When I look at the span of a day involving community members, I am touching all rites of passage. Someone is calling about getting married. “Do you have the wedding hall available at such and such a date?” Another individual is personally asking about help to find a partner.
Then out of the crowd a couple approach me: “Please give us blessings, Swamiji, we are going to have our first child in four months.”
And during the feast, again, someone is saying, “My wife is in her last stages with cance
Visakha Dasi has released a new book entitled Virtues for a Happy Life: Bhagavad-gita for Children. This beautifully designed volume makes the wisdom of the Gita easily accessible through photographs, paintings, and straightforward language as it explores four virtues found in the ancient text. “For me, the four virtues highlighted in the book are foundational teachings of the Gita,” said Visakha, “equal-mindedness (seeing everyone as an atma or soul), healthy-mindedness (understanding Krishna’s
By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi
ISKCON UK is organizing a free international online course called Think Gita based on the teachings of S.B. Keshava Swami Maharaj. The taster session starts today January 11th at 8 pm GMT, and the 4-week course begins on 1st February, every Thursday from 8-9 pm GMT.
Raja Mukunda, who is the course instructor, is the co-founder and heads the Think Gita project and has been teaching the Bhagavad-gita for four years. He said, “People purchase the Bhagavad-gita, b
Today is Makar Sankranti. Aside from the northward movement of the sun today, it is a very important and auspicious day for the Vaishnava community, as on this day Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took to the renounced order of life for the sake of liberating and distributing the Holy Name to us all. Therefore, on this auspicious day, it is important to remember the pastime activities of the Lord because He is also the master of all wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation because He
When we actually care
We are prone to share
With those in times of need
In any physical/emotional bleed
With a gentle pinch of courage
Caring becomes a universal language
Understood by plants, vegetables
Bugs, birds, and all animals
True humans are quite aware
Of the sensitivity called care
By way of touch, a smile
Kind words, listening – all worth while
But we cannot monopolize
Rather own up and apologize
For past abuses done
With a violent cleaver or gun
To compensate, begin this day
With so
Some fifty years ago in Bombay, when I first began to meet people to encourage them to support ISKCON, I was guided by the fourth verse of Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Upadesamrta, kindly explained by Srila Prabhupada. It instructed me to reciprocate with the people whom I met in exchanges of love. The more care and affection we gave them, the more they would reciprocate and want to support our cause. And I knew that if they engaged in devotional service, they would enhance their spiritual lives.
dadat
On January 7th, 2024, we celebrated Ratha Yatra during the Mango Strut Parade, which has been a local happening during the last 40 years. Devotees used to chant during the parade, but there was never a Ratha Yatra until last year.
Even thousands of miles away from Jagannath Puri, Coconut Grove, where the parade is held, is a small village in Miami close to the ocean, surrounded by banyan trees, coconut, and mango trees. The village is special because Srila Prabhupada graced this place with his vi
By Mathura Lilesvari Devi Dasi
Krishna Lunch So Cal is a new creative outreach in southern California aimed at providing low-cost on-campus meals and meaningful connections to college-age students as food insecurity sharply rises.
“Beyond being a nutritious food hub while addressing food insecurity among students, we envision Krishna Lunch So Cal as a place where the students and other community members can come together, share thoughts, and build connections,” said Govinda Datta Dasa, founder
By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi
Hari Mohan Dasa (Mohan Ashtakala), an editor and publisher of a community newspaper in Denver, Colorado, for thirteen years, has written an amazing historical fiction titled “Sadhu.” The book has received immense appreciation from authors and devotees. It explores the spiritual journey of Lord Chaitanya’s elder brother, as well as the historical and social intricacies of Medieval India.
In the list of mentioned testimonials, HH Bhakti Marga Swami said, “Blendin
By Prishni Sutton, BIHS
The Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies (BIHS) will host the third installment of an ongoing lecture series based on the books of Richard L. Thompson (Sadaputa Dasa, 1947-2008) with a hybrid (online/in-person) event at the BIHS Headquarters in Gainesville, FL, on February 3, 2024, 11 AM to 1 PM EST.
In this series, Thompson’s books are covered chapter by chapter with a presentation summarizing contents and central arguments, followed by a discussion. The focus o
It came to my attention through my meagre introspection that Krishna Consciousness is nothing but a caring culture—a caring for God, a caring for His environment, His creatures, you and me. All that exists is His, and so kindness must prevail in His world.
