The qualities that degrade us are, unfortunately, so familiar, near and dear to us. They are “the wealth of the evil” (āsura-sampada). Krishna lists them in Gita (16.4):

dambho darpo ’bhimānaś ca krodhaḥ pāruṣyam eva ca
ajñānaṁ cābhijātasya pārtha sampadam āsurīm

Hypocricy & Fraudulance

Dambha means being super loud about how wonderful we are, and extremely quiet about how lame we are.

Vanity

Darpa is the root of the Sanskrit word for mirror (darpana). It means admiring oneself, fawning over oneself, and ignoring the beauty in others.

Thinking Big of Oneself

Abhimāna literally means “a big idea.” Here it means, thinking oneself a big shot.

Wrath

Krodha is the type of anger that results from frustration of ambition. When we want to gain something, and obsticles get in the way – krodha is the feeing of indignation that results, the desire to destroy and ruin those people or things.

Manliness

Yep, pāruṣya, “manliness.” Krishna cites “manliness” as a wicked thing that degrades living beings. Get a grip on that, please.

Of course, there are good qualities of manliness, too – strength, for example. But the bad qualities of men connoted by pāruṣa include: harshness, violence, cruelty, lewdness, inflexibility, and lack of sophistication.

Ingnorance

Ignorance is the crown-jewel in the treasure chest of evil. Or, more precicely, it is like the gold in which every other evil jewel is set. It is the foundation of evil, and it is a smokescreen to hide evil’s vile stench.

Vraja Kishor

www.vrajakishor.com

Bhima the mighty warrior of the Pandava dynasty requested one vrata day by which he could obtain the fruits of all the other days of vrata that he was incapable of observing. Vyasadeva advised him to follow this difficult vrata.

PADMA PURANA – Vyasadeva speaking to Bhimasena:

“Oh son, Lord Keshava, Who holds the club, disk, conch and lotus flower in His hand, personally told me that all of the merit achieved by fasting on whatever Ekadasis fall in one year can be attained by fasting on this one Ekadasi (Nirjala Ekadasi). Of this, there is no doubt.”

