Planet ISKCON

Photo highlights from the Manor’s Nrsimhadeva 2016 celebrations. (Album with HR photos)
David Crick: Bhaktivedanta Manor celebrated with a full programme on Nrsimhadeva Caturdasi with a beautiful altar display, a hilarious (and at times, ad-libbed) reading by the Bhaktivedanta Players, special class by Temple President Srutidharma Prabhu and a Nrsimha Kavacha Yajna. They then joined the ISKCON-London temple for maha harinama sankirtan in central London before spending the rest of the day at an external venue where there was an abhishek by the children and a drama and dance performance by the ladies ashram. The evening was rounded off with a sumptuous prasadam feast. Please find below photos from select parts of the day. Special thanks to Bhaktin Margarita for the London pictures. Find them here: http://goo.gl/0X6RZa

New Eco-School Inaugurated In Krishna-valley, Hungary.
Krishna-valley in Somogyvamos, Hungary is one of the fastest growing villages in the area. In the past two decades, due to the hard work of the devotees, the 275 hectars of land has become Europe’s largest eco-village.
There are 50 children living in Krishna-valley, who, by know, outgrew the original school building. Therefore it was time to build a new building, which, with its 200 square meters, 3 classrooms, big communal space could accommodate an additional 48 students.
The construction was financed by ISKCON Hungary, individual sponsors, as well as by the Human Resources Ministry of Hungary.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/ITTFx7

May 22. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: The Unthinkable – “What If?…”
Prabhupada struggled to leave India for America. It is a poignant drama: the preparation, the delay, the difficulties he had to undergo. What if something had happened to prevent him coming to us? Or as Prabhupada always pointed out, no one expected such an old man to embark on such an enterprise. Everyone retires at that age. Krishna and Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura could have been sufficiently pleased by the path Prabhupada had already chosen, renouncing family and social life for the full-time service of Krishna. And yet if Prabhupada hadn’t come, what would have become of us?
He wrote and struggled to get donations to publish Back to Godhead in Delhi. Then he chose to reside in a little room in the Vamsi-Gopala temple in Vrndavana. Then he immerses himself in pure devotional service in the holy dhama in the Radha-Damodara Temple. But he thought, “Why shouldn’t people all over the world have the peace they are actually hankering for?” He rarely received visitors, but stayed alone writing. He walked to visit the temples in the evening.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

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Dear  BBT Africa Supporter The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust Africa herewith presents to you its Annual Report for 2015. Download Here Snapshot The continent has recorded its best score since 1992, with 267,941 books distributed for 2015. South Africa was the number one distributor, after chasing Kenya for top-honours in the last five years. Once again, the 6th Annual Conference in Durban, South Africa has played a significant role in galvanizing more devotees in the host country to participate in the December Book Marathon. From a production point of view, four titles were printed, with Vanity Karma winning the Benjamin Franklin Award for best book in the religion category in 2015. BBT Africa’s financial position remains strong, keeping it poised for fulfilling its mandate of making Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books and teachings available throughout Africa in whatever language a person prefers. Yours in the service of Śrīla Prabhupāda, The BBT Africa Team

 

ISKCON at 50: How India’s bhakti movement manages its finances.
ISKCON is famous for its vegetarian food which is also distributed free on special occasions. Last year ISKCON Juhu distributed more than 10 lakh plates of prasadam meal and 60 lakh cups of halva in and outside the temple premises. The prasadam meals are also distributed to the underprivileged during several festivals, as part of Anna Dan Seva initiative during Makar Sankranti, at temple anniversary celebrations and other occasions.
“We are able to give free prasadam meals due to donations that we receive from devotees,” says Mukund Madhav Das, vice president, ISKCON, Juhu. Some of its most celebrated devotees offer their services either through dance and music and funds thus raised are donated to the temple. There are generous donations too made by the devout who visit the temple regularly either through cash or kind or by paying for services such as feeding cows, for free meals for the needy, etc. The temple also raises funds through sale of religious books, its restaurant Govinda in the premises, snacks and bakery shop and gift shop.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/BrPvRI

Lenore Skenazy: How does a suburban American kid end up living in India, leading a congregation that feeds 300,000 impoverished children a day, along with running a hospital, an orphanage, a handful of eco-villages, and about a dozen schools for the very poor?
And by the way, in between all these India duties, the swami travels the world to lecture at campuses across the states, including Google’s and Harvard’s, talking about things like spirituality and stress.
“I have to admit to them that swamis have as much stress as them,” Radhanath Swami chuckled. “It’s just a matter of how you deal with it.”
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/Lg1yEM

Nrsimha-caturdasi lecture.

