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
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
This year is very special for ISKCON devotees, being the 50th anniversary of ISKCON’s incorporation in 1966. At ISKCON Ujjain, a grand festival was celebrated on this occasion from 12th September – 18th September, 2016.
There were mainly four grand festivals:-
ISKCON Ujjain Global Retreat 2016 :- 12th- 15th September,2016 with seminar on the topic ” Teachings of Lord Chaitanya”.
Book launch of “
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
Sacinandana Swami: As practitioners that chant the holy name we all know how difficult it is to connect the mind with the holy name because by definition, the mind is only able to grasp material things. The mind can think of holidays at the beach or any other material subject. It is especially attracted to think about how to increase one’s wealth and how to engage in sexual activities. These are things we can easily think about because the mind is shaped like this. It wraps itself around money
Q: You mentioned in your video, diksha refers to getting the mantra and shiksa refers to getting instructions on how to chant it…
Dīkṣā means acceptance into the educational process (aka “sādhana”) of a given school. This acceptance is accomplished by giving the student the school’s study materials (mantra and śāstra)
Q: We already got the mantra from some devotee, we may not even remember whom. Would a formal initiation ceremony benefit us?
Hearing a mantra from someone on the sidewalk is a hap
More than 2,000 people gathered for the Rath Yatra festival Sept. 17 at the Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago as part of the national kickoff celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, better known as the Hare Krishna Movement.
Prior to the advent of ISKCON movement Jagannath and the “Ratha Yatra” were relatively unknown in the West. However, after its founding, A. C. Bhaktivedanta, founder of ISKCON popularized the festival when he selected Jagann
"A natural human sentiment, compassion finds its highest expression in the works of devotees of the Lord.
The tenderness of the heart experienced toward Krishna is known as bhakti. All other jivas are servants of Krishna. When one experiences tenderness of heart toward them, it is known as daya, compassion. Therefore, compassion is included within bhakti."
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Jaiva Dharma, p. 179
I was aware of the concept of compassion before I met Srila Prabhupada. While studying at Br
Bhakta Priya Devi Dasi: Dear devotees and friends, I urgently need your prayers! My husband, Jagajivan Das is in intensive care, in a critical condition. His heart is giving up. The doctor said that he can leave his body any moment. But we all know how powerful Vaisnava prayers could be. Miracles can happened and he still can pull through. There is still a chance for him to recover. I beg you at your feet to pray for him. Your humble servant, Bhakta Priya dd
More than 2,000 people gathered for the Rath Yatra festival Sept. 17 at the Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago as part of the national kickoff celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, better known as the Hare Krishna Movement.
Prior to the advent of ISKCON movement Jagannath and the “Ratha Yatra” were relatively unknown in the West. However, after its founding, A. C. Bhaktivedanta, founder of ISKCON popularized the festival when he selected Jagann
