Blog

It was somewhere near Oakland in California

Where people drive everything from a Harley to a Porsche

Anuttama and I were ambling on our humble feet

As traffic whizzed by like a roaring missile fleet
 

We got to talking about an absolute need

We had this idea that manifest like a seed

A retreat for conscious men who will open up

Get drunk on nectar brimming to the top of the cup
 

The bonding, we thought, would be most valuable

A feeling that would rub most palpable

There was a very good reason t

Listen Here!

(Friday, November 20th– Los Angeles, CA)— Double-platinum recording artist, WILLOW, and British musician Jahnavi Harrison release their brand-new collaboration R I S E today! The six track EP featuring timeless Sanskrit mantras and original lyrics inspired by sacred texts of the bhakti tradition. 

Listen to R I S E here!

In the search for a deeper connection and inner calm, WILLOW and Jahnavi have combined their musical influences to create a spiritual, meditative and uplifting coll

In 2017 and 2018, His Holiness Kadamba Kanana Swami took us to the Sudevi Mandir in Kamyavana, where we meditate on Sudevi, one of the asta-sakhis. Sudevi was an expert in training male and female parrots and she always remained at the side of her dear friend, Srimati Radharani. Check out Maharaja’s full kirtans and lectures below, along with a few photos, at the Sudevi Mandir in Kamyavana during Parikrama 2017 and Parikrama 2018.

At Sudevi Mandir, we pray that we are able to cultivate our mind

The first day of the MANtra Retreat was a smashing success. Anuttama is just the best host. Tomorrow will be most exciting—a good speaker from the UK, Bhuta Bhavana, who raises the topic of empowerment. Check it out, 10 AM. Register if you haven’t, gentlemen.

At noon today one of my good friends from Vaughn came over and accepted two garlands for his Ganesh deity. He was proudly letting me know that he lost 35 lbs due to diet change and walking 10 kilometres per day.

I later came upon a tall fel

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu teaches us, na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye. (Siksastaka 4) Dhanam means wealth . . . But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, na dhanam: “I don’t want money.” Just the opposite. Everyone wants money. He says, “No, I don’t want money.” Na dhanam na janam: “I don’t want many men as My followers.” Just the opposite. Everyone wants. The politicians, the yogis, the swamis, everyone wants, “There may be hundreds and thousands of my followers.” But Chaitanya Maha

The Annual MANtra, Men's Retreat, usually held in New Vrindaban, USA, is going virtual this year and it all happens this weekend beginning Friday evening November 20 (EST), and continues through Sunday, Nov. 22.  All men are invited ages 16 and up. 

This annual men’s sanga will feature interactive sessions with leading devotees of all ages and backgrounds including Mahatma, Chaitanya Charana & Sutapa, Bhuta Bhavana, Namarasa, Raghunatha, Partha, Kaunteya, Anuttama, Madhvacarya, and Gopal Lila pr

In 2017, His Holiness Kadamba Kanana Swami took us on a boat trip on River Yamuna to Mathura, the birthplace of Krsna in this material world about 5,000 years ago. Check out Maharaja’s full kirtan along with a few photos, on the way to Mathura during Parikrama 2017.

In Chapter 13 of the Nectar of Devotion, it is mentioned about residing in Mathura dhama or Mathura mandala, which refers to the holy dhama of Vrndavana. “So this attainment of transcendental loving devotional service to the Lord is

The following poem is in honour of my dear friend, Baladev, AKA Barry Brown. We traveled as monks in a small party through the United States, experiencing what most people haven’t gone through.

Baladeva / Barry Brown
 

I know you never knelt at a church’s pew

You were Jewish, then Vaishnava, now a “Hin-jew”

As monks in travel we looked at the bible

Viewed the Old Testament exploring the tribal

On that same motel floor you wrestled with Giri

You lost—he won, leaving you feeling weary

On behalf o

Today is Gopastami, the day on which Krishna and Balarama and other boys Their age, who previously had tended the calves, were given charge of the cows. This event is described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.15.1):

tatas ca pauganda-vayah-sritau vraje
  babhuvatus tau pasu-pala-sammatau
gas carayantau sakhibhih samam padair
  vrndavanam punyam ativa cakratuh

“When Lord Rama and Lord Krsna attained the age of pauganda [six to ten] while living in Vrndavana, the cowherd men allowed Them to take up the t

suklastami karttike tu
smrta gopastami budhaih
tad-dinad vasudevo ‘bhud
gopah purvam tu vatsapah

“The eighth lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month of Kartik is known by authorities as Gopastami. From that day, Lord Vasudeva served as a cowherd, whereas previously He had tended the calves.”
-Srimad Bhagavatam 10.15.1, translation

Many important pastimes take place on Gopastami. One pastime takes place on this day a few years after Krishna first started tending the cows. On this day, Jat

On this day Lord Sri Krishna became a qualified cowherd. Before this day, he was a keeper of the calves.

