Monthly Archives: July 2015

Consciousness is “light” (jyoti) because light illuminates the world and makes it perceptible. External objects are described as “dark” (tamas) because they are insentient. Yes, this is a dualistic paradigm, but is nonetheless useful and accurate because it describes the situation in the external world – which in fact is a dualistic reality. Infinite lights […]

When people in the West throw their clothes away, their cast-offs often go on a journey east, across the oceans, to India’s industrial interior.

Modern science also supports this Ayurvedic claim that water stored in copper vessel up to 16 hours is able to considerably reduce the presence of harmful bacteria.

We had a wonderful Festival of India this month but the summer fun isn’t over yet – join us for the annual Summer Kids Camp, which is happening this year from August 4-7th (Tuesday – Friday every day).You can register for any number of days! As always …

This tale of Pṛthu’s confrontation with the Earth Goddess continues from my previous post. “I will destroy you,” Pṛthu replied, “because you do not observe my orders.” She would certainly wonder, “what orders did you ever give me?” So he explained that he was referring to the standing order that the gods must reciprocate with […]

Everyone of you should be thoroughly convinced of the power of the Hare Krsna mantra to protect you in all circumstances and chant accordingly at all times without offense. Then advancement will be swift and you will gradually come to see everything cl…

Calgary Ratha Yatra & Festival Of India (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: One must engage his tongue in the service of the holy name. Our Krishna consciousness movement is based on this principle. We try to engage all the members of the Krishna consciousness movement in the service of the holy name. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 8.16 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/cevAVI

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Hare Krishna! Liberation Through Chanting
Srila Prabhupada: In our country Carvaka Muni has advised, bhasmi-bhutasya dehasya kutah punar-agamano bhavet: “Why are you thinking of your next birth? Another birth is not possible. We see that the gross body is burnt into ashes. And where is the soul? Who is coming back again? Don’t care for all these things.” Yavaj jivet sukham jivet: “Live happily. Eat, drink, be merry, and enjoy.” This philosophy is going on. “There is no mind, there is no intelligence, there is no soul, only this gross body, and as long as we possess this gross body, let us enjoy the senses.” This is called maha-vimoha, the greatest bewilderment. People have no education about how we are existing in the material world, how nature is working. They are thinking there is no life after this one, but that is not the fact. They are living in a very great entanglement.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18675

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Talk Podcast:

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2015%20classes/07-15%20classes/Brahma%20Samhita%205.44%20-%20Cutlivate%20a%20Krishna-centered,%20not%20self-centered,%20vision%20of%20nature.mp3

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Holy Name Meditation Podcast:

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/Japa%20Prayers/2015%20meditations/07-15%20meditations/Bhagavatam%201.8.21%20-%20Kunti%20meditates%20on%20increasingly%20intimate%20manifestations%20of%20the%20Lord.mp3

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Talk Podcast:

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2015%20classes/07-15%20classes/Gita%2018.61%20–%20Krishna%20doesn’t%20cause%20our%20worldly%20wandering%20–%20he%20frees%20us%20from%20the%20cause%20of%20that%20wandering.mp3

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Talk Podcast:

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2015%20classes/07-15%20classes/Gita%2009.02%20-%20The%20most%20powerful%20knowledge%20brings%20about%20the%20most%20auspicious%20destruction.mp3

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Rathayatra in Leicester
The Leicester Rathayatra Festival of Chariots takes place this Sunday 2nd August 2015, for the second largest festival in the UK.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18672 Read more ›

Iskcon Penang Gelugor: Hare Krsna, we are please to inform that ‘GITA’ (an NGO associated with ISKCON Gelugor) gave away 3,000 Bhagavad Gita’s to 28 Tamil Schools in Penang this morning at Auditorioum A Komtar, Penang. ISKCON Gelugor would like to thank HG Madhusudan prabhu and his core team in this first time, record breaking event! 25/07/2015 (Album with photos)
See them here: https://goo.gl/z20a3s

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SRI JAGANATH RATH YATRA @ Aruppukottai (Album with photos)..
On occasion of ISKCON NAMAHATTA ARUPPUKKOTTAT 1st year Anniversary-
First Ever ISKCON Rath Yatra in south Tamil nadu.
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Hare Krishna! Ratha Yatra 2015 celebrations in Mayapur
The nine day long annual Ratha Yatra celebrations in Mayapur ended on 26th July. Although the festival began on 18th, the festival preparations started much earlier. Special wooden carts were desig… Read more ›

“My humble question is what is, according to your own realisation and practice of the divine path of Lord Gauranga associates, the best meditation and mood to receive the complete and topmost mercy of the Holy Name?”

