Websites from the ISKCON Universe
India Foundation’s Conference on Soft Power took place in New Delhi on December 17 – 19, 2018
Distinguished guests from the world over were invited to speak on a number of contemporary issues focussing on India. Shaunaka Rishi Das, our Oxford Centre For Hindu Studies Director, addressed the gathering on the changing scenario of education in India and on the global level.
I want a new drug!
Vaisesika Dasa: In the 1960s and 70s, young people all over America experimented with various drugs – LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, Marijuana, and others – hoping to taste something sublime.
White Rabbit, and songwriter, Jimi Hendrix, sang, Purple Haze. These thematic songs, and many others of the time, inspired the young generation to experiment with psychosomatic drugs in search of a transcendent experience.
By Praghosa Das “It has been a most momentous 50 years. From the devotees first arriving on UK soil to where we are today and everything in between has been some journey of hard work, good fortune, unexpected twists and turns, great struggle and even a sprinkling of miracles! We look forward to the next 50 years and all it has to bring!” Continue reading "Be a Pioneer for ISKCON’s 50th UK anniversary!
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The beautiful Iskcon Tmpe in Irkutsk, Siberia (Album of photos)
Bhakti Chaitanya Swami: We have moved on to Irkutsk, further t...
A very nice explanation about the 3 levels of happiness and their symptoms by HH Gopal Krishna Goswami
The Holy Name (video)
H.H. Niranjana Swami, Kirtan and Lecture about the Holy Name, Boston, ¼/2019
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17.
“Similarly, a moment passed in the association of a pure devotee by hearing and chanting the transcendental messages of the Lord is a perfect guarantee for eternal life, for returning home, back to Godhead. Mad-dhama gatva punar janma na vidyate. In other words, a devotee of the Lord is guaranteed eternal life. A devotee’s old age or disease in the present life is but an impetus to such guaranteed eternal life.” — SB 2.3.17 purport.
COMMENT by Giriraj Swami
So in the Beginning of the purport Srila Prabhupada said we should accelerate our devotional service. The disease and old age a devotee suffers can serve as an impetus to accelerate or intensify their devotional service which will accelerate them or move them more quickly along the path toward eternal life—back home back to Godhead. Devotees don’t reject things as bad because they see that anything can be good if accepted in the proper spirit as an impetus to go back home back to godhead. Devotees don’t blame the Lord for any circumstantial reversal but rather they see that the lord is making an arrangement to help them come back to him more quickly.”
Retreat at Hare Krishna Valley with HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami (video)
Akrura takes Krishna away from Vrindavan.
Watch it ...
Our "Paramahamster" comic strip follows an enthusiastic devotee as he navigates a 9 - 5 work day in the corporate world. Please check back weekly for new episodes!
Over the past few days I’ve been reading an interesting book from Steve Roger Phillips who is a lovely devotee based here in Wales
It’s an interesting book as it charts his own personal journey of self realization how each element has challenged and developed him as a person, and how we can through his experience also develop in our own journey of self discovery.
One thing I noted whilst reading was how Steve is reaching out to each individual person even providing his personal email to those who need assistance to overcome what can be bark times in the journey known as life.
Now choices can influence outcome and how we can become trapped in repeating the same mistakes; that even the most negative experience can be used in a positive manor.
It reminded me of a conversation l had with HH Devamrita Swami who reminded me that the difficulties I face are actually of my own making, but the easy option is to blame others of the situation.
Within the book Steve explains through his own experience that life changed once he had accepted his own responsibility for his actions and how it has lead him to become “The Warrior of Peace”
It’s an inspirational book that will clearly help in developing a positive joy of devotion and assist in one journey of self discovery and self realization.
Enjoy
Dr. Lisa Cameron, Member of the Parliament in Scotland, giving Prabhupada Prana Prabhu, ISKCON Karuna Bhavan President, the framed text of her speech in Parliament commending the efforts of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness’ Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture.
A visit to the Bhakti Center, Gold Coast, Australia (Album of photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: After a wonderful time in New Govardha...
