By Madhava Smullen
After decades of communism, civil war, and bans on all religion in Albania, ISKCON was finally officially registered in the Southeast European country on May 31st, 2019 for the first time.
Now a small group of devotees are making friends and contacts, distributing Prabhupada’s books and hatching plans for establishing ISKCON centers. In a country long starved for spirituality, the response is enthusiastic, and the future hopeful and exciting.
My dear Guru Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances at the dust of your divine lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Srila Gurudeva!
It has been one year since you initiated me. I am amazed that one year has passed! There is so much that I can say about that day, always. But today as I am writing this email, I am unable to find any words. You have simply made my life. And I am especially grateful to you because you are taking care of me when Srila Gurudeva is not phy
“In probability theory, the law of large numbers (LLN) is a theorem that describes the results of performing the same experiment a large number of times. According to the law, the average of the results obtained from a large number of trials should be close to the expected value, and will tend to become closer as more trials are performed.” (Wikipedia)
In our practice of bhakti yoga, each day is a new opportunity to experiment with making loving contact with Krishna through hearing and chanting
On June 5th– World Environment Day – ISKCON India partnered with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for the first time, for a nationwide effort.
“The Indian office of the UNEP realized the potential of engaging spiritual organizations, and reached out to us,” says ISKCON India Communications Director Yudhistira Govinda Das.
At least forty-two different ISKCON centers stepped forward to help. To support the theme of this year’s World Environment Day – beating a
ISKCON of Houston is organizing a Kirtan Fest 2019 during Labor Day Weekend (August 31 – September 2) at the beautiful temple in Houston, TX. This will be the 3rd annual festival that has become a recurring flagship annual festival. Every year, they have seen increased number of devotees gathering for sankirtan yajna.
It will be a combination of kirtan, entertainment and philosophy. They are inviting kirtaniyas, special guests such as sanyasis, travelling preachers and othe
I have thought and written much about what it takes to stay the course in bhakti for our whole life, as well as to how not to settle into a comfortable religious life not intensely focused on making spiritual advancement. They are related subjects though usually spoken of separately. I am primarily thinking about what kind of unique guidance should be provided to devotees of different ages, needs, and personality types. I would like to ask you in the beginning for your thoughts on this subject–
The Temptations, a wildly popular Motown singing group, released their biggest hit song in 1965.
The following lyric from that long-forgotten song came to me as I was considering a very important and encouraging principle of bhakti yoga:
“I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day.”
One might wonder how there can be sunshine on a cloudy day. (Moreover, one might justifiably ask how this lyric relates to the practice of bhakti!)
I found out.
In San Francisco, the summer months tend to be cloudy because i
Although little known in the western world, Mount Kailash is one of the most sacred spots on Earth. It is a holy pilgrimage site for people of the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Bon faiths.
For modern day travelers it offers an adventure unparalleled to any other adventure on the planet. In ancient scriptures Mount Kailash has been described as the center of the universe and the abode of Lord Shiva, the greatest of Vaisnavas.
Mount Everest is 8,848 meters in height and its summit has been scaled by
It is said that when it comes to the material energy, Krsna is not directly controlling this energy. He is jagad avyakta murtini (Bhagavad-gita 9.4) – He is the form in this universe who is non-manifest. Yet He is also known to be mayadekshana prakrti suyate sa caracaram (Bhagavad-gita 9.10) – He is still known as the one who is controlling everything! But He controls by His desires and He controls by His energies. Scientists like to discover how the nature works and how there are laws in the u
This journey is documented in undated Hindu sacred texts known as the Puranas written a few thousand years ago
One of India's biggest religious festivals, the Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra, gets under way on Thursday. The festival is unique in that three Hindu gods are taken out of their temples in a colourful procession to meet their devotees. The BBC's Priyanka Pathak explains the legend behind the festival and its significance.
The biggest of these processions takes place in Puri in the eastern
Some time ago I received what I considered to be a very nice compliment right here on Facebook. Someone wrote in a personal message, “I have been reading your posts and comments for the past two weeks and it seems to me that you don’t have a single solitary original thought or idea in your head and that you are completely brainwashed by Swami Bhaktivedanta.” Such praise coming from a complete stranger touched me deeply.
In a lecture given in Vrindavana, October 22, 1972 Srila Prabhupada said …
A fire has caused major damage to Govinda’s restaurant at ISKCON of Tucson, Arizona, depriving the community of its income. The temple has also lost power; however no devotees or Deities were harmed.
The fire originated in the neighboring Tire Shop at 7pm on Tuesday July 2nd, and quickly spread to the back of the Govinda’s property. There, it engulfed and completely destroyed the walk-in, food-storage shed, bathrooms, and altar paraphernalia room, where all the temple Deit
