Planet ISKCON

Asha a few hours before she left. Read her story.

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Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.10.20.

“Ravana is the personification of lust. All of us conditioned souls are also afflicted by lust, anger, greed—the six enemies. So, externally we have enemies that we must contend with and internally we also have enemies like these six. And the method for fighting both the internal and external enemies is the same. That is we fight according to our ability, thinking of the Lord and depending on the Lord’s mercy. Because without the Lord’s mercy we cannot be successful in any endeavor including fighting the internal and external enemies. This principle was not only espoused by our spiritual master but it was also practiced by him”

Rama-navami, Los Angeles

When we examine the path of our life, we may note that we became the person we are today through a judicious combination of education, the kindness of others, intelligence and hard work. It all adds up, and we are the sum total of all the choices and efforts we’ve made. But then there’s the life-changing power of sheer luck. Something happened to change the course of our life, some random happening that was nothing of our own doing. A meeting with someone that re-directed our life for the better. Call it the mysterious Hand of Fate, Providence, or just being in the right place at the right time.

When Max Eisen looked at his life he could only reflect on the miraculous series of chance encounters that saved his life several times over. As a boy of only 15 he was arrested in Hungary and taken to Auschwitz concentration camp where he was sent to work until the point of exhaustion. Starved and physically injured by an SS guard, he was saved by the kindness of a fellow prisoner, a doctor, who treated his injury and then engaged him as a cleaner inside the infamous camp hospital. In that living hell, he came to learn of the depths to which humans can stoop.

Separated from sixty relatives, all of whom perished, he was forced on a death march in January, 1945 to Ebbensee camp, some 600 kilometers away. He was finally rescued in the closing days of the war when an African-American army tank battalion, the 761st, liberated the camp.

When I met Max at a family wedding, two years ago, his book was still a work in progress. Although he’d been tirelessly travelling and speaking to groups and organisations about his experiences, he’d never completed a written version of his story. I am delighted to learn that his book By Chance Alone, published by Harper Collins, will be launched on 19th April.

It is a sad fact that anti-Semitism is on the rise. In the name of being anti-Israel or anti-Zionism,  many are speaking words that have not been heard since the 1930s in Europe. Even some who are considered intelligent are denying the severity of the holocaust. The generation who survived the holocaust are all too few in number, and it is essential that we hear from them. Democracy is a very fragile thing, and it is all too easy for the same extremes of political thought to arise once again. We should understand where that leads.

At 87, Max Eisen is a living witness to one of the greatest atrocities in history. His book is a testimony of his courage and survival, and of how he coped with the painful aftermath of liberation, a time of physical and psychological healing.

 

Here are photos and recordings of Kadamba Kanana Swami from the Sunday Program on 10 April, taken at the Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple in Durban.

KKS_DBN_10April2016_SundayProgram_Kirtan

KKS_DBN_10April2016_SundayProgram_Lecture

 

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​Ram-Navmi class at ISKCON, Nasik

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By Bhakti Tirtha Swami

Imagine that your doctor has just informed you that you have a serious case of cancer or AIDS, and you are going to die in three months. If this were your fate, how would you live each of your last days differently? This reflection helps remind us that we can never be certain how much longer we will remain in this material body. Therefore, we must not procrastinate or have a weak list of priorities. Important things essential things must be done now! We must live each day in readiness to depart if our appointment with death arrives. The exercise is to imagine that you are dying right now, and can see what you are leaving behind and the effect that your death will have on others. What are your last thoughts? What are your regrets? What things you have left undone? You should do these things today. Continue reading "Essential Technologies For Empowered Management
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Varnasrama series.

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By Vraja Bihari Dasa

No sooner do chanters begin their meditation session than the mind becomes restless, digging into past memories, running again and again over present worries, and exploring the future. Much of this mental life is fantasizing about all the ways we can enjoy and all the ways we can suffer-reliving experiences, painful or pleasant,and planning endlessly. Anything but being present while we’re chanting. We have to wonder why chanting makes the mind so defiant. To answer that question takes us to the crux of our identity: we are pure spirit souls who originally served God in the spiritual world with love and devotion. When we left His shelter and decided to enjoy independently of Him, we began to face the endless complexities of this world. Complexity is almost synonymous with struggle when you’re dealing with matter. Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (15.15), “The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.” Continue reading "Chanting Challenges
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Mechanics of Spirituality.
Sutapa das: When we neglect to invest quality time and attention into performing these simple acts of devotion, we start tending towards the religious more than the spiritual. Here are some classic symptoms of mechanical spirituality:
I ‘fit in’ my practices as opposed to prioritizing a suitable time of day
I ‘multi-task’ my practices as opposed to giving them exclusive focus and attention
I have no serious plans (or desires) to increase and enhance my practices
I look for excuses and justification to neglect my spiritual practices
I have no quality remembrance of the goal while performing my spiritual practices
The mind frequently wanders during my practices, and I happily let it travel.
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KK Bindu #373 Released. KK Bindu #373 includes: Translations of various acaryas on a verse of Vedanta-sutra.
The latest issue of Sri Krishna-kathamrita Bindu e-magazine was just released. This issue includes:
* Remain Foolish – From a letter by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
* No Returning Back – A fresh translation done especially for this issue of Bindu of five different acarya’s commentaries on Vedanta-sutra (4.4.22). It can be downloaded here:
https://archive.org/details/bindu373

