The japa walk in the morning is the time to absorb all that is good – air, mist, sun, plants, trees, incense from puja sources. Me and my japa walking partners also take in a whiff of sewage once we get down to the residential area. There is this huge banyan that we come upon and we love it.
One woman from Siberia joins us. She quite likes our company, although she knows not a stitch of English. She is up for our mild brand of tapasya (austerity). We hit surfaces of bricks, soft sand,
“My father and the coach at UCLA were pleased with my volleyball successes, and my mother was satisfied with my academic work. But I wondered if Krishna was pleased.”
I was born in Los Angeles in 1949. My parents were avid volleyball players. My father had been one of America’s best, and my mother had been a third-team All-American. I started playing volleyball when I was four. I passed through school easily. Sports dominated my free hours, and generally my childhood was a happy one. With adoles
The ISKCON Birnagar Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur Janmasthan Development Project is a landmark initiative that is fulfilling a long-cherished desire of Srila Prabhupada to glorify Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur at his birthplace. Despite multiple attempts during Srila Prabhupada’s manifest presence, the project didn’t materialize at that time. However, efforts continued through the Bhaktivedanta Swami Charitable Trust, which has supported the existing Janmasthan of Bhaktivinoda Thakur.
Now, under the dir
Join us for an enriching online workshop “Building the Future of ISKCON with Care, Part 2” on Saturday, March 1st, 12:30-2:30PM EST facilitated by Jai Nitai Das, North American Representative, ISKCON Devotee Care Office.
Following the initial well-received workshop from November 2024, sponsored by the North American Regional Governing Body, this second workshop will focus more on practical application strategies to cultivate and embed devotee care in our Vaishnava communities.
This workshop will
My devotee friend from the Netherlands acquired the most attractive brass deities of Chaitanya and Nityananda and asked if I would name them. They will play a major role at the Sunday School program recently started in Amsterdam. For good reasons I named them ‘Gaura Nitai Bhumi’.
We set them on a stool just prior to our drama practice when we do a series of voice and body exercises to warm up for our two productions for this year. I do have my personal shot at these exercises. There is
Please accept my humble pranams. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
In computer parlance a program is defined as a set of step by step instructions given to get the desired output. Usually, even though the program is written perfectly, since the computer just does what is being told in the program, it does not have the intelligence to identify if the user is giving a meaningful input or not. Hence the commonly used term GIGO
(Garbage In Garbage Out) came in vogue. It means that that quality of ou
The Bhakti Yoga Conference, titled “Grace in an Age of Distraction,” is an online event running from March 1 to April 11, 2025, in collaboration with Harvard Divinity School. This series features over 35 esteemed scholars, monks, yogis, and thought leaders who will delve into the transformative practice of Bhakti Yoga—the yoga of love and devotion. Participants will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of Bhakti Yoga, cultivate a personal relationship with the Divine, and learn
ISKCON Mayapur has released a beautiful new video inviting to souls everywhere to experience the spiritual heart of Mayapur! Witness the majestic Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, the “Rising Moon of Mayapur,” and discover a place of peace, devotion, and transcendental beauty. We invite you to join us and let the world come to Mayapur.
For more information please visit: srimayapurdhama.com and the www.tovp.org.
Source https://iskconnews.org/stunning-new-let-the-world-come-to-mayapur-video-release
Some good news came from a disciple/student regarding our beloved Srila Prabhupada.
“Today, at Maha Kumbh Mela 2025, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad awarded the prestigious title ‘Vishwa Guru’ to His Divine Grace Abhaya Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
“This historical moment certifies the incomparable contribution of Srila Prabhupada in the Renaissance of Sanatan Dharma and Bhakti mov
I was born in 1948 into a farming family. My uncle, my mother’s brother, was the family member who had more cows than the rest of us. All the family farms were simple in their operation and completely rural in their location. My uncle’s farm was the largest at 180 acres, and in the 1950’s and 1960’s I spent a considerable amount of time being, and eventually working there.
Uncle was primarily a dairy farmer who also grew 60 acres of tobacco as his cash crop, which kept him afloat as a farmer fo
Pancadhara Das in his home studio recording instrumental music for meditation.
