Author Archives: Dandavats.com

Preaching in Mexico by the Bus tour devotees (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: When a disciple becomes perfect in spiritual advancement, the spiritual master feels very, very happy, that “I am a nonsense, but this boy, he has followed my instruction and he has achieved the success. That is my success.” This is the spiritual master’s ambition. Just like a father. This is the relationship. Just like… Nobody wants to see anybody more advanced than himself. That is the nature. Matsarata. If anybody becomes advanced in any subject matter, then I become envious upon him. But the spiritual master or the father, he does not become envious. He feels himself very, very happy, that “This boy has advanced more than me.” This is spiritual master’s position. (V�ndavana, March 13, 1974)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/uBsL6p

Ocean of Mercy.
A new publication, yet so much appreciation
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ISKCON Auckland NZ: Rathyatra 2017 (Album with photos)
The best way to bring in the new year!
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A visit to Rose Forkash (now Rajani-priya dasi).
Giriraj Swami: Tonight, Swarup Damodar, Sukumari, Nikunja Viharini, and I went to visit Rose Forkash (now Rajani-priya dasi) at her home in Carpinteria. For three hours, she enlivened and inspired us with stories of her and her family’s association with and service to Srila Prabhupada. And Swarup Damodar gave me a wonderful exchange with Srila Prabhupada about her and her daughter, to read out loud:
Ramesvara: We have one mother in Los Angeles of a girl named Lila-sakti. She’s a big book distributor. And her mother, she loves this movement so much that when the deprogrammers start debating us, she stands up and yells at them that “My daughter was on drugs, hippie, before she came to this movement. This movement has saved her. If I had known about this movement when I was a young girl, I would have joined this movement!” On television she’s speaking like that, very strongly: “You have no right to criticize! You don’t know anything about this movement.” … She says, “You just come over to my house for lunch and I’ll tell you all about this movement, how nice it is.” She started this club, Parents for Krishna.
Prabhupada: Oh, she is very sincere. And her daughter, this Lila …? What is?
Ramesvara: Lila-sakti.
Prabhupada: She’s wonderful girl. She’s expert in everything.
(Room Conversation, January 20, 1977, Bhubaneswar)
Rajani-priya is now ninety-six years of age, but she is full of life—Krishna consciousness.

Evidence Of Their Devotion (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: On our way back from Nathdwara to Vrindavan we stopped in Ja…Read More…

The Struggle To Feel Alive With A Passion To Give.
I must discover and name my gift—yes, that is a practice, but more.
I must also share it now, not just keep talking about it,
like a prisoner in a cage,
because I will never be completely ready
to be who I want and pray to be.
I used to be a workshop and training junkie,
wanting titles and certifications,
but it was never enough,
because inside of myself
I didn’t feel worthy to teach,
feeling incomplete and insufficient,
thinking my sad past story defined me.

It has taken having to face my imminent death by cancer
that I have been forced to actually live each day as fully as I can—
thinking I can, I will, I must, I am living my true purpose
one moment, hour, day, week, year, and life at a time.

There is no time like the present, and that is all I have,
that, and my desire to love and serve, to give to make a difference.

I need to be a teacher of essential truth,
now, from my lifetime of becoming,
accepting that I, and we, are always a work in progress,
but we don’t have to wait till perfection to give.

I have learned that by giving who we are now,
we become more than we could have ever imagined.
We don’t just wake up one day fully formed and realized
but it happens gradually, like the sun rising, or the coming of spring.

As it is said, the journey of a thousand miles begins
with the first step, so I, and we, have to step forward,
instead of hesitating in fear and doubt and complaining,
remaining in the background of what could have been
and then dying angry and resentful that we stopped short.

I, and we, have to make room for our gifts
which is as simple as giving love and caring
at every moment through our natural daily rhythm of being.

By living through my spiritual practice of prayer, worship,
studying scriptures and the practical knowledge from the wise,
I deepen who I am, and joyfully become my gifts and loving service
which give me life and inspiration, to share who I am.

As I focus on the Lord of my heart
to gain a oneness in spiritual purpose
and strength, so I can be, speak, and write
my confidence in my divine packing
believing in myself and encouraging you
to do the same—which is why I share.

I realize that while I have to be self-reliant while depending on God
I also need to help you by giving myself and all I have learned—
one truth of which, as difficult and foreign as it is to accept:

The greatest gift we have to give is ourselves—first to God
and then to everyone else, to be emissaries of the spiritual Light,
for me the devotional life of bhakti, or loving service to
the divine couple, Radha and Krishna, through their remembrance
and fully taking the holy name as my constant companion
as given by the kirtana and prema avatar,
Shri Chaitanya, & his agents, my mentors and companions.
Karnamrita Das

In Life or Death – Take Shelter!
After leaving the hospital a few weeks ago, my firm determination was never to return. It was by far, one of the most painful experiences of my life. Yet, today I did. This time, to the ICU, a place I cringed to think about. However, the visit was for a completely different purpose. The daughter of a devotee from Pune, passed away at a very young age in California Medical Center Hospital here in San Francisco, due to organ failure. A group of devotees and I had the opportunity to be next to her body and pray for her. Life is so fleeting and can pass through our fingers at any time. It’s so shocking, that it almost feels unreal. So many people on life support, young and old, just barely holding on. Death and pain don’t discriminate, do they? Time and tide wait for none.

I came across a feeble young girl from her bed in the ICU, around my age, smiling back at me. I waved at her and she waved back. I took the liberty to walk into her room and her sister welcomed me with a warm embrace and tearful eyes, as though I was a part of their family.

“We were just waiting for someone, come by, smile at us, and give us some warm feelings of love amidst all this suffering,” the sister said, firmly holding on to my hand. “Thank you for stopping by. You don’t know how much it means to us.” I gave them a Bhagavad Gita, saying this is main book of prayer, the source of our strength. They eagerly took two copies. While I was leaving, they all folded their palms in gratitude and bowed their heads saying, “Thank you so much. I’m sure our daughter will get better soon. Thanks for sharing the love.”

Death is all pervading, so unstoppable. There is nothing in our humanly power that we can do to prevent it. Its all a cycle of every individuals personal karma. Surprisingly, though, we do have control and responsibility over the situation. Srila Prabhupada has given us our only shelter, Krsna, and his words in the form of Bhagavad Gita. We are encouraged to drink the nectar of its contents to our fullest, and make it a goal of our life to distribute it to our suffering brothers and sisters.
Priya Kishori Devi Dasi

Reconnection, a film about Vrindavan.
BB Govinda Swami: Recently you have seen promotional activity regarding our movie about Sri Vrindavan Dham, Reconnection.
It’s a story about a person who transcends trials in his life … through the transformative experience of visiting Vrindavan.
Let me give you a little background … because the story of Reconnection actually did not start in Vrindavan.

Balancing Feelings Of Unworthiness
Mahatma das: It’s common for devotees to feel unqualified or unworthy to serve guru and Krsna. This is helpful when it is a natural symptom of spiritual advancement. But it is detrimental when, out of an unhealthy psychology, we either feel unworthy of receiving Krsna’s grace, or feel unworthy of being loved by Krsna. Spiritual unworthiness and material unworthiness are not the same. One is a by-product of a high level of Krsna consciousness and the other is a symptom of an unhealthy mental or emotional state. Is it possible for conditioned souls to develop healthy feeling of unworthiness? If so, what would this look like? And how do we know when those feelings are not Krsna conscious but signs of an emotional weakness or problem?
Isn’t It Artificial?
It is an elementary understanding of Krsna consciousness that this world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. We learn that qualities and characteristics that are undesirable (such as jealousy, anger, sulking, envy, etc.) have their pure “all-good” spiritual counterparts. What may look like a material defect, or even a mental or emotional illness, can be a symptom of an elevated state of Krsna consciousness. Thus, we sometimes see advanced devotees exhibiting extreme lamentation, self-denigration or hopelessness as aspects of their Krsna consciousness.

How are we to relate to this? Can we follow in their footsteps? Is there a kind of lamentation, self-denigration, and hopelessness that’s suitable to our level of Krsna consciousness? If there is, how can we not become discouraged by such feelings?

Feelings of unworthiness have their place in our lives, and can inspire us if these feelings are genuine and appropriate to our level of Krsna consciousness. To come to a level of feeling genuine spiritual unworthiness, we first need to overcome our material feelings of unworthiness. Why? Because these material feelings are not healthy for our bhakti.

