Jaya Chaitanya Das, 30, recently went from being a hip-hop producer to ISKCON’s top book distributor in the U.S., selling 85,000 of Srila Prabhupada’s books in one year. Now, he has come up with an innovative new program that shows young Americans today may be more interested in staying in ISKCON’s brahmachari ashrams than we might think.

There is a whole realm of spiritual development, which is about shedding, cutting, letting go and downsizing.

A video by Ananta Vrindavan.

Last October, brahmachari Narottam Das and his friend Mukharavinda Das walked an incredible 654 kms from Johannesburg to Durban to raise funds for a new Sankirtana bus so that their Brahmachari ashram could bring Prabhupada’s books and the Holy Name to people. The journey, which took them eighteen days, saw them walking alone with no supporting vehicle through baking sun and torrential rain.

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Today’s Kanchi Sri Varadaraja Swamy car festival.
Srila Prabhupada: Once can be free from all sinful reactions after reaching a place of pilgrimage, but one can have the same benefit at home or at any other place simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord. (Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.15)

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Vegetarian beef farmer gives herd to animal sanctuary.
A vegetarian farmer has given his herd of cows to an animal sanctuary to protect them from the slaughterhouse.
Jay Wilde, 59, who farms in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, sent 63 cattle to a Norfolk rescue centre as he could no longer bear to send them to be killed.
Mr Wilde, a vegetarian for 25 years, grew up herding cows and took over the family farm when his father died.
“Cows have good memories and a range of emotions. They form relationships. I’ve even seen them cry,” he said.
“It was very difficult to do your best to look after them and then send them to the slaughterhouse for what must be a terrifying death.”
The Hillside Animal Sanctuary near Frettenham said 30 of the cows are pregnant and all the animals “would live out their lives essentially as pets”.
Founder, Wendy Valentine, said Mr Wilde is not the first farmer to have donated his herd.
She recalls a couple who “could not bear to continue dairy farming and kept their cows as pets with the help of the sanctuary”.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/eL7mj1

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When the East came west.
New Vrindavana - On the weekends, around holidays and Hindu holy days, it gets busier at the temple, said Vrindivan Das, the communications director for the community.
“We see more than 30,000 people a year,” he said. “People come because they are curious. They come to see the beautiful palace, and, also, because they are pilgrims.”
Visitors, he said, come from all over the country and Canada, Europe and India.
“We get a lot more corporate people,” he said. “They come for the meditation and to relax.”

Along with the palace, there’s a community temple that could easily hold several hundred, a gift shop, a yoga studio, an inn and a vegetarian restaurant, which serves Indian food and pizza.

Adherents to the Hindu faith do not eat meat because they believe it attracts negative karma. However, dairy products are permitted. The New Vrindaban Community has a small dairy.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/i9Z42d

Our devotional service gets spoiled when we fail to exercise discretion in the company we keep. One must remember that association always causes transfer of desires. Therefore, it’s imperative that those aspiring for pure devotional service should carefully protect their bhakti-lata by nourishing it in the divine light and company of knowledgeable self-realised souls – and thus augment their chances of relishing the complete nectar of devotion in this very lifetime, and associating with the ambrosial pastimes of Lord Shri Krishna in the life here after. Continue reading "Does Association Matter? You Be The Judge!
→ Dandavats"

Cure Racism Today by Sivarama Swami (2 min video) Only by understanding and realizing the simple fact that we are not our material bodies we can experience, as spiritual entities, our being equal

Gita verse-by-verse Podcast

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The world’s largest statue of Lord Vishnu on Garuda in Bali (2 min amazing video and photos)
The world’s biggest statue is finally taking shape on a hill overlooking Bali’s international airport.
Twenty-five years and around $100 million in the making, the enormous copper and brass sculpture is of the Hindu god Visnu astride the mythical bird Garuda.
Garuda’s concrete and steel skeleton, with the first pieces of copper and brass skin visible on the statue.
After years of planning, re-designs, cash shortages and stop-start construction, sculptor Nyoman Nuarta says the project should be finished next September.

