Planet ISKCON

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.30.35 during a Skype conversation with devotees in Mumbai.

“Translation: Whenever pure topics of the transcendental world are discussed, the members of the audience forget all kinds of material hankerings, at least for the time being. Not only that, but they are no longer envious of one another, nor do they suffer from anxiety or fear.

Purport: Vaikuntha means “without anxiety,” and the material world means full of anxiety. As stated by Prahlada Maharaja, sada samudvigna-dhiyam asad-grahat: the living entities who have accepted this material world as a residence are full of anxiety. A place immediately becomes Vaikuntha whenever the holy topics of the Personality of Godhead are discussed by pure devotees. This is the process of sravanam kirtanam visnoh, chanting and hearing about the Supreme Lord, Visnu. As the Supreme Lord Himself confirms:

naham tisthami vaikunthe
yoginam hrdayesu va
tatra tisthami narada
yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah

“My dear Narada, actually I do not reside in My abode, Vaikuntha, nor do I reside within the hearts of the yogis, but I reside in that place where My pure devotees chant My holy name and discuss My form, pastimes and qualities.” Because of the presence of the Lord in the form of the transcendental vibration, the Vaikuntha atmosphere is evoked. This atmosphere is without fear and anxiety. One living entity does not fear another. (SB 4.30.35)

Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.30.35

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Untitled Lecture)

The quality of humility and the quality of being able to develop love of God come together. It is not possible to develop love of God if there is no humility in our hearts. A person who is proud, how can he hear!? His ears are blocked because he is overwhelmed by his own ideas that he cannot even hear what everyone else says. But if one is humble, then one can think, ‘Yes, I need mercy.’

So a humble personality is eager to hear and being eager to hear from superior personalities also brings about special dynamics. When people are eager to hear then the mature vaisnava who speaks opens up his heart. He will automatically, by the eagerness of the audience, become very enthusiastic and he will find that there are so many realizations in his heart that he did not even know he had! Because in the relationship between vaisnavas, the mood is very intimate and close and one of deep friendship; a mood of acceptance. An envious person cannot accept.

An envious person will always find some reason not to accept others, he will always find some quality that is not allowed, something wrong, ‘You can’t sit like that, you can’t look like that, you can’t speak like that…’ and so on and so on. Just on some external feature, an envious person will reject. Basically anyone who is not supporting them, adoring them, recognizing their greatness – such persons are undesirable.

So humility is the quality where one is ready to see good in others and recognizes that everyone can make a contribution which can be appreciated. So amongst vaisnavas there is an atmosphere of appreciation.

They say that as we age, time seems to pass faster. They say that when you’re having fun time seems to pass faster. Whether we are getting older, having lots of fun, or both, this school year has surely seemed to pass real fast! It was a year of new beginnings, with new administration team, some new teachers, new students, and several new extra curricular classes. It was a year of revision and improvement. A year of hard work with a dedicated team of teachers, parents and students. A successful year.
We marked the end of this school year with our traditional annual ceremony at the temple, in the presence of the deities and devotees.
The youngest students opened the ceremony by chanting the bhajan “Nadia Godrume”. The Middle Elementary class recited the key verses of Bhagavad-gita and their translations (mostly through songs), which they have learned throughout this year. The Upper Elementary class chanted the Brahma Samhita prayers they learned along with their translations.
Next we had each student receive a certificate, appreciating one of the outstanding qualities they exhibited during the year. In turn, they each shared some of their highlights, experiences which stood out for them, or the most exciting thing they have learned this year.
We concluded the ceremony with our latest promotional video, created by Bhismadeva Prabhu, which is included in this newsletter.
New students are knocking on our doors for the next school year. Much work is awaiting us this summer and we look very much forward to yet another wonderful year together.

Part 1 FINDING OUR MATERIAL SELVES TO HELP US FIND OUR SPIRITUAL SELF: I have thought and written much about what it takes to stay the course in bhakti for our whole life, as well as to how not to settle into a comfortable religious life not intensely focused on making spiritual advancement. They are related subjects though usually spoken of separately. I am thinking mostly about what kind of unique guidance should be provided devotees of different ages, needs, and personality types.

Everyone is best served by tailor-made guidance which takes into consideration a person’s age, years of spiritual practice, material necessity and nature, and all-around maturity. I bring up the topic because most of us didn’t receive this type of guidance and suffered accordingly. I am challenged to succinctly present this in the bite size form of a blog, as there are so many aspects to consider, so please take this as food for thought to be expanded upon.

