Author Archives: Dandavats

Jagannatha Ratha Yatra and Yoga Festival, Batam, Indonesia
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Hare KrishnaBy Hari Narayana das

The Batam Devotees who did ratha yatra on December 11, 2016, was supported by Wajah Batam, a non-government organization in Batam, Indonesia. As Srila Prabhupada mentioned in his letter that “So all these variety shows will be so attractive with melodious musical sounds, and above all our good behavior and advanced Krishna consciousness will make this show very successful.” SPL to Haàsadüta, 4th March, 1968. A day before ratha yatra, in the field of Engku Putri field, the chariot team did preparation for the chariot. They worked tirelessly until midnight. Because of the rainfall, they skipped the work until the following morning. Arriving from Bali and Jakarta the devotees directly gave a hand to prepare the festival. They made garlands and assisted the chariot team to prepare the chariot.

When suddenly from nowhere the red monkeys came and conquered all
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Hare KrishnaBy Purushottam Nitai Das

Once during a meditation session a teacher decided to do an experiment. As soon as all his pupils assembled and sat in an erect posture with closed eyes waiting for his instruction, the teacher said, “I have a special instruction for you all today. For next one hour during the meditation session no one should think about the red monkey.” And suddenly from nowhere the red monkeys came, attacked and conquered everyone’s mind. For the next one hour all the participants whose eyes were still closed were utterly miserable because while meditating today they were seeing nothing but red monkeys. They tried their best to empty their minds of the thoughts of the red monkeys but the red monkeys were in each and every corner of their mind – sometimes jumping, sometimes dancing, sometimes laughing and sometimes silently watching all the fun.

Family Matters
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Hare KrishnaBy Matsyavatara das

Some will get married and some will not, some will have children and some will not. But also those who don’t get married and those who have already surpassed this phase of life will greatly benefit by knowing the basic dynamics, the rapport of weights and measures, the values of family life in the Vedic-Vaisnava civilization. In the past so much damage has been done by people—who had no positive experience in this area—who tried, disastrously, to handle the life of others. Therefore those directly involved in family life—as well as those who have to come in touch with those directly involved—should know about the fundamental principles and values on which family relations are based. To know such fundamentals of the grihastha asrama is an integral part of spiritual realization, not because it’s in itself something spiritual, but because it’s a social organization problematic to spiritual realization. Even those who renounce family life for a more elevated aim will always be in touch with those in family life. Directly or indirectly everyone is interested in family life, either because one is married, or because one plans to form a family, or because one has brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, or parents in family life. In this way this asrama is fundamental and is not completely avoidable even for those who desire to live as brahmacaris—a very noble commitment and intention.

Truthfulness and Honesty
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By Gangadhara das

One should never climb into a tree, grasp the unripe fruits and forcibly pull them off. Similarly, the followers of Srila Rupa Gosvami never abolish the initial systematic process of devotional service. The rupanugas never teach that the perfection of devotion can be reached by abandoning the consecutive order of development stages on the path. (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada; Prakrita Rasa Shata Dushani). The followers of Srila Rupa Gosvami never leave the path of the great devotees [mahajanas] and run to pursue a ‘new’ path. One should never mistakenly call material obstacles ‘useful for devotional service’, thereby following the wrong path.

Srila Prabhupada Book Review Contest’ for 2,500 School Students by Iskcon Miraroad
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Hare KrishnaBy Krishna Nandan Das & Bhagavati Kripa Devi Dasi

As an offering for ISKCON 50 and for the pleasure of Guru & Gauranga, teachers of NICE (Narasimha Institute for Children’s Education) decided to conduct ‘Srila Prabhupada Book Review Contest’ in the schools as an interschool competition. The main aim of this contest was to introduce Srila Prabhupada to as many students as possible. Execution: The teachers of NICE approached 90 schools for this project. We presented this project to the Principal of the school with a file containing a letter, a booklet that described Srila Prabhupada and his achievements, a Question Bank consisting of 100 questions based on this booklet (question bank was prepared by H.G. Kamal Lochan Prabhu). Here the questionnaire was of the objective type. This contest should ideally be conducted in school premises itself, depending on the convenience of school authorities. The students from std. 4th to 6th formed the junior section and students from 7th to 9th, the senior section.