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The common understanding of an Advanced Civilization in today's context is to be advanced in Technology, having a comfortable lifestyle, Earning Lots of money and having enough or rather lavish facilities to enjoy the senses to the fullest. This is the yard stick that is generally used to gauge the Advancement in Civilization. Owing to this yardstick Countries like United States of America, Great Britain etc are considered as First world Countries and more advanced in civilization then others. Undoubtedly these countries are advanced as far as Material comforts and Technology is concerned, however the ancient Vedic scriptures of India have a different perspective on Advancement in Civilization. As per Bhagavad-Gita, the living entities in this world are not the material bodies which are visible with the eyes, but they are eternal spirit souls possessing different kinds of bodies. It is something like a driver sitting in a car where Car is compared to the material bodies and the driver is compared to the spirit soul. So the material body is dead in itself and cannot be animated unless the spirit soul resides in it, just like a car cannot move without a driver. Continue reading "Advanced Civilization
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Please know that I also suffered a great deal emotionally as my long sought after first born child was diagnosed as autistic and mentally retarded. They might as well have given me the news of her death, which is how it felt at first. I was emotionally devastated by this and it very nearly ruined my life at the time. I went from being a top Ford salesman to being virtually unable to sell anything (after a lifetime of sales work). I cried a lot with self-pity, "Why me, God?" This caused me to call out to Krishna as if I was at the time of my own death. Eventually, by His Grace I evolved from within to divest myself of all self-pity (as the most useless human emotion) by harmonizing spiritually from deep within until I could ask, "Why not me, God?" Continue reading "Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly
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Nowadays the great innovations of medical and scientific science can maintain patients alive, even those that in the past were given no hope to survive. These innovations can prolong the patient’s existence artificially even knowing that they will never regain acceptable health and life conditions. This situation is commonly called over-medication. The definition of cerebral death, since the end of the sixties has allowed for the development of transplant surgery. Before that time, the extraction of organs from a patient with a heartbeat was deemed a felony. Among this scientific and social debate there are ever more crucial questions. Up to which point is it right to keep alive a body that is worn out and unable to grant a minimum of dignity to the psycho-physical entity called person? What is the line that marks the decisive boundary between the unavoidable medical assistance and the over-medication? Continue reading "Segments of life: Looking at death under another prospective
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Harinama with Book Distribution.
Karuna Dharini dasi: Some time ago I tried distributing books at UCLA (the University of California at Los Angeles). Before long I was dreading my encounters with the kids there — they were so smart, so quick, so elite, and so uninterested in taking Srila Prabhupada’s books. I wouldn’t go back there again. They are like great yogis in that their attention on their education is unwavering. Their textbooks probably contain information that they personally formulated in their last life. My mother graduated from UCLA, and because I didn’t she was never very pleased with me. (Very recently, old age and disease have softened her beautiful heart and she can chant a little.)
Recently I and two other matajis were doing harinama at UCLA with harmonium and kartals. I didn’t want to go, but they talked me into it. The girls’ voices sounded very good — in tune, accompanied by nice instruments. The girls sounded like true angels, and some of the UCLA students were distracted from their academic trance by the fine singing and playing. We also passed out halavah.
I put up my book table, and it was another sankirtan miracle! I spoke to two biology majors — one guy, one girl — who each took the new “Origins” magazine the North American BBT has reprinted (thanks to Ramesvara Prabhu), and they gave quite generously. One elderly professor of engineering took a Gita for $10. He said he wanted to read it next year when he retires.
One young man was very thrilled to see the “Bhagavad-gita As It Is.” He said had his own Gita, by another author. He quoted from it several times. When he said, “One’s self can be one’s own worst enemy or one’s own best friend,” I took the opportunity to show him the proper translation of the verse in the Sixth Chapter of “As It Is.” He bought Prabhupada’s immediately.
Then there was a student who takes all his courses on line but was checking in at the UCLA campus for the day. He is a traveling entrepreneur who wants to get his degree while he flies around doing business in every major city of the world. I showed him the ISKCN addresses at the back of the Gita. He loved the sound of the harinama. He listened for a whole hour! He plans to visit our temples in India.
Harinama and university preaching go very well together. Often students who have muscial skills sit down with the harinama and pick up the instruments, and they’re fascinated. Often they can play and sing quite well. I would like to please urge all Vaisnava youth and anyone who else does excellent harinama to please take it where it will be very well received. Take it to the universities. Inside temples is fine, but the tastiest nectar has not yet been tasted by you!
Thank you,
Your Servant,
Karuna Dharini dasi

​Youth meeting at Radha Vrindavanachandra temple, Pune

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Talk at Bhaktivedanta Hospital

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New York Rathayatra 2016 (Album with photos)
The Chariot Festival of Lord Jagannatha (Ratha Yatra), the Lord of the Universe, has been performed at the spiritual seaside resort of Puri, India for more than two thousand years. Since 1976, this attractive, beautiful, and bliss inspiring annual Jagannatha Ratha Yatra festival has been celebrated by the Hare Krishna devotees on New York’s Fifth Avenue, the heart of New York City. This Jagannatha Ratha Yatra festival is performed in a mood of love and devotion and invokes auspiciousness for universal peace, harmony, and good will for all of God’s children.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/hcZfKU

Krishna SLC Temple Groundbreaking Celebration.
Schedule of Events: Groundbreaking Ceremony 10 am
Cultural Dance and Music, Kirtan 11 am
Sumptuous Lunch Free for the Public 12 pm
When: Sunday July 10, 2016 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM MDT
Where: SLC Krishna Temple
965 East 3370 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84601

Written by Nimai

The last week of Kadamba Kanana Swami’s stay at the AVP hospital passed by very quickly. The main treatment was over and the focus was on rebuilding Maharaj’s strength. By then, he was allowed to be in the sunlight again so we resumed our daily 5 km program and walked through the neighbourhood. We also got to speak to the main doctor of the hospital during the last days. He suggested that Maharaj should stay in one place for a year and forget all travelling, however Maharaj explained that it’s his duty as a sannyasi to preach so finally, they agreed to slow down the travelling for some time.