When I and those of my generation lived in ashrams during our young and inexperienced years some of us just plugged into the bhakti process without really understanding our nature and if we could live primarily spiritually focused for the long haul. To learn how to center our lives totally on active seva is valuable, though it’s often unsustainable due to our surfacing desires and conditioning. This should be made clear to every new devotee, so they don’t feel guilty if they have to leave the ashram, or need to address some pressing concern in their marriage.

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In the world’s great wisdom-traditions, prayers are often acknowledged as means for accessing divine power. The prayers by saints often reveal the profound depths of their selfless devotion to God.

One such exalted prayer is the song Markine Bhagavata-dharma (Teaching Krishna consciousness in America) that Srila Prabhupada composed in 1965 while he was aboard the Jaladuta, the ship that had carried him from India to America. However, the ship had only been the physical instrument – what had actually carried him across the ocean was his selfless aspiration to share Krishna’s message of spiritual love with the world. That aspiration had inspired him to embark in the advanced years of his life on a bold journey, alone and penniless. And his journey had turned out to be much more demanding than any normal ship journey. After being initially discomfited by seasickness, he had been afflicted on two successive nights with two devastating heart attacks, which he had to endure without any medical assistance whatsoever. Having weathered both the stormy seas and the deadly heart attacks, he had finally, after a thirty-five-day voyage, reached the coast of America.

On beholding the American coastline, Srila Prabhupada used his mother tongue Bengali to express his heart’s innermost thoughts and emotions in an intimately direct appeal to Krishna. Revealingly, even these spontaneous expressions are rooted in scripture. This natural link between his personal expression and scriptural revelation is evident in his quoting a series of Sanskrit verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam, a devotional classic that is considered one of the most important books in the Sanskrit canon. This is the book whose translation and commentary was to become his life’s magnum opus – a multi-volume rendition whose first three volumes he was carrying with him. These volumes comprise the transcendental arsenal with which he aspired to dissipate the worldly illusions of his audience.

Let’s look verse-by-verse at the meaning and mood of Srila Prabhupada’s prayer-song.

1. He begins by expressing his gratitude to Krishna for his immense mercy. Referring to himself with disarming humility as a fallen soul, he confesses his uncertainty about why Krishna has brought him there. And he appeals to Krishna to do with him whatever may be his divine will, an appeal that foreshadows the song’s conclusion. At first glance, there might seem to be little evidence of Krishna’s mercy in Srila Prabhupada’s condition. He is about to disembark in a foreign land without money, contacts or institutional support. He has no guarantee that his sponsor, a person whom he has never met before, will welcome him. Nor does he have any guarantee that his audience would welcome his message. Yet he is grateful. He has at long last got the opportunity to fulfill his spiritual master’s instruction to share Krishna’s message in English in the Western world. Srila Prabhupada had dedicated his life to fulfilling his spiritual master’s instruction. For over forty years, he had strived to share Krishna’s message in India, albeit without much success. And now he has finally got the opportunity to share that message in America.Even if there is no clear way for him to tap that opportunity, he sees just the availability of this opportunity as Krishna’s great mercy. Thus, he demonstrates an inspiring example of counting one’s blessings even when the blessings are sparse and are surrounded by obstacles.

2. This verse begins with an even more candid admission of uncertainty, wherein he guesses that Krishna must have some purpose for having got him so far. His uncertainty conveys that even a dedicated devotee whose life is entirely guided by scriptures and sages may not always be sure about how to apply their instructions in this messy world. Being divinely guided doesn’t mean that there can’t be uncertainty about practical action – it means that there won’t be any uncertainty about perennial intention. Srila Prabhupada is determined to serve Krishna, but how exactly he will serve him in this foreign land is unclear and calls for some prayerful inference. Underlying the surface uncertainty is a deep certainty – the conviction that Krishna must be having some plan. Srila Prabhupada points to the difficulty of sharing the bhakti message in America by referring to it with the word ugra-sthana “terrible place.” This is a strikingly atypical assessment of America, which is usually perceived by visitors as the land of opportunity, prosperity and liberty. When Srila Prabhupada sees the American coastline, he sees not material prosperity, but spiritual poverty. Being driven by compassion, he longs to share the treasure of bhakti with not just America but with the entire Western world and indeed the whole world, much of which is afflicted with spiritual ignorance.

