Monthly Archives: May 2016

A modern cartoon interpretation of the Ramayana by American artist Nina Paley.

Harinama and book distribution in Tel Aviv, Israel (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Simply by chanting the holy name of Lo…

Written by Nimai After his Vyasa Puja festival in Radhadesh, Kadamba Kanana Swami travelled to India for a one month stay. We arrived in Vrindavan on 30 April and spent a week there. We welcomed heat after it had been snowing in Radhadesh. Maharaj took a few days off to recover from the journey and […]

Devotees are set to open their first ever temple in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, this July as an offering to Srila Prabhupada for the 50th anniversary of his ISKCON. The temple, located in an extremely sought-after area, will recei…

ISKCON Pandava Sena, the dynamic youth organisation of the UK, will be visiting Goloka Dhama Temple in Germany this July, as part of its annual “Senagetaway” trip. The trip not only provides a spiritual break for many young member…

An unmissable spiritual retreat for youth to Goloka Dhama, Germany with Kadamba Kanana Swami and Gaur Gopal Das.To sign up, visit: http://psena.com/senagetaway/journey-…

Lord Jesus: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
Srila Prabhupada: “Your love for me will be shown by how much you cooperate with each other after I am gone.”
“Our movement is based on love and trust, so if we do not co-operate, then how is that love and trust? 750116 – Letter to Krsnavesa

Pandava Sena retreat 2016 in Germany.
ISKCON Pandava Sena, the dynamic youth organisation of the UK, will be visiting Goloka Dhama Temple in Germany this July, as part of its annual “Senagetaway” trip. The trip not only provides a spiritual break for many young members of ISKCON in the UK and abroad, but also allows us to expand our horizons and take the sentiment of service into the real world and apply it in our lives.
This is our request to any ISKCON youth that want to join us, whether in the UK, Europe or around the world! We believe this is a great opportunity to develop deep friendships with each other, dive deeper into spiritual practices, and empower each other in collectively serving in Srila Prabhupada’s movement!
Promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYMa1EEl_-s
The annual trip has been held in a plethora of locations such as Belgium, Spain, Italy and France in the past with a variety of themes such as the Mahabharata, and this year we plan to visit Germany with the theme of “Vrindavan” – How to manifest Vrindavan consciousness in our hearts. Not only will the trip be full of exciting activities such as a day out to Europe’s biggest theme park, but we’ll be absorbed in ecstatic kirtans, interactive seminars, Q&A sessions and service opportunities in store.
This year, we’re fortunate to have the most incredible guests! We’ll be joined by: HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, HH Sacinandana Swami and HG Gaur Gopal Prabhu – all experts at making Krishna Consciousness relevant to the next generation.
If you would like to find out more (or want to sign up straight away!), please visit out website at http://www.psena.com/senagetaway/journey-home/ and do not hesitate to contact us via email at senagetaway@gmail.com with any questions. More information about our wonderful location, Goloka Dhama, can be found on their website at http://www.goloka-dhama.de.
Your Servants,
ISKCON Pandava Sena.

Beautiful letter of “Thank you”.
Adikarta Das: This is a very nice letter from a young girl in Jacksonville, Florida. It shows the importance of book distribution, and the potency of Srila Prabhupada’s books. I am sending it to encourage the devotees to make book distribution a priority.
—–
Hello! My name is Savannah. You gave my boyfriend and I books at art walk–I was the girl with the short blonde hair and he was the one who told you that he was from Venezuela and ended up owing me five dollars.
I started reading the “Self Realization” book in school the next day, and instantly began highlighting. I’ve just started reading, but so much has clicked with me already. I am finishing my junior year in high school, and have always struggled with not fitting in with my family’s religion. They are all Christians, my parents incredibly disappointed that I’m not constantly involved in their church. The truth is, there is so much hypocrisy with how their faith has presented itself, that I’ve claimed to be an atheist every since the eighth grade. This is primarily due to their beliefs and judgements on other individuals. (Yes, sadly, they are voting for trump and I may or may not have multiple Bernie stickers on my car.) But I have longed for a sense of spirituality, feeling as if I am missing out on a lifestyle that is right for me and meets my beliefs and views. I have always been interested in different religions and known that one day I would like to help others, aspiring to get my Master’s in mental health counseling. I’ve also recently taken up yoga and meditation, finding those tools to work wonders for the mind. This book immediately hooked me through mentioning the use of meditation and yoga as techniques to clear the mind, as well as going on to doing things for others, and even proceeded to mention the hypocrisy in many other common religions today, primarily, Christianity. I have already related and fallen in love with so many statements made in this book, and am definitely planning on finishing it. I’m also going vegetarian!
I just wanted to say thank you, and let you know that you are doing a really great thing for America by spreading this positive energy. I feel like, this year especially, our country has become incredibly divided with hatred and judgements on other human beings. Religions have definitely become more of a brand name than a kind, loving belief system, and I’m so happy that has been admitted and changed. I’m glad I had the pleasure of meeting you, and can’t wait to finish reading. Thank you, I’m very happy I have found this book, as well as Krishna Consciousness. Have a blessed day!
Savannah 🙂

