Dear devotees and well wishers, we need your help urgently!
Yesterday, 19th July 2023, the city of Zagreb was hit by one of the strongest storms recorded in its history, which caused enormous damage.
Unfortunately our temple also suffered a lot of damage. As you can see in the pictures most of the roof was blown away by the storm. The bramachari sankirtan ashram, along with the temple library, is completely devastated. The first floor is also flooded and leaking, and if the roof is not quickly
By Thomas Haribol
A new video released by ISKCON Vrindavan shows the extent of the flooding of the Yamuna River as of June 16, 2023. Drone footage shows the impact upon key historical areas like the Keshi Ghat and the Bhaktivedanta Swami Goshala, home to 350 cows, bulls, and calves. The expanding waters of Yamunaji have reached the gates of the goshala, and steps are being taken to ensure the safety and relocation of the cows as needed. On July 17th, a Yamuna Arati was performed.
Food for Lif
In order to get some walking in today, I decided to start with earlier morning sunrays instead of the forecast steam to come later. I enjoyed the track from 1626 Pie IX all the way to Jeanne Mance Park. It's a clear 8-kilometre hike. Sunday morning couldn't be quieter. Of course, on the more commercial streets, one can witness the aftermath of a Saturday night fever. It's rather disgusting what party animalism produces in the way of refuse. This is not a criticism on the city of Montreal per se
Dear Devotees,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
On several occasions, Srila Prabhupada expressed the desire for an ISKCON Constitution, to guide his followers in the future.
In 1971, for instance, he wrote: “We are in the experimental stage but in the next meeting of the GBC members they should form a constitution how the GBC members manage the whole affair.” (Letter to Giriraja, 12 Aug 1971)
Through the years, various attempts at writing the ISKCON Constitu
On a peaceful 20-acre tract of land in Sealy, Texas, about an hour west of Houston, a few pioneering devotees have established The Bhagavata Academy Spiritual Retreat Center. It aims to create an immersive setting focused on transcendental education and spiritual nourishment, a kind of detox from the material world.
The Vision
The vision for the spiritual oasis came after years of contemplation and planning by one of its founders, Vatsala Dasa. He and his wife Shashikala Devi Dasi (along with t
By Atma Tattva Das
To unlock the spiritual potency of the rare month of Purusottama, the ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry (CDM) has launched an initiative to encourage and facilitate devotees worldwide to observe this auspicious period in the Vedic calendar. Purusottama Month, also known as Adhik Maas, is a sacred time that occurs approximately every three years and is highly cherished by Lord Krishna’s devotees.
The addition of the Purusottama Month to the Vedic calendar is predicate
By Taravali Devi Dasi
The Vaishnavas C.A.R.E. project continues to expand as a new chapter has formed at ISKCON Delaware, USA. In April 2023, two of the three Vaishnavis who started the local Delaware Vaishnavas C.A.R.E. team attended the official “Art of Caring for Vaishnavas” seminar that took place at ISKCON Philadelphia, presented by Sangita Devi Dasi. Bhaktins Jenna and Sherri were inspired by this much-needed service and formed a team with Bhaktin Staci to assist devotees during their ti
We are entering the sacred month of Purusottama, which comes once every three years and is said to be three times more potent than Kartik. During this month, devotees increase their chanting and hearing, and in particular they read Chapter 15 of the Bhagavad-gita, “Purusottama-yoga,” daily.
In a previous age during the Purusottama Month, Kaundinya Muni repeatedly chanted the following mantra every day throughout the sacred Adhika Masa:
govardhana dharam vande
gopalam gopa rupinam
gokulotsavam
Our bus for the Krishna Culture Festival Tour is up for some repair, and while that's going on, business is as usual with morning sadhana, a spiritual workout. The local devotees are rather occupied with the Chariot Fest preparations. I am gleefully involved with our bus crew with kirtan and class.
The class was based on Canto 10 to do with the cruel King Kamsa Driving the chariot of his newly married sister and brother-in-law. He had just heard an ethereal voice that prophesized his death. He
By Achyuta Priya Dasa
In this statement, we will summarize and report on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) activities in Ukraine during the almost one-and-a-half difficult and tragic years of the unexpected war that brought immeasurable suffering to the entire nation.