Srila Prabhupada and Moon Landings
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Hare KrishnaBy Sitalatma das​

The subject of Moon landings has been contentious for devotees since forever and it is often cited as a reason to accuse us of shutting down our intelligence and blindly following gurus, or, even worse, as a reason to attack Śrīla Prabhupāda’s integrity. The fact that we don’t have an official position on it doesn’t help either, leaving each one of us to our own devices. There must be devotees who made their peace with it and take one of Prabhupāda’s explanations as a shared truth between them and can’t care less what the rest of the world thinks about it. Intruding into these personal relationships would be inappropriate. Yet there are also devotees who simply don’t know what to say and try to avoid the topic if it comes up or blurt out the first thing that comes to their minds. One such strategy is to compare Prabhupāda’s Moon statements with the bulk of his spiritual message and declare them insignificant. This is a tacit admission that Prabhupāda was wrong. There are also devotees who go into Moon landing conspiracy and continue arguing that it was a hoax, often coupled with arguments that the Earth is really flat and NASA has been lying to people about every aspect of their programs and all other world space agencies and governments are in on it. This makes for a lively debate but also makes them look insane in the eyes of many.

Devotees provide hot, fresh meals for the community
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Hare KrishnaBy Nameera Sarjoo

The Hare Krishna Movement distributed food, drinks and sweet parcels in the Ladysmith community on Saturday morning. They went out to different areas to hand out fresh, hot food and juices. The recipients were extremely grateful for the devotees’ kind gesture, saying that it really touched their hearts and lifted their spirits. The friendly team also took some time to mingle with the people, making it a special day for all. This ‘Food for Life’ programme was initially started by His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It is a worldwide initiative that continues on a daily basis. Ladysmith’s ‘Food for Life’ provides this service once a month to the community and surrounding areas. The members of the Hare Krishna Movement wish to place on record their sincere appreciation to all the donors and well-wishers.

Houston’s Four-Day ISKCON 50 Celebration a Grand Success
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Hare KrishnaBy Chirag Bhatt

Special guests also included Harris County District Attorney, Kim Ogg; Pat Hallisey, Mayor of League City and his wife Janice; Dr. Catherine O’Brien, vice chancellor of San Jacinto College; David Williams, Principal at Seabrook Intermediate School; Matt Khan of Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston, who remarked, “The hospitality was exceptional and I learned a great deal about the history of ISKCON.” Also attending were Rev. Gena Davis of Houston’s grace Episcopal Church, a certified yoga teacher who incorporates yoga in her ministry; Rev. David Carter of the Unitarian Church of Wichita, Kansas perhaps the first Gaudiya Vaisnava devotee to lead such a church and congregation; representatives of the local Focolare community; board members of Houston’s Rothko Chapel; and Dr. Zahra Jamal, Associate Director of the Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance at Rice University. Representatives of Hindu organizations included those from BAPS, Voice of Sanatan Hinduism, Hindus of Greater Houston, ICC, the Hindu Heritage Foundation, Ashtalaksmi Temple, Sri Sita Ram Foundation, Mahatma Gandhi Library, Banke Bihari Pariwar, the Indo American Political Group and the Youth Leadership Development Program (YLDP). The gala also featured art and devotional music (kirtan) by local devotees and a unique ice sculpture and rangoli (colored powder) depiction of the ISKCON logo.

Modern science discovers the benefits of meditation
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Hare KrishnaBy Giriraj dasa

But now, scientists say that meditators may be benefiting from changes in their brains. The researchers report that those who meditated for about 30 minutes a day for eight weeks had measurable changes in gray-matter density in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. M.R.I. brain scans taken before and after the participants’ meditation regimen found increased gray matter in the hippocampus, an area important for learning and memory. The images also showed a reduction of gray matter in the amygdala, a region connected to anxiety and stress. A control group that did not practice meditation showed no such changes.

The Mauritius Harinama Team Organized 2 Padayatras For Iskcon 50Th Anniversary
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Hare KrishnaBy Panchatattva Dasa

On our way we noticed a wedding ceremony being held and as we got closer, to our surprise, all the baratis or wedding guests came out to join us in the kirtana. The newlywed couple even took the chance to offer incense to the Lords –we are certain that they received Their blessings. Amazingly, we ended the padayatra in an Arya Samaj Hall, even though it is well known that the Arya Samaj in Mauritius do not accept deity worship in their compound. However, we were warmly welcomed with our deities. Asim Krishna Dasa, originally from India, gave a wonderful lecture bringing the padayatra to a close.