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Arts
 
By Madhava Smullen

ISKCON-London’s Radha-Krishna Temple is celebrating the 50th installation anniversary of its presiding Deities Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara this year with a series of events and creative projects.

Among these is the launch on Sunday June 9th, at the Radha-Krishna Temple, of Mantra Lounge Volume 3. Produced by the Temple’s own label Radha Krishna Records, it is inspired by the weekly Mantra Lounge program at Covent Garden.

The album was produced by Jagannath Suta Das, who has

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Receiving by Bhaktimarga Swami


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I’m receiving many calls, and many letters wishing me well with my physical condition of pulmonary embolism.  It’s quite overwhelming, the love I’m feeling that’s coming my way.

More tests, cat-scans and such will allow us to explore more how severe and how curable is the condition.  There is pain, like the all-pervasive discomfort of this world, but with some care, we will try to alleviate as much as possible the symptoms while trying to address the cause.

Amongst the messages I received to
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By Mina Sharma

Around sixty devotees from across Europe and the US have gathered in New Vrajamandala in Spain, to participate in the European Communications Conference running from 27th – 30th May.

Day one of the conference has focused upon ISKCON and the Environment, where there have been exciting presentations from a number of devotees. HG Shaunaka Rsi Dasa spoke about the Vedic Perspective on the Environment, where he discussed the Vedic concepts of Rta (cosmic order) and Rtu (cycles) and

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“Connor, we’ll just go for an hour!” on foot, I meant. It turned out to be two hours later before we completed today’s sauntering.  I insisted on staying on level ground.  And the ground and grass, we did fathom, and at intervals, peered at that beauty of a blue sky.

At David Balfour Park, the reservoir is under renovation, with barrier walls making it impossible to peek through.  Some workers happened to be on their coffee break, which was conveniently positioned on the pedestrian path…our p
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"It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching" - St. Francis of Assisi.

Every act of ours sends a message to others. If we come late for a meeting or a class, we are sending a message to others that, "this meeting or class is not very important." If we keep things untidy, we are sending a message across that, "cleanliness is not that important." If someone takes bribe, the message that person sends is, "corruption is normal." If someone keeps criticising others an

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Monday, May 20th was the death anniversary of my mom. I usually post the blog I wrote a few days after she “left her body” (as devotees call death of the physical body, since the soul moves on) nine years ago. Today, I would like to express some thoughts for your consideration, and perhaps, for thinking of your own mom, or your relationship to your parents in general. One of the questions I am thinking about is: “How has your relationship with your parents effected your life in terms of your re

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Events
 
By Madhava Smullen

The Radha-Krishna Temple in London is celebrating its 50thanniversary, and the 50th anniversary of the installation of Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara, with several exciting events this year.

“The Hare Krishna movement was built on a pioneering spirit,” comments Natasha Menon, a member of the Events Team. “Srila Prabhupada was the original pioneer who then empowered three couples with a dream to start a center in London and meet the biggest band in the world, the Beatles, to hel

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People

By Sri Prahlada Das 

News of the peaceful death of former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke on May 16that the age of 89, has evoked praise of the charismatic leader. Dominating Australian politics in the 1980s, he is credited with introducing universal healthcare, modernising the economy, floating the dollar and of achieving the highest approval ratings of any Australian leader while in office from 1983 to 1991. A lesser known achievement is his 1987 intervention to help free the Hare Krishna

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Yesterday in Vrindavan is a memorial program for Srila Prabhupada’s dear disciple Parvati devi dasi. I wrote a letter to her for the occasion:

My dear Parvati Devi,

Please accept my humble, respectful obeisances. All glories to our eternal spiritual master and savior, Srila Prabhupada.

Now you have left us—on Mohini Ekadasi, in Vrindavan—and we are feeling your separation. But as Srila Prabhupada said, when a Vaishnava leaves we feel both happy and sad: happy because we know they are going to s

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True Colours by Bhaktimarga Swami

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So, the rule is to walk a stretch daily. “Not alone,” cautioned my doctor. It makes total sense.  

Raymond and I took to grooving, at least moving, through the park where you have this blossoming happening. I asked him what these blossoms do for him.
 
“Yeah, uh, blossoms, for me, are a symbol of the good times in life, so we should take advantage of the good K.C. (Krishna Conscious) times. Blossoms don’t last forever.”
 
Raymond was referring to opportunities that come and go. So take advant
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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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