Planet ISKCON

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post ​What role do star signs play in our destiny? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post If scripture is eternal, are all pastimes given in scripture destined? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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 […]

The post An interview with Bhakti Charu Swami appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

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 […]

The post “Happiness, An Inside Job” – Seminar by Bhakti Charu Swami appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

The topic of why I write and how my cancer diagnosis was the fuel to my publishing my new free verse poem book, My Yoga of Expression, serves as in introduction to the book, and my hope to give you sufficient reason to obtain your own copy. I aim to give support and encouragement to those involved in bhakti, as well as to introduce seekers to new possibilities for their spiritual search:

Ten years after taking up the path of bhakti, at 30 years old, I was given a journal. Over the next 20 years I regularly wrote about myself and events I was confronting. As a child, I learned to be a very shut down or emotionally unavailable person as a defense against my raging alcoholic father. While the misery I experienced growing up was part of the catalyst for my spiritual search, I still would have to deal with it and become at peace with my past. I couldn’t flush my history as I wanted to or just ignore it, thinking I would be able to transcend the world and its demands in a short time of hearing and chanting.

That would come later, but when I lived as a brahmacari monk for nine years, I dressed my disengagement from life and who I was as a person in the clothes of detachment and self-effacing humility. At the same time, those formative years of service and the spiritual reciprocation I experienced doing “emergency devotional service” as a pujari and cook, became the spiritual bedrock for my later life, enabling me to not be completely lost during the turbulent days after the departure of my guru, Shrila Prabhupada.

As I matured as a person this placid persona—which was actually a way to wall myself off from life and relationships—no longer worked for me. As a result of this realization, for the first time in my life, I was impelled to understand who I was in my body and mind—before that I was consumed with my spiritual quest. I gradually realized that to fully embrace the spiritual I had to use my conditioned nature to its fullest and most empowered expression, rather than deny or repress it.

I discovered that by writing I uncovered a new honesty and a self-reflection process that introduced me to who I was as a person behind my indifferent façade. I found myself to have a great intensity full of feelings that needed to be expressed beyond my easygoing personality.

read more

Here’s a sample piece of a chakra and red oak wooden base, both made by our CNC machine. The chakra took 1 day to carve, and the base took about 3 1/2 hours to complete.

The short video shows the process of carving the wooden base.

The post Sample Piece of Chakra With Wooden Base Made by Our CNC Machine appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

TOVP: A short update of what we’re up to at the moment. (Album with photos)
TOVP management has given their approval for the Murti of Lord Siva to be cast into fiber glass, which is the next stage of the process after the clay work is completed.
Sadbhuja and his team of artists are doing the final inspection.
In the background you can see Manu manifesting, who will be the next great personality in-line offering prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva.
Furthermore, HG Jananivas Prabhu, -our head pujari-, has approved for the final mold-making of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, for the Disciplic succession altar.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/FkWsqr

Dear Devotees and TOVP Donors,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Greetings from Sridham Mayapur and blessings from Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, Sri Panchatattva and Lord Nrsimhadeva.

Next Friday (May 20th) is the most auspicious appearance day of Lord Narasimhadeva, the half-man half-lion avatara who appeared to save Prahlad Maharaja. Lord Narasimhadeva has a very special mood of affectionate protection towards His devotees, and thus He is very dear to them. In fact, we constantly rely on His shelter. As Srila Prabhupada said,

“We should always consider that this material world is a dangerous place and therefore we shall chant Lord Narasimha’s Holy Name in order to be protected by Him in all dangers.”

(Letter to Himavati – 4 July, 1970)

Thirty years ago, after an attack on the temple by dacoits, the Mayapur community decided to install a unique Deity of Lord Narasimhadeva for protection. Both Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had previously advised other endangered temples to do the same. There are many forms of Lord Narasimhadeva according to His different pastimes and moods, some angry and some peaceful. He is worshiped in Mayapur in His Ugra-Narasimha mood, full of divine wrath.