Svayam Bhagavan Das, a disciple who is originally from South India, came all the way from his preaching center near Mumbai to visit Maharaj. He speaks the local language too which was very helpful sometimes. Maharaj gave one class at the temple where he spoke about “The storehouse of love of God”.
He explained how Vedic culture had decreased, using Srila Prabhupada’s analogy of the dead elephant – a dead elephant is still useful as we can make use of the tusks because they consist of ivory and we can make use of the hide, etc. Similarly, Vedic culture had become ritualistic and the love was lacking. But then, the Panca Tattva broke open the storehouse of love of God and drank the nectar. They became intoxicated and started spreading the mercy. They preached that kirtan will purify everything.

Maharaj spoke about taste in spiritual life. He said that just knowledge is not enough. We can be the most determined person, but if we don’t have taste we will become weak sooner or later. So this taste comes by chanting the holy name and THEN material enjoyments start to look very shallow.

We got lots of Ayurvedic medicine to last for the next three months. From Coimbatore, before travelling to Amsterdam, we spent another few days in Vrindavan. Maharaj spoke to a few devotees who came to visit him but was still quite exhausted from the weeks of treatment that had just finished.

One day, we went to Loi Bazar to do some shopping. Maharaj bought a whole stack of books in preparation for his scheduled one month of writing in Radhadesh. He gave a class too, which was in some ways a continuation of the class in Coimbatore. He spoke about Dadhīci Muni, who gave up his body so the demigods could make a weapon out of his bones. He was a very powerful yogi and completely free from material desires. Maharaj then explained that our position is not one of Dadhīci. We live in the age of Kali where our birthright is weakness. We are dependent on Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy which is like a shield that blocks off maya. We should not worry about the temporary but look at the long term benefit that we get from singing and chanting the holy names of Krsna. Watch the video of the class on YouTube here.

After flying from Delhi (30 May), we stayed two nights in Amsterdam at Uddhava and Visakha’s house. Maharaj bought more books while in Amsterdam and got ready to start his writing. Then we travelled to Radhadesh where we will stay until the end of June.

Visit Flickr to see all the photos.

The latest issue of Sri Krishna-kathamrita Bindu e-magazine was just released.
KK Bindu #377 includes: “The Necessity of Initiation”, A first time translation of a rare commentary from Caitanya-caritamrta.
This edition includes: * NEVER A SUDRA – His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada speaks about the position of devotees. * THE NECESSITY OF INITIATION – A first time translation done especially for this issue, of Virachandra Goswami’s (the son of Lord Nityananda) commentary on Caitanya-caritamrta, madhya 15.110. * HAPPY AS A MATERIALIST – A fresh translation from Srila Prabodhananda Saraswati’s Vrindavan-mahimamrtam (9.84). It can be downloaded here: https://archive.org/details/bindu377

Devotees make Harinama even more attractive with “self-effulgent” garlands! (Album with photos)
Govindas Sydney street sankirtana. Vivid light festival day.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/mvfFsy

An Evening with the Lord on Boat - Iskcon Kolkata (Album with photos)
On 12th June, 2016, the Well-Wisher Department of ISKCON Kolkata arranged one of the most exquisite boat festivals in a cruise ship called Paramhansa of Vivada Cruise, Millenium Park, Kolkata, hosted by their MD Mr. Nath, in memory of his beloved late wife. Many renowned and successful leaders of the society, corporates and businessmen graced the occasion with their family and friends, along with the Temple Management members of ISKCON Kolkata. The ship left the shore at 5pm and the guests witnessed warm reception, lovely darshan, aratis and experienced devotional cultural programs led by devotees connected to the regular classes of the department. The festival ended at 8pm with dancing kirtan and dinner prasad. The hosts and guests promised to continue the festival every year with increased festivities.
PC: Souvic Sasvata Nimai das.
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LOVE, LEARN, PRAY, GIVE, ACCEPT, RELEASE, LET GO, CELEBRATE: I often think about how to express the most important aspects of life that can most benefit us all. The following is one perspective and attempt to do this. We begin by sensing that love is our nature and that which we most hanker for. When we discover that our capacity to love in this world, and the capacity for others to accept the amount of love we are capable of giving, is limited and ultimately unsatisfying, we can begin our quest to realize our spiritual nature as beings of eternity, wisdom, and love.

We discover that the fulfillment we seek is only possible when our spiritual nature is gradually awakened, since this nature is who we truly are. There are many stages of this divine awakening which will be promoted by those who seek the goal their path offers. According to the bhakti Vedic scriptures, the highest stage is when our loving propensity and full consciousness is reposed on the Supreme Original Person, God, or Krishna.