Let us first look at feelings of unworthiness that are detrimental to our advancement.

Who Is Worthy To Get Krsna?
Devotees often feel unworthy to receive Krsna’s mercy, kindness, and love, feeling that Krsna is throwing pearls to a swine. More often than not, such feelings are mixed with, or result from, a material sense of unworthiness (I am bad, I am dirty, I am foolish, I am…). So let’s first understand that the Lord doesn’t exactly see us as we may see ourselves.

Everybody, by Mahaprabhu’s mercy, is worthy of Krsna’s love and thus worthy to become Krsna conscious. How did we all become worthy? What did we do?

Actually, we didn’t do anything. All we did was exist. By being a spirit soul (which obviously doesn’t take any doing on our part), we are qualified for the Lord’s mercy. Mahaprabhu’s love is so great that every living being is an object of His affection. Indeed, it is not possible for Him to not love us.

Now, you might say, “Why would Krsna care about me? I am insignificant. Besides, I don’t even like Krsna that much. I try to imitate Him, I neglect Him, I take things from Him, I criticize His devotees, and I always think about my own enjoyment.”

Despite all this, Krsna always cares about us. How do we know? If He didn’t care about us, then why would He empower His holy name with prema (i.e. why does he give away prema through his holy Name)? If Krsna didn’t want a relationship with us, why did He send so many of His eternal associates to come to this world to bring us back to Him, despite our faults and disqualifications to engage in His service? If Krsna didn’t love us, why did He send Srila Prabhupada to go out of his way to save us from our material lives and offer us a one-way ticket to the spiritual world?

This is just a fragment of the evidence that shows how much Krsna cares about every one of us. There is nothing we can do, aside from continued blasphemy of, or willing disobedience to Krsna’s pure devotees that would make us unworthy of Krsna’s love. Still, even if we believe we are truly unworthy, this makes us even more qualified to receive His mercy. Just as being poor qualifies one to receive welfare from the government, disqualification is the very cause of being worthy of the Lord’s mercy. If Mahaprabhu were selling love of Krsna for the price of qualification, He would have closed His shop long ago having gone out of business for lack of customers.

Krsna Cares For Every Soul
Abnormal feelings of unworthiness can be caused by being (or feeling) unloved or denigrated by others, or by personal failures in life. In this unhealthy state, we can feel ourselves so low, impure, unintelligent, or unqualified, that even God couldn’t find a reason to love us.

A devotee once asked Srila Prabhupada, “Why would Krsna care about me? He has so many devotees. He has the gopis, the cowherd boys, His mother and father and so many servants.”

We might feel this way as well. After all, we know we are not perfect and not always Krsna conscious. So we can easily think, “Why would Krsna care about me? Krsna has so many loving devotees and I don’t even have a drop of love for Him. Why would He even want to associate with such a lowly person as I?”

Prabhupada explained that if you cut your finger, you try to save it. You don’t say to the doctor, “Just let my finger fall off, I have nine other fingers.” Similarly, Krsna doesn’t think, “I have so many other devotees, so who cares about you?” He doesn’t think like this because everyone is dear to Krsna.

We Give Krsna Unique Pleasure
Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura describes that every living entity has a unique relationship with Krsna, and thus Krsna experiences unique pleasure from every individual relationship. In other words, Krsna relishes a unique taste from His relationship with every one of us. This means He is anxious to taste that specific rasa with each of us. Not only that, He has a unique way of reciprocating with each one of us; a unique taste that He offers to each and every relationship.

So it’s not that Krsna is ambivalent about us. He very much wants a relationship with us, so much so that He is actively trying to get us back into that relationship. The problem is not that Krsna doesn’t care about the relationship; the difficulty only comes when we don’t care enough about the relationship. This means the problem is not that Krsna feels we are unworthy of a relationship; the problem is we don’t feel worthy of the relationship.

(This may also mean that feelings of unworthiness are sometimes excuses we make to ourselves to avoid properly working on our relationship with Krsna.)

We Are Misunderstanding Krsna’s Affection
If somebody gives us a gift, we might feel unworthy of accepting it, but out of respect, and to reciprocate affection, we accept the gift nonetheless. After all, it would be rude not to accept someone’s expression of love for us because we feel unworthy of it. Similarly, Krsna gives us the gift of Himself in His holy name, in the spiritual master, in the sanga of devotees, in His temples, through his arca murti – in so many ways – and it is a rejection of His affection to say, “No, I am not going to accept these gifts because I am not worthy of them.” If we did say that, Krsna would reply, “It doesn’t matter that you are not qualified. I am giving you Myself. Being worthy isn’t My criteria. I give Myself to you, not because you are worthy, but because I love you. “So it’s not a question of whether or not we are worthy. It comes down to receiving Krsna’s love.

Krsna is called Rasaraja, the king of relationships. Krsna thrives on relationships, and if Krsna wants a relationship with us, we can’t deny Him by saying, “No, just don’t expect much reciprocation from me because I’m not worthy of a relationship with You. ”Are we so foolish as to say to Krsna, “I am unavailable to you?”

Stop Putzing Around
There is an expression in Yiddish called “putzing.” If someone is “putzing around” it means they are being busy doing a lot of useless activities that amount to nothing. “Putzing around” basically means, as Bob Dylan sang, “Being busy doing nothing.”

We are all very busy in the material world doing millions of things that ultimately amount to nothing more than preparing our next birth. In other words, we tend to be expert at “putzing around.” Have you ever been in a rush to make an appointment and you call for one of your family members to get in the car, but they are holding you up by being busy doing nothing of much consequence? In the same way Krsna is calling us to leave this world because we are “putzing around” here, doing a million unimportant things that amount only to holding Him up.
Krsna is saying, “I’ve got a place for you in My home. Your spiritual body is ready for you; your service is ready for you; all arrangements are there for your eternal stay. Stop ‘putzing around’ and come back home!”

Krsna Is Waiting For Us
In Mayapur, Jananivasa Prabhu said in a class that it seems awkward that Madhava (Maypura’s Deity) is playing His flute because Krsna plays His flute to call Radharani and the gopis. Since Radharani and the gopis are already there (on the altar in Mayapur), Krsna doesn’t need to play the flute. So why is He playing it? He’s playing His flute to call us. His flute sings a song that goes something like this: “Come home. I am waiting for you. Stop “putzing around.” What are you doing that’s so important?”

At the end of a class I gave at a college in India earlier this year, the Dean of the college expressed his feelings thusly. “What’s the problem if I stay in the material world life after life if I am happy; I do good karma, serve others, and don’t hurt anybody?”

I told him, “Krsna wants you to come back to Him. He’s waiting for you.” I could sense that he appreciated this answer. Later that evening he enthusiastically told me, “You made me realize that Krsna is waiting for me.”

This is how we should also think. Thoughts of being worthy or not are simply getting in the way of the real fact that Krsna is waiting for us.

Do You Want To Dance With Krsna?
Dance WIth KrsnaSrila Prabhupada would often end his lectures with encouraging words. Sometimes he would say that one day you will see Krsna face to face just like we are seeing one another. At other times he would say that someday you will dance with Krsna. When Srila Prabhupada makes promises like this, we shouldn’t say, “Yeah but not me. I am too useless. I am not worthy or qualified.” That translates into, “Nah, I’ll just be staying down here putzing around. That’s all I am good for.”

Krsna is waiting to dance with us. What fools we are to make excuses not to join the dance?

The All-Attractive Tries To Attract Us
Krsna didn’t have to come to the material world. Yet He came and performed His lilas to attract us back to Him. In fact, everything that Krsna does is ultimately done for this purpose. In other words, He only acts to help us re-establish our relationship with Him. He creates the material world to give us a chance to reform ourselves and He performs His pastimes to attract our mind and heart to Him. This means He performs His pastimes to awaken our love for Him. Try to feel this affection when you hear His lilas and try to feel Him calling you into a relationship with Him. When you read between the lines of the Srimad Bhagavatam you can hear Krsna saying, “Please accept My love. Please join Me in My eternal lila.”

Krsna Attracts Us Through His Devotees
Similarly, when reading Srila Prabhupada’s purports, behind the words you can feel Prabhupada showering love and compassion. Of course, the message of the purport is there, but behind the message allow yourself to feel the love that Srila Prabhupada has for you and me, and all conditioned souls.

Prabhupada’s love for us is further evidence of Krsna’s love for us. Prabhupada is a messenger of Krsna’s love, and thus he loves us all without discrimination. Prabhupada loves everyone to such a degree that he never rejects anyone, no matter how fallen, who is willing to serve Krsna.

