Urmila Devi Dasi was born Edith Manischewitz to Judy and Bernard Manischewitz in Manhattan. Her father was president and later, CEO, of the Manischewitz food company, founded by his grandfather[1]. He also served as president of his local temple. She received much training in religion, attending Camp Ramah and studying at New York's Jewish Theological Seminary. During secondary school, she was state and district champion in extemporaneous speaking, going to the quarter-finals of the national competition. She also won many awards for debate.
In 1973 she joined the Hare Krishna Movement[2], and soon afterwards married Pratyatosa dasa (Howard Best). She received first initiation in 1973 and second (brahminical) initiation in 1975. Her father, Bernard Manischewitz, became a life member of ISKCON in 1975. Urmila and Pratyatosa had three children, two sons and one daughter. They lived as householders (grhastha ashrama) for 23 years. During these years they founded two schools, one in Detroit, Michigan, and one in Hillsborough, North Carolina. They worked as a team to manage these projects, dedicating the greater part of their home and at least half of their income to starting and maintaining the schools. They were also very active in their local ISKCON temple on a daily basis.
A year or so after their oldest son was married, they accepted the vanaprastha or retired order of life according to the Vedic system. At that time Pratyatosa dasa decided to follow the instructions of the Bhagavatam to leave his wife in the care of his grown son and dedicate himself to preaching. (SB 3.23.52 purport: A householder is not expected to remain at home for all his days. After getting his sons and daughters married, a householder can retire from household life, leaving his wife in the charge of the grown-up sons.SB 3.25.5: The duty of the husband to leave home as soon as there is a grown son to take charge of his wife and family affairs.[3])
As a vanaprastha, or retired person, Urmila devi dasi gradually gave up school administration and now dedicates her time to preaching and doing consulting service for schools, educators, and parents, living on the mercy of the Lord. She spends part of the year staying with her sons and the rest of the time traveling to assist ISKCON members throughout the world.
Urmila devi dasi has her Bachelors of Science from Excelsior College of the University of the State of New York. She has a Masters of School Administration and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[4] She also has Master Practitioner certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a counseling and teaching system. She is certified in the Prepare system of pre-marital counseling. She has done ground-breaking research on job satisfaction of teachers in Krishna primary and secondary schools worldwide. She also had her Bhakti shastri degree, high honors.
Urmila Devi Dasi taught boys and girls aged 5-18 for 22 years, 18 of which she was also principal of elementary and secondary schools in ISKCON, and has managed and taught in a pre-school for 5 years[5]. In addition, she has worked as an associate principal in a government primary school. For 10 years she was a member of ISKCON’s international board of education, and for 7 years was vice-chairman of the North American board. Urmila continues to develop and teach local, national, and international seminars for trainers, educators, and managers which she has done for over two decades. She has developed and taught numerous courses for elementary, high school, college, and adult learners in a wide variety of subjects using interactive and experiential learning in addition to lecture. She’s the author of a book on management and teaching and is working on spiritual curriculum. Urmila teaches some courses, such as ISKCON History, at Bhaktivedanta College in Radhadesh, Belgium. She taught the entire Bhakti shastri program annually for 15 years, and now teaches portions of Bhakti Shastri at Bhaktivedanta Manor in London, the VIHE in Vrindavana, and other venues.
Urmila Devi Dasi currently serves as a senior member within ISKCON[6]. She regularly lectures on Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-Gita internationally. In 2003, she was nominated to potentially become ISKCON's first female initiating (diksa) guru[7]. Urmila is a writer and editor for Back to Godhead, an international magazine[8]. She helped found the Grhastha Vision Team[9]. Urmila is also a member of the Sastric Advisory Council to the Governing Body Commission[10].
I've been looking for something to use to decorate the Deity that is natural, easy to use, and allows for painting very fine designs. I've found something wonderful and thought I'd share the information.
Each person can make a big difference without action from government or any other organisation. It may take a year or more before merchants respond to visitors refusing plastic—patience and persistence will please the Lord and give us all the blessings of the holy places.
The individuality of the self is a central teaching in Vaisnava philosophy, but what is our practical understanding of this term? Individuality is present in all living beings on both a material and a spiritual level. This article translates how this concept needs to relate to education practices in ISKCON today.
Here are links to slideshows about Lord Nrsimhadeva which you can play on your computer. They are wonderfully suitable as presentations for public classes—or for your own transcendental pleasure at home. The slideshows are of professional quality, although they were all made by devotee children.
In this regard, there are both kinds and degrees of illicit sex. The fact that one can categorize them all as "illicit" does not equate them, nor will there be the equivalent type and severity of reaction. And some types of "illicit" sex are more likely to bring one to a pious platform than are others.
If you want to improve the situation for Vrindavana’s ecology, cows, bulls, and local residents, there is a fantastic program you can support or join. It is so simple it has no official name other than “Bullock Cart Preaching.”
