Author Archives: Dandavats

Conscious co-operator
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Hare KrishnaBy Giriraj Das

Here is the text from ‘Krishna’ Book, chapter 4, where, having being warned by Durga Devi that the child who will kill Kamsa has already taken birth, Kamsa is now repenting and is also trying to justify all his past sinful actions, putting them behind the bars, killing their children, etc., as will of providence. In these lines lie some very enlightening lessons for an aspiring devotee like my own self. “My dear sister Devaki-, you are so gentle and kind. Please excuse me—don’t be aggrieved by the death of your children, which I have caused. Actually this was not done by me, because all these are predestined activities. One has to act according to the predestined plan, even unwillingly. People misunderstand that with the end of the body the self dies, or they think that one can kill another living entity. All these misconceptions oblige one to accept the conditions of material existence. In other words, as long as one is not firmly convinced of the eternality of the soul, one is subjected to the tribulation of being killer and killed. My dear sister Devaki- and brother-in-law Vasudeva, kindly excuse the atrocities I have committed against you. I am very poor-hearted, and you are so great-hearted, so take compassion upon me and excuse me.”

You Can Do It!
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By Mahatma das

Forgiving yourself is obviously an issue for you. Look at it this way: Krishna wants you to come back to Him, and if you don’t forgive yourself, you’re making that trip back to Him a more difficult – and thus slower – journey. Krishna is waiting for you to come back, so don’t make Him wait longer than necessary. Krishna forgives you, and if He forgives you, certainly you can forgive yourself. (If it’s good enough for Him, it’s good enough for you.) In addition, if you are thinking, “I am so low and so bad, I don’t deserve Krishna’s mercy,” when the mercy comes you won’t take it because, after all, you don’t deserve it. But mercy wouldn’t be mercy if you fully deserved it. You may not deserve it, but you need it. And Mahaprabhu shows His mercy to those who need it most. Let Him know how much you need it. It’s also possible that a lack of self-forgiveness stems from a kind of self-sabotaging, a self-hatred mechanism within. To me this equates to the idea of being envious of one’s self as taught in the Bhagavad-gita and Isopansisad. Why would we do anything to hurt ourselves unless we lack self-respect and self-love? If you love yourself, forgive yourself. Prabhupada said the highest service is to save yourself, but why would you try for that if you have little respect or love for yourself?

Leadership Crisis
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By Bhakti Raghava Swami

A few years ago, while pursuing my postgraduate studies at USM in Penang, I happen to glance over the front page of the local newspaper to read the following headlines in large capital letters: WANTED: LEADERS. Srila Prabhupada: “Ordinarily, the spiritual master, husband, father, mother or superior relative accepts worship from an inferior relative, but here Rshabhadeva forbids this. First the father, spiritual master or husband must be able to release the dependent from repeated birth and death. If he cannot do this, he plunges himself into the ocean of reproachment for his unlawful activities. Everyone should be very responsible and take charge of his dependents just as a spiritual master takes charge of his disciple or a father takes charge of his son. All these responsibilities cannot be discharged honestly unless one can save the dependent from repeated birth and death.”

ISKCON-London celebrates 50th Anniversary of ISKCON’s Incorporation with pomp and grandeur
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Hare KrishnaBy ISKCON-London Communications

“It was a truly glorious day. You could really see that Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara – the Lords of London – and the first installed Deities in ISKCON, personally installed by Srila Prabhupada himself – wanted to spread the glories of Their dear devotee, Srila Prabhupada, to the wider London community. Not only did we have excellent attendance from the community and a full day programme at the Temple to celebrate ISKCON’s 50th, but we had the BBC interviewing devotees and filming footage at various points throughout the day. We also worked with Bhaktivedanta Manor to hold a Gratitude Day where we distributed 5000 cupcakes to the public in key locations around London to raise awareness of the Hare Krishna movement and to thank Londoners for accepting us as part of the community.

