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The post ​How can we understand the intelligence and ego to be different from the mind and the soul? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

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The post How does the holy name penetrate beyond the mind, intelligence and ego? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Grade 5 activities for Lord Nrisimhadeva’s appearance day at Sri Mayapur International School (Album with photos)
Face painting and chanting extra rounds for Lord Nrisimhadeva’s pleasure.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/y1t93H

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The post Bhagavatam study 37 1.8.17-22 The prayer progresses from philosophical to personal appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Vrndavana Vilasini was attached to a hippie life of independence but found that lifestyle to be no protection from painful events and the intense suffering they caused. In her travels around America, she met devotees, heard the holy name, and took prasada. Finally, she ended up back in Seattle, Washington, her hometown.
One day, I was visiting the Seattle temple when the president, Makhanlal, said to me, “Do you want to meet someone who loves God more than anyone else?” I said, “Sure!” A little later, on June 8, 1972, he invited me to join the devotees on a six-hour drive to the Portland, Oregon airport to meet that special person, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. I had no idea how powerful a meeting that would be.

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May 19. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada’s Gift of Intimacy.
Aside from age and cultural distances, there is always a distance between two persons until they get to know each other. In the beginning, you try to see whether you will be able to be intimate with another person. Prabhupada was able to establish intimacy with hundreds of persons. He did not merely give us lessons in perfection delivered from a mountaintop. Rather, his physical association was always nearby. The awkwardness of not trusting him soon changed, and he also reached forward and pulled us toward him in a spiritual relationship.
Srila Prabhupada removed the awkwardness by convincing us that we did not belong to a different religion than he. He referred to the transcendental level at which all things come together. He used to say, “No one should object and say that they can’t chant Hare Krishna because it is a foreign name and it is not one’s own religion. This is transcendental sound vibration. We are all spirit souls, part and parcels of Krishna.” In this way, he established spiritual intimacy.
Prabhupada taught that all souls have an intimacy with Krishna and any feelings we had of alienation were not based on fact. They were illusion, based on false designation. Thus he gave a new consciousness and a new way to see reality.
As for Srila Prabhupada’s own unfamiliarity with Western culture, it was a feature that simply made him more dear to us. One time a devotee told Prabhupada that he might get fired from his job. Prabhupada was astonished and said, “Fired? They would fire on you?” Prabhupada thought the devotee would be fired with a gun. The devotee replied, “Oh no, Prabhupada! Fired just means they would release me from the job.” We would all laugh together about his not knowing these words. We did not expect him to know such things, but neither did we think of him as a “foreigner.”
Prabhupada knew the transcendental world, the real home. To be unaware of the material world was just another sign of his detachment. We did not expect that eventually he would educate himself in such things. He was not interested. They were all in the category of ignorance and passion.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 02 May 2015, Simhachalam, Germany, Nrshima Caturdasi Morning Lecture)

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

When Srila Prabhupada was lecturing on the appearance day of Lord Nrsimhadev in Bombay, he was lecturing immediately after a play and he was glorifying Hiranyakasipu because the part was played so well. Then he explained more about the pastimes of Lord Nrsimhadev and at the end he said, “If I had more time, I would have spoken about the prayers of Prahlad.” These prayers of Prahlad were particular favourites of Srila Prabhupada and in a sense, the most important, because Prahlad is a devotee and we are following in his footsteps and are trying to be devotees of the Lord. Therefore, in these prayers, when Prahlad is praying from his position as a devotee, these are especially relevant for us. Of course, when we hear about Hiranyakasipu, we realize that there is a little Hiranyakasipu in us too! So every aspect of the pastime has its relevance but still, because Prahlad is a devotee, we want to give some special attention to his words.

