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People Are Problems by Bhaktimarga Swami

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 Back from the U.S.  Back to work.  Back to play.
 
My day began with the chant, a look at sastra, and then a breakfast.  Some leftovers do not intimidate me.  Warm them up, as Uttamananda did, and they can be tastier than the day before.  Then jet lag got the better of me.
 
I went for a much needed nap, and as I was about to doze off, images of the infamous New York City blackout entered my mind.  I had seen the documentary by the name "Black Out" on the plane last night.  Quite devastating!
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On 6th February, Varaha Dvadasi will be 17 years since the opening of our Vrinda Kunda Temple! To celebrate, we will do special parikramas to the Holy Places of Braja. The program will culminate with our famous Kalash Yatra, an ecstatic Sankirtan procession with the ladies carrying water pots with coconuts on their heads on 16 Feb. Programs will be going on from 6 – 22 Feb-3.

We will depart almost every morning from Krishna Balaram Mandir by bus and go on parikrama to different pastime places

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The hit film on Srila Prabhupada’s life, HARE KRISHNA! The Mantra, the Movement and the Swami who started it all opens in 20 cities in Italy starting Jan. 23 and running through March 15. There is the possibility of releasing the film in up to 100 cities throughout the country if it continues to draw crowds.

It all started when Mukundananda Prabhu from Rome and I met last Kartik in Vrindavan. He expressed keen interest in bringing the movie to Italy and I encouraged him to find a distributor.

O

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Our Experience by Bhaktimarga Swami

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Included in our morning sadhana, at Rockwood Manor, was a line-up of chairs, and seated upon them were the direct students of Srila Prabhupada, our Guru Maharaja.  There were six of us. We were given three questions to answer, from our personal perspective, and were obliged to deliver to the thirty or so listeners, our experiences.
 
Question One:  What encourages you to stay (in devotional life) and to keep going?
Question Two:  What fears do you encounter about the future, and also what hope
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On January 9-12, 2020, thirty devotee attorneys, jurists and law students hailing from the United Kingdom, Russia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Hungary, Lithuania, Brazil, Nigeria, Uganda, Singapore and the United States attended the 2020 ISKCON Global Conference of Devotee Attorneys at the Historic Thomas Center in Gainesville, Florida. The term “devotee attorney” refers to any devotee or friend of Krishna, who is an attorney, jurist or law student.

Created by the GBC Body at its 2018 GBC Annual

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To be a well wisher of others, one could say: “Well, from now on, I’ll give something to every beggar on the street!” That is nice, but what will that person do with it? Maybe something destructive to himself? Maybe buy some intoxication? What good is that?

So no! We have to change the world into a world where everyone gets divine consciousness. We were out today and as we came back, we saw some police cars on the highway. The blue lights were flashing on the side. It looked like they were catc

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I had been asked by organizers of these ISKCON Leaders Meetings to begin the two sessions of each day with warm-up exercises, both vocal and physical.  It worked out marvellously for me, because I felt like I was contributing something.  What I offered was much like what I do for theatre arts workshops, or what we do for warm-up exercises before we get into the play practices that I conduct.  

This is not what I do in the higher echelons of our mission.  Our twice a year meetings for the Govern
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By Madhava Smullen 

Devotees from ISKCON of New Jersey appeared on TV Asia’s live call-in talk show, “Focus Live,” on January 2nd at 8pm Eastern Time to answer questions and present Krishna consciousness to an audience of 1.5 to 2 million viewers.

First founded in the UK in 1990, TV Asia was also the first coast-to-coast entertainment and information channel for the South Asian community settled in the U.S. It airs regularly scheduled programs in Hindi, English, Gujarati and other regional l

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Going Smooth by Bhaktimarga Swami

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The meals are light at Rockwood Manor, especially when you show up late like I did.  I had to catch a nap during this retreat workshop.  I'm exhausted from insomnia three nights in a row.  And when breakfast is not to my liking (there are uttapams) I'm more inclined to forgo.  I'm not complaining.  Just stating facts about the way of the world.  Nothing's perfect with these bodies. 
 
But, oh how I’m enjoying the meetings.  There are lots of young representatives from across the U.S. and Canada
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By Parijata dasi

The first meeting of the Advisory Committee for the development of Mayapur Heritage City was held on 9 January 2020 at Sajjan Jindal’s office.

