple living and high thinking, and he wanted to demonstrate it through self-sufficient communities that featured God-centered eco-friendly living. In his cutting critique of materialistic civilization’s reckless encroachment on nature, Srila Prabhupada proved prescient. Over the last four decades since Prabhupada’s critique, many studies have shown how indiscriminate exploitation of the environment has jeopardized the future of humanity, indeed of the earth itself. As the world is becoming increasingly aware of the staggering ecological and economic costs of our past centuries of environmental exploitation, green consciousness is rising. Bhakti-yoga takes this ascent of human consciousness towards its zenith in Krishna consciousness, which re-envisions the universe as a cosmic family, with God as the father, nature as the mother, and all living beings – not just human beings – as children.

This inclusive vision provides an additional impetus towards raising eco-awareness – vegetarianism. Studies have shown that producing and consuming nonvegetarian food harms the ecology much more than the pollution from all the world’s vehicles. ISKCON has been a global pioneer in spreading vegetarianism, especially in the West. This pioneering is philosophical, offering a more spiritual and dignified conception of our nonhuman brothers and sisters. But it is also practical. Through many outlets, ISKCON provides an array of delectable vegetarian dishes of krishna-prasada to a world that mistakenly equates vegetarianism with a diet of vegetables alone.

Besides contributing to the mainstreaming of vegetarianism, ISKCON in various parts of the world has developed eco-friendly communities that subsist on, as Srila Prabhupada would say, “the land, the cow, and Krishna.” Initially these communities tried to avoid all modern things, but in time each arrived at its own balance, using nature’s resources and modern amenities. Today many of these communities serve as not just serene spiritual sanctuaries but also as crucibles of ecological research. They demonstrate that prosperity achieved by living in harmony with nature is a viable, even preferable, alternative to prosperity by exploiting nature.

Presence in the academia

No movement can exist in a social vacuum, oblivious to the intellectual and cultural trends of the larger society of which it is a part. A major place where such trends are understood is the academy, its study of religion being especially relevant to religious organizations. The academy significantly shapes public perceptions of a religion, especially where it is a minority religion and so, for the mainstream society, is more learned about than lived. This principle was relevant to ISKCON in the Western world, where the bhakti culture ubiquitous in traditional India was seen as utterly foreign, if not incomprehensibly alien.

To help correct such perceptions, some devotee intellectuals felt inspired to enter the academy to gain formal training to respectably present the tradition’s voice in today’s multicultural milieu. Such an outreach of the tradition to the academy has important precedents. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Ṭhakura, the spiritual master of Srila Prabhupada, sent one of his scholarly disciples, Sambidanand Das, to London to write his doctoral thesis on the history and literature of the Gauḍiya Vaishnavas. Religious traditionalists often find the academy’s approach to studying religion distressingly unsympathetic to insider perspectives. The output of academic study can sometimes be summed in the epitaph “Operation successful, patient dead.” Yet discerning traditionalists know that the academy will continue to shape how the public perceives the tradition. Scholars are often not privy to insider perspectives. Therefore, if public perception is to reasonably reflect the reality of the tradition’s contributions, the onus falls on insiders to academically train themselves to present the insider perspective in a way intelligible to the outsider.

The late Tamala Krishna Goswami, one of the movement’s most prominent leaders and a sannyasi and guru, gave a major boost to the tradition’s academic penetration by entering the academy and writing a seminal thesis on Srila Prabhupada’s theological contributions. Other devotee scholars have written defining books on the modern-day leaders of the tradition – Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Ṭhakura and Bhaktivinoda Ṭhakura – and on the foundational books of the tradition, namely the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Satyaraja Dasa has founded the Journal of Vaishnava Studies, now a major voice in the deep study of the Vashnava tradition. Devotee scholars joined hands with the broader Hindu community to set up the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies (OCHS) at Oxford to create a vibrant example of contemporary scholarship. In an academy shaped by Abrahamic stereotypes of religion and dominated by nondualist perceptions of Hinduism, devotee scholars have done pioneering work in ensuring that insider perspectives and the bhakti tradition are given their due place in the academic study of Hinduism.

Of course, the legacy of love that is the bhakti tradition continues most vibrantly beyond the external structures and systems. It lies in the hearts of the thousands of practitioners for whom Krishna becomes an increasingly intimate reality through their daily devotional and meditational practices. And as they resourcefully share that reality with others, they provide serenity amid anxiety, spirituality amid materialism, and purposefulness amid pointlessness.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=44433

By Gargamuni Das

October – November 1966: NEW YORK CITY, “Happiness on 2nd Ave.”