3. The next verse specifies what is terrible about the land he is approaching: its people are covered by the lower modes of passion and ignorance. The same trappings of worldly prosperity that others might have seen as signs of progress and success, Srila Prabhupada sees as symptoms of severe infection by the lower modes. Such infection makes people materially obsessed and spiritually dulled. The anti-spiritual result of the modes is pointed in the second line: they won’t be able to taste the glories of Krishna, a taste that is the engine of the transformation of character that bhakti stimulates. Srila Prabhupada has seen in India how material infatuation has made his countrymen apathetic to spiritual wisdom. And he apprehends a similar, if not greater, problem in America, with its far greater material allurements. Intriguingly, while assessing the task before him, he doesn’t mention the many other obstacles that would have dominated the thoughts of most sociological observers – obstacles such as unfamiliarity of language, culture and worldview. His overlooking these obstacles signifies his deep abiding faith in the universality and transcendence of bhakti.

4. Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental focus is further highlighted in his delineation of the solution to this problem: Krishna’s mercy, which is far more powerful than the modes’ deluding power. He begs for mercy by which his audience will be able to appreciate Krishna’s glories. Acknowledging that changing their disposition from materially infatuated to spiritually attracted is a herculean task, he expresses his full confidence that Krishna’s omnipotence can make it possible.

5. Taking this appeal forward, he begs Krishna for mercy so that people will be able to relish the rasa of bhakti. This mention of rasa points to the venerable tradition that Srila Prabhupada represents: Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Rasa, the concept of devotional taste expressed in the language of dramaturgy, is the Gaudiya tradition’s distinctive contribution. Presently, we have taste for various material pleasures. The process of bhakti-yoga centers on purifying our taste, thereby enabling us to relish bhakti-rasa, higher devotional happiness. Thus, bhakti-yoga asks not for a rigid renunciation of pleasure, but for a relishable redefinition of pleasure.
6. Srila Prabhupada’s acknowledgement of Krishna’s omnipotence is further evident in his declaration that everything rests on Krishna’s will: By his will, all living beings have come under illusion – and by his will, all living beings can come out of illusion. The defining difference between their bound state and their liberated state is Krishna’s will. Of course, their own desire is important – they need to change their desire from wanting to enjoy independent of Krishna to lovingly harmonizing with his will. Still, this prayer’s purpose is not to exhaustively analyze the philosophical technicalities of all the factors involved in action. The prayer’s purpose is to express Srila Prabhupada’s utter dependence on Krishna. In keeping with this mood, the pertinent point is that Prabhupada attributes to Krishna all doership and all credit for the deliverance of people; he doesn’t think himself the doer or deliverer.
7. The next verse reflects a revealing blend of dependence and confidence: If Krishna desires the deliverance of people, they will surely understand the bhakti message. This may raise the question: Doesn’t Krishna always desire the deliverance of everyone? Yes, he does. Again, the point is that Srila Prabhupada doesn’t see himself as the one who will transform people’s hearts; he sees Krishna as the transformer.
8. While expressing his total dependence on Krishna’s mercy, Srila Prabhupada is by no means conceiving his own role passively. He intends to dynamically, tirelessly, expertly make Krishna accessible to his audience. How? By speaking bhagavata-katha, an umbrella term that refers to Krishna’s message, pastimes and glories. Significantly, he equates bhagavata-katha with an avatar, a concept that is a defining characteristic of the broad bhakti tradition, a concept that points to the Absolute Truth’s descent into this relative material world. The word avatar usually refers to the Lord’s various descents such as Rama, Narasimha, Vamana and other transcendental forms that periodically manifest in this world. Here Srila Prabhupada refers to a more esoteric connotation of that word: Krishna’s sonic avatar as bhagavata-katha. The nondifference of Krishna and the sound vibrations glorifying him is a central theme of the Bhagavatam. In fact, the Bhagavatam indicates that Krishna descends not only as a sonic avatar but also as a textual avatar – the Bhagavatam, which is replete with bhagavata-katha, is often considered an avatar of Krishna. This textual avatar has ascended like the shining sun to dissipate the darkness of the present age of Kali (1.3.43). Given that bhagavata-katha is Krishna’s avatar, those who hear it repeatedly will be empowered to counter illusion and become spiritually sober.
9. To build on this theme of the potency of bhagavata-katha, Srila Prabhupada seamlessly shifts from Bengali to Sanskrit, from self-composed verses to scriptural verses, and from expressing personal emotion to reiterating time-honored revelation. He quotes from a section of the Bhagavatam, which describes the modus operandi of bhakti-yoga, specifically of its fundamental limb – hearing bhagavata-katha. He quotes a series of five verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17-21). In quoting thus, Srila Prabhupada follows the example of prominent exponents of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. For example, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami, author of one of the tradition’s foundational books, Chaitanya Charitamrita, intersperses the Bengali narrative with many Sanskrit verses. The specific verses that Srila Prabhupada quotes are revealing, for they delineate how bhakti practice brings about spiritual healing. A doctor, on seeing a devastating epidemic, may recollect the formula for the cure, thereby gaining confidence to combat the morale-crippling magnitude of suffering evident before one’s eyes. Similarly, Srila Prabhupada here recollects and recites these verses that delineate how bhakti-yoga can cure the pandemic of bhava-roga, the disease of material attachments, a disease that sentences eternal souls to repeated misery in the cycle of birth and death. These verses describe how hearing Krishna’s glories is itself pious and activates his purifying potency within our heart (17); how by regular hearing, the inauspicious impurities in our heart are removed and bhakti becomes firmly established (18); how thereafter the lower modes along with their associated drives such as lust and greed disappear, thereby enabling one to become situated and satisfied in the higher mode of goodness (19); and how the subsequent performance of bhakti engenders clear understanding of what Srila Prabhupada translated as “the science of God”, thereby freeing one from attachment (20). The last verse in this sequence describes the liberated state – the knot of attachment in the heart is cut, doubts are eradicated, selfish action is stopped, and the self is seen in its transcendental glory as being beyond matter and beyond the bondage of matter (21). Srila Prabhupada’s quoting these specific Bhagavatam verses indicates that he is not expecting or requesting Krishna to perform any supernatural jaw-dropping miracles that will magically transform his audience. He is simply asking that he be made an agent for the purifying, transforming potency of bhagavata-katha.

