Websites from the ISKCON Universe
The long-running feud over Moscow’s ISKCON temple shows the suspicion and hostility that the Hare Krishna movement, legalised in Russia in 1988, still evokes in that country Read more › 
Bhaktivedanta Swami met Mr. Agarwal, a Mathura businessman, and mentioned to him in passing, as he did to almost everyone he met, that he wanted to go to the West. Although Mr. Agarwal had known Bhaktivedanta Swami for only a few minutes, he volunteered to try to get him a sponsor in America. It was something Mr. Agarwal had done a number of times; when he met a sadhu who mentioned something about going abroad to teach Hindu culture, he would ask his son Gopal, an engineer in Pennsylvania, to send back a sponsorship form. When Mr. Agarwal volunteered to help in this way, Bhaktivedanta Swami urged him please to do so. Read more › 
The temple has 50 ropanies of land including temple, guest house, garden, gausala, restaurant etc. The temple is about a ten-minute walk from the Budhanilkantha Temple, in a beautiful rural setting. Buses to Budhanilkantha (8 km) depart from Rani Pokhari and Kalanki in Kathmandu, every half-hour Read more › (English/Russian)
If a self-effulgent acarya appears in ISKCON, will his picture be placed beside Srila Prabhupada’s on our alters. If not, does it mean our parampara ends with Srila Prabhupada.
Talavan is one of the twelve forests around Vrndavana, a city in India where Krishna incarnated 5,000 years ago. Krishna and His cowherd friends would go there and play, rest, eat and watch their cows as they grazed. Read more › 
We even remember Radhapati prabhu as the sole man down in the BBT Mail Order "cave", we used to call it, in the garage under the green bldg of New Dwaraka. EVERYDAY...rain or shine...ALL BY HIMSELF, he would fill the orders from all over the world for PRABHUPADA's BOOKs and send them out to the respective Temples Read more › Evening Kirtan By H.G. Madhava das at Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK
From Keshav
From Stoka Krishna P
From Sushant Kulkarni
I have seen some people who own lot of money. They neither use their money for sense gratification nor even for Krishna’s service or for any other. They are just happy to see their fat bank balance.
They live simple do not even try to bring material comforts for living. What is the difference between these kind of people and a true Vairagi?
Comments to different Gita daily articles on Gitadaily.com
From Dilip Singh
may be i haven’t understood the explanation because of my physical and mental limitations.
But what i want to convey that this articles deals more about what we get ing to achieve but doesn’t elaborate more on how to achieve and incorporate practical changes in our lifestyle.
From Gaurav
It seems too difficult to refer this page to a neophyte, it seems too philosophical and not simple, and somehow looses essence while reading. I have no knowledge, just sharing my viewpoint, which can be totally rejected.
From Keshava P
There is a strand of spirituality that believes itself incompatible with sex, but this does not subsume all of spirituality (consider Tantra, Osho's teachings, Vaishnavism, Sufism).
From Panca Pandava P
From Chandan Kumar
i am a practicing devotee joined pdc batch. as i told about the one year course at home they are not in favour of that.currently by receiving many calls from the home and hearing crying and words against the practice of devotional sevice i am getting disturbed too much with in. please guide me so that i could practice with strength.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 March 2013, Cape Town, South Africa, BTS Vyasa Puja Talk)
Going earlier into Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja’s life, we see that Maharaja was already powerful, in the sense that he emerged from that black ghetto and came out as one of the very few, almost symbolic black students in Princeton University, where you had a handful just to make up a quota. He was there and obviously did very well, and graduated from that prestigious university, majoring in psychology – something that comes back in his later writings.
Even in student days, he connected with leaders, African leaders of that time, such as Martin Luther King and others. They all recognized him immediately, as someone who could have made a career in politics. And the reason was, not that he was such a diplomat or such a politician, no, that was not it. He was truly a leader of men. He was never just someone who thought in a small way. He always thought in a big way, in the interest of many people. It was natural to him.
He spent a significant amount of time preaching in Nigeria. At one point, he spent most of his time in Africa. In 1990, he was given the position of being a chief! Not just an external thing but because he had influenced so many people and led so many people because he was like that. He was thinking like that. He was thinking as a leader of many people and wherever he went, it was like that.
When Maharaja went to Soweto, he danced in front of hundreds of devotees who went with him on a maha-harinama. It was like a powerful victory dance of Krsna consciousness in the streets of Soweto –not ordinary at all. He was like that.
