Websites from the ISKCON Universe
“My dear friends, just see how Sri Krishna is enjoying the season of spring! With the gopis embracing each of His limbs, He is like amorous love personified. With His transcendental pastimes, He enlivens all the gopis and the entire creation. With His soft bluish-black arms and legs, which resemble blue lotus flowers He has […]
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Lenore Skenazy: How does a suburban American kid end up living in India, leading a congregation that feeds 300,000 impoverished children a day, along with running a hospital, an orphanage, a handful of eco-villages, and about a dozen schools for the very poor?
And by the way, in between all these India duties, the swami travels the world to lecture at campuses across the states, including Google’s and Harvard’s, talking about things like spirituality and stress.
“I have to admit to them that swamis have as much stress as them,” Radhanath Swami chuckled. “It’s just a matter of how you deal with it.”
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/Lg1yEM
Nrsimha-caturdasi lecture.
The post Getting faith from the association of great souls appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
Krishna-valley in Somogyvamos, Hungary is one of the fastest growing villages in the area. In the past two decades, due to the hard work of the devotees, the 275 hectars of land has become Europe’s largest eco-village. There are 50 children living in Krishna-valley, who, by know, outgrew the original school building. Therefore it was time to build a new building, which, with its 200 square meters, 3 classrooms, big communal space could accommodate an additional 48 students.
The post Nrsimha-caturdasi kirtana – part of it appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
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The UK Padayatra starting on May 30th, will be emphasising the theme of cow protection, self-sufficiency, a simple way of life in tune with nature and the will of the Lord, and love for all living entities. The planned route is from Hastings to Brighton via Eastbourne which is a sum total of under 40 miles which will be walked by us over a period of 5 days which averages out at 8 miles a day.
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ISKCON Mayapur had the biggest Gaura Purnima in the history. More than 300 thousand devotees and pilgrims from all over India and from more than 70 countries visited Sri Mayapur Dham on Gaura Purnima day 2016. Please note that we are not talking about the whole festival that started on the 5 of March and went on until the end of the month. We are talking about the Gaura Purnima day alone!
Kumbha Final Shahi Snana (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: Today on Purnima, we took part in the final Shahi Snana and our one month tapasya comes to an end! This time we took Srila Prabhupada’s murti to the ghat and all the devotees bathed him! For this procession, we had to start at 2:30 AM to be there on the auspicious time! Come along with us through Vittalrukmini photos!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/D9865O
World class International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) will construct Shri Radharaman temple at Chouwkital Lamhetaghat over 4 acre land at the banks of Narmada. Gaushala, Free Food for Life, Gurukul, Hospital, Vedic study centre construction has also been proposed. Temple Manager Aditiputra Das said that it will be the third largest temple in Madhya Pradesh. The biggest temple is situated in Indore, while second largest temple is situated in Ujjain.
Founder of ISKCON Acharya Bhakti Vedant Swami Prabhupad had started it with an objective of spreading Indian Sanatan Vedic Sanskriti throughout the world.
Bhoomipujan for construction of temple will start at 4 pm on May 9.
Besides, the grand temple, Vedic Centre, Free food for life Prasadam, Bhati Vedant Free Medical OPD centre’s bhoomipujan will be conducted on the occasion. General Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, Bureau of Member of ISKCON, Mahamandas will also be present on the occasion.
In the programme to be organised at Chouwkital Lamhetaghat road in Chaitanya City, Keertani Sandhya at 5 pm, cultural programmes, Shri Radha Raman aarti, ISKCON documentary video, Food for Life Prasadam distribution will be organised. Swami Aditiputra Das ji said that construction of temple will bring the city on world map with direct association with 150 countries and 600 big temples and 1000 sub-centres. This will prove a big impetus from tourism point of view.
Mumbai, May 5 () International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), which provides mid-day meal free of cost to thousands of school children every day, today opened a state-of-the-art kitchen at the Municipal-run R N Cooper hospital here.
