On Ram Navami, at ISKCON Juhu, His Grace Payonidhi Das suffered a tragic accident and left this world. Originally from Orissa, he was a loving servant of Lord Jagannath, and he was a full-time resident living as a Brahmachari (monk). He was currently serving in ISKCON Kharghar but had traveled to attend the temple’s Ram Navami celebration.
Payonidhi Prabhu and a few other Brahmacharis were taking Prasadam in the Govindas Garden -ISKCON Juhu (Shri Rama Navami Kalash Donors Prasadam Area) at aro
Appreciating the celebrations of Rama Navami at the Varachha branch of ISKCON in Surat, the Prime Minister of India, Sri Narendra Modi pointed out the relevance of the teachings of Lord Ramachandra to modern times.
Murtimaan Das President of ISKCON Varachha said, “The Prime Minister compared Lord Rama’s own ideal example of compassion with the activities of ISKCON based on compassion and commitment, and the selfless service the organisation extends to society in line with the teachings of Lord
On March 30, 2022, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Brandon Thompson found Sean Lawrence Michel-White guilty of two counts of first-degree bias crime, second-degree bias crime, two counts of fourth-degree assault, and harassment in a bench trial. He was then sentenced to three years of formal probation after serving seven months in jail. Deputy District Attorney Mitchell Diesko prosecuted the case against the defendant.
On August 29, 2021, the defendant went to an ISKCON Temple located in
During the current Covid 19 pandemic threat period, to share and care deeply about each other is very important at the same time as Krishna devotees we should have an implicit faith in Krishna. avasya raksibe Krishna visvasa palana leaving it upto Krishna.. mar bhi rakha bni jo icch tohara Nitya dasa prati tuva adhikara (Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s saranagati songs) Relevant to this Covid 19 situation, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote a short article during the period of the Bubonic Plague outbr
Leading up to next month’s appearance of the original child protector – Lord Nrsimhadeva, this is the perfect time of the year to focus on the Lord as the protector and ourselves as His instruments.
This month ISKCON’s Child Protection Office is sharing child abuse prevention and response resources via newsletters and daily Facebook postings. This is a time for devotees to feel encouraged to share information and insights on child protection from all points of view – scriptural, legal, ecclesia
On October 17, 2019, the BBT and GBC cooperatively appointed an Editorial Review Panel (ERP) to address devotees’ concerns about making changes to Çréla Prabhupäda’s books after his physical departure.
Formed with the mandate to review all proposed and previously published edits to Çréla Prabhupäda’s books in the English language, the ERP has now been convening for more than a year, and they are making progress in their review. The panel consists of devotee scholars and editors who were nominate
The winter retreats offered by the sacred village of New Vrindaban, West Virginia were a wonderful endeavor. The four-night mini-retreats ran every week from Thursday through Sunday, starting on January 5th until the end of March. It opened many avenues for newcomers and experienced devotees alike.
For new devotees, there were Japa meditation classes, lessons on how to wear tilak, and sessions on how to perform achaman- purification ritual. The newbies were also welcomed to meet residents of Ne
I had a sore craving for some leftover pear slices in the lunch room’s fridge. It was after midnight and insomnia hit me so I made it down the stairs, picked up two garbage bags outside Govinda’s Restaurant, which is adjoined to our ashram, to toss in the trash room. The bowl of small pear bits was still there. I transferred them into a small katori dish and made my way up with the fruit securely in hand.
The clock had turned to be April Fool’s Day and I don’t think within the somewhat strict r
As I write this article there are pictures on the news of hundreds on people lying on the ground simulating the unjust death of George Floyd, a black man, by an officer of the law. People on the streets all over the country are demanding action, demanding that the police be reformed, defunded and/or disbanded. Cries of “racism” echo throughout the land. In the news, some of the talking heads are saying it’s “a few bad apples” and others warn of a more systemic problem. Is it individuals on the
When I first went to India, Lord Ramachandra was the first deity I ever saw because the first temple I went to was of Lord Ramachandra and that was my temple! It was a small round temple and later on, they renovated and made it into a big marble temple. Oh, I miss my small round temple; it was so nice; the deities were really close but now they are high up and far away.
Then, when I went to Benares, I picked up the “Sri Rama Jaya Rama” mantra from a temple. It was playing twenty-four hours a day
Festival days such as Rama-navami are a prime opportunity for spiritual advancement and purification. Srila Prabhupada stated in a Rama-navami lecture in Hawaii on the 27th March, 1969:
“There is no difference between His form, His name, His pastimes, and Himself. He’s absolute. Therefore either you chant the holy name of Rama or you see the statue of Rama or you talk of His pastimes, transcendental pastimes, everything, that means you are associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So
I will read a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Two, Text 23. This verse is very significant. Not only is the verse beautiful, but it also has historical significance, because when Sukadeva Gosvami came out of the womb, after sixteen years, he left home immediately, and his father, Srila Vyasadeva, followed him into the forest. And when he came close enough to him, he recited two verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam, one describing Krishna’s beauty, from the Tenth Canto, and one descri
By Radhika Prasad Dasa
We were in Fairfield (Sydney), which is densely populated by Arabs. An unforecasted storm hit us. The harinama party had to make a decision to continue or cancel.
Given that it was a long way from home, we decided to continue, and we moved through the streets under roof footpaths.
Looking at the dancing and singing in the rain, all the Arabs were coming out of the shops, elated to watch and hear the harinama.
I started placing Arabic books into their hands. Almost all of t
By Lisa Chastain
A lifelong search for God ends in the most unexpected of places.
Are they the same thing?
BEFORE I MET Srila Prabhupada, I had wanted to serve humanity. Then I heard from Srila Prabhupada about the importance of serving Lord Krsna. Still the question remained: How does God's service relate to man's?
After a week of hearing from Srila Prabhupada, I got the chance to ask after Srila Prabhupada concluded a lecture:
sa vai pumsam paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata
yayatma suprasidati
"Without spiritual realization you can-not have peace of mi
For Ukraine, our residents had a chant.
From our west coast Gita Chat group, we discussed a host of things, some of which are as follows:
1) We are all in a conditioned state; meaning we are contaminated.
2) Getting free from this contamination is called mukti.
3) Consciousness can be described with the term “I am.”
4) When consciousness is contaminated, one declares, “I am Lord.”
5) When consciousness is purified it means, “I am servant.”
6) Purification comes in the form of co-operation with
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the golden avatara, the embodiment of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna in the aspect of a devotee, appeared 484 years ago to deliver the pure essence of the Vedic literatures to the entities of this Age of Quarrel. He brought God consciousness from behind locked doors into the streets and into the hearts of everyone. He showed the importance of sincerity in our service to God. This eternal loving service is the highest religion, over and above any limited sectarian faith.
Five centu
Akrura, a devotee of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, achieved perfection by his notable prayers. In his book Easy Journey to Other Planets, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada describes nine processes of realizing God. It is said that perfection of human life and entrance into the spiritual kingdom are guaranteed by execution of any or all of the nine items of devotional activity, and it is recommended that we execute these processes, following in the footsteps of gr
By Jayabhadra devi dasi
On February 26, 2022, we had a one-day Vaishnavi padayatra at Wadad village 15km from Amravati. As a district Medical Officer, I am well acquainted with our health workers, so while our ISKCON Girls’ Forum team did advance party work a few days before padayatra I liaised with fellow employees Anganwadi and Asha and they agreed to join us for padayatra.
Our group received an early-morning welcome at Wadad with the village ladies enthusiastically singing and dancing with us
