Monthly Archives: May 2016

By Kesava Krsna Dasa There is a lot of emphasis nowadays on the need for love and trust among devotees. We can cite the six loving exchanges between us. We can also use the strength of the often quoted, “your love for me will be shown by how you coop…

KKSBlog will go offline for major maintenance from Sunday 8 may 13:00 until Tue 13:00h CET. We scheduled to move the website to a new hosting company. This change should help speeding up the website. Please follow facebook for any updates on the progress of this change. Our last update was almost 2 years ago. And […]

By Mahatma das The first thing Srila Prabhupada explained to a friend of mine in their three hour meeting on how to run his business was this: “Don’t compromise your principles.” Srila Prabhupada often said, “I never compromised my principles. If I c…

The post May 6th evening kirtan in Krsna Valley appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Meeting “Anthony G”, a Gaura Purnima gift.
Gadidas, April, 2016: This year, in consideration of the appearance of Lord Caitanya, we took Harinam prabhu to the park….Centenial Park… Nashville, Tn… we rented a pavilion and set up camp. The day was pristine, and we began kirtan… brought a ton of prasad, and a stack of books… We had kirtan, and about an hour or so into the effort, “Anthony G. “ rolls up on his electric cart for the disabled. Inspired by the loud kirtan Anthony G started to get animated…and suddenly got down from his assisted transport on the ground and started crawling toward the center of the kirtan…more specifically toward the girls…we felt caution…and suddenly he was lying like dandavats, and started break dancing. The kirtan moved louder and stronger watching Anthony G. do his part for the pleasure of Harinam prabhu….
He turned and indicated he wanted to get up, seeing he needed help, some devotees helped him up and back over to his mobility chair. The kirtan accelerated from all of this and we started going in a circle around a stone pillar….suddenly Anthony G gets up and starts dancing and chanting around with us, as if he had no disability… raising his arms in the air and chanting. The kirtan accelerated again, as observers watched for the next transformation. This went on for some time, and finally Anthony G returned to his chair, and kept chanting. In the meantime. He leaned over and asked who was that person in the picure…(we had a small sacred area made with pictures of Prabhupada and Panchtatva… A young Indian man told Anthony that his name was Prabhupada…and out of nowhere, Anthony raised his arms and started chanting “Prabhupada,Prabhupada, Prabhupada….well we were all astonished and the kirtan just went off the chart… and mind you, we had not chanted “Prabhupada” not even once so far… he just did that out of some inspiration from within the heart.
After an hour or so we concluded the kirtan and began reading some beautiful pastimes of Lord Caitanya from Chaitanya Bhagavat. Somewhere along the way Anthony G asked me if I would read some poetry of his…of course I agreed and found the poem he chose to be one of surrender to God… God being his only source of strength and inspiration, of complete dependence , etc… it was a fitting end to our day, and a great memory. Anthony G we will never forget. There are so many adventures awaiting out there, just waiting for the HariNam Sankirtan party to arrive and stimulate the heart.
Although most of our regulars did not make it to Centenial park, we were thinking of them, and wishing they hadn’t missed this HariNam Sankirtana adventure. Sorry, no pictures…
Hoping all is well inside and out…your servant because of his mercy, ..Gadidas

The post Three ways in which Krsna reacts with the misdeeds of conditioned souls appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Laying flowers to the Eternal Flame at Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow 2016-05-05 (Album with photos)
Moscow Vaishna…

Harinama in Toronto.
Manorama Dasa: Downtown Toronto – one of the most amazing public kirtan experiences in my life. I wish we …

This afternoon at the Festival of Inspiration in New Vrndavana, Yogesvara Prabhu / Joshua M. Greene began his inspiring talk about what Joseph Campbell calls the “Hero’s Journey” He explained how George Lucas, adapted what he learned about the Ramayana from Joseph Campbell to create “Star Wars”. He presented the history of events that led up to Srila Prabhupada leaving India to bring Krsna consciousness to America in his new book “ Swami In A Strange Land”, He did extensive interviews with Srila Prabhupada’s son and has new data in the book not read before. This interview shares some of the same points he made in his presentation.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/ZnBQfa

>Dwaipayan De: Having a vegetarian/Vegan diet has a considerable effect on our environment.

2016 USA Retreat with H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami!
The New Vrindaban staff has once again graciously offered to host HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja’s retreat this year at New Vrindavan.
Right before the retreat, on June 18-19, there is a 24-Hour Kirtan for which you need to register separately at http://www.24hourkirtan.net. Maharaja and many other great vaishnavas will be there. Please note the onsite accommodations for the 24-hour kirtana are already sold out, but nearby hotels are still available.
After the 24-hour kirtana His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami will give us his blissful association in a retreat setting as follows:
Start: June 20 (Mon) evening 4:00 PM (Welcome address by HH Bhakti Charu Swami, guest introductions, and kirtana)
Main Conference Sessions: Harinama Cintamani June 20-23 and Krishna’s Vrindavan Pastimes June 23-26.
Finish: June 26 (Sun) by 12:00 PM (Morning program and concluding remarks by HH Bhakti Charu Swami followed by the Temple’s Sunday Feast program)
Registration: This year’s registration is again handled by the New Vrindaban staff. Please click on the link: http://nvfestivals.com/registration/