So, I shall start with a very short introduction. The situation was that Lord Nrsimhadev´s anger had been aroused by Hiranyakasipu. Lord Nrsimhadev’s anger was so extreme and so strong that it was still raging even after Hiranyakasipu had been killed. This whole pastime took place in the celestial regions and the demigods who were present felt the incredible, overwhelming anger! Due to the heat of that anger, they felt thrown back and they were just overwhelmed by fear and by no means could they go near the Lord. Even Laxmi Devi did not dare go near the Lord but for another reason. Laxmi Devi had never seen this form of the Lord and because Her chastity is to the Lord Visnu, She had some doubt whether She was really dealing with Lord Visnu. So, even Laxmi did not appear before the Lord. No one could. Lord Brahma could not, Lord Siva could not. None of the demigods could possibly go near the Lord!

So Lord Brahma pushed Prahlad forward and said, “Well, He appeared because of you, so you go and pacify Him!” Well, it does not look very heroic when you shove a five year-old boy forward like, “You go and deal with Him!” (Laughter)

No, we should not take it in that way, we should see that Lord Brahma is most intelligent and therefore very deeply analysed the situation and also realized Prahlad is not just a five-year-old boy, he is extremely powerful – nothing could kill him, nothing could possibly kill Prahlad! So many attempts were made to kill him but nothing worked.

Then the Lord benedicted Prahlad and placed His lotus hand – I guess it is a hand or transcendental paws or whatever it was. He placed His hand on the head of Prahlad and then, it is said that Prahlad was purified, further purified from any possible influence of his demoniac birth and subsequently Prahlad started to offer prayers.

So after having offered various prayers, Prahlad comes to this prayer that I chose, (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.11)

naivātmanaḥ prabhur ayaṁ nija-lābha-pūrṇo
mānaṁ janād aviduṣaḥ karuṇo vṛṇīte
yad yaj jano bhagavate vidadhīta mānaṁ
tac cātmane prati-mukhasya yathā mukha-śrīḥ

Translation: The Supreme Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always fully satisfied in Himself. Therefore when something is offered to Him, the offering, by the Lord’s mercy, is for the benefit of the devotee, for the Lord does not need service from anyone. To give an example, if one’s face is decorated, the reflection of one’s face in a mirror is also seen to be decorated.

And I will read Srila Prabhupada’s purport which is not so long:

In bhakti-yoga it is recommended that a devotee follow nine principles; śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam/ arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam (SB 7.5.23). This service of glorifying the Lord by hearing, chanting and so on is not, of course, meant for the benefit of the Lord; this devotional service is recommended for the benefit of the devotee. The Lord is always glorious, whether the devotee glorifies Him or not, but if the devotee engages in glorifying the Lord, the devotee himself automatically becomes glorious. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam (Siksastakam 1). By glorifying the Lord constantly, the living entity becomes purified in the core of his heart, and thus he can understand that he does not belong to the material world but is a spirit soul whose actual activity is to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that he may become free from the material clutches. Thus the blazing fire of material existence is immediately extinguished (bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam)…

So to comment a little bit… I found this quite important that the Lord does not need our glorification, especially because we are members of the sankirtan movement which is a movement dedicated to constant glorification of the Supreme Lord. Sometimes the question is raised, “But why does the Lord need to be glorified all the time? Is He enjoying this to hear His own glory? Is it almost like vanity? What is this quality in the Lord that He likes to be glorified and that we have to chant all His glories all the time? Why? What is this in the Supreme Lord?”

But from this verse, we see what the key is to the entire glorification of the Supreme Lord because Prahlad makes it very clear. Now Prahlad, as Srila Prabhupada states, is one of the mahajans (Srimad Bhagavatam 6.3.20).

svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ, kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ

Prahlad Maharaj is one of the twelve mahajans, one of the authorities, therefore whatever Prahlad speaks is to be taken as authorized instruction. And Prahlad is stating that the Supreme Lord is atmarama, He is satisfied within the self, He does not need our glorification but the amazing thing is that by glorifying the Lord, the person who glorifies Him is purified. Just as when we decorate our face and when we look at our reflection, it is also decorated. So when we decorate the Lord in glorification, we ourselves become glorified and purified. As it is said in the Caitanya Caritamrta, Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami says (CC Madhya 22.75) sarva mahā-guṇa-gaṇa vaiṣṇava-śarīre, and then it says kṛṣṇa-bhakte kṛṣṇera guṇa sakali.

