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For five centuries, St. Peter’s Basilica was the largest religious building in the world. A primacy that will soon lose, at least on the surface. To overcome it, the new temple of the Hare Krishna religion which stands out in Mayapur, on the banks of the river Ganges, a three-hour drive from Calcutta, eight in times of traffic. The only road leading to Mayapur is among the most tortuous and dangerous on the subcontinent. Crossroads without signs follow one another, from which animals and vehicl

Ram Lila and I were to take a flight at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport, a very modest-sized facility, to destination, Suriname. It’s another country just east of Guyana. The aircraft takes ten passengers. There was an issue over my not having a yellow fever card, but what became nothing more than a slight tussle ended up giving me a pass for over an hour’s flight to another tiny airport, a tad bit larger than a barn.

Ram Lila and I were greeted by a sweet couple with garlands of th

The lieutenant governor of Maryland, Aruna Miller, swore her oath to serve as the lieutenant governor by placing her hand on Srila Prabhupada‘s Bhagavad-gita as it is -Likely the first lieutenant governor to do so.

Aruna Miller took the oath of office with Chief Justice Matthew Fader of the Supreme Court of Maryland, placing her left palm on Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita. The official oath was conducted a few minutes earlier in the Senate chambers.

Lieutenant governor Miller is a friend of t

By Vasundhara Gupta

ISKCON Ayodhya distributes prasadam to over a hundred thousand people. Vinay Bhushan Chaitanya Das, the director of ‘Food for Life,’ cited Srila Prabhupada’s words that no one within 10 miles of an ISKCON Temple must sleep hungry.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/iskcon-ayodhya-serve-prasadam-to-over-a-hundred-thousand/

Things are changing in Guyana. When I took American Airlines from Trinidad to Guyana, a mere one-hour flight, I noticed passengers who were in unmistakably Latino. Apparently, people from troubled Venezuela are migrating. Oil was discovered in Guyana, and so the rush is on. I was told Cubans are also making inroads.

Upon arriving in Georgetown, I noticed there are fewer lotuses in the canals. The country is taking action and clearing these lovelies that clog the plumbing. What else? Well, new r

This story was heard from the pujari at Sri Advaita Acharya’s house in Shantipur, West Bengal. He came to the ISKCON Chaitanya Chandrodoya Mandir with a copy of the Back to Godhead article about Srila Prabhupada entitled “A Lifetime in Preparation.”

Just recently an amazing realization occurred to me that I wanted to share with devotees everywhere. I have been the pujari and sevaite at the house of Advaita Acharya for many years. I was also there back in the 1940s and ’50s. At that time, I noti

The journey from Delhi to Trivandrum on the Kerala Express train was the most beautiful visual experience of my recent travels in India. I'd half-thought such natural beauty-existed only in wildlife documentaries. Hour after hour of panoramic scenes of lush fields, steep, majestic mountains capped in thick fog, and archaic canals canopied by palm trees whizzed by to elicit "oohs" and "aahs" from this neophyte traveler.

The Trivandrum ISKCON te

By Giriraj Swami

To honor Sri Advaita Acharya’s appearance day, we present Srila Prabhupada’s talk about him in Mayapur on April 6, 1975.

advaitam harinadvaitad
acaryam bhakti-samsanat
bhaktavataram isam tam
advaita acaryam asraye

“Because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Acarya. He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord’s devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him.” (Cc Adi 1.13)

So, gradually

You can read the British Prime Minister, Mr Rishi Sunak’s message in honour of Bhaktivedanta Manor’s 50th anniversary. (1973 – 2023)

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=105654
 

Start your spiritual journey on a sound footing

Introductory Course

If you have recently come in contact with Krsna Consciousness and wish to understand its philosophy and practice, this course is perfect for you. You will learn about Krsna, Lord Caitanya, Srila Prabhupada and the timeless process of bhakti yoga, the path of devotion. You will clearly understand the goal of Krsna Consciousness. Moreover, you will learn about lifestyle in the mode of goodness.

