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ISKCON MINISTRY OF EDUCATION EXECUTIVE SECRETARIES REPORT

By Tapan Misra Das

Over the past several months we have been trying to develop several projects to serve ISKCON devotees. Please keep in mind, we are working with very limited or no resources. The only currency we have is the enthusiasm of some devotees to help. With deepest gratitude, to every devotee who is helping, I share a short update on a few of these projects:

1. Regional Representatives: India, is one of the fastest growing and l

By Praghosa Das

We were very happy to accept the kind invitation of the new Ambassador of India to Ireland to meet with him at the embassy in Dublin this January.

It was a most rewarding meeting, not least to learn of Ambassador Sandeep Kumar’s strong support and indeed deep appreciation of ISKCON.

He offered us an open door and encouraged us to approach him whenever we needed any help or support and he also requested us permission for him to invite us to any events that are being hosted or spo

FIRST CONTACT WITH THE HOLY SOUND

My life took an apical turn when I stumbled across the Hare Krishnas. Being born in India I had some knowledge of “Krishna” but I was like most Indians are – conscious of Krishna but not Krishna Conscious. Being just “conscious of Krishna” didn’t mollify my thirst for happiness. When I was introduced to the programs conducted by the Hare Krishnas near our college campus new hope dawned upon me. What mesmerized me the most in these programs was the chanting of t

God is neither – and is both. Let’s see how.

Before we can understand whether God is male or female, we need to clearly understand that we ourselves are neither male nor female. We are at core spiritual beings, souls, whereas our gender refers only to our shell, our physical bodies. Our spiritual identity is eternal, our gender is transient. According to the law of last thought described in the Bhagavad-gita ( 8.5), we attain in our next life a body as per the thought that predominates our cons

Our false ego prevents us from looking at our own faults. It makes it difficult for us to acknowledge our faults and therefore, instead of being introspective, we see those faults in others. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, “Because I am myself honeycombed with faults, I see the faults of others”.

If you spot it, you have got it

In the realm of psychology it is said that if something about someone really bothers you, it’s usually because you have that fault. Of course, we usually do

Picture this: Srimati devi comes home from school one afternoon so quietly that her mother senses a problem. “Srimati”, she calls, “Are you okay? How was your day?”, When she doesn’t hear a response, Sudevi, Srimati’s mata goes to the ten year old’s bedroom, takes one glance at her daughter’s tearful face and hugs her. “Mata, today some of the children in my class said I was crazy because I don’t eat meat. One girl put a meat sandwich in my face and I pushed her away from me.” The teacher gave

By Praghosa Das

ISKCON will be celebrating a monumental milestone this year, as the movement marks fifty years since its UK incorporation date.

This is a UK wide celebration of ISKCON and every centre is invited and encouraged to participate in these events. ISKCON UK will be holding a month of celebrations to mark the lead up to the inauguration date (15th August – 15th September 2019), which will include a specially commissioned touring pop-up exhibition, a keynote event at SOAS in London, an

Dhirasanta Das Goswami: This is a story which happened in Benares about 300 years ago:
There was one Brahmin who used to take bath in Manikarnika-ghat, a very nice bathing place. One day when he was taking bath he saw a young boy sitting on the steps crying. He felt very compassionate and he went and took the young boy on his lap and asked, “You look so beautiful, a nice attractive young boy. Why are you crying like this?”
“You look at my back,” the boy replied. So when the brahmin lifted up th

The foundation of ISKCON is comprised of two things. Srila Prabhupada’s teaching and our understanding of those teachings. It is easy to measure our understanding of Krishna Consciousness. It is equal to how much we understand that anything other than service to Krishna is a cheating process. This includes everything from following Vedic rules (in pursuit of sense gratification) to cherishing modern ideals.

Very few can immediately give up all material activities; therefore, mundane morality mu

We all have attachments in this material world. The secret of success is to dovetail these attachments to Krishna. This is easy said, than done. However, if you have access to a mature devotee, then the doors of detachment will start to open into the garden of Bhakti.