The post Getting faith from the association of great souls appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Krishna-valley in Somogyvamos, Hungary is one of the fastest growing villages in the area. In the past two decades, due to the hard work of the devotees, the 275 hectars of land has become Europe’s largest eco-village. There are 50 children living in Krishna-valley, who, by know, outgrew the original school building. Therefore it was time to build a new building, which, with its 200 square meters, 3 classrooms, big communal space could accommodate an additional 48 students.

The post Nrsimha-caturdasi kirtana – part of it appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

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The  UK Padayatra starting on May 30th, will be emphasising the theme of cow protection, self-sufficiency, a simple way of life in tune with nature and the will of the Lord, and love for all living entities. The planned route is from Hastings to Brighton via Eastbourne which is a sum total of under 40 miles which will be walked by us over a period of 5 days which averages out at 8 miles a day. 

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The post Daily Darshan: May 21st, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

ISKCON Mayapur had the biggest Gaura Purnima in the history. More than 300 thousand devotees and pilgrims from all over India and from more than 70 countries visited Sri Mayapur Dham on Gaura Purnima day 2016. Please note that we are not talking about the whole festival that started on the 5 of March and went on until the end of the month. We are talking about the Gaura Purnima day alone!

Kumbha Final Shahi Snana (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: Today on Purnima, we took part in the final Shahi Snana and our one month tapasya comes to an end! This time we took Srila Prabhupada’s murti to the ghat and all the devotees bathed him! For this procession, we had to start at 2:30 AM to be there on the auspicious time! Come along with us through Vittalrukmini photos!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/D9865O

World class International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) will construct Shri Radharaman temple at Chouwkital Lamhetaghat over 4 acre land at the banks of Narmada. Gaushala, Free Food for Life, Gurukul, Hospital, Vedic study centre construction has also been proposed. Temple Manager Aditiputra Das said that it will be the third largest temple in Madhya Pradesh. The biggest temple is situated in Indore, while second largest temple is situated in Ujjain.

Founder of ISKCON Acharya Bhakti Vedant Swami Prabhupad had started it with an objective of spreading Indian Sanatan Vedic Sanskriti throughout the world.
Bhoomipujan for construction of temple will start at 4 pm on May 9.

Besides, the grand temple, Vedic Centre, Free food for life Prasadam, Bhati Vedant Free Medical OPD centre’s bhoomipujan will be conducted on the occasion. General Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, Bureau of Member of ISKCON, Mahamandas will also be present on the occasion.

In the programme to be organised at Chouwkital Lamhetaghat road in Chaitanya City, Keertani Sandhya at 5 pm, cultural programmes, Shri Radha Raman aarti, ISKCON documentary video, Food for Life Prasadam distribution will be organised. Swami Aditiputra Das ji said that construction of temple will bring the city on world map with direct association with 150 countries and 600 big temples and 1000 sub-centres. This will prove a big impetus from tourism point of view.

Mumbai, May 5 () International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), which provides mid-day meal free of cost to thousands of school children every day, today opened a state-of-the-art kitchen at the Municipal-run R N Cooper hospital here.

The ISKCON Food Relief Foundation’s Kitchen at Cooper Hospital in suburban Vile Parle was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, according to a press release.

This kitchen will make healthy and hygienic food for the patients of Cooper Hospital at subsidised rates, besides serving food to thousands of children free of cost in the mid-day meal programme.

The Government provides subsidy to ISKCON for supplying food to children.

ISKCON Spiritual Guru, Radhanath Swami said establishment of this kitchen at Cooper Hospital is one more step towards fulfilling ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupad’s dream of no one remaining hungry.

ISKCON’s Food Relief Foundation, ‘Annamrita’, has been continually providing high-quality, healthy and hygienic meal every day to millions of children in the country, he said and thanked the Maharashtra government for supporting ISKCON in this project.

He also thanked the corporates and devotees who wholeheartedly contributed in this project.

The press release quoted “Annamrita” Director, Radhakrishna Das saying, “as of now, we cater to nearly 1.2 million meals daily to underprivileged children every day from our centres in Tardeo, Mira Bhayander, Palghar, Nigdi, Wada, Aurangabad, Gurgaon, Delhi, Faridabad, Kurukshetra, Palwal, Tirupati, Nellore, Rajahmundry, Kadapa, Ranga Nara Gadda, Jamshedpur, Jaipur, Kolkata and Ujjain.”

Most of these children come from slums and tribal areas. Everyday, 418 cooks prepare wholesome meals in 20 ‘Annamrita’ kitchens and 303 vehicles carry hope and promise to over a million children in 6566 schools across India,” he added.