And the final phase — the fitting of the sculpture’s skin to the concrete and steel skeleton — is well underway.

The copper and brass claws of Garuda are finally gripping an enormous, purpose-built, concrete pedestal.

It should be relatively straightforward, compared to the complex engineering and fundraising for the private project.

“I no longer think about making profit from this project but I just want to work and finish this project because this is my dignity — my family’s and mine — that’s at stake. So it has to be completed,” said Mr Nyoman, speaking to the ABC at his workshop in Bandung, on the island of Java.

“Garuda Wisnu Kencana” is about 75 metres high — 120m if you count the pedestal.

That is about 30m higher than the Statue of Liberty, off New York. But Liberty is tall and thin, while Garuda is almost as wide as it is high — its wingspan is 64m.

That has made life complicated for the project’s engineers. They do not want this Garuda to actually take flight.

“We’ve designed this statue to last for the next 100 years,” construction chief Apul Sihotang said.

“We did wind tunnel tests in Canada, where we calculated the maximum velocity of the wind which will happen in 100 years.

"We have anticipated the wind velocity.”

Strong winds are slowing the installation of the copper and bronze panels — the crane cannot operate if the wind blows more than 10 knots.

Garuda’s shape is so complex that engineers have designed special joints in the supporting structure, with up to 11 enormous steel girders coming together at the same point. Normal construction joints have four or six girders.

The sculpture’s unusual shape also means that maintenance workers will not be able to reach the outside of statue.

“Repairs will be done from inside the statue. We will build a catwalk to fix the statue from the inside so when there is a damage, the statue will be cut out to be fixed from the inside,” the construction chief said.

The statue is being built by Mr Nyoman’s team in Bandung, on the island of Java. It was made in wax, then fibreglass, then copper, then brass, then cut up and driven by truck to Bali for final installation.

Mr Nyoman, who is Balinese, says the project is important for the island.

“We know that Bali thrives from tourism and culture. If we don’t develop the culture it will disappear one day,” he said.

“So we have three responsibilities: to preserve the culture, develop it, and find new alternative cultures.”

The project is important for Indonesia, says one of the people behind the project, Ida Bagus Gede Budi Hartawan.

“Culture is a big thing for our country, our civilisation. When we talk of technology, we may not be there yet. When we talk of economy, we may not be there yet either. But when we speak of culture, we can be equal,” Mr Gede said.

“The latest and greatest masterpiece that this nation has is Borobudur. After that old generation, this nation never produced such creativity again.

"In the global community they underestimate us because of the violence here.

"Thus it is our goal to build something grand for our children and grand-children, for our generation and for the world.”

Watch it here: https://goo.gl/cIHepu

One concrete step for religious leaders to save the environment.

George Harrison and Hare Krishna.
Despite The Beatles incredible fame and fortune, due to the pressures of touring and the constant attention from public and media, peace of mind and happiness had escaped them. So, in 1967 they travelled to Rishikesh. This trip to India was part of a sudden fascination of everything Indian by the vibrant and searching youth of the late 1960s.

This beautiful cake was offered to the Lord by the devotees of Iskcon Los Angeles.
Srila Prabhupada: The Hare Krishna mantra says, “My dear Lord Krishna, my dear Lord Rama, O energy of the Lord, Hare, kindly engage me in your service.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.24.69 Purport)

We are all here because of Srila Prabhupada! (Video)
Srimad Bhagavatam class of Garuda prabhu in Radhadesh, Belgium.
The whole purpose of the Bhagavata Purana is to cultivate, through service, pure love of God.
Devotional service does not depend on material assessment. It is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam, “ahaituki apratihata”. Devotional service must be without any material ambition and there is no material impediment which can check advancement in devotional service.
This is the sum and substance of this Purana: to enculture affection for the Lord.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/ZxjwcG