Positive Unworthiness
Still, as stated earlier, there are proper feelings of unworthiness appropriate to our level of advancement. These feelings are both natural and helpful for bhakti. So what are these natural feelings for neophyte devotees and how do they manifest?

Feelings of unworthiness manifest in two prominent ways in the stage of vaidhi sadhana bhakti: appreciation and humility. Appreciation manifests in gratitude that Krsna accepts us and our service despite our past sins and present faults as long as we simply make a sincere effort to serve Him and Srila Prabhupada. Even though unqualified, Krsna mercifully gives us lots of service. As we meditate on how Krsna allows us, even though unqualified, to be engaged in His service, our appreciation for Him and the service He gives us grows. Thus, feelings of unworthiness help us see our service as a precious gift that we are blessed to have.

Feeling unworthy also makes us feel helpless. Taken in the correct way, helplessness is a manifestation of humility in accordance with our present level of Krsna consciousness. It manifests as a total dependence on Krsna for guidance, intelligence, and ability to do our service well – or sometimes even to do our service at all. It is through this kind of humility that we advance rapidly in Krsna consciousness. Thus, feelings of unworthiness, when exhibited in a Krsna conscious sense, become one of our greatest allies in sadhana bhakti, because humility is integral to advancing in Krsna consciousness.

The Bottom Line
So yes, we should feel unworthy. We don’t deserve Krsna’s love. We are not qualified to even be a devotee. We have turned our back on Krsna, we have competed with Him, we have disobeyed Him, and we have even tried to become like Him.

Still, Krsna overlooks all of this and forgives us. His desire for a relationship with us is so strong that He will not allow any of this to get in the way. As Krsna will not allow our own disqualifications to get in the way, we should also never allow our own disqualifications to get in our way. Rather, we should allow our feelings of unworthiness to bring us closer and closer to Krsna. This is what Krsna wants us to do.

In the Brihad-bhagavatamrita, when Gopakumar arrives in the spiritual world and first meets Krsna, the Lord tells him, “Why did you take so long? Why did you make me wait so long for you? I missed you so much.”

Yes, Krsna does miss us. Let’s stop putzing around. Krsna is waiting for us.

Identifying the Deity as Bhagavan.
Question: Kindly inform me on what basis we identify Krishna/Bhagavan Vigraha, which is sat chit ananda, with deity/archa which is made up of matter. I want to know the Gaudiya logic and appropriate scriptural backing.
Romapada Swami: The Personality of Godhead is the source of all energies, both material and spiritual. Because He is full of inconceivable potencies, God can convert His different potencies according to His own will, much as an expert electrician can employ the same electric energy for both heating as well as cooling purposes. For the Lord there is no difference between material and spiritual energies; that He can transform His energies as He wills is Srila Vyasadeva’s sublime teaching of shakti-parinamavada. He is the controller of both energies, and He cannot come under their influence at any time, as we do. A fundamental and axiomatic principle in spiritual science is that unless one accepts this inconceivable nature of God’s potencies, there is no way of understanding Him. The conclusion is that Krishna, being omnipotent, can transform matter into spirit and spirit into matter as He desires, and He can accept our service through any sort of medium.
The Supreme Lord is called ‘adhoksaja’, which means One Who is beyond the reach of our mundane, imperfect senses. It is also stated that we can approach the Lord only by engaging our senses in His service. How are we to serve and learn to appreciate Him who cannot be perceived? Therefore, out of causeless compassion for the conditioned souls, Krishna appears in a so-called material form, just to become visible to and accept His devotees’ service.
Just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts various incarnations, similarly He takes on forms made out of clay, wood, metal and jewels, which according to shastra is known as archa-vigraha. By doing so this does not mean that His sac-cid-ananda form has been touched by material influence. The archa-vigraha is not fashioned from an artist’s whimsical imagination but is the eternal form of the Lord, confirming in exacting detail to scriptural injunctions. The Lord Himself personally descends in the archa-murti at the request of the acharyas, and invests all His spiritual potencies within the Deity. Thus the devotees get an opportunity to easily approach Him and serve Him even with their present material senses, thereby purifying and spiritualizing their senses.
As Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita, He is not visible to all (BG 7.25), but reciprocates according to a devotee’s degree of surrender to Him (BG 4.11). Thus, to the degree of one’s faith and devotion, one is able to perceive the presence of the Supreme Lord in His Deity form. There are many historical instances wherein the Deities have personal exchanges with the worshiper, talk to them and accept their offerings. But for one who considers Him to be merely stone or wood, He continues to remains so.
Therefore scriptures warn us to carefully avoid such mundane perception of the archa-vigraha. (Isopanishad Mantras 5,8 purports, Padma purana, quoted in Cc Madhya 5.95-97, etc)

Raval – Gokula in Vrindavana (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: On Christmas Day, we did parikrama of Radharani’s Birthplace Raval, and some very beautiful places in Gokula! We even took a boat ride on the Yamuna! At the end, we visited the Samadhi of Ras Khan, a Muslim who became a Vaishnava and wrote enchanting Braja Poetry. His place is like the forest that we always imagined Vrindavan would be! Pics thanks to Vittalrukmini Das!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/2idvsj

Govardhana Parikrama with Italian devotees (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: My Guru Maharaja used to say, prana ache yara sei hetu pracara. A person can become a preacher if he has got life. A dead man cannot become a preacher. So you must be very enthusiastic that “I shall preach the glories of the Lord to my best capacity.” It is not that one has to become very learned scholar to become a preacher. Simply it requires enthusiasm, “My Lord is so great, so kind, so beautiful, so wonderful. So I must speak something about my Lord.” This is the qualification, enthusiasm. >>> Ref. VedaBase => The Nectar of Devotion – Vrndavana, October 20, 1972
Find them here: https://goo.gl/27hfMV

Acharya Theatrical Distribution (3 min video)
The big news is, we have a distributor who wants to represent our film for distribution in movie theaters in the US and Canada. The company is Abramorama in NYC and recently represented Eight Days a Week, a film on the Beatles by director Ron Howard. Abramorama’s CEO wrote me this after seeing our latest edit:
I watched your film. I think it’s terrific: consistently smart and interesting. I’m certain there’s an audience for it even beyond the core.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/q63Hb7

Nathdwara On New Years Eve (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Nathdwara is a town in India’s western state of Rajasthan. It is located in the Aravalli hills, on the banks of the Banas River in Rajsamand District. It is most famous as the home of the Sri Nathji deity. Sri Nathji was discovered at Govardhan Hill in Vrindavan by Sri Madhavendra Puri. He is dearly loved by devotees all over the world. New Years Eve was like any other day in Nathdwara – everyone was rushing to the temple to Sri Nathji. We also rushed to see the Lord and prayed for His blessings in the coming year!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/rqjs69

Can one become his own guru?
Question: “While going through Srimad Bhagavatam, in Canto 11 Chapter 7.19-21, it is revealed that one can become his own guru and experience Krishna’s full potencies. This is contradicting to what Krishna says in BG 4.2, which states that one must learn this knowledge from bonafide spiritual master coming in the line of disciplic succession.”
“So, does Krishna approve both or only the process mentioned in BG 4.2? If He approves the former, where is the question of bogus gurus since everyone can become his own guru, as per scriptural injunctions?”
Romapada Swami: To address your question, let us first refer to two short statements made in the purports to these verses. In the purport to #20, we find-
“Srila Jiva Gosvami states in this connection, gurv-anusarane pravartaka ity arthah: the knowledge acquired by one’s own perception and intelligence leads one to appreciate the value of the representative of Lord Krsna. The word sreyas in this verse indicates that one can advance in life through one’s own intelligence. By good association one should gradually come to understand one’s eternal position as servant of Krsna, and then one becomes very eager to live in the company of other enlightened persons.”
In the purport to #21, we find-
“A spiritual master becomes bona fide by his full surrender to his spiritual master; but as explained in this chapter, one may also act as his own guru. This means that an intelligent and perceptive person can understand the nature of this world and his own limitations. Such a person then becomes very much inclined to associate with the pure devotees of the Lord and to receive the mercy of those who are advanced in Krsna consciousness.”
The emphasis here is that one stage or one level of intelligence, or guru-like direction, can come from one’s own efforts in the matter of perception and discrimination (which is a function of intelligence). What is that guru-like attainment? “This world is limited, and therefore not providing actual shelter. However, as revealed in scriptures and confirmed by my experience, there is a power and an intelligence beyond this machine of the material energy. Let me seek the shelter of one of his representatives, or a tattva-darshi, who can bring me to His lotus feet!”
This is a vartmapradarsaka-guru function, one of the categories of guru, viz one who shows one the path of devotion. See Cc Madhya 8.128. Receiving direction to approach Krishna and to know Him in fullness, as described in BG 4.2 or in 4.34, is the outcome of the process described in SB 11.7.19-21. One type of guru (as Krishna is describing to Uddhava in this Canto 11 reference) leads one to a 2nd type or category of guru (the category which Krishna describes to Arjuna in Ch 4 of BG). The vartmapradarsaka guru instructs us that we must take shelter of the type of guru mentioned in BG 4.2.

