As a teenager coming of age in the 1960s, I was preoccupied with spirituality. I had become disinterested in the mainstream religion of my forbears, and I was passionately looking for a path that spoke directly to me as an individual.
I didn’t want some amorphous, otherworldly transcendence, either — this I knew for certain. Nor did I want mere political activism, which many in my day tied to spirituality in a rather tepid, tenuous way. Instead, I wanted something that truly nurtured my inner w
Devotees from around the UK, including the Hare Krishna Festival Team, Food for All and monks from Bhaktivedanta Manor joined forces to make most welcome presence during the famous Glastonbury Festival.
Devotees cooked and distributed 2500 plates of prasad (sanctified vegetarian for) a day, sang kirtan for 6 hours every day followed by a 2 hour hare Nama procession around the huge site. If that were not enough, over 1000 copies of Srila Prabhupada’s books were distributed to interested festival
Priya Gopinath Das, General Secretary for ISKCON Mayapur, has released the following urgent request to devotees: “I am writing to seek prayers from around the world for Myanmar. The country has been facing a severe crisis due to political and armed conflicts for over two years. This turmoil has displaced millions and has now been compounded by natural disasters, including the devastating flooding in Myitkyina, Kachin State. Many devotees from the ISKCON community have also become victims of t
By MAN-Tra Team
Mark your calendar, tell your friends, and prepare for a memorable weekend this September 20-22, 2024, for the Annual MAN-tra Men’s Retreat in New Vrindaban, West Virginia. The popular annual event promises to be a spiritually uplifting gathering for all devotee men. But don’t wait too long, as early bird registration ends on July 31st.
What can you expect at this year’s retreat? Special guest presentations and workshops by Sri Prahlada Das, Prasannatma Das, Yadunatha Das, and B
Well, it was my first time ever to take a swim in the Vancouver Island outdoors. It was a pleasure to get a relief from physical stress based on my irregular schedules, the flying and all that. Gadadhar, Manohorini and their wonderful pooch, Yogi, that headed for the Chemainus River at a spot ideal, humanless. It's waters come from the mountains and before they hit the ocean, we has our moment.
This is indeed downtime.
Where that waters of people came in for today was at the Unity Hall, now re
By Radha Mohan
On behalf of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Nila Madhava das officially presented “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” to the Speaker of the House of Commons Rt. Hon. Sir Linsey Hoyle MP and Mr Shailesh Vara on Friday 24th May 2024.
This copy of the Bhagavad-Gita, with translations and purports by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, can now be used in the House of Commons for when Hindu MPs swear in and take a Parliamentary Oath, following their election.
“…It is with grea
By Atma Tattva Das
ISKCON’s Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture will be holding its next “Taking Care of Krishna’s Cows” course beginning July 15th, 2024. Kalakantha Das, its global minister, emphasized the importance of this course, stating, “The goal is to standardize cow protection practices in ISKCON and provide guidance to our goshalas. This training will also serve as a valuable resource for new devotees interested in this activity.”
The course, which spans six weeks with bi-weekl
On June 26, 2024, ISKCON community members from all over the world gathered in Ujjain to honor the departure of His Holiness Rupa Raghunath Swami Maharaj, a disciple of Lokanath Swami and a revered ISKCON sannyasi who passed away on June 22, 2024, in Bhopal, India. The ceremony was filled with devotion and deep respect, reflecting Maharaj’s profound impact on his followers and the ISKCON movement.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/honoring-the-departure-of-rupa-raghunath-swami/
By Gopika Radhika Devi Dasi
The year was 2009. A fledgling library and research center were inaugurated on June 28th by Jayapataka Swami, Bhakti Charu Swami, Jananivas Dasa, and Hari Sauri Dasa. Fast forward to 2024, and it has expanded to three thriving centers in Kolkata, Pune, and Mumbai, as well as branches in Puri, Govardhana, and New York. Its sphere of activities has expanded exponentially, with various prestigious collaborations and several awards recognizing its contributions.
The res
I landed in Vancouver at 10:35 am. My boarding time for Nanaimo on the Island was for 10:35, hence the rush was on for a mere 10 minute flight. Gadhadar was there to greet me in style with a kurta top and green dhoti bottom with gold trim. Walking off through the Nanaimo terminal, the tinniest you could imagine, the two of us were a sight from another world.