He says that all the good qualities of Krsna will manifest within a vaisnava. So it is very interesting that by serving Krsna, the vaisnava gets the qualities of Krsna. The entire glorification of the Lord is actually decorating ourselves. Although we offer Him this praise and endless glorification, our own glories are increasing. And that is a  very important point made by Prahlad which really struck me very much.

Then I would like to go to one more prayer of Prahlad and then I will end, (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.15)

nāhaṁ bibhemy ajita te ’tibhayānakāsya-
jihvārka-netra-bhrukuṭī-rabhasogra-daṁṣṭrāt
āntra-srajaḥ-kṣataja-keśara-śaṅku-karṇān
nirhrāda-bhīta-digibhād ari-bhin-nakhāgrāt

Translation: My Lord, who are never conquered by anyone, I am certainly not afraid of Your ferocious mouth and tongue, Your eyes bright like the sun or Your frowning eyebrows. I do not fear Your sharp, pinching teeth, Your garland of intestines, Your mane soaked with blood, or Your high, wedgelike ears. Nor do I fear Your tumultuous roaring, which makes elephants flee to distant places, or Your nails, which are meant to kill Your enemies…

So throughout scripture, Lord Nrsimhadev is described as frightening, like in Nrsimha Tapani Upanisad, He is called bhisana or very frightening appearance. But the frightening appearance of the Lord is not at all frightening for the devotee, not frightening for Prahlad nor for the devotee because as Srila Prabhupada explains, a lion is very fearsome to all animals but not to his own cubs, right!

His own cubs are not at all afraid of the lion because the lion is their protector, so rather than being afraid, they feel very well-protected. Just as children like to say, “My father is a policeman,” or something like that, just to scare off other kids, “You can’t do anything to me. My father…” So when your father and protector is Nrsimhadev, then one is very comfortable. So in this way, the devotees are rather very comfortable, very happily discussing the intestines of Hiranyakasipu hanging as a garland around the neck of the Lord…

Srila Prabhupada says, “Prahlad stands next to the killer of his father and he has a garland ready. He wants to garland the killer of his father.” It is very transcendental and quite difficult to understand for the materialists. Sometimes people come into our temples and they see the painting of Hiranyakasipu and they see it for what it is and they say, “What is this?” And the devotees say, “Oh, it’s our Lord Nrsimhadev.” Because we see this all as the great mercy of the Lord, who is so affectionate, so much full of love towards His devotees that He will not tolerate, not tolerate any violence towards His devotees and thus the devotees, by worshiping Lord Nrsimhadev, become fearless.

Bahir nrisimho hridaye nrisimho, He is everywhere and outside of us is Lord Nrsimhadev, the Lord is in the heart. Yato yato yami tato nrisimho, everywhere we are Lord Nrsimhadev is there. In this way, we are feeling very safe and very happy to commemorate this pastime with all its bloody descriptions. I´ll end here. Thank you very much!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Transcribed by Tattvavati dd

We read so many things on the internet, on TV, the news etc. Some are true, some are false. That which is false, we can outright reject it. The problem is the admixture information that is a cocktail of truth mixed with falsehood. Of course, any admixture automatically should be considered completely false provided we are able to verify its veracity. In reality, it is very difficult to verify falsified truths and it is these falsehoods in the garb of truths spread through mainstream media and the internet that is causing sectarianism in the world today. We have sectarianism in the name of religion, politics, country, sports, race, culture, caste etc etc.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that when we rise above the mundane truths and falsehoods and its admixtures (that arise from our desire to seek it or hate it), only, can we understand God. So it is important we do not spend too much time trying to support or reject fallible soldiers of today who promise a hopeful future. In the ordinary daily sense of things, we do the needful not getting too worked up about trying to make our world perfect but instead focus our energy internally trying to always remain in consciousness of Krishna or God under all circumstances. As we seek Krishna, we shall find Him.

