Planet ISKCON

“We Cannot Help You”

TO REALIZE OUR SPIRITUAL SELVES AS TOTAL GIVERS--HOW MUCH DO YOU GIVE, AND HOW MUCH DO YOU HOLD BACK?: Although Krishna, or God, is the Supreme Enjoyer, he is also the Supreme Giver, which we should take note of, and pray to put into practice in our lives. Krishna naturally and effortlessly sustains, supports, and maintains the infinite universes and the souls who populate them ,even as he is the owner of everything and is meant to be served. As part of him, we are also by nature givers, but being covered by material bodies, we are consumed with keeping our bodies and our dependents alive through service.

We have to serve to live, and it is the "religion" of the soul to serve, just as honey is sweet, or chilies are hot. The perfection of service is to serve the interest of the Supreme Source, or Krishna. When we don't serve God, no matter how many souls covered by material bodies we serve, we will never be totally fulfilled, as that service is temporary and limited, and we have the desire to help others to an unlimited degree and forever.

I can say for myself that my desire to serve, help, and love appears much greater than my physical capacity. I see how selfish I am and how focused on taking care of my body and mind, especially in my current illness. As I have shared before, I have to spend so much time just to stay alive and improve my health. While I admit that this service can also be service to others since I can't fully serve with an unhealthy body, I also see how easy it is to not do more than this.

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Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Antya-lila Ch 8.

“The rabbi said he felt like his energy was being drained. So, I asked him. ‘Is there anything that gives you energy? Maybe you can focus on those things.’ He mentioned one or two things but what I clearly remember is he said. ‘This might come as a surprise to you but when I minister to a congregant who is about to pass away I get energy.’ And I could relate to that because it is a very surcharged situation. It can be a terrible situation if the person identifies with the body and has been very sinful, it can be terrifying. This is a very important time—its like the final exam and to help someone pass the final exam of their life is the best service you can do.”

Sri Madhavendra Puri and Life’s Final Exam

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Vrindavan, India, February 2013, Lecture)

We are not just hearing the Caitanya Caritamrta and we are not just reading the Caitanya Caritamrta, we are living the Caitanya Caritamrta right now actually! The pastimes of Caitanya Mahaprabhu are not over yet. The golden age is just beginning. The miracle is just beginning to happen and we are in it!

After attending the intense meetings in Sridham Mayapur, Guru Maharaj came to Ujjain on 12th March 2016. Then on 14th March Guru Maharaj came to Govardhan Eco Village, Wada, Mumbai for giving classes at the GBC college. There he spent time together with his very dear god-brother HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj. As many other cities […]

The post HH Bhakti Charu Swami visits Pune appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

Rishikesh Harinama, Himalaya, India (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The Hare Krishna movement is present in every millennium of Lord Brahma’s life, and the holy name is chanted in all the higher planetary systems, including Brahmaloka and Candraloka, not to speak of Gandharvaloka and Apsaroloka. The sankirtana movement that was started in this world five hundred years ago by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is therefore not a new movement. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 2.7.15 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/QKOq24

HH Bhakti Vaibhava Swami: Cooperate and get benedictions! (25 min video)
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear sons of the King, I am very much pleased by the friendly relationships among you. All of you are engaged in one occupation—devotional service. I am so pleased with your mutual friendship that I wish you all good fortune. Now you may ask a benediction of Me.
PURPORT
Since the sons of King Pracinabarhisat were all united in Krsna consciousness, the Lord was very pleased with them. Each and every one of the sons of King Pracinabarhisat was an individual soul, but they were united in offering transcendental service to the Lord. The unity of the individual souls attempting to satisfy the Supreme Lord or rendering service to the Lord is real unity. In the material world such unity is not possible. Even though people may officially unite, they all have different interests. In the United Nations, for instance, all the nations have their particular national ambitions, and consequently they cannot be united. Disunity between individual souls is so strong within this material world that even in a society of Krsna consciousness, members sometimes appear disunited due to their having different opinions and leaning toward material things. Actually, in Krsna consciousness there cannot be two opinions. There is only one goal: to serve Krsna to one’s best ability. If there is some disagreement over service, such disagreement is to be taken as spiritual. Those who are actually engaged in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be disunited in any circumstance. This makes the Supreme Personality of Godhead very happy and willing to award all kinds of benediction to His devotees, as indicated in this verse. We can see that the Lord is immediately prepared to award all benedictions to the sons of King Pracinabarhisat.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/gWlwhs

Saint Patrick’s Day Parade London March 2016 (3 min video)
Parasuram das: This was a great opportunity to distribute Prasad, the Holy Name and Srila Prabhupada’s books. We chanted the Holy Names with all we had and hopefully it pleased Srila Prabhupada & St Patrick :-)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/Ptw5iK

Timesoara Sunday feast talk. Part 1

The post Srila Prabhupada arrives in America (Part 2) appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