We used to make these leaflets called “Stay high forever.” People really got a kick out of those.

Gargamuni das: We had a big tape recorder that weighed 50 pounds. I was in charge of that.

Brahmananda would bring it down from Prabhupada’s closet every night.

So my job was to set up the tape for Prabhupada’s lecture.

Prabhupada was very insistent in having his lectures tape recorded – so much so that when the tape ran out, he would stop and wait for me to rethread the tape with a new one.

In those days, we didn’t have money; and those tapes, I remember they were three, four dollars for Scotch tapes.

So Prabhupada wanted everything tape recorded. We didn’t think it was important in those days, but now we do. They’re important for preaching.

In the beginning, there was only one or two who were thinking how to give Prabhupada something instead of just taking from him.

Because I had asked Prabhupada, I said, “Swamiji, we’re here with you, and what are we supposed to do? We come here, we take Krishna prasadam, and then we all go away. But what are we supposed to do for you? What are we here for?”

I wanted something definite. Prabhupada said, “The duty of a disciple is to assist the spiritual master in his work.”

That’s all he said. So then I thought, “Work?”

Later on I pondered on this subject, work, and I said, “Prabhupada doesn’t work. What does he do? He doesn’t have a job. He’s a religious teacher.”

So then it occurred to me there’s one thing he does do every day and that’s translate books, and he’s using this typewriter.

Prabhupada wasn’t a typist. He used just his index fingers. That’s how he was typing his books.

So I was walking one day, because there were four or five head shops that would carry Back to Godhead and I would always stop in the shops to see if they’re selling.

So on my way I passed this Grundig shop, and something in the window caught my eye.

It was like a miniature tape recorder, and it said Dictaphone. I said, “What the hell is a Dictaphone?”

So I went inside, and I went up to the man and I said, “What’s this Dictaphone?”

He says, “Well, it’s used by lawyers and doctors to keep notes.” I go, “Oh, yeah?”

I said, “I know somebody who is translating books. It would be good for him?”

He said, “Oh, yeah.” So he showed me how to use it, and I said, “I’m going to buy this for Prabhupada.

Now I’m helping him because this will go a lot faster than typing.”

Practically speaking, the Dictaphone revolutionized Prabhupada’s book.

Because he wanted to do the Gita, and so it would take ages for him to finish typing by hand.

It was 150 bucks [dollars], I think. So I brought it to Prabhupada. I was all excited and puffed up, and I said, “This is helping Prabhupada.”

So I thought, “Boy, how am I going to show Prabhupada how to use this thing? He’s from the village. In Vrindavan, they don’t know what a Dictaphone is.”

So I brought it up to Prabhupada’s room, and I showed it to him. I showed him the mike, and he looked at it.

I said, “Prabhupada, there’s an instruction book here how to use it. I’ll go through it with you.” He said, “No, that’s OK, I know.”

I was shocked. And sure enough, Prabhupada knew. He pressed the right buttons, he was testing it, and I was shocked. He never even looked at the book.

It took me an hour with the guy, he had to show me everything, and here I’m showing it to someone from the village and he didn’t have to look at the book.

Then I realized that this person, he’s not human. How does he know how to work this thing? He never had one.

Prabhupada was very easy with electronics. He wasn’t at all intimidated.

And then boom, Prabhupada started doing the tapes. It was great. But then we had the other problem – the tapes were building up, and the tapes were expensive.

At the end, we had six or seven tapes and we didn’t have money to keep buying tapes.

For some reason, nobody knew how to type properly because you have to have coordination.

I think because we were all on LSD, nobody could coordinate their foot with their fingers.

Because you had to use a foot pedal, and then you had to hear Prabhupada and coordinate, like driving a car, and nobody could do it.

So all of a sudden this Neal shows up, and he’s from Antioch College.

He has to do a summer course, three months course, joining a religious organization and writing about his experience. That was his paper.

So he thought, “I’ll join you guys.” He said, “I’m going to do it.” I said, “Fine.”

So I immediately asked him, “Do you know how to type?” We just thought we’d ask. He goes, “Yeah, I can type.”

I said, “Do you know how to use a Dictaphone?” “Oh, yeah, that’s easy,” and right away the guy started typing 60 words a minute.

We used to watch his foot – man, the foot was going a mile a minute.

He knew how to go back and go forward in a second if he didn’t understand anything.

And we go, “Wow!” We looked at each other, “This is mystical,” because this is the person we needed and then all of a sudden he shows up knocking at the door.

You don’t know, the devotees then had an inner communication with each other. When things like this happened, we’d look at each other and go, “Wow, this is mystical.”