Krsna’s Village of Peace highly successful this year!
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Hare KrishnaBy Ananta das

Krsna’s Village of Peace has been an integral part of the Polish Woodstock Festival since it’s inception 22 years ago. This year was no exception as 550 devotees came together from around the world to create a veritable spiritual dhama in the midst of the 800,000 young people who attended the 3 day event on the Polish border, just 2 hours drive from Berlin. Utilizing kitchen facilities in 3 nearby schools, as well as two giant pots onsite, devotees distributed 100,320 full plates of delicious prasadam. They also distributed over 1,000 of Srila Prabhupada books and entertained people with a 5 hour stage show each afternoon in the main tent in Krsna’s Village Of Peace. One of the more popular scenes in the village was the Mantra Yoga Tent where prominent ISKCON kirtnaeers like Bada Haridas, Madhava dasa, Sacinandana Swami, Indradyumna Swami, Mahatma dasa, Sri Prahlad and Acyuta Gopi dasi held kirtan 12 hours a day. The tent was packed with guests day and night. Devotees also held Ratha Yatra, with a massive chariot, through the throngs of people on 4 separate occasions. All in all, it was truly a great yajna.

Waiting for Disaster and War?
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By Kesava Krsna Dasa

We oftentimes hear devotees say that their preaching efforts might become easier if a disaster strikes somewhere, or everywhere. More suffering should mean more turning towards spirituality and God. Will things be as simple as this? Would thinking like this be a tacit admission that we cannot preach successfully in “normal” times? In the event of a disaster, how do we know if the devotees themselves will not be immune to its likely trauma and effects, so as to impact on their own preaching abilities? Could it also be, that our urgency to see rapid and dramatic preaching results not always displaying, cause us to impatiently seek results through tragic adversity? Are impatience and tragedy useful companions for a preacher? The fact that we somehow or other turned away from Krishna – since how long no one knows – was itself the ultimate of all disasters. Forever seeking peace and happiness within this tragedy can only earn the unlikely goal of a “peaceful and happy disaster.” Devotees are aware of these incompatible achievements. We can imagine a comedy movie or drama having the title, “Disastrous Serenity, and Jubilant Tragedy.”

50th Anniversary of ISKCON’s Incorporation on 13 July, Program aired on DD National Channel India
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Hare KrishnaBy Keshav Murari Das

India’s government-owned TV channel, Doordarshan National aired a one-hour programme about ISKCON on July 13th, featuring a studio interview with Keshava Murari Das, President of ISKCON Rohini (New Delhi), interspersed with several video clips about different activities of ISKCON. He explained how Srila Prabhupada started the movement and continued to speak about the achievements of ISKCON today such as the movement’s expansion into 650 centres, distribution of 300 million plates of free prasadam and 50 million books. The programme showed several clips such as the youth festival in Pune attended by 20,000 young people and the recent visit of the then Prime Minister David Cameron to Bhaktivedanta Manor in London to celebrate the 50th anniversary. Video of the interview included.

50th Anniversary Garden Opening and Dedication to Srila Prabhupada and his Disciples
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Hare KrishnaBy Zayani Bhatt

As a continuation of the celebration of Incorporation Day – the day Srila Prabhupada received the certificate stating that ISKCON was officially incorporated – and the 50th year anniversary of ISKCON, Bhaktivedanta Manor held the grand opening ceremony of the Srila Prabhupada garden to honour the spiritual leader and founder of ISKCON along with his disciples. Devotees from across the country and many of Srila Prabhupada’s direct disciples from around the world, gathered on the 16th of July 2016, for a day dedicated to expressing gratitude to Prabhupada, for making the perilous journey to the west, and changing the lives of people for generations to come.

Conscious Leadership seminar at BSE Event
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Hare KrishnaBy Radhanath Swami

I was born and raised in the United States, and I saw all around me so much wealth, so much luxury, such nice telephone system and road systems, and televisions and everything else, and I saw so much power, but to myself and so many people of my generation it was so hollow, it was so shallow, because you see greed could never satisfy the heart. Bhagavad-Gita tells that greed is like fire, the more you feed it, the hungrier and more it needs. When people are trampling on each other, exploiting each other due to greed, ‘Do I want to be a part of this?’ And then I heard of verse, that in many ways is the essence of the Bible, it was spoken by a great personality of Jewish descent who founded Christianity, Jesus Christ, and to me this statement is what a Christian is, what is Jew is, with what a religious person is. And I just saw that it was so rare all around me. The verse is – what profit of a man who gains the whole world but loses his eternal soul? That’s what I saw happening, and it’s happening today more than ever, even in the name of God. I was seeking my soul. I was seeking a meaning and purpose in life that would make whatever I did of actual value. Children in so many parts of the world, if we don’t give them a meaning, a spiritual purpose to live for, then they are so vulnerable to greed, to arrogance, to exploitation.

