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Activism

Chanting japa is one of the activities most central to Krishna consciousness. So every year for the past seven years, devotees from Kemerovo in Siberia, Russia, have put on a special Japa Retreat for both local Vaishnavas and those from surrounding areas.

This year, the Kemerovo Japa Retreat ran from April 29thto May 3rd. About 120 devotees flooded into the venue, a beautiful resort organized by local leader Laghu Hari Das. The five-star facility featured comfortable rooms and gorgeous views; a

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Boat Festival Season!

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It’s the boat festival season in Mayapur. After 7 days of ecstatic boat festival of Radha Madhava, we celebrated two very sweet and ecstatic boat festivals of Sri Jagannath, Baladev Subhadra- one at Rajapur, while the other being at Srila Prabhupada Ghat to Pancaveni by Land department. HH Jayapataka Maharaj took part in the celebration.

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Source: http://www.mayapur.com/2019/boat-festival-season/

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High Rating by Bhaktimarga Swami

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The birds. It was their hour as Connor and I took that brief stroll by the creek.  Gold finches - a couple settled on a perfect perch.  Then a red-winged black bird soared along flaunting his colours. From a lamp post moved a predator bird, of a falcon breed, I guess, and he had in his clutches, a fresh kill of another bird.  A second lamp post where he landed looked like his breakfast table.  A layer of feathers lay there.
 
Okay, from Brampton, Kingsley drove us to Toronto for a wedding.  Yu
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Activism
 
By Madhava Smullen

ISKCON GBC and Communications Minister Anuttama Das recently offered prayers at an Interfaith Prayer and Remembrance Service for the people of Sri Lanka, at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington D.C. on Sunday May 5th.

The event was a memorial for the victims of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks on April 21st, when three churches and three luxury hotels in Sri Lanka were targeted in a series of suicide bombings that killed more than 250 people.

Over 1,000 atten

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They did not go to the moon. Although I was there in front of the television and we saw it, and it was a big thing. The whole world was together. It overcame everything, the Russians, the Chinese and everyone was part of it. They were all watching and they all were sharing the monitoring of the space shuttle. It was a big thing – a man on the moon Neil Armstrong.

 “It was all a hoax.”

“Well Srila Prabhupada if you say so then it must be true.  And why do you say so Srila Prabhupada?”  

“Simply

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Connor and I took the commuter GO train westbound to the Burlington area, there to meet up with Dr. Pandith (aka Jagannath Misra).  Apart from yesterday’s chiropractic visit, I had scheduled a physical check up with a Dr. Singh.  Tests showed all to be fairly good, but between the two medicine men, Pandith and Singh, there arose a question about my recent flare-up on the right side.

Pandith drove me to Joseph Brant Hospital for a cat-scan which revealed something to be concerned about.  Some bl
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Events

After years of celebration, the Holi Festival at the ISKCON temple in Washington D.C. is now so embedded in the local culture that it has become an annual family tradition for many.

This year over 4,000 people attended the event, also dubbed Festival of Colors, on Saturday May 4th. So many turned up, in fact, that offsite parking had to be arranged with buses to shuttle them back and forth.

The crowd was extremely diverse – guests were young, old, black, white, Latino and Indian, college stude

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Activism
 
On May 7th, on the auspicious day of Aksaya Tritiya and second day of Ramadan, Villa Vrindavana devotees in Florence distributed prasadam (sanctified vegetarian food) to the Muslim members in the mosque of Florence.

“I have a long-standing friendship with Imam Izzeddin Elzir, Parabhakti dasa says, and when this year he invited us to participate in their prayer I thought it was a special occasion, during it something special have to be done. So I came to the conclusion that was a great opportu

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Vyasa Puja Ceremony Speech - Day 3

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In that sacred atmosphere of gratitude and reflection, having offered our words, thoughts, hearts and for some, tears, Maharaja responded:

“I hear from you how I am being perceived. It is not how I perceive myself. It is a paradox. I see that I have to grow. We have to grow in spiritual life. What is the point of having a spiritual master if we do not change? We must be committed and over time quality becomes more important. Ultimately our connection with the spiritual master must bring us to K

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So, it worked out fairly smoothly.  We merely called the local wellness centre in Rosedale, and asked if their clinic accepts walk-ins.  It so happens they do in the chiropractic department, and I was good to go for 9:00 a.m. The call was made at 7:30 a.m.  I was practically accepted on the spot.  I met Dr. Suk, a pleasant therapist, and showed him my X-rays made in Mauritius, which were very helpful.
 