This specific form emerging from the pillar, Sthanu-Narasimha, is especially fearsome and thus had not been worshipped anywhere for centuries. However, since this Narasimhadeva Deity is in Mayapur, He takes on the forgiving mood of Lord Chaitanya and blesses the sincere devotees with love for Krishna. Begging for this special mercy, Bhaktivinoda Thakur offered this beautiful prayer to Lord Nrsimhadeva:

Weeping, I will beg at the lotus-feet of Lord Narasimhadeva for the benediction of worshipping Radha and Krsna in Navadvipa, perfectly safe and free from all difficulties. When will this Lord Hari, whose terrible form strikes fear into fear itself ever become pleased and show me His mercy?

Sri Navadvipa-bhava-taranga

Narasimha Caturdasi is a very auspicious day to help us build Lord Narasimhadeva’s new home in the TOVP. The construction is now focusing on the dome above His altar and its support structure is nearly complete. The next step, one of the most glorious, will be to erect the kalashas on the apex of the domes. We are contracting a Russian company to build and carry out the finishing work for all three kalashas, which will be covered with genuine gold-plating and will truly be the crown-jewels of the TOVP.

It is absolutely essential to cap the domes and complete the kalashas so that the detailed interior work can begin. Once installed, they will increase the auspiciousness of the project, and attract the blessings of the Lord so that the temple can be quickly completed and He can enter and receive worship from His loving devotees.

Please consider making a contribution towards the kalash work. All donations received at this time are going specifically for that purpose. You can make your donation from this page on our website:
https://tovp.org/donate/

Yours in the Service of Sridham Mayapur,

Braja Vilas das
Global Fundraising Director

The post Narasimha Caturdasi – 30th Anniversary of His Installation in Mayapur appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

 

Да защитят вас когти Нрихари, что, пламенея красным,
рассуждают: «У недруга лишь пять потоков праны в теле,
тогда как нас всех вместе – десять.
И он сподобился нас одолеть?»

В потоке крови, бьющем
в разодранном остове дайтьи*,
они стали красны, что попугайский клюв.
Они изогнуты, что серп луны второго дня.
Да защитят вас когти Хари, принявшего обличье льва!

Пусть жар от скрежета зубьев Хари**, рвущих грудь демона, очистит вас!
О его кожу гудит это пламя «ката-ката». Поток его крови бурлит «чама-чама».
Паля его жир, пламя звучит «дхага-дхага», сжигая до кости, трещит «када-када».

А сами когти не в силах глянуть на гневный лик Нарахари, забившего в бою потомка Дити.
Вот почему они изогнулись в страхе. Пусть этот несравненный герой Вселенной по имени
Нрисимха одарит счастьем вас!

Страшась разрушенья тела, данав* забился в когти Нарасимхи. Дивясь его исчезновенью,
Нрихари думает: «Где он? Где он?» Всё оглядев и не найдя его, Нрихари произносит:
«Ха..! Ты это зря!» и хлопает лапой по стене. И демон выпадает песчинкой наземь.
Видя его таким, Господь раскатисто смеется. Вся слава этому Нрисимхе!

«Как отшвырну недруга суров (дэвов), так океаны повыходят из пределов,
Земля погрузится в причинный океан, разрушатся все низшие планеты,
Вселенная раздробится на части, а небеса падут», – так думая,
Он придержал тело умершего Хираньякашипу на лапе.
Да защитит всех вас Хари, явившийся как лев!

[ перевод с английского перевода Хари Паршада Даса,
по «Subhita-ratna-bhandagaram», Nrsimha section.
Составитель Pandit Kashinath Sharma ]

_______________________
* Хираньякашипу

** прим. англ. перев.: лапы Господа Нрисимхи сравниваются с пилой,
а когти на них – с ее зубьями

Nityam Bhagavata-sevaya #37, Dhruva, Uttanapada and Narada.
NBS # 37 Features:- 1) Unusual verses to wash the sinful reactions.
2) Dhruva leaves for the forest
Sri Maitreya Rishi
3) Narada is like the Supersoul
His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
4) Narada meets Uttanapada
Editorial
5) Conversation between Narada and Uttanapada
Srila Vishvanatha Chakravati Thakura
6) Demigods test Dhruva
Srila Lochan Das Thakura
This issue can be viewed through these links:
ISSUU: http://issuu.com/nbsmag/docs/nbs_37
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/doc/312861636/NBS-37

Manjuwali gives an additional commentary.