Sri Harinam Sankirtan Nectar: Sydney, 12-05-16 (Album with photos)
It’s Thursday night and once again Sri Harinam came to the streets of the city of Sydney. Tonight we all experienced another very beautiful Harinam. Thanks to the 20 devotees who came along to make Harinam a regular event on Sydney’s streets.
We had a wonderful start to the evening and there were many adventures along the way. One lady told us she wanted us to to chant Hare Krishna in English. We said we are chanting in English and she stayed with us and made videos of the Harinam.
Then there was a young man who came along and he wanted to sing. He looked like he was African but when we let him have a turn he was singing a Hindi bhajan, glorifying Lord Rama. It was wild and crazy.
Tonight we sang and danced along George street and then back to Town Hall by the Event cinema.
Whilst we were chanting at an intersection two guys came along and started chanting with us. They stayed with us for the rest of the night. They really enjoyed the chanting and dancing and the end they asked where we were from because they really loved it and wanted more. You can see them in a couple of photos.
Thanks to Radha Vinod Prabhu who distributed two books.
And don’t forget, we are chanting and dancing in the street every Thursday in the City of Sydney. We meet at 6.30pm to 8pm at Town Hall.
Please join us whenever you can, we have so much fun and so does everyone else. See you next Thursday.
Sri Harinam Sankirtan ki jaya.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/QYr5A8

May 13. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Worshiping Memories of Swamiji.
In our own little way, we are worshiping the hours and minutes when we were with Srila Prabhupada. One way to worship sacred time is to ask it, “Please come forward so that we may praise you with words and tell the world what it was like. Kindly come forward and reveal yourself, minutes and hours in which I was with Prabhupada.”
Almost as soon as I began seeing Srila Prabhupada, I also began fondly remembering him and what he said. After attending his morning class at 26 Second Avenue, I would walk east one block to First Avenue and then walk north to the Fifth Street Welfare Office. Just before Fifth Street was a very big apartment building where I used to stand in the entranceway under a roof and “kill time” before going in to punch the clock. I remember standing there and reviewing some of the philosophy that Prabhupada had spoken. He had said that any activity, if coated with bhakti, becomes a type of yoga. When fruitive activities are coated with bhakti, they become karma-yoga. Philosophical speculation coated with bhakti becomes jñāna-yoga, and pure devotional service activities are bhakti-yoga. What a wonderful philosophy!
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

Worshiping Memories of Swamiji

Please read full April Brijabasi Spirit Newsletter at https://us10.admin.mailchimp.com/campaigns/show?id=645913

Please read full April Brijabasi Spirit Newsletter at https://us10.admin.mailchimp.com/campaigns/show?id=645913

Srimati Sita Devi’s (Consort of Lord Sri Rama) appearance day celebrations will take place at ISKCON Scarborough tomorrow evening.Srimati Sita Devi is an eternal consort of Lord Ramachandra.She is known to be the daughter of Bhumidevi, the goddess of e…

“Although the Bhakti movement has spread far and wide, not many people know its founder Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu – even in India,” says ISKCON’s communications director in North India, Yudhistira Govinda Das. With the …

At the heart of the school are the students, of course. Directly nurturing them are our wonderful teachers. Ultimately, it is thanks to them that our students are happy and successful. It’s their hard work […]

Author: 
Karnamrita Das

WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT? I have thought about and discussed this general idea many times, yet to me, it is always super essenti…

The naming ceremony of Radha from Krishna aur Kans movie.

