Monthly Archives: March 2014

Maha Siva-ratri, Februry 28, Moorpark, California
Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.30.38 on the occasion of Siva-ratri. “Srila Prabhupada said that there are two Sanskrit words: puja and bhakti. In puja one worships the deity to get some material benefit, and in bhakti one serves and worships only to give pleasure to the deity—without expectation of personal return. Generally people worship Siva […]

Transmigration of Soul is Scientific, it is not just a Hindu belief
→ The Spiritual Scientist

First of all we have to understand what we are. Am I this body or something else? This is the first question. I was trying to answer this, but some people in my audience thought it was a kind of Hindu culture. It is not Hindu culture. It is a scientific conception. You are a […]

Have you visited WpRecipes today?

Vrindavana As It Is – sharing the glories of Vrindavan with all of you! (Album 104 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Photos by Indradyumna Swami: The first thing I did today was walk around Vrindavan. It was so nice to see again the people and places that have become familiar to me over the years. Though I often go on parikrama it always feels like the ‘first time,’ due to Vrindavan’s being a transcendental abode. I took my trusty camera to share the glories of Vrindavan with all of you! Read more ›

Sannyasa Initiation ceremony of Badrinarayan prabhu in Mayapur – 2 videos
→ Dandavats.com

Sivarama Swami awarded yesterday the entrance of the sannyasa order for Badrinarayan prabhu now known as Badrinarayana dasa Goswami at Sri Mayapura Dhama! Badrinarayan Dasa Goswami’s commitment to the GBC is lengthy, spanning twenty-four years, and he genuinely appreciates his peers as wonderful, kind, intelligent, powerful and humble members of that body, who take on the weight of service and responsibility for the whole society. (In the photo Badrinarayan Dasa Goswami before taking sannyasa) Read more ›

Top Gear
→ Tattva - See inside out

You may (or may not) be surprised to know that our monks don’t have the best track record with vehicles. We seem to be in and out of the mechanics every couple of weeks. As I patiently waited for a tyre change on Monday, I began thinking of how a spiritual movement is just like a car.

Spiritual Inspiration (fuel) – just as cars need juice, the impetus for a movement comes from vibrancy of spirituality. Only when members are feeling inspired, nourished and happy, can the movement push forward and impact the world. To give life, we ourselves have to be alive.

Organisation & Structure (machinery) – if the mechanics are suspect, the car will constantly start and stop; lots of frustration and very little progress. Similarly, a movement can only stride forward when proper systems are in place to focus, channel and sustain the momentum. Even spirit needs to be managed.

Culture & Ethos (steering) – cars need navigation through the urban landscape. Inattentive steering will damage the car, injure the passengers and wreak havoc for everyone else. In the same way, only when a movement is grounded in the culture of respect, and human dealings are conducted in a saintly manner, can we pass through conflicts, issues and obstacles and without inflicting permanent damage.

Good cars with able drivers can’t move without fuel.
Mechanically suspect cars will invariably breakdown.
Bad drivers crash even the best cars.
Fuel, machinery and steering: all three are essential to reach the top gear.

New Vrindaban’s Transcendental “Throwback Thursday” – 03/06/14
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

New Vrindaban’s Transcendental “Throwback Thursday” – 03/06/14. Each week we highlight an earlier era of ISKCON New Vrindaban. This week’s challenge: In the photo, with Srila Prabhupada, are nine devotees whose faces can be seen. Can you correctly identify them all? Extra credit: Who is the person directly behind Srila Prabhupada (whose face can’t be seen, but […]

Prayer Beads
→ View From a New Vrindaban Ridge

From Institute for Contemplative Practice Throughout history, humankind has strung, counted and worn beads not only as a form of religious devotion, but as an act of meditation to focus the mind, help solve problems, and dispel fear. The use of prayer beads is not a practice recently invented or introduced, but is archetypal in nature, and common […]

New Vrindaban Daily darsan @ March 5, 2014
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

O brother, when you close your eyes in death, where will your loving wife, children, brothers, relatives and friend be? Where will your good qualities be? Where will your fame be? Where will your pride, wealth, education, control over others, and other powers and opulences be? O learned and intelligent friend, why do you not […]

Dreaming a Quest up the Relationship Mountain
→ Karnamrita.das's blog

Author: 

Karnamrita Das

(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player is needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer; if you are using Google Chrome it will automatically play, so to not listen, mute your speakers.)
Relationship Mountain photo RelationshipMountainClimbing_zps42556f3c.jpg
Amidst thoughts about my past in my Fatal Attractions series (still in process) and how it relates to my present, I have thought, and felt, deeply about relationships I have had, and endeavored for. In response to my contemplation I wrote this free verse poem. It is full of angst and intense emotion for my failed relationships, disappointments in good ones, and my hopes and aspirations. While most of us value relationships highly, they are also the source of our greatest distress and sadness. Everyone wants to be loved and understood, but it is never quite to the degree we want. Even in what seem the best of relationships we may be separated from our beloved through death, debilitating disease, divorce, or mental imbalances, as in dementia.

Examining the depth of my capacity to love, I question who in this world can we love and understand that is capable of fully accepting our heart’s gifts? At least in my experience, no one can completely satisfy either our desire to love, or to be loved in return. This could be depressing or could point to our goal of loving and serving Radha-Krishna with our spiritual heart and soul. The negative impetus for such love and service is our bitter experience, or at least disappointments, in worldly relationships, while the positive impetus comes from our taste in spiritual practices and eventually our pure love for Krishna, or prema. All relationships with others and our dealings with the things of this world are meant to point us in the direction of Krishna, as the source of everything, and the complete object of our love. Our desire for unending and ever-increasing love can only be fulfilled by the One who can accept our love unlimitedly, and that is Krishna, the fountainhead of all relationships (rasas), the cynosure of our eyes, heart, and soul.

I
I’m a disabled person
climbing a mountain:
my words are my hammer,
feelings are my spikes, and rope,
I know not if they’ll hold or help me up,
in giving me a grip on my steady journey
to avoid be hurled down by trolls;
I only have my effort and a prayer
with the aspiration to reach the top
where I find the entrance to your self-universe:

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