Monthly Archives: May 2016

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 14.26 and Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-Lila 16. “This verse is a reply to Arjuna’s third question: What is the means of attaining to the transcendental position? As explained before, the material world is acting under the spell of the modes of material nature. One should not be disturbed by the […]

Visvambhara Das (UK): Jackie Chan received a Bhagavad-gita today on a motorway car park.
Srila Prabhupada: This life of materia…

By Kalakantha dasa After the disappearance of Jayananda Das on May 1, 1977, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada instructed devotees all over the world to commemorate the event every year as they would any great Vaishnava’s disappearance day. Therefore w…

By Urmila Devi Dasi IT IS FASHIONABLE in modern secular societies to regard sacred literature as the mythological musings of undeveloped people. Schools teach that with our current understanding of physics, medicine, psychology, democracy, and so on, w…

Talk at e-conference on business and spirituality
Podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/05-16%20classes/Seek%20artha%20in%20both%20its%20senses%20-%20wealth%20and%20meaning.mp3
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By Ravindra Svarupa dasa

My first connection with the Hare Krishna maha-mantra happened during the “Summer of Love” in August, 1967 in the course of a wedding within a three-room apartment in Powelton Village, the budding hippie district in Philadelphia. The wedding epitomized the time and place. The groom and I had become close friends during our travails as fellow philosophy majors at the nearby University of Pennsylvania. Thin, angular, his pale beak-nosed face densely hedged with a curly black beard, Steve presented “the Jew” with a delicious hint of self-parody. His bride Catherine was black and beautiful and very pregnant. Behind the altar—a massive wooden table, knobby legged and claw-footed—a goateed United Church of Christ minister of progressive views officiated. As recitations from the Tibetan Book of the Dead and the Tao Te Ching sounded out, a mottled cat manifested itself on the altar and began weaving balletically through a maze of objets, sacred and profane. Then the reception: with our mirth and good wishes amplified by the herb of choice, our hearts soon swelled to the mighty anthems of the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and Buffalo Springfield. We lit our fires. We fed our heads.

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Wonderful Sunday program with Madhava prabhu in Nava Nandagram in Nové Sady, a village and municipality in Vyškov District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: There is no limit to perfection—we may go on improving more and more, and still there is no limit to how much we may please Krishna, just like for the materialist there is no limit to how much Maya can kick us! Letter to Balavanta, December 22, 1971.

Iskcon of Silicon Valley: Harinaam at Palo Alto (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: This Krishna consciousness movement is fo…

Sri Harinama Sankirtan in Campbelltown City, Sydney (Album with photos)
Saturday Harinama Sankirtan Nectar 07-05-16
Devote…

Kirtan London presented kirtan at the ‘Amazing Grace’ multi-faith concert at Union Chapel in Islington, London, England today. It was a beautiful evening and hundreds of voices joined in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra with us.
Srila Prabhupada: The secret of surrendering to Krishna is that such surrendered devotee sees that everything is part of Krishna’s plan. Whatever is meant to be I am doing. Let me do it with my full attention to every detail. Let me become absorbed in such service, never mind what it is. Let all other considerations be forgotten and only my desire to do the thing best for Krishna’s alone pleasure is my motive. Letter to Jayapataka, December 19, 1972.

Festival of the Chariots – 07 May 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Every one of us is searching after some mellow, s…

Question: Did Radharani marry someone else, or are they simply engaged? She is married to Abhimanyu (lit. the “Proud One” or the “Supposed Husband”). Her sister-in-law is Kuṭila (lit. “Crooked”, “Fradulent”, “Dishonest”). Her mother-in-law is Jaṭila (lit. “Hairy”, “Twisted”, “Problematic”). viz. Radha Krishna Gannodesha Dipika 2.174 The marriage is an abhiman (the husband is Abhimanyu). Abhiman means “an idea.” In the realm…