People recognized that he was such a leader. Therefore, he was naturally acceptable to heads of state, and he met them frequently on different occasions. He was very comfortable with the upper echelon people because he was thinking with same broadness of mind that leaders of many men have. Therefore, also in our society, he came to a leading position. Still, he was not what you call just a man who was representing an institution and who derived his prestige from his rule in the institution. Far from it! He was an individual who was ready to experiment and for the sake of preaching, venture out and try different strategies.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 March 2013, Cape Town, South Africa, BTS Vyasa Puja Talk)
Going earlier into Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja’s life, we see that Maharaja was already powerful, in the sense that he emerged from that black ghetto and came out as one of the very few, almost symbolic black students in Princeton University, where you had a handful just to make up a quota. He was there and obviously did very well, and graduated from that prestigious university, majoring in psychology – something that comes back in his later writings.
Even in student days, he connected with leaders, African leaders of that time, such as Martin Luther King and others. They all recognized him immediately, as someone who could have made a career in politics. And the reason was, not that he was such a diplomat or such a politician, no, that was not it. He was truly a leader of men. He was never just someone who thought in a small way. He always thought in a big way, in the interest of many people. It was natural to him.
He spent a significant amount of time preaching in Nigeria. At one point, he spent most of his time in Africa. In 1990, he was given the position of being a chief! Not just an external thing but because he had influenced so many people and led so many people because he was like that. He was thinking like that. He was thinking as a leader of many people and wherever he went, it was like that.
When Maharaja went to Soweto, he danced in front of hundreds of devotees who went with him on a maha-harinama. It was like a powerful victory dance of Krsna consciousness in the streets of Soweto –not ordinary at all. He was like that.
People recognized that he was such a leader. Therefore, he was naturally acceptable to heads of state, and he met them frequently on different occasions. He was very comfortable with the upper echelon people because he was thinking with same broadness of mind that leaders of many men have. Therefore, also in our society, he came to a leading position. Still, he was not what you call just a man who was representing an institution and who derived his prestige from his rule in the institution. Far from it! He was an individual who was ready to experiment and for the sake of preaching, venture out and try different strategies.
“It’s very important to understand the mission and the instructions of the spiritual master. They include both chanting and hearing about Krishna and rendering practical service to the cause. There was one sannyasi in Vrindavan who complained to Srila Prabhupada that he was weary of having to deal with the management and construction—procure cement, count the bags, keep them safe, keep account, and supervise of the work. He said that he wanted to be relived so that he could enter more deeply into bhajana in Vrindavan. Srila Prabhupada replied that selfless service to the guru is how you enter into Vrindavan. We know the stories from Mayapur how Tamal Krishna Goswami and Jayapataka Swami would sleep on the bags of cement and steel bars so nobody could come and steal them. They had that mood of selfless service. But at the same time, we also have to follow the instruction to chant and hear about Krishna—especially the basic instructions to chant at least sixteen rounds daily, follow the regulative principles, and read Srila Prabhupada books.”
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Giriraj Swami
Kesava Bharati dasa Goswami
Our culture allures us with the promise of immediate pleasure: “Eat this, smell this, touch this – and you will enjoy real fast.”
Material pleasures may come fast – just by the contact of the senses with the sense objects. But they never last. Because the capacity of the sense objects to give pleasure is limited, as is the capacity of the senses to enjoy pleasure.
Though we get on to what is touted as the fast track to enjoyment, we never reach destination enjoyment. We may enjoy a bit, but it’s so tiny and transitory that we just can’t believe that there’s nothing more. So we keep going on the same beaten path, hoping to find a pleasure that will be fast and will also last. The wise recognize this hope to be a delusion and do not indulge in it, as the Bhagavad-gita (05.22) indicates.
Obviously, our wisdom is meant not to deprive us of happiness, but to help us to get the best happiness – spiritual happiness.
We as souls are inherently joyful – a joyfulness that we can relish when we love and serve Krishna according to our spiritual nature as his parts. To access that joy, we need to purify our heart. This endeavor takes time, but rewards a result that lasts for all time. The preceding Gita verse (05.21) urges us to concentrate on the Supreme and be satisfied thereof. The more we become purified, the more that satisfaction will increase, till finally our devotional service will revive our original pure love for Krishna. That love yields an ecstasy that fills our entire heart and lasts for all of eternity. That’s life’s greatest attainment and it’s eminently worth our patience and persistence.