The post Balaram asks if Narada Muni really visited me once in the old Budapest temple appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

The accomplishments of Srila Prabhupada (Founder Acharya of Iskcon)
His Divine Grace Srila Abhay Caran Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Evangelic Angel.
Between 1968- 1977 He dictated total of 22,000 pages of text
He translated and wrote purports to 18,000 verses of Srimad Bhagavatam.
Reading one verse with purport daily would take the reader 49.31 years to complete
He translated and wrote the purports to the 700 verses of Bhagavad Gita Coaching
Reading one verse with purport daily would take two years to complete
He translated and wrote the purports to the 17 volumes of Chaitanya Caritamrita – in total 2,170 pages or 11,555 verses!!
Reading one verse with purport daily would take the reader 31.6 years to complete. Reading one page daily would take 5.9 years to complete
He also wrote Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, Nectar of devotion, Teachings of Lord Kapiladeva, Sri Isopanisad.
He created Back to Godhead magazine which was monthly distributed in 1 million copies
He wrote 7000 letters to His disciples which was published in 5 volumes of books
Only Srimad Bhagavatam lectures He gave are compiled in 11 volumes of books
Bhagavad Gita lectures are compiled in 7 volumes of books
His conversations have been compiled in 42 volumes of books
He produced innumerable recordings
He established 108 temples
He published 147 books. Reading one book monthly would take 13 years
If one started to read one book monthly now, in 2014, he would not finish till 2031
He traveled around the world 14 times
Beside this He changed lives of at least 10000 people who become His initiating disciples
And all of this Srila Prabhupada did in ONLY 11 years!! In the age between 70-80!!!

By Sri Chaitanya Chandra Das

My life took an apical turn when I stumbled across the Hare Krishnas. Being born in India I had some knowledge of “Krishna” but I was like most Indians are - conscious of Krishna but not Krishna Conscious. Being just “conscious of Krishna” didn’t mollify my thirst for happiness. When I was introduced to the programs conducted by the Hare Krishnas near our college campus new hope dawned upon me. What mesmerized me the most in these programs was the chanting of the mystical mantra… Continue reading "The Mystical Chant
→ Dandavats"

(This article was published on Sunday 15-5-16 as a guest column in a special supplement in Financial Chronicle)

Business has the potential to work for a purpose higher than profit. This higher imperative is latent in the Vedic term for wealth: “artha.” Artha refers to not just wealth but also meaning. To pursue artha means to pursue both wealth and meaning, that is, to pursue wealth in a meaningful way that creates value. Let’s explore this with a dietary metaphor.

Diminished consciousness, destructive work

We need food to live, but we don’t live to eat. Those who live to eat, eat excessively. Damaging their digestive system, they end up limiting their capacity to both eat and live.

Just as food is natural and necessary for our body, profit is natural and necessary for business. But when profit becomes business’ only motive, then ethical, relational and ecological concerns get sidelined, even suppressed. When employees feel exploited, performance drops. When consumers feel cheated, sales drop. When natural resources are depleted, operational costs skyrocket. Such fallouts make business impossible to sustain without further exploiting human and natural resources, thereby triggering a vicious cycle.

But the profit motive doesn’t have to become destructive — it can be counterbalanced if we simultaneously pursue the other dimension of artha: meaning. To find enduring meaning, we need to raise our consciousness. When our consciousness is low, we live for short-term pleasures and crave for money as a tool to those pleasures.

Some businesses try to counter the negativity associated with the mercenary motive by taking up corporate social responsibility (CSR). This is an important step forward, but by itself it doesn’t necessarily reflect a raised consciousness. As critics have pointed out, such initiatives can well be forms of green-washing — a window dressing to cover up or compensate for the harmful consequences of profiteering.