Hare Krishna Festivals UK: Norwich Festival – 5th May 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “Haraye namah krsna yadavaya namah, gopala govinda rama sri-mudhusudana. This is another way of chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. The meaning is as follows: “I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. He is the descendant of the Yadu family. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Gopala, Govinda, Rama and Sri Madhusudana.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 25.64 Purport)
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May 9. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada’s Gift of Solidity.
One night while in Prabhupada’s presence at the storefront, the thought came to me that Krishna consciousness is not fragile like glass figurines. In the beginning, my attraction seemed to be a very fragile thing. If you looked at Krsna consciousness one way, it was there; but if you looked at it another way, it might disappear. Bhakti was very wonderful, and yet it could be shattered by a rude remark or by a logical argument. But as Swamiji spoke, it occurred to me that it was not at all fragile. Krsna consciousness was very, very solid.
That night when I left Swamiji’s presence and walked into the streets, I was no longer intimidated by the buildings. In Manhattan you always walk in a canyon, like a tiny living entity. The buildings make you sad; they imprison you, they overwhelm you and crush your spirit. They block out the sun and the air. They keep within them millions of unhappy lives, packed in apartments with stored-up anger and violence. But after being with Prabhupada and walking toward my apartment, I could overcome the buildings. They looked unsubstantial, as if you could go right through them. This was a bit like Hayagriva’s remark, which was quoted in the East Village Other: “By chanting Hare Krishna everything looks beautiful on the Lower East Side. Even the creeps.”
Each of us was experiencing new feelings of sufficiency in Krishna consciousness. We had all been crushed by living in the city, and Prabhupada was pulling us out.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

Prabhupada’s Gift of Solidity

Wednesday, May 4 th , 2016

Toronto, Ontario

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Caitanya-caritmrta Adi-lila 10 and Sri Caitanya Bhagavat. bada sakha, — gadadhara pandita-gosañi tenho laksmi-rupa, tanra sama keha nai Translation: Gadadhara Pandita, the fourth branch, is described as an incarnation of the pleasure potency of Sri Krsna. No one, therefore, can equal him. Purport: In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (147-53) it is stated, “Sri Krsna’s […]

By Mayapur-shashi Dasa In the Bhagavad-gita (1.28) Arjuna says, “My dear Krishna, seeing my friends and relatives present before me in such a fighting spirit, I feel the limbs of my body quivering and my mouth drying up.” Srila Prabhupada comments: …

Sri Sri Krishna Balarama 40th anniversary, New Mayapur, France.
This year on August 18th marks the 40th anniversary of our beautiful Krishna Balarama deities installed personally by ISKCON Founder Acarya Srila Prabhupada. Due to many renovation projects at the temple, our main celebrations for this occasion will be held next year 2017.
New Mayapura is currently upgrading its facilities for the comfort of our esteemed guests. The New Mayapura guest house renovations will begin in June this year and are scheduled to be completed by mid-September 2016. This project is the beginning of New Mayapura recent development, with 60 fully renovated rooms to Council standards capable of hosting up to 120 guests. Krishna Balarama’s festival is celebrated this year on the 18th of August which unfortunately falls in the midst of the construction and repairs. We are sad to be unable to host a large number of guests this year but also glad to look forward to having a full house in 2017. We apologise for any inconvenience if this news interferes with your plans. Should you wish to check the updates please visit www.newmayapura.com and www.newmayapur.fr
On another note, there are great news for ISKCON New Mayapura temple, ISKCON France and devotees/supporters around the world.
We have recently received planning permission to build a village at New Mayapura. This large project and development will consist of 33 environmentally friendly wooden houses and work will begin sometime this year. Already one house is sold and we expect a lot of interest and enthusiasm from devotees around the world who wish to live in a quiet rural setting. If you are interested in such a property and would like to know more details, please contact us via our website www.newmayapurmedia.com . We will also display a dedicated page on this website where you can find some more general details.
Yours in Krishna Balarama’s service, Gaudamandala das

By Kavicandra Swami We often get questions about surrender, like “how can we surrender”. Recently I was reading one old BTG, 2001, and found a nice practical statement from Srila Prabhupada. If we search “surrender” on the vedabase we find 7445 hits, …

By Narasimha Swami Dasa From the scriptures, especially Srimad-Bhagavatam and Mahabharata, we are aware of the histories of pure devotees who have shown us the way of total surrender to Lord Krishna. When Duhsasana tried to disrobe Draupadi, she held o…