Caring, for me today, came in many forms. I was happy to receive a call from one of my students. He mentioned he had good news about marriage and a date preferred for the wedding. I was thrilled, of course, as I want to see our young folks
This year Sadhu Sanga program was organised at Nashik, Maharashtra. Disciples of His Holiness Subhag Swami Maharaja gathered from different parts of India and abroad to get the association of their spiritual master and nurture their devotional lives. They also gathered to celebrate the 84th Vyasa Puja ceremony of their beloved spiritual master His Holiness Subhag Swami Maharaja. Each year a new place is selected by Maharaja for the Sadhu Sanga program and this time it was the Nashik Dham. The ev
Dear devotees, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Šrila Prabhupada!
I’d like to use this opportunity to inform you about a successful book distribution program that started back in 2012 and is still ongoing. I hope many of you will get inspiration from this report and replicate it in your yatras. During Vrisabha Prabhu’s (my close friend, a devotee from Croatia) stay in Sarajevo in the period from 2012 to 2014, there was an opportunity to enter libraries with Srila Prabhupada’s
“He who was previously a very munificent cowherd boy has now appeared as Mahesa Pandita. In ecstatic love, he dances like a madman as though intoxicated to the beat of a kettle drum. [C.C. Adi 11.32]
According to Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika, Mahesa Pandita was formerly Maha-Bahusakha in Krsna-lila. He was a companion of Nityananda Prabhu, and was present at the Danda Mahotsava held at Paninati.
In Bhakti-Ratnakara, Taranga Nine, it is stated that when Narottama dasa Thakura came to visit Khardaha, h
November 4, 2023, marked the first leg of Padayatra Mauritius’ Island-wide Padayatra. Coinciding with the tirobhava tithi (disappearance day) of Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami, Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami and Srila Raghunatha dasa Goswami, the walk was also dedicated to commemorating the forty-eighth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s first visit to Mauritius.
The day’s itinerary covered approximately 10km, starting at the Sri Sri Radha Golokananda mandir in Phoenix then heading north th
The Bhaktivedanta Medical Association – US (BMA-US) will be holding its 6th annual BMA Conference at Deland, Florida, on February 2nd-4th, 2024.
Their purpose is to provide a spiritual atmosphere where devotees involved in the healthcare field can meet and bond with one another and brainstorm ways to help our devotee communities at large. Part of the global Bhaktivedanta Medical Association, THE BMA-US held its previous 2020 retreat in Houston with over 100 participants from all across North Am
In a recent study of 22 sets of twins published in the Journals of the American Medical Association (JAMA Network), researchers found that “a healthy plant-based diet offers a significant protective cardiometabolic advantage compared with a healthy omnivorous diet.”
The results confirm earlier findings from researchers in Norway, which showed a plant-based diet can add up to 10 years to one’s life. You can read the full study here.
ISKCON devotees advocate a lacto-vegetarian diet, strictly avoi
Kathi’s bagels are irresistible. She’s married to Vallabha Hari, MC extraordinaire. They happen to live near the corner of Bloor and Spadina which is on my urban walking route. So tonight, after dealing with oodles of people stuff over the course of the day, I felt a pressure to get out into the fresh—as best as our city could offer—air.
I cleared the stairs and hit the sidewalk with Navi next to my side. We headed out Bloor west and dropped by Kathi and Vallabha’s for a friendly visit. Sure en
What you were born to do is no longer a mystery. Career Dharma, The Natural Art of Work, by Urmila Devi Dasi (Dr. Edith Best) and Dr. Ruchira S. Datta, is here to help you discover that. The English word natural comes from the Latin term “naturalis,” which means birth, or in Middle English, it denotes the physical power of a person. What is your superpower? What is your dharma?
In this comprehensive volume, the authors begin with the wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita, which speaks of our sanatana dhar
Namarasa Das is back after a one-year hiatus with a new season of in-person interviews. In 2018, Namarasa started “The Late Morning Program with Namarasa” podcast, which quickly gained in popularity because of its engaging host, wide variety of guests, and willingness to talk about a broad range of topics, including “hot button” issues. The return is good news for the thousands of devotee listeners who were missing the podcast during the break.
“In January 2023, I took a break because my daugh
