Author Archives: Dandavats

Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
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Hare KrishnaBy Ravindra-svarupa dasa

Harold S. Kushner, a Massachusetts rabbi’s best-selling book proposes a radical solution to the problem of evil. Does it work? Kushner is still hostile. Because God did not satisfy his demands, Kushner must think of Him as ineffectual and weak. Kushner once thought of God as a parent who always gratifies our desires. But now Kushner views Him as needing our forgiveness—for having failed as a parent: “Are you capable of forgiving and loving God even when you have found out that He is not perfect, even when He has let you down and disappointed you by permitting bad luck and sickness and cruelty in His world, and permitting some of those things to happen to you? Can you learn to love and forgive Him despite His limitations … as you once learned to forgive and love your parents even though they were not as wise, as strong, or as perfect as you needed them to be?”

Launch Of Amara Service – Iskcon UK
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Hare KrishnaBy Amara Team

The ISKCON Amara service is a new service to be launched on the 12th of May 2018 as a National Service in the UK under the direction of the GBC National Office. The service will be launched through a free seminar for the ISKCON community which will seek to demystify end of life choices in medical care, cremation as well as legal & financial planning. It will also cover service requirements and support systems. The seminar will take place at ISKCON Leicester.

2018 North American Leadership Conference
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Hare KrishnaBy Mukhya devi dasi

Several of us met to create a much needed communication tool, an online Temple President-only forum that would allow us to throw out questions and get feedback from other TPs who might be experiencing similar situations. It’ll be a place to share best practices, warnings on dubious characters traveling temple to temple; request part time help; and create a support office where we can look for group pricing on things we all need for our temples like insurance, travel and other purchases. We’ll share pdfs for preaching and outreach and general info.  All Coming Soon!

1000 young people from Surat attend lectures by Iskcon devotees
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Hare KrishnaBy ISKCON Surat Communications

Over 1000 young people from three premiere educational institutions of Surat heard Radheshyam Das, President of ISKCON Pune, speak about various spiritual topics on 22nd January. Radheshyam Das, who is one of ISKCON’s pioneering youth outreach leaders, spoke on subjects such as: building bonds of trust, awakening leadership abilities, and true freedom.

How 100 “Hare Krishnas” transformed my Lonely New York City Experience.
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Hare KrishnaBy Julia Djeke

I wasn’t sure if I was ready to admit that I was lonely. I couldn’t use the word “suffering” because that’s reserved for the “real” sufferers like the homeless, orphans, and abandoned veterans—so I found prettier, more poetic ways to describe my sadness. But something happened that night that I did not expect: I started to remember the feeling of community. I realized that a separation had occurred, quite unconsciously, between my communing self and the isolated person I had become. I had chosen to abandon people because New York City had abandoned me—and by making that choice, I divorced myself from the chaotic mess of human beings.

Sankirtan is life changing! And it is infectious! – The joy of sharing Krishna with others!
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Hare KrishnaBy Ganapati Govind Das

ISKCON Of CT has been around for more than 35 years and during that time, the small congregation has been using a small house in East Hartford as a Temple. The presiding Deities are Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi, along with Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai. The congregation has been actively distributing books for many years, but the year 2015 brought a dramatic change in the history of ISKCON CT.

700 students receive Bhagavad-gita in Surat
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Hare KrishnaBy Romapada Das

Over 700 students of the LPD School in Surat received copies of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is at an event organized by ISKCON Surat on 18th January. The programme organized by Ramlila Das, a youth preacher in Surat, included skits, prayers, kirtana and a lecture by His Holiness Bhaktiprem Swami. Bhaktiprem Swami described how the Gita was the essence of all the Upanishads, and engaged the students in a question-answer session that was lively and interactive. “Our school is centred around total personality development, in addition to academic learning,” said Vijay Patel, the Principal of the school. “Students are taught the wisdom of our ancient Vedic culture in a manner that can be applied to their daily lives. That is why we were pleased to partner with ISKCON in distributing copies of the Bhagavad-gita to all our senior students.” During the kirtana that followed, most of the students participated in the singing and dancing in an enthusiastic manner.

Learning to love according to the sastras
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Hare KrishnaBy Dhameshvar Mahaprabhu Das

In the preface to Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Beatle Guitarist and songwriter George Harrison wrote, “All you need is love (Krishna)”. I am glad that he specified what he meant by love. The Hare Krishna movement took roots in the Western World, by the grace of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Shrila Prabhupada, during a time of free love, which he came not to stop, but to redirect. He gave us the Nectar of Devotion, where he explained how “Our love can be fully satisfied only when it is reposed in Krishna.”

Gaur Gopal Das was awarded ‘Yuva Adhyatmik Guru Puraskar,’ Youth Spiritual GURU Award
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Hare KrishnaBy Vaishnava Das

On 20th Jan 2018, Gaur Gopal Das was awarded ‘Yuva Adhyatmik Guru Puraskar,’ Youth Spiritual GURU Award by Bharatiya Chhatra Sansad(Indian Student Parliament), for remarkable contributions in guiding the youth by helping them to awaken their inner potential through the path of spirituality, at MIT World Peace University, Pune. Thanks to Shri Vishwanathji Karad (@vishwanathdkarad) Founder and Executive President MIT WPU,MIT group of institutions, and Shri Rahulji Karad Founder and convener BCS, Executive President MIT WPU, for this honor.

Crushing Misconceptions At Krishna Village in Australia
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Hare KrishnaBy Mary Pratt

Byron Bay is hippie central through and through and so of course the Krishna Village Eco-Yoga Community would be based nearby. About an hour’s drive away, you’ll go from the breezy beaches or Byron to being nestled in rolling hills and lush greenery, with thick grass and fresh water creeks. This is Eungella, a town in New South Wales with a peaceful, back-to-nature vibe that’ll transform even the most plugged-in of urbanites, given enough time. Since one of my mantras is #lovelife, I thought, why not pay a visit to Krishna Village to get a taste of their joyous and mindful approach to life? Maybe they could help my brain stop whirring at top speed and get me to unplug and relax!

Launching of SRI SURABHI App
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Hare KrishnaBy Bhakti Raghava Swami

I thank the few donors who made this possible especially the major donors comprising of Sri Krishna Purushottama prabhu, Sridam prabhu and Sripati prabhu. We also have a small team headed by Shubhananda Hari prabhu and a few other devotees like Yadhava Hari prabhu from Indonesia in helping coordinate the development of the App. This is the first time this is being tried and it requires still some work to be completed nicely. The Sri Surabhi App will serve mainly as a “FRIEND RAISER” (involving devotees in various activities related to the OM Sri Surabhi Campaign) as well as a “FUND RAISER” (to support local village/rural projects and campaign initiatives).

ISKCON-London’s Food for Life Initiative Honored by the Queen of England
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Hare KrishnaBy ISKCON-London Communications

Acyuta Charan dasa will be proudly accepting his BEM award later this year at a grand event presented by a representative of the Queen of England. He shares, “I wasn’t expecting it at all, a few colleagues put me forward for it. This award should really go to all the wonderful volunteers who make Food for Life possible. They sacrifice their precious time to come and distribute to the needy. Each week is a delightful experience. It has been a privilege to be a part of this service for over 10 years.”