Planet ISKCON

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Iskcon Tribal Preaching Programme.
-Mahaprabhu told “Grihe thako vane thako sada Hari bole dako” Srila Prabhupada also had that dream which is a success in so many towns, but now only by his blessings a dream to make a difference in the lives of the tribal people of India is coming true.
These tribal people are simple but with a great sense of intimacy with Mother Nature and thus they can easily personally get close to God if shown the right path.
They are, like everyone else, clearly falling prey to the ways of the modern world and it was necessary to make them realize the beauty of their own culture and lifestyle in order to pull them out of the strong clutches of the greedy modern world. With this vision in mind a journey started, the journey of ISKCON Tribal Care Initiative.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/ScnZIL

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By N. Swaminathan, Ph.D.

A pilgrimage to ISKCON’s grand complex in Lord Chaitanya’s land provides indelible inspiration for an engineer and his family.

When I entered the spacious temple and looked to the right, I was stunned on seeing the huge and extremely beautiful deities of Radha-Madhava, with four sakhis on each side gazing at the perfect beauty of Lord Madhava and Srimati Radharani and very eager to serve Them. The temple was full of devotees offering ghee lamps, an act that symbolizes how our heart burns in separation from Krishna. My family and I also got ghee lamps and offered them to Radha-Madhava and the eight sakhis.

We then went to the adjoining hall, also spacious. When I saw the huge golden Panca Tattva deities, I couldn’t imagine ever having to leave Mayapur. The devotees’ graceful dancing and the beautiful kirtana enchanted me. And before I could recover, I was in front of the deity of Nrisimha. Dressed in silver, He looked like silver fire. He was so ferocious, and yet so assuring. I don’t remember how many times I offered obeisances to Him, or maybe I didn’t at all.

Thank you, Srila Prabhupada. Even though you were satisfied with whatever Krishna provided to you, you undertook great hardships to create such a beautiful place and a real society of devotees so that people like me would be attracted to spiritual life.

I work in an engineering software company, and I had been attending a Bhagavad-gita class conducted by ISKCON for four months when our teacher invited my family and me for a four-day pilgrimage to Mayapur during the auspicious month of Damodara (Karttika). Mayapur is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who in the sixteenth century propagated the chanting of the holy names of Krishna, the recommended spiritual practice for Kali-yuga, the current age.

Our reception at ISKCON Mayapur’s Gada Bhavan was most magnificent. We were garlanded with flowers, and cool sandalwood paste was applied to our foreheads. This is how guests are received in the Vaishnava tradition, said our hosts.

The next day we got up really early and bathed in unheated water. We attended mangala-arati at Prabhupada’s Pushpa Samadhi and then at the Radha-Madhava temple. I completed sixteen rounds of chanting before 7:00 A.M., and I had a full day ahead of me.

While walking to the goshala, we were shown the grihastha quarters and a building that’s home to brahmacharis two months a year. The rest of the year they are out traveling in buses and distributing Prabhupada’s books. We also were told about four schools: one with the CBSE pattern, one with the Cambridge Board, one a girls’ school, and one a Vedic gurukula. The first three have a mixed curriculum, modern with Vedic, but the last is purely Vedic. We were surprised. What about the future of these boys? We learned the answer, a very instructive one, when we went to the gurukula in the evening.

The goshala has four sections: for old cows, younger cows, calves, and bulls. We had kirtana and a wonderful lesson on the importance of cow protection and cow’s milk. Bala Govinda Dasa, our guide and teacher, also told us that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is not a great saint but the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. To make the best of this pilgrimage, he advised us to (a) abstain from prajalpa, or useless mundane talk, (b) chant as much as possible, (c) listen very carefully to the glories of this place, and (d) maximize our association with the devotees.

We felt great honor in feeding the calves with straw and date-sugar balls. The children enjoyed this a great deal. I was thankful to Lord Krishna for His being as accessible and loving to children as to adults. I remembered our visits to many South Indian temples when the children got bored and we couldn’t sustain their enthusiasm. But in Mayapur it was different. The children woke up the parents because they were eager to start the day early.

The evening took us to the Vedic gurukula. The students learn Vedic mathematics, English (and through it, other languages, including Sanskrit), music, martial arts, Vedic mantras, Vaishnava texts, and leadership and organizational skills. They do menial tasks such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, and filling water containers. They use only oil lamps at night and cook with cow dung as fuel. We asked them if they worried about their future. They are completely cut off from current affairs and modern education. Even their Vedic degree is not recognized outside ISKCON. What if they decide to do something outside ISKCON?

The answers we got, in the form of rhetorical questions, were an eye-opener: What do we need to a job for? Do we trust our boss more or Krishna more? How did Prabhupada manage in the U.S. with no money? How does a dog survive without current affairs and degrees? How does an ant get its food? Are we worse than dogs or ants?

The answers showed us the depth of these boys’ faith and the shallowness of ours. How can Krishna reciprocate with us when we have no faith in Him? That made us worry. And indeed, by Krishna’s mercy these boys become gurukula teachers, run establishments, and assume important roles that require relational and managerial skills rather than academic degrees.

The next day, after mangala-arati we saw a diorama exhibition of Lord Chaitanya’s pastimes. Then we walked along the road outside the temple campus to board a boat to one of the islands in Navadvipa.

Out of respect for this holy land, I stopped carrying my mobile phone and started walking barefoot, feeling nourished by the cool Mayapur sand under my bare feet.