And then we understood that Krishna provides. That was the famous word: “Krishna provides.”

That’s why you really felt secure when you were with Prabhupada, because you felt nothing could hurt you or touch you and you felt wonderful.

You always wanted to be around him because you felt fully protected – that feeling that everything’s going to work out when you’re with Prabhupada, because everything did work out.

To see an Indian man in Indian dress in a park on Tompkins Square where the majority of the people were old Russian and Polish people, it was just too far out.

So we used to go every weekend Sundays, especially Sundays, to Tompkins Square to chant with Prabhupada. I would be in the crowd with the leaflets, talking and inviting people.

We used to make these leaflets called “Stay high forever.” People really got a kick out of those.

We used that photograph of Prabhupada where he’s sitting and he’s smiling and he’s got his hand on his head.

That photo was…people would look at that and say, “Wow! He is high. He’s so high, he’s trying to keep himself down just from the mantra.”

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=54667

On 2nd February, Dr Diviash Thakrar and Nilesh represented Bhaktivedanta Manor at a local Tu BiShvat festival, the Jewish tree-planting celebration. The ceremony was led by a mix of civic leaders, faith representatives, and local community members. Its purpose was to foster unity across different faiths, highlighting the connections that bring communities together rather than the differences that divide us. In this way, the event celebrated shared values and collective harmony.

From our community’s perspective, the devotees reflected on teachings such as those in the Śrī Śikṣāṣṭakam, which emphasise being “more humble than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree.” Planting the tree was therefore deeply meaningful, allowing us to appreciate how different faiths approach and celebrate themes of growth, renewal, and care for the natural world. While Tu BiShvat is a significant festival in the Jewish calendar, it also offered us a valuable opportunity to show support and recognise the values we share.

“It was encouraging to see such a wide representation of civic and faith leadership,” said Diviash. “We would like to place on record our appreciation for The Mayor of Hertsmere, Cllr Alpha Bird Collins, and his wife, Reverend Louise Collins, who were gracious and gallant throughout the event, as well as Sandra Parnell, whose warm presence contributed to the spirit of the occasion.”

Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=117289

By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi, 

The Bhaktivedanta Research Center (BRC) entered into a strategic collaboration with the Management & Entrepreneurship and Professional Skills Council (MEPSC) and Nalanda Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed at the Press Club, Kolkata. The partnership marked a significant step toward embedding Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) within India’s formal skill development and early childhood education ecosystem.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Dr. Sumanta Rudra, Dean of Academics and Trustee, Bhaktivedanta Research Center, and Aradhya Bhagavan Das. Nalanda Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. was represented by its Founders and Directors, Tamal Mukherjee and Mitali Mukherjee, along with Anil Rana, Director, and Chirabrata Majumder, Co-Founder. Abhijit Mukherjee, Senior Manager – Business Development, represented MEPSC.

The collaboration brought together BRC’s academic and research expertise in Indian Knowledge Systems, MEPSC’s nationally recognized skill certification framework, and Nalanda Learning Systems’ experience in educational content development and implementation. Together, the partners sought to strengthen Pre-school Facilitator and Caregiver Certification Programs, ensuring they were academically robust, culturally grounded, and aligned with contemporary pedagogical standards.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/brc-signed-mou-for-iks-integration-in-early-childhood-education/

By Nityananda Chandra Dasa, 

Adi Purusa Dasa, a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, has been at the forefront of prasadam distribution in New York City for more than 26 years. Alongside this service, he operates several hostels in the city, engaging guests directly in seva while helping sustain a steady, weekly prasadam outreach. In a recent interview with Nityananda Chandra Dasa, Adi Purusa reflects on the vision, challenges, and continuity of this remarkable, uninterrupted service in the heart of the Big Apple.

Chandra: How long have you been distributing free hot meals at Tompkins Square Park?

Adi: Bhaktivedanta Swami, a.k.a. Śrīla Prabhupāda, started this program of distributing vegetarian food 55 years ago, in 1965. We have continued this endeavor steadily as Interfaith Community Services for the past 25 years, rain or shine.

Chandra: Can you tell us more about Interfaith Community Services?

Adi: Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we gather at our kitchen in the Lower East Side with cooks and volunteers to prepare healthy, flavorful, and balanced vegetarian meals for anyone who is hungry.

At 9:00 a.m., we head to the southwestern corner of Tompkins Square Park and offer any arrangement of our meals free to anyone who is there. If someone wants three containers of salad, two containers of vegetable curries, two containers of rice, and one cake, we give it to them.