Hare Krishna

Giriraj Swami participated in the occasion in Mumbai via Skype.

“It is so wonderful that Mother Arca Vigraha had it in her heart to give her house in Vrindavan to Guru Maharaja. She knew that she was not going to live for too long so when she built that house, in her heart she built it for Guru Maharaja. It is such a lovely service that she did for him. It should inspire all of us to serve Guru Maharaja in whatever way we can—be it big service or small service. It is not that we all have to give a house to serve our Guru but whatever is our capacity. It is the love in our heart, the feeling in our heart that actually matters. The eagerness and laulyam or greed to do service.”

—Haripriya Dasi

Talk by Giriraj Swami, Dallas
Talk by Haripriya dasi, Mumbai
Talk by Vraja Sundari dasi, Mumbai

The Journey Within – book trailer (2 min video)
In this long-awaited follow-up to his international bestseller “The Journey Home: Autobiography of an American Swami”, renowned spiritual leader and social activist Radhanath Swami shares intimate stories from his decades of experience as a guru of Bhakti Yoga that illustrate the basic teachings of the ancient philosophy. With illuminating references to Western religions and ideologies, The Journey Within invites readers from all backgrounds to discover the simple truths that unite us.
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/dvp8om

Daytona Beach Festival of the Chariots, Bhakti Yoga Culture & Wellness Fest.
Daytona Beach, FL Sunday, May 29, 2016
MEDIA RELEASE
Contact: Bhadra das at 352 316-4560 or Bhadradas@gmail.com
WHAT: An Indian multi-cultural parade and festival will be celebrated with entertainment for the whole family. There will be live music, singing, classical dance, books, bazaar, and lots of free delicious vegetarian food. The Ratha Yatra Parade is the oldest known parade in the world.
WHEN & WHERE: Sunday, May 29, 2016. There is an inauguration ceremony at the Daytona Beach Bandshell located at 70 Boardwalk. The parade begins at 4 PM going North on the beach several blocks, then turns back South, returning to the Bandshell where the free feast and cultural festival take place from 6 to 9 PM.
WHO: All are welcome. Free admission. Wholesome fun for the entire family.
SPECIAL: VERY VISUAL event with colorful traditional costumes and flower decorations. Photography is permitted. Performances by international guest musician, DJ & sound healer Srikology; healthy living booths; yoga/gong workshop (please bring your mats).
If you’ve ever dreamt of visiting colorful, exotic India, we have a treat for you. Get a taste of India without leaving Florida on Sunday, May 29, 2016. The Festival of the Chariots, Bhakti Yoga Culture & Wellness Fest, an Indian multi-cultural extravaganza, will take place starting at 4 PM at the Daytona Beach Bandshell located at 70 Boardwalk. A parade starts here and also ends at the same place, the Bandshell at 6 PM with free food and a cultural program from 6 to 9 PM.
There will be lots of family-friendly activities and entertainment: live music, classical Indian dance, drama performance, face painting & henna, mantra meditation, bhakti yoga. But the big draw is the delicious vegetarian food. There will be a sumptuous feast served free of charge to all.
The procession route is about 2 miles long and can be easily walked by all age groups. The parade will move in a leisurely fashion, stopping here and there along the route, giving way to song and dance. The procession’s unique feature is a huge chariot with a blue, red and yellow canopy decorated with swans, lotus flowers, flags, Hanuman and a brass chakra on top. This chariot has two very thick ropes attached to it that are over one hundred feet long. These ropes are pulled by the parade-goers, propelling the chariot along the parade route. Riding on the Chariot are the beautiful Deities of Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra, decorated with stunning silk outfits & real flowers. It’s a vision from another world. Accompanying the procession is lively Indian music and dancing, backed by double-headed mrdanga drums & karatala hand cymbals. It’s an ecstatic, exciting event.
The festival is mainly sponsored by ISKCON Alachua, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness whose Founder/Acharya, His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, came to America from India forty-five years ago and introduced the timeless tradition of the Festival of the Chariot (called Ratha Yatra in India). Since the 60’s this festival has been held yearly in over 50 major cities in the United States, Canada, and all over the world. Nine Ratha Yatras are held yearly in the state of Florida: Miami, Jacksonville Beach, Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa, Gainesville, Daytona Beach, Clearwater Beach & St. Augustine.
Local sponsors of this festival include Kale Café, Space Girl Organics, Evolution Health Club, Sacred Strength Healing Arts, and Daytona Wellness.
All are warmly invited to attend this joyous, colorful festival, free of charge. Take advantage of a rare chance to experience the vibrancy of India, right here in Florida.
Questions? Contact Bhadra das at 352 316-4560 or Bhadradas@gmail.com
Please visit our website at www.festivalofchariots.org