New Year prayer for all the devotees.
May the cowherd boy who is a festival of ecstatic bliss for the hearts of the fortunate creatures residing in the groves of Govardhana, who eagerly enjoys loving pastimes in the forests of Vrindavana with the gop&#…

Srila Prabhupada Praised at ISKCON 50 Event in Peruvian Parliament.
On December 12th, Peruvian devotee Bhadra Rupa Das was presented with an honorary doctorate by the National University of Education, Peru at the Peruvian Parliament in Lima. But he quickly turned what was set to be an event in his honor into one in praise of Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON, and ISKCON’s 50th anniversary.

The prestigious Parliament setting was a rare opportunity, as the honorary degree is normally presented at the university itself. The ceremony, which turned out to be one of the most significant ISKCON 50 events in South America, was also broadcast all over Peru by national television station Channel Seven.>

ISKCON-Delhi: New Year Celebration :31-12-2016 (Album with photos)
Cultural Program, Drama, Lecture, Kirtan.
Fin…Read More…

ISKCON Auckland NZ: New years eve Harinam (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: I am very glad to learn also that you are feeling joy while chanting the mantra Hare Krishna. Yes, it is exactly like this. If anyone chants this mantra in good faith and in simple understanding, then surely this transcendental vibration will act immediately in spiritual bliss. Please therefore continue to chant this mantra as many times as possible throughout the day and night. I do not think there is any inconvenience or loss on your part if you do so all the time. Even when you are walking, you can softly chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, or even when you are on the bus going to somewhere you can also chant. When you are working with your hands you can also chant and when you are resting or going to take rest you can also chant. Even in your toilet room while taking bath you can also chant. In this way there is no limitation or restriction for chanting this Holy Name of God, Krishna, and His Energy, Hara. In doing this business there is no loss, but there is very great gain which is transcendental realization. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Minoru, Kenji – Los Angeles 22 April, 1970
Find them here: https://goo.gl/6s1FTn

156 Ton Bhoga at Radha Kunda! (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: Ring in the New Year with 156 tons of fruit bhoga offering at Radha Kunda on New Year’s Eve. The offering was done by Sri Balak Yogeshvar Das Maharaja! Was not nearly as crowded as I imagined and got darshan everwhere with ease. Photos thanks to Vittalrukmini Das!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/jp8uAm

Kirtan-Fest Atlanta (2016) (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Devotees who are always absorbed in thoughts of Krsna will soon see Krsna face to face without a doubt. In other words, devotees who are always engaged in Krsna consciousness and are fully absorbed in thoughts of Krsna certainly return home, back to Godhead. They then see Krsna directly, face to face, talk with Him and enjoy His company. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (4.9): tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so ‘rjuna. Because during his lifetime a pure devotee is always speaking of Krsna and engaging in His service, as soon as he gives up his body he immediately returns to Goloka Vrndavana, where Krsna is personally present. He then meets Krsna directly. This is successful human life. This is the meaning of prakateha anibe satvara: The pure devotee will soon see the personal manifestation of Lord Sri Krsna. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Madhya 13.155
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“Mangal sweets from the temple are better and easier to get.”
I eagerly gathered my utensils and ingredients to prepare my favourite Mangal* sweet—burfi. I couldn’t wait to offer this decadent, creamy, condensed milk fudge to the Lord on Diwali and Govardhan Puja. I boiled four litres of milk in a sturdy thick-bottomed pot and began to stir. “How hard could it be?” I thought. “After all, it’s just a matter of continuously stirring the milk and sugar until it’s reduced to a brown sticky mass.” But I was in for a surprise. One hour passed, and the milk reduced only by a fraction. Two hours passed, and I began to feel tired. Three hours trudged on, and I started looking at the clock, praying that what had become a mammoth task would soon be over. In less than four hours, my arms and legs ached. I needed to sit down. On a chair by the stove, I broke into a sweat. I called my kids, who took turns to stir. Five hours ticked by, and soon they too were sitting by the stove, moaning that they could not continue. I urged them to persevere when I saw the thickened condensed milk starting to turn into a golden gooey texture. But the end didn’t seem to come. When six hours drew closer and our patience died off, we refrigerated the slightly undercooked burfi, and eventually rolled it into balls. They tasted delicious, but my kids commented, “Mangal sweets from the temple are better and easier to get.”

“How true,” I thought, “but who are those devotees who have been making these sweets daily for the past thirty years at the temple?” I was now convinced that they couldn’t be any less than saints.

When I came to know who one of those devotees is, I wasn’t surprised. For more than twenty-five years I had observed his calm and unassuming nature, and his steady service to the Deities and devotees. Swayambhu Das, a behind-the-scenes person, is always welcoming others with a smile and generous gifts of Mangal sweets. I needed to find out what was behind his mood of unconditional service, humility, and patience. Patience—something I realize more and more that I have none of.

Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something, which we have no control over, happens: the arrival of a late bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not waiting passively until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient, we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later, and somewhere else. We forget that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand. Swayambhu clearly understands this principle; he feels that his moments in Krishna’s service are most precious. His patience comes from knowing that Krishna will be pleased. It comes from seeing Krishna’s service as a rare gift, one to relish and appreciate. After all, in the spiritual world only Lord Krishna’s most intimate devotees are privileged to serve Him in this personal way. “It is not always easy,” Swayambhu acknowledges, “but I am able to persevere by the grace of my spiritual master.” He recognizes that just as his spiritual master has given him this rare opportunity to progress in his spiritual journey, the grace of his spiritual master helps him overcome the internal struggles.

The art of cooking Mangal sweets can be compared to the art of living. We start off with plain ingredients, and with time we see the challenges of life (internal and external) boiling over and sometimes almost consuming us. If we enthusiastically persevere through the purifying process, endure with confidence knowing that the Lord is helping us, and patiently use the moment to take shelter of the Lord, the result will be sweet, saturated, condensed devotion.

For most of us to develop such devotion and patience can take a long time, but for some, like Yashoda-mayi Devi Dasi, they are inherent qualities. I was shocked to hear that this sixty-seven year-old lady has been steadily making Mangal sweets for the Deities for the last fifteen years. Yashoda-mayi sees her service as a blissful experience, a personal offering to the Lord, and a way to express her devotion. It takes her about five-and-a-half hours, not only to make burfi but also to prepare the other Mangal sweets like sandesh, rasagulla, and sweet rice. She has become expert in making all kinds of authentic Vedic sweets for Sri Sri Radha Radhanath. Her sweet countenance and blissful serving attitude are evidence that these divine virtues emanate from using our lives for Krishna. How difficult it is to be patient by our own efforts? Yashoda-mayi explains that hearing about Krishna and chanting His names before and during the cooking enables her to have the proper consciousness and focus. “The sweets come out differently every time,” she adds, “Krishna is showing us that He is a person, and that He reciprocates with our efforts. So this service can n e v e r b e boring or stagnant. My spiritual master especially presented me with brahman initiation fifteen years ago so that I could make Mangal sweets for the Deities. So I feel inspired to follow his instructions and please him.” Not many devotees are able to do this service, but those who have been part of the Mangal sweet-making crew and those who have recently joined the team, brave the challenges and experience the joys of this service. They cannot be ordinary!

If preparing Mangal sweets for the Lord is such a herculean task and is only one of the six food offerings made to the Deities every day, I wonder what it takes to arrange the myriad of other services to the Deities: sewing intricate deity outfits, creating breathtaking flower arrangements and altar decorations, stringing gorgeous flower garlands, dressing the Deities with such creativity and flair, cooking opulent dishes, organizing elaborate festivals, and other aspects of the daily worship of the Lord. It could only come from knowing and experiencing that service to God is the highest and most blissful occupation.

The Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple, itself, has been built with great sacrifice and patience. It has become the heart of our community, pumping the life of God consciousness into our diseased society, and healing it from the influences of corruption and vice. The temple re-instates the pillars of truth, non-violence, austerity, and cleanliness; and reminds us of the importance of making Krishna a part of our lives, of coming to love Him.

When that saturated love in the form of Mangal sweets enters my mouth, I feel it acting like a soothing balm. I taste its divine sweetness, recognizing that all good things, especially spiritual results, come from diligence and patience. *Mangal means “auspicious.”
Nikunja Vilasini Dasi
Hare Krishna News – Published by ISKCON Durban. Used with permission

UK-The Final Offering. Manor devotees surpassed last year’s number of SP’s books distributed during the Marathon!
Sutapa Das: We finished counting the scores yesterday evening. More to come in, but we have to stop somewhere. Nikhil prabhu and myself went to Srila Prabhupada’s darshan room to offer him the final results. In that transcendental tirtha, Mahaprabhu’s commander-in-cheif looked effulgent and absorbed, ever exuding the purity and potency which drives this movement forward. As Prabhupada glanced over each devotee’s name, I prayed for compassion, conviction and creativity. Aside from serving the preaching mission, I thought, what else is worthy of our energies? This is the family business – the best job in the world – and many devotees experienced that in the last month.

In this 2016 Marathon, the Manor devotees, as a final offering to Their Lordships and Srila Prabhupada in this 50th anniversary year, distributed… 142,402 transcendental books!

We didn’t quite reach 200k, but surpassed last year’s historic marathon by 11000 books, making it another record-breaking effort. Thanks for taking part, giving your heart, and making it a resounding success. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Results in Life’s Exams.
Q: This is my junior year in high school and like most kids in school, this has been my hardest year. The following question keeps coming back to me.
I work hard and I don’t get the results that I want. Do I beat myself up for it and get the results I want for the next time or do I just leave it up to fate? Or for example, do I plan that I want to do certain things so I get into the college of my desire or do I just leave it up to fate or Krishna’s mercy? Because I have noticed that when I don’t pay attention to the results I have no motivation to achieve and work hard.

Romapada Swami: Thanks for presenting in such a clear manner this core question, in applying the teachings of Bhagavad-gita to very practical aspects of life like your current academic studies.

Please know that this very same application principle arises in every single aspect of our lives, as we mature in age. Best to learn this principle clearly, as early in life as possible. In turn, as the complexities of life unfold before us, the very same principle can be enhanced and developed through application, step by step through the course of our lives.

Bhakti teaches us to transfer our attachments from the temporary to the eternal Supreme Person, Krishna via rendering of loving service to please and to satisfy Him.

Read B.G,9.27. Cultivate the consciousness of doing your studies in such a way that you are wanting Krishna to smile at your effort, which you are presenting as an offering to Him. When making this offering, the actual results (your grades in an exam, or your report card, or your GPA, etc.) are fully up to him. Krishna is “the ability in man.”

When you bake a cake for your mother or father or a friend on their birthday, will you pay attention to the details of how you mix the ingredients together, such that the cake looks attractive and the taste matches theirs? Will you choose a particular type of cake you know they particularly like — maybe something very different and particularly healthy perhaps? Will your endeavor be focused on getting a result which will be pleasing to and appreciated by them?

Endeavor to please Krishna in all that you do in life, including your studies.

“Beating yourself up” if the results do not meet your expectations is clearly within the lower modes of nature, and will NOT at all guarantee better grades in your next exam!

Nor does Bhakti teach that you must leave things to fate.

You have painted for yourself a false dilemma, as a result of leaving devotion to Krishna off the option list.

In life, we can always do better, yes? Next, where does ability come from? The source of everything, Krishna, is where ability to do better comes from. Next, how to best encourage Krishna to decorate you with increased ability? Answer: When Krishna sees you are striving for one purpose only, to serve and to please Him, you can expect His mercy to flow, in whatever manner or form He decides.

Think of Mother Yasoda binding Krishna. Only when Krishna extended His Kripa-Sakti were Mother Yasoda’s efforts successful in binding Krishna.

There are so many scriptural examples that teach us this very same lesson.

Bhakti teaches that your Dept is the Service Department, and Krishna’s Dept is the Results Dept. You do your services to your maximum capacity in full Krishna Consciousness, striving all the while to make the best possible offering to Krishna, while simultaneously understanding that the Results are in fact fully up to Krishna.

Cultivation of this principle in all that you do is the art of living in Krishna Consciousness.

Govardhan 26-12-16 (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: Nija nikata nivasam dehi govardhana tvam. O Govardhana! Just give me …Read More…

2017: Perform 91.25 HOURS of Intelligent Worship! Positive Intellectual Stimulation
Modern research proves that persons who engage in hobbies that involve the brain, like reading or puzzles, are less likely to fall into the grips of mental and physical disease. What to speak of the benefits we receive by reading Bhagavad Gita everyday?
‘If one reads Bhagavad-Gita very sincerely and with all seriousness,then by the grace of the Lord the reactions of his past misdeeds will not act upon him.’ (Lord Shiva to Parvatidevi, Gita-Mahatmya 2)
Age of Mass Distraction
But reading in this world is filled with distractions and isn’t always easy.We might read a few verses or even few pages and get distracted by the notifications on our phone or those news feeds on FB etc. This way we inevitably end up dragging and procrastinating our reading of Bhagavad Gita for hours, days and months.

Tailor Made Process
This procrastination leads to a development of distaste in our spiritual lives. Unless we consciously allocate time for reading, we may never read a chapter every day. Therefore the process has been simplified. All you need is 15 minutes a day to read the Sanskrit verses OR the English translations along with just ONE purport. You could do it in the morning, before bed or even during your commute t0 work/school. Whenever it is you choose, make sure you put it in your schedule and strictly adhere to it.

2017: Intelligent Worship
Lord Krishna Himself says in Bhagavad Gita, “I declare that he who studies this sacred conversation of ours worships Me by his intelligence.”(Bhagavad Gita 18.70)

Just by reading Bhagavad Gita for 15 minutes everyday, you will perform almost 91.25 hours of topmost worship of Lord Krishna for the entire year of 2017. Nothing in the world can stop you from achieving spiritual success if you sincerely, strictly, and seriously follow this practice. By this form of worship through intelligence, we can please Krishna. When He is pleased we, in turn, become blissful.

To read the entire article click here:
www.readchad.com

New Year Message By Bhakti Charu Swam.
Dear devotees,
Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
A very happy New Year to all of you!
This celebration marks the end of the present year and entrance to the following one – our entrance to a new cycle of time. Time is like a river, continuously flowing and we all are floating in its current. In this way time takes us through childhood, boyhood, youth and old-age. When we get the human form of life, we are meant to utilize our time in developing our relationship with Krishna, our Supreme Lord and master, dear-most friend and caring father.

Time is an expansion of Balaram, the original spiritual master, whose main business is to take us to Krishna. So, let us flow through the time, especially now that we found our ultimate destination, the lotus feet of Sri Krishna. Let us have the full conviction that if we remain fixed in our goal, then someday, time will take us to that destination. And as we are floating in the current of time through different phases of life let us sing the glory of the Lord and dance in ecstasy for receiving this golden opportunity to reach our ultimate destination.

Thank you very much.

Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada,
Bhakti Charu Swami

Winner Of Inaugural Gita Champions League (Sa) Scoops Air Tickets To India.
By : Krsangi Radhe dasi
As a special offerin…Read More…

Hare Krishnacore – An introduction to the most improbable punk subculture ever.
The Hare Krishnas are something of a cultural artifact. Tied to the peace and love flower children of the 1960s, the Krishnas seemed a cultural and spiritual outgrowth of hippies who, having experimented (or continuing to experiment) with drugs, sought some sort of enlightenment unavailable or unattainable via Western religion. In a pre-9/11 world, the Krishnas could be seen as the saffron-robed devotees selling flowers, stickers, and literature at airports (as parodied in the 1980 film Airplane!) In cities throughout the U.S. and Europe, they chanted their familiar chant, offered free vegetarian food (called “prasadam”), and carefully danced in the grey area between cult and “conventional” religion.

