Planet ISKCON

Presenting the Hare Krishna chanting in a school of Bali (1 min video and photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If a devotee once utters th...

A historic event for ISKCON was the acquisition of 60 acres of land near NH-2 for construction of the new eco-friendly campus for Bhaktivedanta Gurukula and International School (BGIS) The construction work in the new school begun with the auspicious Bhumi Puja ceremony in the presence of HH Gopal Krishna Maharaj and former honourable PWD minister of UP, Shri Shivpal Yadav on 16th May 2015. A lot of progress has been made since then. A new exclusive road of 3 KM length named 'Bhaktivedanta Gurukula Marg' has been constructed by the state PWD department to connect the new campus to National Highway. It now takes only 20 minutes to reach the new school from ISKCON temple in Vrindavan The superstructure of the 60,000 sqft academic building has been completed, and the finishing work is going on. The superstructure of first two floors of hostel building has been completed. Foundation work for the temple building has been completed. Concrete boundary wall is being built on the entire 60 acres of land. Landscaping and plantation of trees are under progress. Continue reading "Bhaktivedanta Gurukula Vrindavan Updates
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One of the first devotees to land on Irish soil in the early seventies did so on a motorbike, with the intention of getting a slot on the famous TV program, 'The Late Late Show'. That devotee was Tribhuvanatha and being Irish, he knew this would be an excellent opportunity to introduce the fledgling Krishna movement to the people of Ireland. Although unsuccessful in his attempt, it would not be too long before the first group of devotees began to sing and dance on the highways and byways of Ireland. In the spring of 1973, Prabhavisnu brought a group of devotees to Dublin and they met with a good response, distributing books and chanting on the streets. At first they slept in their van, parked in the hills outside Dublin. Then they rented a bungalow in the suburb of Sutton and on Sundays up to 60 people turned up to chant and honour prasadam with them. Continue reading "History is made! After 44 years ISKCON Finally owns a Little Piece of Dublin!
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The New Religion: Shopping! (7 min video)
Mahatma Das: So we thought that the religion for this age was Harinama, wrong! The religion is …“Shopping!” :-)
Our leaders do not see us anymore as citizens but as “consumers”. Because this is good for the economy!

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I used to think, before I came to Krsna consciousness, that now I would join a movement of very like-minded people and that I would feel very intimate friendship. Then, I was shocked to see that that person who I kind of detested for his views, he also had joined! 

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2005, Lecture)

Sometimes there are tests and we do not pass them. It means that we did not do our homework! Before a test, if you did not do your homework then you might fail the test even if it is within your capacity to pass it. In that way, we may fail certain tests.

If we have the means and if we carefully take shelter of the process of Krsna consciousness, then we will not fail our tests. But if we are not careful, inattentive and do not take shelter properly of the process of devotional service, then we might fail our tests and we might feel that so many tests are too much for us!

As soon as you start to take to the process of devotional service – even if you fail in devotional service, even if you fall down from the process or deviate from the process, then there is no need for any atonement, since all you have to do is immediately take up the process again and immediately you are situated again on the path. There is no loss!

Painting Deities with Srila Prabhupada
Yamuna Devi: “One day Srila Prabhupada asked me to paint a set of Radha-Krishna Deities that he was sending to Hamburg to have installed. When I informed him I was not an artist and didn’t feel I could do it, he said that he would show me what to do. So he told me to find a special black, white and red paint, and that evening we sat Them on his small desk and Srila Prabhupada personally painted the Deities and instructed me at the same time. I sat in front of him, and as time seemed to disappear, the lovely forms of the Lords slowly became manifest through the painting. After we were finished, I immediately went to my room and wrote what he had explained. He said that the painting of Radha and Krishna Deities is called Anga-Raga. Anga means ‘body’ and Raga means 'painting of.’ So Radharani holds her fingers in a mudra. Mudras can also be used by the Spiritual Master when he is preaching, and different mudras have special meanings. And Srila Prabhupada held up his fingers just as Srimati Radharani’s were—with forefinger and thumb together. Srila Prabhupada often used that 'mudra’ when he made a specific point.”

