ISKCON NewsThe News Agency of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Spirituality is the new black. Not my words. Those of Richard Egan, PhD student at Dunedin School of Medicine. Richard is studying the effects of spirituality on end-of-life cancer care and had the misfortune to be midway through a radio interview with me yesterday when the news broke of Sir Edmund Hillary's passing. Not an interview either of us will be forgetting in a hurry I'm sure.

JAIPUR: On the last leg of her holiday in Rajasthan, pop queen Madonna chose to refresh herself on a long boat ride on the picturesque Pichhola lake of Udaipur. She visited the City Palace and crystal gallery which has one of world's biggest collection of crystal objects.

ISKCON Television’s latest release is a guide to deity worship, an inspiring meditation, and an exclusive with one of the Hare Krishna Movement’s most renowned exponents all in one. Here World traveler Indradyumna Swami gives ITV unrestricted access to personal worship of his Salagrama Sila deity at the Odessa Festival in Ukraine. Salagrama Silas are sacred stones that hold the most rare of mystical properties.

The ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection is very pleased to announce the appointment of Mahavishnupriya Devi Dasi as Assistant Director. Her main services to the CPO will be investigating cases of child abuse, and managing the adjudication process of CPO cases.

NEW YORK: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will try to place copies of Bhagavad-gita in hotels and motels owned by Indian-Americans and in libraries in the US.

The governing council of VHP's America unit passed a resolution to this effect at a recent meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Cow protection has become a personal love affair to millions of people around the world. In Vrindavan India, Kurma-rupa Dasa has become increasingly involved in protecting defenceless and abandoned cows, traditionally considered a symbol of religion.

For the last six years Australians have suffered the worst drought in a thousand years, say leading agriculturalists. Is it just coincidence that one of the longest uninterrupted streaks of wet weather broke at the same time Indradyumna Swami and his traveling spiritual festival team arrived on Australian shores?

As of late, in the year 2007, the idea of whether Lord Rama exists or not has been called into question, by no less than some of the politicians in India. So it is a wonder how such persons can be accepted as leaders of the people of India who should be concerned with preserving and protecting the culture of the country.

ISKCON devotee, Sarvabhauma Prabhu, just returned from a very successful preaching tour of Pakistan. Usually little is reported about this type of outreach, but due to the nature of this tour, it was highly publicized in the secular media and closely monitored by the authorities in Pakistan.

Sak (pronounced 'shak') is a very special vegetable dish. Literally the name can simply mean 'spinach'. But in India, and especially in Bengal, where there are many dozens of varieties of green leafy vegetables, Sak is far from ordinary. It has a special place in temple kitchens and the home cooking repertoires of devotees of Krishna and his most recent incarnation, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakur, esteemed 19th century Vaisnava saint and profuse author, writes in a song glorifying the relishing of food offered to Krishna before partaking (prasada):

heno sak-asvadane, krsna-prema aise mane, sei preme koro asvadana jada-buddhi pari-hari', prasada bhojana kori', 'hari hari' bolo sarva-jan

"O brothers! One day at Santipura, in Sri Advaita's house, Lord Caitanya and Nityananda were seated at prasada. When Lord Caitanya tasted the green vegetables, He said, 'My devotees, this sak is so delicious! Lord Krsna has definitely tasted it. At the taste of such sak as this, love of Krsna arises in the heart. In such love of God you should take this prasada. Giving up all materialistic conceptions and taking the Lord's prasada, all of you just chant 'Hari! Hari!'"

Furthermore, Chaitanya Bhagavata, a much loved and respected Medieval devotional text composed in classical literary Bengali states:

"Mother Saci knows that Lord Caitanya is greatly satisfied with sak, therefore she cooked twenty different varieties. The vegetable known as sak is more fortunate that any other preparation, for the Lord eats it again and again. Slightly smiling the Lord takes His meal, speaking, the glories of sak to everyone.

The Lord says "this sak is called Acyuta, by eating the sak attraction for Krsna develops (at the time of eating, Lord Caitanya would call different kinds of sak different names of Krishna) by eating patala, bastuka and kala sak, one gains the association of the vaisnava's life after life. If one eats salinca or helanca sak, he remain free from disease and gets devotion to Krishna". (CB Antya 4.279, 293, 295, 298)

Yes I know this is rather elevated material, and I won't hazard to write much about it. Anyway, I received a letter recently which inspired me to share it with you, and the following recipe. It's based on a recipe by Yamuna Devi from her award-winning and wonderful cookbook 'Lord Krishna's Cuisine'.

Moscow, Dec 28 (ANI): Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 2500-year-old advanced civilization at the bottom of Lake Issyk Kul in the Kyrgyz mountains in Russia. The expedition resulted in sensational finds, including the discovery of major settlements, presently buried underwater.

Cyber Space -- Imagine a dinner party where ISKCON founder-acarya Srila Prabhupada, Jesus Christ, Leonardo Da Vinci, and pop sensation Justin Timberlake break bread together. While we're not certain what the dinner-table conversations would be like, one thing we can be reasonably sure of: the menu, would be 100% vegetarian.

New York City -- "A rabbi, a Hare Krishna devotee, and the mayor of the most influential city in the world sit down to share a meal together..." No, it is not the set-up to a politically-incorrect joke; it is the true story of a chance breakfast chat that ISKCON devotee Radhavallabha Dasa recently shared with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Vanipedia, a new program  being developed by the Prabhupada Vani Research Academy based in Radhadesh, Belgium, represents a seismic change in the way we can approach Srila Prabhupada's teachings. Why? Because for the first time it enables lSKCON devotees web access to reference whatever they do with Srila Prabhupada's instructions by providing a means of easily sifting through the vast mountain of literature and teachings left by Srila Prabhupada.