Monthly Archives: March 2014

From the Garden — 3/23/14
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Greetings from the Garden: After a few weeks spending time in the garden I have now seen its huge potential. Many hours have been spent trimming, pruning, and doing a thorough pest investigation of  the blackberries and red raspberries. I found raspberry crown borer. The borer lives in the roots and crown of the plant.  […]

Sunday, March 23rd, 2014
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Regina, Saskatchewan
Any Little Walking…
Any little walking done today was in sections.  I did a stretch of a Saskatoon suburb, a stretch along Highway 11, also Albert Street in Regina, and also including a little piece of the Trans Canada Highway, Highway 1.
In between I visited two mandirs (temples), primarily to speak and to chant.  At the Lakshmi Narayan Temple, I spoke from Bhagavad Gita, 2.1, wherein Arjuna addresses Krishna as Madhusudhana, which refers to Him as the slayer of a demon.  With this nomenclature, Arjuna appeals to Krishna, and hopes that Krishna will extinguish the demon of doubt.
Doubt isn’t always necessarily a negative feature.  It could simply represent a sign of intelligence and that one is craving to clarify some internal confusion.  A serious doubt that lingers, however, could hamper one’s moving ahead, and therefore, one may push on to clear this blockage.  This was the situation with Arjuna, and so he referred to the confusion within as a demon that needed to end. 
In Regina, at the ISKCON Centre, I spoke from Bhagavad Gita 9.30, which deals with God’s compassion over the soul who has slipped from dharma.  The message was that even if one slips from duty and commits a moral error, however big it may be, it doesn’t mean that one has slipped out of grace.  One is given another chance.  One needs only to be determined, to be rightly situated in attitude. 
I really liked some of the questions that followed after the talk, including Adrian’s query.  Adrian is only 7 or 8, “How do you get real love?” 
In short, I explained, “Generally if you give love, you’ll get love.”
May the Source be with you!
8 KM

Vyasa Puja 2014: Update
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The salt, wind blown waves of the sandy shores of Jagannath Puri dham await us all in an unlikely yet familiar place—at the 61st Vyasa Puja ceremony of our dear Guru Maharaj in Radhadesh, Belgium. This year we will take a trip to the transcendental realm of Lord Chaitanya’s pastimes with the Lord of the […]

Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-03-24 15:34:00 →

1966 March 24:
“Chaturthi. The temple house seems to be occupied. Do not know whether sold or rented out. I am mortified. Let Lord Sri Krishna’s wish be fulfilled. But it is a great shock to me if it is now gone to others. Captain Pandiya with Mrs. Pandiya came to see me. They are happy and I was so pleased to see them. They will come tomorrow again. Three ladies and three gentlemen besides the captain and his wife attended the meeting today. Mr. Robert brought some fruits & grains for me.”
Prabhupada Letters :: 1966

Sydney Ratha Yatra 2014 (Album 244 photos)
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Lord Krishna once overheard a conversation about how His dearest devotees, the cowherd maidens of Vrindavana, were lamenting in His absence. When He heard these accounts of overwhelming love in separation, the Lord’s hair began to stand on end, His eyes opened wide and filled with tears, and His arms and legs contracted as He went into a state of spiritual ecstasy. Seeing Lord Krishna in this condition, His elder brother, Balarama (Baladeva), also began to feel ecstatic symptoms and displayed similar features. When Their sister, Subhadra, arrived at the scene, she too became consumed with ecstatic joy. Thus the sublime deity forms of Jagannatha, Subhadra, and Baladeva represent this sweet pastime.

