ISKCON Strategic Planning Support Team to Assist Temples Tackle Challenges Due to Pandemic
ISKCON Strategic Planning Support Team, which is a unit of the GBC Strategic Planning Team is extending their support to help devotee communities worldwide to survive, maintain and grow
He never found a conspiracy theory he didn't like. Valisudana - not his real name - craves hearing how malevolent groups hatch secret, unlawful, harmful plans for evil, destructive purposes.
A deep fear about losing family and friends… but are we as worried about how we relate to them while their alive?
While the nation has been affected by the Coronavirus crisis and is observing a lockdown, millions have been stranded with no food and shelter.
With the streets outside so quiet, devotees have started to hear birds singing sweetly again, parrots landing on the lower branches of the trees, and peacocks calling.
These days, by a reversal of fortune, we are the ones that are locked in like zoo animals, while they are the ones that can roam free. Good for them. They have deserved some break after all the millennia of mistreatment and abuse they had to suffer by our hands.
Amidst the coronavirus crisis and the consequent lockdown India’s tribal people are facing double difficulties - scarcity of food and lack of awareness about the preventive measures to curb spreading of the deadly disease.
With the UK now about to go into its fourth week of lockdown, people who would be struggling from one week to the next during normal times are now running out of money. Many are also sick or completely isolated in their homes without any family members. In this environment, more and more community groups are calling for free meals to help those in need.
“We see that because of the Coronavirus, more and more people are losing their jobs, and running out of money,” says ISKCON Hungary spokesperson Gandharvika Prema Dasi. “And they have no support. So the number of people in need has been growing.”
During a pandemic, the medical care providers are the frontline warriors. Actually, we all have the opportunity to save lives. How? By understanding what life is and what saving it means.
The word “kovida” appears in a celebrated verse from the Bhagavata-Purana: “Those who are intelligent and philosophically inclined (kovida) should endeavour for that which is beyond the material world." Let the mantra become part of you: adjust your expectation, accept your situation, and aspire for connection.
During their quarantine duty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, around 60 law enforcement officers receive a plate of meal and hot drink every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from local ISKCON devotees.
The 90-minute feature-length Documentary ‘HARE KRISHNA! The Mantra, the Movement and the Swami who started it all’ will be available for free viewing From Friday, April 10th at 12pm (EST-USA) to Monday, April 13th at 12pm (EST-USA).
New Vrindaban has 2,200 acres, has been established as a foremost place of pilgrimage in North America, and welcomes 35,000 visitors per year. With a stay-at-home order issued in West Virginia, ISKCON New Vrindaban has closed down Prabhupada’s Palace, the Palace Lodge, and Govinda’s restaurant, losing half its income in the process.
“I don’t think that as a whole, from what I’ve heard, we ISKCON leaders are taking this seriously enough,” Vaisesika says. “I think we should set a good example by simply following what the scientists are telling us about the Coronavirus, and what we should do about it.
1.3 billion Indians observed the Janata Curfew on 22nd March, to fight Covid-19. Billions of people in different parts of the world are already under lockdown. There is an undeclared curfew in almost all the parts of the world. Coronavirus, the tiny little virus, which cannot be seen with our eyes have brought the whole world to a standstill.
The government began with a quarantine in 79 districts across India recognized as COVID-19 hotspots, before officially locking down the entire nation – 1.3 billion people – on March 23rd in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
Called “Krishna Lunch for Healthcare Heroes,” the program was formally launched on April 2, 2020 (Rama Navami). A number of congregational members promptly stepped up to offer much needed financial support to get the new program off the ground.
Most ISKCON members around the world are now in “lockdown” due to the corona virus pandemic, and struggling to maintain regular association with other devotees. However, due to modern technology, there are various daily live virtual classes, discussions, japa circles that devotees can take advantage of.
It was once again practically demonstrated that those who are practicing self-sufficiency either to the full extent or at least to some degree are definitely less vulnerable in times of upheavals.
To help devotees stay safe and cope with the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the GBC Strategic Planning Team has put together a global task force team that gathers and disseminate both spiritually uplifting and materially useful information.
Hare Krishna charity Food for All has been given government approval to serve free vegetarian meals to London’s homeless people during the UK’s Coronavirus lockdown.
This unprecedented environment has also created an unprecedented state of affairs for ISKCON, with all events cancelled, and temples across North America closed to the public, as well as to devotees except temple residents.
Someone asked me if we should pray for the protection of our loved ones – of course we should! But it got me thinking.
“At this time our planet and our devotees need prayer. No doubt many devotees have their own prayers," Maharaja shares.