When facilitating a “Kirtan Standards Workshop” like the one we conducted for thirty or so people, the two themes I like to emphasize are “Prabhupada’s standards” and “inclusiveness”. I have had a good support by others on the past, the likes of Dhruva from Calgary, Rukmini from Toronto, as well as Kevala Bhakti.

What the attendees here in Trinidad gained from this workshop, amongst many benefits, is some clarification on what our acharyas or teachers in our lineage have preferred in the way o

Shri Mukunda Dasa, Shri Madhava Dasa and Shri Narahari Sarakara Thakura were three brothers who lived in Shri Khanda. Shri Mukunda Dasa Thakura’s son was Shri Raghunandan Thakura.

Shri Raghunandana Thakura made his appearance within this world in Shri Khanda. In his home, he became acquainted with the worship of Shri Gopinatha from an early age. One day his father, Mukunda Dasa, who was a doctor, had to go away on medical business.

He called Raghunandana to his side. He told Raghunandana to see

My roomates know that I practice krishna consciousness, and being non devotees they try very hard that I get angry or that I get irritated, but I resist them somehow and restrain myself. But lately I get very violent thoughts. Today after 4 months I finally got a little irritated at them and showed it. They got happy that I got irritated. Now I feel very guilty and feel that my sadhana has reduced to such a level that I get irritated by measly things. What should I do? Please help me.

“Now, how am I going to scale that formidable gate? It looks like someone forgot to leave me a key for that safety lock that I see before me.” These were my thoughts. I gave a sight push to the gate, but nothing was budging. I wanted to make it on time for 4:30 am meditations at the temple.

Okay! I surrender. I did the climb and that seven foot gate was kind to me afterall.

Then I hit the road, or rather, the moon crater terrain. The roads are so bad here. Locals say it’s because huge trucks ar

Whenever I meet any of my friend’s mothers, I usually address them as “aunty” out of due respect. I have been told by many of them to not call them aunty, as they feel old when I address them in that manner. I have been requested many times to just address them by their name. For example “don’t say lata aunty”, instead say “just lata”. I feel this to be very odd, because it is our custom to address anyone elder to us with respect and calling someone just by their name isn’t respectful. Along wi

By Dayal Gopal dasa, Nepal Padayatra leader

The Nepal Padayatra restarted in the Jhapa district in southeast Nepal on November 17, 2022, following a gap of two months while the padayatris went on Vraja-mandala Parikrama.

Our first stop was at Kerkha village near the Kamala River. A family in the village welcomed us and arranged for our accommodation and prasadam at a Shiva temple. We performed nagar sankirtan in Kerkha and had a house programme at the family’s residence. The next day as we were

In the span of fifteen days, graffiti and vandalismhavebeen daubed on three Hindu temples in Melbourne, Australia.  The attacks have taken place at BAPS, Shri Shiva Vishnu, and ISKCON temples. The Hindu community feels devasted by such vandalism and frustrated with the authorities. The Australia Today’s Editor-in-chief Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj reporting live from ISKCON Temple in Melbourne.

Video source: The Australia Today   

Source: https://iskconnews.org/third-temple-vandalized-in-australia/

I am very encouraged by the crew we have to help me in my services to guru and God. Cooperation, humility, good listening, good advising, good intelligence are some of the ingredients that make our product. The main ingredient is bhakti. It is that agent that causes ‘the cake to rise’ or our consciousness to rise.

Our product or project is our production. Drama. Theatre. Teatro. A play called Big Fish Little Fish!

Not only are we experiencing the blossoming of talent, but intelligence as well.

A few days ago, while doing some writing at the University of Florida library, I took a break to chant my midday Gayatri, and as I looked out from the 4th floor over the Plaza of the Americas, I felt Srila Prabhupada’s presence very strongly. I could almost visualize him walking down the path between the library and the old chapel (now auditorium).

That’s when I realized that the UF campus is a holy place of pilgrimage! Srila Prabhupada actually did walk in that very place in June 1971 and gave