Living With Chaos
Learning to live with chaos is more realistic, progressive and pragmatic. Like running water effortlessly flows around the obstructing rocks, moving steadily to its destination, so in the face of inevitable challenges and unexpected reversals, we must march on.
If you’ve started to notice clouds of color every spring, it’s not your imagination. The Hindu festival of Holi (pronounced “holy”), which involves throwing brightly colored powders, is spreading around the globe, says Ravi M. Gupta, a religion professor at Utah State University. “It’s well known now. I don’t need to tell my students what Holi is. It has spawned this whole industry of colorfests and charity color runs.”
The 3T Path is a comprehensive guide to self-improvement and self-realization in yoga with hundreds of useful facts and practices to transform people’s life. It’s written in a simple, clear language, easily accessible to all. The 3T Path has the unique advantage of gathering in one system the tools of mindfulness, dharma, inner peace, jnana (knowledge), and bhakti (devotion), with important and detailed information of lifestyle choices necessary to maximize them.
The Mayapuris were one of the original second generation ISKCON groups to bring Gaudiya Vaishnava kirtan to the forefront of the burgeoning mainstream kirtan scene. Since their debut, others have continued to forge the path, with Madi Das and his Bhakti Without Borders charity album winning a Grammy nomination. Inspired by Madi’s achievement, the Mayapuris hope that with their second album, they can bring kirtan further into the mainstream, to places it hasn’t been before.
Today, a new Krishna conscious subculture seems to be growing out of the tattoo scene in North America, particularly in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Devotee tattoo artists – or “tattooers” as they’re more commonly known in the biz – are inking incredible devotional art, sharing their Bhagavad-gita based perspective on life with customers, getting together for kirtan, and even chanting at yoga studios. And more and more of them are springing up everywhere.
With mouth-watering flavors and gorgeously artistic and realistic scenes, Anuradha Dasi’s cakes – made for devotee life events and festivals at Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK – are astonishing, and have to be seen to be believed. Anuradha started learning her craft by helping out temple devotees when she joined the ashram at ISKCON’s Bhaktivedanta Manor, near London, in 1988. After getting married, she assisted her husband, Manor head pujari Gadadhara Das, who remains her baking partner.
The sanskrit word for gratitude is “krta-jna” – literally meaning “to know what has been done for you.” Truly valuing the miracle of our present state, opens the doors to limitless and abundant potential.
No one takes their first drink with the desire to become alcoholics. They think that they are just having some fun; they are being cool; they are fitting into the crowd. They believe that they can drink without becoming drunkards.
From the beginning, Ananda-Lila was enchanted by Indian and Vaishnava clothing, and wanted some for her daughters Jamuna, 10, and Tulasi Priya, 2. But she had never been to India, and it was hard to find something comfortable, attractive and natural. So she began designing her own clothes for her children, to match with hers. Others wanted in too, and a unique new company was born. She called it “Mata and Me”.
When we persevere, we progress both materially and spiritually. Materially, we do greater justice to our God-given talents and make tangible contributions in this world. And spiritually, we rise in our consciousness and come closer to Krishna and the unending happiness thereof.
Long, before the advent of Islam, even as early as the third millennium BCE, India had cultural bonds with the Mesopotamian civilization, now the region of Iraq and Iran. As explained by N. N. Bhattacharya, there are plenty of references to establish a very close contact between India and the Islamic world.
Without giving attention to and genuinely caring about relationships, situations and aspirations, how can we achieve any real traction in life? Where the attention goes, energy flows, and results invariably show.
Elementary and some secondary school students at the Govardhan Academy in Saranagati, B.C., Canada have produced an inspirational and heartfelt puppet show film of how Srila Prabhupada founded ISKCON for ISKCON’s 50th anniversary. The forty-minute film premiered at Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s disappearance day at the Saranagati temple on December 17th, and was very well received. It is now available to view for free on Youtube, and the children’s stunning dedication, hard work and love for Prabhupada is evident in every frame.
“We have seen several successful social media campaigns such as Digital India and the Paris solidarity movement after the bombings when people overlaid their profile pictures with a flag,” explained Toshan Nimai Das. “Similarly, we have designed an overlay using the ISKCON 50 logo, which devotees around the world can use on top of their existing profile pictures. This way, we can build more awareness about ISKCON 50 through social media.”
