By Madhava Smullen

Books are the Basis Week, run by the ISKCON Ministry of Education from September 22nd to 28th, is encouraging devotees worldwide to read Srila Prabhupada’s books by providing resources and guidelines, and facilitating grassroots level engagement.

The Week is part of a larger effort to “enhance the culture of reading Srila Prabhupada’s books globally.” It was officially added to ISKCON’s calendar in 2020, after the society’s Governing Body Commission (GBC) accepted a proposal f

Dear community devotees,
Hare Krishna

With sadness we wish to inform you that H.G. Kulashekar Prabhu, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, left his body in Sri Mayapur Community hospital this morning at around 1am. He joined ISKCON in Canada and was initiated by Srila Prabhupad in 1967. In his early days as a young brahmacari he was together in a brahmacari ashram with HH Jayapataka Svami. He remained a brahmacari throughout his life. For more than 35 years he served as a pujari in various ISKCON tem

My knee surgeon, Dr. Backstein, saw me at the hospital where I was to take the final X-ray. He confirmed I’m doing good for 6 weeks after the knee replacement. I respect the man for having done a splendid job.

I’m proud to say I walked the entire way there and back – 6 kilometers, no sweat. No cane. In the afternoon, I met Bob back outside of the ashram quarters. Bob says he was raised Catholic but never took it too seriously. He claims Krishna has been speaking to him. I won’t deny.

“What did

By Nrsimha Caitanya dasa, Czech Padayatra leader

While the world was still gripped by the Covid-19 madness the twenty-ninth Czech Padayātrā took place in the second half of July, and according to its participants was one of the best padayātrās in which they’d been involved. For a second successive year we were able to find a sweet spot during the summer holidays when most of the restrictions had been lifted. After all those lockdowns people were happy that something was going on and as there we

Lover of God- this term evokes different feelings or images in our hearts. Who is a lover of God? What are his symptoms? How does he behave?

And do we know that all of us, yes each one of us, has love of God within our heart and the perfection of our spiritual life is get eternally and permanently reinstated as a lover of God!

Our present condition

By nature, we are lover of God, but here, being illusioned, we think God as our enemy and we don’t like God. We like this māyā.

(SP Lecture, January

Krsna consciousness should be the first and foremost thing in your life. Krsna is first. A wife can say to her husband, “You are the dearmost person in my life, however, after Krsna”. So let Krsna be number one, let Krsna be the most important, let Krsna be the centre of your life, let Krsna be your everything!

Source: https://www.kksblog.com/2021/09/my-dearmost/

Walking was meagre. Resting was maximized more than the norm. It’s Labor Day and the last day before school starts. Karuna, K. Chandra, and I wanted to do something, not necessarily laborious but meaningful; devotional. So, we drove to North York and there we met Lila Mayi, who lives but a mere 5-minute walk from Avondale Park. We sat on a madras and started chanting to the accompaniment of harmonium, kartals, tambourine and drum.

“What is that?” asked a young man pointing to the drum.

“This fi

By Sivarama Swami

Some years back, in response to repeated requests to write something about prayer, we published the prayers I recite daily upon rising. The name of the book is My Daily Prayers. While that book is now out of print, Lāl Publishing would like to make it easily available to devotees as an ebook, which can be downloaded from here: https://srsbooks.com/gift/.

At this time our planet and our devotees need prayer. No doubt many devotees have their own prayers. Yet some do not. It ca

George Harrison placed a Hare Krishna sticker on the headstock of Eric Clapton’s famous guitar—the red Gibson ES-335 that he played throughout his career until auctioning it for charity to benefit his Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a residential-care facility dedicated to the treatment of drug and alcohol dependency and addiction.

“‘I think this is the star of the show,’ Clapton said prior to the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Auction at Christie’s, where it sold for $847,500. Even though the guitar was

By Madhava Smullen

After Hurricane Ida hit the US State of Louisiana on Sunday August 29th, the devotees, deities and cows at ISKCON New Orleans and the New Talavana Farm in neighboring Mississippi have been reported safe and unharmed. The temples’ public Janmastami festivals, however, had to be canceled or delayed to next weekend.

