‘The Kindness Pandemic’: An ISKCON-wide Contest for Young Artists
While the coronavirus is spreading throughout the world, luckily for us, so is kindness. The simple acts of kindness are powerful, cathartic, and could change our lives forever. ISKCON News is calling young artists, aged 3-18, to recognize and capture these little acts of kindness around them and turn them into an artwork.
We’ve seemingly lost our freedom. But when ‘freedom’ means that everything is so available that we become complacent, what’s the benefit? If ‘restriction’ generates an appreciation and gratitude of what we’ve taken for granted all these years, where’s the loss?
The COVID-19 Pandemic is a financial challenge for all ISKCON temples. With their main sources of income such as book distribution, Harinama Sankirtan, in person hundi box donations, preaching programs and more either decreased or halted, many are struggling to make ends meet.
Devotees in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario in Canada are doing their part to help their local community during the COVID-19 pandemic by feeding prasadam to essential personnel like hospital staff and sanitation workers.
We offer our prayers for the well-being of all those affected by the pandemic. We pray for those souls who have passed away, and for their family members and friends. We also pray for those currently ill and their loved ones. And, we pray for those millions of people who suffer from the financial impact of the coronavirus and who worry for the safety of their families.
Kirtan Space, an online educational effort that started in 2016, has been revamped and will offer a free ten-week foundational kirtan course on Youtube starting May 25th. “During this time, when you may be not working and may be stuck at home, is a good opportunity to learn a new instrument,” says director Balaram Nityananda Das.
"Your merry rides have been thwarted, / Your house has been fenced, / Amazing you are, O mind, / You still don’t wish to be cleansed..."
Devotees from the Five Truths Pancha Tattva Center in Omsk, Siberia organized a Srimad-Bhagavatam online marathon, in which the translations of all 18,000 verses were recited over ten days, from April 10th to 19th. The marathon, which aimed to inspire devotees and benefit the world during the current dark times under a global pandemic, was entitled Spiritual Victory in Seven Days.
Altruism is defined as having a disinterested and selfless concern for the wellbeing of others. The Bhagavad Gita 16.1-3 describes the same, daya bhutesv aloluptvam or being without greed and having mercy towards others. Putting this concern into action not only aids those in difficulty but also eases your own.
“Let us not squander this hour of our pain” (Rilke)
With everyone in self-isolation and practicing social distancing due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, devotees are coming up with more and more creative ways to associate with each other and hold events virtually that would previously have taken place in person.
With ISKCON book distributors off the streets and staying at home due to the Coronavirus pandemic, you might think their service has completely ground to a halt. Instead, however, they’ve put all their energy into innovations such as mailing, contactless delivery, and e-books to distribute thousands of Prabhupada’s books at a time when people need them more than ever.
Conspiracy theories abound: COVID-19, G5, the New World Order, and, of course, the deep state. I remember a time when life was simpler. There was only one conspiracy in town: Maya, the illusionary energy.
By giving them exciting creative challenges, the purpose of this project is to help children and their families cope with the emotional toll the social isolation, the anxiety and the uncertainties create. “Most children express their thought and feelings better through different forms of arts, than words. Art has a healing power,” the project coordinator says.
In these unprecedented times, we encourage devotees to share their thoughts, poems, and prayers via ISKCON News' special Covid-19 section. The first offering comes from our GBC Minister of Communications, Anuttama dasa, who lives in Washington DC.
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.