This event is described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.15.1):
tatas ca pauganda-vayah-sritau vraje
babhuvatus tau pasu-pala-sammatau
gas carayantau sakhibhih samam padair
vrndavanam punyam ativa cakratuh

“When Lord Rama and Lord Krsna attained the age of pauganda [six to ten] while living in Vrndavana, the cowherd men allowed Them to take up the task of tending the cows. Engaging thus in the compa

Today is Gopastami, the day on which Krishna and Balarama and other boys Their age, who previously had tended the calves, were given charge of the cows. This event is described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.15.1):

tatas ca pauganda-vayah-sritau vraje
  babhuvatus tau pasu-pala-sammatau
gas carayantau sakhibhih samam padair
  vrndavanam punyam ativa cakratuh

“When Lord Rama and Lord Krsna attained the age of pauganda [six to ten] while living in Vrndavana, the cowherd men allowed Them to take up the

By Madhava Smullen

Achyutam: Your Names, the soulful, joyous debut single from Govinda Priya, is set to be released at 8am UK time on Diwali day, Saturday November 14th. Diwali is known as the Festival of Lights, and the song promises to shed some light during a dark time. 

“At the moment everything is so dull and difficult, and everyone is really struggling,” Govinda Priya says. “So we wanted to offer something uplifting.”

Growing up and going to gurukula in New Mayapur, France, kirtan and singi

It is our great pleasure to announce ISKCON MAYAPUR’s 8th annual Kartik Navadwip Mandal Parikrama, during the most auspicious month of Kartik. Kartik Navadwip Mandal Parikrama 2020 organized by the Mayapur Chandra’s, is a virtual medium by which devotees are taken on parikrama to the nine-islands and various holy places. Here they participate in hearing and chanting about the glories of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Their associates. The transcendental Sankirtan Movement is an everlasting phenomenon;

In 2018, His Holiness Kadamba Kanana Swami took us to Kaliya-ghata, where Lord Krsna jumped from a big kadamba tree (which still stands here) into the Yamuna River, which once used to flow here. It was here that Krsna then chastised and danced on the hoods of Kaliya. Check out Maharaja’s full lecture below, along with a few photos, at Kaliya-ghata during Parikrama 2018.

Kaliya was getting tired of being kicked. Not only was Krsna’s dancing on the hoods of Kaliya very elegant and beautiful, but H

In 2018, His Holiness Kadamba Kanana Swami took us to Pavana-sarovara, where Lord Krsna would bring his cows while returning from the pastures in the evening. The cows used the cooling waters of Pavana-sarovara to quench their thirst. Check out Maharaja’s full kirtan and lecture below, along with a few photos, at Pavana-sarovara during Parikrama 2018.

Pavana-sarovara got its name from Pavana Gopa, who is the father of Visakha. Visakha is the second most important of the eight principal gopis. H

By Madhava Smullen 

Her Grace Krsnanandini Devi Dasi, a beloved and inspirational pioneer for Vaishnava families, passed away today (November 13th 2020) after a long struggle with cancer. She was in the company of her children and her husband Tariq Saleem Ziyad, at their home in North Carolina.

Krsnanandini Devi Dasi was a Srila Prabhupada disciple, Certified Family Life Educator, a member of the ISKCON Grihastha Vision Team, and the co-director of the Dasi-Ziyad Family Institute with her husban

For those who do not know, today is Diwali, the festival of lights. The commemoration has much to do with Rama’s triumph. There is a video circulating out there where Prince Charles is offering his best wishes to all followers of Rama. After all, those who follow Krishna also follow Rama. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Celebrations took place in the city that I live in and also in the temple where I live, where congregants and curiou

In their new book, “An Endangered Species: ISKCON Ashramites in the West,” Kalakantha Das and Jitamitra Dasi posit that ashrams are still an important part of today’s ISKCON. They explain how to create an ashram program that attracts devotees from all backgrounds in the West, especially in North America.

“Some say that the idea of joining an ashram or commune is passé, a hangover from the drop-out anticulture of the 1960s that is not the way of today’s Millennials and Generation Z,” writes Akhan

This is the month of Kartik and I was asked to speak on the month of Damodar but although Damodar is so much on my mind, even more than that is the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada actually.

We will have arati in Srila Prabhupada’s room, by his bed. At the end of the arati, Srila Prabhupada’s chadar goes around, the big grey woollen chadar and it is heavy. When I felt that heavy chadar, I felt the weight of responsibility – now we have to do something; we have to do something to take up this m