By Srila Bhaktivinod Thakura

It was at the age of 16 or 17 that He travelled to Gaya with a host of His students and there took His spiritual initiation from Isvara Puri, a Vaisnava 'sannyasi' and a disciple of the renowned Madhavendra Puri. Upon His return to Nadia, Nimai Pandita turned religious preacher, and His religious nature became so strongly represented that Advaita Prabhu, Srivasa and others who had before the birth of Caitanya already accepted the Vaisnava faith were astonished at the change of the young man. He was then no more a contending 'naiyayika', a wrangling 'smarta' and a criticizing rhetorician. He swooned at the name of Krsna and behaved as an inspired man under the influence of His religious sentiment. It has been described by Murari Gupta, an eye-witness, that He showed His heavenly powers in the house of Srivasa Pandita in the presence of hundreds of His followers, who were mostly well-read scholars. It was at this time that He opened a nocturnal school of 'kirtana' in the compound of Srivasa Pandita with His sincere followers. Continue reading "Sri Krishna Chaitanya (Gauranga) Mahaprabhu – Appearance
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The post Daily Darshan : March 20th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Saturday a day of two half’s during the day time I was out in the Bristol Channel on a rib-boat getting splashed and a little cold

Then home with an hour to cook a feast ready, thankfully a lovely subge and cake were provided by two amazing devotees for a small group coming to my house for an evening of chanting, dancing and singing.

It was so nice to catch up with some amazing devotees some of whom I’ve not seen for a while, but also reminded me of the joys of opening one’s home; something I regularly did but for some reason stopped. But with some encouragement from a few new devotees stirred the enthusiasm.

I chose to make it an open house event, and hope that by using social media the numbers attending will steadily increase which means a regular commitment; hope you all enjoy the small video

Hare Krishna

By Aniruddha Dasa

In a conversation with Acintya Rupa last night I was reminded of an incident that occurred in Mayapur during the GBC meetings and the importance of mass prasadam distribution. I happened to be in earshot of a rather intense conversation between two old friends, Ramabhadra Prabhu and Ramesvara Prabhu. They are currently at loggerheads over the selling of the Brooklyn property. The conversation was intense but, might I add, entirely amicable and respectful. There are ways to disagree as Vaisnavas and still be gentlemen. It is all about respect. More on that later.

In the course of the conversation Ramabhadra Prabhu mentioned the success of their Govinda’s restaurant in the Brooklyn temple and how he was telephoned by an Aussie who looked up Govinda’s and found it on Yelp. He wanted me to know they had travelled half way around the world to seek out Govinda’s. This is not an uncommon occurrence. Praghosa Prabhu, our immediate past GBC Chairman, often tells me stories of Aussies visiting Ireland from the Gold Coast, Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne specifically seeking out the Hare Krsna restaurants they expect to find in every capital city of the world. He oversees the running of several successful restaurants in Ireland and England.

In the video I just viewed it was mentioned we have 110 restaurants around the world. By those calculations that means ten percent of those restaurants are in Australia. That really isn’t good enough, in my humble opinion.

The positive reputation of ISKCON in Australia is built in good part on the good will created by the prasadam distribution of our restaurants and the vegetarian or bhakti yoga clubs in our universities. It is an essential element of connecting with the man on the street, especially in countries with small populations where you can’t sell a book to an individual every day of the week. They will however, be hungry every day, and happy to pay for a good, healthy, scrumptious meal of delicious Krsna prasadam. Sometimes eating more than one meal a day!
We should take advantage of this global opportunity!

Here’s another interesting story. We had one elderly gentleman who used to eat every day at Gopal’s. For an older person that is an effort because those stairs at Gopal’s take quite a bit of effort to climb. I recall he had a turn in the restaurant one day when he was close to his denouement. As it turned out he left ISKCON a substantial amount of funds in his will. He used to visit the temple for the Sunday Feast, religiously, and Gopal’s was his daily lunchtime haunt.

So when Aussies go abroad, they expect to find a Gopal’s or a Govinda’s in every capital city of the world. The tragedy is, we don’t have them. The opportunity still remains. It was recommended by Srila Prabhupada as a preaching strategy, as well as a steady source of income. Not only that, as we have found, it is followed by immense good will and appreciation of Krsna consciousness amongst the rank and file. We don’t have to indoctrinate, we simply have to feed, and everyone appreciates the benefits. That, and chant Hare Krsna, of course.

“Our chanting is medicine and our prasadam is the diet for curing material disease.” SPL to Himavati, 7th June, 1967

The board members of ISKCON New Vrindaban and ECO-Vrindaban humbly invite all New Vrindaban residents and well-wishers to participate in the upcoming weekend activities.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE:

Friday, April 15th.

6:00 pm to 9:00 pm: Rama Navami Celebrations & Feast (at Radha Vrindabanchandra’s Temple)

Saturday, April 16th.

9:45 am to 1:30 pm: Department Head Presentations for 2016 (under the Lodge)

1:30 pm to 2:30 pm: Lunch Prasadam (at Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s Temple)

2:30 pm to 5:00 pm: Community Dialog (under the Lodge)

7:00 pm to 9:00 pm: Rama Navami Celebrations (at Radha Vrindabanchandra’s Temple)

Sunday, April 17th.

