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The Hare Krishna devotees in Russia are growing in numbers every year and chanting the names of Lord Krishna for the spiritual benefit of everyone. However, on November 23, 2021, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France took a decision based on an appeal from the Centre of Societies for Krishna Consciousness in Russia and its Head of Law Department Maha-Balarama das. The reason for the appeal to the ECHR was the negative assessment of the Hare Krishna organization by the state au

By Madhava Smullen

The new Devotee Care Team started in New Vrindaban, West Virginia in April 2021, is providing resources, assistance and association for residents of the large rural community.

The team is run by Lilasuka Dasi, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada who first moved to New Vrindaban in 1980 and has served there as a day school teacher, communications director and handcrafts store owner; and Beverly Nava, who came in 2016 and has served as restaurant manager and HR representative.

While

In the first verse of the Bhagavad-gita, the low-minded king Dhrtarastra asks his secretary, “O Sanjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pandu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kuruksetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?” Kim akurvata: “What did they do?” Srila Prabhupada says that this is a foolish question. The two armies had gathered to fight, so what is the question of what they did? Srila Prabhupada gives the example that if someone sits down before a plate of food, intending to ea

By Madhava Smullen

One of the biggest book distributors in East Africa, Dwarka Vasini Devi Dasi, along with her teams Vaishnavi Sanga and Krsna Kids Sena, distributes about eighty percent of ISKCON Nairobi’s total during the December Prabhupada marathon every year. Throughout the rest of the year, she and her niece Ambika Gopi Devi Dasi are the main book distributors in the Kenyan capital. With her efforts, ISKCON Nairobi has gone from distributing about 5,000 books during the marathon to 30,000

All the abilities and gifts we have, come from the Supreme Lord. He gives and He takes – that is the nature of material existence. Sometimes, we do not get anything at all, that happens. We miss out! Everybody gets it, but we might not. That means we are chosen by Krsna for some higher purpose. Everyone gets sense gratification and we do not get it – this means Krsna wants something higher for us, He wants something more for us! Krsna does not want us to forget about Him and simply enjoy the mat

At UBC a group of fifty to sixty young, Indian students came together for a Hindu collaboration, which included mostly devotional songs. It was indoors, Diwali-like in atmosphere, and timed just before exams. Iskcon was invited, which became my inclusion. Someone from our Burnaby community, by the name of Visudha Sattva, scheduled kirtan chanting sessions at our temple. He sang and then had me slotted in for a turn.

Clearly, I could see our own boys, who are great drummers, getting into the groo

I found this talk by Yamuna-devi, from the Pune Yatra 2001, so profound and powerful, I wanted to share it with you all. If you wish to learn more about—and from—this extraordinary devotee and disciple of Srila Prabhupada’s, you may visit the beautiful new website Unalloyed: The Yamuna Devi Legacy Project (www.unalloyed.org). —Giriraj Swami

Radhanath Maharaja has requested that my godsisters and I speak something. Last night, after we left the transcendental program and before I took rest, I wa

When we come to know a pleasant secret, we feel amazed. Naturally there- fore, we feel immensely amazed when we come to know life’s great secret. That se- cret is disarmingly simple: what we were looking for was always with us; we never found it because we searched in the wrong places.

The Bhagavad-gita (02.29) indicates that when we come to know about the soul, we look upon it as amazing. We recognize that much of what we were seek- ing at the level of the body was always our own at the level of

Prabhupāda: Now if somebody argue that, “Here is… a devotee is also dying. A devotee is also dying. How can I say that it is deathlessness?” No, he does not know. Devotee is not dying. There is very good example. Just like a cat: he catches the rat and he catches his cub also. But these two kinds of catching is different. When the cat catches a rat, that rat means his “chi-chi-chi” means dying, actually dying. And the cub, he is feeling very comfortable: “meow, meow, meow.” Because the same cat,

Every year the Prabhupada Marathon is a time for giving around ISKCON communities worldwide. For the second year running, Prabhupada Marathon is being celebrated globally as the “Live to Give” campaign. The global goal is to distribute at least 2.2 million Bhagavad Gitas and spread the message of the Gita far and wide. Several centers around the world have already pledged to meet a goal for this global campaign, which started after Bhadra Purnima, and will end on January 7th.

Source: https://w

Jaya Govinda, Deepak, and I did some serious walking on 1st and 2nd Ave. near the Science Centre, just to see if the park sites and nearby streets could be a possible new area for next year’s Chariot Fest. Wewill make proposals to the City Council. The situation is that the former route, along English bay at Sunset and Third Beach, will no longer be available for our parade and, hence, a new pathway has to be chalked out.

It was also a nice walk along Stanley Park. I was really taken by the cran

Jai SriKrishna Jai SriHari Jai SriRama 

WHAT DO I NEED?

WHAT DID I LEARN?🌈🌈

The vast blue expanse above,

The green velvety carpet below.

Teaches me to be joyful.🌏

The birds and the beasts

So genuine and caring.

Teach me to give,

No expectations.🐿🐘🐦

The mountains and the valley's

Sing to me sweetly.

Oh! What a melody!🦋🦋

The rivers and the oceans,

Have their own symphony.

So caring and nurturing!🎵🎶

To be blissful does one

Need wad of notes?

Oh!Oh! I don't think so.🐢🐢

To declutter is my way

To hoard, I want to

• Jai Sriman SriNarayanaya.

“The mind’s activities are thinking, feeling and willing, by which the mind accepts materially favorable things and rejects the unfavorable. This is the consciousness of people in general. But when one’s mind does not accept and reject but simply becomes fixed on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then one’s mind becomes as good as Vṛndāvana. Wherever Kṛṣṇa is, there also are Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the gopīs, the cowherd boys and all the other inhabitants of Vṛndāvana. Thus as soon as one fixes Kṛṣṇa in his m

By Vishnu Dasa

He’s loved by the young ones. Benevolently, he works hard to please the kids at this time of year; operating in the North Pole in great preparation for the snow season. His beard, if big and white, like his snowy surroundings. The red outfit stands out. He’s chubby, jolly, and upbeat. He’s kind to all and keeps, as companions, a slew of reindeer that render him a great service. Without them he couldn’t get around. Affectionately he’s known as Santa Claus.

Historically, Santa was morphed out of S