By Yamuna Devi Dasi With spiritual fasting, you may not make headlines, but you’ll make headway on the path back to Godhead. What do Mahatma Gandhi, Dick Gregory, Jane Fonda, Norman Mailer, Bolivian dissidents, British suffragettes, and Irish revolutio…

Graduation of Sri Paramahansa Goura (Album with photos)
Education.
Duca is a Sanskrit word that means suffering born of spiritual ignorance. Similarly Duca in Latin refers to decay, decayed, expires.
Plato defines ‘Educare’, education as the art of guiding and caring for the development of body, mind and Soul, to rid the later of the darkness of ignorance.
Graduation Etymologically means Grada or, go thru the stairs, now you can only go in two directions, up or down, unfortunately nowadays education focuses only on the matter and therefore we see that the degradation of spiritual values creates a civilization intended to materialism and therefore the exploitation of Mother Nature who in turn belongs to the Supreme Being, because is one of His energies.
The Bhaktivedanta Academy, established in 1984, is an educational institution based in Sri Mayapur Dham, India, which provides education for children, adults students on the principles of Vedic Gurukul system. Educational programs aim to complete a cultural reorientation students to produce a society in which individuals understand that their main occupation in life is to practice pure devotional service to the Personality of Godhead, unalloyed, with the goal of returning home, back to God.
Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita mentions some of the principles of true education.
Chapter 16, Verse 1-3
The Blessed Lord said: Fearlessness, purification of one’s existence, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity, self-control, performance of sacrifice, study of the Vedas, austerity and simplicity; nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger; renunciation, tranquility, aversion to faultfinding, compassion and freedom from covetousness; gentleness, modesty and steady determination; vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy and the passion for honor-these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature.
Chapter 13, Verse 8-12
Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth-all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.
Sri Paramahansa Goura entered Gurukula when I was 6 years old, along with Srinam Vanamali who was 8, they help each other to practice and absorb the lessons of the life of the Ashram. Today Sri Gaura graduated after completing all stages in his life as a Brahmacari, celibate student and receive the blessings of his teachers to continue in the path with purity and devotion. Manorupa and I we were always humbly proud of his determination to stay and complete his training in Gurukula.
Please extend your blessings to this exemplary young man, in this way the teachings he has received can be transmitted to subsequent generations of seekers of truth.
Om Tat Sat.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/b6g4aa

By Saksi Gopala Dasa

It was the Thursday before Christmas, and London’s Oxford Street (the longest shopping street in the world) was brimming over with Christmas shoppers. Twice already that week plainclothes police had arrested devotees chanting Hare Krsna there, but today we were intending to avoid any trouble. The five of us took a new route, profusely distributing the holy name to everyone within earshot. As we made our way through Piccadilly Circus (London’s “Times Square”) and then along crowded Regent Street, we brought smiles to many faces and raised eyebrows on many others. Finally we reached Oxford Circus, where we reluctantly stopped chanting and started back along Oxford Street toward the temple. But all the shops were staying open late, so the street was still filled with pedestrians, though traffic had died down. The rustle of hundreds of footsteps filled the air. With so many materially conditioned souls surrounding us, there we were, chanting quietly to ourselves on our beads, and just holding our karatalas (hand cymbals) and mrdanga drums! It was hard to restrain ourselves from the loud glorification of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. In fact, it was impossible!

ISKCON50 London Mellows.
Dates: Saturday 9th July & Sunday 10 July
We are excited to announce this exclusive ISKCON50 kirtan event in celebration of the 50th anniversary of ISKCON. Join us over the weekend as we chant 50 musical melodies for the pleasure of Their Lordships and Srila Prabhupada. More details will be available on our website nearer the time.
The event will be recorded live by Radha-Krishna Records and we hope to offer an album at Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara’s 47th Anniversary event.
Read more: http://goo.gl/w6lK8Q

Offering an E card!
As you all are aware that in July 2016, ISKCON will complete 50 years of its existence. Being a golden Jubilee year, devotees from all across the globe will come together to present “Golden Jubilee Card” to His Divine Grace Shri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Yes, there is an e-card designed where devotees can submit their offering to Srila Prabhupada on the occasion of Golden Jubilee. Offering submission is available till 31st May 2016. Once you submit the offerings, an email will be sent to you for verification. Devotees are requested to kindly verify their email. It’s only after verification that your offerings will be finally submitted to Srila Prabhupada and will be counted.
Your offering will be confidential. Our technical team is also instructed not to read the offering column. Your personal details will be confidential and will not be displayed.
By submitting our offering to Srila Prabhupada for Golden Jubilee we will not only send our heartfelt message to him but we will also break the World Record in the category of “highest number of devotees submitting e-card offering”.
Devotees are requested to submit their offerings only once. Double entry by a devotee will not be accepted, it will be counted as violating rules.
So let’s get started. Kindly go to the exclusive website http://www.offeringstosp.com and submit your offering immediately.
This website can be accessed from your Computer / Laptop and even Smart Phone.
Let’s get going!