10. Restating in Bengali the preceding point of the transformational potency, this verse says that by hearing bhagavata-katha, people will become freed from all inner inauspiciousness. Thus, Srila Prabhupada expresses the confidence that bhakti-yoga itself can counter the lower modes that cover his audience.
11. Still, inspiring people to keep hearing Krishna’s message till comprehension dawns and taste awakens is a formidable, if not insurmountable, challenge. Acknowledging this, Srila Prabhupada stresses his lack of qualification. Referring to himself as a shudra – not in the material sense associated with the discriminatory caste system, but in the sense of being spiritually disqualified – he declares that he lacks any power to meet this challenge and begs for Krishna’s mercy.
12. Intriguingly, Srila Prabhupada follows his statement of his lack of qualification with his statement of firm determination. He declares that he will simply speak bhagavata-katha, leaving in Krishna’s hands the result of such speaking. His simple resolution conveys poignantly the inconceivability of humility in bhakti. Normally, feeling disqualified erodes our determination. Some people even allege that humility is psychologically damaging, breeding feelings of inferiority. It’s possible that obsessing over one’s disqualifications can degenerate to inferiority complex and chronic depression. However, devotional humility is an entirely different ballgame. Within bhakti, we dwell primarily on Krishna, not on our disqualifications. While striving to focus thus, a humble awareness of one’s disqualification becomes the impetus and the launching pad for focusing on Krishna, who is the bestower of ability and mercy. By thus inspiring us to take shelter of the one who is the source of divine empowerment, humility enhances our determination, as is implicit in Srila Prabhupada’s mood in this verse.

13. Next he refers to Krishna as the spiritual master of the whole universe, conveying thereby that the Lord knows best how to share his glories with his audience, who are culturally, linguistically, intellectually, religiously and educationally far different from the audiences that he has addressed back in India. Rather than dwelling on such disheartening dissimilarities, Srila Prabhupada focuses on the overarching commonality: Krishna is the benefactor and spiritual master of all living beings, including those that comprise his audience. In service of the supreme spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada is acting as a spiritual master of his audience. He therefore asks the supreme spiritual master to make the servitor spiritual master’s words understandable to the audience – more specifically, he asks Krishna to ornament his words. The ornament he seeks is not poetic beauty, rhetorical flourish or oratory excellence; it is purity of heart, which will make bhagavata-katha not just intelligible to the head, but also transformational for the heart.

14. That the ornamentation Srila Prabhupada seeks for his words is purity of intention is evident in the next text. He prays that by Krishna’s mercy, his words will become pure, thereby helping people become free from the miseries caused by their illusions. A physical medicine’s potency doesn’t depend on the motivation of the doctor administering it. The potency of spiritual medicine, however, depends on how purely the speaker is motivated. Put another way, spiritual medicine reaches people’s hearts to the extent the speaker’s heart is pure. The speaker acts as a conduit for Krishna’s omnipotent mercy to flow through; lesser the resistance of self-centered egoistic desires within the conduit, the greater the current of mercy flowing through and reaching the audience. Accordingly, Srila Prabhupada prays that Krishna make his speaking of bhagavata-katha pure. Srila Prabhupada conveys here that he is not relying on the force of his personal charisma or his polemic skills to transform people. No doubt, these played a significant role in the spread of the bhakti tradition under his stewardship. But his appeal conveys that he feels entirely dependent on the potency of bhagavata-katha.