Demystifying the Indian Spiritual Tradition – Talk With Sanjeev Sanyal and Bhakti Charu Swami (video)
A very wonderful preaching event recently took place in Singapore. The main discussion took place on the topic “Demystifying the Indian Spiritual Tradition” between Bhakti Charu Maharaj and Sanjeev Sanyal.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/4k3Duy

By Krsnanandan Das

Summer Camp classes for children started from 14th April at some residences and it continued for 10 days. Every place had a good response of enthusiastic children. The children who attended the summer camp enjoyed learning shlokas of the 12th Ch of Bhagavad Gita, singing bhajans like Madhurashtakam, Guruvashtakam, hearing the stories of ‘Mighty HANUMAN’, playing Krishna Conscious Games and had the feeling that they had chosen the best Summer Camp. On 23rd April, 2016, the respective teachers invited all the students and their parents from almost 30 places. So there were 300 children attending Darshan Arati at ISKCON Mira Road temple on that day. Then H.G. Kamala Lochan Prabhuji (temple president), addressed the children. He spoke about the qualities which Lord Krishna had mentioned in the 12th chapter of Bhagavad Gita. He stressed on the verse ‘advesta sarva bhutanam….’, and told the children the definition of kindness. The children loved his lecture and learned many things from it. After the lecture, H.G. Kamala Lochan Prabhuji himself distributed certificates to the children who attended the Summer Camp, which inspired them to be a part of ISKCON.

Dear Devotees and TOVP Donors, Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Greetings from Sridham Mayapur, and blessings from Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, Panchatattva and Nrsimhadeva. This Monday, May 9, is Akshaya Tritiya, one of the most important days in the Vedic calendar. Akshaya Tritiya is the appearance day of Lord Parasurama, and

The post Akshaya Tritiya – The Ultimate Day of Giving appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

May 7. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Pleasing the Guru Means Pleasing Krishna.
Every morning we pray yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah, but sometimes we forget what it means. The verse means that by the grace of the spiritual master one gets the mercy of Krishna. If one does not please the spiritual master, then he has no chance of progress. (Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah, you have to please the guru, not independently go to Krishna.) So I am praying to you like that. That is, I pray to you knowing that a prayer to you is as good as a prayer to Krishna. Yadyapi amara guru caitanyera dasa, Srila Prabhupada, you are the servant of the Supreme Lord. Tathapi janiye ami tanhara prakasa. You are the full manifestation – prakasa of the Lord Himself. (CC Adi 1.44)
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

On 30th April 2016, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj attended an Artha Forum meeting at Singapore. Artha Forum is an online community dedicated to connecting entrepreneurs, professionals and business leaders and bringing to them the relevance of ancient wisdom and literature in modern business. On his preaching travels Maharaj attends various such meetings organized by Artha Forum at […]

The post Demystifying the Indian Spiritual Tradition – Talk With Sanjeev Sanyal and Bhakti Charu Swami appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj reached at Sridham Mayapur on 3rd May 2016.  Maharaj met all devotees at his quarters on the conch building. Next day Maharaj offered Mangal arti worship to Sri Sri Prahlad Narsinga Deva. Then Maharaj also lead Tulsi Arti Kirtan. On 4th May 2016, Maharaj gave Srimad Bhagavatam class on […]

The post Bhakti Charu Swami’s recent class at Sridham Mayapur appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj left for Singapore on 27th April 2016 from Ujjain. On 29th April, after his morning walk, Maharaj shared purpose of this visit to Singapore – “There is two main reasons why I came here. The first is to meet the previous Artha members attendees. The second, is to meet the […]

The post Bhakti Charu Maharaj’s Summer Visit To Singapore appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

Pleasing the Guru Means Pleasing Krishna

Written by Nandan The Initiation Ceremony Monday, 25 April – 3.45pm and it was still crisp outside and rather muggy. But inside the temple it was very warm indeed. Warm in the physical sense from all the people assembled and warm in the subtle sense from the abundance of goodwill emanating from the vaishnavas present. […]

Computational irreducibility is one of the main ideas proposed by Stephen Wolfram in his book A New Kind of Science. Wolfram terms the inability to shortcut a program (e.g., a system), or otherwise describe its behavior in a simple way, “computational irreducibility”. The empirical fact is that the world of simple programs contains a great diversity of behavior, but, because of undecidability, it is impossible to predict what they will do before essentially running them. The idea demonstrates that there are occurrences where theory’s predictions are effectively not possible. Wolfram states several phenomena are normally computationally irreducible.

– source: Wikipedia

The behavior of a living being or a man-made system will correspond to the computation of equivalence sophistication. For example, the brain of a child versus an adult will exhibit behavior based on the computation equivalent to the brain’s sophistication. Children’s brains are not developed so they behave differently than an adult’s brain. Wolfram explains as a result of the sophistication of the system, we can only reduce its computation to a certain point after which it is irreducible thus hampering our ability to predict its future behavior in full. Wolfram thinks this is why we are not able to explain the unique unpredictable nature (undecidability) of this natural world. Basically this is a fancy way of saying scientists don’t know everything.

