World Environment Day (WED) occurs on the 5th of June every year, and is the United Nation's principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of our environment. First held in 1974, it has been a flagship campaign for raising awareness on emerging environmental issues from marine pollution, human overpopulation, and global warming, to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime. WED has grown to become a global platform for public outreach, with participation from over

My family and I were just visiting my mother, Edith, in Boca Raton, Florida to celebrate her 90th Birthday. As we honored her and celebrated her life, she declared that 90 is too old and that people shouldn’t really live that long. Gaura Vani tried to bless her by saying: “May you live as long as you like!” She responded by saying, “Tomorrow, I’m ready to go tomorrow”.

Edith was born in 1928 and she’s fond of saying that she ushered in the Great Depression. These days she is depressed, seeing

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 26 May 2018, Radhadesh, Belgium, College of Vedic Studies Retreat Lecture: ‘Krsna Consciousness in the Real World’)

The other day I was remembering Srila Prabhupada’s statement of how paintings of Krsna are like windows to the spiritual world; it means that through these paintings, we are looking into the ‘real world’, and when we are looking out of this window (of the building), we are simply looking at a picture. So Krsna consciousness must begin with that understanding

ISKCON Bangladesh Leadership Sanga

Venue: The Sea Princess Hotel, Cox's Bazar

ISKCON Bangladesh Leadership Sangha at world’s heritage, Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong.
The inauguration of ISKCON Bangladesh Leadership Sanga (IBLS) held at Cox’s Bazar with the participation of 200 top leaders of different ISKCON centers of Bangladesh. It was a four day camp. With the blessings and inspiration of H.H.Jayapataka Swami and H.H.Bhakti Purushottam Swami, H.H.Bhakti Priyam Gadadhar Goswami, H.G. Venudhari Das

Worshiping the deity is a way to regulate our lives but this is not the real thing about worshiping the deity. In worshiping the deity, when you step onto the altar, you step into the spiritual world. Whoever is on the altar is actually in the spiritual world.

Although devotees are in the spiritual world while on the altar, they do not just walk around. They do everything according to prescribed rules and regulations. Everything is done according to the directions of scripture and in the mode o

Hare Krishna,

Few months back I was in Rajasthan and I was inspired to write this small article dedicating to all those following simplicity diet. I am sure those who visit villages in Rajasthan get the same feeling. In comparison to villages in other parts of India, Rajasthani villages are special. Rajasthani men and women are semblem of simplicity. And it starts with their diet.

UNDOING THE CONDITIONING: I happenned to understand that unless we simplify our dietary habits, it is not possible

By Acarya Dasa

In the month of April, while we were in the city of Tumkur in Karnataka, I got a call from the Noida temple near Delhi informing me that a group of 8 devotees of their PDC group would be joining padayatra for 15 days. The initials “PDC” stand for the Personality Development Course for ISKCON devotees. This course helps newcomers to venture into the world of inner discovery; it also brings them inner peace and fulfillment by learning how to balance work and devotional life through

Kurma Dasa: I received a message from our Godsister Sukla Dasi that her brother, Caru Gupta dasa, passed away suddenly a few days ago at home on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Caru Gupta had been suffering from Kidney disease.
He leaves a wife and 6 children, all devotees of Krishna.
We pray that Caru Gupta prabhu has attained the shelter of Srila Prabhupada’s Lotus Feet.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=62856

Bali has a Hindu population of around 85%. Most of the Hindus in Bali practice the orthodox religion which has been dated back for centuries. The ‘Student Community of Hindu Dharma, Indonesia’ is the largest Hindu youth organization in the island. The mission of this organization is to spread the fundamental teachings of Hinduism to others. In every province in Indonesia there is a branch but the headquarters are in Jakarta.

Although Hindus and Muslims live peacefully together in Indonesia th

By Kadamba Kanana Swami

Sometimes, some souls stay together for a number of lifetimes in different relationships. It depends; they may not always be husband and wife. They may change roles – the husband may become the wife and the wife becomes the husband, or one may become a child. So many varieties of karmic relationships may be there, changes may be there but some souls may be connected for a while, then time will separate them. But between vaisnavas, eternal relationships can be established

After almost fifty years, I was surprised to receive a letter from my freshman roommate at Brandeis University. He had heard that I had “changed my name” from Glenn Teton to Giriraj, and he had traced me, followed me, and written me, saying that he would be in Santa Barbara on Friday, June 1, and asking if he could visit. I welcomed him, and we spent two wonderful hours together. Since Brandeis, he had become a clinical psychologist, specializing in marriage, and I had become a Hare Krishna dev

By Indradyumna Swami

Diary of a Traveling Monk: Volume 14, Chapter 16

“He Did His Time”

I arrived in America on Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day is reserved for remembering the American soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in the wars over the centuries. I had just come from a similar event in Moscow, Russia, where the day is called Victory Day. Every year, the Russian people remember their victory over the Nazis in World War II by holding a military parade in Red Squ

By His Holiness Bhakti Raghava Swami

The incident will always be fresh in my mind. I had been a practicing devotee for ten years, eight of which were in the sacred holy land of Sri Dham Mayapur in India. Little did I know that Krishna would be sending me the test of my life, the test of chanting His holy names.

As had been the routine since 1979 when devotees from Mayapur had inaugurated the Nama Hatta preaching by introducing the chanting of the holy name in every town and village, as ordered

ISKCON PRISON MINISTRY

EXCERPT OF LETTER from Bhakta Krishna Kirtan

We have a new bhakta. His name is Thomas Biers and he is the MOST sincere new bhakta I've come across since I've been practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness (2009). He is very genuine and his bhakti was spontaneously awakened in his heart at the sound of the maha mantra. Lord Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada sent me a great one. I've known him for years. He became disenchanted with the Buddhists because of his belief in a creator and Kṛṣṇa

By Kadamba Kanana Swami

Krsna knows the past, present and the future. He knows us better than we know ourselves because we actually have no idea who we were. We could go to India and visit the Bhrigu readers of Rajasthan or Punjab who have these scrolls with all kinds of astrological information on them. If you are lucky, these readers will find your scroll and tell you who you were in your last life. Usually, everyone was either a prince or a princess, or someone occasionally gets a sanyasi. B