A two-and-a-half hour musical production of India’s ancient epic the Ramayana entitled “Ramayana: Past in Present” premiered from August 25th to 28th in the Kelley Theater at West Liberty University, West Virginia, USA.

Opening on Janmastami night with an auspicious 108 people in the audience, the musical carried students and faculty into a whole new world of culture, adventure and philosophy.

The show’s subtitle, “Past in Present,” was apt not only because of its ancient origins and current re

We are surrounded by imperfection. Sages rubber-stamp the world as an ocean of faults, where hypocrisy hits an all-time high. In this climate, you don’t have to look far to catch someone doing something amiss, though they’re often completely oblivious to it! I guess it’s difficult to see the picture when you are inside the frame. Thus, for someone who has a little bit of knowledge and is somewhat observant, life is replete with a plethora of opportunities to correct other people. And, truth be

Vedic Evidence - Understanding the Earth realm we are on in relation to Bhu-mandala

Is Earth A Globe? 

An excerpt from the forthcoming book

''Bhu-mandala Tattva-darshana''

By Rajasekhara Das Brahmachari​ Das ACBSP

A summary study of the 5th canto of Shrimad Bhagavatam

All the relevant verses from the Vedic scriptures including quotes from the Vaishnava acharyas, which establish the earth as a spherical globe floating in space (ether) that have been found while researching this subject.

As this summar

Mayapur Institute - fulfilling ISKCON's first purpose. Enrol now for Bhakti Sastri, Bhakti Vaibhava, Bhakti Vedanta, ISKCON Disciples Course, Teachers Training Courses. Apply Online-http://mayapurinstitute.org/en/register

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The ancient teachings of the Vedas say there are 5 things humans can do everyday to be happy. We would say that these are directly connected to an effective spiritual practice.  If we understand that life is meant for self-realization then the following 5 support and help us achieve that goal, while being happy along the way.

Here they are:

1.   Get up before the sun

2.   Get clean

3.   Worship the Lord

4.   Give in charity

5.   Receive guests

Get up before the sun – this sounds easy but we all kno

True spirituality teaches one how to live a dutiful life of contentment and true compassion.

Contentment comes from sincere service to God and all living beings. True compassion is to engage a living being in the service of the Lord so that that living being can find contentment.

Contentment is the foundation of real happiness and since the Lord is eternal, contentment in His service leads to everlasting happiness. Contentment does not mean passivity; it means to be happy with one's sincere e

15 Sept. 2016

Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. By Krishna’s grace, everything is going well with the Samadhi this year. I apologize for my lack of communication. I am even more delinquent with the Newsletter than usual for reasons beyond my control, mostly material.

We probably have around 100,000 followers who can never repay their debt to Srila Prabhupada. It is a therefore a little surprising that the donations do not reflect that attitude.

The 7 female qualities Krishna mentions in Gītā 10.34 are:

1. Sri – Beauty
2. Kiriti – Celebrate-ability
3. Vak – Speech
4. Smrti – Thoughtfulness
5. Medha – Intelligence
6. Dhrti – patience
7. Ksama – forgiveness

Śrī – Beauty / Ornamentation

Everyone can see that women are more beautiful then men. Everyone can also see that they are much more ornament-able, and much more expert in ornamentation.

Men are also “attractive,” but male attractiveness doesn’t come so much from beauty as it comes from

Our purpose is fixed and we should not let obstructing circumstances to block us permanently. Somehow or other, we must find a way to fulfill our purpose which is to chant sixteen rounds and to follow four regulative principles. This is our first austerity, to chant these rounds and to follow the principles.

But we also need support. It is not just a matter of the right frame of mind. It is also a matter of favourable conditions so that it becomes feasible and possible. One must protect our rou

Srila Prabhupada Memorial Festival And Vyas Puja Of Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj At ISKCON Ujjain

I have written several articles on vows and feel that any discussion on vows wouldn’t be complete without addressing sexual restraint. Plus, men often ask me how to control sexual desire and I felt that to do justice to this question I would need to write an article.