15. He then fervently beseeches Krishna: “Make me dance; make me dance, O Master; make me dance like a puppet according to your will.” Here, the intensity of devotional emotion inspires a departure from the symmetry of poetic structure. Whereas all other Bengali verses in this song are duplets, this verse is a triplet, with the third line reinforcing the verse’s emotion with the vivid image of a puppet. The puppet metaphor might seem disturbing, even denigrating. What about human individuality and creativity? Are we meant to reduce ourselves to mere puppets? That bhakti doesn’t require rejection of our individuality and creativity is seen in Srila Prabhupada’s own example. He exhibited remarkable resourcefulness, even ingenuity, in making the bhakti tradition accessible to people in various parts of the world. The thrust of the puppet metaphor is not the rejection of human intelligence but the harmonization of human will with divine will. When we appreciate that Krishna is omniscient and omni-benevolent, we understand that harmonizing with his will represents the perfection of human intelligence. Srila Prabhupada’s appeal to be made a puppet stems from his awareness of both worldly reality and spiritual reality. He is aware of the worldly reality that the task confronting him is formidable, some might consider impossible. But he is not disheartened because his vision is not locked to this world – it extends beyond worldly problems to the spiritual reality of Krishna’s omnipotence, which can overcome all problems. This verse represents a poetic circularity, a satisfying symmetry in the beginning and the end. He begins by stating, “I don’t know why you have brought me here, but you must have some purpose.” And in this penultimate verse he states, “When you have brought me here, please make me dance.”

16. Srila Prabhupada concludes by indicating that his honorific “Bhaktivedanta” is not meant to be just a matter of designation – it should be a matter of contribution. Stating humbly that he doesn’t have any knowledge or devotion, he states that he nonetheless has strong faith in the potency of Krishna’s holy name and prays for mercy so that he can live up to the name he has been bestowed. This verse contains the first and only reference to the holy name. The holy name and bhagavata-katha are considered to be non-different. Both are spiritual sound vibrations and both manifest the purifying, elevating, liberating omnipotent grace of Krishna – and Srila Prabhupada seeks Krishna’s mercy in both these manifestations.

History would soon be testimony to how well-placed Srila Prabhupada’s faith was – within a decade, millions the world over started chanting the holy names, hearing bhagavata-katha and discovering the inexhaustible happiness of spiritual love.

The post “Make me dance” – Meditation on Srila Prabhupada’s prayer on beholding the American coastline appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Urgent Appeal!
Indradyumna Swami: Dear Devotees! Woodstock 2016 is just around the corner. We are short on manpower this year and require at least 100 more devotees to help us in Krsna’s Village Of Peace. We need devotees willing to serve selflessly in the kitchen, distributing prasadam, driving vans, cleaning, security, cleanup and many other practical services.
The mood of our village is to give our guests the opportunity experience the joy of Krsna consciousness. We work hard behind the scenes. But there will be plenty of time for devotee helpers to also participate in the daily Ratha Yatras and the Kirtan Tent – where Madhava prabhu, Bada Haridas, Mahatma, Sri Prahlada, myself and others will be leading non-stop kirtans.
The organizers are expecting 750,000 people. Our village is very safe, secure and clean. Our accommodation is very simple; we sleep in classrooms in local schools which we rent for the week.
The dates for Woodstock are July 13 - 17. The festival is held in Kostrzyn, Poland only 2 hours drive from Berlin, Germany. We can arrange to pick you up in Berlin ( and return you there after the festival ) but we are unable to pay transportation from your home city.
We are especially appealing to European devotees who do not require a visa to Poland; devotees from the Baltics, the Balkans, Hungary, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands etc. We have 600 confirmed devotees coming, but again, we require at least 100 more. It will be extremely difficult for us unless we get that help.
Krsna’s Village of Peace Woodstock is a preaching program of epic proportions. We will distribute prasadam to just under 200,000 people ( 45 tons of Bhoga ) do Ratha Yatra through the crowds each day and introduce the tens of thousands of people who visit our village to Krsna consciousness through kirtan, theaters, yoga, questions and answers tents, etc.
We will be celebrating our 26th year at Woodstock. Rumors are this may be the last Woodstock so please consider joining us for a spiritual experience of a lifetime.
Photos in this album are all from our village during Woodstock 2015 to give you an idea of the event.
If you are interested to join us, or have any questions, please write to me personally at:
Indradyumna.swami@gmail.com
Your servant,
Indradyumna Swami
Read more: https://goo.gl/dDTSrX

