Blog

- Srila Prabhupada and George Harrison, London, 1973

“I liked Prabhupada’s humbleness. I always liked his humility and his simplicity The servant of the servant of the servant is really what it is, you know. None of us are God—just His servants. He just made me feel so comfortable. I always felt very relaxed with him, and I felt more like a friend. I felt that he was a good friend. Even though he was at the time seventy-nine years old, working practically all through the night, day after day, w

The last time George associated with a large group of devotees was when he and his wife, Olivia, visited the Manor in the summer of 1997. We had invited him to a celebratory dinner a few days after we got permission to build the new approach road.

This dinner was held shortly after we had another amazing fundraising dinner called “Prabhupada’s Dream”, during which guests and patron members of the Manor were invited to raise funds to buy the land for the approach road. That evening the target was

I wanted to offer my congratulations to the four new initiates from Mauritius. This last Sunday, we got plugged into the Zoom system with the community in Bon Accueil, in that country which apparently holds the post of having the most covid deaths per capita in the world at present. There is no way that I would be physically present in this otherwise lovely nation with the virus being too infectiously in the atmosphere. Things are done in separation these days.

Kudos go to Akilesh who received t

An Early Essay by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.
A pure devotee is just like the Desire-Tree from whom we can have on request everything desireable. This is no myth or bluff but it is actual fact. The devotee can deliver to us the mercy of God and what is not obtainable by one who has got the mercy of God? Therefore the devotees are the most magnanimous in their charitable disposition of mind. They are also the deliverer of the fallen souls and we need to offer our o

The Sacred India Gallery in Perth, created by Jagtarini and his other associates, gives a glimpse of India’s important shrines. In Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi praised her devotion to Krishna and said that people visiting her Sacred Art Gallery in Perth will be able to see the art of Jagtarini and get a glimpse of the traditions and cultures of India’s famous pilgrimage cities of Vrindavan, Nabadwip and Puri. is seen.

Jagtarini Dasi’s husband Bhurijana Das is the head of the project ‘The Sacred India G

GBC Strategic Planning Team (SPT) invites you to discover the holy land of Vrindavan outside the real Vrindavan in our 4 day special series. Jagattarini Devi has joined us on Day 4 to talk about the hidden Vrindavan and its glories.

About Jagattarini Devi

Her Grace Jagattarini Mataji joined ISKCON and first met Srila Prabhupada in America in 1970 (many of you may have heard of this famous story of a successful actress becoming a devotee). Through her connections with the Movement, Jagattarini m

MADHUMATI GOPI AS SRILA NARAHARI SARKAR THAKUR

pura madhumati prana-sakhi vrindavane sthita
adhuna narahary-akhyah sarakarah prabhoh priyah

She who was previously Radha’s intimate girlfriend named Madhumati is today Narahari Sarkar, the Lord’s dear associate. (Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika 117)

Sri Narahari Sarkar Thakura participated in all of Sri Gaurasundora’s pastimes. He was Lord Gauranga’s chief associate amongst the residents of the village of Shrikhanda. By Mahaprabhu’s desire, he took birth i

One very hip street in Hamilton is called Hess Village. It’s trendy and it is natural to have a few yoga studios in the area. One such place is in a loft. “Church 444,” for some reason or another, is the name of the place. Monica runs the place. Shawn is the handy man around. Chris, a local barber, co-ordinated the event this afternoon for kirtan, chanting and dancing.

Chris has a bad cough and declined from coming, but Monica, Shawn, Ben, Kartik, Rahul, Zak, Henry, Jyoti, Aindra, Dhruva, Roman,

Preaching is the essence. Devotees preach by the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the order of the spiritual master. Those who sincerely try to follow the directions of the spiritual master and the Guru-paramparā earn unlimited blessings and strength to execute their service. Even a sincere attempt in the service of the ācāryas, irrespective of it being a success or a failure, is sufficient to draw profuse blessings of the Guru-paramparā.

