Monthly Archives: May 2016

Harinam In Macapa-Amazonia with Bhakti Narasimha Swami (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara…

TOVP updates. (Album with photos)
Sadbhuja Das: At present, the rainwater pipes are being put in place for the TOVP.
The…

ISKCON Nairobi – Muslim And Christian Students Get The Mercy (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The performance of sankirtan…

Iskcon Auckland New Zealand: Rathayatra day! (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The Hare Krishna chant is called the maha-ma…

May 25. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: 26 Second Avenue Kaleidoscope.
All glories to that 1966 kirtana which is still going on and is available any time. I think that those kirtanas were very special because of the degree of reciprocation and attention and focus. Back and forward he chants and we hear. We chant and he hears. The holy name is merciful. Pay attention and hear. It is a transcendental sound vibration. Try it, there is no tax.
Swami pounds the drum. He sings in almost relentless delivery, again and again giving the mantra as if he could go on forever, except the time and place don’t allow. We sing back to him. He is patient and convinced. “Just hear.” He knows we will take to it if we can only hear it. He has no doubt. The heart of everything is right there even now, even in the beginning, even in 1966 – the books, Gaudiya Vaisnavism, India, the sacred Yamuna, Radha-Krishna Deities, Sanskrit … Everything is here, present in the sound vibration of the holy name and in his own presence.
Remembering early times in New York is nice because it gives us an idea of what Krishna consciousness always is and what it should be today – the excitement and ecstasy to get together and chant. When the rhythm starts to build, the many karatalas sound like waves. It’s a crashing surf of happy emotions.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

Gita verse-by-verse podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Gita%20verse-by-verse/Gita%2010.14%20-%20Accept%20Krishna’s%20position%20and%20message%20the%20way%20Arjuna%20accepted%20it.mp3
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Podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Bhagavatam%20study/Bhagavatam%20study%2043%201.9.1-10%20The%20experts%20adjust%20contextual%20practices%20to%20fulfill%20essential%20purpose.mp3
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26 Second Avenue Kaleidoscope

Every year the devotee leaders from around New Zealand come to Auckland for the annual general meeting. This is held in one of the classrooms at the Hare Krsna School at New Varshana. This year, along with other matters, there … Continue reading →

From a Russian jail.
I worked as a senior flight attendant with a good salary and roamed freely around the world. I had a beautiful pregnant woman and everything seemed complete, but in my heart I felt a terrible emptiness.
The world had no attraction, as nothing made me happy. I started to smoke marijuana and take drugs. The grass and drugs made me feel better for a while, but finally began to make me feel worse. With all my strength I tried to abandon drugs, but I could not. The grass held me in her arms, and I did not have the strength to leave her.
One morning I got up and began to pray: “O Lord, in my life, nothing brings me joy, though you have given me everything I wanted. I am very unhappy. As a child I was happy! Please let me feel that way again and again!”
In my head I listened to a clear thought: “It will not be easy.”
I prayed earnestly and understood that I will have to pay quite a price.
Two months later the friend who supplied me drugs was seized by the police on the street, and to save himself, he told the police where I lived. Police found drugs in my house, and my “friend” was released on bail, after which he fled to another country and the whole case crashed down on me.
Suddenly I found myself in jail. The investigators denounced me, and I could not prove I was only taking drugs. Although an expensive lawyer was employed, I got a ten-year sentence for what I’d not done.
Now I know that this was a plan of Krishna’s, but then I did not understand it. Because Maya would not let me go, this was how Krishna cut my attachments.
In prison, Krishna began to send me the books of Srila Prabhupada.
Another detainee gave me the Bhagavad-gita and said: “This is the most valuable book for you.”
I read a few pages, but understood nothing and instead began to read gospels in the Bible. I read a lot about Christianity, but felt frustrated, as I had many unanswered questions. I had the feeling that something was hidden from people seeking God.
After six months in prison my condition was horrible. My relatives accused me. I felt bad. But Krishna took care of me and created a new situation.
Among the many books in the library I chose the Science of Self Realization.
I devoured the book. I reached the end and wanted more of these books, and knowing that I was in jail, I was very upset.
But Krishna continued manifesting through the librarian. She brought new books. Among them was Srila Prabhupada’s biography. I jumped for joy. For the first time I felt happy in jail! Reading it, I totally fell in love with Krishna and my dear Srila Prabhupada with all my heart and soul.
And this was not the end. All-attractive Krishna didn’t stop there,
knowing that I wanted to know more and more about Him. He sent a prisoner who had the First Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. I could not believe my eyes.
After three days, the new prisoner was moved to another cell but let me keep the book. At that moment I understood that I hold in my hands the very same Krishna I had been reading about. I studied the book very carefully, taking detailed notes. I did not understand it all, but tried to assimilate every last word, stretching out in time the pleasure of reading, knowing that I had no more books of Srila Prabhupada.
I tried to get more books. I asked my mother, the only person who helped me, to please get me more books about Krishna. But she refused, because she was a sworn Christian. Later, I felt the presence of Krishna, and a week after that my mom agreed! I ordered five books. Amazingly Krishna convinced my mother. I knew that to change her mind was practically impossible.
I started to tell her with all my heart about the inspiration of Krishna, quoting Srila Prabhupada. She listened with interest.
Krishna gave me this knowledge, and I began to search on the internet for a guru. I grew to love Krishna with all my heart.
Reading about Him and His devotees and companions, I did not feel that I am in prison, because I constantly thought about him, and thus He did not leave my head.
I feel immense pleasure when I speak to other people about Krishna. Echoing japa, I smile.
I started to feel disgusted with the meat I ate.
Sometimes remembering where I am, I feel worried because I don’t know what awaits me in the future. Krishna took away everything. But then I think about Him again, and I become happy.
Now some questions torture me that I have no answer for. Why did they give me so many years, if even only one year was enough so that I never forget Krishna.
* * *
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami answered:
My dear friend, Krishna not in vain gave you ten years in prison, because if you got freedom now, you would lose everything. When you truly accept Krishna in your heart, his name can delete all other samskaras and free you from all material desires. This depends on only one condition: understanding that in this world nothing else can save me. Not money, wealth, wife, home,
doctors … nothing. Srila Prabhupada says that this condition is true humility. We are looking for protection, but only Krishna can protect us. If we love Krishna, He will come to us! Here we see how Krishna came to you in the form of the wonderful books by and about Srila Prabhupada!”

