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* A New Year Message from the ISKCON Governing Body Commission *

Dear ISKCON Members and Friends,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Looking back on 2022, we want to thank you for your many continued services to Srila Prabhupada, and to Lord Caitanya’s mission of spreading Krishna consciousness to every town and village in the world.
After several years of differing degrees of being isolated from one another and from our communities due to the pandemic, we loo

The Yaksha inquired, ‘What is it that makes one a true brahmana: birth, behaviour or learning?’
Maharaj Yudhisthir replied, ‘It is behaviour alone that qualifies one as a true brahman. Thus, brahmanas must be very careful to exhibit exemplary behaviour. One whose behaviour is faultless will never meet with obstructions on the path of life. Teachers and students alike, who are addicted to sinful habits, should be considered illiterate, even though they may be very leaned in the shastra. Only one

It’s not so usual to be receiving the white stuff we call snow in the Vancouver area. This area is more rain prone. This morning it came down in abundance. It left a blanket of pureness. Pretty for sure. The unique thing is that at approximately 7am thunder sounded and lightning flashed. This was heard and witnessed by several of us in and outside of the temple hall where we were at the time. Most unusual during a snowfall.

After a lively program, including a discussion on Indra, the rain/snow

“In this age of Kali the propensity for mercy is almost nil. Consequently there is always fighting and wars between men and nations. Men do not understand that because they unrestrictedly kill so many animals, they also must be slaughtered like animals in big wars. This is very much evident in the Western countries. In the West, slaughterhouses are maintained without restriction, and therefore every fifth or tenth year there is a big war in which countless people are slaughtered even more cruel

I was reading some writings of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur and he was speaking about diksha guru and siksha guru and he was saying that the diksha guru is basically giving the name and explaining the meaning of the name and the siksha guru gives so much relevant instruction about spiritual life and how to practice devotional service. Now, it seems that in our movement, this separation about diksha guru and siksha guru is not so rigid. This is because when Srila Prabhupada was in Mayapur, one of h

The night kicked-in and that was the sign for me to take a walk down by the perfect black and flat soil, where houses and green bushes are in abundance. It was also where a pair of coyotes meandered for food and fun.

I turned the corner from Marine Drive, and entered the quiet of the farmland described above when a thought came. There are two types of people that can walk endlessly – a monk and a criminal. A monk walks about, exercising detachment from the world. A criminal walks about and just

In the Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami has given us a verse which is an open invitation. He is saying that if you are interested in logic and arguments, then apply them to the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. By doing so, you will experience amazement in your heart. So that is the foundation of this movement that the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is flowing, and the topmost love of God is made available to the most fallen. That is what happened and what is still happen

Things are moving along with the recording of the audiobook for The Saffron Path. I have completed forty-three chapters and I am well into walking the United States to reach the Elm tree at Tompkins Square, Park, NY. It’s fun going through the book’s content again. It feels like I’m on the road again. Nice to see some people purchasing the book as a Christmas gift.

Being stuck in a tight studio for the recording restricts the opportunity to mobilize the body. And on top of that, there are obliga

If a devotee were to ask, “Please bless me so that I’ll never take birth again in this horrible material world,” would this be asking for some kind of liberation? Hundreds of times, Srila Prabhupada encouraged us to “Go Back home, back to Godhead.” Would it be a form of boldness or naiveté to desire to come back to this world and serve by preaching?

That would depend on our level of perception and spiritual progress. There were times when some disciples indicated to Srila Prabhupada that they w

His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, appeared on 1st September 1896 at 4pm at premises number 63 Tollygunge Road, Kolkata-700033. The house where Srila Prabhupada was born was under a Jackfruit tree. In 1920’s the maternal uncles of Srila Prabhupada sold this land to a Zamidar (landlord) and the new landlord sublet it to different people. Later the Indian Government acquired this land from the landlord along with the sub-tenants and Bharatiyas.