I am approaching this issue mainly from the male perspective (obviously because I am a man and also because the scriptures approach it more from that perspective). Still, although men and women are wired differently and thus respo

An Illustrated Series Based on the Ramayana by Vrinda Sheth (Author), Anna Johansson (Illustrator).

On August 27th, a new book, the first one in an illustrated series based on the Ramayana, entitled as Shadows of the Sun Dynasty, has been launched in front of hundreds of people in the audience at the Cofrin Theater in Gainesville, Florida, USA, with the participation of the author Vrinda Sheth, a well-known classical Indian dancer and a writer, and the illustrator, her mother, Anna Johansson, a

It’s always inspiring to see how different ISKCON communities around the world bring their own creativity to their Vaishnava festivals, giving them new depth and adding new experiences.

Last week, we took a look at the recent Radhastami festival in Dallas, Texas, where devotees bathed Sri-Sri Radha Kalachandji in 50,000 roses and then took Them on a swanboat ride in a handmade pond. 

This week, we’ll visit the Sri Mayapur International School at ISKCON’s headquarters in West Bengal, India, wher

Bhaktivedanta Book Trust press release

The award-winning book Vanity Karma: Ecclesiastes, the Bhagavad-gita, and the meaning of life is now available as a high-quality ebook at the Kindle Store, on Google Play, and on iBooks.

What is life for? What may give it meaning? Does it have any meaning at all?

Such questions are independently explored both in the wisdom book Ecclesiastes and in the Bhagavad-gītā. InVanity Karma, wisdom meets wisdom as these two perennial classics come together, uniting i

“Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explains in his Anubhasya, ‘A person who has attracted the attention of the spiritual master by his sincere service likes to dance and chant with similarly developed Krsna conscious devotees. The spiritual master authorizes such a devotee to deliver fallen souls in all parts of the world. Those who are not advanced prefer to chant the Hare Krsna mantra in a solitary place.’ Such activities constitute, in the language of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Th

Hundreds are expected to attend the upcoming Hare Krishna festival this Friday.

On Friday the Hare Krishna festival will be held at the Fairway Hall, in Brook Close, Borehamwood at 7pm with live music, dance and vegetarian food and is open to the public.

ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) and local members of the Hare Krishna movement have teamed up to invite the public to the festivities.

Giridhari Das, a Hare Krishna monk who heads the UK festival team, said: "Probably b

A small padayatra was held in Malaysia on August 14th. It was organized by ISKCON Teluk (Mayapur Baru) and commemorated ‘World Holy Name Week’ and ISKCON’s 50th anniversary. Srila Prabhupada visited the town of Teluk Intan located in the Hilir Perak district of Malaysia in 1970. He also visited the Mariamman Temple here. Now, years later it was decided that this temple would be the starting point of the commemorative padayatra.

The padayatra was set to take place at 5:30 pm. There were around 5

On August 9th at 11am devotees gathered at the Lenasia Civic Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. Srila Prabhupada had met the people of Lenasia 41 years ago at this very center. This marked the first padayatra held in the province, and commemorated ISKON’s 50th anniversary as well as ‘National Women’s Day’.

Spreading the word

Once the date was set devotees rallied together to advertise the event –from Facebook to Twitter, to ISKCON newsletters and Sunday Love Feast announcements, everyone was

A recently published news story quickly caught my attention. It suggested that there are principally four types of personalities. After carrying out a research project of its own style, researchers in Spain have concluded that the four distinct personality types are: Optimistic, Pessimistic, Envious, and Trusting. They also suggested there is a fifth one but the computer algorithm they used couldn’t accurately identify it. What I found interesting was the concept of four types of personalities,

One of the highlights for me at the recent Sadhu Sanga Kirtan Retreat was an instruction on mantra meditation. It was spoken by Sacinandana Swami in reference to the Gayatri Mantras that are chanted when one receives advanced initiation in the practice of Bhakti Yoga, but it’s a guide that can be applied to any mantra meditation practice: “Don’t starve your mantras”
Our devotional yoga involves the chanting of many mantras, the main one being the Hare Krishna mantra. A successful chanting pract