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On November 8, 2024, an ISKCON devotee from Bali, Indonesia, delivered an inspiring lecture entitled "Spirituality in the Process of Mental Health: Reconsidering Holistic Approaches" to an audience of over 250 medical students at K.D. Medical College and Research Centre in Mathura, India.

Dr. Ketut Putri Ariani, Head of the Psychiatry Department at Udayana University in Indonesia, served as the guest lecturer, elucidating key factors contributing to mental health issues and proposing viable solu

By Giriraj dasa

There so many benedictions for the month of Kartika and we get constant reminders via email, messages on mobile and so many other mediums. The list grows only bigger by the day.

“In the month of Kartik, which is very dear to Sri Hari, one who bathes early in the morning attains the merit of bathing in all places of pilgrimage. Anybody who offers the Lord a ghee lamp in the month of Kartik, O brahmana, becomes free from all kinds of sins, such as killing a brahmana, and he goes

By Atma Tattva Das

The annual Cow Fest, or Go-Puja Mela, is a celebration with deep roots at ISKCON New Talavana, nestled in the peaceful countryside of Mississippi. Each year, this festival unites a diverse community to support the Krishna’s Cows farming initiative, an essential effort that sustains the sacred practice of cow protection, a vital aspect of the Krishna Consciousness experience. Lilavati Devi Dasi, a dedicated member of the festival management and organizing team, has witnessed th

By Suniti Devi Dasi

On Saturday, November 23, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EDT, the North American Regional Governing Body (NA-RGB) will host a transformative online workshop facilitated by Jai Nitai Dasa, the North American Representative for the ISKCON Devotee Care Office.  

The insightful workshop will explore how the principles of devotee care can shape the future of ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada’s mission. In this session, participants will delve into the key values and principles underly

Introducing the Jaladuta Boat Cruise Services! 🌊🛥️

Hare Krishna dear devotees and well-wishers! 🙏✨
We are delighted to announce the launch of our brand-new website, www.gangacruise.in, on this auspicious occasion of Rasa Purnima! This launch is made possible by the special mercy of the Sri Mayapur deities, the crown jewel of our hearts.

Experience the divine and serene beauty of Mother Ganga like never before with our exclusive Jaladuta Boat Cruise Services. 🌅 Whether you seek a peaceful retreat

I was clearly camouflaged sitting there amidst  the autumn foliage by the Rideau River. Seagulls water fanatics with wings flying about the lovely skies anticipating that anything human would be the source of morsels. I didn’t have anything to give them, only some attention. I actually find them entertaining. There are also squirrels scattered here and there, some rustling through the fallen leaves.

Whether on the ground or on the trees those yellow/orange soon to be compost, became as easy ble

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय पन्द्रह पुरुषोत्तम योग

ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः ।

मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति ।। 7 ।।

मम- मेरा;एव- निश्चय ही;अंशः- सूक्ष्म कण;जीव-लोके- बद्ध जीवन के संसार में;जीव-भूतः- बद्ध जीव;सनातनः- शाश्वत;मनः- मन;षष्ठानि- छह;इन्द्रियाणि- इन्द्रियों समेत;प्रकृति- भौतिक प्रकृति में;स्थानि- स्थित;कर्षति- संघर्ष करता है।

भावार्थ : इस बद्ध जगत् में सारे जीव मेरे शाश्वत अंश हैं। बद्ध जीवन के कारण वे छहों इन्द्रियों के घोर संघर्ष कर रहे हैं, जिसमें म

By Gopika Radhika Devi Dasi 

Kolkata, being Srila Prabhupada’s appearance place, holds the unique distinction of being home to numerous special sites intimately associated with his life, particularly from his childhood and youth. One such place is his alma mater, Scottish Church College, where Srila Prabhupada studied as an undergraduate.

Srila Prabhupada often reminisced about his time as a student there, sharing vignettes of his relationships with his Scottish professors, particularly noting

Krsna allows the eternal individual jiva-souls (devotees) in the spiritual world to continually re-invent themselves by voluntarily serving in a capacity they choose by making their own unique contributions and offerings.