The ISKCON Food Relief Foundation’s Kitchen at Cooper Hospital in suburban Vile Parle was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, according to a press release.
This kitchen will make healthy and hygienic food for the patients of Cooper Hospital at subsidised rates, besides serving food to thousands of children free of cost in the mid-day meal programme.
The Government provides subsidy to ISKCON for supplying food to children.
ISKCON Spiritual Guru, Radhanath Swami said establishment of this kitchen at Cooper Hospital is one more step towards fulfilling ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupad’s dream of no one remaining hungry.
ISKCON’s Food Relief Foundation, ‘Annamrita’, has been continually providing high-quality, healthy and hygienic meal every day to millions of children in the country, he said and thanked the Maharashtra government for supporting ISKCON in this project.
He also thanked the corporates and devotees who wholeheartedly contributed in this project.
The press release quoted “Annamrita” Director, Radhakrishna Das saying, “as of now, we cater to nearly 1.2 million meals daily to underprivileged children every day from our centres in Tardeo, Mira Bhayander, Palghar, Nigdi, Wada, Aurangabad, Gurgaon, Delhi, Faridabad, Kurukshetra, Palwal, Tirupati, Nellore, Rajahmundry, Kadapa, Ranga Nara Gadda, Jamshedpur, Jaipur, Kolkata and Ujjain.”
Most of these children come from slums and tribal areas. Everyday, 418 cooks prepare wholesome meals in 20 ‘Annamrita’ kitchens and 303 vehicles carry hope and promise to over a million children in 6566 schools across India,” he added.
The ISKCON Food Relief Foundation professionally manages Mid-day Meal Program with trained cooks using the most advanced technology, cooking under hygienic conditions in ISO certified kitchens and using fresh and pure ingredients besides following the FSSAI norms.
The meals are packed and sealed in specially designed stainless steel containers and are transported in vehicles most suited for the logistics, the release added.
Soure: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/ISKCON-opens-kitchen-for-free-mid-day-meal-to-school-children/articleshow/52134606.cms
KOLKATA: The devotees of Iskcon Mayapur celebrated Narsimha Chaturdashi, the divine appearance day of Lord Narsimha Deva in the temple on Friday, May 20. To commemorate the occasion, discourses from Srimad Bhagwatam , glorifying the pastimes of the Lord Narsimha Deva was recited by H.H Bhakti Purshottam Swami in the morning followed by “Darshan Arti”. At dusk “Maha-Abhisheka” of the deity was performed by using sandalwood oil and other precious oils. Hundreds of devotees raised their arms and started dancing in ecstatic mood while chanting Narsimha prayers.
The festivities included 12 hour Kirtan Mela for two days, palanquin procession, congregational chanting by thousands of devotees and performance of “yagna” to please the Lord. The entire temple campus was beautifully decorated by colourful flowers and the deity of Lord Narismha Deva was the centre of attraction. Lord Narsimha Deva is believed to be the protector of the devotees who face impediments in their lives. Devotees arrived in huge numbers with great joy to observe this festival. There are approximately 300 devotees came from various states of South India specifically to participate in this festival, other than this around 400 devotees came from various parts of Bengal and adjoining states.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Iskcon-Mayapur-celebrates-Narsimha-Chaturdashi/articleshow/52359199.cms
Celebrating the Glories of the Vanaprastha Ashram.
In spiritual culture where self-realization is the goal of life, the elderly are very important members of society and embody life experience, wisdom and self-realization. They are highly respected for their guidance and advice, and are passing down traditions and values to the young generation. And it is understood that this last phase of life is meant to be lived in simplicity and austerity to increase hearing and chanting, to ultimately prepare for death.
Niranjana Swami gave a short but very heart-felt talk on the importance of respect, and the valuable contribution the Vanaprasthas are meant to make: sharing their wisdom and life experience with the young generation. He was emphatically expressing how we are losing out on so much valuable wisdom of our senior householders, since the culture of giving and accepting shelter based on mutual respect between the young and senior generation has not yet been established.