Because science does not fully comprehend the idea of consciousness and is unwilling to admit it within mainstream learning, scientists are coming up with new kinds of science to explain the concept of free-will within our natural world. Computation irreducibility is one such deterministic theory to explain a non-deterministic natural world.

The video captures this idea in short.

 

Hare Krishna

The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple is thrilled to share the details of the much awaited visit of Vaisesika Prabhu and Nirakula Mataji, from Friday, May 20th to Tuesday, May 24th:The schedule of events is as follows:Friday, May 20 to Tuesday, May 24Daily S…

Please check out how accurately and expertly our new CNC router can carve a chakra out of MDF (medium density fiberboard). This shows that this State-of-the-Art machine is capable to make any intricate, decorative designs we program it to do.

The post CNC Router Carving Chakra From MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

The Conch – Newsletter of the New Govardhana Community, May 2016.
MOTHERS IN ISKCON. By Ambika devi dasi. Did you know that there are seven kinds of mothers? In the Vedas it is described that these are: the biological mother; the wife of the king; the wife of the guru; the wife of a brahmana; Mother Earth; the nurse (caregiver); and the cow. Other references throughout the scriptures are made to various mothers, such as Srimati Radharani being the universal mother. Mother Parvati is mentioned, as is Mother Ganga. These mothers display munificence to those who approach them in a prayerful mood.
What is that quintessential quality of a mother? It is affectionate love for the living entity placed under her care, and, according to Vedic understanding, it also means playing a critical role in ensuring the spiritual advancement of her children. In Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, it states: “The highest perfection of life is for a father, mother, spiritual master, husband or any other family member to help others return home, back to Godhead. That is the most preferred welfare activity for the benefit of relatives.” That is why many of our ISKCON mothers, particularly in the earlier days of ISKCON, made the supreme sacrifice of sending their children to a gurukula, so they could help perform the “highest welfare activity” for their children.
You can download the entire newsletter in pdf format here: http://goo.gl/aUL6qY

When Lord Krishna played on this Earth as a child, He lived in a community of cowherds in the region known as Vraja, in northern India. He was in charge of the young calves and took them out each morning to the pasturing grounds.

The three steps of anything: 1) Initial enthusiasm, 2) doubts, disinterest and struggle 3) eventual reward for the committed. This seems to be the standard pattern for most things in life: studies, career, relationships, hobbies, and yes, eve…

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). Willing Workers on Organic Farms is a loose network of national organizations that facilitate placement of volunteers on organic farms. The video was filmed at on the Hare K…

Since 1995, Manorama Das and his wife Jaya Sri Radhe Dasi of ISKCON Youth Ministry have taken youth on a Krishna conscious festival tour of North America. But this year, they’re changing things up a bit with an innovative new adventure….

Harinam Sankirtan or the congregational chanting of the Holy Name, initiated and propagated by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself, continues to be carried out throughout the world with great pomp and splendor. However, the Middle Eastern co…

The post Gadadhar Pandit Abhisheka appeared first on Mayapur.com.

A video by Radha Mohan Das (UK).The explanations are based on the works of Sadaputa das (Dr Richard Thomson), and also, references from the research of Danavir Goswami.

The post May 5th evening Krsna Valley Bhajan appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

By Ekalavya Das

“This is the first time ever that we have been given permission by the honorable Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain to perform Harinam Sankirtan publically!” exclaimed Sridhari Madhav Das, the organizer of ISKCON Bahrain’s presence at the event called Bahrain for All, All for Bahrain. Held on Friday, April 29, 2016, from 4 pm to 10 pm, the event was sponsored and patronized by the office of Bahrain Prime Minister – His Highness Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa. Fifty thousand fortunate residents of Bahrain turned up for the festival and were in for a treat when two hundred and fifty members of ISKCON Bahrain took over the stage, fulfilling the prophesy of Lord Caitanya that the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra will be heard in every town and village of the world.

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The post Daily Darshan: May 6th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

TOVP update.
Sadbhuja Das: Please check out how accurately & expertly our new CNC router can carve a chakra out of MDF (medium density fibre board).
This shows that this State-of-the-Art machine is capable to make any intricate, decorative designs we program it to do.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/aEmnWP

By Braja Vilas das

This Monday, May 9, is Akshaya Tritiya, one of the most important days in the Vedic calendar. Akshaya Tritiya is the appearance day of Lord Parasurama, and it is also the day that the Ganges descended to the earth. Most devotees know it as the beginning of Candana-yatra, but actually many of Lord Krishna’s other pastimes also took place on this day, specifically those which highlight Krishna’s generous and intimate reciprocation with his devotees. The very word Akshaya means “that which never diminishes”. Any service or charity one performs on this day will be paid back many times over. On this day, Sudama gave the Lord a tiny portion of chipped rice and was rewarded with untold opulence. Draupadi was protected by Lord Krishna twice on this day, once when He provided her an unlimited sari at the dice game in return for a tiny piece of cloth, and later, when she needed to provide food for Durvasa muni, the Lord took a single grain from her pot and satisfied the hunger of all the sages.