Planet ISKCON

Indonesia Adds Local Flavor to ISKCON 50 Festivities.
During its ISKCON 50 festivities this month, Indonesia added some rich l...

For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this report contains the following North American results of book distribution for the month of June 2016. North American Totals, Monthly Temples, Monthly Weekend Warriors. Monthly Top 100 Individuals, Monthly Top 5, Cumulative Countries, Cumulative Temples, Cumulative Top 100 Individuals, Cumulative Top 5 Continue reading "NASN June 2016 – North American Sankirtan Newsletter
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Preaching program in New Mayapur, Ukraine (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “Just work in such a way that God may see you.” This is the Krishna consciousness movement. Everyone is busy to see God. Of course, it is not so easy to see God. But a devotee is not busy to see God, but he wants God to see him. Bombay, May 12, 197
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Forgiveness involves our cultivating virtue independent of the other person, whereas trust is our reciprocation conditional to that person’s cultivating virtue. By carefully understanding the difference between the two, we can transform unfortunate episodes in our relationships into spiritual growth opportunities at least for ourselves – and possibly even for the other person. We needn’t make our forgiveness conditional to the other person’s seeking it, but we should certainly make our trust conditional to that person’s earning it by sustained improved behavior. Conveying our forgiveness helps that person avoid the pitfall of self-justification, and holding back our trust avoids the pitfall of that person remaining oblivious to the past wrongdoing. Forgiving a person certainly doesn’t mean that we let the other person continue the hurting behavior; that would be masochism and there’s nothing laudable or spiritual about masochism. At the same time, it needs to be stressed that there’s nothing intrinsically laudable or spiritual about cultivating and actualizing revenge fantasies. So, we need to find that balanced course of action which allows both us and the other person to grow spiritually. Continue reading "Is forgiveness practical?
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The dream of a book distributor realized!
Recently while distributing in the Wicker Park district of Chicago I had some very nice interactions. The first encounter exhibited timing. I parked my jeep that had some for sale signs on it and seeing some police officers there I asked them some questions about a city ordinance that forbids sale signs on cars. After discussing with them I walked back to the vehicle and there was a man there looking at the for sale sign. Then after telling him about the car I proceeded to heap the Bhagavad-gitas into my arms and the bag of Perfection of Yoga around my shoulder.

Woodstock Full On (7 min video)
As attendance at Woodstock Poland swells to over 700,000 people devotees go into action with Ra...

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. Continue reading "Nine Down, Twelve More Festivals To Go…
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Answer Podcast

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Gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Three Persons Who Drifted Away

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 13 January 2014, Mayapur, India, Lecture: Kirtan Academy 2)

Naturally, every devotee desires to see Krsna and the desire to see Krsna is not a fruitive one. You might say, “Well, the top most level of pure devotion was to be free from all selfish desire so isn’t it selfish when we are desiring to see Krsna. Isn’t it about our desire instead of the higher principle of satisfying Krsna’s desire?”

Yes, but still every devotee in his heart-of-hearts desires to be with Krsna, desires to see Krsna because that is how we are designed, we are made like that. We are pleasure seeking – this we cannot stop. The constitutional position of the living being is described in the Vedanta Sutra (1.1.12) as ānandamayo ‘bhyāsāt, or being pleasure seeking.

So, this element of being pleasure seeking is something that cannot be taken away out of our nature therefore any process that denies us that is an artificial process and cannot be maintained. Therefore, we see that impersonalism and Buddhism are two processes that are based on negation, processes that are based on denial of desire, denial of pleasure. In these two processes, one has to basically write-off the whole material world whereas in Bhagavatam, we find that the beauty in this world can be taken as the smile of Krsna.

A smile can be taken as “welcome”. So the beauty in this world is the welcoming smile of Krsna. This is nice so then we don’t have to develop this mood where we write-off the material world altogether; that if we see anything beautiful in this world that can’t appreciate it. We can appreciate it and see that Krsna is behind it all. If we see some beautiful birds, not that we desire to become like that, but we can see that there is beauty in this world because it is reflecting the even greater beauty of the spiritual world. And that all the aesthetics of this world are inviting us to the higher world of beauty and aesthetics…

 As a part of Incorporation Day celebrations, the Bhaktivedanta Manor hosted esteemed members of various religious organisations for a discussion about devotion (bhakti) in Vaishnavism and Christianity.  On July 14^th, 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.

Major newspapers and TV channels across four continents covered the 50^th anniversary of ISKCON’s incorporation on 13^th 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.

The Origin of Secrets and their Reflection in the World

I am finding the subject of secrets very rich, deep and important. The existence of secrets is all-pervading, and it all begins in the spiritual world, where its true purpose is to facilitate the loving pastimes of Krishna and his devotees. For example, Krishna’s relationship with Radha and the gopis, while suspected by a few, is a secret kept from Krishna’s parents, which intensifies their love and the passion of their meeting. The fear of separation and being found out intensifies the emotions and value of being with one another. Everything in that world is according to Krishna’s desire, even those who appear to create so-called impediments to Krishna’s secret love rendezvous with his greatest lovers.

The distorted reflection of these secrets is found in the tabloids or in rumors and secrets of movie stars and other famous people. Every person has some secret they don’t want others to know, as do families, communities, nations, religious groups or institutions, and ruling powers in any organization or government. Keeping secrets is the business of the false ego which thinks of friends and enemies and endeavors to protect our false sense of material identity from harm or criticism. We also criticize others to protect our secrets and divert attention from ourselves.

In this world there are ordinary, special, and the greatest secrets of all, as hinted about in the Bhagavad Gita, and then expanded upon in the Shrimad Bhagavatam and Chaitanya Charitamrita. While the most secret and confidential knowledge of Krishna’s Godhood and the means to obtain him need to be the basis of our lives, there are other secrets, the ignorance of, or lack of application of, create many problems in our ordinary lives and in spiritual practices. We might know these secrets in theory and yet not apply them in our own lives. One of the most important secrets is widely known, though often difficult to apply, and revolves around our relationship with ourselves.