When we love Krishna, then we always know what to do. This is true learning and practical wisdom. Krishna teaches in chapter 15 of his Bhagavad Gita, that when we know Krishna as the Supreme Original Person, without doubting, then we know everything that is necessary.

In our endeavor to learn to love Krishna (bhakti) we learn that prayer—through chanting the holy name, reciting prayers in the scripture and by great devotees, and our personal prayers—is our connection to God and leads us to serving and remembering him. We also learn that by serving, loving, and giving to others in the spirit of service to Krishna, we grow spiritually and help others as well (para-upakara). We can’t separate Krishna from his devotees.

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June 15. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Lunch With Swamiji.
At noon the front room became a dining hall and in the evenings a place of intimate worship. Prabhupada kept the room, with its twelve-foot-square hardwood parquet floor, clean and bare; the solitary coffee table against the wall between the two courtyard windows was the only furniture. Daily at noon a dozen men were now taking lunch here with him. The meal was cooked by Keith, who spent the whole morning in the kitchen.
At first Keith had cooked only for the Swami. He had mastered the art of cooking dal, rice, and sabji in the Swami’s three-tiered boiler, and usually there had been enough for one or two guests as well. But soon more guests had begun to gather, and Prabhupada told Keith to increase the quantity (abandoning the small three-tiered cooker) until he was cooking for a dozen hungry men. The boarders, Raphael and Don, though not so interested in the Swami’s talk, would arrive punctually each day for prasadam, usually with a friend or two who had wandered into the storefront. Steve would drop by from his job at the welfare office. The Mott Street group would come. And there were others.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=9

Lunch With Swamiji

Parents’ role in a school is usually limited to supporting their children’s education and showing up for conferences. If it’s a private school, they pay tuition as well. As required, they may also volunteer some of their time. We are so blessed and fortune that we have parents who volunteer to teach a weekly class; parents who coordinate Teachers’ Appreciation Day; parents who take responsibility to order uniforms; parents who help in fundraisers; parents who help in preparing materials.
Lilavathi Vasudha Mataji (Leelavati Malisetti) recently approached me and very nonchalantly handed me a check. It was a $2000 donation to the school. A gift.
The true gift, I told her, was her choosing to move closer to our school and enrolling her daughter, Vikasni at TKG Academy. Lilavathi Mataji and her husband, Parthasarathi Prabhu, lived with their daughter in Plano, TX. They had a nice house and Vikasni attended a nice Montessori private school. But Lilavathi Mataji felt that something was missing. She longed to be closer to the temple and the devotees. She desired for her daughter to have more Vaisnava association. Krsna heard her heart’s prayers and made all arrangements for them. Vikasni immediately fit right in and made many friends among her classmates.
It is indeed our blessing to have them join our growing TKG Academy family and we thank them deeply for their support, financial and otherwise.

If we look back into Vedic history we will probably find many incidents that contravene modern-day standards of human rights and discrimination. If say, a liberal human rights monitor group were to go back 5,000 years, they would likely report negatively to the UN. Ekalavya, Romaharsana, Radheya, (How many of us felt sorry for him?) and many others like them, suffered, or benefited from their fair share of discrimination based on social standing, and other issues. There are some attempts to start varnashrama-dharma, which again, by modern-day values, falls into the category of discrimination according to ability and inclination, and being assigned higher or lower social positions. Even if these ideals were implemented without birthright status as is practiced widely in India, the equality seeking workers, socialists and feminists would predictably protest such social divisions. Who can blame them? The corruption of the monarchy, the exploitation by landlords and greedy capitalists, and the abuse of male domination had led to the formation of these rights organisations. In a modern world shifting towards a more human friendly and equal system, it is not surprising that certain Vedic ideals are deemed politically incorrect. Continue reading "To Be Politically Incorrect
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Harinama in Munich,Germany (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: There is need of a clue as to how humanity can become one in peace, friendship and prosperity with a common cause. Srimad Bhagavatam will fill this need, for it is a cultural presentation for the re-spiritualization of the entire human society. Delhi, December 15, 1962.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/ZhhxbB

Read it belw or here: http://www.conch.org.au/assets/june-2016.pdf