Devotee, inventor of “kurma the frog” character left his body.
Jagadambika Devi: HIs Grace Shom Prabhu left the temple around 5:00 p.m. We had to wait until the police investigated, doctor signed off on Death Details, cremation place etc. At first the police would not let the devotees touch Shom’s body. They finally figured it out that there was no foul play. Apparently Shom Prabhu got up at 5:00 a.m. to bath and get dressed for his service. Then Anadi Das Prabhu, roommate, did not hear Shom leave by 6:00 a.m. yet, so he went to his room to check and he was face down on the bed. He was already dressed. So he must have left his body somewhere between 5 a.m. - 6 a.m.
Shom Prabhu’s body was in the house all day. As they took his body away by transport, the devotees were out chanting Hare Krsna to see him off. Then some of us went and opened all the temple doors outside so he could get one final darshan of Sri Sri Rukmini Dvarakadisa. The mortuary transport stopped in front of the temple so Shom Prabhu could say goodbye. I opened Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra’s doors. Other devotees opened the other Deity doors. His body was the color of Krsna. He must have seen Krsna. I’ve seen many dead bodies but have never seen anything like it. He was really blue and had a big smile on his face. He became blue so quickly. He must have had another seizure. He’s had them a lot lately.
All glories to Her Grace Kriya Shakti Mataji! She’s cool calm and amazing! She was with Anadi Das Prabhu and Shom Prabhu’s body all day, arranging everything. She went through Shom Prabhu’s phone and got some close relatives contact, contacted a mortuary, etc. to pick up Shom Prabhu’s body. Mother Kriya Shakti Mataji arranged all the details for Shom Prabhu’s body, garlands and all. His Grace Rabindranatha Das Prabhu, Head Pujari came also. Mother Kriya Shakti must be exhausted from such a long day. I notice whenever a devotee is in need she’s always there to help out. She did such an amazing service with this sudden passing. She even got Shom’s family to allow the devotees to do everything for Shom Prabhu’s body from cremating, etc. There will be a Memorial for Shom Prabhu later. I don’t think they need to do an autopsy since doctor signed off.
It’s times like this I’m so grateful to be around devotees like Mother Kriya Shakti, and all the New Dwaraka Devotees. Family always come together when needed. They are always there. All glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada! Such an auspicious day to pass!
This is his facebook page, active until few days ago: https://goo.gl/K21942

The post Daily Darshan: May 18th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

By Upendra Dasa

Krsna consciousness is not a tower of Babel to Krsna. There are two processes in spiritual life, the ascending and the descending. Through the ascending process one tries to construct a ladder up to Krsna by processes of yoga, meditation, word jugglery, logic, dry philosophy, etc. However sincere, Krsna is acyuta, unapproachable, that process will never be successful But if the unapproachable Krsna wants to come to us, then nothing can stop Him. That is called the descending process, Krsna consciousness. Krsna is presenting Himself to you and I through the authorized disciplic chain of Vedic teachers. This is the oldest family tree in the universe. Knowledge of Krsna (which is non-different from Krsna Himself) is coming down to us without any tinge of contamination through this unbroken disciplic succession, and His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the contemporary representative of this line. Continue reading "True Happiness Must be Eternal
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The post The philosophical quandary that introduces the pastime of Nrsimhadeva’s appearance appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