There are some devotees who serve in difficult situat

In October a very special event happened at the TOVP, the arrival of Srila Prabhupada, the installation of the Srila Prabhupada Murti. On the same date, Hari Sauri Das made the official announcement of the arrival of his latest book - Back to Vrndavana: Srila Prabhupada's Final Lila – and it is now available for purchase.

“Srila Prabhupada spent his last 6 weeks on this planet in Vrndavana Dhama, and I was fortunate enough to spend the month of October serving him while chronicling every event,

By Madhava Smullen

Up till now, one of the main methods of getting your Bhakti Sastri Degree in ISKCON involved taking six months off from your job or service to study in person in Mayapur or Vrindavan. This made it elusive and difficult for many to get the “family transcendental diploma” based on Srila Prabhupada’s books which Prabhupada wanted all his “spiritual sons and daughters” to inherit.

This system also required anyone who taught the Bhakti Sastri program to have a Bhakti Sastri degree

Two young students from the Toronto Film School lined me up for a documentary assignment interview. The questions included, “What is Hare Krishna?”, “Do you believe in an after-life?”, etc. The filming went well.

Many marvelous moments filled my day. Then I came up with a poem inspired by phrases spoken by Prabhupada. In bold, Ill relay those messages. In lower case is my contribution.

BOOKS ARE THE BASIS

BOOKS ARE THE BASIS

They come in many cases

And go to different places

Contents evoke hap

From Back to Godhead

Lord Krishna’s words made their way to us after a long historical journey.

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Although many articles have been written about the Gita as a philosophical poem, exploring its meaning and theological implications, and although both devotees and nondevotees have written elaborate studies of Srila Prabhupada’s translation, few articles deal with the text as a historical phenomenon, something that

By Srimati Dasi

Let’s face it. It’s not easy trying to live Bhagavad-gétä in today’s world — it’s tough! And the taste is more often bitter/sweet than sweet/sweet. Govindadeva gives the practical essence of living Bhagavad-gétä in verse 18.66. The Kali-yugian heart has no trouble with the first half of the equation — abandon all varieties of religion. That’s very much in tune with today’s life standards. But the second half — surrender unto Me — that’s the tough part. Why do we find it so tough

Dear Devotees,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Across the world, COVID has, for better or worse, changed the way we do many things in our lives. Countless children have attended school, Sunday school and even ‘camp’ online this year. More than ever before, children live online – making new friends, developing established relationships, learn, recreate, etc.

With the added stressors COVID has brought, it is no surprise that child abuse has increased, in perso

In the US, gurus and yogis have attracted tens of thousands of followers. But there is a huge gulf between American devotees of Hinduism and immigrants from the subcontinent.

In March last year, more than 65,000 people attended Utah’s famous Festival of Colors. The event was held at an ISKCON temple, and only a small percentage of attendees were Indian or Hindu. It was just one sign of how firmly Hinduism has come to be established in the US. Today, tens of millions of non-Indian Americans engag

ISKCON Youth Forum [IYF] Delhi celebrated its annual Youth Festival, ‘VIPLAVA- A Revolution in Consciousness’,  from October 22nd to 24th 2021, at Fogla Ashrama, Bhaktivedanta Marga, Srī Vrndāvana Dhāma, for 2000+ youth from across the nation.

IYF is the youth wing of ISKCON Delhi and has for the last decade been engaged in organizing seminars, holding festivals, and conducting development programs with the prime objective of empowering youngsters to unleash their potential and become servant le

The ’Handbook of Hinduism in Europe’ is the first encyclopedia to this extent that explains the development of Hinduism in Europe, its various traditions, the philosophy as well as describes Hindu-rooted movements such as ISKCON. The encyclopedia consists of two volumes with 65 chapters in total, written by 60 researchers from all over Europe. The editors are Prof. Knut A. Jacobsen from the University of Bergen (Norway) and Dr. Ferdinando Sardella from Stockholm University (Sweden), who are amon