Sivarama Swami gave the main speech connecting the topic of the Vanaprastha ashram with Varnashrama Dharma, explaining the importance of taking serious steps in the direction towards establishing this supportive system.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/dmHvzT
Lord Nrisimhadeva’s Appearance Day.
Our Christian friends are fond of quoting the Bible that “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” [John 3.16] and we could also say that God so loved his pure devotee in the world that he personally descended to give him all protection.
To this day devotees feel protected by this form of Krishna and pray to him to slay their “anarthas” or unwanted habits of thinking and acting, just as the Lord slayed Hiryanakashipu, the tormentor of his devotee, Shri Prahlad. While Gaudiya Vaishnavas can agree to having great faith in one’s particular agent of Divinity or conception of God—even thinking their path and face of God is the best—Vedic scriptures point to a more inclusive God that reciprocates according to one’s faith, and doesn’t condone fanaticism or war in the name of faith. There is only one God, though like a gem with many facets, the one God has unlimited expansions. “As they surrender to me, I proportionally reciprocate with them.” [Bhagavad Gita 4.11]
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Lord Narasimhadeva has His own abode at one of the islands of Navadvipa- Godrumadvipa , known as Narasimha pally. The Lord came here at this beautiful hilly area on the banks of Mandikini river. It is sais that the Lord washed His hands stained with blood here and drank the sweet waters of Mandakini. All […]
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Europe is currently facing the type and breadth of challenges that have not been seen for a generation: mass migration, the threat of terrorism, and political and economic problems in many countries.
Vaiyasaki Das, the well-known ISKCON kirtaniya, and author, recently published his newest book, Stephen Hawking On Trial – Confronting the Big Bang. Like his first Blockbuster book Cosmology On Trial – Cracking the Cosmic Code, this book is now also a Bestseller in its category on Amazon. Vaiyasaki has taken seriously Srila Prabhupada’s instruction to expose the scientific account of the origin of the universe as mostly speculation with very little data to back up the assertions.
A video by ISKCON Congregation Ministry.
On the 7th of March the Institute for Spiritual Culture conducted their annual program in Mayapur. This year the overall theme was "The Glories of the Vanaprastha Ashram" - a topic which attracted attention since it is not so widely discussed. Around 400 devotees assembled, with many senior devotees, disciples of Srila Prabhupada.
Nrisimha Caturdasi Celebration - 2016 - ISKCON SALEM (Album with 53 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Always remember that our first business is preaching and distributing literatures, never mind we have to live under a tree. Letter to Narottamananda, October 23, 1972.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Vbrxg9
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May 21. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Images of His Divine Grace.
Two of my favorite pictures from my “wallet”:
one shows Prabhupada
standing beside the birdbath
in the courtyard at 26 Second Avenue.
He is stout and strong, wrapped in big swathes
of khadi cloth. It’s a formal pose,
with japa-mala, from the early years
of strong health when Swamiji
played the drum 3 hours in the park.
You can worship his feet in gray shoes.
The other photo is also formal:
Prabhupada sitting with his 3 Bhagavatams,
with japa-mala, much cloth wrapped around,
and an almost sad, compassionate gaze.
I’ve shown two photos from my wallet.
And I wish to show 30 million more …
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.7.14
“When Krishna comes home from the pasturing grounds in the late afternoon, his body is covered in the dust from the hooves of the cows and calves as they walk before him. The residents of Vrindavan see that Krishna’s beauty is enhanced by the dust and beads of perspiration that decorate His body. Every element enhances the beauty of Krishna. Similarly, when the devotees see Lord Nrsimhadeva splattered with the blood from Hiranyakasipu, they think that the splattering of blood enhances the beauty of Lord Nrsimahadeva. The relationship between the devotees and the Lord is very beautiful. We can see from this incident how seriously the Lord takes an offence against His devotee.”
