H.G. Sruta Kirti Prabhu_Sri Caitanya Charitamrita Adi Lila-2.36_22.05.2023 (video) ISKCON Vrindavan Watch it here: https://bit.ly/3BLT5CV

Country Compassion. Dear devotees It was a Saturday. Four of us set out in the sankirtan van to Campbelltown on the south-western outskirts of Sydney. It’s kind of like a country town with tama guna farmer type people. This day it was rather quiet when we arrived. Usually only two devotees go there but this day we had four. So I felt bad because there was not many people around and it was my idea for four of us to go there so I decided to leave the street to my god brothers and I went to a quiet car park around the back of a small shopping centre. I felt disheartened like we weren’t going to do many books and it was my fault. But I dug deep for some prayer to Srila Prabhupada and just tried anyway. I approached everyone going in and out of the mall, moving swiftly with careful positioning to catch people as they left and returned to there cars. I didn’t notice at the time but books were actually moving quite well. A lady from behind said with great hope in her voice “Ah, haribol prabhu?” She said, “Oh, you are a devotee! How wonderful!” She told me how she went to New Govardhana gurukula (Australia). I also went there but she was a little older then I. Her name is Sita. She has fond memories of Krsna consciousness but now on her own with a non-devotee husband and three kids she was really struggling in the material world. She explained how due to association of her husband she has unfortunately been eating meat. With great eagerness she asked, “Prabhu. Please can I take a book?” She only had enough for one so she chose Krsna book for herself and her children to read. She was so happy to see a devotee. She begged, “Please do you have any tulasi leaves or maha prasadam?” Once having tasted Krsna one can never forget the transcendental nectar. Krsna never forgets ether and He is always reaching out to the lost souls in the form of book distributers. After a couple of hours our friends at security came out to see if I needed refreshments. I mean chastisements for doing the car park. He mustered up an authoritative voice and said, “You can’t do this here. Do you have any Identification?” I said, “No I don’t carry sorry.” He said, “What if the police ask you?” I said, “They never do. They like us and they let us be.” I used some intelligence to make friends with him then said, “Good bye. Have a nice day.” As I left the area with an innocent smile on my face and I went to another place to distribute. Shortly after I met with the other devotees and we went to Macarthur Square shopping centre about five minutes drive away. This mall is generally quite busy and fruitful. I was excited because it was my first time there so with full enthusiasm I packed as many books as I could in to my bag with five more in my hands and ran into the mall. It was amazing! Krsna really empowered me. Quickly my books disappeared. Running back and forth between the car and the mall everyone was taking! The highlight of the shopping centre was when I stopped three young adults, two boys and one girl. I handed them each a Gita and with the biggest smile I simply said, “I am a monk. We are trying to spread peace. These books are full of wisdom. Please take a book and give a donation.” All three took and gave a donation. Wow! It was ecstatic! I invited them to our classes. We finished at 5pm when the mall was closing and floated back home on a cloud of bliss. The beginning of the day my mind was filled with so many doubts. All day feeling impotent, still I just prayed and Krsna empowered me to distribute over 50 hard covers and collect over $600 laxmi. The others also did very well But Krsna has His way of humbling us, the next day I did 7 books and $90 laxmi. When I asked my Guru Maharaja why does that happen, big one day and tiny the next? He just smiled and said, “Krsna is showing you who is the controller.” Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!!!!!!! Your Servant, Dhruvananda Dasa

Milk: A spiritual perspective (Vedic idea of ecology and sustainability). To read the complete article and/or watch the video please click here: https://bit.ly/3okvkPk

Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk: Travel Journal#19.9: Germany, England, Ireland. On May 1 I chanted Hare Krishna in Cologne, Germany, for an hour at the main station, having arrived too late for the scheduled harinama with Harinamananda Prabhu. The next morning I took five trains to Nuremburg, where I chanted for two days with Mahavishnu Swami, Harinama Ruci, and a party organized by Valmiki Prabhu of Russia. On the afternoon of May 3 we traveled to Simhachalam, our Nrsimha temple in Bavaria, where we did harinama around the temple property and participated in the adhivasa ceremony. To read the complete article and/or watch the video please click here: https://bit.ly/3OwmPLO