Conscious entrepreneurship is far different from any kind of window dressing. It is a fundamentally different way of looking at business – of learning to live for a higher purpose and to harmonize accordingly all our activities including our business. This higher consciousness comes best from an expanded and elevated self-conception.

Beyond riches to richness

The Bhagavad-gita (02.13) offers such a conception by explaining that our identity extends beyond our biology: we are at our core spiritual beings. Material assets and achievements alone can’t satisfy us — we need spiritual fulfillment, as parts of a cause bigger than ourselves.

The Gita (10.08) offers an inclusive vision of the Whole, the transcendent source of all consciousness and indeed all existence. This Whole is known in various ways and by different names in the world’s diverse traditions. The Gita refers to him as Krishna, the trans-cosmic Whole of whom all living beings, without any discrimination, are eternal parts (15.07).

The Whole pervades everything, and so can be accessed and served through diligent performance of our work in a mood of devotion. Work can thus be made into worship when infused with a higher consciousness. Every business needs to determine, from the perspective of a raised consciousness, how it can contribute to the whole.

For businesses that run for making tangible contributions, profit is a natural outcome, not the driving purpose. The driving purpose is the creation of value for all stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, stockholders, owners, society and ecology.

Most of all, value creation enriches the value creators, and in ways that money alone can’t. When we work only for profit, a gnawing sense of existential angst eats at us from within. We feel that something vital is missing in our life, even when we have scores of the things that most people feel are missing in their lives. We have riches, but not richness. What brings richness is the higher purpose. When we work for the purpose of playing our part within the whole, we are channeled as instruments by a power far greater and wiser than ourselves for producing both wealth and well-being. In such harmonious, holistic contribution, we find life’s deepest fulfillment.

Perception-expanding meditation

A practical way to raise our consciousness is meditation. The essence of meditation is not sitting in a particular posture; it is redirecting the mind from changing material things to unchanging spiritual truths. The spiritual becomes easily accessible through transcendental sound, specifically the empowered sound vibrations known as mantras. Therefore, mantra meditation is integral to the self-development repertoire of conscious entrepreneurs. Meditation raises our consciousness from the fragmented perspective of a part to the integrated vision of the whole, thereby rejuvenating us with a sense of peace, purpose and power.

Businesses that strive to function at a higher consciousness will have a huge edge in the emerging economy and will act as catalysts for raising society’s consciousness. For such cutting-edge entrepreneurs, the Gita offers an inside-out approach to personal, professional and societal change — an approach that can be embraced by pursuing artha’s dual dimensions.

(Chaitanya Charan is a life coach and author of 10 Leadership Sutras from Bhagavad-gita and gitadaily.com, the world’s only site offering a daily motivational article on the Gita)

 

 

The post The dual dimensions of artha (Guest Column in Financial Chronicle) appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post While choosing a spouse, is matching astrological charts essential? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post ​Does the precision of astrological predictions imply that we don’t have free will? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post Can developing our talents obstruct us in bhakti? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post ​Are we forced to act according to our nature? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post ​When the modes control us, how do we have free will? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Book distribution outside the temple

The residents of Tirukoilur participating in Gaura-arati

Akhildhara Dasa giving class

By Acarya Dasa

We reached Tirukoilur, also known as Tirukkoyilur or Kovalur on April 26th. The panchayat town is located in the Viluppuram district of Tamil Nadu. The town is famous for its temples and is a place where vaishnavites (worshippers of Lord Vishnu) and shivites (worshippers of Lord Shiva) co-exist in peace and harmony. In addition Tirukoilur is known as one of the ‘ashta veeratnams’ or eight (ashta) places of bravery (veeratanam). It was here that Lord Shiva transformed into various incarnations in order to destroy evil and establish justice. Of the many incarnations of Shiva eight avatars (incarnations) are very famous and Their appearances took place here in Tirukoilur. It doesn’t end there – this place also became popular after Avvaiyar received blessings from Lord Ganesha to write the famous verse ‘Vinayagar Agaval’ which was based on various yoga techniques and even included Meta physics. Avvaiyar was a Tamil poet. Long ago the Tamil kings had many female poets, ministers and warriors.