The meeting was initiated by Devakinandan Das, Zonal Secretary and Vice Chairman of Member of Mayapur Executive Board (MEB), and saw the participation of some of the most distinguished members of the corporate world namely Sajjan Jindal (Chairman – JSW Group & Advisory Committee), BK Goenka (Chairman – Welspun Group), Ajay Piramal (Chai

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From Canto 11 of the book, Bhagavatam, I spoke on the Chapter ‘Aila Gita’, which details the teachings and realizations coming to an affluent king, Pururava.  Oh, how in love he was with his lady, Urvasi, a heavenly beauty!  At one point in the relationship, deciding to terminate it all, Urvasi left him, and the separation for him was too much.  Time lapsed and he realized just how attached he was to this world and to his body, a mass of marrow, bones, sinew, blood, etc.  "This body," he reflec
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The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust is very happy to announce the release of a new website, www.bbt.info, your ultimate guide for all things BBT. Visit this website to learn more about BBT, its mission, organization, and governance, the unique relationship between BBT and ISKCON, and more.

Other key highlights from this website:

1. BBT Global’s Financial Statements, as well as more information about BBT Grants.

2. BBT Affiliates with information about BBT Media—the reliable source for BBT ebooks and a

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The Ministry of Education invites devotees to a symposium designed to bring together the many ISKCON-members involved in Education:

"Dear ISKCON educator and leader, 

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. 

We are delighted to inform you that the ISKCON Ministry of Education, will be hosting its 2nd Annual International Symposium of Education “Viplavah 2020” on February 21st & 22nd, 2020, at ILS Venue in Sridham Mayapur. 

We were very encouraged by the huge numbe

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Do you remember me? by Caranaravinda Dasa

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I was distributing in Byron Bay, Australia. When I approached a man, he asked, “Do you remember me?”

“No, sorry, I don’t.”

“Three years ago, you gave me the Bhagavad-gita, and I gave you a donation.
I thought it might help me through my troubled times. I had lost my business and my family, so I was drinking a lot. Basically I wanted to drink myself to death. Miserable.

“I would drink and then read a few words from the Gita. Then I would drink more, then would read more. This went on for quite a

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HG Satyasena prabhu ACBSP left the mortal world yesterday evening in Belgaum (India). By Krishna’s mercy, just before leaving the body, he was in the temple – all good, chanting, listening class and all of a sudden he left!
He left his body in Uttarayan (Makar Sankranti was just the day before yesterday) in the temple – while chanting, listening katha in the association of devotees, his family was there, HH Bhakti RasamritaSwami was also there – so surely he has gone back to his eternal service

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By Damodarleela dasa and Arjuna Krishna dasa

Recently the Maharashtra Padayatra was at Koregaon in the Sangli district, a village enriched with devotees. Cintamani devi dasi, the daughter of a brother of Lokanath Maharaja, stays here and as part of a Vaishnava family she naturally follows the same spiritual path. Her son, Caitanya dasa, who studies in gurukul, was also at home to welcome padayatra and he sang and performed kirtan with us. They have a combined family, a rarity nowadays, and all

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Best Breakfast by Bhaktimarga Swami

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It was at Tyendinaga, in Mohawk Territory—where in the summer of 2012, I napped in between the rows of soy beans,  and swam in a creek for a break, and where the fish bit Daruka's chest—that Jaya and I had a great breakfast this morning.  Yes, indeed, Jay and I stopped at "the Twins’ farm" (as we call it) and took food for fuel.
 
Graham and Dhyanachandra are identical twins, who used to live in Toronto, and do janitorial services at the Krishna centre.  Dhyanachandra is spending the winter in
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I had the opportunity to visit Mauritius for a few days along with a few devotees from Goa. I am sharing my experience of being in this small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean for those who haven't had the opportunity to be here. Mauritius is very much like India or more specific, very much like Goa but it is definitely more beautiful than Goa. 

THE BLUE ISLAND

One of the most striking feature of this place that really stands out is the colour of the ocean here. The crystal blue, transp
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If one has drunk the poison of offending a devotee, one should, with that same mouth, drink the life-giving nectar of sincerely praising (and serving) that devotee. Haridasa Thakura says, “If anyone offends a sadhu in a moment of delusion and madness, he must fall at the sadhu’s feet and bitterly repent; weeping with full contrition, he must beg for forgiveness. He should declare himself a fallen wretch in need of a Vaisnava’s grace. A sadhu is very merciful; his heart will soften and he will e

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One of the Monks... by Bhaktimarga Swami

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One of the monks visiting at the Montreal ashram did not wake up at the usual time.  I went to him reminding him of the hour.

"It's 6:30 a.m."
 
"I was thinking to rest a little more," he said.  
 
Not argumentatively, but with a slight firmness, I expressed, "Well, that's eight and a half hours.  That's not enough, really?"  This chap is actually a good person but just once in a while…. 
 
The excuse was: "I woke up in the middle of the night so my sleep got disturbed."  

My response was: "I
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