This is a story which happened in Benares about 300 years ago:
There was one Brahmin who used to take bath in Manikarnika-ghat, a very nice bathing place. One day when he was taking bath he saw a young boy sitting on the steps crying. He felt very compassionate and he went and took the young boy on his lap and asked, “You look so beautiful, a nice attractive young boy. Why are you crying like this?”
Oxford Centre For Hindu Studies: A significant meeting to usher in the New Year 2019…Shaunaka-ji and our OCHS Kathmandu office members had a productive discussion with the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Nepal. Our engagement in Kathmandu is slowly taking form!
From the left: Dr Rajan Khatiwoda, Dr Premraj Neupane, Minister Giri Rajmani Pokharel, OCHS Director Shaunaka Rishi Das, Dr Bjarne Wernicke-Olesen, Professor Kashinat Neupane, An Education Dept official and Gitte Poulsen.
Helping others get close to Krishna (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by H.G. Anuttama Prabhu at ISKCON Vrindavan
Sankirtan festival 2018, Simhachalam (6 min video)
Every year after Srila Prabhupada’s Marathon devotees from Germany, Czech, Slovakia, Switzerland and some other countries come together for Sankirtan festival held on Nrsimhadevas farm - Sinhachalam. Kadamba Kamala Swami and Anakadundubhi Prabhu were giving amazing lectures. Festival was full of blissful kirtan and everyone was getting inspired for the next year’s book distribution.
Contemplation and meditation...
These are the basis of any story on KKSBlog and therefore good ingredients to start the year anew. But before we dive headfirst into 2019, we present a spiritual overview for this year’s stories as published. May it deepen your meditation and offer a clear path to Krishna’s teachings.
In 2017, we wondered if we might be starting a trend of publishing fewer stories, and it looks like this prediction came to fruition. From 229 we went down to 155 stories this year. And the view count dipped under 100.000 for the first time in years. But it is not all doom and gloom. Visitor interaction, meaning the number of viewed stories per visitor, stayed almost the same with 2.77 vs 2.8 in 2017. So we got less stories, less visitors, but reading time stayed the same! In 2017 we wanted to “boil down the milk” and it seems we achieved that goal…
Like previous years India and the USA visit this site most frequently with the UK, South Africa, Australia, Germany and Czech Republic following suit. Fast growers are the United Arab Emirates and Mexico!
What stories did you read and really appreciate? Here is a list of the 10 most read/viewed articles for 2018.
Instead of a top 10 all time favorite stories we thought to break tradition and spice things up by sharing the top stories all time by our KKSBlog team. These could be stories that deserve more attention, or were just stories that really made an impact on us! We hope you like our favorite articles in no particular order!
| Hosting, security & Software (H) | €418.90 |
| Shipping costs (S) | €111.31 |
| Banking fees (B) | €29.92 |
| Fees PayPal, Bandcamp, etc | €119.98 |
| Streaming platform costs (C) | €282.52 |
| Hardware investments (I) | €1,326.28 |
| Product costs (P) | €24.90 |
| Total | €2,313.81 |
| Sales | €1,768.14 |
| Donations (D) | €1,648.57 |
| Balance (BL) | €719.20 |
| Total | €4,135.91 |
| Balance | €1,822.10 |
Will 2019 be a year of changes? For sure as things in the material nature are destined to change due to time. Stories will be told and memories will be made. We hope that these stories will deepen your meditation so you can remember Krishna always!
At the end of 2017 we made plans to publish old recordings and increase our presence on streaming platforms like iTunes and Spotify. And we succeeded as 10 audio albums are now available on almost all streaming services! On top of that we (re)published almost all e-books in ePub and Kindle formats.
So go ahead and dive deep into these jewels of nectar!
The article " Welcome 2019 " was published on KKSBlog.
By Bhaktivedanta Manor Russell Brand releases latest podcast with one of his mentors and spiritual teachers – HH Radhanath Swami. An enlightening and pragmatic podcast questioning the role of religion, spirituality and our own place in modern society. Continue reading "Practical Spirituality – More Than Crystals & Candles
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By Paramadayala Nityananda Das Very few can immediately give up all material activities; therefore, mundane morality must be observed. But we must understand the fallacies, otherwise materialism will go viral in the movement. If we cannot, at least analytically, distinguish the difference between material and spiritual activity, we must strongly identify with the material body. Members of any group are connected by a collective identity. To see our spiritual connection, members of ISKCON must understand the philosophy. If we become dependent on the service of too many people who do not understand, these people will form connections based on imaginary material similarities. In other words, cliques will form. In the extreme, appositional factions will arise, and anything done by the leaders will be faulted by one group or another. Continue reading "Fortifying the Foundation of ISKCON
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There was a severe drought at New Gokula, the worst in more than 2 decades, throughout the winter and spring. Although, there has been some rain, it wasn’t enough to normalise the situation.