10:00 am to 1:00 pm: New Vrindaban Community Tour (various locations, weather permitting)

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm: Sunday Program & Feast (at Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s Temple)

3:30 pm to 5:00 pm: Lifetime Community Service Appreciations (under the Lodge)

Life and pastimes of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
“Most of His contemporary biographers have mentioned certain anecdotes regarding Caitanya which are simple records of His early miracles. It is said that when He was an infant in His mother’s arms He wept continually, and when the neighbouring ladies cried ‘Haribol’ He used to stop. Thus there was a continuation of utterance of 'Haribol’ in the house, foreshewing the future mission of the hero. It has also been stated that when His mother gave Him sweetmeats to eat, He ate clay instead of the food. His mother, asking for the reason, He stated that as every sweetmeat was nothing but clay transformed, He could eat clay as well. His mother, who was also the consort of a 'pandita’, explained that every article in a special state was adapted to a special use. Earth, while in the state of a jug, could be used as a water pot, but in the state of a brick such a use was not possible. Clay, therefore in the form of sweetmeats was usable as food, but clay in its other states was not. The lad was convinced and admitted His stupidity in eating clay and agreed to avoid the mistake in the future. Another miraculous act has been related.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/V0tGv9

By Giriraj Swami

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared on the full-moon day of the month of Phalguna in Sri Navadvipa-dhama in western Bengal. He manifested His pastimes on earth for forty-eight years. For the first twenty-four years, in Navadvipa, He played the role of a child, then of a youth, and then of a married man; for the next six years He traveled throughout India and preached; and for the final eighteen years He resided in Jagannatha Puri. Every year at the time of caturmasya, the four months of the rainy season, devotees from Bengal used to come to Puri to associate personally with the Lord and to observe the Ratha-yatra ceremony. And the Lord would always reciprocate with the devotees who came to meet Him. Continue reading "Gaura-purnima
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A new sannyasi for Iskcon (Album with photos)
It is with great joy that we announce that HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami
awarded sannyasa to HG Mahat Tattva Prabhu on the auspicious day of Ekadasi, Saturday, 19 March 2016 at ISKCON Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. Mahat Tattva Prabhu is the first devotee to receive the renounced order of life from Maharaja.
Srila Prabhupada: Any devotee who has developed genuine love for Krishna can also explain the truth about Krishna because Krishna helps such sincere devotee seated in his heart. Delhi, September 20, 1967.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/MJWt81

Vaishnava Winter Festival in Lithuania, 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The Lord’s holy name is called sravana-mangala. This means that one receives everything auspicious simply by hearing the holy name. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 2.7.15 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/sUI0Bs

March 20. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada is Praiseworthy.
The concept of guru-disciple is not foreign anywhere in the world. Credit is given to teachers and spiritual directors, but not with the emphasis found in the Vaisnava sampradāya. People think that too much dependence or praise of the guru is cultish, a kind of deification of an ordinary man. They look for feet of clay in all heroes, and signs of exaggerated and sentimental dependency in the followers. So we strive to exemplify the real relationship. The spiritual master is praiseworthy, and although we may be foolish, he’s still able to lead us out of the material world, to shelter in eternality, bliss and knowledge. If the world leaders are not praising Srila Prabhupada in the authorized parampara, then “stand-ins” such as this writer will have to do it until the world discovers that this is the real responsibility of everyone.
Dear Srila Prahbupada,
You are a reservoir of Krishna consciousness. You pump fresh water into the parched population. You replenish your own resources in the cloudbank of Krishna’s mercy. His blessings flow down to us from the mountains of the previous acaryas. The reign of Krishna’s mercy runs down the mountainsides and deposits the rich loam of the acarya’s realization directly into your own reservoir.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=6

Prabhupada is Praiseworthy

Dear Community Members,

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

We would like to invite you to the New Vrindaban Village Association Inauguration Party on Saturday, March 26th, 2016 (5pm – 8pm). There will be great prasadam, great entertainment and great association, and the Village Association participants will receive a very special gift for becoming a member.The event will be held in the Community Hall, underneath the Palace Lodge. Please see the schedule below…..

Please come with your friends and family members. We very much look forward to your participation.

Thank you.

Your servant,

Vrindavan dasa

Dear Devotees,
Please Accept My Humble Obeisances,
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

Saint Patrick’ parade London March 2016

It was a great opportunity to distribute Prasad, the Holy Name and Srila Prabhupada’s books.

Then chanted the Holy Names with all we had. It pleased St Patrick and Srila Prabhupada.

See you all next year!

Your Servant
Parasuram Das

About Gaura Purnima(Fasting till moon rise): Lord Caitanya appeared only to teach us by example "How to love the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna" and to gain full enlightenment simply by chanting His holy names; HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE. Thus He brought a revolution in spiritual consciousness by inaugurating the chanting and dancing.

Gaura Purnima meaning Golden Full Moon which signifies lord Caitanya appeared during full moon night by taking the golden complexion of Radha Rani to bless everyone without any discrimination based on background or spiritual qualification with His soothing moon like rays of His sublime teachings. Those who witnessed the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, saw Him dance and chant with ecstatic love for God,the likes of which had never been seen before.

 Sri Caitanya's teachings cover three principal topics:

    *Knowledge of soul's relationship with Krishna
    *The method of awakening that relationship and
    *The awakened state of that relationship(pure love of God)

He predicted that nama sankirtana would spread in every town and village.
 "Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam"
 Siksastakam http://www.harekrsna.de/Siksastaka/Siksastakam-E.htm,the eight instructions of Lord Sri Caitanya should be followed by everyone in order to become a pure devotee.

