ISKCON India’s Director of Communications Yudhistir Govinda Das spoke at the recently concluded annual conference of the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD), a Germany-based organization whose members include 123 Faith-based Organizations (FBOs) and 15 government and multilateral entities, in Bali, Indonesia.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/iskcon-official-speaks-at-pard-annual-conference-in-indonesia/
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In the past, I have been the temple president of Krsna Balarama Mandir. When I became the temple president, the GBC told me, “We have many bulls. Across the river, there is the one baba who takes bulls, so why don’t you go there and ask him if he is willing to take some bulls?” It was arranged that someone was taking me there. One of my first assignments in the first few days was to go to talk to this baba about taking thirty to forty bulls. So I went there, and on the way there, someone told m
It’s good to be gone. It’s good to be home. In truth all places are home because wherever you make yourself comfortable in devotional service that is home. That’s easy to say because I move about mainly in a free world. What if I were stuck in a place of war like Ukraine, or in a region where there is little tolerance of our belief? What if I resided in a country of poverty, hard to get a proper meal? In such places my sadhana could easily suffer.
The actual key to a constant bhakti practice th
Board members and residents visit Vrindaville, a new development of 1-4 acre land plots that devotees can purchase for building homes.
The semi-annual joint board meetings with ECO-Vrindaban, ISKCON New Vrindaban, and the Village Council took place on October 21-23rd. Members met in multiple sessions to discuss the achievements of 2022 and speak about initial plans for 2023. “The combined board meeting this year was a very positive experience. New Vrindaban is unique in that it’s managed by thr
By Madana Gopala Das
The Third ISKCON Communications Global Online Conference was held on Saturday November 5th 2022 on the topic of Unity In Diversity.
Her Grace Vishakha Devis Dasi, president of the Bhaktivedanta Manor and renowned author/film-maker, highlighted the various approaches Srila Prabhupada used in resolving differences amongst his disciples as he navigated the unprecedented growth of ISKCON in the Sixties and Seventies. Some of the methods he used included encouragement, coachin
Winnipeg has so few hills, but since I arrived, I have been contemplating and shaping up a poem about a hill, Govardhana, which is held sacred in India, attracting people from all over the globe. The poem:
The Living Hill
The god of rain, Indra, became extremely irate
Pride is often the big part of his game
With thunder, clouds and lightning so great
He exerts this power to maintain fame
What incited him so was a talkative child
Who put his village on a paradigm shift
Instead of a day to
Chanting the holy names of the lord is the most profound method in this age of Kali to rise above the influences of Maya. To engage in Harinama Sankirtana is definitely the only viable process of freeing ourselves from this precarious position we have implicated ourselves in within this material world. Inaugurated by Lord Caitanya who then empowered his pure devotee, His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, we have all been exposed to this Yuga Dharma Harinam Sankirtan through
Many people say “By your mercy, I will surrender” or “Give me your blessings so that I will surrender” or “When Krishna wants”. Srila Prabhupada says these are spoken under “FALSE PRETENSE”–These are just “PLEA’S” Not to Surrender.
Srila Prabhupada: Surrender is willing. If you don’t like to surrender who can make you obliged to surrender? Surrender is voluntary. “Yes I surrender.” Determination, “Yes I surrender.” Who can make you obliged to surrender? Nobody can make. Even Krsna can not work.
It is that time of the year when leaves are descending, but geese are ascending and soaring to the south in their V formation. Ah, yes, V for Vishnu. Thanks for the reminder, guys. Your honking sound is well noticed by those of us making the trails in King’s Park. What splendour there is in all we see, including a woodpecker who allowed me to come so close. The Assiniboine River is humble as it is low; a notable message we are able to take in as a component to the natural splendour of God.
Much
By Chaitanya Charan das
Transcribed and edited by– Nayanasundari Devi Dasi
Question– As devotees, as sadhus, should we focus on just internal change or should we focus on social change also?
Answer (short)–
- Primary focus in Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition has been on internal change. However, Srila Prabhupada went a step forward and used scripture as a means for social commentary to bring about a change in the society.
- Prabhupada said, he has come to create Brahmanas and Brahmanas should inspire o
Be personal. Honor each individual for who he or she is. This principle was repeatedly exemplified by Srila Prabhupada throughout his time with us. As he saw how everyone is spiritually equal and should have an equal opportunity to participate in his movement according to his or her qualifications and propensities, so can we. As he encouraged everyone, so can we. In the world today, there’s a dire need for this cutting-edge, spiritual vision, a vision that’s resonant with Krishna’s teachings, t
The other day I was remembering Srila Prabhupada’s statement of how paintings of Krsna are like windows to the spiritual world; it means that through these paintings, we are looking into the ‘real world’, and when we are looking out of this window (of the building), we are simply looking at a picture. So Krsna consciousness must begin with that understanding, that the spiritual world is the real world. It is there where we find our nourishment because after all, in the material world, we will n
I spent the day visiting Krishna Bhakti students at their homes. It is inspiring to see their love and commitment to Krishna, their work, their school and their parents. I also had the pleasure to walk along Red River at St. Vital Park. Lots of geese in the pond. Since arriving in Manitoba all households that I visit, they conduct a beautiful ceremony to honour Damodara (Krishna) with ghee lamps.
We were at the dawn of our guru’s anniversary of his passing. My poem, in his honour, follows. Prab
How can we chant in a way that it makes us forget the material world and run to Krsna? When you sit down to chant, there will be moments in which you notice that your mind wandered somewhere else – ‘Uuups, I was thinking about my shopping list, that I have to close this deal to get more money and that Suresh Patel said something bad about me – well, he can just wait – I will show it to him!’ You will notice, ‘Where was I? I am sitting here in saintly company, chanting, but what happened?’ What
Even when there is duty, we have to see what will be the effect of the duty. Not everything should be done very blindly. This is devotee. Devotee means he’s not blind. Yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah. (SB 5.18.12) [“All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge, and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva.”] Bhagavad-bhakta means he w
A leading monthly travel magazine with over 16 million readers displays a full page color photo of Tompkins Square Park with a caption that begins, “The East Village’s Tompkins Square Park has been a bastion of counterculture for decades. The Hare Krishna movement was born here.”
Srila Prabhupada describes that birth, “Our sankirtana movement was first introduced in New York in 1966. At that time I came and began to chant this Hare Krishna mantra in Tompkins Square. I was chanting there for thr
It is explained in the scriptures that on the route to the spiritual world, one will have to pass through the irresistibly attractive heavenly planets. Only very rare and fixed up souls are able to get ahead of these tests and boldly march ahead to the spiritual world. Most decide to take a break and engage in their rendezvous at the highly-eulogized heavenly pleasure gardens. Thinking about making my journey through these heavenly realms without getting stranded in these heavenly realms is a
Written By Madhava Smullen for ISKCON New Vrindaban Communications
Archival Research by Chaitanya Mangala Dasa
ISKCON Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada visited New Vrindaban four times, giving the devotees there his association and dispensing practical advice for simple living that remains invaluable not only to New Vrindaban, but to all ISKCON rural farm communities to this day.
During his first visit, running for over a month from May 20th to June 23rd 1969, Srila Prabhupada encouraged the sma
For more than 8 months war has been going on in Ukraine and devotees keep asking us for help.
The devotees in the occupied cities and towns on the front line are facing the worst situation.
The economy is not operational there and it is close to impossible for them to support themselves.
Many devotees need to be evacuated, you might be asking how to help Ukrainian devotees. Share your care fund is the tool you can use to do this.
SHARE YOUR CARE WITH DEVOTEES
Shareyour.care project is dedicated
