For those whose lives have been forever improved by meeting Lord Krishna personally in the pages of the Gita, Gita Jayanti is not only a day of celebration but also a chance to express their gratitude. And the best way to do so is to share the Gita with others. Krishna Himself says, “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” (Bg. 18.69)
The Gita teaches the essence of spiritual knowledge, purely and succinctly, in a way that anyone – in an
By Ritudvipa dasa, UP Padayatra leader
Walking through the city of Kanpur and the surrounding villages during the first few days of the Uttar Pradesh Padayatra in September 2019 was a big challenge for us, as people in that area are not aware of padayatra culture. We had virtually no donations and had to rely on the support of the congregation devotees to keep our mission moving, but we endured and found preaching on the road to be a rewarding experience.
On one occasion we had no grains or puls
I felt very fortunate because I was able to see Prabhupada when he wasn’t with his disciples. He wasn’t busy training them in management in a variety of ways or chastising them for the mistakes they had made. He wasn’t getting involved in seeing that the books were being produced. So many different services that he was doing in the service for his spiritual master.
At various times during the day behind closed doors Prabhupada was just there by himself and they were the times that I liked the mo
It was the second Sunday night in a row that I took a walk to Isabella Street to meet Vallabha and Michaela, the great couple that worked on our film, “Rolling the Dice.” My intent on the visit, which was outside their apartment for Covid safety, was to bring them a token of appreciation in the form of cake prasadam. Also, we needed to set some schedules to fine-tune our production. It was our first film.
My day was like a live-wire of bhakti, devotional service. At 6 a.m. I chatted with Vrishab
By Kalakantha das and Jitamitra dasi
We became close to Yamuna and Dinatarine Prabhus over the last five years. We run a busy college outreach program in Gainesville and, in 2006, looking for a getaway during the summer breaks, we decided to visit Saranagati, as we had lived and served in Vancouver temple years ago and had many friends there.
Soon after arriving in Saranagati we discovered Banabihari Ashram, a straw bale house plastered in adobe covered with a green metal roof perched on a smal
The third annual MAN-tra Retreat was held online November 20th to 21st. Due to Covid-pandemic restrictions, the planned 2020 New Vrindaban in person retreat was cancelled but then, bad became good. With 210 registered participants from Canada, US. England,South Africa, Trinidad, India, Indonesia, Australia, Russia and Bangladesh the audience widened. International participants have requested that the online format continue next year.
The retreat included panel discussions, powerpoint present
I committed to time in the walk-in cooler where we keep produce of fruits and veggies but also flowers and greens. The lifting, stretching and reaching, to some degree, compensated for the day’s no-walking program. The sorting out had to be done and the coolness of the fridge made me feel as if, indeed, I was outside.
By the way, the cold rain and wind of the out-of-doors was a deterrent for me. First and foremost, the cleaning and setting things up for the sake of efficiency was my impulsive se
Dear Devotees,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
The GBC Strategic Planning Team (GBC SPT) is looking for devotees to join our team and take on responsible service in several key areas.
If you would like to join yourself or help us find qualified devotees to be part of a highly dynamic, forward looking team, dedicated to helping manifest Srila Prabhupada’s brilliant vision for all of ISKCON, then read on to know more.
At the start of the pandemic in March, the
Every year after kartika the VIHE holds the Holy Name Retreat and the Govardhana Retreat at the foot of Giriraja. However, as many of you might have expected, we will not have the retreats at Govardhana this year BUT we have decided to present to you a wonderful online retreat helped by our esteemed speakers HH Sacinandana Svami, HG Bhurijana Prabhu, HG Jagattarini Devi Dasi, and HG Madhavananda Dasa so that you may start the new year with Giriraja’s blessings. The dates are January 2-6, 2021.
J
Devotees around the world are aiming to distribute at least two million Bhagavad-gitas during the last quarter of 2020, as part of the Prabhupada marathon and the Live to Give campaign.
The campaign will culminate with World Gita Day (also known as Gita Jayanti) on December 25th. To mark the occasion, there will be a live Zoom broadcast wherein ISKCON communities from all over the world will glorify the Bhagavad-gita As It Is in creative ways, concluding with a COVID-safe fire yajna broadcast on
The sun was hitting the rooftops, and people too, and it was beckoning people to come out of hiding. Yes, people like me. At 9°C who wouldn’t go for a stroll with Friday night optimism in the air. I set out for Bloor Street.
At Hot Docs movie house the curved art deco. awning shelters a homeless crew. How many? I don’t know. They do seem to hoard a lot of paraphernalia. It’s a bit unsightly with it sprawled out, including a half dozen comforters or so.
One of the blanket proprietors did see me a
By Indulekha Devi Dasi
Vatsala Prabhu, our spiritual brother, left his body tonight. His whole world was serving at the Indian Festival, whenever I had contact with him he always lived and spoke about this service. Sending my sympathy and support to His Daughter and the rest of the family.
Srimati Tungavidya Devi Dasi, wife of Trikalajna Das, left this world from Sri Vrindavan Dham due to an accute cardiac arrest on 14 December 2020 at 4:20am.
Around 1980s, she served Sri Radha Madan Mohan of ISKCON Washington DC with all her love and dedication while Trikalajna Prabhu served as the Temple President. She constantly served the deities and preached zealously bringing many lost souls into Krishna consciousness. She was extremely loved by the local devotees. Both Mataji and Trikalajna
By Mohan Luthra
The first thing that has changed about the Bhaktivedanta Manor Gurukula is that it is no longer called that, it is now simply referred to as the Gurukula – The Hare Krishna Primary School. This is part of the story which has seen big changes happen over the last year and half.
In 2017, due to the construction of the Haveli, the Manor School had to move to the nearby picturesque Elton Cottage. Here a former residence has been transformed into a well-equipped school. While the teac
By Jyotisvara dasa
In today's world, scientific temper, or temperament occupies the center stage in deciphering the nature of reality.
Scientific temper refers to an individual and social process of thinking and acting, including questioning, observing physical reality, testing, hypothesizing, analyzing, and communicating. Scientific temper also describes an attitude, which involves the application of logic. This term was popularized by late Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who urged his
The express postman left a parcel for us about a week ago. We had been waiting for it and it just so happened that he left it at the wrong door. A passerby in a nearby address noticed it sitting right by the door. It’s surprising that no one bothered to pick it up off the street and run away with it during the entire week. It appears that there are still some honest people in the world. This pedestrian did spot it and brought it to a proper door where he found one of us.
Wow! Really! What if a s
By Mandakini Devi Dasi
Dear devotees we are very sad to inform you that one of the first preachers in the Soviet Union Brahmananda Puri Prabhu left his body out of Covid. During that time where circumstances were extreme, he published Srila Prabhupada’s books in clandestinity, at his own life’s risk. He came from Armenia and became so enthusiastic after reading Srila Prabhupada’s books that most of his village inhabitants became devotees. Let us all pray that he reaches safely the Lord’s mercy g