Now with the summer in full swing and temperatures regularly between 35 to 40 degrees, the devotees are praying for further wet conditions. Nevertheless, devotee spirits remain high and there have been many visitors during the holidays.
Vraja Katha by HG Deena Bandhu prabhu at ISKCON SYDNEY Radha Gopinatha, 06 Jan 2019 (video)
Srila Prabhupada: The Spiritual Master and Krishna are two parallel lines. The train, on two tracks, moves forward. The Spiritual Master and Krishna are like these two tracks, they must be served simultaneously. Krishna helps one to find bona fide Spiritual Master, and bona fide Spiritual Master helps one to understand Krishna. If one does not get bona fide Spiritual Master, then how he can ever understand Krishna? You cannot serve Krishna without Spiritual Master, or serve Spiritual Master without serving Krishna. They must be served simultaneously.
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We feel stressed not so much because we are over-worked as because we are over-worried (Based on Gita 18.35)
Chaitanya Charan Das: Stress is rampant in today’s society. Why? One common explanation is over-work.
HH Bhakti Charu Swami is giving a three day seminar on the Pastimes of Sri Krishna in Vrindavana at Namahatta hall. The seminar is in Bengali language and is attended by more than 1000 devotees. The seminar has two sessions – in morning form 10 to 1 pm and evening from 4 pm to 6 […]
The post HH Bhakti Charu Swami Seminar Videos appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Dear Supporters and Friends,
Please accept my humble respects. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Please accept the blessings of Sri Pancha Tattva, Sri Sri Radha Madhava, and Sri Narasimhadev from Sridham Mayapur. Congratulations to all of you in helping Srila Prabhupada fulfill this long cherished dream.
We have completed the year 2018 which was another landmark year for the TOVP in Sridham Mayapur. The most auspicious event of the year was setting the goal to move the deities into their new home by 2022. Mission 22 Marathon has become the battle cry for driving construction and fundraising for the next three years.
Another major event was to bring in a world leading Project Management Consultancy, Cushman & Wakefield, to Mayapur to assist Sadbhuja prabhu and his team to drive the project to completion. They have set up a modern office on the construction site and are hitting the ground running.
In February of 2018, two auspicious Chakras were installed on the main dome and Narasimdev’s dome. The wonderful ceremony was brilliantly organized and executed by Braja Vilas prabhu. Many leaders and devotees from around the world attended to see the amazing event which can be viewed on the TOVP website and Youtube Channel.
The fundraising team of Jananivas prabhu, Svaha devi dasi, Braja Vilas prabhu and myself also had the privilege to visit the wonderful devotees in Hong Kong. Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Sri Narasimha’s Sitari were warmly welcomed by the Iskcon Hong Kong leadership, His Holiness BV Narasimha Maharaja and Chandra Shekar prabhu, and the effusive devotees.
We are gratefully looking forward to another year of progress and growing awareness of this magnificent temple. We can’t thank all of you enough for your continued support.