Book distribution in a small village of Czech Republic (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: One should invite people, chant H…

Sunday, May 22nd, 2016Toronto, OntarioThe Need for BlessingsPlease notice: for those following me in the walk through America, I will continue.  I have taken some days off my route to attend a wedding, a pre-school anniversary, and the blessing of…

Saturday, May 21st, 2016Toronto, OntarioOur GroupBack at home-base but I can’t get lax.  It should be business as usual.  “Walk a stretch!  Do so in the morning if you can.  You catch the best air.  Trees are sending it out for…

Friday, May 20th, 2016Rocky River, OhioDetroit Rd by ErieDetroit Rd appears to go on forever, beginning from the downtown of Cleveland.  It is a rather straight route and runs parallel to Lake Erie.  There are a few bends to the road which al…

Thursday, May 19th, 2016Lakewood, OhioPedestrians – Yes!The previous night’s program, held at Dayal’s, was devotional as usual because that’s where he is at.  I thank him for all the times that he’s accommodated me.The walk today was short, sweet,…

Wednesday, May 18th, 2016Downtown Cleveland, OhioGot ExcitedAbhimanyu Arjuna and I trekked from Beachwood to the downtown Public Square of Cleveland.  It would be our rest stop, but renovations are underway so we continued on for the ideal relaxin…

Tuesday, May 17th, 2016Beachwood, OhioEast of ClevelandI met a series of good Samaritans.  It started off with a woman who stopped to offer a ride.  She was in tears, her face wet with emotion.”Would you like a ride?  Sorry, I’ve been cr…

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Friendly Fire!
Sutapa Das: With genuine spiritual advancement comes the capacity and capability to have friendly relationships with one and all. Equipped with spiritual vision that penetrates beyond externals, one remains undisturbed by annoying idiosyncrasies, ideological differences, unpredictable personalities, and sticky character traits. We’re able to see something deeper, see the spirit, the underlying sincerity. We can see the heart. At this stage, we have no enemies, even if others view us as such. Indeed, the Bhagavad-gita explains that such friendly persons are spontaneously engaged in beneficial acts towards all living beings (sarva bhuta hite ratha). We could do with a few more people like that in the world.
Lofty, utopian and unattainable? Admittedly, although we desire these friendly connections with everyone around us, it just doesn’t seem to work out in real life. Fighting and friction seem an integral part of social intercourse. Why can’t everyone be friends with everyone else? Is the fact that we don’t get on with everyone a sign of our spiritual deficiencies? What could be the reason for people not liking us?
Our Problem – often, breakdown of friendships are due to underlying selfishness within us. When people smell agendas, duplicity and exploitation, to a greater or lesser degree, they run a mile. Lesson: examine yourself and avoid blaming others.
Their Problem – other times, people project their own struggles onto us and thus prevent a meaningful connection. Deep rooted issues of insecurity, envy and pride, naturally distance them from others. Lesson: be patient and don’t take it personally.
No Problem – sometimes, two people fall out simply because of misunderstanding and miscommunication. Random unsavory incidents can block what would otherwise be a healthy friendship. Lesson: don’t take things too seriously and learn to forget.
Natural Problem – since we are all unique individual characters, it is impersonalistic and utopian to expect that everyone will perfectly gel. Even pure souls have their differences, though it doesn’t block their appreciation of each other. Lesson: celebrate diversity and find atleast something to appreciate.
So, at the risk of sounding cheesy and cliched, lets make more friendly connections. Its a short life after all. As Abraham Lincoln said, “the best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.”
Read more: https://goo.gl/VhfU7C

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Preaching program in Kalachandji’s Hare Krishna Temple, Dallas (Album with photos)
Last night we were blessed to have taken the association of HH Jayapataka Swami. Such and amazingly surrendered devotee of Krishna and Srila Prabhupada. All glories to his service! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/w8wEHg

