The government recommended people to go into isolation except essential workers. Our Prasad distribution services now fits into the essential work category, health risk is there but we are following government advice and have a robust health strategy in place.
Almost all the charities have closed down in London due to the government’s lock down policy, thus creating a vacuum in many essential services, and as time goes, there is a serious danger of food shortage and people lacking the resources
On 1st March, Bhakti Learning offered their new online Krishna-conscious program for to Srila Prabhupada at his puspa-samadhi in Sridhama Mayapur. Bhakti Learning has bundled four subjects into one course called the Bhakti Club. The four subjects are Story, Sloka, Sanskrit, and Pilgrimage. The Bhakti Club consists of three age levels – 5 & 6 year olds, 7 & 8year olds, and 9 &10 year olds.
ISKCON News talks to Prana dasa, the educational director of Bhakchildrenti Learning and a long time ISKC
People we meet or know who impress us the most are those that extend us kindness and heartfelt interest. We may appreciate a person’s beauty, strength, wealth, knowledge, fame, or renunciation (qualities Krishna has in full), but if a person is not kind it stands out like a huge blemish. A lessor person who is kind and friendly appears more valuable, and greater. Of the twenty-six qualities of a devotee given in the great Gaudiya Vaishnava scripture, Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita, we find that ki
Advisory on Government restrictions on public places:
In line with the restrictions imposed by the government regarding West Bengal lock down, Sri Sri Radha Madhav temple, Srila Prabhupada samadhi, Bhajan Kutir and Lord Jagannath Temple in Rajapur will remain closed for devotees and pilgrims starting today 4pm till 27th March 2020 .
Deity services will continue in all these places and ONLY DEVOTEES essential for deity services will be allowed inside these places.
Srimad Bhagavatam class will c
A. Introduction
1. What is vanaprastha?
The word vanaprastha is composed of the words vana, meaning “forest” and prastha, meaning “to go,” so a vanaprastha is “One has gone to the forest.” Vanaprastha is an asrama in the Vedic varnasrama system. An asrama can be both a physical and mental place and refers to “a place where one cultivates spiritual life, where culture of the spiritual is foremost.”
The vanaprastha order is complete retirement from householder life, a time when one prepares onese
Dear Devotees;
My obeisances. Srila Prabhupada ki jai!
Last evening the Prime Minister put the UK in an effective lockdown with there now being only 4 reasons for leaving your home or temple;
1. Shopping for basic necessities such as food and medicine. Shopping trips should be as infrequent as possible
2. One form of exercise a day such as a run, walk or cycle. This should be done alone or only with people you live with
3. Any medical need, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person. Thi
Since last few months I have come across devotees who have lost their chanting beads. If this in itself was not bad enough, then what was even more painful for them was that in all the cases, save one, their spiritual master declined to chant again on new chanting beads.
For the devotees the most precious and dear most treasure are their chanting beads- on which their spiritual master has chanted and which they had been given at the time of their initiation ceremony. If the chanting beads are m
“Many people today are confused about what constitutes real spiritually, about the qualities of a real leader, and as to how we can attain real peace and prosperity in these troubled times,” says award-winning storyteller Sankirtana Das, the New Vrindaban-based author of new book Hanuman’s Quest.
“I firmly believe that most people want to live a peaceful, principled and meaningful life. Both Hanuman’s story in the Ramayana and the story of Mahabharata are invaluable guides to help us understa
Dear Beloved Devotees of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava,
This is to inform that following the government advisory rules on COVID-19, ISKCON Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir is closed for both devotees and pilgrims till 27th March as of now. The deity services will go on as usual and the same can be watched online at Mayapur.TV.
The following online pujas are NOT available during this time:
You may still offer One Day Pujas to Sri Narasimhadeva, Sri Radha Madhava,
Krishna is absolute. Krishna the person, and Krishna’s words, Bhagavad-gita—there is no difference. Advaya-jnana, no duality. Everything is one, absolute. Krishna is absolute, Krishna’s instruction is also absolute, Krishna’s pastimes absolute. Everything. That is Absolute Truth. There is no difference. In the material world, the name and the thing are different. Suppose here is mango—mango the thing and mango the name. If I simply say “Mango, mango, mango,” there is no mango. There must be the
When you’re out of your element, nothing seems to satisfy.
For years, Frederick J. Fish lived a very ordinary life beneath the waves of the blue Pacific Ocean off Malibu. But one day he noticed that up on the beach there were finless creatures who appeared to be having more fun. So he rode in on a wave and hopped up on the sun-drenched sand. Soon he was all fixed up to enjoy himself—beach chair, FM radio, a cold drink, sunglasses. But something was wrong. Gradually Fred’s feeling of discomfort
Real Vaishnavism is something very deep and something sublime, it’s not simply a type of dress or a type of hairstyle, it’s the substance of our consciousness.
What is our character?
Materialism is the consciousness of wanting to exploit, wanting to enjoy. Thinking oneself above another, that is material consciousness.
The consciousness of a Vaishnava is to serve. This body exists not to enjoy, this body exists to serve. The words I speak are not meant not just to talk, what I want to talk, the
What is the appropriate response of a Vaisnava or person of faith during a time of national or global crisis? The examples of great souls and of scripture can help us understand what a Vaisnava response can look like.
From a certain perspective, we are always in a time of crisis. In the material world, there is danger at every step. Although the material world is the wonderful creation of the Divine, it is not our home, and our material position is never secure. A large part of spiritual practi
Last year, on International Women’s Day Amravati’s ISKCON Girls’ Forum held the inaugural Vaishnavi padayatra which proved to be a unique experience. Normally, in India, matajis remain restricted to cooking, garland making, or similar services. But coming together and organizing a padayatra was a great achievement. The matajis of ISKCON Amravati walked for 8km and participated in dramas, sankirtana and other activities along the way. Everyone was filled with enthusiasm. Later, as they discusse
Srila Narottama dasa Thakura says, samsara-visanale, divanisi hiya jvale, judaite na kainu upaya: “We are always suffering from material pangs, and our hearts are burning, but we cannot find any way out of it.” The materialistic person can also be called a tapasvi, which means someone who is always suffering from material pains. One can get rid of all these material pains only when he takes shelter of the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra. This is also explained by Narottama dasa Thakura: golok
This subject is an extension of a frequent topic of mine which I deal with on a daily basis: extolling the virtue of introspection and self-analysis as part of clearing out impediments to devotion in the stage of bhakti called anartha-nivritti (retiring unwanted habits of thought and action)–such anartha’s are often the source of many of our problems. We live in a time of busy-ness and addiction to innumerable distractions, where it isn’t seen as cool to just be sitting down without a handheld