This allows diversity and an unlimited range of variegatedness in personal service that expands forever the devotee's progressive independent contributions by always forever enlarging their active participation, personal contributions and inspiration in an unlimited variety of u

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय पन्द्रह पुरुषोत्तम योग

न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावकः ।
यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ।। 6 ।।

न-नहीं;तत्-वह;भासयते-प्रकाशित करता है;सूर्यः-सूर्य;न-न तो;शशाङकः-चन्द्रमा;न- न तो;पावकः- अग्नि, बिजली;यत्- जहाँ;गत्वा- जाकर;न- कभी नहीं;निवर्तन्ते- वापस आते हैं;तत्-धाम- वह धाम;परमम्- परम;मम- मेरा।

भावार्थ : वह मेरा परम धाम न तो सूर्य या चन्द्र के द्वारा प्रकाशित होता है और न अग्नि या बिजली से। जो लोग वहाँ पहुँच जाते हैं, वे इस भौतिक जगत् में फिर

By Vraj Patel 

“The Hunger Free Zone” is a non-profit organization of ISKCON Baltimore with a mission to distribute prasadam to the community at large. With its own food truck, devotee volunteers go out every day, except Sunday, to distribute free vegan prasadam to the people of Baltimore City. Since its inception three years ago, the Hunger Free Zone has distributed over 167,600 free vegan meals.

Grateful recipients note that the food is delicious and shared freely with all. “I’ve partaken of t

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय पन्द्रह पुरुषोत्तम योग

निर्मानमोहा जितसङ्गदोषा अध्यात्मनित्या विनिवृत्तकामाः ।
द्वन्द्वैर्विमुक्ताः सुखदुःखसंज्ञै-र्गच्छन्त्यमूढाः पदमव्ययं तत् ॥ 5 ॥

निः-रहित;मान-झूठी प्रतिष्ठा;मोहाः-तथा मोह;जित-जीता गया;सङ्ग-संगति की;दोषाः-त्रुटियाँ;अध्यात्म-आध्यात्मिक ज्ञान में;नित्याः-शाश्वतता में;विनिवृत्तः-विलग;कामाः-काम से;द्वन्द्वैः-द्वैत से;विमुक्ताः-मुक्त;सुख-दुःख-सुख तथा दुख;संज्ञैः-नामक;गच्छन्ति-प्राप्त करते हैं;अमूढाः-मोहरहित;पदम्-पद,स्थान को;अव्ययम्-शाश्

Dear Devotees,
 
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
 
The Annual General Meeting of the ISKCON GBC Society will begin in February 2025. Following the ISKCON GBC Society’s Rules of Order, the GBC Secretariat requests proposals, duly sponsored by two GBC members, to be submitted by December 31, 2024. Note that no proposals will be entertained after this date.
 
Please follow the format for GBC Proposals, found as a fillable PDF here:
https://gbc.iskcon.org/wp-cont

From Back to Godhead

For a long time scientists have been asking, 
What’s going on? And some of them 
have tried to find out, 
What’s behind it all?

Sir Isaac Newton once made a remarkable model of the solar system. Thanks to a clever hand-cranking mechanism, all of the tiny spinning globes orbited a small “sun.”

On entering Newton’s study, one of his colleagues, a materialist, couldn’t help noticing the model. He was flabbergasted.

“Dr. Newton,” the man stared, “who made this wonderful cont

By Nandini Devi Dasi 

As most ISKCON readers know, Saranagati Village was evacuated on the evening of July 17th, 2024. During our three-week absence, some devotees lost their homes, and others lost their wood sheds, outbuildings, storage structures, and equipment like chainsaws, the community plow, and sander.

We are not able to get insurance as we are an off-grid community, and so we have to cover the costs of cleanup and rebuilding. The government helped with our basic needs while we were eva

Bhakti Center NYC celebrated its seventh annual Diwali Festival on November 1st, attended by over 1,000 people. The popular evening event included kirtan, food stalls, dance, drama, and children’s activities like henna and face painting.

Several well-known publications, like the Gothamist, list the Bhakti Center as the number one place to celebrate Diwali in the city. Local print and television media covered the event, most notably CBS New York, which broadcast a live report from the event. You