A lunch appointment was set for the home of Tamalie and Walter. Walter we met at the beach at Departure Bay and, there, at a majestic
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
74/06/27 Melbourne, Bhagavad-gita 3.27
(Town Hall)
Srila Prabhupada: (leads chanting of “om namo bhagavate vasudevaya”)
prakrteh kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma
kartaham iti manyate
[Bg. 3.27]
Krsna says that all these living entities… We are all living entities… Actually, every one of us is spirit soul, living entities. It does not matter whether I am a human being or other than human being, lower animals, birds, b
By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi
Art of Kirtan, launched in May 2024, is an online music school and heritage project. The initiative is headed by Bada Haridas, who has been leading and teaching kirtan for the past 50 years and is a professionally trained musician and composer. His wife, Kosarupa Dasi, manages the project, marketing, and fundraising, with assistance from their two adult children, Sri Gaura Mani and Nitai Sharana.
Bada Haridas and Visvambhar Sheth are the founding teachers of th
Many joyful adventures took place daily while traveling with Srila Prabhupada. So much nectar flowed from the regulated activities of personally serving our glorious Gurudeva. Who could imagine anything more wonderful than cooking, massaging and tending to the needs of His Divine Grace, except for being present when His Divine Grace exhibited ecstatic symptoms? It was the rarest of treasures. These exceptional events invariably took place while Srila Prabhupada sat on his Vyasasana in the templ
Loving Krishna means loving everyone because Krsna is in their heart. Conversely, applying that logic backwards, if you don’t love everyone, it means that you are not loving Krsna. Using the root and leaves example, if the leaves are looking healthy, it is to be understood that the root is receiving nourishment.
In SB, eleventh canto, it is explained that only the kanishta or neophyte sees Krsna in the temple, but not in the hearts of all, and fails to respect and develop loving relationships w
On the auspicious day of Jagannatha Ratha-yatra in Puri, two of Lord Chaitanya’s most confidential associates, Srila Svarupa Damodara Gosvami and Srila Sivananda Sena, left this world to return to the supreme abode.
The inner moods of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, especially in Puri, were not easy to understand, and they were unknown to most devotees. Only Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, who was the most intimate associate of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Puri, could really understand them, and by his gra
Today is Ratha-yatra day.
It is a great honor, privilege, and pleasure to be here on the auspicious occasion of Snana-yatra. The first deities of Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra in ISKCON were discovered in San Francisco in 1967. One of Srila Prabhupada’s early disciples, Malati dasi, saw a small figure in an import store, Cost Plus, and brought it to him. When Prabhupada saw the figure, his eyes opened wide. He folded his palms and bowed his head in respect. Then he said, “You have brought
HH JAYAPATAKA SWAMI, MERCY ON WHEEL, SRI JAGANNATH E RATHA YATRA ADDRESS, SRI MAYAPUR DHAM, INDIA
Mukam karoti vacalam pangum langayate girim
Yat kripa tam aham vande sri gurum dina tarinamc
Paramananda Madhavam Sri Caitanya Isvaram
I offer my obeisances to His Divine Grace Abhay Caran Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada! Lord Jagannath is a very special deity in Rajapur. Radharani created the Navadvipa dhama for the pleasure of Lord Krsna. And Krsna gave the blessing that all the holy places will
ISKCON of Harrisburg is gearing up to celebrate its 14th Annual Hare Krishna Festival of India on Saturday, July 20, 2024, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at City Island in Harrisburg. Harrisburg is only a short drive from most major cities on the East Coast – 3 hours from New York City and 2 hours from most towns and cities in New Jersey, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.
The festival will start at 11 a.m. with kirtan inaugurating the festival followed by a two-hour procession of beautifully decorated car
“I request…that everything in the Temple should be kept nice and clean… We should always remember that Krishna is the purest & similarly only the pure can associate with Him. Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”
– Letter to: Nandarani, Krsna Devi, Subala and Uddhava, Delhi, 3 October, 1967
Srila Prabhupada always emphasised the importance of cleanliness, and said that cleanliness is essential for making advancement in spiritual life: “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” In Sridhama Mayapur, the
