What is ISKCON.NET?
ISKCON.NET is the official communication and collaboration system for ISKCON members. It is based on G Suite (formerly known as Google Apps) and is provided free of cost.
What can I do with ISKCON.NET?
To learn more, please visit the G Suite website.
Who can join ISKCON.NET?
Any ISKCON member can join, although ISKCON.NET’s management retains sole discretion on who can participate in ISKCON.NET. ISKCON membership is defined in GBC Resolution 2014/320. ISKCON membership is free and self-declared, and carries no rights.
Does my use of ISKCON.NET indicate that I am an ISKCON officer/employee/volunteer?
No. For safety reasons, emails that leave the ISKCON.NET domain name contain a disclaimer to this effect and a link to further disclosures.
Why are we using the domain name ISKCON.NET?
We want to use a domain name containing the word ISKCON so that we can promote our brand and mission. We want full-time devotees and congregational devotees to be on a single domain name. But it would not be appropriate to use the main official domain names iskcon.org and iskcon.com. Hence we chose the domain name iskcon.net.
I already have an email address for my devotional life. Why should I join ISKCON.NET?
There are many benefits to being on ISKCON.NET, and we’ve highlighted some uses cases too. Bringing devotees onto a single cloud-based enterprise-class platform creates incredible opportunities for communication and collaboration that we otherwise could not and would not achieve. Also, you can receive email from your external email address, and send email as your external email address, from your ISKCON.NET email account.
Isn’t this too much ‘centralisation’ and ‘control’?
No, in fact it’s quite the opposite. ISKCON.NET empowers devotees to create local impact on a global scale. ISKCON.NET centralises the part that is an unnecessary and expensive distraction to thousands of leaders, employees and volunteers: technology sourcing and administration. ISKCON.NET seeks to completely decentralise everything else: communication, collaboration, knowledge sharing, planning, project management, event management, centre management.
How do I join ISKCON.NET?
Sign up here.
What is an internal user?
An internal user is a full member of ISKCON.NET, has a Google Account and @iskcon.net email address, and has access to the G Suite products that are made available by us.
What is an external contact?
An external contact is an ISKCON member who does not want an ISKCON.NET account but simply would like to appear in the ISKCON.NET directory for the benefit of internal users to email them. External contacts cannot see the directory because an ISKCON.NET account is required to see it.
What is the ISKCON.NET email address and display name format?
ISKCON.NET email addresses and display names take the following formats:
Example – Initiated: Krishna Das <krishna.acbsp@iskcon.net>
Example – Not initiated: Firstname Lastname <firstname.lastname@iskcon.net>
Example – Centre or Department: ISKCON Mayapur <mayapur@iskcon.net>
See our Email Naming Policy for more details.
Why does the naming convention include guru’s initials?
Simply for ease of identification. Many initiated names are the same because they are taken from our lineage, however in general one guru will give a certain name to only one of his disciples. Hence it is much easier to uniquely identify an individual if his/her guru is known. For example, identifying Krishna Das is difficult because there may be many devotees with this name, but (in general) there will only be one Krishna Das ACBSP.
Which guru has which initials?
Most of the common initials are given on the Guru Initials page.
Can I have an alias?
Yes, we permit each user to have two aliases. An alias is an alternative email address for the same mailbox. For example, if your main email address is krishna.acbsp@iskcon.net, then you could have an alias kd@iskcon.net to receive emails to the same mailbox. However, an individual account cannot have an alias which indicates a centre or department, and vice versa. You can also send mail as your alias.
See our Email Naming Policy for more details.
Who owns the data in my account?
Each ISKCON.NET user owns the data in his/her ISKCON.NET account. ISKCON as a global institution is receiving and providing this technology free of cost. Our vendors grant us ownership of the data in our licensed instances, and we in turn grant each user ownership of the data in your account. Technically, we have the ability to reset your password and therefore we could access your data. However, we will never access your data without your permission unless a law enforcement agency legally obliges us to do so. It’s unlikely that they would ask us, as it’s easier for them to ask Google.
Please see our Confidentiality and Privacy page for more details.
You are free to export your account data and/or close your account at any time.
Can ISKCON suspend or close my account?
Yes. We may suspend or close your account if you significantly breach our terms of use or those of Google. However, we will generally give you enough time to export your data first. Emails can be downloaded to your computer or migrated to another web-mail service, and files can be downloaded to your computer.
Can I use my ISKCON.NET account for personal or commercial purposes?
Yes, you can use your account for any legal purpose that conforms with Google’s terms of service and our terms. We will never monitor how you use your account, but if we become aware that you are misusing your account then we will take action.
Can I manage my ISKCON.NET email with my existing external email account?
Yes. You can automatically forward all incoming ISKCON.NET emails to your external email account and receive and read them there. And you can send all ISKCON.NET emails via your external email account using SMTP. In this way you can retain copies of all incoming and outgoing ISKCON.NET emails in your external email account, and you need not regularly log in to your ISKCON.NET account for simple email access.
Can I use a desktop or mobile mail client to manage my ISKCON.NET email and work offline?
Yes. You can actually work offline with the Gmail Offline Chrome App on the desktop Chrome browser. Or you can use any desktop or mobile mail client that accepts POP or IMAP protocols. You must activate POP or IMAP in your Gmail settings first, and then follow the instructions linked above. We recommend IMAP rather than POP as POP is an outdated technology and does not allow for synchronisation. Leading desktop mail clients include Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird and Opera Mail. There are special instructions for using G Suite email with Microsoft Outlook. Leading mobile mail apps include Mail app on iOS, Email app on Android, and Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail and Zoho Mail apps on both iOS and Android.
How do I avoid seeing email image attachments by default?
You can use the Mobile browser version of Gmail.
How do I use webmail with a very slow internet connection?
You can use the Basic HTML version of Gmail.
Can I keep personal documents in my ISKCON.NET account Google Drive?
Yes. But be aware that it is not possible to transfer ownership of Google Drive files out to an external Google Account. You can only transfer ownership of online files to another account in ISKCON.NET. However, you can share files with external Google Accounts and they can make new copies that are independent of ISKCON.NET. You can also download files to your computer and do with them as you wish, then delete the online files from ISKCON.NET.
Can I have an @iskcon.net email account for my team/temple/department/ministry/project?
Yes, if it is official. Only natural persons and official centres and departments can have accounts. Natural persons can register on our form. Team leaders and temple presidents can request accounts for teams/centres by contacting us from their individual ISKCON.NET accounts. Each centre can have only one main official account (e.g. delhi@iskcon.net) but can also have many departmental accounts (e.g. delhi.guesthouse@iskcon.net). Consider whether you actually need a mailbox – if you do not then consider using one of these alternatives instead:
a) An alias to your existing ISKCON.NET email address e.g. You can ask us to create up to two aliases for your mailbox.
b) A ‘+’ alias to your existing ISKCON.NET email address e.g. if your email address is krishna.acbsp@iskcon.net then you can simply use an unlimited number of aliases such as krishna.acbsp+1@iskcon.net.
c) An ISKCON.NET Google Group (mailing list).