We have five senses which are controlled by the mind, anyone of these senses can be captured by the illusory nature we live in. When one goes through a phase of addiction, it is a way to escape from the realities of life. We can s

We feel stressed not so much because we are over-worked as because we are over-worried (Based on Gita 18.35)
Chaitanya Charan Das: Stress is rampant in today’s society. Why? One common explanation is over-work.
But is over-work the only cause? At least three points suggest otherwise:
Nowadays, machines do many things that we ourselves had to do earlier.
Even people who don’t do much work sometimes complain of stress.
Even people who are on vacation without any pressing obligation sometimes feel

It is well known that chanting the holy name in good company is easier than doing so alone. This holds true both for japa and kirtan. When we chant in a group of devotees, we co-create a devotional energy and atmosphere that we get to enter into together. It is therefore said that sankirtana (kirtana performed with others) can create such extraordinary delight in the chanter that he or she will find it easy to remain focused on the holy name and experience divine taste in chanting.
But alas, ch

January 5, 2019: we just learned of the passing of our dear Godbrother, Kaliyaphani dasa Prabhu. I would like to give a little eulogy based on my association with him. I first met Kaliyaphani Prabhu at the Bhaktivedanta Manor in London, October, 1976—I had just arrived from Los Angeles. He was a brahmacari in his early twenties, doing full time traveling sankirtana book distribution very enthusiastically. His younger brother was also a devotee and an excellent book distributor named Satyavak da

Scottish Parliament offers recognition to the GBC Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture

The following is a recognition EDM (Early Day Motion) text which Dr Lisa Cameron, Member of the Scottish Parliament who opened our 11th ISKCON European Farm Conference last September, submitted in Parliament following her visit. Her office is offering ISKCON IMCPA a framed version of the text. We’re equally grateful to Dr Cameron for her support and encouragement.

“That this House commends the efforts

Dear Supporters and Friends,

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

Please accept the blessings of Sri Pancha Tattva, Sri Sri Radha Madhava, and Sri Narasimhadev from Sridham Mayapur. Congratulations to all of you in helping Srila Prabhupada fulfill this long cherished dream.

We have completed the year 2018 which was another landmark year for the TOVP in Sridham Mayapur. The most auspicious event of the year was setting the goal to move the deities into their new hom

Suppose a man is fallen in the pit and he’s trying to come out, and another man drops a rope, “Please catch it. I shall take you out of the pit.” He does not catch it. Then how he can be taken out? So sadhu and sastra, they’re always ready to give you mercy, but you have to take it. If you don’t accept it, then how you can recover, recover? Therefore initiation means to accept the mercy of the sädhu and spiritual master. If you don’t accept, so there is no other way. If you think… If you cry th

By Madhava Smullen

By Adikarta das

It is with great sadness that we announce the unexpected loss of our dear godbrother and friend Kaliyaphani dasa, who was killed in a motorcycle accident Thursday night in Alachua Florida.
I knew Kaliyaphani since he joined ISKCON in 1975. He was from an upper class English family, had expensive private schooling and an aristocratic upbringing.
Almost from the day he joined he became a traveling sankirtan devotee. In fact he was the rock on which the great British sankirtan

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 March 2015, Stockholm, Sweden, Srimad Bhagavatam 3.1.4)

After years of chanting, we may stop and say, “Why am I doing this? I don’t feel like it anymore. I don’t know. I cannot get myself to chant anymore.” What happened? What happened to your knowledge? Is it all gone? Don’t you know that there is no alternative? Don’t you know that the material world is like hell? Don’t you know that you are caught here? Have you forgotten about all this? Don’t you know that this wor

By Ramai Swami

Srila Locana Dasa Thakura appeared in this world in 1520 A.D., thirty-four years after the appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Locana Dasa wrote a biography on Lord Caitanya entitled Sri Caitanya Mangala, based on the diary of Murari Gupta. He also wrote many devotional songs.

Sri Locana dasa Thakura took birth in a family of physicians who resided in the village of Kogram, within the district of Barddhaman. His guru was Sri Narahari Sarkar Thakura. When he was only a little b