Dear Well-wisher,
Hare Krishna! Greetings along with the blessings of Lord Kapil Muni and Ganga Mata! We pray this letter meets you and your family in good health during this challenging COVID-19 pandemic. With the New Year already here, we are looking forward to happiness, prosperity and success. Darkness is inauspicious and the light brings auspiciousness. On Makar Sankranti the Sun-god will make northward movement, uttarayana, to bring light and auspiciousness. Makar Sankranti is an occasion

I don’t do too well with complainers. Covid is fueling them big time these days. Another cause for the current griping is the weather. A lot of people just don’t like winter. Winter, with Covid slapped on top of it, makes it “the winter of our discontent.” That’s a quote from Richard the 3rd, by William Shakespeare. One of my very favourite literary geniuses is John Steinbeck who authored, “East of Eden,” “Grapes of Wrath” and “Of Mice and Men.” His last novel was titled after the famous line, “

The company that we keep plays a significant role in our lives. Our desires, habits, and goals are often dependent on the association that we are in (saṅgāt sanjāyate kāmaḥ, BG 2.62). Associating with cultured people helps us develop good habits, and associating with corrupt people makes us corrupt generally. The holy scriptures therefore repeatedly recommend that we avoid bad association and keep good association. Here is Lord Kṛṣṇa’s direct description on the glory of saintly association, in

By Madhava Smullen

Although 2020 has been a tough year for us all, some have discovered silver linings amidst the challenges. When ISKCON New Vrindaban, West Virginia went into a two-week lockdown on Thanksgiving Day to keep the community safe, two women from opposite sides of the world found themselves in an unexpected quarantine. However the experience turned out to be a blissful one, as they learned new skills, nourished their spiritual lives, and forged a strong friendship.

Sharaniya Nathan,

The reason why we chant without taste or without being attentive is because we are chanting without remembrance of Krsna. The more we remember Krsna in our daily lives, the more naturally we will be inclined to chant with taste. For instance, while Srimati Radharani was churning yoghurt to make butter, she was remembering Krsna constantly. And as she was remembering Krsna, she was also chanting Krsna’s name. So it is this remembrance of Krsna that is really lacking in us. When we are not feeling

Indira Nayee passed away from cancer. She was a great devotee, wife, parent and a devout member of our community. She moved to Canada from Africa with her husband, Tusti Mohan and their two boys (my Sunday school students) decades ago. Here is my poem—a tribute to her:
 

Indira—Remarkable

Our obeisances to a dear lady

Of refinement, nothing short of holy

Quietly she would move about

Not raise her voice, nor even a shout

Carrying the pure nature of a mother

Hard-pressed we are to find another

Foc

A new day was just about to come,

And a new year lapsed when the cold made us numb.

We rough and ready were all bundled up,

We held back conserved energy like a young pup.

In anticipation, which was so very high,

Our drum mallet beats began entering the sky,

At location—Old City Hall—with its new face,

Still on Queen’s Street at its usual place.

Everyone was appareled in holiday cheer,

For an annual rite set for the New Year.

Hope was triggered for a better tomorrow,

Putting behind any of yester

By Madhava Smullen

Devotees in the Czech Republic read the entireity of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is online during a nonstop 27-hour live broadcast on the sacred occasion of Gita Jayanti, December 25th.

The idea was originated by Loka Saranga Das and moderated by Madhu Pandit Das, while Priya-kirti Das advertised the livestream. The reading, conducted via Zoom and broadcast on Youtube, was also inspired by Vaisesika Das’s Live to Give Campaign.

More than thirty devotees read from th

I would like to express a happy new year to all the readers and also say that we should not be so torn by the social circumstances of these days. This is the play of the mundane world. There is always some agitation.

At noon I had lunch with one of our ashram residents, Uttamananda. He brought up a topic that is indeed upsetting. As he is driving through the day he sees how the big chain box stores are permitted to be open for business. However, “The small persons doors are required to be shut d

Dear ISKCON Leaders and Devotees,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

It is with great enthusiasm that we present to you our latest Quarterly Journal.

