Readers outside India may never have heard of Noida, where an impressive ISKCON temple opened in February. It’s a planned township across the Yamuna River from New Delhi. Started in the 1970s, it has grown steadily, and since 1998 ISKCON’s presence has grown along with it. By focusing on spiritual education, Govind Dham, as the temple is known, is sure to benefit many people in the greater Delhi area.
Skeptics sometimes challenged Srila Prabhuprda on whether ISKCON was helping people in any practical way. He would often reply that ISKCON’s contribution was education – giving people the highest spiritual knowledge, to their eternal benefit. An example of the refined spiritual information that ISKCON, in the line of Sri Caitanya Mahrprabhu, presents to the world appears in Satyaraja Drsa’s article in this issue, “Sehnsucht: When Vocabulary Encourages Yearning for Krishna.” Another example of the practical value of ISKCON’s message appears in “Death and Dying in the Vedic Tradition,” an excerpt from a new book by Giriraja Swami. What could be more relevant than learning how to face one’s death? “Finding Shelter,” by Navina Syama Dasa, also gives practical knowledge. Faced with the unrelenting challenges of life, where can we turn for sure relief?
Our Purposes
• To help all people discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary.
• To expose the faults of materialism.
• To offer guidance in the Vedic techniques of spiritual life.
• To preserve and spread the Vedic culture.
• To celebrate the chanting of the holy names of God as taught by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahrprabhu.
• To help every living being remember and serve Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead.