Author Archives: Dandavats.com

Hollywood Movie Filming At The Temple – Extras Needed! Last…
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Hollywood Movie Filming At The Temple – Extras Needed!
Last month, the Toronto Hare Krishna Temple was contacted by a local production company that is working with Hollywood-based filmmakers for an upcoming big-budget movie set to be released in 2018. They were scouting locations for a film shoot and came upon our building and fell in love with it! They contacted the temple to see if they could shoot a major scene of the movie at the temple this spring.
We have been given permission to share that the movie is a futuristic zombie-apocalypse story and it has one key scene which takes place wherein the main characters take refuge in a temple only to find that it’s monks are also zombies! The movie producers want the scene to be shot at our temple!
Needless to say, the Toronto Hare Krishna Temple spent the last several weeks carefully combing through the script of the movie to ensure that there was nothing that would portray our faith in a negative light. Having given the green light, we are happy to announce that the production company has given us a chance to ask our own community members if they would like to play roles as background extras in the movie. Some extras will also be dressed as zombies!
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/4nTnLB

Students Join Nairobi Hare Krishna Training Centre. The new…
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Students Join Nairobi Hare Krishna Training Centre.
The new ‘Hare Krishna Training Centre’ in Nairobi, Kenya, has become a popular accommodation destination for local students, who are chanting, studying Srila Prabhupada’s books, and following the four regulative principles of Krishna consciousness. The idea germinated when manager Govinda Prema Das and others began trying to follow Prabhupada’s instructions to reach out to local Africans, rather than Hindus. “It is an African country,” the ISKCON founder told Brahmananda Das, who was preaching in Nairobi in 1971. “They are the proprietors. We should be preaching to them.” Later that same year, he wrote to Chyavana, “I am very pleased to hear that the African boys are becoming serious devotees.”
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/gHIhgB

Album of beautiful photos from ISKCON Vrindavan’s Boat…
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Album of beautiful photos from ISKCON Vrindavan’s Boat Festival 2016
Srila Prabhupada: “My heart is always burning in the fire of material existence, and I have made no provisions for getting out of it. The only remedy is hari-nama-sankirtana, the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, which is imported from the spiritual world, Goloka-Vrndavana. How unfortunate I am that I have no attraction for this. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 5.1.22 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Mgs2j9

April 1. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations. Satsvarupa…
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April 1. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: The Paradox Restaurant.
The Paradox, at 64 East 7th Street on the Lower East Side, was a restaurant dedicated to the philosophy of George Ohsawa and the macrobiotic diet. It was a storefront below street level with small dining tables placed around the candlelit room. The food was inexpensive and well-reputed. Tea was served free, as much as you liked. More than just a restaurant, The Paradox was a center for spiritual and cultural interests, a meeting place reminiscent of the cafes of Greenwich Village or Paris in the 1920s. A person could spend the whole day at The Paradox without buying anything, and no one would complain. The crowd at the Paradox was a mystical congregation, interested in teachings from the East. When news of the new Swami uptown at Dr. Mishra’s reached The Paradox, the word spread quickly.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=7

Is there a scientific explanation for “changing…
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Is there a scientific explanation for “changing bodies”?
Question: Is there any scientific explanation for the concept of changing bodies? Could a spirit soul transfer to a completely different universe or dimension? Does the soul remain in the body after death for any amount of time?
Our Answer: Anyone can prove to themselves, using scientific methods, that they perpetually remain the same conscious entity while the body perpetually changes. It’s simply a matter of hypothesis and observation. Depending on what kind of science you accept as valid, the Bhagavad-gita gives a thoroughly scientific explanation of transmigration of consciousness through different bodies, especially in the eighth chapter. You may also want to examine Dr. Ian Stevenson’s three thousand case studies of children remembering past lives.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/eAm79a

The family of vaisnavas. Kadamba Kanana Swami: The family of…
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The family of vaisnavas.
Kadamba Kanana Swami: The family of vaishnavas is somehow or other our support. Prabhupada made this movement a very personal one. In the beginning, we overlook how important relationships are because we are not used to it. In the material world, when a relationship does not work, you just cut it off and try another one… then another one and another one.
Now I’m not talking just about friendships. So many friends came and went in our lives in the material world but spiritual relationships are very different. Spiritual friendships are different because devotees are very rare. Therefore, devotees are precious and the relationship with the devotee is precious and once broken it is difficult to repair; not like a broken pot that can be glued back together.
Therefore with devotees we cannot just afford the mentality that if it does not work, get rid of this one and get another one! Because the day will come when we will need all the devotees. The day will come when we will very much depend on devotees because the vaisnavas are sustaining us in our spiritual life and without them it becomes so difficult. The day will come when all artificial behavior in our relationships will have to go because that cannot sustain us and time will test us. As they say, “It all comes out in the wash!” It means that sooner or later, it has to get real.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/0dZkqZ

ISKCON.Pakistan’s Gaura Purnima celebration, March 2016…
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ISKCON.Pakistan’s Gaura Purnima celebration, March 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: When loud chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is performed all over the world by those who follow in Your footsteps, all living entities, moving and nonmoving, dance in ecstatic devotional love. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 3.72)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/kMdkI5

ISKCON Communications Conference 2016. On the occasion of the…
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ISKCON Communications Conference 2016.
On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON we have a very interesting and rich Conference with many known speakers:
– Srila Prabhupada The Greatest Communicator by Anuttama prabhu
– How to discuss and resolve controversial and sensitive issues in ISKCON by Kaunteya prabhu
– ISKCON and Interfaith by Radhika Ramana prabhu
– Video Skills for High Impact Communications by Krishna Lila dasi
– Preaching, Undue Influence and Religious Freedom – Panel Discussion by Shaunaka Rsi, Prof. Raffaella Di Marzio and Maria Cristina Carratu
– First Draft Screening of Joy of Devotion and Feedback session by Krishna Lila dasi
– ISKCON Communications Europe report by Mahaprabhu dasa
– Communications Reports by participating Yatras
– 50th Anniversary report by Madayanti dasi
– Outing to Florence. We will meet interesting people and visit amazing places.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/9eT7jY

March 31. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations. Satsvarupa…
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March 31. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: “I Have to Execute My Duty”
Prabhupada is discussing the real meaning of going to a sacred place in India.
One should go to a sacred place in order to find some intelligent scholar in spiritual knowledge living there and make association with him. Just like I … My residence is at Vrindavana. So, at Vrindavana, there are many big scholars and saintly persons living. So one should go to such holy places, not simply to take bath in the water. One must be intelligent enough to find some spiritually advanced man living there and take instruction from him and be benefited by that. If a man has no attraction for hearing from learned people there, he is considered to be an ass. (He laughs.) So, the whole civilization is moving like a civilization of cows and asses. Everyone is identifying with the body … Yes, you want to speak?
Woman: In the places known as secret places –
Prabhupada: Sacred. Yes.
Woman: Is it “sacred” places?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Woman: Isn’t it also a fact that there is more magnetism because of the meeting of saints and more advanced people?
Prabhupada: Oh yes. Certainly. Certainly. Therefore the place itself has got some magnetism.
Woman: Yes, and when –
Prabhupada: Just like at Vrindavana – that is practical. Here I am now sitting in New York, the world’s greatest city, such a magnificent city, but my heart is always hankering after that Vrindavana.
Woman: Yes. (Laughs.)
Prabhupada: Yes, I am not happy here.
Woman: Yes, I know.
Prabhupada: I shall be very happy to return to my Vrindavana, that sacred place, but then, ‘Why are you here?’ Because it is my duty. I have brought some message for you people. Because I have been ordered by my superior, my spiritual master: “Whatever you have learned, you should go to the Western countries and you must distribute this knowledge.” So, in spite of all my difficulties, all my inconveniences, I am here because I am obligated by duty. If I go and sit down in Vrindavana, that would be good for my personal conveniences – I shall be very comfortable there and will have no anxiety, nothing of the sort, but I have taken all this risk in this old age because I am duty-bound. I am duty-bound, so I have to execute my duty despite all my inconveniences.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=6