Nrsimha-caturdasi, Kirtan, Houston
Nrsimha-caturdasi, Talk, Houston
Lord Nrsimha is the incarnation of Lord Krsna that appeared to protect his young devotee Prahlada.
He appeared as half-man half-lion and killed the envious, atheistic demon, Hiranyakashipu who was materialism personified (hiran-gold, kasipu-soft bed). Devotees pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva for protection and to kill their material desires.
Lord Nrsimha’s appearance celebration was observed nicely at the Bhakti Tree in Newcastle where many guests attended to chant and feast.
After leaving Vrindavan, Kadamba Kanana Swami flew from Delhi to Coimbatore in South India (06 May), where he was warmly received by a group of devotees who had all come to the airport to meet him for the first time. We didn’t drive to the temple though, but made our way straight to the hospital instead. This is where we would spend the next three weeks, at the AVP Ayurvedic clinic.
The hospital is a nice, green place with a temple close to the rooms of the patients. They worship the form of Lord Vishnu which is called Dhanvantari and they say without this worship, the treatment does not work! We got a double room which happened to be right next to the temple. Coinciding with the start of our stay at the hospital, a 40 year anniversary celebration of the hospital was underway and every day a group of drummers played for many hours. In the evenings, there were performances by other musical groups as well and lots of visitors came. There was a big elephant procession on the final day, with a parade of people dressed up in different forms of the Lord – the most outstanding of all was Lord Nrsimhadev!
Shortly thereafter, the main treatment began. Until then, they had been building up Maharaj’s immune system. Now, six people come in the morning to massage Maharaj. There are many rules for the patient which come with the treatment. Maharaj is not allowed to be on the phone for longer periods of time or even leave the room AT ALL. He is not allowed to read, watch videos, do any kind of exercise, answer mails or sleep during the daytime. One may think of Maharaj as a rebel, but he actually follows everything very strictly. The hospital provides his meals, part of it are tasteless boiled bananas but Maharaj still takes it nonetheless.
There are two very nice devotees, Bhakta Vatsala and his sister Nan Biharini from Pune, who arranged most of our stay here and have been very helpful in general. During the day Maharaj speaks to us about all kinds of different things. Sometimes it is more personal and sometimes it is like a Bhagavad-gita class. We also heard about Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes in Jagannatha Puri and other things from the CC. The staff here are really friendly, and doctors as well as cleaning crew refer to Maharaj as “Swamiji”. They are very respectful and appreciate Maharaj’s singing too which he does in his room. A few days after our arrival, HH Bhaktivinod Swami came to visit. He’s a very nice person with a good vibe and spends a lot of time in Coimbatore. He told us, that HH Radhanatha Swami also stayed in this room once, some years ago.
Kadamba Kanana Swami’s stay at the hospital will continue until the end of this month…
Lord Nrisimhadeva’s divine appearance day celebration is certainly one of my favorite occasions, and I am sure I am not alone in this. Our Christian friends are fond of quoting the Bible that “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” [John 3.16] and we could also say that God so loved his pure devotee in the world that he personally descended to give him all protection.
To this day devotees feel protected by this form of Krishna and pray to him to slay their “anarthas” or unwanted habits of thinking and acting, just as the Lord slayed Hiryanakashipu, the tormentor of his devotee, Shri Prahlad. While Gaudiya Vaishnavas can agree to having great faith in one’s particular agent of Divinity or conception of God—even thinking their path and face of God is the best—Vedic scriptures point to a more inclusive God that reciprocates according to one’s faith, and doesn’t condone fanaticism or war in the name of faith. There is only one God, though like a gem with many facets, the one God has unlimited expansions. “As they surrender to me, I proportionally reciprocate with them.” [Bhagavad Gita 4.11]
The “one path” to be celebrated would be pure devotion and not merely the externals of worship or which name of God one favors which, unfortunately, religionists fight over. How God reciprocates with those who worship him is expressed in many different forms in the religious world and to different degrees of purity. This is to be celebrated as the mercy of the Lord and the types of devotion that exist.
