Featured Posts (13137)

Sort by

A Fish Out of Water by Drutakarma dasa

4211607291?profile=RESIZE_710x

When you’re out of your element, nothing seems to satisfy.

For years, Frederick J. Fish lived a very ordinary life beneath the waves of the blue Pacific Ocean off Malibu. But one day he noticed that up on the beach there were finless creatures who appeared to be having more fun. So he rode in on a wave and hopped up on the sun-drenched sand. Soon he was all fixed up to enjoy himself—beach chair, FM radio, a cold drink, sunglasses. But something was wrong. Gradually Fred’s feeling of discomfort

Read more…

4211565958?profile=RESIZE_710x

Real Vaishnavism is something very deep and something sublime, it’s not simply a type of dress or a type of hairstyle, it’s the substance of our consciousness.
What is our character?
Materialism is the consciousness of wanting to exploit, wanting to enjoy. Thinking oneself above another, that is material consciousness.
The consciousness of a Vaishnava is to serve. This body exists not to enjoy, this body exists to serve. The words I speak are not meant not just to talk, what I want to talk, the

Read more…
woman1_slideshow.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x

Last year, on International Women’s Day Amravati’s ISKCON Girls’ Forum held the inaugural Vaishnavi padayatra which proved to be a unique experience. Normally, in India, matajis remain restricted to cooking, garland making, or similar services. But coming together and organizing a padayatra was a great achievement. The matajis of ISKCON Amravati walked for 8km and participated in dramas, sankirtana and other activities along the way. Everyone was filled with enthusiasm. Later, as they discusse

Read more…

How We React by Bhaktimarga Swami

4211189896?profile=RESIZE_710x
I was enjoying the food (prasadam) in Govinda's Restaurant, and at a time when there were several other people also pleasing their palates and soul.  I was just coming to a closure of my meal.  Everyone was quite meditative, reflective and quiet, and then I let out a cough.  It was sudden, as coughs usually are, but I quickly responded and defended myself saying audibly, "I don't have it" (referring to the coronavirus).  The room erupted into laughter, knowing exactly where my remark came from.
Read more…

dZuCziu.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x

PLEASE VISIT OUR NEW VAISHNAVAS CARE WEBSITE & FACEBOOK PAGE

Dear Maharajas and Prabhus,

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

I am writing to inform you that our NEW Vaishnavas CARE website has been launched at www.vaishnavascare.org. In addition, please visit us at our new Facebook page at “Vaishnavas CARE.”(https://www.facebook.com/VaishnavasCARE/)
We now offer the Devotees of Lord Krishna a PRIVATE Grief Support Group, the first of its kind in ISKC

Read more…
ic1_slideshow.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x

ISKCON Communications Minister Anuttama Dasa, in collaboration with Bhaktivedanta College, translated the 'ISKCON Communications' training he gives world-wide in the classroom into the online environment - dynamic, powerful and thought-provoking as it is when taught in person. The course is designed for members of ISKCON in order to help them communicate more effectively in their everyday services and especially for those involved in ISKCON Communications ministries.

Start date: April 6, 2020

Read more…

4199254537?profile=RESIZE_710x

We may think that we are free because we are making our own choices according to our own liking. But what we fail to see is that when we are not following the four regulative principles closely, we are actually in the grip of kali. This is why Srila Prabhupada formalised the four regulative principles. Pānaṁ (intoxication), dyūtam (gambling), striyaṁ (illicit sex) and śunām (meat eating) are all mentioned as the four types of adharma (irreligion). Therefore, Prabhupada pointed out that we must

Read more…

Stretch and Walk by Bhaktimarga Swami

4199146511?profile=RESIZE_710x
One way to address the dreaded coronavirus is to build up your strength and resistance.  I hear that many of the victims of the disease are travel related.  I believe that if you put your “pedal to the metal” through walking in some good air, you are being very proactive.  Frankly, I do not hear much about boosting the health in these diseased times.  The virus might be contracted more indoors.  Maybe we are not spending enough time in nature’s security—the out-of-doors.