As everyone comes through the line, we take their order and prepare it according to their preference. We feel that God’s love is distributed through service, and we want people to know that God loves them.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/over-26-years-of-prasadam-service-in-the-heart-of-nyc/

atha bhāgavatā yūyaṁ
priyāḥ stha bhagavān yathā
na mad bhāgavatānāṁ ca
preyān anyo ’sti karhicit

You are all devotees of the Lord, and as such I appreciate that you are as respectable as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. I know in this way that the devotees also respect me and that I am dear to them. Thus no one can be as dear to the devotees as I am. (Srimad Bhagavatam 4.24.30)

Lord Shiva is revered as the foremost of the Vaishnavas and the eternal protector of the holy dhamas. In Vrindavan, he resides as Gopeswara Mahadeva, guarding the transcendental pastimes of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna. In Navadvipa Dhama, Lord Shiva manifests as Vriddha Shiva, the protector of the dhama, residing along with his consort, Praudha Maya.

At Simantadvipa, in Rajapur, Lord Shiva is worshiped within the temple premises of Lord Jagannath. On the sacred occasion of Shivaratri, devotees and pilgrims assemble to celebrate this auspicious festival with abhisheka, hearing the glories of Lord Shiva, Harinam Sankirtan, and a Maha Yajna, all performed for the welfare of all living beings.

This year Shivaratri falls on 16th Feb and the program schedule is as follows:
10:30 am- Maha Yajna ceremony

4.30 pm- Kirtan
5:00 pm- Katha and dance

5.45 pm- Sandhya Arti

6:45 pm- Maha Abhishek

Followed by bhog offering, puspanjali and Maha arati.

For the benefit of devotees staying far away from Mayapur, Mayapur.tv will be doing a live broadcast . We shall also be posting festival pictures of the event.
You can offer abhishek ingredients, or bhog offering or send any seva of your choice for the pleasure of Lord Shiva and His devotees!

Click Here: https://www.mayapur.com/donations/donationform/general 

Source: https://www.mayapur.com/en/blog/maha-shiva-rathri-2026-seva-opportunity

As part of the ISKCON Governing Body Commission (GBC) Annual General Meeting 2026, the GBC is hosting an Online Maha Istagosthi and warmly welcomes ISKCON devotees worldwide to participate.

Date: 8 February 2026
Time: 6:00 PM IST
Other time zones: USA (New York, EST): 7:30 AM, Argentina (Buenos Aires): 9:30 AM, UK (London, GMT): 12:30 PM, Europe (Central Europe, CET – e.g., Paris/Berlin): 1:30 PM, South Africa (Johannesburg, SAST): 2:30 PM, Russia (Moscow): 3:30 PM, India (Mumbai, IST): 6:00 PM
Australia (Sydney, AEDT): 11:30 PM

This YouTube Live stream is provided to support global participation, especially when Zoom capacity is reached.

Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=117282

As part of the ISKCON Governing Body Commission (GBC) Annual General Meeting 2026, the GBC will host an online Maha Istagosthi on February 8, 2026, inviting devotees from around the world to participate in a global dialogue and association. The program is being organized as a special AGM-related gathering and is open to the wider ISKCON community.

The Maha Istagosthi will be held via Zoom, with limited capacity. Once the Zoom meeting reaches capacity, participants are requested to join through YouTube Live, where the program will be broadcast in real time on the GBC YouTube channel. Both access links have been provided in advance to accommodate devotees across regions.

The program will begin at 6:00 PM Indian Standard Time (IST), corresponding to 7:30 AM in New York (EST), 9:30 AM in Buenos Aires, 12:30 PM in London (GMT), 1:30 PM in Central European Time (including Paris and Berlin), 2:30 PM in Johannesburg (SAST), 3:30 PM in Moscow, and 11:30 PM in Sydney (AEDT).

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/online-maha-istagosthi-announced-as-part-of-gbc-agm-2026/

The ISKCON Youth Ministry has announced its 30th Anniversary Youth Bus Tour, scheduled to take place from June to August 2026, marking a milestone for the long-running program. Open to youth ages 18–29, the eight-week tour will travel across North America, visiting temples, sacred festivals, and national parks throughout the United States and Canada.

The tour began in 1995, so the 30th anniversary should have taken place last year. However, due to problems with their old bus and the time needed to raise funds for a new one, the anniversary tour will take place this summer. Manorama Dasa, ISKCON’s Global Youth Minister, expressed gratitude to devotees worldwide for their generous support, which has made it possible for participants to travel in a newly acquired bus for the 2026 journey. The tour will accommodate up to 40 youth, with limited spaces available.