Initiation Ceremony April 2016 held at Pakistan (Album with photos)
A devotee, because he is working as a śūdra, he is not a śūdra; neither he is a brāhmaṇa. He is already in the spiritual platform. But for management we have to do that. One can do the śūdra’s work nicely—let him be engaged in that way.
10 Devotees in which 3 of them got Second Initiation and 7 of them got Frist Initiation from HH Gopal Krishna Goswami.
Devotees got further amazed by the Lecture given by Sarvabhauma Prabhu (DR.Shishupal).
A devotee is neither brāhmaṇa nor śūdra. He may act like a śūdra, but he is not śūdra. He may act like a brāhmaṇa; he is not brāhmaṇa. He is Vaiṣṇava. Just like gopīs. The gopīs, they are village cowherds women. They are, according to social construction, they are not very high class. They did not belong to the brāhmaṇa class. But their worship, method of worship, has been taken the highest. Ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū-vargeṇa. They were village girls, and practically their character was also not good. Because at dead of night they are going to Kṛṣṇa. But why they have been taken as the most topmost devotee of Kṛṣṇa? Because the love was so high class. It is the test, how much one has learned to love Kṛṣṇa. That is wanted. Apparently he may appear as a brāhmaṇa, a śūdra or vaiśya. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.
Second initiation is real initiation. First initiation is the preliminary, just to make him prepared, just like primary and secondary education. The first initiation gives him chance to become purified, and when he is actually purified then he is recognized as a brahmana and that means real initiation. The eternal bond between disciple and spiritual master begins from the first day he hears. Just like my spiritual master.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/qtfguP

By ISCOWP

Asha passed away April 11, 2016 on Sri Ramanujacarya’s appearance day. After one month of sitting under the live oak trees she left her body. She dealt with her paralyzed legs with great grace as she dealt with her disability throughout her life. She never complained and was patient throughout. The whole time she was listening to the chanting of the holy name and receiving Govardhana dust, Tulasi leaves and prasad flowers. She was in this meditative position for one month. She left with dignity and grace. Please pray for her safe journey.This is a photo of her in her last hours and the story of her follows.

The arms of the old, live oak trees shelter her. Their canopy is 100 feet high and she sits beneath. She is shaded, so maybe she would have sat there willingly. But Asha cannot walk, she is paralyzed. She was born with a deformed hip and no one wanted her. She could walk then and her owners brought her to us. Her name is Asha and she is a Black Angus cow.

She is no ordinary cow. Then again, who is an ordinary cow? No cow is ordinary. All cows are important according to Srila Prabupada.

“The bull is the emblem of the moral principle, and the cow is the representative of the earth. When the bull and the cow are in a joyful mood, it is to be understood that the people of the world are also in a joyful mood. The reason is that the bull helps the production of grains in the agricultural field, and the cow delivers milk, the miracle of aggregate food values. The human society maintains these two important animals very carefully so that they can wander everywhere in cheerfulness.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.18 Srila Prabhupada purport)

Asha’s deformed hip made it difficult for her to walk in a straight path. She was our “hula” girl as her hips would sway from side to side to get down or up a hill. Often, she could be seen walking sideways down a hill.

Asha was born on a farm that bred Black Angus cows for breeding stock. Because Asha had a hip deformity she could not be sold for breeding. She could be sold for meat, but her owners could not do that and had never done that with any of their cows. They asked us several times to take her and we finally agreed. She came to us as a baby. That was 13 years ago.

When she first came the vet examined her and said she probably would not live more than a few years. The possibility of the nerves in her hip and other legs becoming pinched and her becoming paralyzed were strong and likely to happen sooner than later. But Asha bravely kept walking.

Just by being a cow, Asha is important. She is also important because she represents the personality of the Earth.

The personality of religious principles, Dharma, was wandering about in the form of a bull. And he met the personality of earth in the form of a cow who appeared to grieve like a mother who had lost her child. She had tears in her eyes, and the beauty of her body was lost. Thus Dharma questioned the earth as follows. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.18)

She is also important because Srila Prabupada has told us, anyone who cares for her can draw religious principles.

For a Sanatanist (a follower of Vedic principles) it is the duty of every householder to have cows and bulls as household paraphernalia, not only for drinking milk, but also for deriving religious principles. The Sanatanist worships cows on religious principles and respects brahmanas. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.17.3 Srila Prabhupada Purport)

And she is important because we love her and we care about her.

Every few hours we take her water and hay. She continues to eat and drink. We clean up her cow dung and make sure she is clean. We spray her to prevent flies. We make sure the CD is playing with Srila Prabhupada chanting japa or bhajan. We give her a little prasad. And we pray for Lord Krishna’s mercy upon her. It is beginning the fourth week that Asha has been sitting under the old, live oak trees. Some of the trees are over 250 years old and their patient tolerance can be felt by anyone who sits beneath.