The post Yasoda Dulal Dasa: appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Hare Krishna! Lord Nityananda Delivers the Thieves
When I was eight or nine years old, my parents took me to the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. After meandering through myriad halls and galleries, we came across an exhibit of valuable gemstones in the Museum of Natural History. I remember being particularly struck by the famous Hope Diamond, a large bluish diamond pendant surrounded by small white diamonds. I was surprised that something could be so beautiful and so valuable. Although I’ve forgotten most of what I saw during my weeklong visit to the Smithsonian, I vividly remember my sense of wonder upon seeing such a unique jewel. Lord Krishna likes jewels too. Scriptures explain that He adorns His body with jewelry. He is famous as the wearer of the Kaustubha gem, and scriptures describe other forms or incarnations of the Lord as decorated with exquisite valuable jewels.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18665

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ISKCON Vrindavan Ratha Yatra 2015 (Album with photos)
For the first time ever, Ratha Yatra in Srila Prabhupada’s home, Vrindavan Dhama! 5 hours of blissful chanting and dancing before Their Lordships and Srila Prabhupada!
See them here: https://goo.gl/JXtYlb

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Ratha Yatra 2015 in Mayapur (Album with 163 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: One is understood to be an eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he considers himself a servant of the holy name and in this spirit distributes the holy name to th… Read more ›

London Yatra: ISKCON50 Festival of Srila Prabhupada’s Arrival in Boston
Date: Thursday, 17th September
On 17th September 1965, Srila Prabhupada reached Boston’s Commonwealth Pier in hopes of fulfilling the order of his spiritual master. The ship was to stop briefly in Boston before proceeding to New York City. Fifty years on, on 17th September 2015, we will be commemorating this milestone at ISKCON-London with a range of festivities.
He took a short walk into the city and then returned to the ship. As he awaited the ship’s departure for New York, Srila Prabhupada composed a Bengali poem, entitled “Markine Bhagavat-dharma” (“Teaching Krsna Consciousness in America”). Being a pure devotee of Sri Krishna, Srila Prabhupada prayed, “I wish that You may deliver them. Therefore, if You desire their deliverance, only then will they be able to understand Your message.”
We would like to invite everyone to come and take part in this festival.
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Ratha Yatra in New Vrajamandala (Album with photos)
Hare Krisna Spain Guadalajara
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Latest Nityam Bhagavata-sevaya Magazine is available
NBS#17 Features: 1) Vidura questions Uddhava Srila Sukadeva Goswami 2) The Most exalted Personality in the Vrishni Dynasty Sriman Purnaprajna Dasa 3) Uddhava remembers Krishna Srila Vishvanatha Cha… Read more ›

The post Ratha Yatra 2015 gallery appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Preparing for the preaching in the huge Polish Woodstock Festival (7 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: The great Polish Woodstock Festival is still days away but the entire area is quickly filling up with young people and tents. Our good friend, Chaturatma das, also arrived today. As we walked around the festival grounds we were greeted everywhere with “Hare Krishna!” and a number of warm hugs. Woodstock!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/Rp0IdW

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The latest issue of Sri Krishna-kathamrita Bindu e-magazine was just released. Topics include: * THE KING OF ALL EDUCATION – An Excerpt from a lecture by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, wherein he speaks about what is real knowledge. * DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR BHAJANA – Wise advice from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada. * EMBODIMENT OF KRISHNA’S MERCY – Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja speaks about the glories of the Lord’s devotees. * EXPLAINING THE INEXPLICABLE – An excerpt from Srila Rupa Goswami’s Laghu-bhagavatamrita, wherein he explains how it was that millions of gopis were able to assemble together in a small area during the rasa-lila.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18658

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The post Daily Darshan – July 27th, 2015 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

2015 07 11 Chetana Festival Life’s Balancing Act Kalindi Mataji ISKCON Chowpatty

The Bhagavad-gita is, as indicated by its name The Song of God, a song. So, it is a literary work and it uses many literary devices, as befit a work of its genre. Yet its literary side often remains under-appreciated because we usually focus on its content – its philosophical message – not its style; and also because we may not be familiar enough with its language, Sanskrit, to appreciate its literary merits.

