Author Archives: Dandavats.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chinese-Indian Vege Cultural Exchange Prog on 2/05/16 #ToDU (Album with photos)
A cultural exchange on vegetarian cooking and eating lifestyle was held at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Kanhaiya temple in Prai, Penang. (Monday, 2nd May 2016)
About 60 Chinese and 20 Indian members joined to exchange their vegetarian lifestyle and knowledge.
Mr. SK Wong the President of the Malaysia Youth Vegetarian Society was amongst the many who attended.
Miss Terese Chen from Taiwan who organizes the annual vegetarian cooking competition among world chefs was very impressed with the temple and the prasadam served to her. She encouraged the ISKCON devotees to also participate in the competition which is held annually at Taipei.
Chinese dishes were prepared by the Temple of Devotion & Understanding Chinese devotees while HG Simheswara Dasa prepared the Indian dishes.
HG Adi Kartri prabhu and his family members performed Kirtan entertaining the crowd.
Addresses were given by HG Simheswara Dasa, Mr Wong, HG Kalesa Dasa (co-president of TODU) and Mr Andy (president of Chinese Vegetarian Society of Penang).
Find them here: https://goo.gl/R0MCTe

Hailstorm claims 10 lives at Ujjain Kumbh, 100 injured.
Ujjain (MP): At least 10 people were killed and over 100 injured on Thursday after thunder, lightning and hailstorm wrecked makeshift tents erected at the Simhastha Kumbh area, triggering a stampede and burying pilgrims under mangled tin sheds and iron poles.
Deena Bandhu Das: WE ARE ALL OK, JUST A LITTLE DAMP! Yesterday heavy rains, hail , and wind hit the Kumbha Mela in Ujjain. The pics of our camp went out all over the media with the title 7 died and 100s injured, but we’re all ok in the ISKCON Camp. You can see our gate fell over, but if you look closely, you can see Srila Prabhupada on the left holding it up from falling over. The outside structure of the Full Dome Auditorium, but the inside is safe and equipment unharmed! Pray for us to continue our preaching efforts!
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/FtNLbI

Alachua Plans Intentional Community for Ages 55+.
Alachua, Florida is already home to the largest group of ISKCON members in North America, with some 500 congregational families. Now devotees are planning an intentional devotional community there for couples or singles aged 55 and over.
Prabhupada disciple Kirtiraja Das, who served as a GBC and regional secretary in the former Soviet Union before moving to Alachua with his family in 1991, is developing the project as its managing director.
The intentional community, dubbed “Bhaktivedanta Village,” will be set on a green, 25-acre wooded property on the southside of downtown Alachua that has already been procured by Ambarisa Das (Alfred Ford). Now Kirtiraja is looking for investors and residents to develop the property.
The project, which Kirtiraja calls “long overdue,” has already drawn a huge amount of interest. Within just three days of posting about it on his personal Facebook page, he received 105 serious inquiries from devotees all over the world; and more keep coming in.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/DA9TEv

Harinam Sankirtan in Cologne, Germany (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: A devotee, either in danger or in happiness, const…

May 6. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Soul Eyes of Prabhupada.
One devotee wrote to me appreciating my poem about Srila Prabhupada’s gaze, Soul Eyes. He said, however, that he never saw Prabhupada’s eyes, and he considered it a great loss in his life. I consoled him and told him there were many wonderful photos to meditate on Prabhupada’s eyes and form. There’s also film footage of his moving body, an expressive feature. There’s also an oversize book of special photos called Srila Prabhupada Art Book, which one can spend hours gazing over Prabhupada’s beautiful body. Even when Prabhupada’s health diminished and his face became emaciated he maintained nobility in his features, and his face was very grave.
Devotees can also ease their separation by getting together and talking about his qualities and pastimes on occasions such as his appearance and disappearance days. Srila Prabhupada personally said, “If you want to know me, read my books.” So a devotee should not think he has lost out just because he was not present when Prabhupada was still alive in his physical presence here.
By the means available through vani (instruction in sound vibration), many second-generation disciples have developed relationships equal to and even greater than first-generation disciples.
Srila Prabhupada wrote in one letter explaining the principles of vapu and vani: “… Presence of the transcendental sound received from the spiritual master should be the guidance of life.” He also told us that we could place his picture on his sitting places and this would give us solace. The main factor in developing association with Prabhupada is attaining the stage of wanting to please him. He is still living and open to reciprocate with devotees who wish to serve him. This is accomplished in standard ways and by accepting him as one’s śikṣā guru or primary guru, and obeying his instructions regarding the rules and regulations. One also pleases Srila Prabhupada by taking up the preaching spirit and working in cooperation with others in the sankirtana movement. Prabhupada’s reciprocal gaze of “soul eyes” is still available to the earnest soul who yearns to please Prabhupada and comes before him in the available methods of service in separation.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

