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By Madhava Smullen

A new paperback edition of “Hope This Meets You in Good Health,” a book by ISKCON guru and Prabhupada disciple Prahladananda Swami, is now available on Amazon.com and on Barnes & Noble’s website in English. The book has also been translated into Spanish, Polish and Russian.

The title “Hope This Meets You in Good Health” is derived both from Srila Prabhupada’s famous sign-off on his letters, and from a magazine of the same name which Prahladananda Swami published for two de

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We Do Not Tell Lies Do We?

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By Kesava Krsna dasa

Have we ever embellished a telling of a lie with an assortment of trivial details to disguise the actual truth? Have we ever pretended to be someone we never were, by exuding a persona larger than ourselves? Are there any angels among us who can boldly claim to have never fibbed; ever – even to get out of an awkward situation?

The truth is out; there are no foolproof ways of telling if someone is lying or not. Shifty eyes, truth drugs and lie detectors can provide clues bu

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By Madhava Smullen

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, devotees at ISKCON Boise, Idaho launched a new annual “Festival of Gratitude” this year, with the motto: “Appreciating Deity, Devotee, Nama, Dhama, Bhagavatam.”

“We wanted to focus on inspiring gratitude for Srila Prabhupada and the processs that he’s given us,” says Bhakta Nathen Wanty, who came up with the idea for the festival and co-organized it. “And with the gratitude gained from attending this festival, we hoped devotees would become m

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Movers and None by Bhaktimarga Swami

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It struck me, that right across the street from where I live, there's a shop which sells clothing for women.  And in the window display, there are two mannequins decked out in the latest fashionable apparel.  I couldn't help but take a picture of the display, because it said to me, "We don't walk!"
 
I actually found it humourous, at the thought, and carried on with my own stroll along with Jaya.  I will caption them as ‘Anti-Walkers’ because essentially they don't move.  Anyway, what to expect
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Worries about terrorism, escalating healthcare and living costs, global warming, nuclear proliferation, and widespread violence are just a few of the concerns that plague people around the world. People everywhere are looking for peace, prosperity and happiness, but in Kali Yuga, these things are hard to find.

Fortunately, however, everyone can get relief from all material pangs by participating in Lord Caitanya’s Sankirtana movement. Sankirtana, the congregational chanting of the holy names, s

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By Deena Bandhu Das

Today we celebrated the 10th Disappearance anniversary of my very dear Godbrother Vibhu Chaitanya Prabhu.
A real Vaishnava, but unknown to most devotees. He worked tirelessly from 2 am to 10pm in Krishna Balarama’s kitchen for many years singing all the while. In fact, Srila Prabhupada told him that he didn’t have to chant his rounds, just sing and cook. His kachoris were out of this world!! When he couldn’t cook anymore due to old age, he distributed caranamrita with incred

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By Bhakta Gurmann Saini

During this year of anniversary of 35 years, ISKCON Finland is not only preparing for Srila Prabhupada Book Distribution Marathon, but also trying to secure the future of the Krishna temple and our headquarters in Malmi, Helsinki (Vanha Helsingintie 14, 00700 Helsinki, Finland).

The City of Helsinki has promised to sell to ISKCON the land where the present temple building lies. The size of the land is 0.6 hectares, and the price is 300 000 €. The price is much lower f

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Meeting Anita by Bhaktimarga Swami

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Anita Sharma was just a little girl when she and her parents and two brothers started coming around.  Her dad and mum came from the Punjab, and the family is now in their third generation here.

Successful?  Yes!  When she mentioned she has a nephew who's now a doctor, I was quite surprised how fast everything evolves with the generations. 
 
Does she have her own family?  I asked her and she smiled and said something about "updating."  Anyway, she's married to her career as an anchor/reporte
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One year on Gita Jayanti, the day on which Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, I heard a talk in which Srila Prabhupada spoke about the perfection of reading the Gita.

“When Lord Chaitanya was traveling in South India, in a big temple, Ranganatha temple, He went to see the Deity, and He saw one brahmana was reading Bhagavad-gita. And people were joking with him, ‘Oh, Mr. Brahmana, how you are reading Bhagavad-gita?’ Because they were neighbors, they knew that this brahmana was illit

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Don’t we just delight in books and movies wherein destruction wreaks havoc in one form or other, be it by nuclear bombs, disease, twisters, volcanic eruptions, giant creatures or alien invaders. If you do, then you’ll love The World Without Us, authored by Alan Weisman. Reviewed by Janet Maslin in The Arts section of the August 13th NYT, the book is a “what if” account of what would happen to the world if mankind would suddenly disappear.