NBS#33 Gaura Purnima Special Edition - Siksastakam.
On the most auspicious occasion of Sri Gaura Purnima, this issue is dedicated on the eight verses left behind by the most merciful Lord Gauranga!
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has given the benediction
“Those surrendered souls who read the Sri Siksastaka prayers, which are the nectarean words flowing from the mouth of the Supreme Lord Gauranga, with devotion, will certainly be attracted to the honey from Lord Chaitanya’s lotus feet, and like intoxicated bees, plunge into the lily-filled lake of krishna-prema.”
We pray that this issue brings some pleasure to the devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
NBS # 33 Features:-
1) The Inconceivable Behavior Of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami
2) Lord Chaitanya’s Mission
His Divine Grace A .C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
3) Understanding Siksastakam
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura &
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura
This issue can be viewed through these links:
ISSUU: http://issuu.com/nbsmag/docs/nbs_33
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/doc/305313239/NBS-33

HG Mahat Tattva Prabhu’s sannyasa name is HH Bhakti Anand Tirtha Swami Maharaj.
Srila Prabhupada: A spiritual master or leader should not be proud of his position; being always humbler than an ordinary common man, he should go on preaching the cult of Caitanya Mahaprabhu by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 17.31 Purport)

Home kirtan program in Italy (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If one wants success in practical yoga practice, it is advised that he take to the chanting of Hare Krishna and he will actually feel himself making progress. In Bhagavad-gita this practice of Krishna consciousness is prescribed as raja-vidya, or the king of all erudition. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.15.45 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/cS6BMb

Home kirtan program at Montclair, NJ, United States (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The demigods are pleased when sacrifices are performed, just as prison officers are satisfied when the prisoners are turned into obedient subjects. Lord Caitanya, however, has recommended only one yajna, or sacrifice, called the sankirtana-yajna, the chanting of Hare Krishna, in which everyone can take part. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.6.20 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/tGKTYK

A Hip New Way to Preach - The Artwork of Adidev das.
Adideva das is known for his artistic contributions in the Krishna conscious community. Some of his sculptures include the dioramas in the Los Angeles and Detroit temples and the 3=D dioramas at the Festival of India. At New Raman Reti, our japa walk features his sculptures depicting the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita.
Srila Prabhupada encouraged him to work as an artist. Adideva prabhu describes his introduction to Krishna consciousness as making art. During his first meeting with Srila Prabhupada, he was asked to sculpt Panca Tattva. Srila Prabhupada took the sculpting work quite seriously and said that he wanted dioramas all over the world. Due to circumstances, funds for this project were frozen but Adideva prabhu’s preaching through art prevailed.
Read more: http://goo.gl/GX9ETx

This Land Of Love And Bliss (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Today I am leaving beloved Vrindavan for a 6 week preaching tour of Australia, New Zealand and China. My heart is torn between staying and going, but go I must because it is the desire of my spiritual master to introduce others to Sri Vrindavan Dhama. This morning I visited Radha Kunda to bath and beg for mercy. If it is Srimati Radharani’s desire then one day I will again return to this land of love and bliss.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/TPWklH

Purushottam Nitai Das: He was so insignificant materially that no one cared about him. He was an unknown person living a life of penury. So, during the mahaprakash pastimes, when Lord Chaitanya told the devotees to bring Sridhar to him then all were amazed.

“Why is the Supreme Lord so concerned about him? And most importantly where could we find him?” The devotees were wondering.

“Go out and you will hear someone loudly chanting the holy names of the Lord. Follow the sound and you will come to the beautiful house of Sridhar.” Lord Chaitanya said.

Devotees immediately left and soon could hear the loud chanting of the Lord’s name. They followed the holy sound which took them to the house of Sridhar. It was a straw hut with so many holes in the roof, the floor was of mud. There was nothing worthy in the house except a rusted broken iron pot which contained little water.

When Sridhar saw the devotees he was overjoyed and when he heard that Lord Chaitanya wanted to see him he was overwhelmed with emotions.

He had a long association with the Supreme Lord. As a young boy the Lord would daily come to him to purchase banana products from him. Sridhar sold kola (banana) leaves, plants, stalks and plates and so was called Kolavecha Sridhar. The Lord used to have sweet loving exchange with his dear devotees. Sridhar was such a kind hearted person that he charged a very fair price for his products and whatever he earned fifty percent of it he used to spend in worshipping mother Ganges. But when Nimai Pandita would come to buy products from him then he would accuse Sridhar of charging exorbitant price. The argument about the price would go on for hours and finally the Lord would say I will not pay anything for the products and would just take it away or pay a very meagre amount much less than what Sridhar asked for. And the materially impoverished but spiritually nourished Sridhar could not say anything because he used to get captivated by the beauty of young Nimai.

During Krishna lila when a fruit selling lady saw Krishna then she offered the entire basket of fruits to Krishna without expecting any payment in return. She then immediately ran back home to bring more fruits for beautiful Krishna.

Nimai would often tell to Sridhar, “You just pretend to be poor, you have lots of wealth which you have hidden from all and a day will come when I will show your hidden treasure to the whole world.”