A mother’s lesson in gratitude.
Radhanath Swami: When I was a little boy, my mother taught me a lesson. She always emphasized, more than anything else, the quality of gratitude. She told me, “If you are not grateful for whatever you have, …

Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Russia. (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Decorate the Deity as nicely as possible with nice …

Preaching program with BB Govinda Swami in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest metropolis (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Sri Krishna Caitanya, who was outwardly very fair, with a complexion like molten gold, simultaneously manifested His eternal associates, opulences, expansions and incarnations. He preached the process of chanting Hare Krishna and those who are under His lotus feet are glorious. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 3.79 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/oF1Hbx

Presentation From the TOVP Architecture and Design Department in Pune, India, with Sadbhuja Prabhu (7 min video)
Sadbhuja prabhu discusses the systematic procedure for the next stage of the embellishments for the TOVP with the architecture & design department in Pune.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/2hbiiy

Always remember Krishna and never forget Him!
Srila Prabhupada: Pious activity is on the material platform, but chanting of the…

Sankirtan on 3rd St Promenade, LA (Album with HR photos)
Devotees of New Dwaraka, Los Angeles temple, go out on harinam sankirt…

May 5. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: The Swami’s Arrival Went Mostly Unnoticed.
The Swami’s arrival went unnoticed. The neighbors said someone new had taken the gift shop next to the laundry. There was a strange picture in the window now but no one knew what to make of it. Some passers-by noticed a piece of paper announcing classes in Bhagavad-gita taped to the window. A few stopped to read it, but no one knew what to make of it. They didn’t know what Bhagavad-gita was, and the few who did thought, “Maybe a yoga bookstore or something.” The Puerto Ricans in the neighbourhood would look in the window at Harvey Cohen’s painting and then blankly walk away. The manager of the Mobil gas station next door couldn’t care less who had moved in – it just didn’t make any difference. The tombstone-sellers and undertakers across the street didn’t care. And for the drivers of the countless cars and trucks that passed by, Swamiji’s place didn’t even exist. But there were young people around who had been intrigued with the painting, who went up to the window to read the little piece of paper. Some of them even knew about the Bhagavad-gita, although the painting of Lord Caitanya and the dancers didn’t seem to fit. A few thought maybe they would attend Swami Bhaktivedanta’s classes and check out the scene.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

NITAYOGA World peace yoga festival in Budapest (Album with photos)
1200 happy people together! 🙂 Yoga, lectures, kirtan and p…

Harinam Makes Every Soul Dance With Love Of Godhead!
On the 11th of April our party traveled to Paksi-tirtha also known as Tirukalukundram. Bhakivinod Thakur sings in the 3rd verse of ‘Suddha Bhakata Carana Renu’
se-saba sthana, heribo ami,
pranayi-bhakata-sange
Which translates as: ‘May I always visit all the holy places associated with the lila of Lord Caitanya and His devotees.’
We are all very fortunate to be on padayatra here in India because in this way during our travels we can take darsana of some of the tirthas visited by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the acaryas. In this way we are not just traveling here and there –instead wherever we go we always try to hear more about the glories of the dhama from the dhama gurus.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/DfVPWu

The Radha-Madhava Deities in Mayapur: what are they made of?
“Jananivasa told me about a conversation he had had in the temple with a middle-aged Bengali guest who had asked him, “Are Radha-Madhava made of brass or gold?”
“Well, what are you made of?” Jananivasa replied.
After a pause, the gentleman answered, “Flesh and blood.”
Jananivasa told him, “As long as you think you’re made of flesh and blood, then you’ll think the Deity is made of one metal or another. But if you can understand that you’re not the body, that you’re spirit soul, and also that the soul is part and parcel of God, then you’ll understand that you’re of the same nature as Krishna.”
The man wasn’t sure that he had understood, so Jananivasa continued, “Do you accept that God is in your heart?”
“Yes.”
“So what’s He made of there, brass or gold?”
The man didn’t know.
“On the basis of the revealed scriptures,” Jananivasa said, “we can understand that God’s form is eternal and full of bliss and knowledge. That form, which is present in the heart of every living entity, is made of pure spirit, and that is what the Deity in the temple is also made of. You can’t see the Deity in your heart,” he explained as the gentleman nodded in agreement, “you don’t know who He is. So the Lord comes in a form you can see. Radha-Madhava appear to be material, but They are purely spiritual, and to the extent that you realize your nature is spiritual, to that extent you will understand that Krishna Himself is personally on the altar.”