How long would our cities and achievements last without

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Sankirtan- The Prime benediction!

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Why is Sankirtan the prime benediction of this age?
Every day morning, after Mangla Arthi, Srila Prabhupada quote will be read! Being book marathon month, to inspire and motivate devotees to push the book distribution, we read Srila Prabhupada quote on book distribution.

Today’s quote is a beautiful letter to German disciples in the month of May 1977, where Srila Prabhupada explains how much blessings is showered even when one simply touches and sees it, what to speak of reading, distributing a

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Tomorrow is the eightieth birthday of Sripada Satsvarupa dasa Goswami Maharaja. He was my first temple president, and he has been my inspiration in writing, especially about Srila Prabhupada, which has been my main service. 

My dear Satsvarupa das Goswami Maharaja,

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

As you know, you are my mentor, exemplar, and inspiration for writing about Srila Prabhupada, which has been my main focus for the last several years, and so I have

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It's All New for Him by Bhaktimarga Swami

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This morning was a time to look forward to, for the seven of us - Nicholas, Pariksit, David, Oksana plus her two kids, and myself.  It was the first visit for most of us to Vishal's farm.  What a treat!  Vishal was generous with kisses to the young bull (I forget his name).  He walked us to the foundation of his barn.  To follow will be a house and greenhouse.  Who knows what more?
 
Part two of our day's anticipation was a seven kilometre walk on the Great Trail.  The most excited among us was
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Just turn the pages of the history of India and you will come across the life stories of scores of eminent men and women who had all the means to enjoy their material life, but they willingly gave it up to pursue their spiritual goals. They weren’t satisfied just to satisfy the demands of their mind, senses and body. Animals do the same thing. Their conscience would constantly nudge them to look something which was not material and not ephemeral. They were searching for happiness which was not

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We walked during a drizzle of rain - Jaya, Raymond and myself.  We made a commitment to keep our fingers on our japa beads and utter the mantras so well known to us Hare Krishna.  By the time we got to the crossroads of Bloor and Spadina, one of those companions confessed, "Maharaja, I've been doing terribly with my rounds.”  (meaning a lack of focus on the sacred sound)
 
This remark expresses a common enough concern by chanters of japa.  I indicated that he should make use of prayer, which ca
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Once, the late Madhudvisa Prabhu asked Srila Prabhupada, “What pleases you the most? Book distribution pleases you. Deity worship pleases you. What really pleases you?”

Srila Prabhupada replied, “By struggling for Krishna…,” that was pleasing. This was related to us by HH Giriraja Maharaja.

Many things pleased Srila Prabhupada, like doing book distribution, looking after our children, doing deity worship and so on, but to “struggle” for Krishna has a wider concern, because it affects each and e

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17th Annual Vrinda Kunda Festival

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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 with buses leaving every morning from Krishna Balarama Mandir and returning for lunch. The program will culminate on Sunday 16 February with our famous Kalash Yatra, an ecstatic Sankirtan Procession with the ladies carrying waterpots with coconuts on their heads.

Plan your trip to Mayapur Gaura Purnima Festival by coming to Vrindava

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The Trail I Walked by Bhaktimarga Swami

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Well I walked a minor trail today

My version of how I get some play

Been in a plane, been in a car

Don't really get you anywhere far

The trail makes time stretch so nice

A place where there's little or no vice

In my opinion it's how to go

Whether dry, wet or with some snow

I moved along in so much bliss

It feels like mother nature's kiss

Dog sitters and runners I did meet

It's so awesome movin' on my feet

The smells were so fragrantly fine

My nose took in all but the sweet pine

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By Vikas Beniwal

Bhaktivedanta Vidyapeet Research Centre (BVRC) in affiliation with the Mumbai University recently conducted a Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Diploma Course. The course was delivered by renowned speaker, Gauranga Das, the Director of BVRC. He gave inspiring and empowering series of lectures on Sri Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, amounting up to 100+ hours of discourses. More than 120 keen participants from across the globe attended all the course modules which consisted of three sessions,

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