And today Lord Chaitanya had called him to show the world that how Sridhar’s opulence had no parallels in the whole world. As soon as Sridhar entered the house of Srivas Pandita where Lord Chaitanya was waiting for him, he became unconscious out of deep love.

Lord Chaitanya was very pleased to see his dear friend and he eagerly wanted to satisfy Sridhar’s all wishes today. And so he asked, “Tell me, what you want?” Sridhar remained quiet. Lord Chaitanya said, “If you want, I will give you the eight mystic powers or make you the king of an empire.” Sridhar did not say anything. He was too satisfied by being in the company of the beautiful Lord. But the Supreme Lord wasn’t satisfied; he thought he is not being able to satisfy Sridhar. It seemed that the Supreme Lord was ready to give anything to Sridhar today – even the throne of Indra or Brahma.

Unable to satisfy Sridhar, the Lord finally asked him what he wants. And Sridhar who was overjoyed with deep love said to the Lord, “I do not want anything from you. I just want YOU.” All the assembled devotees were struck with wonder seeing the extraordinary devotional qualities of Sridhar. Sridhar was echoing the mood which the Supreme Lord wants all his devotees to have:

“O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth.” Siksastakam 4

Extremely pleased, the Supreme Lord granted pure devotional service to Sridhar which is very rarely achieved. Sridhar had no material wealth but had unparalleled spiritual wealth. Wealth of this ephemeral world does not accompany us when we leave this world. But if we have wealth of Krishna’s love in our heart then it remains with us for eternity bringing deep satisfaction and unlimited joy. Sridhar’s exemplary life shows what pure devotion is. In our spiritual journey we should look within and check if we are following the footsteps of Sridhar or not. If not then we should immediately go for course correction if we sincerely want love of Krishna.

(Purushottam Nitai Das is a member of congregation at Iskcon Kolkata. He blogs at http://krishnamagic.blogspot.co.uk/)

His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj gave very wonderful seminar on “Why Krishna came as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu” at ISKCON Mayapur on 2nd and 3rd March 2016. Please find two lectures: Part 1:   Part 2:

The post Sravana Utsava 2016 – Mayapur appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

On March 8th, 2016, there was the prize distribution ceremony in Mayapur for all sankirtan devotees. Mayapur has a very powerful team of about 100 fully dedicated book distributors. The occasion was celebrated in the divine presence of HH Jayapataka Swami, HH Gopal Krishna Goswami, HH Bhakti Purushottama Swami, HH Subhag Swami, HG Bashughosh Prabhu […]

The post The prize distribution ceremony of Mayapur Sankirtana appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

Lecture by HH Bhakti Madhurya Govinda Swami at ISKCON Mayapur ON 2016-03-15

Sridham Mayapur is actually the centre of the universe you can say Kurushetra you can say other places but Sridham Mayapur is the real centre of the universe.

Reading from 7^th canto chapter 2 text 16

TEXT 16

evaṁ viprakṛte loke

daityendrānucarair muhuḥ

divaṁ devāḥ parityajya

bhuvi cerur alakṣitāḥ

TRANSLATION

Thus disturbed again and again by the unnatural occurrences caused by the followers of Hiraṇyakaśipu, all the people had to cease the activities of Vedic culture. Not receiving the results of yajña, the demigods also became disturbed. They left their residential quarters in the heavenly planets and, unobserved by the demons, began wandering on the planet earth to see the disasters.

PURPORT

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, the performance of yajña brings reciprocal good fortune for both the human beings and the demigods. When the performances of yajña were stopped by the disturbances of the demons, the demigods were naturally bereft of the results of yajña and hampered in executing their respective duties. Therefore they came down to the planet earth to see how people had become disturbed and to consider what to do.

LECTURE

This is very amazing because this here Bhagavad is describing what happened it thretha yuga, things were very nice in thretha yuga when comparison to now with kaliyuga. McDonalds, KFC, terrorism, rape and all these things, if you ask people, I do surveys I ask young people how do you like how the society today, fine. Really? So, you are ok with rape crime murder, abortion, terrorism, drought and tsunamis and the list gets longer and longer are you ok with this? Then they stop and think Oh!, umm may be you have a point. It may be its not paradise after all, you know in this kaliyuga. This is the age of darkness, the point is actually what this verse describing today not just thretha Yuga, disturbed again again by natural occurrences cause by the followers of Hiranyakashipu. Alright, so we don’t have a maha Hiranyakashipu fortunately, but we have thousands and thousands of mini Hiranyakashipus on the planet quite capable and empowered by Kali to wreak havoc isn’t it?

We are experiencing so much crooked politicians all over the world not just India. I mean bribery is very easy in India its little more sophisticated in United States, you know, give campaign contributions in United States. Corruption is going on all over the world. Prabhupada was Simha guru on this subject matter, pick on the head, because you know he was a not going spare corruption and deviation from pure dharma. That is where we are today also not receiving the results of the yajña the demigods are also being disturbed. So the demons are cause of disturbance and what’s going on in the planet today actually is a demoniac. A few million Hindus doing Kali puja, Shiva puja Ganesh puja that’s not enough to counteract the disaster of this age. Because this age only the holy name, Yuga dharma can do it. So everyone, (Maharaj makes everyone chant 3 times as follows)

harinama harinama harinama eva kevalam
kalau nastyeva nastyeva nastyeva gatir anyatha

In Vedic culture if you want to emphasis something, you say it 3 times so Mahaprabhu said, “nastyeva nastyeva nastyeva”, there is no other way, no other way, no other way. Other efforts will be half baked or partial or drop in the bucket can’t do very much. Only the Yuga dharma can save this situation. So the demigods are disturbed, but it is this Krishna Consciousness movement introduced by Srila Prabhupada is saving the planet. HariBol!!