Conversation in NVD.
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Gita verse-by-verse podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Gita%20verse-by-verse/Gita%2010.08%20-%20Knowledge%20of%20Krishna’s%20position%20transforms%20our%20disposition.mp3
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Harinama. Haifa. Israel. 07.05.2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: It is imperative that all devotees in Krishna consci…

Wonderful Rathayatra in Brisbane CBD. (Album with photos)
Sri Prahlad led the kirtan which was ecstatic and then we had the main festival in King Georges’ square which was lovely. I did Gita card Readings for an hour and a half and met some lovely people to preach to. There was a very nice young guy from Italy who asked great questions and spent about 40 min with him. Krishna is so kind, it was an amazing day!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/RjwRRE

Sri Sri Krishna Balarama Mandir – Queens, New York.
4/30/16 The devotees sang kirtan and distributed prasadam/books to the comm…

Hare Krishna Taipei: Four weeks ago, I got a phone call from Fu-Jen Catholic University Department of Religious Studies. That student told me that “they” were going to do a report at school about Hinduism and Hare Krishna in Taiwan, so I started preparing a lot of information and papers for them. I suggested them to choose some important topics which I strongly recommended to study about ISKCON’s history, Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, preview Bhagavad Gita As It Is if they would like to, give them some useful handouts which explain the details of worshipping deities, cleaning, arti, some beautiful photos of the altar at ISKCON Taipei. We had contacted with each other many times, finally last Sunday all the students could visit our center together. They interviewed us and asked many good and deep questions. I was very happy that they showed they really wanted to know more about ISKCON in Taiwan. After two hours interview, we took this photo before we greeted to the deities. I remember I only slept for 3 hrs after I finished making the garlands and then I went back to the temple to meet them last Sunday afternoon. My body was tired but my heart was full of blessings from the Lord ……..
More photos of the event here: https://goo.gl/7hp10T

Every Corner Of the World (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: This afternoon we dove into an ocean of nectar in Yekaterinbu…

May 8. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Nitya-siddha.
Prabhupada never claimed to be a nitya-siddha, a soul who has never fallen down to the material world. Yet Prabhupada had the symptoms of such a great soul. A sadhana-siddha is a conditioned soul who is perfected by the performance of the rules and regulations of devotional service. Krpa-siddha is one who attains perfection through the special mercy of the Lord or His pure devotee. But a nitya-siddha is extremely rare in this world.
Uddhava was a nitya-siddha. He had the same form as Krishna (svarupa-mukti). Even as a child he was always engaged in the “play of transcendental realization.” Prabhupada, like Uddhava, played with the forms of Radha-Krishna as a child, bathing Them, feeding Them, and worshiping Them. He also held the Ratha-yatra festival with his small playmates and would go across the street to visit the Radha-Govinda Temple daily. Prabhupada said of himself that he thought he had ample opportunity to engage in sinful life, being born in an aristocratic family; but he never did. “And throughout my whole life I did not know what is illicit sex, intoxication, meat eating and gambling. So far my present life is concerned, I do not remember any part of my life when I was forgetful of Krishna.”
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

“Many devotees have commented that it is better to go deep in Krishna consciousness than to go broad—going here and there looking for different philosophies in different places. I thought of a devotee of Caitanya Mahaprabhu named Mukunda. Caitanya Mahaprabhu would occasionally just be in the mood of giving mercy and calling people forward to get […]

Above the Adelaide temple room and restaurant is a hall that is used for Sunday school and seminars by visiting devotees. On my last visit I presented a series of Bhagavad Gita classes on the difference between karma, karma yoga … Continue reading →

Written by Nandan Evening festivities in the Community Hall… The display in the community room was not as elaborate as last year but it was pretty and sparkly. There was a table with deities of Krsna and Balaram with a couple of Gopas surrounded by various flowers, stars and foliage. The floor near the deity […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17 at the Bikram Yoga Center in Patagonia Arizona. As a highly potent drug injected intravenously acts at once on the whole body, the transcendental topics of the Lord injected through the ear by the pure devotee of the Lord can act very efficiently. Aural realization of the […]

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