Whilst here we decided to visit the Ulagalandha Perumal temple –a temple dedicated to the worship of Lord Vishnu. The towers in this temple are the third tallest towers in the state of Tamil Nadu, measuring 192 feet or 59 meters in height. It is said that Lord Vamana Dev, the dwarf incarnation of Lord Vishnu, appeared here to quell the pride of the asura (demonic) king Bali. The Bhagavata Purana describes how Vishnu descended as Lord Vamana to restore Indra’s authority over the heavens when it had been taken over by Bali. Bali was the son of Prahlada Maharaja and grandson of Hiranyakashipu. He had received so much of praise from his courtiers and others that he had begun to regard himself as being the most powerful person in the world. The Lord appeared in the guise of a dwarf brahmana and approached King Bali requesting from him three paces of land. The king agreed to grant his request. Suddenly the dwarf brahmana revealed his true form as the supreme personality of Godhead. He transformed himself to gigantic proportions (in this form the Lord is known as Trivikrama) to claim the land that King Bali had granted him. His first step was from heaven to Earth and the second step was from Earth to the netherworld. The Lord had claimed all of creation available and was left with nowhere else to make his last step. King Bali wanting to fulfill his promise of three paces of land, then offered the Lord his head as the third. The Lord placed his foot upon King Bali’s head and granted him immortality for the humility he had shown. We relished in these pastimes and meditated on the beautiful forms of Lord Vamanadev and Lord Trivikrama whilst we were here. Akhildara Dasa also gave a class on the pastime of Lord Vamana.

Afterwards we all went out on sankirtana distributing 145 Bhagavad-gitas in one day. Once we were done with sankirtana we held gaura-arati –usually we choose a town square where four roads meet and in the centre we have gaura-arati. We start with making announcements and then invite everyone to join the arati. We have noticed that whichever towns we visit many pious people from within the town follow the padayatra from beginning to end, participate in gaura-arati, take prasadam and then return to their homes. On this occasion it was no different with many people attending the gaura–arati.

Every day we travel to new places, hosting various programs here and there. Our advance party of devotees’ head of to our next destination arranging accommodation and whatever else they can before the rest of us arrive. It is not always that whatever we plan happens, after all ‘man proposes, God disposes[1]’. We are never sure of so many things: like where we will have prasadam, how will we get water or where we will have arati –but as my Gurudev, Lokanatha Swami always says, “Nothing happens by chance, it is all the Lord’s arrangement. Whatever happens to a devotee is always auspicious –shoba.” Every day as we travel from town to town we carry Guru and Gauranga in our hearts. We march into the streets eager to discover what the Lord has planned for us. We are all very fortunate to make these new discoveries of the Lord’s causeless mercy. Each day the Lord brings us closer to Him, filling our hearts with realizations.

Jai Nitai Gaurasundar ki!

Jai!

[1] Srimad Bhagavatam 3.4.11 Srila Prabhupada

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post What is the spiritual perspective on organ donation? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Seminar at ISKCON, Chowpatty

Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

PPT

The post Make your own destiny 3 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

​Seminar at ISKCON, Chowpatty

Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

PPT

The post ​Make your own destiny 2 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Seminar at ISKCON, Chowpatty

Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

PPT

The post Make your own destiny 1 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

The post Daily Darshan: May 17th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Harinama in Kiev, Ukraine (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If one chants once only, it is to be understood that he has already passed all the examinations, not to speak of those who are chanting always, twenty-four hours a day. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.33.7 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/89AY88

Human Tie-Dyes: Color Reigns at Oceanside, San Diego, California, Spring Holi Festival.
The Indian cultural event was the Holi Festival of Color at Oceanside Pier, where participants danced and tossed the color powder into the air as music and Hare Krishna mini sermons on peace filled the air.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/YZJgvA