Some of its more striking literary devices are: its use of full-word alliterations as in 02.14: the word purusha in purusham purusharshabha; or its use of chiasmus (inversion of word order) in 07.12: na tv aham teshu te mayi “They (the modes) are in me, but I am not in them”; or in 09.29: mayi te teshu capy aham “I am in them (my devotees) and they are in me.”

As the above examples of chiasmus may illustrate, many devices require some literary background – something that most readers may not have and may not even want to have, being interested more in the Gita’s philosophical message. So while exploring the Gita from a literary perspective, I will focus on metaphor, the device that directly assists in conveying the Gita’s message and doesn’t require any literary background. Appreciating the importance of metaphors, the Greek philosopher Aristotle stated in his book on literary theory, Poetics: “The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblance.” Incidentally, Poetics is considered one of the oldest extant books on literary theory; so, its quote about metaphors conveys the enduring appeal of this literary device.

The Bhagavad-gita uses metaphors frequently and aptly, thereby adding color and force to its message. For each metaphor, I provide a brief explanation – something that can be read in a few minutes. Many of the Gita’s erudite commentators have illumined its metaphors in their commentaries and I have drawn from their insights. But to keep each reflection short and to prevent the presentation from becoming too technical, I won’t explicitly quote the commentators too much.

While this presentation will serve as a refresher for Gita connoisseurs, I hope that even those without any background in the Gita will find it accessible. Though these metaphors occur within the Gita’s flow, they can usually be studied independent of their specific context because they talk about universal truths of life that we all can find illuminating and empowering. In fact, I hope that these brief reflections will give readers a glimpse of the profundity and the relevance of the Gita’s wisdom, and inspires them to dive deeper into it.

As is often done while referring to literary devices as a broad genre, I use the word metaphor inclusively to refer to all the three literary devices used for explanation through comparison: analogies, metaphors and similes.

Analogies take the form: As A is to B, so C is to D. Consider, as an example, this […]

The post Bhagavad Gita Metaphors 1 – Introduction appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Talk Podcast:

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2015%20classes/07-15%20classes/Gita%2002.52%20-%20Take%20the%20intelligence%20beyond%20the%20illusion%20of%20knowledge.mp3 Download by “right-click and save content”

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Talk Podcast:
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2015%20classes/07-15%20classes/Gita%2003.41%20-%20Alluring%20sense%20objects%20are%20the%20trigger,%20not%20the%20cause,%20of%20lust.mp3 Download by “right-click and save content”

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Shelter, Inside Out, Quicksand – Summer Tour 1990… It wasn’t a tour; it was the big bang, the the beginning of a completely new chapter in the history of rock music. Shelter was the dawn of Krishna-core, a genre that would dominate straightedge for at least four or five years. Quicksand would spawn the post-hardcore […]

Bhagavatam-daily Podcast:

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2015%20classes/07-15%20classes/Bhagavatam-daily%20280%20–%2011.13.13%20–%20Connect%20regularly%20with%20transcendence%20to%20prevent%20sliding%20into%20ignorance.mp3 Download by “right-click and save content”

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Bhāgavata 4, Chapter 17, tells the tale of King Pṛthu ending a severe famine. During this tale, the earth manifests as a Cow-woman and says several very important things, especially about how women should be treated… The philosophers had coronated Pṛthu and declared him the protector of the people, so the citizens – emaciated from […]

“Everyone can benefit spiritually by the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. When the transcendental vibration of Hare Kṛṣṇa is sounded, even the trees, animals and insects benefit. Thus when one chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra loudly, he actually shows mercy to all living entities.”

Srimad Bhagavatam 4.31.19 purport