She went down in the north pasture. There was no shade there and it was hot. All the cows gathered around her, licking her and pushing her in an effort to get her up. She tried to but her front legs would not support her which never happened before. We waited to see if she would gain strength and get up but she didn’t. We then decided to get her up with a cow sling with the hope her legs would revive once they were free. Her legs were lifeless. We then moved her, by use of the cow sling, to a shady place.

She wishes to live. Please give us the strength to care for her until she decides to visit the Surabhi cows in Vaikuntha loka. Please guide her on her journey.

ISCOWP

Harinama in Kumeu, New Zealand (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: As soon as you offer yourself to be enjoyed by Krishna as servant, according to His order you serve, then immediately you are in the spiritual world. If you want to remain in the spiritual world, this temple is the spiritual world. We are not living in Melbourne. This temple is not Melbourne. It is Vaikuntha. It is Vrindavan. So if you stick to this temple service, Krishna’s service, then you are not in this material world. Melbourne, June 25, 1974.
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Harinama in Kyoto, Japan (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Oh, how glorious are they whose tongues are chanting Your holy name! Even if born in the families of dog-eaters, such persons are worshipable. Persons who chant the holy name of Your Lordship must have executed all kinds of austerities and fire sacrifices and achieved all the good manners of the Aryans. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.33.7 Purport)
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Book distribution in Hollywood, CA (Album with photos)
HH Devamrita Swami, Bhrigupati Das, and Jaya Kush distribute books together in Hollywood, CA.
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Chaitanya, although Krishna Himself, appealed to His friends and helpers to help Him in His mission and what to speak of me; I am just an ordinary human being. So I need your help. Letter to Yogesvara, June 12, 1971.
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April 16. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: The Attraction of Sound
Carol: It was a very interracial, music-oriented scene. There were a few professional musicians, and a lot of people who enjoyed playing or just listening. Some people were painting in some of the lofts. And that’s basically what was going on. We had memorable kirtanas. One time there was a beautiful ceremony. Some of us went over early to prepare for it. There must have been a hundred people who came that day.
For the Bowery crowd, sound was spirit and spirit was sound, in a merging of music and meditation. But for Prabhupada, music without the name of God wasn’t meditation; it was sense gratification, or at most, a kind of stylized, impersonal meditation. But he was glad to see the musicians coming to play along in his kirtanas, to hear him and to chant responsively. Some, having stayed up all night playing somewhere on their instruments, would come by in the morning and sing with the Swami. He did not dissuade them from their focus on sound; rather, he gave them sound. In the Vedas, sound is said to be the first element in the material creation; the source of sound is God and God is eternally a person. Prabhupada’s emphasis was on getting people to chant God’s personal, transcendental name. Whether they took it as jazz, folk music, rock, or Indian meditation made no difference, as long as they began to chant Hare Krishna.
Carol: Whenever he had the chanting, the people were fairly in awe of the Swami. On the Bowery a kind of transcendence came out in a ringing of the cymbals. He used the harmonium and many people played hand cymbals. Sometimes he played the drum. In the very beginning he stressed the importance of sound, and the realization of Godhead through sound. That was, I suppose, the attraction that these musicians found in him – the emphasis on sound as a means to attaining transcendence in the Godhead. But he wanted a serious thing. He was interested in discipleship.
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The Attraction of Sound

Rama Navami is the day on which Lord Rama incarnated in human form in the land of Ayodhya.

Lord Rama exemplified the perfect person (maryada purushottam). He was the embodiment of compassion, gentleness, kindness, righteousness and integrity. Although he had unlimited power, he was still peaceful and gentle.

Lord Rama came down to earth to battle the invincible Ravana in human form. Lord Brahma  received complaints from the demigods about the havoc that Ravana was wreaking on earth, but because Lord Brahma had granted Ravana so many boons, he could not be killed by any demigod. However, Ravana became so over-confident that he never expected an attack from a human being.

The Supreme Lord came to earth as Prince Rama, the son of King Dasharath and Queen Kaushalya.

Holi Festival of Colors 360 Degree Video (3 min video)
Experience the biggest Holi Festival of Colors in the Western Hemisphere in 360° video. In such a combative and divided world, attending the Holi Festival and immersing yourself in its philosophy of love and acceptance is a relief. Caru Das, the temple’s priest, explains.
To watch 360-degree videos, you’ll need the latest version of Chrome, Opera, Firefox, or Internet Explorer on your computer. On mobile, use the latest version of the YouTube app for Android or iOS.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/lOQ784

"People stopped to stare at the unusual sight: a sannyasi sitting on a bench and a Buddhist monk meditating on the ground next to him. They looked at me as if asking for an explanation, but I had none. I could only sit silently while he offered prayers on my behalf."

At 4.30am each morning the monks commence their 4-hour spiritual workout. Each and every day, 365 days a year. To an onlooker it may seem like a monotonous and mechanical regime. Seasoned practitioners, however, will testify that these tried and tested external practices open up an internal world of bottomless depth.