Since its development, several famous cultural icons have been tied the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and founder Prabhupada, including Allen Ginsberg, George Harrison, Chrissie Hynde, Boy George, KRS-One, and members of X-Ray Spex. In addition to celebrities, a group of straightedge hardcore kids from the New York area also showed a spiritual interest in the movement’s path towards enlightenment. That path is one that seeks a life of self-realization over sense gratification.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/GB69tu

My Verse of the Year.
I love to read books and especially love the practice of ‘lectio divina’ which is a slow reading of sacred literature. It’s the process of allowing the text to speak to you (so to speak) and staying with words, passages or verses that stir some feeling, some emotion. Here is the verse that I felt curiously moved by and drawn to again and again last year.
“Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings, nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.” Sri Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 2.12
I was first taken with the principle of equality found here. I can imaging Krishna in the middle of the battlefield making a sweeping gesture with his arm and saying to Arjuna, ‘Look! We are all in the same boat of eternal time. You, I, everyone – we are not going anywhere. We live forever!’ What a generous offer of connection – you, Me, the kings … any of us, all of us. It’s a verse of comfort and it’s not Krishna as God, the great controller, but Krishna inviting us into relationship.

The verse also blows our safe sense of time right out out of the water. Much as we hate and fear death, we have become conditioned to the reliability of beginnings and endings. We are strangely comfortable with time as it presents itself in this world and the notion that we cease to exist after our last breath in this body. Here that is challenged. ‘Never was there a time’ – not past, not present, not future – that we did not or will not cease to be.’ Wait, really?

Trying to grasp a sense of the eternal can be mind boggling. At times we have to say to ourselves – don’t try to understand, just stand under. Take shelter in the grand possibility of what this verse offers, the incredibly glorious idea that life comes from life and will always be alive. That we never, ever die. Then at other times, as we make spiritual progress in the task of uncovering our true self and our life in relationship with Krishna, we will begin to sense eternity and time beyond time.

This beautiful verse invites us to be in the present moment and conscious that we, the soul, are the life of the body, and are very different from the body itself. It is the platform upon which all spiritual practice must stand. If this first point is missing, the rest of the equation is off balance and forever wrong.

Well, not forever in the sense of eternal – but enough to keep us bound to this time-ruled world for a very long time, drawn to seek peace, truth, and happiness from this body instead of the soul within.

Happy New year!
Ananda Vrindavaneswari Devi Dasi

Balancing Taste And Sense Gratification.
Is it wrong to want to taste Krsna? Wouldn’t that desire be sense gratification? Shouldn’t we just serve without any personal desire? These are important questions to address.
There is a difference between taste in Krsna consciousness and sense gratification, although they can seem similar, and thus difficult to distinguish. We discuss this difference, as well as the necessity of developing the proper taste for Krsna consciousness.
Mahatma Das: The Goal is to Gratify Krsna’s Senses
What is the motive behind sense gratification? It is simply to squeeze the maximum amount of pleasure out of our senses. This is the sum and substance of material life. It is also the sum and substance of animal life.
Our senses are also gratified in Krsna consciousness, but there’s a huge difference in the motive with which we engage our senses.

When a devotee reaches higher levels of Krsna consciousness, he is not focused on what will or will not make him happy. His only thoughts are how to make Krsna, his gurus, and the devotees happy, and how to give Krsna consciousness to others. In this way, a devotee never considers his personal happiness.

There Must Be Anxiety for Krsna

Non-devotees are often in a state of anxiety thinking, “Will this work out, will that work out?” These anxieties are, of course, related to personal well-being. A devotee however, is never in a state of anxiety about his personal life. Rather, his only anxiety is whether things will work out for Krsna’s service. This is the real stress relief formula. Once you stop worrying about yourself and start worry about making guru, Krsna, and others happy, your material anxieties will be gone.

Devotees once wanted to buy a huge church in Toronto to convert to a temple. Since it was very expensive, Srila Prabhupada told them not to get it because, “You’ll be buying anxiety.” When Prabhupada later returned to Toronto, he asked the temple president if he purchased the temple. The temple president said, “No, since it is so expensive we would be buying anxiety.” Amazingly, Prabhupada strongly replied, “There must be anxiety for Krsna. Otherwise, there will simply be anxiety for sense gratification.” So all of our anxiety should be in relation to how we can best serve Krsna and help others come to Krsna consciousness.

Hanker After Pleasing Guru and Krsna

When we get a taste for Krsna, we no longer hanker for material tastes, and thus we stop being self-centered. Therefore, the intelligent question is, “How can we get a taste for Krsna?” We get a taste for Krsna by not trying to taste maya. It is only when we are hankering to please guru and Krsna, and not calculating what will or will not make us happy, that we become happy in Krsna consciousness. (This is different from considering basic needs that must be fulfilled.)

“The wonderful characteristics of the gopés are beyond imagination. They have no desire for personal satisfaction, yet when Krsna is happy by seeing them, that happiness of Krsna makes the gopis a million times more happy than Krsna Himself.” (Adi 4.187)

Sense Gratification – An Addiction

Taste is a by-product of pleasing Krsna’s senses. Therefore, we should never run away from trying to gain a genuine taste in Krsna consciousness, thinking it to be sense gratification. Taste in Krsna consciousness is very different from the taste of sense gratification. One comes as a by-product of purified senses and the other as a by-product of lust.

“This taste is the seed of devotional service, and one who is fortunate enough to have received such a seed is advised to sow it in the core of his heart.” (SB 3.2.6)

“I see that you have acquired a taste for hearing talks regarding Krsna. Therefore, you are extremely fortunate. Not only you but anyone who has awakened such a taste is considered most fortunate.” (Antya 5.9)

Tasting is the Secret of Success

taste for krsnaTaste for Krsna is juxtaposed to sense gratification. When we are hankering after sensual pleasure, or particularly when we are engaged in it, the so-called pleasure we get nullifies our senses’ ability to perceive, or desire, pleasure in Krsna consciousness. Conversely, a higher taste in Krsna consciousness nullifies the taste for sense gratification. When our taste for Krsna is strong, we will be disgusted to even think about past sense gratification. The very things that we used to hanker for, the things we used to love to do, eat, hear, talk about, see, etc., will become distasteful.

Devotees often ask me, “How will I know if I am making advancement?” You know you are advancing when material life becomes distasteful. Taste counteracts the desire for sense gratification. Thus, Srila Prabhupada tells us that taste is the “secret of success.”

Maya – The Attractive Energy of the All-Attractive

The problem is that since Krsna is all-attractive, His external energy maya, is also attractive (after all, it is His energy). Srila Prabhupada said maya means that other things become more attractive than Krsna.

I was listening to a conversation in which a devotee was telling Srila Prabhupada how some priests have girlfriends, get married, or become homosexuals. It was even common for some priests to become alcoholics. Prabhupada replied, “Yes, they must fall down because they are not getting a taste.” So without Krsna we are guaranteed to be attracted by maya, even if we don’t want to be, and even if we try hard not to be. We do not “fight maya” simply with discipline. We fight maya through the taste that engagement in Krsna consciousness gives us.

“The more the taste grows, the more one desires to render service to the Lord.” (Madhya Lila 23.12)

Anarthas Won’t Make Us Happy

We are unfortunate if we believe anything outside of Krsna consciousness will give us a taste in life. The irony is that the stage of ruci (or taste for Krsna), which gives us real happiness and pleasure, comes after material desires are given up. In other words, the material things we think will make us happy are actually the very things that prevent us from being happy.

Planting the Seed of Bhakti in Others

Srila Prabhupada once said in a letter written in January 10, 1972, “Our business is simply to plant the seed of devotional service wherever we go, and to give everyone a taste of this transcendental experience.” If people get a transcendental experience, or taste, it will be a huge faith builder for them because they will experience pleasure beyond the senses. And when people get a taste for Krsna, they will want more.

In the Caitanya Caritamrta it is said that Mahaprabhu tasted the fruits of love of God, and then distributed those fruits. “He taught everyone how to taste the transcendental mellow ecstasy of love of Krsna by tasting it Himself.” (Adi 13.39)

Purification for Taste

Taste comes by purification of the senses. Krsna is tasteful, and only purified senses can taste Krsna. In the Harinama Cintamani it is said, “When one’s heart is purified, one’s interest and taste for culturing bhakti begins.”

It is essential that we understand taste as an experience that results from relishing Krsna consciousness with purified senses, and that taste has nothing to do with material motivation. Taste is something all great devotees hanker for. Even the Lord Himself hankers for it.

