Monthly Archives: November 2016

The Conch Newsletter – issue November 2016.
The Conch is New Govardhana communitys monthly newsletter. Whether you live locally or further afield, The Conch is a great way for you to keep inspired and remain connected to the New Govardhana community. …

[Reposted from 8-22-2011] Respectful obeisances to Prabhupada, and all his disciples, and granddisciples—who are the future of the Krishna consciousness movement.

(I have adopted many of the words I shared on his disappearance day last year for this occasion, as they are sill of pressing importance to me, and repetition is the mother of learning.) On the appearance day of one’s guru it is customary to present an offering of glorification to one’s guru, and the process given by him or her. It may be directly expressed to the guru, and/or also addressed to the general audience. After the disappearance of one’s guru—or any founder of a religion or sect—many different conceptions of the guru and their teachings arise. This is an inevitable and unavoidable occurrence, and while one may favor their personal understanding, one can also do their best to understand the feelings and realizations of others, in the mood of diversity within the oneness of service to Prabhupada and Lord Chaitanya.

The fact that there are many different ideas as to the essential teachings of our guru can make it difficult to express one’s heart—at least it is for me. Never the less, I will try to express something to honor Prabhupada along with my personal reflections about my relationship to him, and some realizations I have gleaned from my personal experience. I pray for the generosity, magnanimity, and blessings of my audience.

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Barsana Karttika 2016 (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: On 27th Oct, we visited the beautiful village of Barsana! Come along with us on the Parikrama Path of Barsana with Vittalrukmini’s pics!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/r5FiD7

Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day.
“So at the time of death… Of course, those who are devotees, their position is different. People may say, “The devotee is also dying, and the nondevotee, sinful man, is also dying. What is…

Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day (video-class).
Srila Prabhupada departed from this world in Vrindavan dham, India, on the 14th of November 1977. One would not usually celebrate the disappearance day of a person, especially one so loved and revered as Srila Prabhupada. However, the departure of a pure Vaishnava gives cause for jubilation because he returns to his eternal service at Krishna’s lotus feet in Goloka Vrindavan, the spiritual world.

TOVP: Rainwater Pipes (Album with photos)
Sadbhuja Das: A few years back we began the installation of HDPE (High-density polye…Read More…

Ratha Yatra in the Carribean (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Let us remain in our position, but at the same time, simultaneously, side by side, let us have spiritual culture. Just like we are holding this class. This is also spiritual culture, sravanam kirtanam [SB 7.5.23]. With your multifarious duties you come here thrice in a week and try to understand. This is also spiritual culture. This will not go in vain. This will give you impression. Even you stop coming here, that impression will never go. I tell you the that impression will never go. It is such a thing. But if we take it up very seriously and go on molding our life in that way, then it becomes quickly successful. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 2.49-51 – New York, April 5, 1966
Find them here: https://goo.gl/oMgVCm

Answer Podcast

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By Sri Radharamana dasa

Bhakti Charu Swami travelled in from India to present the keynote speech. His Holiness began by reflecting on his privilege in being present at a historical place of British Parliament where many significant decisions had been made throughout history that affected the entire world. His Holiness described the objective behind ISKCON and the many sacrifices made by Srila Prabhupada in its establishment. In detailing the prediction of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His Holiness demonstrated how Srila Prabhupada inundated the entire world with a spiritual revolution that places a solution to all problems of life and the world through devotional service to Lord Krishna. His Holiness shared some of his intimate moments with Srila Prabhupada to exemplify the magnanimity of the Founder-Acharya. Out of love for Srila Prabhupada, His Holiness once expressed how he wished that he could’ve served Srila Prabhupada when he was alone in the beginning days in New York. Srila Prabhupada affectionately responded saying that he was never alone since Krishna was always with him. His Holiness described how ISKCON came to the UK and requested for all people to seriously consider the message of Srila Prabhupada for the upliftment of each individual and mankind.

Answer Podcast

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By Sri Radharamana dasa

The ‘Call of Dharma’ marks the evening of a daylong celebration across the firm which included Diwali prashadam sweets distributed to all UK and Ireland EY offices along with festive cards and animated media wall messages. In the spirit of the festival, EY hosted a ‘dress colourful’ day across UK and a lunchtime Bharat Natyam performance at the UK Headquarters. With over 100 professionals in attendance at the evening event, His Holiness explained how one can take lessons from the story of Diwali and reflect them in our professional lives. Due to huge demands, the event was streamed live via the ‘Veda London’ page on Facebook where people in their thousands, from all over the world, tuned in to watch the keynote speech. His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami explained how the Ramayana literally documents the ‘Journey of Lord Rama’ to exemplify ideal character and virtues through the history of Lord Rama’s journey for global peace and prosperity despite life’s various challenges. Diwali appears as the summation of that journey. In explaining the Call of Dharma, His Holiness used various examples to describe the dormant nature of the living entity and subsequent Dharma, which when followed, grants permanent peace and prosperity.