Choosing love over hate doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to love those who have hurt us.

Harinama on a stormy winter’s night in Auckland, New Zealand (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: One is understood to be an eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he considers himself a servant of the holy name and in this spirit distributes the holy name to the world. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 8.16 Purport)
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New Vrajamandala, a beautiful 300-hectare farm just outside the little town of Brihuega near Guadalajara, Spain, has flower and vegetable gardens, a goshala for cow and ox protection, and gorgeous Deities of Sri-Sri Radha-Govinda Chandra and Sri-Sri Gaura-Nitai. But like many smaller ISKCON temples in Europe, community members were facing challenges in maintaining and developing their project.

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President Donald Trump proclaimed Thursday he was withdrawing the US from the Paris climate accord, a sweeping step that fulfills a campaign promise while acutely dampening global efforts to curb global warming.

Devotee Wins Special Olympics Event.
Keshav Das, 30, an ISKCON of Washington D.C. devotee, won the gold medal at his tri-count...

Guru das: Sunlight burst into the temple and a tall youth with beautiful symmetrical features and a long face framing sensitive eyes came into the temple room. He carried a 12~string guitar and was wearing a one~piece homemade wrap~around skirt. Two women followed him into the temple and they all sat down in front of the swami. As Swamiji spoke, I saw the boy’s face soften, and his face became intent.
Afterward, Swamiji spoke about the chanting. “It springs automatically from the spiritual platform, and such anyone can take part in this transcendental sound vibration without any previous qualification and dance in ecstasy. We have seen it practically, even a child can take part in the chanting, or even a dog can take part in it.”

Gopa Kumara goes from one planet to another planet. But what helped him stay focussed in chanting the mantra? Elements of Bhakti to reach suddha bhakti stage: Receiving mantra is important Having faith in the mantra is important Having gratitude to the giver of mantra is important Gradual education is important The determination in saying Yes to Krsna in the form of His name with great faith and wishing to have the fullness of gratitude to those who have given the mantra in disciplic succession. Continue reading "Gopa-Kumara’s Madana-Gopala Mantra
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Maha Harinam in Ljubljana, Slovenia - Highlights (9 min video)
In the Sri Pancha Tattva Temple of Ljubljana, the devotees gathe...

Motel Gita volunteers at the South Pacific Asian American Hotel Owners Association Convention in Pomona, CA (Album with photos)

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“So, your present engagement is very nice. Neither I think that you can be better educated in the universities. Practically we find that in your country three are so many big universities and the government arranges for educating the entire population. But still hippies are coming out of the institutions. It is understood that in some of the big universities the entire student body has become hippies. Of course, the hippy philosophy is nice in the sense that they have become disgusted with the materialistic way of life. Therefore they want to renounce the stereotyped way of life. Unfortunately they have no good leader. Neither they have information that there is another beautiful life in Krishna consciousness.” — Letter from Srila Prabhupada to Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami — “So, that is where Srila Prabhupada came in. As he said, the hippies knew what was wrong but they didn’t know what was right. He was the leader that we needed and showed us what was wrong and what was right.”

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Prabhupada Festival, Los Angeles (Right click to download)

Death, need not be seen as an inconvenient truth, but rather the ultimate meditation to reinstate clarity and perspective into every aspect of our life.

They increasingly see the socially responsible agenda as good business; and, perhaps more important, so do investment firms that are responding to the growing demand for portfolios that reflect a client’s values.

Glastonbury Rathayatra, UK - 28th May 2017 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The names of the Lord and the Lord are non-different. So Lord Krishna’s instructions to Arjuna to “remember Me” and Lord Caitanya’s injunction to “always chant the names of Lord Krishna” are the same instruction. (Bhagavad-gita, Introduction)
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