Naperville is Celebrating the 50 Years of Founder’s Journey.
Fifty years ago, on August 13, 1965, a lone elderly pilgrim and teacher, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami boarded the cargo ship in Calcutta, India for the one month sea voyage to New York City. While it was not unusual for immigrants from India to head to the US, what separated Swamji was the mission that urged him onward.
More than forty years before, during their first meeting, Swamjs guru had instructed him to spread the message of Lord Krishna to the English speaking world. Thus, after a lifetime of preparation, at the age of 69, Bhaktivedanta Swami, later to be known as Srila Prabhupada, left for the New World not seeking riches, but to teach and distribute the greatest wealth of India and the East—knowledge of God, or “Krishna Consciousness”.
Today, fifty years later members of the society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), and other admirers and followers around the world will be honoring this unique spiritual teacher and his achievements on August 13th, 2016.
Several community leaders, Academicians, Businesses professionals, and Naperville community in general will be joining us to celebrate the festivities. The celebration will include a brief presentation about ISKCON’s 50 year journey, cultural programs, and free delicious vegetarian feast for everyone in the Matea valley high school auditorium, Aurora IL. The invitation is open to all supporters, well-wishers and general public. Please visit www.iskconnaperville.org for more information and rsvp.
“Prahlad Maharaja prayed to Lord Nrsimhadeva that he forgive his father all his horrible activities and liberate him. This shows the saintly nature of a pure devotee—he is a friend to everyone. He doesn’t become the enemy of his enemy but he is a friend even to his enemy. Lord Nrsimhadeva replied. ‘Because of your taking birth in this family, twenty-one generations of your family are liberated.’ Devotees are naturally kind-heated. But, often when they take up the path of devotional service their parents might not like it. The devotee, being kind-hearted, does not want to cause pain to his relatives and loved ones. But, at the same time he cannot deny his calling as a soul to the service to the Supreme. So, this is an assurance to the devotee that even if one’s family members are not happy that one has become a devotee, just by virtue of becoming a surrendered soul, the family members all benefit. There are so many instances of parents of devotees having a very auspicious time of death. Srila Prabhupada said. ‘The parents of my disciples will realize their good fortune at the time of their passing away even if they don’t realize it during their lifetime.”
On Saturday, May 7, Radhanath Swami spoke before a capacity crowd at The Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. The Rubin Museum is dedicated to the preservation of the art and cultures of the Himalayas, India and neighboring regions. On the eve of the release of his upcoming book The Journey Within, Radhanath Swami was interviewed by yoga teacher and social activist, Dana Flynn on the topic of how to live spiritually through yoga in an increasingly materialistic and impersonal world.
Following the discussion Radhanath Swami took questions from the audience and then the speakers were joined onstage by Ananta Govinda Das, Acyuta Gopi and Govinda Jones, engaging the audience in an uplifting kirtan to conclude the event. One pleasant surprise was that an early shipment of copies of The Journey Within arrived and quickly sold out at the museum’s gift shop. After the talk Radhanath Swami met guests and signed books. Below are excerpts from the evening’s talk.
On Renunciation
I would like to give a little analogy which is from an ancient story.
There is the crane, which is a bird that stands on one leg in a stream of water and watches so many little fish that are swimming by. The crane continues to patiently stand there watching until finally a big fish swims by – and then he snaps it up. Now what does this mean?
If we want that higher, bigger thing in life we can’t be distracted by all the little things in life that will inevitable come. Dr. Cornel West, when I was sitting on the stage with him, used a beautiful example of how in this world we are constantly being bombarded with weapons of mass distraction.