Hurricane Ida made landfall as a Category 4 storm the day before Janmastami, but dropped to a Category 1 as it moved inland. New Orleans was hit by gusts over 100 mp

Vaishnavi Ministry NA is organizing a gofundme fundraiser to benefit The Dasi-Ziyad Family Institute and help fund the production of this film. 

Documentary Film Project Proposal

The film project’s purpose is to pay tribute to Krsnanandini Dasi by presenting her inspiring life and the impact she made on her family, spiritual community, and society at large.

Your donations will help us to preserve Krsnanandini Dasi's life and legacy with a documentary that depicts Krsnanandini Dasi’s journey and

High Park is currently graced with golden rod. To some people, its colour offers an exotic flair, and it is hard to control their spread.

The location where we chant weekly is at a fork in the road, at the main entrance where we are is very visible, but the golden rod is found more in the woods, however, they can be seen in all their glory. It is our experience that pedestrians and cyclists that come through at that entrance cannot but become touched by the kirtan. Perhaps that’s what is the dr

By Titiksu Das and Nitai Gaurasundar Das

London and Paris have much in common as far as Krishna Consciousness is concerned. Srila Prabhupada visited both cities many times.

He installed Radha Krishna Deities in both places and gave Them similar names...Radha-London Isvara (London) Radha-Paris Isvara (Paris). He also installed Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra, and Gaura Nitai in both cities.

By Madhava Smullen

On September 9th, team members of the Food For All charity were invited to meet with the Lord Mayor of the City of London William Russell, at his official residence the Mansion House, to receive the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. Equivalent to an MBE, the QAVS is the highest award given to local voluntary groups in the UK. 

Food For All volunteers were told back in June that they would receive the accolade for “preparing and sharing free, hot, nutritious meals with those

We have gathered on the most auspicious occasion of Srila Prabhupada’s appearance day. His Divine Grace appeared in Calcutta in 1896, 125 years ago. And as he wrote of his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, “He lives forever by his divine instructions and the follower lives with him.” So although from the physical point of view Srila Prabhupada is no longer with us, from the spiritual point of view he is: “He lives forever by his divine instructions.” And by following hi

The physio fellow had his mask on. He understood that my cartilage wore down because of an abundance of walking and the need for a new knee. I told him about my powerwalking in the US, Canada and other countries. Over the mask I could see his eyes widen. Then he asked questions.

“You did it alone? Where did you stay at night? Do you use a tent at night? How long does it take from coast to coast? This is amazing!”

I was warmed and charmed by the queries. Then I asked him questions: “How long for

By Madhava Smullen 

We have to see that nobody goes hungry within a 10-mile radius,” Srila Prabhupada said during the Gaura Purnima Festival in Mayapur in 1973. Inspired by this statement, volunteers for the non-profit organization Hunger-Free Zone are ensuring that no one within ten miles of their kitchen in Baltimore goes hungry. It’s a much-needed service, as the city has the highest poverty rate in Maryland, 131.5% above the state’s poverty line.

Headed up by Baltimore temple president Nila

We see that by the mercy of the Lord, Hiranyaksa left his body and was greatly blessed. By the touch of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hiranyaksa was slapped and he subsequently died. Hiranyaksa actually became purified from that demoniac mentality and his body was even purified by the touch of the Lord that his body did not decay like an ordinary body. So in this way, we can see that those who are killed by the Supreme Lord are blessed and attain the very auspicious destination. In the ba

Excerpt of a lecture given by HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami at the Sannyasa Candidate Training Seminar in Mayapura (February, 2012).

There is a verse in the Puranas that states that sannyasa is forbidden in Kali-yuga:

asvamedha gavalambha
sannyasam pala-paitakam
devarena sutotpattim
kalau parca vivarjayet

[Cc. Adi 17.164]

In this age of Kali, five things should be avoided: one is performing sacrifice by offering cows; performing sacrifice by offering horse; and oblation offering to the forefather