Your servant,
Ambarisa das
The post New Year Message from the Chairman appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
By Ambarisa das We have completed the year 2018 which was another landmark year for the TOVP in Sridham Mayapur. The most auspicious event of the year was setting the goal to move the deities into their new home by 2022. Mission 22 Marathon has become the battle cry for driving construction and fundraising for the next three years. Another major event was to bring in a world leading Project Management Consultancy, Cushman & Wakefield, to Mayapur to assist Sadbhuja prabhu and his team to drive the project to completion. They have set up a modern office on the construction site and are hitting the ground running. In February of 2018, two auspicious Chakras were installed on the main dome and Narasimdev's dome. The wonderful ceremony was brilliantly organized and executed by Braja Vilas prabhu. Many leaders and devotees from around the world attended to see the amazing event which can be viewed on the TOVP website and Youtube Channel. Continue reading "Message from the Chairman of the TOVP
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The poetry of Srimad Bhagavatam (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by HH Krishna Khsetra Swami at Iskcon Mayapur, Jan 4, 2019
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By GBC Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture The following is a recognition EDM (Early Day Motion) text which Dr Lisa Cameron, Member of the Scottish Parliament who opened our 11th ISKCON European Farm Conference last September, submitted in Parliament following her visit. Her office is offering ISKCON IMCPA a framed version of the text. We're equally grateful to Dr Cameron for her support and encouragement. "That this House commends the efforts of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness' Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture; recognises the value this organisation provides, especially in the form of its Farm Conference; congratulates this conference on its 11th year; supports the conference's objectives of finding solutions for sustainable living and offering training in the agrarian economy, food security and cow protection; and wishes for its continued success in these endeavors." Continue reading "Scottish Parliament offers recognition to the GBC Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture
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A Visit to the United Arab Emirates (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: During a 3-day visit to Dubai in the UAE, we participated in several events. First of all a hall program for the local devotees. Then a public program attended by the elite of the city. A number of prominent Muslin personalities were in attendance. Finally, we celebrated my good friend, BB Govinda Maharaja’s, Vyasa Puja. An amazing 72 hours!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Foubcv
Kaliyaphani prabhu remembers Srila Prabhupada (2 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: We must all become ideal in our character and th...
By Danavir Goswami January 5, 2019: we just learned of the passing of our dear Godbrother, Kaliyaphani dasa Prabhu. I would like to give a little eulogy based on my association with him. I first met Kaliyaphani Prabhu at the Bhaktivedanta Manor in London, October, 1976—I had just arrived from Los Angeles. He was a brahmacari in his early twenties, doing full time traveling sankirtana book distribution very enthusiastically. His younger brother was also a devotee and an excellent book distributor named Satyavak dasa brahmacari, he, however left this world a few years later. Kaliyaphani was easily likeable, good-looking, agile, strong, healthy, and very friendly. He spoke with a refined English accent, indicating some kind of an educational, cultural and respectable family background. He was like a soldier in a sense that he took his service very seriously, and he considered himself sold out to Krsna. When I met him he was already initiated having accepted Srila Prabhupada as his life and soul. Immensely philosophical, he considered his life was now in Prabhupada’s care and he would do whatever he was asked to do by the representatives of Srila Prabhupada. Continue reading "HG Kaliyaphani Prabhu Eulogy
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Welcome to 2019!
Sivarama Swami: Let me start the new year by expressing how grateful I am to you all for tuning in over the past two years and being part of our 250,000+ community, allowing me the opportunity to give a little of what I have learned during my half-century of life as a spiritualist and practicing swami. My satisfaction lies in being able to serve others and to share the universal teachings of soul philosophy.
Even more satisfying is knowing how so many of you have personally achieved your own goals through the vlogs. I receive thousands of messages from people across the globe: some who have quit smoking after years of failed attempts; some who have conquered depression; some who have committed to meditation practices; some who have taken up a more conscious and compassionate lifestyle through vegetarianism or veganism…there are countless examples I read of how you have found your own satisfaction and fulfillment through this growing community, and I am honored to be a helping hand in your process.
And the adventure continues! Let this be your year of transformation. More videos and courses are planned for the coming year, and I am more enthused than ever to continue to serve you as much as I can in your journey of inner development.
Read more: https://goo.gl/G2AcZm
The Nectar which we are always anxious to have (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by HG Rukmini Mataji at Iskcon Vrindavana, Jan ...
Wonderful “Goloka Fest” in Moscow, Russia (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Caitanya Mahaprabhu says: “I have brought medicine to awaken very living being from perpetual sleep. Please receive the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and awaken. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 5.13.9 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Kk3wPK
New Govardhana, Australia (2018) (Album of photos)
Arjun Bhattacharyya: New Govardhana is an amazing farm community project i...
Reflections of 2018 and 2019 Spiritual Goal Setting by HG Vaisesika Dasa, 01.02.19 at ISKCON Silicon Valley (video)
Watch it h...