Nine Down, Twelve More Festivals To Go…
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Hare KrishnaBy Madhuha Das

In a Talk at the Radha-Govinda Mandir in Calcutta on March 24, 1976 Srila Prabhupada said: And that is the inspiration of my devotional life. Then I asked my father that “Give me Radha-Govinda Deity; I shall worship.” So my father was also Vaisnava. He gave me small Radha-Govinda Deity. I was worshiping in my house. Whatever I was eating, I was offering, and I was following the ceremonies of this Radha-Govinda with my small Deity. That Deity is still existing. I have given to my sister. So then I introduced Ratha-yatra.

Bhakti in the Christian and Vaishnava Traditions: A 50 Anniversary Event at Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK
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Hare KrishnaBy Zayani Bhatt

As a part of Incorporation Day celebrations, the Manor hosted esteemed members of various religious organisations for a discussion about devotion (bhakti) in Vaishnavism and Christianity. On Thursday 14th July, individuals from BAPS Swaminarayan, the Interfaith Network UK, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and various churches from around the region, gathered at Srila Prabhupada theatre to hear guest speakers Rev Kumar Rajagopalan, from the London Baptist Association and Saunaka Rsi Das from the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. The event was co-chaired by the Bishop of Bedford, Richard Atkinson and Nitin Palan of Hindu Matters in Britain. Reverend Kumar spoke in depth about his journey into Christianity from a devoid Hindu background. He elaborated on the life experiences that led to his identification with the church and Jesus Christ. Reverent Kumar also shared the lessons he had learned from the Bible and the manner in which his devotion to God had progressed from a simple “transactional” relationship, in which he prayed for certain material benedictions and God delivered them, to a desire to abandon himself to God and be “consumed” by God.

Mainstream media across four continents cover Incorporation Day stories in a big way
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Hare KrishnaBy Romapada Das

Major newspapers and TV channels across four continents covered the 50th anniversary of ISKCON’s incorporation on 13th July with positive stories that reached out to millions of people around the world. The BBC UK, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Chicago Tribune, the Times of India and India’s government-owned DD National TV gave extensive coverage to the history of ISKCON, the achievements of Srila Prabhupada and local events happening in their area. BBC London broadcast a two-minute clip about the 50th anniversary on a prime-time news slot. Titled ‘Hare Krishna celebrates 50 years in London’, the news story covered devotees handing out 5000 cupcakes, showed harinama processions on Oxford Street, and featured interviews with devotees who live professional lives while practicing bhakti-yoga at home. It concluded with positive comments from several passers-by.

‘Oh Happy Day’: Bhaktivedanta Manor Celebrates Incorporation Day
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Hare KrishnaBy Zayani Bhatt

“Srila Prabhupada’s incorporation of ISKCON was more than just a gesture of creating a non-profit, it was an act of defiance, a stake in the ground against the atheists to say that this is Krishna Consciousness and it is here to change the world.” – Yogeshwara Das On the 13th of July 1966, 50 years ago, Srila Prabhupada received the certificate stating that ISKCON was officially incorporated. After having braved the tumultuous sea for thirty-five days, and two heart attacks aboard the Jaladutta, Prabhupada arrived in America with only $7 in his pocket and nowhere to stay. A year later, he had opened the first temple in a storefront on 2nd avenue New York and ISKCON was established. Devotees around the world gathered on Tuesday 13th July 2016 to mark the occasion and express their gratitude to Srila Prabhupada, for changing their lives.

TKG Academy reborn out of Dallas Gurukula – Our Humble Offering to Srila Prabhupada
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Hare KrishnaBy Nrtya Kisori Dasi

The Phoenix is a cyclically regenerated bird: it obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor; sometimes decomposing leads to rebirth. TKG Academy may be one such example. Srila Prabhupada desired good education and training for ISKCON’s children. He thus established Gurukulas, beginning with the Dallas Gurukula in 1972. He gave instructions for the proper care of the children, their practices and the contents of their studies. Unfortunately, imperfections in the execution of those instructions by some immature followers, to say the least, led to the failure of the program and its closure. Many lives have been negatively affected. However, visionary leaders in our society rose from those “ashes”. Gurukula education isn’t all evil. Past mistakes should be used as learning experiences and ailments should be amended. Taking the essence of Srila Prabhupada’s instructions and applying them according to time, place and circumstances can lead to wonderful outcomes.