Did you know about the “connective” beads and the “protective” beads? Watch this inspiring class by Brighupati prabhu given yesterday at the Iskcon Los Angeles temple and find out.
With many amazing book distribution stories which show how many people are waiting to be introduced to Lord Chaitanya’s movement!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/HIBIJq

My path to yoga – an academic essay by Priscilla Black.
My Journey with wellness and yoga began 2 years ago. I was a social alcoholic, recently divorced and had just moved back to my hometown in Kentucky. I had been back home for about 6 months before I became pregnant. I lost the false sense of direction I had and knew that I needed to make changes. I was smoking about a pack a day and blacking out almost every night. As soon as I became pregnant I lost everything and anyone I thought was a friend. I made a decision to move to Dallas to live with my parents so that I could concentrate on the tiny human growing inside of me. I had no aspirations of keeping the child. I knew that I would give her up for adoption but still I wanted to make sure that I was the healthiest that I could be. I wanted Her to be healthy.
…I decided to attend a Wednesday program. I remember being nervous. Wondering, if anyone could sense my anxious energy. I was told that there was going to be kirtan. “What is Kirtan?” Kirtan is the chanting of the holy names of God. So I chanted. ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna. Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama Hare Rama. Rama Rama Hare Hare.’ Everyone in the room was so happy and blissful. So at peace. This felt right. I could sense that She was happy. After kirtan was a lecture. This lecture was about Bhakti Yoga. Bhakti yoga, like any other form of yoga, is a path to self-realization, to having an experience of oneness with everything. This is what I was longing for. This is what my soul needed. I took notes and listened more intently than I ever have. I learned this lifestyle of non-violence and self-realization and love. After this night at Kalachandji’s, I never left.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/wWruD3

Mark Your Calendars!
The Prabhupada Festival is just around the corner. Free for all to attend and to glorify His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, the festival takes place over Memorial Day Weekend at the ISKCON Los Angeles Temple. Please visit www.PrabhupadaFestival.com for more info and discover ways you can participate in this year’s festivities. Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

May 4. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Srila Prabhupada’s Mission on the Lower East Side.
Prabhupada had not made a study of the youth movement in America before moving to the Lower East Side. He had never even made specific plans to come here amid so many young people. But in the ten months since Calcutta he had been moved by force of circumstances, or, as he understood it, “by Krishna’s will,” from one place to another. On the order of his spiritual master he had come to America, and by Krsna’s will he had come to the Lower East Side. His mission here was the same as it had been on the Bowery or uptown or even in India. He was fixed in the order of his spiritual master and the Vedic view, a view that wasn’t going to be influenced by the radical changes of the 1960s. Now, if it so happened that these young people because of some change in the American cultural climate were to prove more receptive to him, then that would be welcome. And that would also be by Krishna’s will.
Actually, because of the ominous influence of the Kali millennium, this was historically the worst of times for spiritual cultivation – hippie revolution or not. And Srila Prabhupada was trying to transplant Vedic culture into a more alien ground than had any previous spiritual master. So he expected to find his work extremely difficult. Yet in this generally bad age, just prior to Prabhupada’s arrival on the Lower East Side, tremors of dissatisfaction and revolt against the Kali-yuga culture itself began vibrating through American society, sending waves of young people to wander the streets of New York’s Lower East Side in search of something beyond the ordinary life, looking for alternatives, seeking spiritual fulfillment. These young people, broken from their stereotyped materialistic backgrounds and drawn together now on New York’s Lower East Side, were the ones who were by chance or choice or destiny to become the congregation for the Swami’s storefront offerings of kirtana and spiritual guidance.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

NBS#36 Daksa, Sati and Lord Shiva – Part 2
Continuing from the previous issue, NBS # 36 covers the plight of Daksa and his associates who committed an offense at the lotus feet of Lord Shiva.
We pray that this issue brings some pleasure to the devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
NBS # 36 Features: 1) What Caused Sati To Destroy Her Body?
His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
2) Virabhadra Beheads Daksa
Conversation between Maitreya and Vidura
3) Lord Shiva’s Mercy On Daksa
Sriman Purnaprajna Dasa
4) Re-birth Of Sati And Daksa
Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura
This issue can be viewed through these links:
ISSUU: http://issuu.com/nbsmag/docs/nbs_36
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/doc/311331475/NBS-36