By Vamsi Vihari Dasa

One of my devotee friends shared his realization that Krishna takes the risk of being blamed: "Oh! I am trying to serve You, Krishna, and You are giving me problems. What kind of God are You?" But as a true well-wisher, Krishna is concerned not about being blamed but about ending our material existence as soon as possible. of course, during difficulties He also provides the strength we need to endure. Like a doctor intent on healing a patient, Krishna works hard to purify us. Accepting His ways without complaint and blame encourages Him to continue His treatment, whereas an uncooperative attitude may encourage Him to stop. Therefore, we should be grateful that Krishna is spending so much of His energy for our benefit. Continue reading "Sickness A Friend and Teacher
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The Transformation of a Dish Washer.
Vasudeva Dasa: I come from Holland, which is a very rich country by material standards. However, unlike India, where the family ties are still strong, the family culture in the west is fast eroding. Youngsters move out of parents’ homes to enjoy unrestricted freedom, working hard to finance their studies and social life. I too followed this system during high school, and would study five days a week and then clean dishes at a hotel on weekends. I used the money buy objects of sense gratification. Gradually, however, the hard work, irregular lifestyle, and bad habits began to take a heavy toll over my health.
I remember one particular evening: I had been nearing the end of washing what seemed like a mountain of dishes, when the cleaner dumped another stack before me. I was dead tired, still I continued and managed to clean them by mid night. My body was in excruciating agony, but more work was pending. “Clean the floor!” the boss shouted. Wearily, I picked up the broom and the mop. By the time I finished, the clock showed 2 am.
After the work that night, while walking home I asked myself, “Is this what I want from my life?” All my pent up emotions became impossible to hold back anymore and I broke down right there in the street. I tried to look for a way out of my hopeless situation, but nothing appeared.
Life continued.
Some time later, I came in contact with the Hare Krsna devotees and visited the center at my town. I was completely mesmerized with what I saw. The Deities, the chanting, the dancing, the lectures, the love of the devotees, and above all the prasadam completely conquered my heart. I realized that Krsna consciousness was the thing missing in my life.
One day I decided to render some voluntary service in the temple. I approached a senior devotee and asked him, “Can I help in some service?” He smiled and took me to the kitchen and pointed to huge black bottomed cooking utensils. “Can you clean them?”
“Of course,” I replied. “I have enough training in this art!” I lunged at the pots and began to scrub them with all my might. I soaped, scrubbed, and washed them for hours and hours untill they were sparkling bright. Then I cleaned the entire kitchen. By the time I finished I had half expected to collapse with fatigue. Yet there was something strange going on. I was not feeling tired at all Instead I was feeling fresh; I could have washed pots for another six hours. I was in euphoria! I felt as if I was floating in air.
It was then that I realized that service to Lord Krsna is unlike serving any mundane materialistic master. By serving Lord Krsna we engage in the natural activity of soul, as an eternal servant of Lord Krsna. The pleasure that one achieves by serving Lord Krsna is beyond any sensory and mental experience and purely on the spiritual level. Krsna consciousness’ transcendental nature thus became a tangible reality which I could perceive and experience in simple day to day activities and all this was so blissful. I decided at that moment never again to leave the shelter of Lord Krsna.
-Vasudeva Dasa

