Forty communications staff will meet in Villa Vrindavana, Italy from May 13th to 16th for the European ISKCON Communications Conference. The conference will tackle several issues that are very relevant to ISKCON today. These include ISKCON and Politics, ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math, and Media and Religious Freedom.
I'd like to point out an important aspect of ISKCON's interaction with anti-cult organizations, or cult-watching organizations. The goal of such dialogue is not to ascertain whether ISKCON is, or is not, a "cult."
It was the first time Anti-Cult members have visited an ISKCON temple and did a presentation. It was held during Radhadesh’s hosting of the ISKCON Europe Communications conference. ISKCON is no stranger to the organisation. Over the years Anuttama Das, ISKCON Global Communications Director, has built a relationship with the organisation by attending conferences and speaking openly about ISKCON’s issues.
This year, ISKCON Communications Europe invites devotees from outside of Europe as well to discuss important international strategies and issues.
On May 28, 2008, Adam LeWinter and Director Jeff Orlowski filmed a historic breakup at the Ilulissat Glacier in Western Greenland. The calving event lasted for 75 minutes and the glacier retreated a full mile across a calving face three miles wide. The height of the ice is about 3,000 feet, 300-400 feet above water and the rest below water.
Armenian ice skating couple Grebenkina and Azrojan performed an unusual routine named "Worshipping Govinda", reminiscent of a temple dance at the Torino Winter Olympics in 2006.
Huddled together in sub-zero temperatures with no power during an ice storm this past holiday season, devotees in Toronto, Canada discovered the joy of simplicity and Krishna conscious association. The storm struck in the midst of book distributor Vaisesika Das’s annual “Festival of the Heart,” held from December 19th to 24th at ISKCON Toronto.