The latest issue of Sri Krishna-kathamrita Bindu e-magazine was just released.
KK Bindu #374 includes: Never before translated prayers to Gadadhar Pandit, and a story of Krishna and Arjuna talking with a wise jackal. In honor of the upcoming festival for the appearance of Srila Gadadhar Pandit this edition includes some special prayers to him. Contents of this edition includes:
* AVOID BEING MISLED – His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada speaks about the importance for devotees to know siddhanta.
* EVERYONE IS ELIGIBLE – Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada speaks about the universality of chanting the Lord’s names.
* KRISHNA CRUSHES THE DEVOTEE’S PRIDE – Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja tells a story about a corpse, a jackal, and Krishna and Arjuna.
* PRAYERS TO SRI GADADHAR PANDIT – A collection of various meditations and prayers, translated for the first time especially for this issue of Bindu.
It can be downloaded here: https://archive.org/details/bindu374

Harinama in Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure, a central park in Moscow (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Chanting …

Simhastha Kumbh Ujjain – 2016 (Album with 63 photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: The Babas at Simhasta Kumbha Mela Ujjain! On one side o…

Until We Meet Again (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: This morning we went on parikrama all the way around the sacred town of Vrindavan. After many years of circumambulating this holy abode many of the places, as well as the Vrajavasis who live here, are familiar to me. Tonight I leave for Russia, but I will carry Vrindavan within my heart wherever I go in service to my spiritual master.
“I wander over this earth meditating on Her, who is a moon shining in the rasa-dance arena, who is a host of bright lamps in Vrsabhanu’s palace, and who is the central jewel in the necklace of Goloka.”
sri rasa rangasya vikasa candrika
dipavalir ya vrsabhanu mandire
goloka cuda mani kantha bhusanam
dhyatvaparam tam bhuvi paryatamy aham
[ Narada Muni, Garga Samhita 1.8.12 ]
Find them here: https://goo.gl/j96Tff

A-Z of Things Unseen: Y is for Yamuna (5 min audio)
The Yamuna is one of the many rivers in India that are sacred to Hindus. On its banks lies the city of Vrindavan, believed to be the birthplace of the Lord Krishna.
Shaunaka Rishi Das from the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies has visited the Yamuna many times over several decades. In this edition of the A-Z of Things Unseen, he recalls some key moments of spiritual awakening and growth which he experienced on the banks of the sacred river.
Among them is a challenge thrown out by an old man during his first ever bath in the Yamuna with a group of devotees from Ireland. Other seminal experiences include a close encounter with a snake, and the insights Shaunaka gained after he scattered his wife’s ashes in the sacred river: rather than him returning his wife to Krishna, he realized, she had been his all along and only shared her husband’s life “as a loan” from God. With that insight came acceptance of her death.
The A-Z of Things Unseen is an eclectic mix of voices from different faiths (as well as some doubters), each tackling a concept of their choice from a personal perspective.
Listen to it here: http://goo.gl/w3Ely4

The mind traps us materially and trips us spiritually.
Chaitanya Charan Das: We like our job one day and detest it the next day; we feel excited about our devotional activities sometimes and bored at other times.
Why does our mind oscillate like this?
Because it has learnt from experience that the charm of worldly objects doesn’t last for long.
This lesson can help us realize that no material object can ever offer us lasting satisfaction. However, the mind evades this realization by imagining that the past worldly objects were not enjoyable because something was wrong in the practical details. “I don’t like my job because my boss is lousy.” Due to this blunder of judgment, the mind keeps us entrapped at the material level with the futile hope that we will become happy if we just get the next worldly object alluring us from round the corner.
More damagingly, the mind doesn’t let us stay fixed when we do contact the one object that can offer lasting satisfaction: Krishna. He is eternal and eternally enchanting. Yet due to its default oscillatory habit, the mind imagines that the charm of Krishna will also not last long. So it starts looking for something externally new in devotional service without going deep into the remembrance of Krishna. The mind thus causes us to look here and there and everywhere –except straight towards Krishna. No wonder that we frequently trip on our devotional path, and thereby suffer unnecessary slips and falls.
If we strengthen our intelligence by deep deliberation on the nature of the mind, then the Bhagavad-gita (03.43) assures us that we won’t fall for its traps and trips.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 03 Text 43
“Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, O mighty-armed Arjuna, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence [Krishna consciousness] and thus – by spiritual strength – conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust.”