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05.21 - Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within. In this way the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates on the Supreme.
Such people [impersonalists] think themselves to be the Supreme Lord, and in this mentality they worship themselves. This is also a type of God worship, for they can understand that they are not the material body but are actually spiritual soul; at least, such a sense is prominent. Generally the impersonalists worship the Supreme Lord in this way.
Our religious tradition centers on a mood of bhakti, or service of the divine. Wedding guests are considered the Lord’s representatives sent to grace our marriage, and our desired atmosphere was one of grateful service to these representatives. Read more › 
"As I began to spend more time with the brahmacaris, I noticed an unusual trait. They seemed to be always joyful, beyond the moody ups and downs that had plagued my spiritual quest."
"What would happen to me if I wanted to become a Hare Krsna devotee?" a young man recently asked me. The first step, I told him, would be to enter the brahmacari asrama, the status of life for single men serious about spiritual advancement. Though I am now happily married, the conversation reminded me of the years I spent as a brahmacari. Read more › Everyone must accept the spirit of sannyasa to enter into the Sannyasa Dhama – Goloka.
New Raman Reti is an ocean of devotional service...Situated on a rural 127-acre property surrounding a tranquil, marble-floored temple, New Raman Reti is a devotional refuge from the material world.The temple deities are the most merciful Sri Sri Radha Shyamasundara, Sri Sri Krishna Balarama, and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. Read more ›
ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 9-07-2013
Mission Statement: ECOV (Earth, Cows, Opportunities & Vrindaban Villages) is dedicated to cow protection, sustainable agriculture, self-sufficiency and simple living — all centered around loving service to Sri Krishna, as envisioned by the ISKCON New Vrindaban Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Participating Members of the ECOV Board of Directors: Chaitanya Mangala, Krpamaya, Madhava Gosh, Navin Shyam and Ranaka.
Advisors present: Jaya Krsna
1. Prototype house at G7G
The Cabin roof was insulated this past week. It still needs flooring, a window, solar panels, a water catchment system, and potentially a composting toilet. Though it will not likely be fully ready for the October 5th opening, the ceremony will take place.
After hay harvesting is done, Tom and Ray will work on the cabin.
Although funding for the solar panels and floor pavers will come from other sources, more money is needed for labor and other aspects of the project.
WHEREAS: The ECOV Board wishes to complete the prototype cabin in the Garden of Seven Gates (“G7G”) as originally envisioned.
RESOLVED: The Board augments the project budget of the G7G prototype cabin by $3K.
2. Temple foundation plantings
Brikhasanga dug a trench, applied insulation and back filled on the temple building’s foundation.
3. Pine-tree trimming around Temple area
The project will begin after the foundation plantings are completed.
4. Reduce/Reuse Initiative
Navin Shyam will resend the final version of the three posters to Krpamaya to print, laminate, and distribute to the various reusable metal water bottle vendors.
5. Gopal’s Garden School
As requested by ECOV, Ruci and Ranaka are developing a September issue of a school newsletter, focusing on Radhastami activities by the students.
6. Bahulaban barn demolition
This will begin in October after the combination barn closing ceremony and G7G Cabin opening celebration.
7. Bulk grain purchasing
WHEREAS: The ECOV Board wishes to help improve the self-sufficiency of the New Vrindaban community.
RESOLVED: The Board authorizes a line of credit to INV of up to $20K to make bulk grain purchases, to be stored in the bins that ECOV has previously purchased and set up. Precise terms of the arrangement will be worked out in a separate written agreement between Ranaka and a representative of INV management.
8. Budget for Valley Barn maintenance
WHEREAS: The ECOV Board wishes to provide adequate shelter for its cows as well as maintaining buildings in its care.
RESOLVED: The Board authorizes a budget of up to $10K for repairing the roof of the valley barn.
Rama Raya Prabhu is hosting daily (EVERY SINGLE DAY) harinamas in Union Square/Washington Square Park just like the Golden days with His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada! If you want to know more, please contact Rama Raya Prabhu @ 617 304 7061 Read more › 
After Srila Prabhupada left his body in 1977, many of the devotee members of the famous Radha-Damodara Sankirtana Party came to stay in Dallas and Houston. Today, more than 15,000 followers now live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. There are presently 25 temple-owned homes in the immediate neighborhood which have became models of community redevelopment Read more ›