And what is renunciation? Its not about getting proud and arrogant that “I can eat less than you”, or “I can sleep less than you”, or “I can be more celibate than you”. Real renunciation is becoming humble and giving up one’s false ego. And to not be distracted by all these little things can come into our life. Because most of the things we fuss over, crave for, and are in a state of disturbance and anxiety about are little things that are not really worth our time and energy. But when we are not focused on something bigger then inevitably the little distractions consume us.
So when we really focus on the higher meanings and purpose, the higher truths in life, and when we have good people there to help us to remain focused, we can live with integrity even despite the storms of temptations and fears. We can live with character. And we can live in a spirit of service to Krishna, to God and to each other and not be distracted by all these things.
And the Gita explains the way to protect ourselves from being distracted by all little things and thinking they are big things is to act on whats really important in our life, on our self realization. And we adjust all the little things and focus on the bigger issues. And that can be applied on so many levels. As a parent, a spiritual seeker, in our work place, to unite on the sacred issues that are always there.
I will give an example of a seed that later grew into a spiritual understanding. When I was about 8 years old I was sitting alone with my mother and she told me “Everyone loves your father and everyone loves your mother, but we don’t love each other. We are going to separate.” I was so hurt and ran off and hid somewhere. When my father came home my mother and father went to their bedroom and talked about what happened. And they said, “for the sake of our children we are going to make this work. We have so many little disturbances and problems but for a higher reason we are going to make this work.” And they did, and it wasn’t easy. I saw over the years, because they had a higher principle they were willing to adjust the little details. Afterwards they were so loyal and loving to each other, on such a wonderful level, that when my mother passed away they had just celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary.
From a spiritual prospective, when I came to Vrindavan and I learned about Krishna and I met my guru and found my spiritual path, I understood that to apply all of this on all levels of life is so important. Because whats really important and meaningful and purposeful and spiritual is what is going to eventually give us the deepest satisfaction.
On Practicing Spiritual Life in a Modern Urban Setting
Question: For one who can’t leave their corporate job or urban life or study in India, what do you think is the best practical advice is for someone to follow the spiritual path?
Answer: The spiritual path is not about changing our occupation or our dress or the location where we reside, its about changing our heart and through changing our heart, changing our prospective of the world.
Some principles in our tradition are very effective:
Satsang – to associate with people who help us to remain focused on these higher principles and who inspire us. Who help us to keep the compass of the choices we make in a direction in which we come closer to God and grow.
Sadhana – to put some time aside everyday, some very quality time to connect with our own being, our soul, with God and the peace and love that is within us. We chant God’s names through meditation, prayer, puja or some devotional activity. In the bhakti tradition, asana and pranayama, if they are focused in our consciousness as offerings of body, mind and soul to the Supreme, then they become bhakti too. So in that way, we tune into that grace within ourselves. Through that enlivening company, through that time with spiritual practice, then the wealth we receive there we apply to our life by living with character, morality and integrity by living in the spirit of service. And I have seen some of the most saintly people, who are CEO’s of corporations and I have seen saintly people who are monks too.
My guru Srila Prabhupada was living in New York City in 1966 and he was 70 years old then and his students were mainly teenagers in the beginning. One of his students took him for a walk and they came to a part of New York City where there was trash all over the streets and rats fighting over the trash. It really was pathetic scene. They were really ashamed and apologized. But he replied, “Don’t you see? New York City is the spiritual world, you just don’t have the eyes to see it.” Even when we see these difficulties, when we see how I can make a difference to these peoples lives, how I can have compassion, then we are seeing the spiritual world. And New York City has a lot of opportunities on so many levels. So if we have that mood of service and inner connection then whatever our profession and wherever we may be we can see the opportunity to express our love and that is where real happiness is, in the heart.
On Gurus
Question: I feel in todays world the concept of guru has vanished. Where have all the guru’s gone? There is the spiritual concept of a spiritual seeker finding a guru but I feel those shoes are empty. Who do we look to today to fill that void?
