Inside ISKCON

New Conference Call Offers Help for Devotee Couples

Subala Dasa — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:52:41 +0000

By Madhava Smullen on 17 Nov 2009

The Grihastha Vision Team (GVT)—a group of professional marriage and family educators and therapists deeply dedicated to the health of devotees in relationships—will be offering a first to the devotee community of North America this November 19th.

ISKCON Leaders Grapple to Define "Who Is A Member?"

Subala Dasa — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:54:08 +0000

By ISKCON News Service on 15 Nov 2009

Surprisingly, after forty-plus years of existence, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is still not clear on what it means to be one of its "members."

ISKCON Celebrates Forty Years in London

Subala Dasa — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:31:58 +0000

By Radha Mohan Dasa on 15 Nov 2009

This November, ISKCON devotees will celebrate their 40th anniversary in London with a week of festivities from the 16th through the 22nd of the month.

Preserving Srila Prabhupada’s Legacy

Subala Dasa — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:52:19 +0000

By Antony Brennan on 14 Nov 2009

In the 1960s Srila Prabhupada, a pure devotee of Lord Krishna, travelled to the Western world to teach the bhakti spiritual tradition introduced by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. But in this modern age, who was going to accurately remember and record Srila Prabhupada’s activities and teachings, the way devotees 500 years before had recorded Lord Chaitanya’s? What would become of them, and how would they be preserved and shared amongst the devotees to come?

Gurus Gather For Reflection

Subala Dasa — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:28:33 +0000

By ISKCON News Service on 14 Nov 2009

During Kartik, 2009, fifteen ISKCON diksa and siksa gurus gathered at ISKCON Ujjain for a first ever "Guru Retreat". The pilot four-day event, organized by the GBC's Guru Services Committee to help support the spiritual health of gurus and disciples in ISKCON, stimulated valuable ideas in a surcharged atmosphere of sanga and memorable kirtans, classes and realizations.

Sivarama Swami Receives Hungarian Gold Cross

Subala Dasa — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:48:42 +0000

By Govardhana Dasa on 7 Nov 2009

ISKCON guru and leader Sivarama Swami received the Gold Cross of the Hungarian Republic, the second highest award in the state, during a Diwali celebration this October 20th.

Miss India Visits ISKCON New Delhi

Subala Dasa — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:44:02 +0000

By Madhava Smullen on 7 Nov 2009

Ekta Choudary—Miss India 2009, and the Indian finalist in this year’s Miss Universe beauty competition—turned up at ISKCON New Delhi’s Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir for a visit on November 3rd.

8th European Leaders Meetings Held at Villa Vrindavana

Subala Dasa — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:35:25 +0000

By ISKCON News Service on 7 Nov 2009

ISKCON’s 8th ELM (European Leaders Meetings), held from October 2 – 3 in Villa Vrindavana, Italy this year, yielded inspiring news on the year's accomplishments, as well as some exciting new plans.

ISKCON News Grateful to Ekendra Dasa, Welcomes New Managing Editor

Subala Dasa — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:32:26 +0000

By ISKCON News Service on 7 Nov 2009

We’re extending our gratitude to Ekendra Dasa, the managing editor whose two and a half years of dedicated service brought the site to where it is today—and welcoming a new face.

Divali Observed at Governor’s Mansion

Subala Dasa — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:40:17 +0000

By ISKCON News Service on 4 Nov 2009

Martin O’Malley, Governor of the US State of Maryland, observed Divali at a special reception for local dignitaries in the Governor’s Mansion on October 28. The event commemorated the Hindu New Year, and was the first official Divali celebration in Maryland’s history.

Hare Halloween Hits Dallas Gay and Lesbian District

Subala Dasa — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:04:29 +0000

By Madhava Smullen on 31 Oct 2009

Each year on the weekend before Halloween, about 100,000 people attend the Halloween Block Party in Oak Lawn, the gay and lesbian district of Dallas, Texas—which just happens to be the number two gay capital of the US, after San Francisco.

