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by Cintāmaṇi Mādhavī Devī Dāsī (Kirtan Course Alumna 2014) In 2014 I had to move from the town where I was born in Chile to the capital, Santiago, to continue with my studies of journalism. I rented a little room in the downtown of the city. When I arrived, a student living there warned me: “This place is nice. The only thing that may annoy you is that your window is right next to a Hare Kṛṣṇa temple, and they chant the whole day.” Maybe he’s exaggerating, I thought. But the first week, I knew he was telling the truth. From early in the mornin

“We were able to convince the leadership across the country that we don’t want to just perform marriages anymore – we actually want to support and nurture marriages,” says Partha. “We’re trying to create a culture where premarital education is an integral part of marriage in ISKCON.” “It’s important that you look for someone with similar values, personality and lifestyle,” says Uttama. “For instance, someone who shares your work ethics, family values, and the way you practice Krishna consciousness.” Of course, she acknowledges, it is fine and natura

Splendid Instructions to the Mind (Sri Manah-siksa) is at once both hopefully inspiring and blatantly honest. To read it well entails an authentic appraisal of the state of one’s heart and mind, an experience of recognition and acceptance that is at once sweet and sour, comforting and uncompromising. Continue reading →

Of course we all know that our main devotional activity is chanting the holy name. We understand this is the yuga dharma, the dharma for this age. It’s a very disturbed age, the age of kali and it’s known to be an ocean of faults, but there’s one good quality in this age. When one chants the names of Krishna, one is free from material existence. So as we chant Hare Krishna, we can come into a prayerful mood. There are many kinds of prayer and technically one may consider chanting Hare Krishna as having the characte

  It’s a prestigious position that brings to mind a gruff, silver-bearded elder. But Radhika Ramana flips that idea on its head. At a youthful 34, he’s got a beaming smile of pearly whites and a full head of black hair. He’s also disarmingly unpretentious despite his astonishing academic journey. Homeschooled by his mother Aruddha Dasi at his home in Boise, Idaho, Radhika followed a highly unconventional curriculum based mostly on Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam, from which he learned reading, writing, comprehension, grammar, and critical

Bhaktivedanta College Belgium hosted the 2nd European Yoga Congress from May 27th to 29th, sharing insights and techniques with thirteen different yoga schools from twelve countries. The seeds of the event were sewn in November 2014, when many different yoga organizations met at Yoga Vidya in Germany, Europe’s largest yoga ashram, to explore commonalities and possibilities for cooperation. That gathering resulted in the creation of the European Yoga Confederation, and an agreement to hold a European Yoga Congress every two years. This year’s event i

Dear friends of Bhaktivedanta College, as we are always exploring new ways to upgrade our educational offer and as we were approached many times from your side to introduce a degree in yoga studies, we wanted to get an insight into your needs and preferences in order to offer you the best possible experience. Please take 2 minutes of your time to answer 5 simple questions HERE – it will help us a lot! Thank you in advance!

Interviewer: How has everything been for you since the Kirtan Course 2015? What has it been like having to resume high school immediately after you left? Katharina: I think I can say that the kirtan course was a very significant event for my devotional life. It made me understand to which extent devotional service (and especially the chanting of the Holy Name) can, and should be a part of our everyday life. When I went back to high school, I felt myself in the wrong movie. This feeling was very strong. I was sitting in the lessons and tried to pay a

Written by: Sive Mjindi As the sun set on Thursday, April 14th, Vrije Universiteit, in Brussels, opened its doors for a dialogue with the East. Students and staff from Bhaktivedanta College in Belgium delivered presentations on Eastern and Hindu philosophy and religion for the first time at Vrije Universiteit. Graciously hosted by Professor Werner de Saeger (Dept. of Religious Studies), the event was attended by a small delegation of academia and students, and it sparked a lot of discussion between the two Religious Studies programs. The audience wa