Jorge Luis Martin, known in the ISKCON community as Pancadhara Das, has dedicated his life to music and spirituality. As a singer-songwriter, music producer, Reiki practitioner, and Bhakti Yoga devotee, his journey—from the streets of Buenos Aires to a quiet forest retreat—reflects his deep connection to Krishna consciousness.
Early Life and Spiritual Awakening
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a Catholic family, Pa
Srila Prabhupada on a japa walk with Yamuna Devi Dasi, Malati Devi Dasi, and others.
The history of ISKCON has shown that Kali, the personification of the current Age of Quarrel, is adept at introducing controversies that act like storm clouds obscuring the effulgent sun of Mahaprabhu’s saṅkīrtana movement. The propensity for debate, argument, and verbal conquest can be likened to turbulent winds; harsh speech to torrential rain; and fleeting victories in establishing one’s position to flashes o
Today is Shiva-ratri. Vaishnavas generally do not celebrate Shiva-ratri, and to begin, I will explain why, with reference to the Bhagavad-gita. We read from Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Chapter 7: “Knowledge of the Absolute”:
TEXT 23
antavat tu phalam tesam
tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam
devan deva-yajo yanti
mad-bhakta yanti mam api
TRANSLATION
Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods,
Our drama thespian group is working very hard to assemble, once again, The Age of Kali, with gorgeous costumes. Compliments to Girisha from South Africa who put the attire together so that the actors could feel the part with some enhancement. We have made incredible headway in one way, only because the actors truly believe in the piece and the message it brings.
When I see the rehearsals, I am taken by the fact that the main character, Kali, who is notoriously nasty, parallels many of the cur
August 21, 1976, Hyderabad
Prabhupada: You were selling Back to Godhead on the street?
Gargamuni: Yes, in the pushcart.
Prabhupada: That time how many copies you were printing?
Gargamuni: We were printing 500 to 1,000. We started at 500 then to 1,000.
Prabhupada: Then when Brahmananda proposed that “We can get it printed from Japan, but they want order for 20,000 minimum.” So I said yes. Five hundred, 1,000 we were selling, and he proposed 20,000. “Yes. You order.” [laughs] Now, two million
An irresistible offer from the Supreme Lord
What is the current situation of the world? Miseries and suffering everyday. Terrorist attacks, global warming, deadly diseases, earthquakes, floods. The list goes on.
But there is hope.
God has decided to give an offer to uplift ourselves from this miserable condition of life. How? By giving personal loans of His special mercy. God is our father, our best friend, and our ever well-wisher. He is supreme, so He can give unlimitedly—so much that you can’
A conversation with His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
In June 1976 at New Vrindaban, a Hare Krishna farm community in West Virginia, Srila Prabhupada fields questions sent to him from the editors of Bhavan’s Journal, one of Bombay’s leading cultural and religious periodicals.
Devotee: Here is the first question:
“It is said that the greatest strength of Hinduism is its catholicity, or breadth of outlook, but that this is also its greatest weakness in that there are very few re
The GRULAC delegation with Mahaprabhu Das, Yudhistir Govinda Das, and Mohan Rupa Das (center).
A delegation of ambassadors from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean (GRULAC) countries visited the ISKCON temple in New Delhi at the invitation of Yudhistir Govinda Das, Trustee and Country Director of Communications for ISKCON India and Mahaprabhu Das, ISKCON Europe’s Director of Communications.
The delegation included the Ambassador of Argentina and his wife, the Ambassador of Colombia with hi
The following exchange took place after a talk by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada before the World Health Organization, in Geneva, on June 6, 1974.
WHO member: Your Divine Grace, do you have any suggestions for solving the worldwide problem of food shortages?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. My suggestion is that people should utilize all this vacant land for crops. I have seen so much land lying dormant. For instance, in Australia and also in America, there is so much land lying do
With the mild temps in the 70s in the evening, Gem Show attendees flock to Govinda’s patio to relish the prasad and spiritual vibrations.
In February, thousands of vendors and visitors from around the world descend on Tucson, Arizona, for the largest and most prestigious gem and mineral show in the world. For ISKCON devotees, the event is a rare opportunity to share our priceless philosophy, the gem of Govinda’s restaurant, and precious prasadam at the event itself.
Govinda’s of Tucson has been