Traditional Indian street festival set to return to Bath later this month.
A traditional Indian street festival, which has been celebrated in India for almost 5,000 years, is returning to the City of Bath on Saturday 28th May.
Rathayatra, the festival of the chariots, takes place all over the world and will be observed by millions.
It’s been traditionally celebrated annually in Jagannath Puri in Orissa, India, where Lord Jagannath along with His sister Subhadra and elder brother Balabhadra are paraded through the streets of the city.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/YEMGUJ

By Madhava Smullen

For thirty years, a very special Lord Nrsimhadeva Deity has protected the devotees of New Vrindaban and all of North America, and received their love and service.

Now, residents of the West Virginia village want to invite people from all over North America to come celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of His installation, and to behold the only full-size Nrsimha Deity on the continent, on His sacred appearance day.

Sculpted by artist Soma Das in New Vrindaban and installed in 1986, the ferocious half-man, half-lion Lord with his deep black skin and golden mane stands at a towering seven feet tall next to his boy devotee Prahlad – so the celebration is sure to be an awe-inspiring spectacle.

Although the original installation was on January 6^th, this year’s epic three-day anniversary festival will run from Friday May 20^th – Nrsimha Chaturdasi – to Sunday May 22^nd.

On the first day, all the devotees will bathe the full-size Deities with a variety of liquids including milk, yoghurt and ghee from New Vindaban’s own protected cows. During this maha-abhisekha, one thousand Nrsimha Kavachas will also be knotted together into one huge garland, and offered to the Lord.

On Saturday, the Nrsimha Kavacha mantra will be chanted 108 times during a fire sacrifice to invoke the feral Lord’s protection, and the thousand Kavachas will be distributed to the guests.

And on both days, there will be dramatic retellings of the story of Nrsimhadeva and Prahlad by award-winning storyteller Sankirtan Das; roaring kirtans, special Nrsimha aratis; and delectable feasts – with many of the community devotees bringing offerings from their homes. Sunday, meanwhile, will wrap things up with a Govardhana parikrama and Sunday Feast.

But perhaps one of the biggest treats of the festival will be the Nrsimha Katha on both Friday and Saturday. Senior Prabhupada disciples Urmila Dasi and Srutakirti Das will speak about Lord Nrsimhadeva’s loving pastimes; Soma Das and other early New Vrindaban devotees will share their memories of sculpting and installing the Lord thirty years ago.

Back then, Soma recalls, New Vrindaban devotees had longed to install Nrsimhadeva for protection for many years.

“Then one day, I was walking from Prabhupada’s Palace down to the old temple at Bahulaban,” he says. “I had already finished my japa, and I remembered reading in the Nectar of Devotion that performing service in your mind is as good as performing it in real life. I started to meditate on making a beautiful Nrsimhadeva Deity, and installing Him in a wonderful temple. So when I was asked later if I wanted to sculpt Him, I was over the moon!”

Like most of the pioneering devotees building up New Vrindaban at the time, Soma, then 32, had no professional experience or education in sculpting. Instead, he had learned on the job; his many sculptures, including a giant Gaura-Nitai and bas relief forms of Jaya and Vijaya, already adorned the community.

Beginning work on Lord Nrsimhadeva and Prahlad Maharaj in October 1985, he first formed the Lord from clay. While doing so, he consulted the Shilpa Shastra and other Vedic texts, particularly the descriptions of Nrsimha in Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam.

He also consulted Sri Vaishnava priest Sampat Kumar Bhattacharya, head of the Tirupati temple authority TTD, who had been personally praised for his expertise by Srila Prabhupada.

It “just so happened” that as Soma was sculpting Lord Nrsimhadeva, the Bhattacharya was visiting nearby Pittsburgh to open a South Indian temple there – the first time a Sri Vaishnava priest had ever done so outside of India.