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ISKCON Auckland NZ: 50 years on! (Album with photos)
Kalasamvara Das: Main Street of Auckland New Zealand was closed down tonight for a maha Harinam and Rathayatra. celebrating the 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON movement .With over 200 hundred devotees!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/sh7CSK

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. Continue reading "Bhakti in the Christian and Vaishnava Traditions: A 50 Anniversary Event at Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK
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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. Continue reading "Mainstream media across four continents cover Incorporation Day stories in a big way
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ISKCON-Delhi: Celebrating ISKCON’s 50th Anniversary (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The tapasya of chanting and glorifying the name, fame and attributes of the Lord is a very easy purifying process by which everyone can be happy. Therefore everyone who desires the ultimate cleansing of his heart must adopt this process. Other processes, such as karma, jnana and yoga, cannot cleanse the heart absolutely. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.12 Purport).
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Many devotees ask how we are to understand the Ulta, or Bahuda - return Ratha-yatra in Jagannath Puri? If (as Gaudiya Vaishnavas state) we consider the Gundica-yatra, or Ratha-yatra to respresent the ecstatic emotions of the residents of Vrindavan taking Krishna home from Kuruksetra. How do we then understand the return Ratha-yatra? Is it a festival celebrating taking Krishna away from Vrindavan? There are two sides, two answers, that can be offered to this question. To understand them, one first needs to consider something about the nature of Sri Jagannath Puri Dham. Continue reading "Understanding The Return Ratha-yatra
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The ISKCON/TAIWAN yatra celebrated the 50years of the establishment of ISKCON by holding a grand retreat at the resort in Daxi which is about 50km from the capital Taipei. Devotees from all over Taiwan and visiting devotees from HongKong,China and Philippines attended this 2 nights 3 days celebration.The hall was decorated nicely with a Murti of Srila Prabhupada and posters all over the hall highlighting the achievement of ISKCON worldwide in last 50years. The celebration was organized under the leadership of HH Giridhari Swami and HG Krishna Baldeva Prabhu. Continue reading "Iskcon Taiwan Celebrates 50 Years Of Iskcon
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Bhaktivedanta Players: New rendition of Mahabharata, 2016 (64 min video)
The Bhaktivedanta Players perform a very brief version...

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Happiness, an Inside Job at EY London (video)
Mankind’s pursuit for happiness is never ending. Although we live in a finite world, our desires are infinite. What is our understanding of happiness?
An evening of exploring happiness from a Vedic perspective with His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, a renounced monk and travelling teacher for over 40 years, renowned all over the world for his depth of spiritual knowledge and practice.
This was an interactive seminar with an opportunity to ask questions and consider how we can better understand our role in creating our own happiness in our personal and professional lives.
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/N45UXQ

My Greek “odyssey”
An introduction: “Because the Mayavadis are great offenders and atheistic philosophers, the holy name of Krsna does not come from their mouths. I have come here to sell My emotional ecstatic sentiments in this city of Kasi, but I cannot find any customers. If they are not sold, I must take them back home. I have brought a heavy load to sell in this city. To take it back again is a very difficult job; therefore if I get but a fraction of the price, I shall sell it here in this city of Kasi.”
CC Madhya Lila Chapter 17 Texts 143-145

Preaching in UK.
In a span of 7 days, HH Jayapataka Swami took part in several festivals and gatherings in England; the Birmingham Snana Yatra and Panihati festivals, the Bhaktivedanta Manor’s Panihati festival, the Fundraising of Sri Krishna Haveli Project with HH Sivarama Swami Maharaja, the Maha Bhakti Vriksha convention in East London, amongst others
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/GlMXsX

The Speaking Tree, a weekly spiritual supplement published by the Times of India with a coverage of 10 lakh copies, covered the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON in a near full-page story.
The story documents the movement’s history as well as the ongoing celebrations.

Gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Over  fifty years ago in September 1965, an elderly Indian monk stepped off the piers of New York harbour wearing orange Indian robes and sporting a dignified vaishnava tilak mark on his forehead. He was carrying just seven dollars, a few sets of clothes and two trunk-loads of books.  The aristocratic looking monk was A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who had been sent by his spiritual master from India to preach the message of the Bhagavad-gita to the western world. 

The miracle of Srila Prabhupada!
“Yes, from the very beginning I went to New York because I thought that Krishna Consciousness is the most important idea in the world, so let me go to that place, New York, which is the most important city in the world, and if I am able to do anything for Krishna and my Spiritual Master, even I am at the fag-end of my life, at least let me try for it there.

During its ISKCON 50 festivities this month, Indonesia added some rich local culture to proceedings as its over 5,000 devotees focused on uniting together to serve Srila Prabhupada.Celebrations included a brahmachari sankirtan party touring with a Prabhupada murti through the thirty-two ISKCON temples, centers and Namahattas on the island nation; and a youth camp bringing together youth from across the island of Bali. The highlight, however, was the International Leadership Sanga (ILS) and the Bhakti Festival and Rathayatra from July 5^th through 10^th.

For fifty years, the Hare Krishnas have been a part of life on Oxford Street. Today the organisation marked its half centenary doing what it's known for. Putting on a colourful spectacle in the heart of London - and sharing food. Jo McDermott from the BBC reports.

Bill Epstein

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2008 Amsterdam, Netherlands, Lecture)

There are devotees who live in the temple and relate to the world, and there are devotees who live out in the world and relate to the temple. Both these two situations are acceptable but in both cases one must devote their life cent percent to Krsna!