Karatalas: Weapons of mass inspiration!
The Sanskrit word “kara” means hand and “tala” – a rhythmic pattern. Literally, karatalas – a hand tool to maintain the rhythm. However, this instrument is considered to be a divine instrument. Cymbals sound can be compared with the bell ringing – so big is its cleansing effect. This clears the sound and the one who plays the kartalas, and those who hear it said that God himself death Yamaraja and his servants yamadutas can not go to the one who plays the kartalas.
Patron Saint of cymbals is the gopi Sudevi. She needed to pray to learn to play this wonderful instrument. Before start playing them, favorably pronounced this pranama mantra:
“I will defeat death, I will defeat Yamaraja, and I happily will win over all his servants (yamadutas). Hearing the sound of cymbals from afar neither death, nor any of his servants of Yamaraja, certainly will get close to someone who engages in kirtan. ”
Prabhupada stressed that for the devotees there is no need to learn any oter musical instruments to lead kirtan. Lord Chaitanya gave us the easiest method, and all you need for chanting.
“I think that we have no need to use different musical talents to spread Krishna Consciousness. It is better that people strictly follow the path of Lord Caitanya and His sankirtana devotees. We use mrdanga and karatalas, and that’s enough. We are not musicians. We are Krishna bhaktas. Therefore, we are not interested about all these different musical talents. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is God Himself. If He believed that it would be better to spread the Krishna Consciousness in an other way, He would have done it. No, our process – it’s just play on mrdanga and kartalas, travel and chant Hare Krishna and ask everyone to chant Hare Krsna and just preach the philosophy of “Srimad Bhagavatam”. We do not need to try to add anything to this simple method.“
Srila Prabhupada, letter to Jagadisha, 28.12.1974
(Translated automatically from Russian) http://goo.gl/hDrJFH

The post Daily Darshan: May 24th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Beautiful Festival “The culture of India in Russia 2016” in Moscow (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Anyone who carries Krishna within himself, constantly, can go anywhere and turn the place into a sacred pilgrimage. Letter to Rupanuga, July 3, 1968.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/BgBJj1

A few improvements to Krishna Lounge: new curtains and painted kitchen.

https://youtu.be/lzESAFHUZPQ

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Mayapur Institute: 23 students from different parts of the world successfully completed their Teachers Training Course-1 and receivi…

Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk.
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, by Krishna-kripa das.
Srila Prabhupada from a class on …

By Krishna-kripa DasLokanath Swami, Candramauli Swami, Sacinandana Swami, Agnideva Prabhu and Vaiyasaki Prabhu share their realizations during the Birmingham 24-Hour kirtana, carefully collected by Krishna-kripa Prabhu. Gopal Guru Goswami:. With the fi…

By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura “Worship of Krishna without Radha is not worship but pride. It is another unauthorized philosophy nourished by the concept of an impotent God. Krishna is alone the enjoyer; all others are to be enjoyed. The or…

By Hari Narayana Das

At present there are only a couple of devotees, Bhakta Putu Parwata and his wife, who reside in Cligeon. They have a good relationship with Mrs . Wira who works as secretary in government office. She also communicated the ratha yatra to the local Hindu community and got the support of the local Hindus to help participate in the festival under the banner of Balinese culture. Hearing the good news from Cligeon, Indonesian leaders spread the word to all Indonesian devotees and requested all those who could to attend.

May 24. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: The Krishna-ized Storefront.
Swamiji is a bold performer. He is expert at creating excitement. His foreignness is charismatic – his golden complexion, his yellow tilaka, his shining teeth, lips and eyes, delicate fingers. Nothing showy.

Podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Bhagavatam%20study/Bhagavatam%20study%2042%201.8.45-52%20Yudhisthira%20argues%20against%20his%20blamelessness.mp3
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Gita verse-by-verse podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/Lecture%20series/Gita%20verse-by-verse/Gita%2010.13%20-%20The%20sages’%20reiteration%20of%20Krishna’s%20words%20boosts%20our%20conviction%20and%20devotion.mp3
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The Krishna-ized Storefront

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 May 2016, Vrndavana, India, Bhagavad-gita 3.34) We may say that we do not love chanting so much but if I, as the government, would give an order, “You are not allowed to chant! Chanting is forbidden.” Suddenly, you will have a lot more love for chanting than you think. Whereas now, chanting […]

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By Mayapur Sasi dasa

Here’s the good news about the world of book distributors: It used to be said that the sun never sets on the worldwide British Empire, but now it does. However, now the sun never sets on Srila Prabhupada’s book distributors. Every seven seconds a book is distributed, and 24/7 the books go out to conditioned souls. This gives many people the opportunity to understand that they belong in another world, a transcendental world where everyone has full knowledge and an eternal position and feels unlimited happiness in the service of Krsna. In April, one of the temples in Sri Lanka had one of its most successful months. The city with the big score, Batticaloa, is not huge – 300,000 people. And the center has very few book distributors, but they did so well spreading Lord Krsna’s glories that they accumulated 4,510 book points, an 898% increase over April 2015. They distributed 2,760 books.