By Nrsimhananda Das
In the early 90’s, Gopavrndapal prabhu (now B.V. Giri Maharaja) and I were enrolled by HH Bhakti Caru Swami to write the treatments for the first episodes of his opus, “Abhay Charan.” We were roomed together in the Juhu guest house where we were tasked with creating drama from the milestones of Srila Prabhupada’s life. In a month of intense research, discussions, and writing, we somehow squeezed out 18 treatments. I flew to Los Angeles where I gave those treatments to Amala-
Have you checked, if your heart longs for Krishna or is still attached to things of this world?
Externally we may dress perfectly, speak expertly, recite shlokas scholarly, sing melodiously but these qualities may not attract the attention of the Lord. Maybe we are doing it to seek people’s attention and self-glorification.
Krishna hardly bothers about our externals instead he directly peeps into our heart to see whether our heart longs for him or it hankers for something else.
When Duryodhana
Religious News Service (RNS), a global leader in news coverage of religion, ethics, and spirituality, recently published an article on the challenges that ISKCON devotees in Ukraine have experienced over the past few years. The article’s author, Tori Luecking, interviewed Niranjana Swami, Acyuta Priya Dasa, and Ukrainian devotees for the profile. Ukraine is home to an estimated 15,000 ISKCON devotees.
You can read the full article here.
Devotees worldwide are invited to celebrate a 24-Hour Kirtan event in Birmingham, UK, to be held on May 4-5, 2024. The occasion promises to be an unforgettable spiritual experience as it marks the 25th year of the gathering and will be held in a new venue that can accommodate up to 2,000 guests.
“For a quarter of a century, we have come together every year to immerse ourselves in the chanting of Lord Krishna’s name, inspired by Aindra Das and Tribhuvannatha Das,” said Mayapur Madhava Das, one o
It was a long day and night rather a big blur off time, coming from an eastern time zone, headed west back to Canada from India on a 16 hour flight.
There's not too much to report. I occupied myself in japa meditation and saw a few wildlife documentaries. Also there was a beautiful song that was ringing in my ears, it was the piece, a spiritualist song, quite bluesy, which we incorporated in our drama, "The Age of Kali." Here it is.
PART 1 Hush, hush, somebodies calling my name
Hush, som
Many of our ācārya have said and written on Gauranga-Nāma. Bhakti-vinoda Ṭhākura has written in his Gaurāṅg-līlā-smaraṇa-maṅgala Stotram as follows:
nāmāparādhaṁ sakalaṁ vināśya
caitanya-nāmāśrita-mānavānām
bhaktiṁ parāṁ yah pradadau janebhyas
taṁ gauracandraṁ praṇamāmi bhaktyā
"With devotion I bow before Lord Gauracandra, who for they who take shelter of the name Caitanya destroys all offenses to the holy names, and who gives transcendental devotional service to the living entities."
Even if one has
On December 26th, 2023, around 25 ISKCON youth from around the world gathered at the Senator Hotel in Kolkata for the 2nd Annual Global Youth Retreat in Kolkata and Mayapur. The much anticipated transformative 10-day retreat, organized by Inner Yoga Retreats, is a youth yatra led by Vaisesika Dasa and his wife, Nirakula Devi Dasi.
The retreat was designed to help youth who are on their winter vacation immerse themselves in Krishna Consciousness in the holy dham. This year, we explored Srila Pra
On March 26th, UK devotees performed at a special live music event in honor of Alan Ginsberg. They came at the invitation of musician and producer “Youth,” who hosted the event, which raised money for Food for Life prasadam distribution efforts.
“Poet Allen Ginsberg had a lot of personal association with Srila Prabhupada whom he helped on a number of occasions in New York, San Francisco, Columbus and elsewhere,” said a Food for All statement, “While being interviewed in various magazines, journ
There is this nice policeman who comes to participate in the early morning temple program at 4.30am. Now it's just my first time seeing him but I'm told he's a regular attendee. I've been out of town.
There he is in full police regalia just come off of his shift from work. He is ever so pleasant and stands up, like on duty, throughout the mangal territory.
I joked with him. "You make us feel safe in your company." He smiled.