This issue is special for two reasons. Firstly, it has been published during a very special Sankirtan season in ISKCON. A time when there is much focus on book distribution. However, there are innumerable methods to distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books during this time. Traditionally it started with taking advant

We felt so delighted to see many young children and teenagers were offering ghee lamps to the Lord. For many, they have achieved exalted piety by the unknowing performance of pure devotional service, without spiritual knowledge (ajñata-sukriti). We prayed that by associating with a devotee of Krishna, the seed of bhakti would sprout one day.

Devotee and congregation members reached out to different spots in Hong Kong (Kowloon area) and shared the blessings of offering ghee lamps in the month of

Auspiciousness is the most sought-after element of human society today given the fact that we are compelled to carry a large baggage of the pandemic. Though the beginning of the end is in sight now . What better way to repose our faith into Spirituality than dedicating our time, energy and emotions in chanting the names of The Lord, while saying good bye to the year which we all would perhaps like to erase from the book of our life.

Scriptures say problem may be material but solution is always s

ISKCON Mayapur presents New Year Shubharambha – Auspicious Beginning…

In order to invoke auspiciousness to begin the year 2021 & leaving behind a difficult year 2020 ISKCON Sri Dham Mayapur invites world wide devotees to take part in our  special  New Year’s Shubharambha program, which includes:

•    Special Narasimha Puja
•    Narasimha Homa
•    Feeding the cows
•    Vaishnava Seva
•    Ganga Puja
•    Kirtan

You can all participate in this auspicious beginning by donating only Rs.2000 by whi

I really prefer to get my vitamin D by catching some sun when I go for my daily stepping. But what if the full day is ridden by clouds like it often is these days? By the time my calls and Zooms are completed it’s dark. The daylight is over. Although it is normally an intense time during Christmas, with the current virus lockdown all is a “silent night." Even the natural world appeared still. Not a raccoon’s scratchy claws against a tree’s bark would be heard. To fill the ether within earshot I

By Vaisesika Dasa

We humans have very short lives. Measured by geological time, our lifespans are not even a nanosecond. Nonetheless, the bhakti scriptures say that this brief period is enough for anyone to attain spiritual perfection. What’s more, they reprove as irresponsible and miserly those who do not utilize their lives to attain such perfection. Having so much at stake with so little time may seem daunting!
To inspire us Sukadeva Goswami tells us in Srimad-Bhagavatam the story of Maharaj

It’s been another one of those weeks wherein caring for our severely autistic/mentally daughter has very nearly eclipsed all other activities. Again. Same as every minute of every day. For years on end. In order that we might truly learn and grow deeper with sincere affection from the difficult experience which the Supreme Lord has sent as mercy to reform us from all selfish considerations. Or complaint (tat te nukumpam…) about the severe circumstance we must necessarily endure. As each endless

Saturn and Jupiter were to come very close together from the earth’s viewpoint. They were to appear as a bright star. I decided to execute my walk through Ramsden Park, doing a back-and-forth pacing where there is less interference by high-rise buildings. Unfortunately hazy clouds actually blocked the view. My anticipation for this darshan (sighting) became deflated. Being equipoised was my only refuge.

Now, have any of you ever listened to “The Planets" by music composer Holtz. If you have not,

The New Year is traditionally the time for resolutions. The turn of the calendar brings both the opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months and the chance to begin planning for the next dozen. As you think about yours, GBC Strategic Planning Team (SPT) brings to you live interview with Sri Radha Govinda Dasi to help you keep up with the resolutions, better decision making, leading through crisis and grow tall in Krishna Consciousness.

About Sri Radha Govinda Dasi

Sri Radha Govinda Dasi was bo

By Prishni Devi Dasi

In 1976, Srila Prabhupada instructed the founding members of the Bhaktivedanta Institute “to build a model of the universe that could later be built full size at the future Mayapur Temple and Planetarium complex.” To help broadly facilitate Srila Prabhupada’s directive, the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies (BIHS) in Gainesville, Florida recently hosted its second cosmography workshop with the title, “Models and memes and maps: A modern journey through ancient cosmo

By Madhava Smullen

During an especially challenging holiday season, the Food For Life Foundation in Hungary is bringing some care and support with its Christmas Love Feast prasadam distribution effort, from December 8th to 27th.

In previous years, Food For Life would hold a massive event in the capital city of Budapest, giving out thousands of meals over three days. However this year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteers are instead distributing food at over twenty different outdoor locations