[5.30 P.M, 27th April, Kolkata] H.G Pankajanghri Prabhu’s situation is the same. He has the same oxygen requirements which are high and is unable to stay without the support of the BiPAP machine to breathe. Small activities like taking prasadam make him very tired, and takes a long time toContinue Reading

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The Deities have been moved. The room behind the altar which had Deity dresses has burnt to ashes. Deity dressing area at Kolkata ISKCON temple, behind the Deities, caught up the huge fire, probably due to some electrical short circuit. All the Deity dresses were kept there, all of thoseContinue Reading

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When conducting any survey, one of the most important concerns a researcher has is in eliminating bias. Even if the bias is unintentional, if your survey is biased in any way, the results will be unreliable or misleading. As declared in the first verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam, “The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all.” Bias prevents the discovery of truth. Therefore, both researchers and devotees have a common interest in eliminating bias.

My overall assessment of the survey is that while some of the questions are reasonable and interesting and not without some utility for ISKCON policymakers, the survey itself is strongly biased to produce results that reflect the opinion of the survey’s sponsor. In the survey there are various problems of response bias, especially framing bias, and also selection bias. It is also apparent that those who created the survey are unfamiliar with some of the basic principles of survey design. Prior experience and training do matter.

Now, I will present examples of these different biases. After that, I will address some general epistemological issues related to this survey and its purposes.Continue Reading

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Excerpt from “Memories-Anecdotes of a Modern-Day Saint”  by Siddhanta das www.prabhupadamemories.com “Health is number one, chanting is number two, service is number three, and then comes reading,” Prabhupada said, “Don’t leave any one of them out. There is a spirit soul in every single one of them.”  Kusa: I was only ableContinue Reading

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