The festival of Ratha-yatra represents Lord Jagannatha’s longing to reunite with His dear devotees in Vrindavana, foremost among them, Srimati Radharani. According to tradition, the Lord gets lovesick once a year just prior to the festival. To cheer him up, His servants arrange for Him to go on a lavish procession to meet up with His devotees. Read more ›

Huge Gaurapurnima celebration in Moscow, with initiations, public program, dramas and more! (Album 314 photos)
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New Temporary ISKCON Temple Opens in Moscow. The new rented place is spacious and beautifully renovated. But still not spacious enough to accomodate the crowd of five to ten thousand people that are expected to visit the Centre on Janmashtami. That is why, says temple president Sadhu-priya das, devotees are seeing this as a temporary place and are making continuous efforts to acquire a place of their own. But though the place is temporary, it will fulfill the spiritual needs of the Moscow devotee community. Read more ›

Saturday, March 22nd, 2013
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Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Eager
What can I say about today?  Well, the family I’m staying with, Kasyapa Muni and wife Panchami, Sanjay and daughter, Radhika, are quite excited about new prospects which are both physical and spiritual.
Recently they bought a larger home, it’s a done deal, and they’ll be moving in soon.  That’s the physical part.  The spiritual portion is this evening they will be installing in their current home, not a new set of furniture, not a new car for the garage, no indoor swimming pool or a fish tank with exotic fish, or a husky dog for a pet.  What they are zealous about is the installation of a gorgeous set of deities of Radha and Krishna for their shrine in the living room.  Friends then came in the evening for an abhiseka ritual.  I lead the chanting and explained to all the symbolic and relevant meanings behind the standard motions and rituals involved. 
In a home where a family executes bhakti (devotion), these types of ceremonies, arrangements and such add a good dose of colour, shape and meaning to life when positive images of devotion avail themselves to the viewers.  Daily puja (rituals) will be conducted, short and sweet.  People are welcome to participate.
While puja has become an integral part of my life, I also balance such events, whether at a home or in the ashram, with meeting the outdoors.  Of course, for me it means walking and chanting simultaneously.  Divinity can be found within and without, indoors and outdoors.  Over the years I have also come to realize, as I’ve heard and read about this one principle over and over again, that there’s nothing quite so precious in the rendering of devotion as companionship that comes either in the form of a spiritually grounded person or a spiritually eager person. 
May the Source be with you!
8 KM

For One Who Explains This
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ya idaḿ paramaḿ guhyaḿ
mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati
bhaktiḿ mayi parāḿ kṛtvā
mām evaiṣyaty asaḿśayaḥ

TRANSLATION
For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me.

PURPORT
Generally it is advised that Bhagavad-gītā be discussed amongst the devotees only, for those who are not devotees will understand neither Kṛṣṇa nor Bhagavad-gītā. Those who do not accept Kṛṣṇa as He is and Bhagavad-gītā as it is should not try to explain Bhagavad-gītā whimsically and become offenders. Bhagavad-gītā should be explained to persons who are ready to accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

It is a subject matter for the devotees only and not for philosophical speculators. Anyone, however, who tries sincerely to present Bhagavad-gītā as it is will advance in devotional activities and reach the pure devotional state of life. As a result of such pure devotion, he is sure to go back home, back to Godhead.

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.68

New Vrindaban Daily darsan @ March 23, 2014.
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In Vrndavana I see the black bee of Krsna sometimes land at Radha’s lotus feet, sometimes drink the nectar of Her lotus mouth and sometimes becomes attached to Her lotus-bud breasts. [Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, 1-96 Translation.] Please click here for more photos

Modern man knows no sin
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 March 2014, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.46) We see in Caitanya Caritamtra, it is mentioned in Madhya Lila, chapter nineteen where it is leading to Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructing Rupa Goswami; a description is given that out of so many living beings within the universe, there are only very few in the […]

What is happening to the devotees of Iskcon Ukraine?
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Today, Ukraine is all over the news for the worrisome events that are happening in the zone, along with government unrest and military intervention from Russia. But devotees are safe, and doing what they can to assist those affected.

Back in 1980 when Ukranian devotees Amala Bhakta Das, Kirtida Dasi, Achyuta Priya Das and Tungavidya Sakhi Dasi started ISKCON in Kiev, the country was also a troubled place, then under the communist regime. But in contrast to the situation today, back then devotees encountered extreme trials in their attempts to spread Krishna consciousness.

Throughout the 1980s, devotees were put in prison and subjected to inhuman treatment in “psychiatric wards”. One of the most prominent, Bharadvaja Das, was arrested more than 20 times and was heavily drugged in an attempt to remove his devotion to Krishna. Read more ›