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By Mina Sharma

The day began with a thought-provoking presentation on Ethics and Morality in ISKCON, delivered by HG Rasamandala Dasa. This provided food for thought for a group exercise where devotees broke into sub-teams to discuss key moral and ethical issues facing ISKCON and working out our position on these.

After prasadam, HG Anuttama Dasa ran a practical and lively session on the Art of Public Speaking, where he shared practical tips that devotees can implement immediately. The ISKCON E

In order for the thesis of this article to be appreciated we will first discuss the underlying context of the scriptures- we might call this the paradigm of Vaishnava teaching.

Srila Prabhupada wrote:

The devotees of the Lord understand that it is maya’s influence that has spoiled the people and made them demoniac. Thus the inherently noble disposition of the devotees leads them to think only of the demons’ benefit, without a tinge of envy (RTW 1.3).

Genuine spiritual teachers are friends to ev

By Mina Sharma

Day Two of the European Communications Conference began with a very relevant and hard hitting talk by Willy Fautre of Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF). This led to much discussion about various cases of abuse of human rights on the basis of religious belief and how HRWF has helped. It was also a fascinating opportunity to learn about the importance of PR and lobbying to raise awareness and tackle these issues.

Next was an e

When I work in hospitals I am always very moved by the great suffering and despair of the souls who by circumstance happen to be there, whether patient or hospital worker. Because of this, as I traverse the various stairwells, elevators, corridors and rooms I whisper Hari! Hari! over and over again, pleading for His Divine Presence to Descend and benefit the suffering jivas.

Often I am left in a room working alone, pondering how many people have died in that particular room and I begin to gentl

By Kripamoya dasa

Whether you like it or not, Jehovah’s Witnesses are always ready to do two things (1) Distribute books (2) Sit down and talk with you, and help you to understand. ISKCON has many book distributors, but we need more gurus.

After people have read one of Srila Prabhupada’s books, and if they want to know more, their first question is often something like this: “How can I find out more about all this? Do you have any meetings in my town?” or “Are there any other Krishna people liv

The purpose of chanting is about taking shelter. Everyone needs shelter in this world; we know that very well. But where is our shelter other than at Krsna’s lotus feet? That is our situation, there is no other shelter! Everything else is illusory shelter. Real security and shelter is found in Krsna and that is the essence of spiritual life.
When we are new in spiritual life then we think we are advancing – we feel we are advancing, we feel things are changing, we feel our life is changing, we

There once lived a seeker of God called Surdas. He was eager to study and understand Spirituality (knowledge about God). He approached a Guru and requested that the Guru teach him spiritual practice so that he could get close to God.
The Guru was well aware of Surdas’ defect of anger. He knew that this would prevent Surdas from feeling closeness with God. So the Guru decided to first prepare Surdas before teaching him serious spiritual practice. So the Guru replied, “Dear Surdas, chant the Lord

I have been rereading the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam and receiving great illumination and inspiration from it. Srila Prabhupada said that he was not sure how long he would live, so he put everything into the First Canto, and Ramesvara Prabhu told me that whenever he told Prabhupada that the BBT had money and asked what they should print, Prabhupada would reply “Reprint the First Canto.”
Reading the First Canto yesterday, I came across the solution to the political problems we are facing i

In the midst of the lush, green Grihasta Para housing area of ISKCON Mayapur the Sri Mayapur International School is situated.  The school campus features an idyllic combination of brick buildings, pathways, and tree-filled grounds, and those living nearby can often hear the children at play, performing kirtan, or practicing mridanga.

The Sri Mayapur International School, one of the educational institutes of ISKCON Mayapur, has been educating the children of Mayapur since it was founded in 198

Nowadays the great innovations of medical and scientific science can maintain patients alive, even those that in the past were given no hope to survive. These innovations can prolong the patient’s existence artificially even knowing that they will never regain acceptable health and life conditions. This situation is commonly called over-medication. The definition of cerebral death, since the end of the sixties has allowed for the development of transplant surgery. Before that time, the extracti

By BB Govinda Swami

Gopa Kumara asked “How can I chant with pure love?” And they said “Well, if you want to chant with love you must know the Srimad Bhagavatam.” This shows that basically Gopa Kumara had travelled through all the levels of the material cosmos. He had even been Brahma but still he has not been scientifically trained in the science of loving Krishna. We can imagine he was even Brahma. But he did not understand the science of Krishna. He even went to Brahman by the power of his ch

By Damodar Das

“Hearing of the holy name gradually promotes one to the stage of hearing about His form, His attributes, His pastimes, and so on, and thus the necessity of the chanting of His glories develops successively. This process is recommended not only for the successful execution of devotional service, but also even for those who are materially attached. According to Sri Sukadeva Gosvami, this way of attaining success is an established fact, concluded not only by him but also by all othe