He looked at my posture and did a thorough examination.  He then expressed his observations. 
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By Yasoda-dulal Das

Great day spent at the Bhakti Center, then with the many exalted souls who came to the Monthly Sankirtan Festival.
Then a drive to a holy place (439 Henry Street in Brooklyn) and walk around the block while discussing pastimes of Srila Prabhupada at that temple.
That place was the site of the first Iskcon temple in New York where Radha Govinda were installed. Hundreds of devotees lived there, and tens of thousands of lives were touched by them with daily Harinams, street pl

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Events

Cyclone Fani slammed into Northeast India on Friday May 3rd with heavy rainfall and winds of up to 127 miles per hour, leaving at least 38 people dead in Odisha, hundreds injured and thousands without homes. 

Death tolls were relatively low since over 1 million people were evacuated from about 15,000 villages and 46 towns in Odisha in preparation for the Cyclone.

The sacred city of Jagannath Puri was one of the worst hit, with 25 deaths. According to ISKCON devotee Madhavananda Das, who runs Go

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People

Kamlesh Krishna Das, the International Director of the ISKCON Child Protection Office, has been appointed as a Justice of the Peace Magistrate in the British judiciary system. 

He will be serving within the Magistrate Court, which handles 95% of all legal cases in the UK. He was officially appointed and sworn in on Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is on April 1st, and will be based primarily in Hertfordshire. 

Kamlesh Krishna previously worked with the Ministry of Defense, held senior pos

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Vyasa-puja Ceremony - Day 3

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he guro jnana-da dina-bandho
svananda-datah karunaika-sindho 
vrindavanasina hitavatara 
prasida radha-pranaya-prachara

“O spiritual master, O giver of divine wisdom, O friend of the fallen, you are the giver of your own bliss and you are the only ocean of mercy. Although dwelling in Vrindavana, you have descended for the welfare of fallen souls like myself and you are preaching the divine love of Radha for Krishna. Please be kind upon me.”

(from Prayers in Glorification of the Spiritual Master

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It struck me like a culture-shock, as I looked out the arched window of Prabhupada's quarters, viewing the damp coolish weather outside.  I have just come back from Mauritius where everyone says it's been intensely hot for the summer.  Now that summer is behind us, it's still hot—at least for me.
 
I could just go out in proper wear, and bear the rain, but reason says, "Sometimes you just have to take it easy."  So that's what I did.  My mind wandered to two years ago.  In May, I set out w
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Day Broken Up by Bhaktimarga Swami

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The layover in Istanbul was a good seven hours, providing an opportunity to divide up time with either sitting, lying, standing or lotus-sitting.  There are carpet patches which interrupt the tile floor, and they were just perfect for doing some yoga stretching.  I guess in an international setting like this, one might  expect a guy in orange robes to do such maneuvers.
 
Personally, though, I had to address my right side pain, a new feature to aging. It helped.
 
I indulged in a breakfast, an
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By Kishori Jani

We lost one of the pillars of the Iskcon movement, one of the stalwart female pioneers in Srila Prabhupada’s mission- in the most glorious way! Her service to SP in the US, Kenya, Mumbai and Vrindavan is almost unparalleled. The stories and glories go on and on…

But the true test comes at the end.. And the whole affair at the end for her was SO beautiful and uplifting! Witnessing it gives me so much courage and confidence that this path is real! Experiencing such a glorious pass

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(English version of the ‘Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu’ by Sri Rupa Goswami)

Edited by Tridandi Goswami Abhay Charan Bhaktivedanta Swami

Text

Akhilla, Rasa, Amrita, Murti, Prasrmara, Ruci, Ruddha, Taraka, Pali, Kalita, Syama, Lalita, Radha, Preyan, Bidhu, Jayati.

Akhila=All inclusive, Rasa=Mellow, Zest, Amrita=Nectar, Murti=Form, Prasrmara=Expanding, Ruchi=Attractive features, Ruddha=Controlling, Taraka=of the name, Pali=of the name, Kalita=Influenced by, Syama=of the name, Lalita=of the name, Radha=

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Happy Narasimha Chaturdashi!

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Happy Narasimha Chaturdashi! Today is the most auspicious appearance day of Sri Narasimhadeva. Mayapur is filled with devotees assembled to celebrate this special festival. Evening from 4 pm onwards, Abhisheka will begin. Watch the festivities live at mayapur.tv. Maha Sudarshana Yajna & adhivas took place yesterday. We thank all the donors for their kind support for the festival. Happy to announce that all the sevas has been taken up.

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Source: http://www.mayapur.com/2019/happy-narasimha-chat

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By Giriraj Swami 

Srila Prabhupada was with us in Juhu for Nrsimha-caturdasi on May 5, 1974. The following excerpt from my forthcoming book about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu, entitled I’ll Build You a Temple: A Good Fight and a Promise Fulfilled, describes the devotees’ drama:

For Nrsimha-caturdasi, a troupe of devotees led by Jagat Purusa organized a drama depicting the appearance of Lord Nrsimha, to be performed in the temple room. There was an all-male cast, including the young and slender Nav

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