IC Newsletter Vol.8, Issue 21, 21. May 2023. Dvisatah means there is a class who are always envious of God. As soon as you speak something about God, they become fire: "Oh, what is this God nonsense?" Lectures Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.36-40 -- San Francisco, January 23, 1967: When Kṛṣṇa was present five thousand years before, not that everyone could see Him, because they had no such eye. Suppose if President Johnson comes before us immediately, but if you have no acquaintance, if you have no information of the feature of President Johnson or something, even if he is present we cannot see. We'll think, "Oh, he may be an ordinary gentleman. As others come, he has also come." Similarly, unless we know about Kṛṣṇa by the symptoms . . . there are two mistakes: to understand God as common man or to accept a common man as God. Both things are mistakes. So one has to understand. That understanding is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. God Himself, Kṛṣṇa Himself, is describing about Himself, so there is no difficulty. But unfortunately, we have developed such material consciousness that even God describes Himself, even we see God face to face, because we have no Kṛṣṇa consciousness, therefore we cannot see. Therefore we cannot see. So avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā. Those who cannot see, they are described here as mūḍhā. Mūḍhā means foolish or less intelligent class men. So avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). In the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa says, "Because I am here amongst the human being as a man, therefore those who are less intelligent, they are deriding at Me." Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam paraṁ bhāvam ajānanta. "Why they deride? Because they do not know what is My background." Paraṁ bhāvam. Paraṁ bhāvam ajānanta, sarva-bhūta-maheśvaram. "They do not know that I am the Supreme Lord, and situated in everyone's heart. Because they do not know, therefore they deride at Me." tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān saṁsāreṣu narādhamān kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān āsurīṣv eva yoniṣu (BG 16.19, CC Madhya 25.40) So if anyone derides the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then . . . that means we must have impetus to know. But one who has no such impetus, he is called demon, or asura. So asura, one who does not want to understand the position of God, for them, Kṛṣṇa says that tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān. Dviṣataḥ means there is a class who are always envious of God. As soon as you speak something about God—they become fire, "Oh, what is this God nonsense?" So they are dviṣataḥ. Dviṣataḥ means envious. They cannot even tolerate the name of God. "Don't talk of God." So it is not now individually infection, it is now worldwide. And therefore, the result is that the Communist party is developing all over the world due to this godlessness. And we have got experience, personal experience, in our selling our books, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. I have seen many gentlemen, as teachers and educationists—as soon as he sees Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, "Oh, it is about God. Oh, we cannot purchase. We cannot purchase. Because it is God, therefore we have no connection with it. We cannot purchase." Such is the mentality. So that . . . by that such mentality, godless mentality, atheistic mentality, the people of the world, they are not happy. But still, they are fools. Because they are fools, they'll not take to God consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But it is our duty to canvass, to request. To read the complete article and/or watch the video please click here: https://bit.ly/43g0WEA

Govardhan Ecovillage & ISKCON’s sustainability leadership | HG Raasbhakti Devi Dasi. Iskcon Boston To read the complete article and/or watch the video please click here: https://bit.ly/42V6hRU

Holy Name Immersion 2023 - Discovery Class 1 (video) New Vrindaban Watch it here: https://bit.ly/3IqfhGv

Why does society need ISKCON today?. I am a 2nd year student at the university of Gloucestershire, for one of my modules I looked into the importance of food within the International Society of Krishna Consciousness. With doing this I attended that Atma lounge in Cardiff which is run by ISKCON Cardiff. At the Atma lounge they a non-profit café which offer low cost and free meals to those who need it. These meals are vegan and offered through their Food for Life project. To read the complete article and/or watch the video please click here: https://bit.ly/3MpGEBP

Bhagavatam Class in New Vrindaban. To read the complete article and/or watch the video please click here: https://bit.ly/45k4qb2

Srimad Bhagavatam Class – 7.13.30 – Raugyklas, Vilnius. To read the complete article and/or watch the video please click here: https://bit.ly/3WB62cx

Overviewing of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita – HH Krishna Kshetra Swami – ISKCON Cologne – 16,17,18.05.2023. To read the complete article and/or watch the video please click here: https://bit.ly/42UCuc7