TV report of the yoga world day in Radhadesh, Belgium (2 min video)
On the occasion of World Day of Yoga, fans were able to enjoy many free sessions. Durbuy example where followers are addicted to relaxing postures and evasion in the gardens of the Château de Petite Somme.
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/ujgFPI

Proper sankirtan – a phrase used by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati in his Sri Sanmodana Bhasyam and by Lord Caitanya Himself - means certain tunes, certain instruments, a certain musical style, certain dress and certain kinds of dancing by the members of the chanting party. In Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan movement, rathayatra and the kirtan that is its soul are for distributing the benediction of the Lord’s own process for spiritual emancipation to the onlookers and participants alike. Understanding this, when sincere organizers of a rathayatra or sankirtan party see to it that the rath and the kirtan are proper, what to speak of people, even the birds and animals that hear and witness it can immediately experience spiritual happiness. Only some impersonalists and hardened atheists present might fail to experience the Lord’s benediction. On the other hand, Kirtan not according to the rules may succeed in entertaining onlookers but being not according to the principles and practices of acaryas and experienced devotees, the greatest result - transformation from spiritual somnolescence to a state of spiritual awakening, of actual Krishna consciousness - will not result. Such kirtans simply lack the potency to enact such transformation. Srila Saraswati Thakur therefore says that kirtan, if it is not proper, is not actually. Continue reading "Kirtan: Are there rules?
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Paris Ratha-yatra 2016 (4 min video)
At the Paris Ratha-yatra, we had a beautiful four-hour procession with enthusiastic partic...

The post A day after my flying out of Istanbul terrorists strike there appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

You may be glad to learn that a week ago the Government of India appointed Rasaraja Prabhu (Dr. Ravi Gomatam) to serve as a Visiting Professor for the Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR) for the academic year of 2016-2017 to lecture at selected premiere institutions. The invitation was extended through the Ministry of Human Resource Development - the apex body dealing with all forms of education in India. The invitation letter explained the nature of this prestigious job which is offered only to few distinguished individuals annually. The letter read that the Ministry "organizes lecture programmes in different parts of the country by nominating renowned and outstanding scholars from India to deliver lectures at a few premier academic Institutions/Universities in the Country." Continue reading "Indian Government appoints Dr. Ravi Gomatam (Rasaraja Prabhu) to serve as a Visiting Professor
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At last, the ethics of compassion and non-violence, even at dinner, have made their way to the Italian Parliament! It happened on Friday, June 24, thanks to the intervention of Shriman Matsyavatara Prabhu (Marco Ferrini), invited by the deputees, who spoke about the theme of "Prevention and Education on Nourishment." Many highly qualified speakers specialized in scientific disciplines participated at the conference and discussed the themes in terms of health and the environment. The intervention of Matsyavatar Prabhu introduced the fundamental, ethical aspects of Bhakti yoga’s spiritual vision. Within this tradition, Shriman Matsyavatar Prabhu explained, the person doesn't doesn’t just absorb the nutrients of the food ingested, rather receives the psychic imprint in it contained, which affects his or her physical characteristics and spiritual awareness. Continue reading "Hare Krishna devotee addresses the Italian Parliament
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Polish Tour: Starting Up (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Most devotees have arrived at our countryside base in Poland f...

Harinama in Tel Aviv, Israel, 25.06.2016. (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Although materialists who are addicted to experimental knowledge and the so-called “scientific method” cannot place their faith in the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, it is a fact that simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra offenselessly one can be freed from all subtle and gross material conditions. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.74 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/GwsBLe

Huge Ratha Yatra in Florence, Italy 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s transcendental mission is to distribute love of Godhead to everyone. Anyone who accepts God as the Supreme can take to the process of chanting Hare Krishna and become a lover of God. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 4.41 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/S1UoQo

The post Daily Darshan: June 29th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