Prabhupada has written in, I believe in “Chaitanya Charitamrita” this Krishna Consciousness movement will go down in history for saving the world from our abductors.” Anybody thinks that this world is not in the hands of abductors now please have your head examined. We are already in the hour of darkness, at moment wars breaking out all over the world, so much homelessness. It’s like people think United States is a paradise. There are at least more than 1 million homeless people in United States, in India they can’t imagine such a thing because United States is such a heavily planet, if we take out visa application to go to States, Indian and foreigners to go submit visa application to go to United states. Visa application says, right at the top of visa application says in bold lettering, “We presume that you are going to try to stay,” this is the fact. That is what it visa application says. Once you go to heavenly planet called United States they don’t know how much homelessness is there, people in United Sates that go to sleep without eating and so forth. These things are going on. So actually, I asked Srila Prabhupada personally, Srila Prabhupada, I said, United States is like a heavenly planet you know you, if you go to super market then everything is there. In US you could buy imported jams and jellies real fruits you know & packets good, packet, cereals, canned goods and very fresh produce from various place around the world. It’s like a paradise except the meat department. So I asked Prabhpada, it’s so much like a heavenly planet and so much opulence and all that but no yajña to support it. Of course I was thinking of the BG “yajno vai visnuh”, that you know, “annad bhavanti bhutani”, I was thinking of that sloka I dint spell it out to Srila Prabhupada, I didn’t have to say the verse he knew what l was talking about. There is always prosperity, but there is nothing to sustain it because this prosperity is sustained by yajña and there is no yajña. He said very ominously, it will not last very soon it will be finished.

So, what we see today in the modern world is the dying throes of modern civilisation, like if you kill an animal it shakes for a while before it finally dies, you know rather gruesome that’s where we are so called civilisation. Death rose and things are getting worse and worse, the economy collapses, the Euro was getting almost collapsed they put it together with cello tape. You know why, Do you know why the Goddess of Fortune allows the world economy to keep limping around, do you know why? Because of the sankritan movement, this Krishna Consciousness movement, this book distribution should go on, if we have no vehicles and no money, it will hamper our preaching it won’t go on. We are not so expert to go out barefoot on the street with what’s left of the books so on. And we want to print more and more books, we want to distribute, we want to do peaching.

Television media, see how ISKCON is using the media? So the Goddess of Fortune says these people are too simple I want to collapse the economy, yes, yes I know but just keep it going little longer, because, look see my devotee, see all the wonderful things they are doing like the 50^th anniversary in Calcutta, historical event you know and whole of India watch on the television the world taking note of these things. So Krishna keeps it together with cello tape, its Krishna, who restored the Euros and not the bankers. Not a blade of grass moves without the sanction of Supreme Lord, if He wanted it to collapse it will collapse overnight, but no they managed to run here and there do some fancy dancing and pasted back together so the Euro is still going on in spite of so many bankrupt nations.

How do you call this progress, so many nations in Europe, United States are also bankrupt, but it is you know blind faith in people still have faith in US dollars. Wherever I go travelling, they want dollars if they can get it you know it’s a mythology. They worship the dollar. But anyways the point is, it’s going to come to end. What Srila Prbhupada said to me was, very soon it will come to an end. But I was so shaken up his statement I didn’t have the presence of mind to ask Srila Prabhupada what is very soon means. I asked the question 35 years ago, we see the symptoms of the world today of deterioration and collapse. The symptoms are there. Sixteenth chapter of BG makes this very clear just like Hiranyakashipu and his men were doing here, the demons are engaged in horrible unbeneficial works meant to destroy the world they get the sense gratification out of it, then they destroy the world in order to bring that above. So they won’t stop at anything, murder, drug dealing in other words, there was one big big international banker was financing drug smuggling he got caught but didn’t he get punished? No, put to jail? No But if somebody smoked one reefer, then they get 20 year in jail.

There is a story about a veteran you know war veteran he got 10 years of jail for smoking reefer or something. This is Kali Yuga, justice will be determined on how much money you have. You see, this is proven time and again, so this disturbance is going on. This Krishna Conscious movement is the only hope, there is no other hope everything is going down. Now the challenge we face is, clean our own house, because we are chanting Hare Krishna, because we stick our hand in bead bag, sincere devotees change 16 rounds, because we are trying to follow Prabhupada, those that are sincere, yet at the same time Krishna Conscious is not automatic it’s not mechanical. It is what you do in the name of Krishna, it is what you do in the name of Srila Prabhupada, that’s what counts. Not what is on paper? So there is two things Jñāna and Vijñāna. Generally we have more emphasis is on Jñāna than Vijñāna. Vijñāna. is the practical application, we have to execute the practical application of Srila Prabhupada teachings, the teachings of the Shastra, we have to live by it. We have breathe, we have to walk it, they say talk is cheap so talking is not enough, its breathing it, living by it, how we behave with others, how are we treating others as especially other devotees. It does not matter how many years you have been in this movement that is not how you measure advancement of Krishna Consciousness. supposing you have been a devotee for 30 years, Jai. You have got some Nistha, some steadiness but if your heart is hard then it’s a low grade Nishtha right? Yes no? May be nistha of the lowest quality if the heart, Srila Rupa Goswami says, steel framed. We see many 30 years of devotees have still steel framed heart, lacking compassion, lacking mercy lacking, lacking tolerance after practically 30 years of Krishna Consciousness. Lack of humility, puffed up, Doctor Frog, this is going on, Impersonalism,