Answer Podcast

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By Sri Nandanandana dasa Sometimes people think that the ancient Vedic literature no longer has any real usefulness in this day and age. That it is little better than an antique of foregone days. However, this article shows the universal and ever-relev…

​Prabhupada disappearance day offering

Podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2016%20classes/11-16%20classes/Appreciating%20Srila%20Prabhupada’s%20transcendence%20in%20sharing%20bhakti.mp3
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Sacred Abodes (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Yavat is where Radharani lived with her husband Abhimanyu and her in-laws…Read More…

In acquiring knowledge, it is said that what we can know depends on what we know. On seeing pale fingernails, a layperson sees just the discoloration of the nails, but a doctor sees signs of anemia. As the doctor knows more about the body’s functioning than a layperson, the doctor can come to know more about its possible malfunctioning on seeing things that convey nothing significant to laypeople.

Similarly, the more we come to know about bhakti and especially about the challenges of sharing bhakti with others, the more we can appreciate the sacrifice of those who have dedicated their lives to sharing bhakti. And the greatest among the modern sharers of bhakti is our exalted founder-acharya, His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, whose thirty-ninth disappearance day we are observing today.

During the last few years, since I started traveling in various parts of the world for sharing bhakti, I have gained increased appreciation of two aspects of Srila Prabhupada’s outreach: his capacity to transcend jet-lag and his capacity to transcend his body’s need of sleep for writing.

Beyond jet-lag

I had heard from Srila Prabhupada’s close associates, especially his personal servants, how Srila Prabhupada was never affected by jet-lag. But the significance of this point didn’t register in me till I found myself afflicted by jet-lag . When we travel across time zones, the body’s biological clock remains in the time zone we were in earlier, even if the body is now in another time zone. Getting the body’s clock to adjust to the new time zone often takes several days. And during that interim period, our sleep cycles, digestion patterns and other bodily functions get disturbed, even disrupted, thereby adversely affecting our capacity to function effectively. That is the way with most normal human beings.

Srila Prabhupada traveled extensively and tirelessly, his functioning never impeded by jet-lag. Such uninterrupted service is testimony to his absorption in Krishna and in his capacity to transcend a bodily limitation that affects most human beings.

Beyond sleep

Another way in which Srila Prabhupada transcended his body’s normal limitations has been far more consequential for all of us: by his writing books after just a few hours of sleep. How difficult such writing can be, I would like to share from an author’s perspective.

As I have many writing commitments – and keep getting many more – many times I have resolved to cut down on my night sleep so that I can wake early and write. Even if I do manage to wake early, I have found that my brain is in no condition to write. On most such occasions, I simply struggle against sleep without doing any constructive writing. And the experience of most authors is similar. Whatever books on writing I have read, therein I have found that writers are unanimous that one needs to sleep adequately to write effectively.

Of course, it could be said that any bodily activity requires that the body be sufficiently rested. That’s true, but that requirement of rest is all […]

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Mercy from His Room

By Vaisesika Das The jiva is a an appreciator and Krishna is the Supreme appreciated and that’s our job, that’s all we have to do, to appreciate Krishna and all Krishna has to do is be Krishna because He’s completely appreciable. Every living entity ha…

Honorable Lt Governer of NCT Delhi meets the devotees.
Vrajendranandan Das: Recently we met Shri Najeeb Jung, Honorable Lt Governer of NCT Delhi. H.H. Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja presented Bhagavad Gita As it Is in English language and briefed him …

His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami speaks on Vedic Knowledge and his book – “Ocean of Mercy” at the House of Lords on the occasion of 50 years of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)

New Talavana’s Cow Festival.
New Talavans tenth annual Cow Fest on Oct. 1 was definitely its most successful and exciting yet!!! Why? Because for once we werent preaching to the choir! All agreed that for the first time in years there were more festival new comers then devotees! Over 100 guests were greeted with the beauty of New Talavanits well-manicured grounds, lovely ponds, soaring hardwoods, varieties of flowers, and dozens of fruit bearing trees. Several guests, fantasizing aloud, were even inspired to ask, How can I live here too? One first time guest, a well-traveled missionary, proclaimed, In all my journeys, I have never witnessed a place quite as beautiful and peaceful! Here are a few more highlights of our visitors impressions:

Arab Man Coming Back for Books Again and Again.
Vijaya Dasa: While distributing books at the West LA College in Los Angeles, I was speaking to a man from Saudi Arabia. He is upset that there is so much fighting in the Arab countries. I showed him the picture in the Gita of how a wise person sees within everyone both a soul and God and therefore respects all living entities.
Then I said, “If everyone saw like this, there’d no longer be wars around the world and there’d be no room for racism.”
He was so pleased to hear this that he gave a donation for a Gita, and I also gave him “Beyond Birth and Death” in Arabic. He was shocked that I had a book in Arabic, and that increased his happiness. Ten minutes later he came back and said that he had read some of the book and found it very interesting. He asked whether I had more books in Arabic. I said, “No, sorry.”
Then he said, “Do you have any more copies of the same book?”
I said, “Yes, I do.”
I gave him two more, and he made another nice donation.
Ten minutes later he came back again and asked whether he could give a donation for another Gita. This was turning into too much ecstasy.
I gave him my contact information, and he said that he’ll visit the temple this Sunday.
I was waiting for him to come back again, since it had become a regular thing, but he didn’t. I hope to see him again this Sunday.
Your servant,
Vijaya Dasa

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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