ISKCON in Ukraine is an ancient monotheistic religious tradition based on the Vedic scriptures and numbering tens of millions of followers in India and around the world. In 1965, the Society’s Founder-A
It was tough for a second night in the bus, and not due to intense night heat in sharing space with thirty other people. An additional AC unit was installed. It was the irregular driving from the detours on Hwy. 90 in New York that caused many turns on secondary roads that made the ride somewhat uncomfortable. We were heading north to Quebec where it is a bit cooler. Hoping those notorious fires from Canada were subsiding.
I'm relatively happy despite inconveniences. I have all these younger fo
Wednesday morning, after clamoring aboard a United 747 Jet, I flew over the Pacific Ocean, crossed the international dateline, and landed in Tokyo, Japan at 2:30pm Thursday afternoon.
Ten minutes before our jet landed in Tokyo, our chief purser asked the passengers - who had been without sunlight for nearly eleven hours - to open their window shades.
The instant the passengers opened the shades we were treated to a most magnificent sight: the green earth below with all its majesty and variety.
From Back to Godhead
Making sense of Vedic Rituals
Are traditional rituals mere acts of blind faith, or are there scientific reasons behind following them?
An envelope protects and carries something valuable. It is the inner content of the envelope that’s actually precious. Similarly empty, meaningless rituals are like an empty envelope: devoid of any substance at best or downright offensive at worst.
Going beyond the externals of religion
Twenty five year old Nitin Sawant, a software engineer,
By Atma Tattva Das
In a recent interview, Visnu Murti Das, the driving force behind Vanipedia, shared an inspiring vision for the online platform and the new BLS Vani-Village project in Radhadesh – Belgium. With a passionate call for dedicated devotees, talented writers, and researchers to assist the platform, Vanipedia is poised to become a beacon of knowledge and inspiration for followers of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings.
Vanipedia, an integral department of BLS, is a groundbreaking online pla
By Khusboo Basan
The Bhaktivedanta Research Center (BRC) displayed priceless treasures from their library collection at the 52nd Kolkata Rath Yatra festival held June 20-28th. The Kolkata Rath Yatra is a grand chariot festival celebrated in West Bengal, India. The annual event is organized by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and welcomes thousands annually.
The booth highlighted the important aims of BRC to collect, preserve, exhibit, research, publish, and teach the
Our bus pulled in from Washington into the ISKCON Brooklyn centre on Schermerhorne at 6:30 AM. A jump into the shower and a second jump into the street level temple room for conducting a Bhagavatam class was like a sudden splash into the water off the dock. Kichari, a mix of rice, dahl, and veggies, is becoming a constant at breakfast time. From energy giving to energy expending with a drama practice, our bus crew took to the New York subway to the Bhakti Center for darshan – a view of the Radh
We may be surprised to learn that many things we consider as acts of spiritual advancement in Krishna consciousness, like tapasya or austerity, are actually acts of selfishness, and will impede our real growth. Even following the four regulative principles in certain ways, can divert us.
“So this austerity is called tapasya, denial, self-denial” (class on SB. 5.5.1 in Vrndavana, Oct 23, 1976). To give up certain forms of selfishness is required to progress in spiritual life, and this is usual
The self has an unlimited capacity to sense, being sat-cit-ananda. These sensations are limited or defined by the body being inhabited. For example, the human body senses light energies across a spectrum that we interpret as red orange yellow green blue indigo violet. Above violet in energy, is ultraviolet, which is not detected by the human eye. Similarly, energies below this light spectrum include infra-red, which again is not visually sensed. Yet we know that these energies are there, becaus
By Thomas Haribol
In June, ISKCON News reported on devotees returning to survey the ISKCON Kherson Temple in Ukraine, which was severely damaged during the ongoing conflict there. Bhakta Max, a native of Kherson, had moved back into the building to remove debris and begin the restoration process. Sadly, within weeks, on July 4th, a rocket struck the Temple, smashing all the windows and putting a massive hole in the roof of the building. Thankfully, no one was harmed in this latest strike.
Other
Yudhistir Govinda Das, Director of Communications at ISKCON India, recently was awarded the designation of Fellow in the prestigious International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP), administered by the United States government.
Spanning across notable cities such as Washington DC, Orlando, Salt Lake City, Raleigh, Charlottesville, and Santa Fe, the program facilitated fruitful meetings and engagements with a wide array of esteemed governmental, educational, civil society, and religious organiz