I don’t know what is like in lady sector but amongst men I find ice-cold impersonalism even amongst senior devotees. You know, I joined the movement in 1967 took imitation in 1968, now I’m a Sanyasi of course these things are external, that’s right. But when I walk around many of my God brothers that I have known for decades, don’t even say Haribol. Don’t even do like this (folding hands) a mini pranam, ice cold where is the advancement? The real advancement in Krishna Consciousness means to become soft hearted. Isn’t it? Yes, no? If you are heard hearted, if you can’t even go like this, (pranam) when you see a Sanyasi the shastra says, you bow down and offer obeisance when you see an Sanyasi ,if you don’t you have to fast. I’m not making it up that’s what the shastra says. But if the sanyasi is going to walk around expecting that everyone is going to fall at neck and pay Dandavat pranams. It is not self-aggrandizement of the sanyasi, it is not the false-ego of the sanyasi, it is the culture it is genuine real civilization.

We have to do a reality check, what do you want to be in thirty years from now in your Krishna Consciousness? Do you want to be hard hearted? you want to be externally successful, you want to claim the corporate ladder and get a pat on the head with big big men is that what u want? Or do you actually want to go to Braj? If if you want to just claim the cooperate ladder you can do that, you can distinguish yourself with your service, you can work v hard , Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said work now, Samadhi Later. That statement from Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur of course it’s very important that’s because he didn’t want his men to be lazy sit back and eat lots of prasadam, he didn’t like it when his sanyasis are overweight, No, he didn’t want his men to be lazy, just eat lots of prasadam, do little bhajans and say some sloka, eat some more prasadam take a nap etc. . He didn’t want that. So he said “Work now Samadhi later to prevent laziness” But is that all in all? It is been misinterpreted that famous statement by Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur has been misinterpreted. So the result is if you misinterpret that statement by Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur then you neglect inner development. Something that Aindra Prabhu constantly said, non-stop, stressed inner development in Krishna Consciousness.

If you don’t develop the inner nature, if you don’t become soft hearted you missed the whole point. We see devotees are sometimes cruel, See a dog kick it, and is that Krishna Consciousness? Is that what you know? Gaura Kishora Das babaji once he was taking Prasad and then there was a female dog moved in somewhere near his hut. So the 5 puppies came to his hut, they were to eat Prasad off his plate. So his servant was freaked out (enacting to shoo the dog), you know. He was freaking out. So Gaura Kishora Das babaji said, “Don’t do that they are dham vasis”, if you do that I will fast. Oh .also should we take example fro materialist, prakratha bhakta?

You can’t be thirty years devotee and still be a materialist if your heart is not soft, if you can pass another senior Vaishnava and you can’t even say Haribol, then your granthi is very strong. Granthi means the knot in the heart is very strong. Impersonalism, in so many ways, our movement was infected by impersonalism not exactly mayavadi philosophy but just coldness in dealings between certain levels of devotees, you know. This must be measured against what Shastra says. We are supposed to follow what the shastra says we are supposed to follow. If you study, I guess all of you to study the instructions of Vaishnava acharyas, Narottam Das Thakur, Srinivas Acharya. Their biographies are available, I have them I have a set of Biographies available in my computer drive, I can give it to you, Biographies of Vaishnava saints and study their dealings , not only our Prabhupada but previous acharyas sat goswamis. What is Vaishnava behaviour? We are supposed to know, we have to know the Vijñān, we have to know the practical applications for these teachings, how to apply this teachings otherwise what will happen is, I was watching at the ILS, ISKCON leadership Sanga, they were showing a film, the devotees going on in the streets and introducing people to Mahamantra for the first time, as a part of the 50^th anniversary celebration. So they were getting people just to chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, happy, peace. People were laughing and smiling and ecstatic Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna ecstatic happy, you know they are chanting, they are brand new to Krishna Consciousness but they are chanting and they are very happy. You get it?, they are brand new to Krishna Consciousness. But sometimes, what is it, after 30 years you are not happy. (Enacting how they act)Urr urr, Chant to be happy prabhu, you know is it like that? Is that advancement in Krishna Consciousness? You will get what you want because Krishna Consciousness movement, the Shastra is teaching us.

Srila Prabhupada says the shastra is the desire tree. You will get what you want out of it. If you want to become a big man or big woman you can do that well what’s going on internally? Did we neglect their internal development then we will be going mechanically. I may have big big positon but what is the merit, if I’m hard hearted, I miss the point.