Direct Descendants of Sri Advaitacharya’s Lineage Make an Invaluable Donation to Bhaktivedanta Research Centre!
On Feb 18, 2016 BRC was blessed by a generous donation of a
special collection of 40 rare manuscripts from the Sri M K Goswami family, who are directly descended from Sri Advaitacarya (17th generation.) Originally from Shantipur, they currently reside in
Bangalore.
This donation of very precious and rare Vaishnava manuscripts
included Govinda Lilamrita by Ragunath Bhatta Goswami, Padyavali of Rupa Goswami, Stavavali of Ragunath das Goswami, and complete manuscripts of Chaitanya Charitamrita on handmade
paper. They are in good to excellent condition.
This donation was given in memory of Sri Nanda Gopala Goswami
and Nirmalya Rani Goswami, his revered parents. After a nice visit
to the library, Mr. Goswami was extremely satisfied that he had
made a good decision to place his manuscripts in our care. “A great spiritual feeling was accrued after visiting the library,” he wrote in the guest book.
Read this and more in the latest Bhaktivedanta Research Centre’s newsletter: http://goo.gl/hVOE9z

A Floating Harinama (Album with photos)
Yekaterinburg Yatra, Russia, organized a very unusual Harinama from 1 to 3 May.
Imagine: the May holidays, spring forest, tourists, catamarans, campfire, tents and resounding echo of the Hare Krishna mantra. Right in the middle of the river, on a conventional catamaran, with a small “combo”, around which there is ecstatic kirtan: devotees singing and playing, who sings, the rowing - all honestly)). At the sound of the water is carried away. On shore leave are the same “rafters” affably waving, trying to sing along and dance. Passing by catamaran was surprised looking at the proud flag on which is written the text of the maha-mantra. “And why did you write this? To forget themselves ”- trying to joke the passing tourists. “No, you read” - and continue to respond devotees kirtan. The alloy is also small harinama program in villages, distribution of sweets prasadam. And holy name, almost around the clock.
Find them here: http://goo.gl/o2RMJq

By Vicitravirya Dasa

Through the ages Western man has alternately pondered or ignored death, the most persistent yet least understood fact of our existence. In the year A.D. 138, the great Roman emperor Hadrian lay dying in a villa overlooking the Bay of Naples. For many years he had been the mighty ruler of the Western world, governing an empire that stretched for thousands of miles. In the course of his eventful life as soldier/statesman, he encountered diverse peoples of many customs and faiths. From these people he had perhaps heard various ideas on the supreme challenge that now faced him as he gazed out onto the bay. Continue reading "The Flight of the Soul
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Two pairs of twin sisters join the Harinama and book distribution in St. Petersburg, Russia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The chanting of the holy name of Krishna expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 20.12)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/XNA7kh

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Huffington Post article features Agnideva das chanting the Maha mantra! Daily Meditation: Sacred Service (6 min video).
Antonia Blumberg: We all need help maintaining our personal spiritual practice. We hope that these Daily Meditations, prayers and mindful awareness exercises can be part of bringing spirituality alive in your life.
Today’s meditation features a Hare Krishna mantra. The mantra is commonly translated as, “O Lord, O Energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your service.” It is a mantra of devotion and sacred service.
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/wwTiBA

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London Wellbeing show (Album with photos)
Devotees in London attended the Wellbeing Mind Body Spirit Expo at Olympia London with a Pop Up temple and stalls. Distributing over 700 books and hundreds of japa workshops and constant kirtan. Both Jahnavi harrison and AnandaMonet had prime time stage slots performing kirtan to packed audiences. Avatari devi performed an Odissi dance and Adi-Guru did two bhakti yoga workshops to 50 people.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/kZm40I

May 18. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Evoking Memories of 1966.
There is a famous example in the novel Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust. Proust eats a little piece of pastry, a petite madeleine, and as he mixed it with tea and it softened in his mouth, the scent of it and the taste of it suddenly threw him back many years to his childhood.
Maybe we can do things like that, by hearing the noises on the street and remembering how it was during those 1966 lectures:
I’m in my spot hearing him speak. A little afraid when hoodlums or teenagers out there make noises, but we’re not going to give up our places. I hope it doesn’t get into some big scene, but that they will go away so we can continue to hear the Swami. When someone comes and makes noises at the doorway, you can get a flash of how it looks to outsiders. They see you are just some hippies with this strange Indian man. The whole thing seems weird to them and they can’t figure it out. They just can’t figure it out. The Swami is obviously an Indian, so why is he with these young American hippies? They are street-tough, street-wise; they know American hippies well enough, but they don’t know the Swami.
When we were in the storefront and someone would look in or play their music from the radio and say, “Hey, what the hell is this?” Or just, “Hey!” – you sat there and absorbed it and they would usually go away. But one intruder after another would come; sometimes for a large part of the lecture there would be disturbing sounds. The thing is, Swamiji kept the door open. If he had shut the door, it might have been better, but he wanted people to feel free to come in. Maybe it was better that way. Maybe there would have been more disturbances if they hadn’t been able to look in and check it out and say something. If the door was shut, they might have been more frustrated. But for whatever reason, he kept it open.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 9.3 during the Sunday program in Dallas.