June 29. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: More Satsvarupa dasa Brahmacari 1966 Bhagwad-geeta Lecture Notes –
Krishna is teaching how to become Krishna conscious at every step. When you drink water, the “juice” of it is Krishna. It comes from God; you can’t drink gold. That which you can’t produce by any human being, that is God. And illumination is Krishna. (As Swamiji spoke, a guy came to the front door with a loud, portable radio. People in the storefront turned to see. Swamiji said, “That’s all right.”) The mantra omkara is God. Whenever you hear some sound vibration, that is a reflection of spiritual sound. Therefore you can remember God as the sun, as water, as mantra, and as any sound – where can’t you remember God?
The best way to associate with God is by hearing. Our material contamination gets reduced by hearing. As the sun can purify you, so association with Krishna takes away contamination. (Swamiji said more how the sun cures disease.)
Try it, associate with Krishna. There will be no problem. Do it by sounds (Hare Krishna) and practice this consciousness, “The water is Krishna,” etc. Our present stage is forgetfulness. We have to revive.
Krishna is also desire without attraction. How can this be: It is Krishna consciousness – I desire for Krishna’s benefit, not mine. Lust that is not against religion – all other sex life is not religious. Sex in marriage is religion.
Sometimes, when I come back to my apartment in the middle of the day, I feel peeved if I see a couple of guys crashed out on the mattress. I think I’m working hard and they’re not. But all in all, I wouldn’t trade my former “housekeeper’s solitude” for the association of Vaisnavas.
Swamiji likes it too, I think, that I share what I have. He knows the devotees use my place (it’s not “my” place anymore. It never was.) It relieves Swamiji too, because now people don’t have to use his bathroom. They come over here in the morning.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=9

More Satsvarupa dasa Brahmacari 1966 Bhagwad-geeta Lecture Notes –

Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Juhu

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Youth meeting at ISKCON Juhu

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Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Juhu

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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 February 2016, Durban, South Africa, Nityananda’s Appearance Day Lecture)

Caitanya Caritamrta describes how the happiness of Lord Nityananda is so overwhelming and so intoxicating that he becomes drunk. He is drunk by that happiness, and one knows well that a drunk man cannot see clearly. So in this case, Lord Nityananda does not see clearly who is fallen and who is not fallen! It is too complicated. He gives mercy to everyone. He does not select anymore. It is Lord Nityananda who does not select, who just gives out the mercy regardless, due to his intoxicated state of ecstasy. Therefore Lord Nityananda is the most merciful.

A new rendition of Ramayana (48 min video)
This is from the excellent team of Indradyumna Swami’s travelling festival. It is meant to introduce the timeless epic of Lord Rama’s saga to an ever new audience.
Ramayana it is relevant today because the stories, though from an ancient setting, embody timeless values.
One of the primary values that it conveys – selfless sacrifice – is especially relevant in our present times that are characterized by obsessive selfishness.
1. The example of Rama’s sacrifice in accepting the sentence of exile despite having committed no fault just to preserve the word of honor of his father, king Dasharatha, points the way to bridging the ever-expanding parent-children generation gaps.
2. The example of Sita’s sacrifice in preferring the dangers of the forest to the security of the palace offers a stirring example of valuing the marital bond that has become much devalued due to an increasingly casual approach to sexuality and matrimony.
3. The example of Lakshmana’s sacrifice in choosing to stand unflinchingly by the side of his elder brother during the latter’s hour of crisis and thereby gaining a profound mutually enriching bond can serve as an antidote for the superficial relationships that characterize today’s siblings.
4. The example of Bharata’s sacrifice in resolutely refusing the kingdom meant for Rama can offer a signal lesson for the many succession battles among children that break open after the death of a wealthy parent – and sometimes even before the death.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/xmjAHy

Bhakti Festival: A Celebration of Sacred Devotion.
Denpasar, Bali, 22 June 2016 – This year the Hare Krishna Movement celebrates their 50 years with Bali’s very first Bhakti Festival. Held at the prestigious Bajrasandhi Monument park in Denpasar, the two-day event is absolutely free and aims to share the joy of devotion. The Hare Krishnas are world famous for their chanting and dancing, a major part of the ancient Hindu path of devotion, or Bhakti-yoga. The event will take place on the 9 th and 10 th of July 2016. The first day, starting at 4 P.M. Central Indonesian Time (WITA), features the formal opening ceremony, with representatives from the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs, Bali’s Ministry of Culture and the Hindu Dharma Council of Indonesia. The second day starts early at 7 A.M. WITA with yoga, mantra meditation, free health checks, discourses, kirtan (chanting) and dramas. The highlight of the day will most definitely be the Chariot Parade at 3 P.M WITA when three giant carts carrying sacred deities of Krishna, His brother and sister will be pulled for four kilometers on the streets of Denpasar, around the Bajrasandhi park. Throughout the two-day event, there will also be exhibitions, books on yoga and spirituality and free vegetarian (and vegan) meals distributed.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/hExgyB