The ISKCON Food Relief Foundation professionally manages Mid-day Meal Program with trained cooks using the most advanced technology, cooking under hygienic conditions in ISO certified kitchens and using fresh and pure ingredients besides following the FSSAI norms.
The meals are packed and sealed in specially designed stainless steel containers and are transported in vehicles most suited for the logistics, the release added.

Soure: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/ISKCON-opens-kitchen-for-free-mid-day-meal-to-school-children/articleshow/52134606.cms

KOLKATA: The devotees of Iskcon Mayapur celebrated Narsimha Chaturdashi, the divine appearance day of Lord Narsimha Deva in the temple on Friday, May 20. To commemorate the occasion, discourses from Srimad Bhagwatam , glorifying the pastimes of the Lord Narsimha Deva was recited by H.H Bhakti Purshottam Swami in the morning followed by “Darshan Arti”. At dusk “Maha-Abhisheka” of the deity was performed by using sandalwood oil and other precious oils. Hundreds of devotees raised their arms and started dancing in ecstatic mood while chanting Narsimha prayers.

The festivities included 12 hour Kirtan Mela for two days, palanquin procession, congregational chanting by thousands of devotees and performance of “yagna” to please the Lord. The entire temple campus was beautifully decorated by colourful flowers and the deity of Lord Narismha Deva was the centre of attraction. Lord Narsimha Deva is believed to be the protector of the devotees who face impediments in their lives. Devotees arrived in huge numbers with great joy to observe this festival. There are approximately 300 devotees came from various states of South India specifically to participate in this festival, other than this around 400 devotees came from various parts of Bengal and adjoining states.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Iskcon-Mayapur-celebrates-Narsimha-Chaturdashi/articleshow/52359199.cms

Celebrating the Glories of the Vanaprastha Ashram.
In spiritual culture where self-realization is the goal of life, the elderly are very important members of society and embody life experience, wisdom and self-realization. They are highly respected for their guidance and advice, and are passing down traditions and values to the young generation. And it is understood that this last phase of life is meant to be lived in simplicity and austerity to increase hearing and chanting, to ultimately prepare for death.
Niranjana Swami gave a short but very heart-felt talk on the importance of respect, and the valuable contribution the Vanaprasthas are meant to make: sharing their wisdom and life experience with the young generation. He was emphatically expressing how we are losing out on so much valuable wisdom of our senior householders, since the culture of giving and accepting shelter based on mutual respect between the young and senior generation has not yet been established.
Sivarama Swami gave the main speech connecting the topic of the Vanaprastha ashram with Varnashrama Dharma, explaining the importance of taking serious steps in the direction towards establishing this supportive system.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/dmHvzT

Lord Nrisimhadeva’s Appearance Day.
Our Christian friends are fond of quoting the Bible that “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” [John 3.16] and we could also say that God so loved his pure devotee in the world that he personally descended to give him all protection.
To this day devotees feel protected by this form of Krishna and pray to him to slay their “anarthas” or unwanted habits of thinking and acting, just as the Lord slayed Hiryanakashipu, the tormentor of his devotee, Shri Prahlad. While Gaudiya Vaishnavas can agree to having great faith in one’s particular agent of Divinity or conception of God—even thinking their path and face of God is the best—Vedic scriptures point to a more inclusive God that reciprocates according to one’s faith, and doesn’t condone fanaticism or war in the name of faith. There is only one God, though like a gem with many facets, the one God has unlimited expansions. “As they surrender to me, I proportionally reciprocate with them.” [Bhagavad Gita 4.11]

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Europe is currently facing the type and breadth of challenges that have not been seen for a generation: mass migration, the threat of terrorism, and political and economic problems in many countries.

Vaiyasaki Das, the well-known ISKCON kirtaniya, and author, recently published his newest book, Stephen Hawking On Trial – Confronting the Big Bang. Like his first Blockbuster book Cosmology On Trial – Cracking the Cosmic Code, this book is now also a Bestseller in its category on Amazon. Vaiyasaki has taken seriously Srila Prabhupada’s instruction to expose the scientific account of the origin of the universe as mostly speculation with very little data to back up the assertions.

A video by ISKCON Congregation Ministry.

On the 7th of March the Institute for Spiritual Culture conducted their annual program in Mayapur. This year the overall theme was "The Glories of the Vanaprastha Ashram" - a topic which attracted attention since it is not so widely discussed. Around 400 devotees assembled, with many senior devotees, disciples of Srila Prabhupada.

Nrisimha Caturdasi Celebration - 2016 - ISKCON SALEM (Album with 53 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Always remember that our first business is preaching and distributing literatures, never mind we have to live under a tree. Letter to Narottamananda, October 23, 1972.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Vbrxg9

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