Nagy Zsolt asks where Kali is and whether chanting can protect us from him?
The post Bhanu Parwni (Varanasi) asks how to overcoming the laziness to chant and why nonveg is not acceptable to Vaisnavas appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Child Krishna meets baby Radharani for the first time.
The Divine Appearance of Srimati Radharani.
The Puranas relate a story concerning the divine appearance of Shrimati Radharani as follows. One day, Vrishabhanu Maharaja, who was living at Ravel at that time, went to the bank of Yamuna at around noon to take a midday bath.
As he approached the bank of the Yamuna, he saw a golden lotus flower floating on the water and shining brightly like a thousand suns. Vrishabhanu immediately waded into the river and when he came near to the golden lotus flower, he beheld the most beautiful and radiant form of baby girl lying within the petals of the lotus.
At that same moment, Lord Brahma suddenly appeared in the sky and speaking in a grave voice, informed Vrishabhanu that in his previous life, Vrishabhanu and his wife Kirtida had performed great austerities in order to get the consort of Lord Vishnu as their daughter.
Lord Brahma told Vrishabhanu that this girl was the origin of the goddess Lakshmi and that he should take great care of Her. Lord Brahma then placed the baby girl in the arms of Vrishabhanu who became overjoyed, and after taking permission from Lord Brahma, returned to his home.
Seeing the beautiful baby girl shining like millions of autumnal moons, mother Kirtida was overcome with joy and immediately arranged for all kinds of religious rites to be performed and donated thousands of cows to the brahmanas.
At that time baby Radhika was placed in a gem-studded cradle and gently rocked back and forth by all the little girls of the village. Day by day Her luster increased just like the digits of the moon.
Within a short while it was observed that the baby girl made no noise and had not yet opened Her eyes. Vrishabhanu and his wife feared that their baby girl was perhaps blind from birth and also dumb.
At that time, Srila Narada Muni visited the home of Vrishabhanu and informed him that regardless of the girl’s apparent blindness, they should continue with the birth celebrations.
Vrishabhanu therefore made elaborate arrangements for a lavish birth celebration and sent out invitations to all the residents of Ravala and Gokula and especially to his dear friend Nanda Maharaja and his family.
On the appointed day, the guests had assembled and the birth celebrations were going on in great jubilation. Nanda Maharaja and Yashoda Mayi had arrived with Rohini and also brought their small children Krishna and Balarama.
Kirtida met with Yashoda and told her that she was very happy to have such a beautiful daughter, but was feeling rather distraught because her child was both dumb and blind.
Krishna had just passed His first birthday and was happily crawling around the courtyard on His hands and knees. Arriving at the cot in which Radhika was lying, Krishna held on to the sides and managed to lift himself up, He then peered into the cot where His gaze fell upon the beautiful moon-like face of baby Radhika.
As soon as baby Radhika smelt the exotic fragrance of Krishna’s transcendental body, She immediately opened Her eyes for the very first time, and looked directly at Krishna, who was the first person that She had ever seen.
As Krishna gazed lovingly at baby Radhika, He began smiling ecstatically. Radhika then suddenly began to cry and for the very first time she made a sound. Vrishabhanu and Kirtida, along with all the assembled Vrajavasis, were overjoyed to find out that their beloved daughter Radhika, was not blind nor dumb after all.
In the Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi it says. “So powerful is the glancing of Her eyes, that the flute slips from Krishna’s hands, His peacock crown starts to slip, and His yellow shawl becomes displaced as He swoons and falls to the ground. Alas, will I ever get the chance to serve with love and devotion such a person as Radharani.”