Answer: Ultimately God is the supreme guru and the guru’s of this world are humble messengers of that supreme guru. In the bhakti tradition the guru does not claim to be God but to be the representative who is helping to bring us to God by repeating God’s message especially through their example and words. In our tradition the concept of lineage is very important. And there is a simple saying that by the mercy of Krishna, or by the mercy of God, one gets a guru and by the mercy of guru one gets God. If we are sincere the Lord is within our hearts, then a divine power beyond ourselves makes a connection. Any time in world history God can make that connection.
Question: Sometimes it feels like there is a spiritual casualty that you are not really getting what you are seeking. Everyone is ready to take this journey within and willing to do the work but we can only go so far on our own and want someone to shine our light on our path.
Answer: I can speak from my own experience. I was seeking that light in so many ways and at a certain time in my spiritual evolution I understood how important it was to have a teacher and a path that I could really put my heart into. And when I met my guru Srila Prabhupada it was natural. I could feel his love for God and I could feel he could open my heart to receive God’s love. And the philosophy he spoke of was so inclusive and made so much sense. I wanted to follow and I wanted to assist. And that was my calling in life.
When we really have a connection, when we find teachers, when we find a community, when we find a path that we are confident will not make us a sectarian person but will actually open my heart to God’s love – when we experience that then we start to see the teachings of Krishna or God and our guru in so many people and so many incidents that happen. The Bible says, seek and ye shall find. Knock and the door will open. Whats really important is that we are sincerely seeking and then our beloved within our hearts will reveal that to us.
And in the Vedic context there are three principles, guru, sadhu and sastra. Guru means one who just is not a charismatic person, but a person who’s teachings are and behavior are exemplifying the conclusions of the sacred text as it has been understood and practiced by enlightened people throughout history. And those three are inseparable – the teachers, the holy text and the line of great people throughout history. When we find that harmony we can invest our faith and our trust.
On the Disheartening State of the World
Question: Growing closer to God and becoming more humble is imaginable to me, but when I look around us as a human race I have a question are we able to collectively do this and move forward?
Answer: From a spiritual prospective I would like to address your question and your genuine concern. There was a great saint, his name was Bhaktivinode Thakur, who lived in the latter part of the 19th century in Bengal. At the time that India was under British rule. He was a magistrate, a judge in the courtroom, and he had ten children. His wife was saintly just like him. Thousands of villagers, monks, British scholars, came for spiritual guidance from him because he was saintly and he cared so much. He was such a compassionate person. If he sentenced a person to prison, usually that person would thank him. “If you are telling me to do this then it must be the best thing.” That was what a caring and enlightened person he was.
He wrote something very important – that where there is the greatest need there is the greatest opportunity to serve.
So there is a lot of need in the world and humanity is fractured on most every level. In the name of a loving God there is so much hatred. In the name of service to the nation there is so much unnecessary political fighting and the people are the ones who are suffering. In the name of humanity a few people are getting richer, and more and more people are suffering poverty. Every living being is equally dependent on the gifts of Mother Earth and whenever one of us pollute her it is violence towards all living beings. So there are a lot of ecological problems and problems on every level. But as one famous person said, “Be the change you want to see in this world”. That is something you have the power to do. We may not have the power immediately to change the whole world, but we can change ourselves. If we can change ourselves and transform arrogance into humility, greed into generosity, indifference into compassion – if we can work in what little way we can, we can make a difference in the world. If we can inspire one person towards that spiritual awareness, its glorious! We should never be discouraged. And each one of us can begin with ourselves to try to do what we can genuinely. Then we are really part of make a beautiful difference in the world.
Photos by Maksim Brenner, Ananta Cuffee and Kaustubha Das
US-based alt-pop/trip-hop collective, AOA (Astronauts Of Antiquity) debut their single, ‘Paradise’, due for official release May 21st, 2016. This date coincides with the March Against Monsanto phenomenon taking place in major cities worldwide.