I actually started my
Read more…
the_cover_of_iskcon_and_hinduism_small_slideshow.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x

A newly-published booklet, entitled “ISKCON and Hinduism: Exploring the Hare Krishna Movement and its Broader Traditions,” will be used to help students and teachers in schools, as well as visitors to ISKCON temples, better understand ISKCON and how it relates to broader Hinduism. (During the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be available to order by mail)

The 26-page illustrated booklet is published by ISKCON Educational Services, (IES) which was established at Bhaktivedanta Manor over thirty years

Read more…

2515106337?profile=original

In the 1960s, literary and media critic Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “global village” to describe the extension of people’s frames of reference and sense of responsibility beyond their immediate surroundings, or “village.” This growing sense of connectedness, McLuhan proposed, is the natural result of a world in which electronics enable our senses (at least the senses of sight and hearing—for now) to immediately experience that which is taking place across the globe, just as we would in o

Read more…

TmoKGX0.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x

Dear Devotees and Friends,

In the 1970s Srila Prabhupada spoke forcefully against the philosophical materialism which for some time has functioned as the dominant philosophy behind the sciences, and most other academic fields (1). Prabhupada insisted that consciousness and life itself could not be reduced to the unconscious mechanics of material objects and processes. As a direct result of this teaching that “life comes from life” and not from dead matter, the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher

Read more…
mayapur_pujaris_will_offer_a_special_daily_nrsimhadeva_puja_for_the_protection_of_devotees_all_over_the_world_slideshow.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x
 
By Madhava Smullen

With different countries around the world at different stages of COVID-19 precautions, ISKCON Mayapur has introduced its own safety measures for visitors, community devotees, and stranded foreign devotees.

ISKCON’s headquarters in West Bengal, India has announced that starting from March 19th, temple darshan times for visitors will be restricted to 10:00am to 1:00pm and 5:00pm to 7:30pm.  Arrangements will be made so that the visitor line will enter the Mayapur campus, tak

Read more…
4177198128?profile=RESIZE_710x
When I visited the Yukon, not so terribly long ago, I received a small gift—a key chain.  Attached to this key chain is that iconic image of backpacking prospectors, struggling up a steep snowbank by way of a rope.  This represents the famous Yukon Gold Rush that took place at the turn of the 20th century.
 
I'm intrigued with that historical time, not with the lusting for gold, but for the fact that folks were adventurous and willing to take risks starting a new life in the great north.  For m
Read more…

Remedy for Coronavirus by Giriraj dasa

Coronavirus.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x

All around there is only one hot news- coronavirus. The situation seems to be getting serious in many countries with an increased sense of fear and misery all across the world as there seems to be no remedy for coronavirus. Let us try to see things from the eyes of Guru, Sadhu and Sastra and understand why such epidemics come our way what is the remedy for coronavirus and other such epidemics.

Cause of coronavirus or other epidemics

Animal killing

By practice, one should avoid eating in such a

Read more…

Visitor Restriction:
1. Starting from 19 March 2020 the darshan time in the temple for visitors will be restricted to 10:00am to 1:00pm and 5:00pm to 7:30pm. The line will be arranged in such a way that they will enter the campus, have darshan and exit the campus.
2. The other than the designated route, all other parts of the campus will be off limit for pilgrims.
3. All pilgrims and visitors will be thermal scanned at entry point to the campus. They will also be subject to compulsory disinfecti

Read more…

4165310466?profile=RESIZE_710x

      sri visnuduta ucuh
yuyam vai dharma-rajasya
  yadi nirdesa-karinah
bruta dharmasya nas tattvam
  yac cadharmasya laksanam

 “The blessed messengers of Lord Visnu, the Visnudutas, said: If you are actually servants of Yamaraja, you must explain to us the meaning of religious principles and the symptoms of irreligion.” (SB 6.1.3) The Yamadutas had challenged, “Who are you, interfering in our business? We have come to arrest him.” So, the counterchallenge was, “You said, ‘We are servants of D

Read more…

Panic Mode by Bhaktimarga Swami

4165048683?profile=RESIZE_710x
I noticed something peculiar about some of the shoppers as I walked with Corrado to our favourite chanting park, Bellevue Square.  I spotted several people carrying toilet paper.  I believe that some folks are caught up in what some call "panic buying".  What ignited this recent practice is the awareness of the coronavirus.  People are acting in a panic mode.

Of course, it is important and intelligent to take precautions.  I just wish that the panic button on birth, death, old age and disease
Read more…

4156753265?profile=RESIZE_710x

Announcement from Krishna Balaram Mandir’s Temple President:

Everyone is familiar with the Coronavirus. They say in the news that India is now at stage 2 and stage 3 means it becomes widespread because many people are actually carrying the virus but it is dormant and not acting. We had to take hard decision, its a difficult and coordinated decision, and we are closing the Temple today at 01:00 PM for two weeks. It will be open for resident devotees only. There will be many questions and concern

Read more…
shruti_slideshow.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x

By Madhava Smullen 

His Grace Srutidharma Das, former temple president of Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK, passed away on Tuesday March 10th at the temple where he dedicated his life in devotional service. 

Although he took on the post of temple president at Bhaktivedanta Manor in 2009, Srutidharma Prabhu served at the Manor for over forty years, starting back in 1978.

Diagnosed with cancer in early 2018, Srutidharma’s condition meant he had to withdraw from active service. He spent his remaining da

Read more…