We have to take example from the acharyas read it please if you want to give me your pen drive, I have right here in my computer, life’s of Vaishnava acharyas. What are their sweet loving relationship always placing the topmost values on the other devotees without consideration, you understand? Yes? Without consideration of their position is he a big devotee oh! If he is famous or not famous, the real vaishanvas not make those considerations. Why shall we make those considerations? Those considerations are Prakrta-Bhakta, I don’t care if you have been chanting for 30 years, Prakrita-Bhakta, Kanishta adikari. Actually what we have in our movement is generally mixture between Kanishta and Madhyama. Kanishta can do what’s done in this movement. we have many mixture between kanishta and Madhyama who are preaching and doing all kinds of things. But the mixture between, not 100% madhyama. If they are preaching they must be madhyama, yes, but are they 100% Madhyama? I came across a very shocking statement by Srila Prabhupada, it shake me up. Srila Prabhupada said anyone who is attached to honour is Kanishta Adikari, I said oh my God!! I’ve been always thinking myself as Madhyama adikari, some sort, but not very high madhyama, and I can preach, and I can increase the faith in the hearts of devotees in one hour. I can do many things by mercy by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, what can I say that I’m free from desire, No? Yes ir no? So then I myself holding up the mirror because in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says “the introspective sage”, so we have to hold up the mirror and look within ourselves where am I spiritually? Now we live in a world of demons and same things are still going in kaliyuga and getting worse and worse how come we reform the world unless we have compassion, tolerance and love? What will happen to thousands of innocent people we bring them to Krishna Consciousness? Chant and be happy they become ecstatic, they love chanting Hare Krishna, they get into the movement and then find out that some leaders are hard hearted. What is it going to do their faith, to find out some leaders are intolerant? What’s that going to do to their faith? Because everyone in this movement whether they are so called big devotee or whether they are officially Acharya or whether they are just passing out books, in any case, every single devotee must be “mini archarya”, why? Because we are representing Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. People cannot see Krishna, He is God, and He is unapproachable. His toenails cannot even be approached by yogis but Prabhupada is making available so, representing Krishna. All that they know about Krishna, is through devotee. That’s all I know whatever opinion they develop about Krishna is dependent on the quality of presentation made by the first devotee that they talked to. Isn’t it? Everyone has this experience, if you enliven them, inspire them, and get them going in chanting and get them going in reading & Srila Prabhupada books then that is called real preaching. They get favourably experience in Krishna Consciousness they will carry on, want more association like that you know? So our duty is non-stop, always representing Krishna, many acharyas. Never mind position if you sit on vyasasan, you are Acharya, not like that. You know some of you have a special position, that is very good but everyone must be mini Acharya, small Acharya by example. We have to teach Krishna Consciousness by our example. Then there will be ultimate Hare Krishna explosion when we are the movement is exploding, expanding but we want quality as well as quantity, Isn’t it? Yes? So we have to be very careful about institutional racism because you know there’s prathista. Prathista means positon, attachment, and that can that can strength the grumpier knot in the heart, you know, that can cause one to chant with the 10^th offense. If you are attached to position, order and power and whatever then that 10^th offense certainly is there, then they will be trouble. Then we see many of my God brothers, very very dedicated, but because of the 10^th office hati-mata, the mad elephant offense against Vaishnavas they fell down. Some of the my greatest God brothers have most impressive results externally, a millions of books distributed thousands of devotees made, open so many temples built those that fell down why? Was Krishna unappreciative? Should we conclude Krishan didn’t appreciate their hard work and glorious accomplishment? No, hati-mata. Engage in every case, hati-mata, Vaishnava aparadha, puffed up, proud, prathista, it is a killer. So, we have to be careful, we have to think about the sloka in Bhagavad Gita, about introspective sage. We have to hold up the mirror and look inside, we have to give ourselves honest report card just like that. I conclude by reading this one of my favourite verse in Srimad Bhagavatam,

[SB 1.2.17]

srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt satam

Sir Krishna who is Supreme Personality of Godhead is the paramatma who is in everyone’s heart and is benefactor of the truthful devotee. We may think, well, I don’t tell lies, no but it’s deeper than that. But we don’t have time to discuss. The truthful devotee cleanses the desire for natural material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages that means a little bit of Ruchi at least, which are themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. So we have to truthful we have to hold up our mirror, what is my progress we have to give ourselves our own progress report, you see. Just not waiting until somebody else or a superior corrects us, we ourselves have to do constant self-evaluation then we can progress in the movement. Thank you very much.

KK Bindu #371, continuing three crucial points for making advancement from Vallabhacharya, plus more
The latest issue of Sri Krishna-kathamrita Bindu e-magazine was just released. This issue includes:
* THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PARENTS – Some personal instructions to disciples,
by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
* The Reverse of “Radha” – A first-time ever translation speaking about the condition of Radha in separation from Krishna.
* WISDOM, PATIENCE AND SURRENDER Part Two – Another first time translation done especially for this issue of Bindu of some writings of Srila Vallabhacharya regarding three crucial points for making advancement on the path of devotion.
* POVERTY BY CHOICE – A fresh translation done for this issue of a verse by Srila Prabhodananda Saraswati Thakur.
It can be downloaded here: https://archive.org/details/bindu371