Mayapur Daily Darshan May 12 2016 Candana-yatra Day Four (Album with photos)
Vana Bihari – Frolicking in the forest.
The cows take the lead, directed by Krsna’s flute song, kicking their hind legs in the air, shaking their necks, repeatedly lowing as they turn their heads to glance lovingly at the divine brothers. The cowherd boys play flutes, blow horns, and sing about Krsna’s many victories over the demons as they dance, twirl sticks and show off to their elders in many clever ways. Sometimes the gopas make a single line, each boy holding the dhoti of the boy in front of him, forming a giant colourful serpent that slowly snakes its way into the forest and out of sight.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/A5C5Vn

The post Daily Darshan: May 11th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Akshaya Tritiya parikrama (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: On Akshaya Tritiya, all the Saptadevalaya (Seven Goswami Templ…

By Shanti Rupa Devi Dasi

In conjuction with ISKCON 50 celebrations ISKCON Malaysia has planned to conduct a cross country Mahabharatham Quiz contest in Tamil – A first of its kind in Malaysia. Organised by ISKCON Malaysia, the first leg started off by Perak branch of ISKCON Malaysia on the first of May 2016. Tamil schools from ipoh, Taiping, Teluk Intan and Sungei Siput took part in this event. They all gathered at the Mahamariamman Temple hall in Ipoh . A total of 18 schools paticipated. The event began by a welcome address by HG Param Brahma Das, the regional chairman for the state of Perak. Next HG Simhesvara Das, the regional Seceretary for ISKCON Malaysia inspired the students by highlighting the ill effects of this age which is trying hard to lure us away from god and that chanting of the the mahamantra and reading the classical epics is the best way to combat these ill effects. Then came the spectacular official launch of the event – a Tamil song on Mahabharatham accompanied by 30 drums (tablas). The sweet yet bold and melodious voice of HG Gokula Lakshmi and the synchonised sound of the 30 tablas mesmerised the audience.

The post Daily Darshan: May 12th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

May 12. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: ’66 Kaleidoscope.
A kaleidoscope is a tube-shaped optical instrument that you rotate to produce symmetrical designs by means of mirrors that constantly change patterns made by bits of colored glass. Memories of being with Prabhupada sometimes appear like that. This seems to especially happen when you travel a lot, because you tend to shake up your identity and your consciousness. It is different than when staying in the same place and following the same routine.
But a kaleidoscope is abstract. When you look into it, you do not see a meadow and cows; you see all the fragments of light, diamonds, and swirls and chips and sparks. When you shake it up again, hold it to the light and look in – there is another beautiful combination of fragmented colors. Similarly, I tend to get a jumble of images when I shake my “1966 kaleidoscope.”
A little flash of the movie, Happiness at Second Avenue – Prabhupada playing the drum there … the artificial colors of that film. You see yourself also with shaved head. Everyone looks young, but not so pretty or handsome. It is realism, or maybe the nature of the film that makes you look a little funny. There you are, and there is Swamiji playing the drum, reaching forward to get his karatalas.
When you look into the kaleidoscope, you see a lot of memory reels. You can look at them if you want. It is not an actual memory but a memory can that contains facsimile messages. It is something like that TV film, Happiness on Second Avenue, but this is your own film …
Here is a reel of going into Swamiji’s worship room. You go in there, sit down, and Swamiji sits down. He puts on his tilaka and you put on your tilaka … Say it tenderly and lovingly, even if it is “just words.” The scriptures are also words. Vaisnavas do not say that words are inadequate. Even if they cannot completely capture something, words do a service. So have a respect for them. Have a respect for the words in the memories of Prabhupada. And accept what you see in the kaleidoscope.
The floor of the storefront … Prabhupada playing the drum … I am being lifted out of the tragedy I was in. I am wearing an aquamarine shirt, which I later cut up and made into a beadbag. With him we could sit on the floor with our shirts of the past, our minds becoming cleansed by the cosmic sounds he described as “transcendental sound vibration,” delivering the mind from all that Lower East Side stuff and all the hurt of our previous lives …
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

’66 Kaleidoscope

Gita verse-by-verse podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Gita%20verse-by-verse/Gita%2010.11%20-%20The%20way%20to%20drive%20out%20darkness%20is%20to%20turn%20on%20the%20light.mp3
Download by “right-click and save content”

The post Gita 10.11 – The way to drive out darkness is to turn on the light appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Question 1) In Raganuga bhakti we aspire for the passion present in an eternally perfected brajabāsī – a devotee like a cowherd boy/ gopī/ Krishna’s parents, not a perfected devotee in this world? Rāgānugā is the method of striving for a specific type of passionate relationship with Krishna found in Vṛndāvana-līlā. People like Prabhupāda, Rūpa Goswāmī,…

Written by Nandan Wednesday, 27 April It feels like yesterday that we were on the last Kingsday parade. Already a year gone…. This may have already been said umpteen times but one can’t emphasize enough how different it felt without Kadamba Kanana Swami being here! As we were getting ready for the parade, Maharaj was […]