“What to speak of others, even Krsna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, personally descends to taste the nectar of love of Godhead in the form of the chanting of Hare Krsna.” (Antya 3.265)

Monitoring the Taste-O-Meter

In one lecture Srila Prabhupada asked, “How do you monitor whether or not you’re becoming Krsna conscious?” His response was, “By your detachment. By your freedom from sex desire.” Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, “How do you know an advanced devotee? You know by his taste for the holy name.”

If we see ourselves becoming more inclined and attracted to Krsna, we are on the right track. However, if we see ourselves becoming more attracted to mundane things, we should understand something is wrong. So taste is a useful meter with which to monitor our advancement.

“Therefore, one’s development of a taste for executing these instructions is the test of one’s devotional service.” (Adi 1.60)

And what is the result of chanting without taste? Bhaktivinoda Thakura answers this question in the Harinama Cintamani.

“Though chanting japa daily, if his taste is elsewhere, he will show indifference to the name. His heart will not be absorbed in chanting the name but in some material object. How can that benefit him? He may chant 64 rounds counting strictly on his japa beads, but in his heart he has not received one drop of the taste of the name. This indifference or apathy towards the name is one type of inattention. In the heart of a materialist it is unavoidable.”

Riding Downhill

Ruci is compared to riding downhill because in this stage of Krsna consciousness we are motivated by a taste to serve, not by rules and regulations. Before we have a taste, we must make a constant effort to control ourselves. At the stage of ruci, such efforts are not required since our taste for Krsna is the motivating factor. As the saying goes, “It is all downhill from there.”

Don’t Run Away From Taste

If you have the idea in your mind that, “I shouldn’t want taste,” understand that we’ll always be motivated by taste. So it’s just a question of what kind of taste will motivate us. Just as material taste is drawing us closer to maya, spiritual taste is drawing us closer to Krsna.

“To taste the fruit of devotional service in Goloka Vrindavana is the highest perfection of life, and in the presence of such perfection, the four material perfections — religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation — are very insignificant achievements.” (Madhya 19.164)

We should want taste, pray for taste, and hanker for taste. We need taste.

“When one is so situated that he can taste the association of Lord Krsna, material existence, the repetition of birth and death, comes to an end.” (Madhya 20.121)

What Are You Afraid Of?

Don’t be afraid of tasting Krsna consciousness. Be afraid of enjoying Krsna consciousness. We want to serve Krsna, not enjoy Krsna. The paradox is that if we serve, we end up enjoying Krsna consciousness. Krsna consciousness is not derived from the desire to enjoy. Indeed, it is pleasure that removes the desire to enjoy.

We Are Ordered to Relish Krsna Consciousness

Perfection is to taste the nectar of Krsna consciousness.

“The nectar from the lips of Lord Krsna and His transcendental qualities and characteristics surpass the taste of the essence of all nectar, and there is no fault in tasting such nectar. If one does not taste it, he should die immediately after birth, and his tongue is to be considered no better than the tongue of a frog.” (Madhya 2.32)

Elementary Students Produce Inspirational ISKCON 50 Puppet Show.
Elementary and some secondary school students at the Govardhan Academy in Saranagati, B.C., Canada have produced an inspirational and heartfelt puppet show film of how Srila Prabhupada founded ISKCON for ISKCON’s 50th anniversary.
The forty-minute film premiered at Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s disappearance day at the Saranagati temple on December 17th, and was very well received. It is now available to view for free on Youtube, and the children’s stunning dedication, hard work and love for Prabhupada is evident in every frame.
The elementary school children, aged six to twelve, began by watching Yadubara Dasa’s DVD series “Following Srila Prabhupada” for the month before Kartik.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/niDhGj

New Perth, Australia, temple VP (Album with photos)
Ramai Swami: Brajanandana das and family are originally from Malaysia but have been living in Perth for many years.

He is now the Vice President of our temple and organizes temple and community programs.

I had the good fortune of being invited to their house for a wonderful “Malaysian” style lunch and was accompanied by co-Presidents Sita Rama Laksman and Yadu-srestha.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/B8C6gb

Ahmedabad’s 5th One-day Padayatra (Album with photos)
December 30, 2016
In honour of ISKCONS 50th anniversary, the devotees of Ahmedabad pledged to do one five-day padayatra and five one-day padayatras this year. The first five-day padayatra was held in January with Lokanath Swami attending. During the course of the year, they also completed the 4 one-day padayatras they had pledged. On December 18th, they successfully held the fifth one-day padayatra thus completing their vow. They are now planning to do these padayatras every year for the pleasure of all the vainavas and Srila Prabhupada.
By Muralimohan Dasa
Receiving blessings
On December 18th we held our last one-day padayatra. We planned the following route: we would start at the ISKCON Ahmedabad temple and travel to Ramdev Nagar, then to Prahalad Nagar, next to Railway Crossing followed by the village of Markarba, then to SG. Highway and lastly to Sarkhej Ujala Chowkdi ending the padayatra at the Bhavani temple in the village of Sarkhej. It was a 10 kilometre walk and we would reach our destination at 1:00 pm that day.

Before leaving we had kirtana in the temple premises from around 8.00 am. Jashomatinandan Dasa, who was in his room at the time, heard the kirtana and came out to meet us. Upon seeing him we garlanded him and asked for his blessings. He smiled happily and with a loud voice said, “Hari bol!” raising his left hand in the air (his right hand was on his chanting beads). We were blessed.

Ecstatic kirtana in Sarkhej Ujala Chowdi

We left the temple at 8.30 am. There were more than 90 devotees joining us with 25 to 30 of those devotees actively distributing books along the way. The rest of us conducted sankirtana while following the bullock cart carrying the deities of Sri Sri Nimai-Nitai and Srila Prabhupada. At 9.30 am we stopped and served breakfast prasadam to all the padayatris before resuming our journey. We would stop walking after every four streets so we could have ecstatic roaring kirtanas, lead by various devotees. We had an especially blissful kirtana when we reached Sarkhej Ujala Chowdi. It went on for half an hour as we delighted in chanting the ‘Hare Krishna’ maha mantra. Sarkhej Ujala Chowdi is a predominantly Muslim area and when they saw us the public began to gather, even shop owners came out of their shops to watch us. When we saw that such a nice crowd was gathering we adjusted the deities to face everyone so they could take darsana. We also distributed many books, which we sold at a discounted price in this particular area.

Maha-padayatra book scores

On this padayatra, we distributed 408 Bhagavad-gitas and 447 small books in just four and a half hours, which made this one-day padayatra seem like a maha-padayatra.By 1.00pm we reached our destination, the Bhavani temple in the village of Sarkhej. Afterwards, all the padayatris had a lunch feast and we also distributed khichadi prasadam to all the villagers. When Naradamuni Dasa reported our successful padayatra to Jashomatinandan Dasa he was very pleased and he bestowed more blessings upon us to do more padayatras.

Prasadam power

When I look back on all of the five one-day padayatras we held, I strongly believe that we were able to maintain the spirits of all the many devotees who joined us, through the sumptuous prasadam cooked. For this, we have all these wonderful, selfless serving, devotees to thank: Madhavmohini Dasi, Harimurari Dasa, Padmaradha Dasi, Sachidhuli Dasi and Bhakta Bhavesh. Other devotees who deserve special recognition for their services on padayatra are:

BhaktaRajesh Shah and his wife Bhaktin Jaishree
Harimurari Dasa and Padmaradha Dasi
Antaratma Dasa
Vamsibihari Dasa and Sadanandi Dasi
BhaktaSunil and his wife Bhaktin Rama
Bhakta Sonu Singh
Bhakta Ramchandra Kannan
Bhakta Bhavesh Joshi
Naradamuni Dasa
Madhavmohini Dasi and Rukamani for the deities sringar
Our team of devotees has also pledged to distribute five to six thousand Bhagavad-gitas for this year’s book marathon.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/bMQOyt

Wonderful Far East language book distribution throughout the UK (Album with photos)
From retired Chinese army officers to brilliant Cambridge University students, from tour operators to politicians to jolly kung-fu teachers, here’s just a few of the many fortunate souls across the UK who’ve recently received Srila Prabhupada’s books in Chinese (Japanese & Korean too)…
(In the photo: Joyful students visiting from Taiwan take the “Perfection of Yoga” and extra “Beyond Birth and Death” copies for friends.)
(Photos by Suan Mui) Find them here: https://goo.gl/Ez0Xf9

Food for Life Hungary Lights Up the Holidays for Thousands of Under-privileged Families.
During the December holiday season, …Read More…