Following the desire of Lord Caitantya, Prabhupada widely advertised Vrindavana throughout the world. The Lord and His servants do not intend, therefore, for Vrindavana to remain as unpopulated fields. We have followed the order to spread Vrindavana’s glories, and now we must, ethically, guide that development properly, dealing with the unintended negative consequences of development as our service, as well.
While showing his extraordinary prowess, Hiranyakasipu, who desired to kill his own son, heard that wonderful, tumultuous sound, which had never before been heard. Upon hearing the sound, the other leaders of the demons were afraid. None of them could find the origin of that sound in the assembly.
Do you have or know about books or other educational materials for children, their parents, or teachers that teach Vedic philosophy or that give a scriptural point of view to academic subjects? Do you home-school and have written lessons for your own children?
The I-Foundation, in cooperation with Bhaktivedanta Manor in London, is seeking qualified writers, researchers, and artists to create and compile Vedic-based educational materials for children ages 3-7 that will meet the requirements of the UK National Curriculum. The service will start in December 2006 and continue until April 2008.
Bottle of juice it says in the store But really, store clerk, we don’t want anymore. It’s just water and sugar, colored flavor, not nice A chemical drink that one pours over ice. In colors fantastic—bright red and lime green Juice it is not, though at first it might seem Real to those captured in maya’s strong dream
He will think, "I don't like pain, so why should I give pain to an animal just so I can eat?" He’ll be honest: “I don't like to be cheated, so why should I cheat others?” And he'll always speak beneficially: “I like to hear the truth, I don’t like to be insulted, and I want to hear what is useful to me. Let me speak to others that way.” A truly educated person, therefore, will try not to hurt anyone, even by his words.
Finally I came to understand. The devotees there have the deities as their only possession and only wealth. Gradually, as I came to think about the tremendous austerity there coupled with the unprecedented attraction of the Deities, I concluded that Krishna reciprocates with this intense one-pointed devotion by revealing His beauty and sweetness to a great degree not experienced elsewhere.
Why do we desire a never-ending, ever-increasing happiness, a happiness not dependent on any experience of sadness, in a world that doesn't seem to afford such a phenomenon? In other words, if such happiness doesn't exist, why would anyone look for it?
Thomas J. Hopkins is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin & Marshall college (Lancaster, PA, USA) and Director of Academic Affairs for the Oxford Centre for Vaisnava and Hindu Studies for 1998-99. He is the author of The Hindu Religious Tradition and has published numerous articles and encyclopaedia entries on aspects of Indian religious life ranging from the Indus Civilization to modern Bengal Vaisnavism. His special interest in the Vaisnava devotional tradition led to his first meeting with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in New York in 1966, which focussed his attention on the newly emerging ISKCON movement and started a long-term study of ISKCON's history and theology.
Radha Devi Dasi (Rebecca Corina) obtained her first degree in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1983. She went on to graduate from Harvard Law School in 1986. Radha devi dasi spent six years practicing environmental and insurance law, after which she went on to teach law, first at San Diego Law School and latter at Chapman University School where she held the position of Assistant Professor of Law. She is currently serving as the Legal Director of ISKCON's North American Temple Support Office and is on the Board of Directors of the North American Women's Ministry.
Urmila Devi Dasi (Edith E. Best) joined ISKCON in 1973 in Chicago. Her primary work has been in the area of education. In 1982-83 in Detroit, Michigan, she and her husband started an ISKCON primary school, which gradually grew to include secondary students, where she served as Principal for eight years. She went on to found another primary and secondary school in North Carolina in 1990, where she continues to be the Principal. Urmila devi dasi has compiled Vaikuntha Children, a guidebook for education in ISKCON and is currently writing and coordinating the development of a Krsna conscious academic curriculum for primary and secondary students. She has for many years written on the education column for ISKCON's Back to Godhead magazine, where she is also associate editor.
Jan K. Brzezinski completed his Ph.D at the London School of Oriental and African Studies in 1992, where he researched Jiva Goswami's Gopala-campu. He has since gone on to publish numerous articles on subjects related to Gaudiya Vaisnava history and literature. A definitive annotated translation of Rupa Goswami's messenger poems, Uddhava-sandesa and Hamsaduta, will be published by Mandala Publishing Group in January 1999, San Francisco, entiled The Mystic Poetry of Rupa Goswami.
Hari-dhama Dasa (Henry T. Dom) has been working with the elderly for more than ten years and with dying AIDS, cancer and Motor Neurone Disease patients for the last five years. He manages a mental health unit in London in which holistic care forms part of the care plan for those dealing with mental health problems. He is currently developing a spiritual care module for Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai, India, involving an international doctor/nurse clinical/educational facility between Bhaktivedanta Hospital and three leading medical institutions in London. He is one of the founder members of the Masterplan Committee for the planned ISKCON Vaisnava hospice and residential home for Vrndavan, India. He is Chairperson of a new London-based charity, Quo Vadis, which supports homeless people with stress-related illness. He is presently doing doctoral research into spiritual care.