“He came by, approved my work, and answered all my questions,” Soma says. “Like the whole process, it seemed like divine arrangement. It really felt like Lord Nrsimhadeva wanted to appear in New Vrindaban, and I was just working for Him. It didn’t even feel like I made Him.”

The Deity was completed quickly, in only three months. Kumar, Sudhanu and their mold shop crew made plaster molds from Soma’s clay original and poured in epoxy resin mixed with granite dust and ground-up West Virginia coal for the jet black color. Prahlad, meanwhile, was cast out of cultured white marble.

Although the devotees were pensive because there was only one chance for the cast to work, they breathed a sigh of relief and awe when on the fateful day, Kumar opened the molds to reveal the beautiful Deities of the Lord and His devotee.

“I remember we all ran over to see Him come out of the mold,” recalls Madhurya-lila Dasi. “It was amazing.”

Meanwhile, all the different Deity worship departments at New Vrindaban were in marathon mode as the installation date loomed.

Ishani headed up the jewelry workshop with a small core group, including Madhurya-lila, Gopi, and Janaki, and got help from anyone else she could. Her team created pieces by soldering brass or copper jewelry findings together, electroplating, cutting crystals to create jewels, and hammering relief designs by hand – all of it learned through books and on the job.

“We were working from 7 in the morning until probably 10 or 11 at night,” says Madhurya-lila. “And I’m pretty sure all of us pulled at least one all-nighter.”

Despite this, Madhurya-lila – who will also create the Lord’s jewelry for the 30^th anniversary — says she loved it. “There was a team spirit that I’ve rarely experienced anywhere else in my life. I would go back to that jewelry shop in a heartbeat. There’s no place I’d rather be.”

The result of all this dedicated teamwork was a gorgeous full set of golden jewelry set with red and green jewels for Prahlad and Nrsimhadeva: a large tubular crown, sudarshan chakra, conchshell, earrings, necklaces, arm and ankle bracelets, and tilak and belt. Ishani created the Lord’s eyes as well, along with Kuladri Das.

The Deity Sewing Department, headed by Adhara Dasi and her dedicated crew of women, also worked around the clock in the months leading up to the installation day, creating new outfits for the Lord and His boy devotee. These included a beautiful yellow dhoti and crimson chaddar lined with gold for the Lord, a purple dhoti with violet chaddar for Prahlad, and a velvet backdrop adorned with winding flowered vines.

For the installation on January 6^th, 1986 and surrounding three-day festival, hundreds of devotees from all over North America gathered for ecstatic chanting, dancing, feasting, dramas and more – just as they will on the 30^th anniversary celebration.

Gaura Keshava Das, a brahamana priest who had been trained in South India by Sampat Kumar amongst others, performed the elaborate installation rituals, including fire sacrifices in the yajnashala outside the temple, and Prana Pratistha.

“This involved touching the heart of the Deity, and inviting the Lord to please expand His heart and reside within the Deity, and accept the worship of the devotees,” Gaura Keshava recalls.

During this process, four strong devotees carried the 400-pound Lord into the temple room. A blindfold was removed and His eyes were ceremonially opened. He was then installed with much pomp upon a beautiful golden altar and throne cast by Kumar in New Vrindaban.

From then on, Lord Nrsimhadeva was very merciful to all the New Vrindaban devotees, and especially the Prahlad-like children – in the 1980s, the older gurukula boys would perform all His morning aratis, while once a week the women and younger boys and girls would worship Him.

Today, His early servants such as Srimati, Jayasri and Lokadristi continue to worship Him alongside new pujaris like Abhinandana Das.

And now, at this May’s unmissable 30^th anniversary celebration, we’ll all get to feel His love and protection, as we hear from those who were there how He appeared all those years ago in New Vrindaban.

Iskcon Los Angeles - New Dvaraka - Rukmini Festival (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: No one in this life can chant the holy name of the Lord unless he has passed all lower stages, such as performing the Vedic ritualistic sacrifices, studying the Vedas and practicing good behavior like that of the Aryans. All this must first have been done. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.33.7 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/5W0fTu