Rise brings its users short bursts of wake-up wisdom from the comfort of their phones. It has simple, uncomplicated spiritual tools specific for everyone’s needs. If you’re stressed, search through the videos on stress. If you’re looking for advice on relationships, search through the videos on relationships. And if you’re looking to realize your inner self, the app may even have something for that too. It’s a practical, accessible approach to spirituality created for the modern world, which is why it all fits into everyone’s mobile.
British faith organisations, including ISKCON's Bhaktivedanta Manor say the new £5 note 'ceases to be a simple medium of exchange but becomes a medium for communicating pain and suffering'.
For the first time in the history of Chile and its Courts of Justice, a concert was held in the Hall of Honor of the Supreme Court. Never before had there been a musical presentation in this space of great historical value for the country. The concert, consisting of an exhibition of classical and devotional music from India, was performed by Krishna Sambandha, a band composed of members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Prapujaka Das (Per Jäderstrand) is just ‘an ordinary guy,’ as he’ll tell you himself. He’s not a Swami or a guru. And he’s not from India, or even America or England, but from Sweden. “Nobody knows where Sweden is,” he deadpans. But all that might make his extraordinary tale “Looking for My Life” – about searching for his identity across India and beyond – more relateable.
Tivon and Cheyenne are an African American couple in their mid-twenties. She works in a steakhouse, and he’s in marketing. Cybil, in her fifties, is a real estate agent. Jorge is a student. Lauren is a professor of music at Towson University. Maria is retired from her government agency job. Ravi is doing his postdoc in medicine at John Hopkins. Kate is a nurse and a Buddhist. And Henna works on a horse farm. They’re as diverse a group as possible, but they all have one thing in common: they’re all regular attendees at the recently re-opened Bhakti Lounge in Baltimore.
On the evening of the 27th of Oct 2016, Bollywood fashion designer Rohit Verma invited Jayapataka Swami to have a Damodar program at his fashion studio in Mumbai. It was a short and well-organized program for which Rohit Verma had invited about fifty of his close friends including Poonam Dhillon Bollywood actress, Aditi Govitrikar, Bollywood actress, Vindu Darasingh Bollywood actor, Nisha Rawal Bollywood actress, Ashish Bollywood actor, and Kanwaljit veteran designer.
Vaishnava marriage counselors Partha Das and Uttama Dasi were recently invited, under the recommendation of GBC Bhakti Vijnana Swami, to offer marital and premarital education to devotees in Moscow, Russia, for the first time. The effort was an important service to the vast and fast-growing ISKCON Moscow community, who were grateful to learn practical advice and new paradigms.
ISKCON Youth Ministry's Mexico bus tour between December 9, 2016 and January 3, 2017, will be an extraordinary adventure presenting Krishna culture festivals in towns, auditoriums and yoga studios, and visiting pyramids, jungle waterfalls and tropical beaches. "It's a life changing experience," says Manorama dasa, one of the organizers. "The young people who travel with us get a taste for the pioneering spirit of adventure, spreading Krishna consciousness, and will make devotee friends for life."
One thousand Russian devotees gathered to celebrate Diwali in spectacular style in Moscow on Saturday October 29th. The afternoon was a cultural event to commemorate welcoming Lord Rama and his wife Sita Devi back to their capital Ayodhya. Hanuman, played by Jagat-Pati Das, was a particular crowd favorite. In an incredibly realistic costume, he jumped into the crowd, involving the audience. He also invited all the children onto the stage to participate in fun games with him.
Dedicated father and pujari Ragunath Das Zaldivar is currently celebrating an incredible 14 consecutive years of Kartik festivals at his and his wife Yamuna Devi’s home in Alachua, Florida. “People like it because of the personal, family-like environment,” Ragu says. “It’s especially nice for the kids, who can get really involved. Not everyone has home Deities, but they want to see their kids engaged in service to the Lord."
ECO-Vrindaban (ECO-V) – which strives to fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s mandates for simple living and cow-protection at New Vrindaban in West Virginia, USA – is on the lookout for a new construction and maintenance person for its ongoing operations. A non-profit entity launched in 1998, ECO-V works closely with ISKCON New Vrindaban in the areas of cow protection and gardening activities. The organization looks after a total of around 800 acres.