Dhira-govinda Dasa (David Wolfe) holds a B.Sc. in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University, an MSW from Florida State University, and is currently working toward obtaining a Ph.D. in Social Work from Florida State University. He has worked for eight years in Pennsylvania and Florida in mental health and social service fields such as foster care, crisis-intervention, and medical social work. For the past five years he has provided counselling and social services, including child abuse investigations, for the Vaisnava community in Alachua County, Florida, USA, of which he is the Chairman of the Board of Directors. He was appointed Director of the ISKCON Child Protection Office in April 1998.
E. Burke Rochford, Jr. is Professor of Sociology at Middlebury College in Vermont, USA. He has studied the Hare Krsna Movement for over twenty years. His book on family, the second generation and the development of ISKCON is in progress. In addition to his academic studies, he has served as a member of ISKCON's North American Board of Education.
Nicholas Coote is Assistant General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. He has worked in public relations for the Catholic Church for over twenty years. He has contributed to numerous articles on analyese or the Chruch's public and social policy especially in the field of interpreting and using Cannon Law in relation to Secular Law. He has been Secretary of two Working Parties on Child Abuse and a member of a third. He has contributed to and written reports on the child abuse. One of his personal interests is in promoting the understanding of Catholic Law and Catholic teaching to the lay community. He has recently been working on a Human Rights statement on the Catholic Church for the United Nations.
Edwin Bryant is lecturer in Indology at the Committee for the Study of World Religion at Harvard University. His areas of interest are Indic Studies and Comparitive Religion. He working on a number of publications projects, one of which is a book entitled Indo-Aryan Origins: Contested Narratives (Curzon Press) which he is co-editing with Laurie Patton and is due to be published in 1999.
Edward L. Palmer holds a Ph.D. in Educational Measurement and Research and has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and Florida State University. He has been actively involved in educational television planning research and advocacy for more than thirty years. He is among the founders of the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), where he played a key role in the creation of Sesame Street. His book Television and America's Children: A crisis of Neglect (Oxford University Press, 1998) is credited with sparking the US Congress to create a National Endowment for Children's Educational Television. He has consulted extensively for UNICEF, and is a consultant to the non-profit making organisation, Search for Common Ground, as well as being active in establishing a new educational television production centre in Pakistan. Edward is Chairman of the Board for the US Children's advocacy group, Coalition for Quality Children's Media.
Gavin Flood is senior lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Wales, Lampeter. He has published two books, Body and Cosmology in Kashmir Saivism (Mellen, 1993) and Introduction to Hinduism (CUP, 1996), while his new book, Rethinking the Study of Religion (Cassell) will be coming out in 1999. His interests include the traditions of Kerala, Saivism and contemporary cultural theory.
Owen Cole has taught at all levels of education. He held the position of Visiting Professor at Punjab University, Patiala in 1983. He holds a PhD in Sikh Studies and currently teaches at Chichester Institute of Higher Education. He has written or contributed to over 30 books and written over 25 articles, including: Six Religions in the Twentieth Century (Stanley Thornes 1984); The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (co-author) (Sussex Academic Press 1995); Spirituality in Focus (editor) (Heinemann 1997); Teach Yourself Sikhism (Hodder and Stoughton 1994); Teach Yourself Hinduism (co-author) (Hodder and Stoughton 1995).
Anuradha Devi Dasi (Anne Dooney) joined ISKCON in 1990 in Ireland, having obtained her BA (Hons) in sociology from University College Dublin. She helped organised the first Vaisnava-Christian Conference at Bhaktivedanta Manor, England in 1997 and is active in interfaith work in the UK and abroad. She was one of the consultants in the compiling of ISKCON's Interfaith Statement. Anuradha devi dasi also teaches the Communications and Interfaith courses to members of ISKCON in the UK and abroad. She is currently working on a programme of weekend retreats designed to encourage the spiritual development of the individual.
Arti Kachhia is a life long member of ISKCON in England. She read History at Trinity College, Cambridge University. She is interested in interfaith work and has helped in the compilation of ISKCON's Interfaith Statement and Interfaith course for members of the Society. She is currently working as an editor for the ISKCON Communications Journal.
This video is just one evening's darshan of Chandan Yatra which goes on for 21 days in Sri Jagannath Puri dham. During Chandan-yatra, Sri Jagannathdev every evening goes to Chandan Sarovar and enjoy boating pastimes. Music is Jaya Jaya Sundara Nanda Kumar written by Srila Rupa Goswami sung by Hare Krsna Brahmacari.
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