I'm happy for him not only because he renders a valuable servic
By Bhaktin Diksha and Bhaktin Khusi (IGF Akola)
A fifth Vaishanvi padayatra was held recently in Amravati. Our Vaishanavi’s group at Akola’sISKCON Bhaktivedanta Vedic Cultural Centrewas much inspired by the event and with a desire to please our spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja, and the constant motivation ofAmravati’s Jayabhadra devi dasi, we organized a Vaishnavi padayatra for March 17, 2024.
We had very little time to prepare but we had online meetings withJayabhadra devi dasi to understa
Dear follower of Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Thank you for submitting so many heartfelt homages to Srila Prabhupada last year. You can view the full 2023 Vyasa-puja book here:
https://gbc.iskcon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/spvp2023.pdf
This year we request you to submit your homage by April 2, 2024 by emailing it to vphomages@iskcon.net. Below are the standard parameters.
Hoping this meets you well, we remain
Your servants on the Sr
By Atma Tattva Das
In Zambia’s vibrant landscape, amidst the bustling cities and serene countryside, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has cultivated deep roots, fostering spiritual growth and sporadic community engagement for over four decades. ISKCON Zambia’s journey reflects not just a spiritual effort but a tapestry of challenges, triumphs, and a vision for a harmonious society.
The seeds of ISKCON’s presence in Zambia were sown over 40 years ago when devotees led
A package arrived just before the strike of noon. Sent from a distance Florida, through USPS the contents were special - a strand of japa meditation beads. They belong to a Deborah Lynn, a resident of Florida. The timely arrival of this paraphernalia was set for Deborah's initiation who through a zoom call with Floridian friends on board and where within seconds at 12 Noon I was to kickstart an initiation ceremony called diksha.
My God, Krishna works in mysterious ways with time. Deborah is
The connection between a devotee and Laddu Gopal is deep and profound. But still many devotes are not aware how to worship and dress laddu gopal. In this article we have a short guide for you.
It’s true that by worshiping Laddu Gopal, we invite the divine presence of Lord Krishna into our homes and lives. The process of worshiping Laddu Gopal involves not only offering prayers but also dressing him in beautiful laddu gopal dress, which holds significant importance.
20 master students from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago decided to attend the “Journey of Self-discovery Retreat” in New Vrindaban as an alternative to their regular spring break. During their stay, they had a chance to immerse themselves in Krishna Consciousness, kirtan, and temple living. They participated in various service projects, including helping out in the cow barn and the Teaching Garden. In the garden, their tasks included reclaiming wood by removing nails from used
Ahead of inclement weather, hundreds of Krishna devotees and well-wishers gathered at the ISKCON of DC campus for the transfer of their Deities to the new temple just steps away. These joyful processions were part of the Temple Opening Festival going on this weekend, inaugurating a new home and an exciting future for one of ISKCON’s first communities.
Among the Deities that will make the new temple Their home is Madana-Mohana, the first Krishna Deity in ISKCON which was acquired by ISKCON devot
There are various kinds of yoga; such as karma-yoga, based on purifying our activities; Jnana-yoga, based on acquiring spiritual knowledge and insight; Raja-yoga, the mystical yoga system; and Bhakti-yoga, attaining union with God through love and devotion. From these yoga systems, additional systems have also developed. But these four basic forms of yoga are all discussed in the primary and essential Vedic text of the Bhagavad-gita. But out of all of them, Lord Krishna specifically directs u
Excerpt from a lecture by HH Radhanath Swami
“Srila Prabhupada stressed the urgency to surrender to Krishna. Every line of his books, every sentence of his tapes, you would hear him urgently, just pleading with you and me, to take Krishna Consciousness seriously. Death, tragedy can come at any moment. And the greatest tragedy is that our faith is stolen away by maya and her various representatives which can come in many forms. There is no comfortable position when we are secure in material exis
I battled a storm in the snow with 8 other companions in an hour long elemental ordeal. Our destination was at an apartment in the entertainment district of Toronto's downtown. I don't imagine that show businaess this evening (live theatre and such) was doing well. The snow blasts of the day slows down everything.
However, our walking groups were not deterred in any way. I was with a high energy team members of the Bhakti Academy. Most are in their 20's. Snowball slinging along the way was not