Srila Prabhupada has express

When I joined the Hare Krishna movement, I was 20. I was young and full of anticipation for an improved life. Well, that has happened. I am blessed. Now looking at fifty years later, my intentions are the same. I continue to work on self improvement, although externals have changed.

Other young persons had joined when I did. For instance, two of the decent people I got to know were a couple, Vallabha Chaitanya and Lila Sukha. Last week, Vallabha passed away at Saranagati where I just visited. L

Srila Prabhupada once explained the festival this way: “Krishna was just a toy in the hands of the Gopis, so one day the Gopis decided that we shall decorate Him. Pusya abhisheka means a ceremony to decorate the deity profusely with flowers, ornaments, cloths. After there should be lavish feasting and a procession through the streets, so that all the citizens should see how beautiful Krishna appears.”

If you feel very inspired to decorate Krishna nicely tomorrow for Pushya Abhishek please visit

Hariharan Iyer: Hare Krishna

Recently it was the auspicious Siva-Ratri and let us take some time to read the wonderful prayers offered by Lord Siva as found in SB 4.24

SB 4.24.32: The great sage Maitreya continued: Out of his causeless mercy, the exalted personality Lord Śiva, a great devotee of Lord Nārāyaṇa, continued to speak to the King’s sons, who were standing with folded hands.

SB 4.24.33: Lord Śiva addressed the Supreme Personality of Godhead with the following prayer: O Supreme Person

It is no exaggeration when I say that it is liberating when you take a trip to the farm. To be more specific, current and personal, I had the pleasure to hit Highway-1 with Jay Govinda, Hari Nishta, and Bhakta Vishnu for a drive to our rural community; four hours northeast from Vancouver.

The drive is scenic and super pleasant. I was quite shocked, however, to see the extremely low level of water in both the Fraser and Thompson Rivers. At certain sections the water of the Thompson was like a cr

From a recent article on the “Espresso” national newspapaper in Italy by Tiziano Fusella (Tulsi Das)
https://espresso.repubblica.it/mondo/2022/12/19/news/hare_krishna-379068309/

The new British prime minister Rishi Sunak has brought a large community and their estate of Bhaktivedanta Manor near London back into the spotlight. The park is home to the headquarters of the Hindu cult in the West and politicians are increasingly passing through it.

Translated from Italian: In the hours following th

HER GRACE AJITA DEVI DASI, SRILA PRABHUPADA’S DISCIPLE, WIFE OF 35 YEARS TO HIS GRACE SIDDHANTA DASA PRABHU, LEFT HER BODY THIS MORNING, THIS WINTER SOLSTICE MORNING.
HER DAUGHTER KARTIKA DASI: “This Winter Solstice morning, my mother passed away in her sleep during the Brahmamuhurta, or Amritvela, the most auspicious time of the day for rising early, before the sunrise, to meditate. As all who knew her would probably recall, she had a strong belief in astrology and auspicious timings. It’s no

Deena Bandhu Das: Please join us in prayers!! I requested a few weeks ago for my dear older Godbrother, Nara Narayan Prabhuji and now on January 2nd, Krishna has finally taken him surrounded by devotees and children at the apartments in Los Angeles doing kirtan. Srila Prabhupada nicknamed him Visvakarma for his many wonderful services including making the first very ornate Vyasasana and engineering the up and down movement of the rath carts among many. Srila Prabhupada loved him dearly and he w

I was milking the cows in the afternoon, and an Indian family came into the goshalla. We had a talk as I was finishing the milking, and then I engaged them in bottle-feeding the calf Nishta.

Afterward I offered to show them some books. The head of the family agreed to take a whole stack and gave a nice donation. I also mentioned that I had full sets of the Bhagavatam and Caitanya-caritamrta at home and encouraged him to consider taking a look at them.

The gent replied that he had already spent

To His Holiness Pope Francis
Members of the Roman Catholic Church

January 1, 2023

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) extends our heartfelt condolences to all of our friends and colleagues in the Roman Catholic Church, who are feeling great loss due to the passing of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Benedict was a great theologian and scholar of the modern Church. Among his many contributions, we are moved by his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, in 2005, where