In order to further the above purposes, and with Ambarisa prabhu’s full approval and inspiration, we have formed a TOVP communications team at our Mayapur office, staffed by several initiated and dedicated devotees. In order to reach devotees in different countries throughout the world, they will be actively making calls around the clock. In the years to come they will serve many functions in improving our service both to you and to the TOVP, such as: 1. Inspiring devotees around the world about this project 2. Providing you with construction updates 3. Helping you arrange your donations 4. Informing you of special events related to the TOVP 5. Maintaining and updating our donor database 6. Raising awareness and answering general questions about the TOVP Continue reading "TOVP – Keeping in Touch – Expanding our outreach
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Seminar on Purpose and application of Bhagavad Gita, Polytechnic Institute, Bali.
Bali State Polytechnic (BSP) is a leading vocational education institution in Bali. It is located in a strategic area of the city. It provides with two fields of study: engineering and commerce. Engineering is divided into Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Departments while commerce is divided into Tourism, Accounting and Business Administration Departments. The vision of BSP is to be the leading institution to produce internationally compatible professionals and has good character output.
Promoting good character is most necessary now days. The first and most important advice for those who want to build character in students–and a sense of community in their school–is to focus on the introduction of the basic and the former duty of the student as human.
The State Polytechnic Institute (Politeknik Negeri Bali) in collaboration with the Indonesia Bhaktivedanta Institute, hosted seminars on Bhagavad-gita. “I think we shall get help from the Government and many foundations, if they understand that we are actually training people for building up character and health along with imparting education.” (SPL to Hayagréva, 7th October, 1968).
Bhakta Kusuma Wardana, lecturer in PBS organized all things for the students for the seminar. He approached the head of department of Electrical, Mr. I Gusti Ngurah Agung Catur Bawa, S.T., M.Kom. to propose a seminar. With open hand he accepted the proposal and decided that the seminar would be done on 24 of June, a day before the Saraswati Puja day In Bali.
On the day of the seminar, the students and the lectures prepared the Saraswati puja and after the preparation they came to the classroom that already prepared to seminar. The speaker of the seminar was his grace Ramanuja das brahmacari. He opened the seminar by stressing on the purpose of studying Bhagavad-gita. Ramanuja prabhu presented the essence of the bhagavad gita with beautiful analogies that attracted the students. They listened attentively and sometimes laugh each other because what was presented match with what they had done in their daily life. Then Ramanuja prabhu came to the topic Varna and Ashrama, and then how one, in the human form of life, can attain the Ultimate goal of life.
Srila Prabhupada Stated in his letter that “Kindly push on this college program, for only the most intelligent persons can understand Krsna philosophy, so it is very important that we spread this message to the intelligent class of men”. (SPL to Brhaspati dasa, November 17th, 1971)
Ending the seminar the participants of the seminar had prasadam to be honor. Some students also bought Bhagavad gita. A Bhagavad-gita was presented to Mr. I Gusti Ngurah Agung Catur Bawa, S.T., M.Kom and in return he gave a souvenir and a profile book of Bali State Polytechnic and he also said that this kind of programs should be organized more in future.
For photos from the event: https://goo.gl/1t9T0q

Swami Jesus.
“I am obliged to your good daughter for awarding me a good degree as SWAMI JESUS which is actually a great honour for me. Some time the Lord speaks through innocent child and I take this honour as sent by Lord Jesus through an innocent child free from all formalities of the current society. Lord Jesus preached the message of God and I have taken up the same mission, and it would be a good luck for me if I can follow the footprints of Lord Jesus who preached the message of God in spite of all persecution. Lord Jesus is a living example how one has to suffer in this material world simply for the matter of preaching the message of God.”

The Mercy of Lord Gauranga just in time!
Radharani Devi Dasi: This incident happened some time ago: I was distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books in Nevada, USA. We stopped at a gas station to get some gas and water. When I got out of the van I saw one man that looked like he would be receptive to the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So I approached him and explained the book to him, sure enough he was interested, gave a donation and took a book.
Then I went into the store, while I was in the store I heard shooting and then cars screaching out of the parking lot. After I heard that the shooting was over I went outside with some other people from the store. The man that got the book was laying dead on the seat of his car, his hand clutching onto the book.
Myself and another devotee were shocked about what had just happened, but then we thought, “this person received the mercy just in time”. Another minute or two and he wouldn’t have been so fortunate. Prabhupada said, “If they just touch the book so much benefit will be there”. What to speak if they touch it, appreciate it, and give a donation for it.
Transcendental book distribution ki Jaya!!

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