May 3. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: The Lower East Side in the 1960s.
By the summer of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival at 26 Second Avenue, the first front in the great youth rebellion of the sixties had already entered the Lower East Side. Here they were free – free to live in simple poverty and express themselves through art, music, drugs and sex. The talk was of spiritual searching. LSD and marijuana were the keys opening new realms of awareness. Notions about Eastern cultures and Eastern religions were in vogue. Through drugs, yoga, brotherhood, or just by being free – somehow they would attain enlightenment. Everyone was being free – somehow they would attain enlightenment. Everyone was supposed to keep an open mind and develop his own cosmic philosophy by direct experience and drug-expanded consciousness, blended with his own eclectic readings. And if their lives appeared aimless, at least they had dropped out of a pointless game where the player sells his soul for material goods and in this way supports a system that is already rotten.
So it was that in 1966 thousands of young people were walking the streets of the Lower East Side, not simply intoxicated or crazy (though they often were), but in search of life’s ultimate answers, in complete disregard of “the establishment” and the day-to-day life pursued by millions of “straight” Americans.
That the prosperous land of America could breed so many discontented youths surprised Prabhupada. Of course, it also further proved that material well-being, the hallmark of American life, couldn’t make people happy. Prabhupada did not see the unhappiness around him in terms of the immediate social, political, economic and cultural causes. Neither slum conditions nor youth rebellions were the all-important realities. These were mere symptoms of a universal unhappiness to which the only cure was Krishna consciousness. He sympathized with the miseries of everyone, but he saw the universal solution.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

Narayanpur (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: Not far from the Ujjain Kumbha Mela is the forest where Krishna and Sudama we…

Temple of Vedic Planetarium – May 2016 TOVP construction updates (Album with photos)
We are happy to share these beautiful new…

Harinama in the park of Stromovka, Czech Republic (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: One may live in a cave, in a cottage be…

The Mayor of Hertsmere auditions for the part of Hanuman, during last month’s Ramanavami festival….:-)
Hertsmere is a local government district and borough in Hertfordshire, England. This is where the Bhaktivedanta Manor is situated.

“Ask a monk” (4 min video)
Ter Kadamba Das presents his “Ask a monk” new video channel, website and project.
Ter Kadamba Das: Some of you have asked about the questions I received. Here are a few of the more entertaining ones (paraphrasing of cause):
Atheist: When will I die?
Monk: Any moment now, because whenever an old person looks back on his life, he always thinks it went by in a moment, so regardless of how long it will be, compared to eternity, it will still only be a moment. Therefore you should enquire about your real identity now, instead of wasting time with external things.
Teenage boy with flashy sunglasses: Will I ever find love again?
Monk: You are made of love, that is what you are, so you don’t need to find it, it is already there. The reason you are not in touch with it, is because you are focusing on these external things you see around you. When we focus your energy on making other people happy, then love will naturally flow through us uninterrupted. But if you are thinking of beautiful girls, then that is not love but lust. The two are not the same, and they are mutually exclusive.
Well dressed elderly man: What can you tell me about the stock-market?
I can tell you that whether you win or lose has nothing to do with how happy you will be. You have rich people who are happy and rich people who are miserable. You also have poor people who are happy and poor people who are miserable. These things are not related.
Well dressed elderly man: What a sophisticated answer.
Elderly lady: What do you ask a monk?
Monk: Okay, I guess that is also a question… You can ask him anything. Like what is the meaning of life? You see, many people think the meaning of life is something beyond our reach, but it is actually very simple. If we stop being selfish and devote our life to God, then our lives are meaningful. Now, devoting our lives to God means devoting our lives to Gods creation, because that is how He manifests, so basically just make sure that everything you do, you do for the benefit of others. Then you will be happy for the rest of your life, and it is completely free of charge.
Man: What is the northern most town in the world?
Monk: Since our perception of this world is illusory, the question is equivalent to asking how many drops of water there are in a mirage. Since it doesn’t really exist, the question is superfluous. If something should be said to exist, then it must be eternal. Consciousness is eternal, not these temporary forms of matter we see around us, so we should focus our attention on that. (He then told me about “Longyearbyen”, which is a town on the island of Svalbart north of Norway. He happened to live there).
Woman: Who will win the world cup in football?
Monk: Nobody. Those who are engaged in the world cup are chasing after a temporary result. Everybody knows it will be taken away from them again, so in the end they will all lose. Monks only work for spiritual results because spiritual results are eternal. Anything material is temporary and therefore not worth the effort.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/Xjnl3b