ISKCON Malaysia: URGENT NEED FOR PRAYER
Hare Krishna.
HH Bhakti Vrajendra Nandana Maharaj is in very very critical health condition now. Kindly pray for Maharaj to Lord Narasimha Dev. After consulting all ISKCON Doctors and Maharaja’s instruction to disciples, we are taking Maharaja back to Sri Jagannath Mandir now from Seremban. Medications will be stopped and only oxygen given. Devotees are advised to come to temple and start kirtan please

Updated BBT style guide (December 2016)
Here is the most recent version of the BBT Style Guide.
BBT Style Guide, December 2016 (docx, 433 KB)
BBT Style Guide, December 2016 (pdf, 910 KB)
The Style Guide offers the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust’s latest standards on such matters as spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and word choice.
This is a routine update.
You can always find the latest version of the Style Guide on the permanent page of BBT editorial resources.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/DExemh

Warning: cooking, offering and distributing these special pakoras may bring a surge of guests to your home, temple or to wherever you may be.
During Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja celebration, expert cook Sunanda Prabhu (ACBSP), told us a story about how he had prepared cauliflower pakoras for Srila Prabhupada. He had cooked them at Srila Prabhupada’s request one morning as Srila Prabhupada traveled on the Radha Damodar bus from New York to Gita Nagari, Pennsylvania. Srila Prabhupada had a chest cold and therefore wanted something hot for breakfast. Actually, he had asked for pakoras made from green chilies. But because Sunanda Prabhu couldn’t get green chilies, he made cauliflower pakoras and he used the recipe from The Hare Krsna Cookbook (published1973). Sunanda Prabhu said that he made nearly twenty pakoras and that, amazingly, Srila Prabhupada had eaten all of them!

Several senior devotees and experienced cooks, listening to Sunanda’s story on Monday, unanimously spoke out saying that the pakora recipe from The Hare Krsna Cookbook of 1973 is superb and that it has never been surpassed.

I have included the entire recipe below as it appears in the original cookbook so that you can prepare and offer these legendary pakoras to Krsna and then distribute them as prasadam.

Warning:
Cooking, offering and distributing these special pakoras may bring a surge of guests to your home, temple or to wherever you may be.

Pakora Recipe

Batter:
1 cup chickpea flour
1 t. ground cumin seed
1 t. turmeric
1 ½ t. ground coriander
½ each—allspice & cinnamon
¾ t. salt
½ t. crushed chilies
¾ t. baking powder
A little less than 1 cup water
Ghee for frying

Sift chickpea flour. Add all spices, salt and baking powder. Mix with hands until blended. Add water a little at a time to avoid lumps. Heat ghee for deep frying.

Plain pakora:
Pour a small amount (about 1 T.) into hot ghee. It will puff up into a small ball. Turn over and brown. Tap with a spoon—if it sounds hollow, it’s done. Remove with a skimmer and drain on paper towel. Fry several at a time.

Filled pakora:
Filling: thin-sliced eggplant wedges or strips, small cauliflower flowerets, green pepper strips, asparagus tips, parsley sprigs, thin rounds of zucchini or cucumber, carrot rounds or strips. Pieces should be no bigger that 2” long and they should be thin. Dip vegetables into batter and deep fry in ghee until golden. Remove and drain. The little-fried batter drips can be removed and saved for salad or peas and peanuts.

**

“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu approved of all the methods employed in cooking and offering food to Krsna. Indeed, He was so pleased that He said, ‘Frankly, I will personally take the lotus feet of anyone who can offer Krsna such nice food and place those lotus feet on My head birth after birth.‘” (Cc Madhya 3.66)
Vaisesika Das

Safe and Easy Space Travel
One of the first books that I read by Srila Prabhupada was Easy Journey to Other Planets. At the time UFO’s were a big thing. Television programs like Star Trek, The Outer Limits and Twilight Zone were all the rage. Everyone was talking about the latest sightings of flying saucers in their part of the country. As a youngster my imagination ran wild. I used to wonder what it would be like to transfer myself to another planet or dimension. It seemed within the realm of possibility.
Over the years humankind has made numerous attempts to reach the far galaxies and try to discover what lies beyond. According to Srila Prabhupada this is quite natural. In his purport to the first verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam he states:

“It is natural that a philosophical mind wants to know about the origin of creation. At night he sees the stars in the sky, and he naturally speculates about their inhabitants. Such inquiries are natural for man because man has a developed consciousness which is higher than that of the animals.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.1, Purport)

Are we the only living beings in the universe? This is a nagging question that never seems to go away. As of yet we haven’t reached a definitive conclusion, but we keep on trying to find out. Perhaps we’ll never know for certain in this lifetime (or for many generations) if we rely solely on the efforts of imperfect human beings. But in the Vedic tradition there is another way of receiving knowledge – not through sense perception, but through the process of hearing from spiritual authority.
“There is a spiritual sky. There is another nature, which is beyond manifestation and nonmanifestation. But how will you know that there is a sky where the planets and inhabitants are eternal? All this knowledge is there, but how will you make experiments? It is not possible. Therefore you have to take the assistance of the Vedas. This is called Vedic knowledge.”
(Sri Isopanisad, Introduction)
Our material senses are imperfect and so anything created by our senses – including spacecraft – are also imperfect. Everything within the material atmosphere is conditional or dependent on other material arrangements. If one piece or element should fail then the entire whole is prone to collapse. Nothing here is indestructible. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna describes this world as duhkhalayam (a place of miseries), asasvatam (temporary) and as a world of death (martyaloka).
Fuelled in part by the realization that life here is fleeting and miserable, many young people during the ‘60s and ’70s were seeking a permanent solution to life’s problems. The search for the fountain of youth was raging in full force. Eastern religions and philosophy were in vogue due to their promise of a life after death. So I distinctly recall the joy in my heart when I first laid eyes on Prabhupada’s small book, Easy Journey to Other Planets. There on the front cover was a mystic yogi immersed in trance, floating in a cornucopia of stars and planets. On the first page of the Preface, Srila Prabhupada wrote the following:
“The latest desire man has developed is the desire to travel to other planets. This is also quite natural, because he has the constitutional right to go to any part of the material or spiritual skies. Such travel is very tempting and exciting because these skies are full of unlimited globes of varying qualities, and they are occupied by all types of living entities. The desire to travel there can be fulfilled by the process of yoga, which serves as a means by which one can transfer himself to whatever planet he likes – possibly to planets where life is not only eternal and blissful, but where there are multiple varieties of enjoyable energies. Anyone who can attain the freedom of the spiritual planets need never return to this miserable land of birth, old age, disease and death.”
(Easy Journey to Other Planets, Preface)
When I read these words I knew that I had found what I was looking for. Srila Prabhupada spoke with the gravity, surety and authority which I had been seeking for so long. Star Trek was fun, but it was only guesswork and imaginative. Science fiction abounded, but it was only that – fiction. On the contrary, Srila Prabhupada represents a chain of spiritual masters which dates back thousands and even millions of years. Lord Krishna declares in the Bhagavad-gita: “I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku.” (BG 4.1) Now who can rival that? Yet surprisingly the Vedic system of interplanetary space travel doesn’t require a flight on a dangerous man-made spaceship. Neither does one have to join an exclusive club or pay a large membership fee. Srila Prabhupada explains:
“One can attain this stage of perfection very easily by his individual effort. He can simply follow, in his own home, the prescribed method of bhakti-yoga. This method, under proper guidance, is simple and enjoyable. An attempt is made herein to give information to the people in general, and to philosophers and religionists in particular, as to how one can transfer oneself to other planets by this process of bhakti-yoga – the highest of all yogic processes.”
(Easy Journey to Other Planets, Preface)
It’s interesting to note that people are still seeking answers through space travel and science fiction. Star Trek continues in one incarnation or another, and so do manned space flights regardless of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster of 2003. Man’s thirst for information about other planets and life forms is unceasing. It’s only when we discover the true source of knowledge that our imaginations will be fully satisfied. The Vedic literatures are replete with information and descriptions of other planets, both material and spiritual. Therefore it behooves us all to take advantage of such timeless wisdom and make a permanent solution to the problems of the material world. Srila Prabhupada spent his life trying to disseminate this ancient Vedic knowledge for the benefit of humankind. As a bona fide representative of Srila Vyasadeva (the original author of the Vedas), Prabhupada’s message is unadulterated and pure. His books are therefore a treasury of spiritual knowledge through which we can safely and easily satisfy our innermost longings for intergalactic space travel and timelessness.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Padmapani Das