Solar Powered Cow Protection. Solar energy will power the…
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Solar Powered Cow Protection.
Solar energy will power the International Society of Cow Protection’s center.
We have installed 103 solar panels on the south facing roof of the main ISCOWP building which are projected to supply 90-100 per cent of our energy needs. We have one more permit to receive before we are at temporary power at which time we will begin to see the actual output of the amazing energy from the sun. During the day we will use the solar for the electricity we need and the excess will go to our local electrical company which will act as our batteries. At night time they will send us back the electricity that we need for evening time. Different times of the year we will be earning more and other times we will be earning less. Once a year they will reconcile our account. And if we have an excess they will pay us back for it. The way Florida net-meters is that everything has to be on one meter, so along with the main building we have tied in the garage/canning and drying/workshop building and once the new barn is completed it will tie into the system also. The goal of our system is to have enough electricity for the ISCOWP center, the multipurpose building and maybe for the new barn. The benefit to tying in everything together is that in the future we can add solar panels to the two roofs of the multipurpose building and the new barn if we need them. When a cost effective battery comes on the market, our system is designed to be connected to it.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/sXdtyk

Preview the Narasimha graphic novel now! One hundred early…
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Preview the Narasimha graphic novel now!
One hundred early copies of the graphic novel “Narasimha, Demon Slayer” have been sent to North America and are ready to be shipped anywhere in the U.S.
Click this link to preview the first seven pages and order your copy today: http://goo.gl/XmDHpA

March 30. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations. Satsvarupa…
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March 30. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: No One Has Seen a Picture of Krishna
Prabhupada is speaking: We should always remember that He is God. He is all-powerful. In strength, no one could conquer Him. In beauty – as far as beauty is concerned – when He was on the battlefield … Have any of you seen a picture of Krishna? Have any of you ever seen Krishna? Oh … no?
Prahbupada’s voice fades as he pauses, looking out at his audience. No one has ever seen Krishna. None of them have the slightest previous knowledge of Lord Krishna. In India, hundreds of millions worship Lord Krishna daily as the eternal form of all beauty and truth, and view His graceful form in sculpture, painting and dance. His philosophical teachings in Bhagavad-gita are all famous. And Prabhupada is His intimate emissary. Yet the ladies and gentlemen in Room 307 look back at the Swami blankly.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=6

Let’s progress firmly in Krishna consciousness. Giriraj…
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Let’s progress firmly in Krishna consciousness.
Giriraj Das: I was hearing a lecture by HH Bhakti Vidyapurna Swami on the same topic and Maharaj explained these three terms in a simpler way as well the relation between them.
Sambandha : attraction, what draws the mind.
Prayojana : attachment.
Both the above are moods, they create feelings but there is no activity.
Abhidheya : This is the actual expression of the above two.
So we become attracted towards Krishna and then due to that attraction we become attached to Krishna and then we want to do something. The real meaning comes with service.
We say mind has three functions: thinking, feeling and willing.
If something is attractive we think about it, if we are not attracted then we won’t think about it. Feeling is when we get attached to it. Then..willing.. we actually do something about it. So we see Krishna, we become attracted to Krishna then we become attached to Krishna and then we finally want to serve Krishna.
So it is in abhidheya that we understand the knowledge, contemplate on it and then practice that knowledge. It is application. How we are related to Krishna and what we want to achieve, what is it’s purpose.
Abhidheya is the most important and critical part among the three and I am sharing some nectar, which I heard in last few months, on how we, as aspiring devotees, can traverse this wonderful and exciting journey, making it more enriching and less painful (for us and those around us!)
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/xaIBf3

50 km walk in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya for the 50th…
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50 km walk in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya for the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON!
To get the special mercy of Lord Caitanya ISKCON Kanya Kumari is organising a padayatra covering the 5 places He visited during His tour of South India . We seek your blessings and also request you to kindly join us and bring as many devotees as possible.
In the Kanyakumari District Lord Caitanya visited these five places, as mentioned in Caitanya Caritamrita ( 2.9.225 to 229) :
1. Kanyakumari – Bhagavathiamman temple
2. Suchindrum – Sthanumalayan temple.
3. Tovalai – Subramaniya Swami temple
4. Bhootapandi – Bhoothalinga Swami temple
5. Thiruvattar – Adikesava temple
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/rqN1l2

March 29. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations. Satsvarupa…
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March 29. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Exploring His Western Audience.
Sometimes his mood is light, and he commiserates with his fellow New Yorkers, chuckling about the difficulties they share: “Suppose there is a heavy snowfall, the whole New York City is flooded with snow, and you are all put into inconvenience. That is a sort of suffering, but you have no control over it.” Sometimes he praises Dr. Mishra’s students for having learned so nicely from their teacher: “Now, what Dr. Mishra is teaching is very nice. He is teaching that first of all you must know, ‘Who am I?’ That is very good, but that ‘Who am I?’ can be known from Bhagavad-gita also – ‘I am not this body.’” And sometimes a guest suddenly speaks out with an irrelevant question, and the Swami patiently tries to consider it.
Yet behind his tolerance, Prabhupada’s mood is always one of urgency. Sometimes he talks quickly, and one senses his desire to establish Krishna consciousness in the West as soon as possible. He has no followers, only a few books, no temples, and he openly states that he is racing against time: “I am an old man. I could leave at any time.” So, behind the full delivery of Krishna conscious philosophy is an anxiety, an almost desperate desire to convince at least one soul to take up Krishna consciousness immediately.
Now the constrained situations of Butler and the Ananda Ashram and Dr. Mishra are behind him, he is free to speak about the Absolute Truth in full. Throughout his life he has prepared for this, yet he is still discovering the best ways to present Krishna, exploring his Western audience, testing their reactions.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=6

Open Day at the Bhaktivedanta Manor (2 min video) Srila…
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Open Day at the Bhaktivedanta Manor (2 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: “If one only chants, with some slight faith, the holy names of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, then very quickly he is cleansed of all offences. Thus as soon as he chants the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, he feels the ecstasy of love for God.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 8.31)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/kIe0is

Harinama in Israel (Album with photos) Srila Prabhupada: “As a…
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Harinama in Israel (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “As a result of chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, one makes such great advancement in spiritual life that simultaneously his material existence terminates and he receives love of Godhead. The holy name of Krishna is so powerful that by chanting even one name, one very easily achieves these transcendental riches.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 8.28)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/ANhYCc

March 28. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations. Satsvarupa…
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March 28. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: “But If the Disciple is In Ignorance …”
Prabhupada is speaking on the qualifications of a spiritual master and a disciple:
Suppose you accept the wrong person as a spiritual master and he guides you wrongly. Then your whole life is spoiled. So one has to accept a spiritual master whose guidance will make one’s life perfect. That is the relationship between spiritual master and disciple. It is not a formality. It is a great responsibility, both for the disciple and the spiritual master. … Yes?
Student: But if the disciple is in ignorance before …
Prabhupada: Yes. (Prabhupada acknowledges a serious question. It is for answering questions like this – from “disciples in ignorance” – that he has left retirement in India and come to America.)
Student: … how does he know which master to choose? – Because he doesn’t have the knowledge to make a wise decision.
Prabhupada: Yes. So, the first thing is that one should be searching after a spiritual master, just as you search after some school, you must at least have some preliminary knowledge of what a school is. You can’t search for a school and go to a cloth shop. If you are so ignorant that you do not know what is a school and what is a cloth shop, then it is very difficult for you. You must know, at least, what a school is. So that knowledge is like this:
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=6

Launch of Monks in Manhattan—the Novel. Rupa-vilasa dasa:…
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Launch of Monks in Manhattan—the Novel.
Rupa-vilasa dasa: Jnanagamya Dasa (John J. Partin) is/was my oldest friend. He was an artist and writer of immense creativity, enthusiasm, and talent. Monks in Manhattan started out as a screenplay and went through a number of incarnations as such. In the final year or two before his departure, he turned the screenplay into an entertaining novel about a somewhat fanatical devotee who falls in love with an heiress. This extraordinary novel is filled with humor, romance, and philosophy. Jnanagamya would not object (if he were still with us) to my saying that this book is bizarre, preachy, original, funny, and strange. It is, by turns, unusual, hysterical, wonderful, and highly entertaining. Very few novels have been produced by contemporary members of the Hare Krishna devotee community, and certainly none with the ambition, scope, humor, and philosophical depth of this one. Only he would even consider writing what is essentially a Krishna conscious romantic comedy. It is being brought out as an e-novel, available through Amazon.com. Please purchase a copy at the very reasonable price of $2.99 and be entertained and enlightened by a devotee sold out to Srila Prabhupada. This was the final effort by the eccentric and kind artist/designer/builder/writer before he passed away in Mayapura, India, on February 17, 2015. He is sorely missed by all who loved him and whose lives were touched by him.
(Jnanagamya Prabhu’s birth, April 2, 1947)
Read more: http://monksinmanhattan.com/