ISKCON Supporter Harvey Cox Retires From Harvard Post

Subala Dasa — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:51:24 +0000

By ISKCON News Service on 31 Oct 2009

Dr. Harvey Cox, a renowned scholar and an avid supporter of ISKCON, retired from his post as Harvard Divinity School’s Hollis Professor of Divinity this past June

Putting Krishna on the Map In Brrrrr-land

Subala Dasa — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:00:10 +0000

By Bhaktimarga Swami on 31 Oct 2009

ISKCON guru and leader Bhaktimarga Swami recounts his adventures as he and other devotees spread Krishna consciousness to the coldest, most remote parts of Canada.

ISKCON Founder’s Passing a Day of Celebration and Sweetness

Subala Dasa — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:20:54 +0000

By Madhava Smullen on 30 Oct 2009

For ISKCON devotees around the world this October 22nd, the 32nd Disappearance Day of their founder Srila Prabhupada was a celebratory occasion.

New Vrindaban Hosts the World’s Most Famous Bush Doctor

Subala Dasa — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:59:18 +0000

By Rita Gupta on 30 Oct 2009

On October 28, New Vrindaban Community in West Viriginia, USA, hosted the world’s most famous bush doctor. Dr. Landveld manufactures natural medicines from plants, roots, tree barks, carrots, fruit and lianas from the Amazonian rainforest of Suriname.

ISKCON GBC Representatives Meet With B.V. Narayana Maharaja

Subala Dasa — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:55:30 +0000

By ISKCON News Service on 25 Oct 2009

Vrindavana, India - On October 17, five representatives of Governing Body Commission of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), founder-acarya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, forming an official delegation, met with Srila B.V. Narayana Maharaja, founder-acarya of the BHAKTI Trust Mission, near the pilgrimage site of Govardhana Hill, just a few miles from Vrindavana, India. The meeting, which had been planned for several months, was held at Narayana Maharaja's Sri Sri Gauranga Radha Giridhari temple at Giridhari Gaudiya Math.

Festival of Lights Illuminates ISKCON Mayapur

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:27:30 +0000

By ISKCON News Service on 24 Oct 2009

With the kind of dazzling spectacle that ISKCON Mayapur has become famous for, this Diwali saw the entire campus illuminated by thousands of oil lamps.

Diwali, a cross-cultural festival that is celebrated in Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, commemorates the return of Lord Rama to the city of Ayodhya after rescuing his wife Sita Devi from the demon Ravana.

ISKCON Youth go on a Winter Adventure

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:25:08 +0000

By Madhava Smullen on 24 Oct 2009

This December, while most of us are nursing cups of hot tea and trying to keep warm, a group of intrepid ISKCON youth adventurers will be hitting sunny beaches and exotic locales across Mexico.

But theirs is not just any holiday—it’s the fifth annual Kirtan Yoga Festival Tour. Starting life as a Krishna conscious way for youth to get together in between ISKCON Youth Ministry’s longer summer festival tours, this winter excursion has grown into a powerful outreach tool of its own.

Second-Generation Artists Showcase “Kartik Vandanam”

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:22:51 +0000

By ISKCON News Service on 24 Oct 2009

A troupe of second generation ISKCON artists performed for Kartik Vandanam 2, the second in a series of annual classical music and dance evenings, this October 17th in Vrindavana, India.

Held in honor of Kartik, the most auspicious month of the Vaishnava year, the devotional “garland of prayer” was performed under the stars in ISKCON Vrindavana’s Bhaktivedanta School Gardens, which were lit with hundreds of lamps.

Thousands Celebrate Diwali at England's Bhaktivedanta Manor

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:58:56 +0000

By Radha Mohan Dasa on 24 Oct 2009

After what was a spectacular Diwali firework display on Sunday 18th October at Bhaktivedanta Manor near London, numerous community leaders and festival revelers released 1000 lanterns into the sky in a bid for world peace.

On the Sunday, 15,000 people attended the Diwali celebrations at the Temple. Other highlights of the festival included colourful dances, plays and free vegetarian meals for everyone.