By Raman Reti Dasi, 

As part of implementing ISKCON North America’s 3/35 Vision, Zonal Supervisors and the new Growth Acceleration Team (GAT) members gathered on Saturday, January 17, 2026, for a Zoom orientation focused on strengthening zonal cohesion, cooperative planning, and practical support for leaders.

The orientation was led by Indresh Gaura Dasa and Vrinda Devi Dasi (Zone 1 Zonal Supervisors), whose Zonal Support Office model is serving as a practical foundation for developing Growth Acceleration Teams in the other four zones. Together, they shared lessons drawn from years of leadership service and experience building zonal unity and cooperation. The session also included an acknowledgement of Bhaktimarga Swami, whose forward-thinking strategies and inspiration contributed greatly to Zone 1’s unity and growth.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/north-american-3-35-vision-advances-with-growth-acceleration-teams/

Leaders from around the world once again came to Sridham Mayapur to attend the annual GBC meeting. This includes Sabha, GBC Deputy, Ministers, Zonal Supervisors and others.

As usual, there were various topics starting with a wonderful BBT presentation given by His Grace Vaisesika Prabhu that was very enlivening. Other highlights were the Mayapur report and master plan shown in 3D video.

Source: https://ramaiswami.com/mayapur-gbc-agm-2/

On the all-auspicious disappearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati we should all try to remember His divine instructions and make them our life and soul – guru mukha parma vakhya cittete koriya aikhya ara na koriho mane asa. This philosophy that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati epitomises and that he expounded is well worth remembering on this day when the prediction of Padma Purana –
sri-brahma-rudra-sanaka vaisnavah ksiti savannah
catvaras te kalau bhavya hy utkale purusottamat

“In Kali yuga the four Vaisnava sampradayas, which are purifiers of the earth, will appear in Purusottama-ksetra, in Utkala” was fulfilled. Thus Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati appeared as the summum bonum of all the four Vaisnava sampradayas at Sri Purushottama Ksetra in Orissa.

In establishing the synthesis of all the four sampradaya’s teachings and defeating the triputi vinasha doctrine of the Mayavadis Srila Sarswati Thakura explained drg-drsya philosophy as follows –

“A bhogi (one who attempts to enjoy this world) considers himself the seer (drasta), and everything else, including the Supreme as the seen (drsya), his object of vision (darsana). Due to their bitter experience of this world, so-called renouncers wish to deny the plurality of drasta, drsya and darsana and thus regard them as one. Only devotees have the proper vision to appreciate that Krishna is the Supreme enjoyer and alone is fully independent and no one’s servant, being the drasta, should be served by all, for the jivas and all else that be are drsya, objects of His darsana.”

He who sees an object is called the seer, and an object seen by the observer is called the seen. The instrument of seeing, is called sight. It is a common error to deem the sense of sight the actual seer. Whatever we can measure by any of our senses we also call a seeable object, and he who senses it is called the seer. It is best that the jiva see himself as the object of Krishna’s enjoyment. Thinking himself the seer, he sees the world as the object of his enjoyment. But thinking himself the enjoyer, under the influence of the false ego, will result only in his misfortune. It is not fitting that the jiva see the world as the object of his own enjoyment. Rejecting that outlook, and instead seeing the world as the object of the Lord’s enjoyment, seeing it as Krishna’s world or Gokula, is the jiva’s good fortune and satisfies Krishna’s senses – “I am not the seer, but rather am seen by Krishna. I am not the enjoyer, but the object of enjoyment for Krishna.”

Hiranyakasipu thought he was the seer of the pillar in his hall and desired to observe the existence of Visnu, or to measure Visnu, and adjudging himself the enjoyer, perceived Prahlada as his son, the object of his enjoyment. But the Lord of inconceivable powers revealed His inconceivable eternal form to Hiranyaksipu and destroyed that seer, and was very, merciful to Prahlada, who regarded himself as the object to be seen or enjoyed by Visnu.” – Gaudiya 16.24.403-6

It will do us all a world of good to also remember his heart’s desire and make it our life’s mission –

“My sempiternal wish is that in unlimited ways you constantly remain preaching Krishna katha. Then all my desires will be fulfilled.” – Gaudiya 2.540

“When big city halls have been transformed into Gaudiya Mathas and Hari katha is heard everywhere, at that time the whole world will be filled with ecstasy.” – Srimad Bhagavata Tatparya.

All glories to His Divine Grace Sri Srimad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaja!

Hare Krishna!

yours in service of Sri Guru and Gauranga,
Shyamananda dasa brahmacari

P.S: This article is largely based on Srimad Bhakti Vikasa Swami’s magnum opus Sri Bhakti Siddhanta Vaibhava.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=12366