Carribean Preaching Tour Report Last month a team of devotees completed a historic preaching tour in the Caribbean region, visiting 10 far-off islands and countries that are rarely visited by the missionaries of Lord Chaitanya’s movement. His grace Vicaru Prabhu (who served Tamal Krishna Goswami as his servant for a few years) and Sandipani Muni Krsna dasa (JPS) from the world Sankirtan team: Harinam Ruci*, joined forces with his grace Gopinath Prabhu from Trinidad (a preacher and senior disciple of Satsvarupa Maharaja) who not only supported the trip by patronising the transport fares and accommodations but also attended most of the trip with in person. Sandipani shares: After 2 years of waiting for covid-19 to subside and several months of painstaking research, I found the best way to travel through the Caribbean which was cost-effective and also effective in travelling routes to minimise the fatigue of travelling. We didn’t have much of a budget but we had faith Krsna will send us Laxmi on the way. To read the complete article please click here: https://bit.ly/3ocERrJ

ISKCON’S first Rathayatra in Anchorage, Alaska. The small town of Anchorage, Alaska, was filled with excitement on April 27, 2023, as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness devotees organized the first ever Rath Yatra festival in the area. The event was the culmination of preparation by the devoted volunteers who worked tirelessly to bring the ancient festival to the modern world. Anchorage, a city located in Southcentral Alaska, is known for its beautiful scenery, stunning glaciers, and diverse wildlife. It is home to more than 300,000 people and is the largest city in the state. Despite its size, the town had never witnessed a Rathayatra festival until now. We faced many challenges as we worked to bring the festival to Anchorage, including finding the right location, arranging Lord Jagannath’s rath cart, and obtaining the required resources. HH Bhakti Purusottama Swami also made a special arrangement to assist in the promotion of the festival in the area. He was very enthusiastic about attending the preaching program, which included book distribution, prasadam distribution, and a small Radha Madhav boat festival. On the 25 th of April, we went to promote the Rathayatra and distribute books at Denali National Park. The park is a four-hour drive from Anchorage. On the 26 th of April, we hosted a boat cruise for the pleasure of Sri Sri Radha Madhava. We offered bhoga on the boat. The cruise lasted from 12:30pm to 4:30pm. The sound of sweet kirtan reverberated across the sea as the boat made various stops to appreciate the snow, hills, and lakes. On the last day, the 27 th of April, we hosted the Rathayatra festival. The ecstatic kirtan was accompanied by book and prasadam distribution. The inspiration for the festival came when I was in Hawaii on 14th January and Ramanuja Prabhu told me that HH Bhakti Purusottama Swami would be visiting Alaska and I immediately asked him to book me a flight for Alaska. We stayed in contact, and I came up with the idea for the first ever Rathayatra in the town. Maharaja also had a contact there, Sudevi Dasi. Isend the Jagannatha Deities, including Sri Sri Radha Madhava with altars, karatals, Deity dresses, jewelry, aratik paraphernalia, and books to her house. On the 24 th of March, Ramanuja prabhu, Uttam Prabhu and Sridham Prabhu from Atlanta, Vraja Raman prabhu and Sanjay Anand Krishna Prabhu from Seattle, Chaitanya Nitai Das from DC and myself Lakshmanesvara Das (Lakshman Poddar) from New Vrindaban, HH Bhakti Purusottama Swami, and Sachikumar Prabhu from Mayapur flew to Alaska. Sudevi Mataji, her husband, and two more friends of hers from Alaska built the beautiful Ratha cart. Despite the challenges, the festival was a grand success, and the local residents warmly greeted the festivities in the snow capped environs. The Rath Yatra procession, which featured a beautifully decorated chariot, captivating music, and joyous chanting, was the highlight of the event. The locals were fascinated by the unique and colorful celebration, and many expressed their desire to learn more about the ancient Vedic culture of India. The devotees were delighted to see the positive response of the people, and local students cordially invited them to return with promises to make the festivities even more grand. The success of the first Rathayatra festival in Anchorage has given hope to the devotees, who believe that it is just the beginning of a journey to spread the message of Lord Jagannath’s love and compassion throughout the region. “Our main business is to distribute my books and people will come gradually. Everything should be done for that purpose.” (Letter to Ramesvara, 7 Nov 1976) “Our general plan is always the same – chanting, dancing and distributing prasadam.” – Letter to Syamasundara, 25 Feb 1970 This is how all of Srila Prabhupada’s desires are fulfilled simply by organizing Rathayatra festivals. To read the complete article and/or watch the video please click here: https://bit.ly/429iZLP