“Once, I was at airport in America with Srila Prabhupada when a reporter asked him. ‘What does this chanting achieve?’ Srila Prabhupada smiled so broadly—just this oceanic, effulgent smile. He looked at the reporter and said. ‘Chanting accomplishes chanting.’ There is nothing higher than chanting. And chanting accomplishes more chanting. In the beginning one may chant a certain number of rounds as a regulative principle which is good. But later, when we develop taste, we don’t want to stop chanting. It’s like twenty four hours is not enough. One devotee commented that earlier chanting was something that got in the way of his life. Now he feels that his life gets in the way of his chanting. Rupa Gossami prayed. ‘With one mouth and two ears what can I chant? If I had millions of mouths and billions of ears then I could begin to chant.’ Because there is so much relish. One mouth and two ears is not enough. that comes from associating from those that have taste.”

Bhagavad-gita 9.3, Dallas

In Russia, St. Petersburg is known as a city of great culture. During our visit we added Krsna consciousness to the beauty of the city with chanting, dancing and feasting on nice Krsna prasadam.

Giriraj Swami participated in the occasion in Durban via Skype.

“Mother Arca Vigraha had about her a very urgent sense to serve Lord Krishna, Srila Prabhupada, her spiritual master, and all the vaisnavas. And, because she was so urgent and eager, Krishna’s mercy flowed to her especially at the final stages of her life.”

—Swarup Damodar Dasa

Kirtan, Dallas
Mother Archa Vigraha’s Disappearance, Dallas

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 12 March, Durban, South Africa, Lecture at House Program)

How is it possible for the spiritual world to be present in the material world? Krsna did that, somehow or other, he fit the spiritual world into the material world because Krsna was thinking to himself, “Aaah, there are these conditioned souls. They are excluded from the mercy of the ocean of transcendental love known as the prema sagar, which is the spiritual world.” 

There is an ever increasing ocean of loving exchange between Krsna and his devotees. Everyone’s love is always growing because everyone is discovering a new quality of Krsna’s. It is said in Adi-lila Chapter 4 of Caitanya Caritamrta that Srimati Radharani always discovers a new quality of Krsna and she immediately loves that quality therefore her love is always increasing. We can see that every devotee is the same – we are also beginning like that. Our love is in the beginning stage. Little by little, we discover qualities of Krsna and little by little, we get captured by these qualities.

So in the ocean of transcendental love, the devotees become more and more captured by the qualities of Krsna and their love increases, and Krsna becomes captured by their increasing love. Therefore the prema sagar, the ocean of transcendental love, is eternally increasing. It is that which is reflected in the Holy Name.

The Spiritual Master – an Interview between Sutapa Das and HH Bhakti Caru Swami! A joint Pandava Sena and Alumni event. Saturday 21st May | 6:30pm | WHEN Saturday, 21 May 2016 from 18:30 to 22:00 (BST) – Add to Calendar WHERE Vrindavan – 6 Nancy Downs, Watford, WD19 4NF, United Kingdom – View Map […]

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EY Hindu Network with Veda London present “Happiness, an inside job.” Mankind’s pursuit for happiness is never ending. Although we live in a finite world, our desires are infinite. What is our understanding of happiness? Join us for an evening of exploring happiness from a Vedic perspective by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, a renounced […]

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