Godruma-dvipa

The boat glided on the whitish Ganga, which met the Jalangi, dark like the Yamuna. On the Jalangi shore we formed a sankirtana party as we walked to Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house on the island of Godruma-dvipa. We learnt that he had started life in a modest manner and later rose from clerk to magistrate. He was extremely punctual and efficient and thus was respected by the British. To convince him to postpone his retirement, they built a railway line just to ferry him to and from his office. He was the father of ten children. He wrote prolifically in Bengali to bring people the rich Vedic texts in the form of poems and songs. He discovered the birthplace of Lord Chaitanya and built a temple there by collecting mostly small donations from the local people. He eventually organized two thousand village groups for practicing and spreading Krishna consciousness. He is an inspirational, ideal grihastha.

The name of this island (dvipa) comes from the words go (cow) and druma (tree). Long ago, Surabhi, the mother of all cows, performed austerities under a banyan tree here to please Lord Vishnu. In another incident associated with this sacred place, the sage Markandeya once wanted to see Lord Krishna’s maya, or illusory potency. Fulfilling the sage’s request, Krishna flooded the entire world. Markandeya was washed away but landed safely at Godruma-dvipa, the only place above water. There he saw a beautiful baby on a banyan leaf, sucking His own toe. The baby was Krishna, who wanted to experience the taste of His own lotus feet, a taste that steals the hearts of all devotees and great sages. Suddenly, the baby sucked the sage into His stomach, in which the entire universe was visible, and just as suddenly expelled him. Thus Markandeya saw how the entire universe is contained within Lord Krishna while He is simultaneously aloof from it.

We then returned by boat with a stopover for bathing in the Ganga. Mother Ganga flows from the feet of Krishna and is very sacred. People with material eyes cannot see the purity of the Ganga and the spiritual benefits she can provide. We prayed for Mother Ganga’s permission before entering, and while bathing we prayed that her pure water might cleanse our hearts of impurities, which stand in the way of reviving our original Krishna consciousness. The children had a wonderful time in the cool water, and we had tough time getting them out.

Prabhupada’s Samadhi

In the evening we visited Prabhupada’s samadhi. Its circular shape allows many people at once to view Prabhupada sitting majestically on his altar. Inside the dome, tile mosaics depict various landmark events in Prabhupada’s life. I was touched by the picture of him guiding an American child in writing a Sanskrit letter. On the first floor are dioramas depicting Prabhupada’s life-his own Rathayatra at age four, writing his heartfelt poem expressing his full surrender to Krishna as he reached America, his first public kirtana in the U.S., and so on. At an advanced age, in a foreign land, with almost no money or support, he transformed misguided American youth into spiritual practitioners and leaders, established more than a hundred temples all over the world, and produced dozens of books based on Vaishnava philosophy. How could he do all this? Because he had faith in his guru and Krishna.

After mangala-arati the next morning, we offered our obeisances to the Panca Tattva and thanked them for allowing us to enter the dhama. We prayed for their grace to help us steadily progress in Krishna consciousness. We begged forgiveness for any offenses we may have committed during our pilgrimage. And we requested their permission to leave the dhama.

Yoga-pitha

From the ISKCON complex, a bus took us a short distance to the birthplace of Lord Chaitanya, known as Yoga-pitha. The deities here are Radha-Madhava; Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with His consorts (Vishnupriya and Lakshmipriya); Sri Jagannatha Misra and Saci Devi, Lord Chaitanya’s parents; and the Adhokshaja (Vishnu) deity worshiped by Lord Chaitanya’s parents and discovered by Bhaktivinoda Thakura while the temple foundation was being dug.

After spending some time at Yoga-pitha, we prayed to Lord Chaitanya for love of Krishna and left for ISKCON’s Jagannatha temple in Simanta-dvipa, a little farther up the road. Before entering the temple we heard from Murari Dasa about the appearance of Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra there, and how the temple came under the care of ISKCON. The place gives devotees the same spiritual benefit as visiting the Jagannatha temple in Puri. The island’s name refers to a time when Goddess Parvati prayed here to Lord Chaitanya. When the Lord appeared, she put the dust from under His feet on the part (simanta) of her hair.

Back in Kolkata, I realized that Mayapur is an example of how one can live a completely spiritual life right here in the material world. “O Lord!” I prayed. “When can I return to Mayapur?” And I recalled the caption I’d seen under a picture of ISKCON Mayapur’s Sri Radha-Madhava: “Meet your new boss.”

Gita verse-by-verse study Podcast

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The post Daily Darshan : January 27th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

TOVP Update. Blue Tiles. 360 degree Fly Around (3 min video)
This is a glimpse of the finished super-structure, with some close-up views of the blue tiling on the chatris.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/7GyH7x

Harinama in Fiji (Album with photos)
Lord Krishna’s Holy Name extends a hand to deliver the conditioned souls fallen into the ocean of birth and death. No one is as able as the Holy Name about saving lives.
Srila Prabhupada: “In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.” (Brhan-naradiya Purana)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Ydh7fI

16 01 18 SB 07.07.28 By Srivas Rasbihari Prabhu at ISKCON Juhu

January 27. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada Gave At All Levels.
The mixture of basic and advanced Krishna consciousness appears constantly in Prabhupada’s purports. In his Bhagavatam purports, he does not always stick to a storyline. In his explanation of the verses, he feels free to lecture in each particular purport, expanding on the themes in different directions. There may be an occasion when one wants to read only the verses as translated by Prabhupada or his followers, in order to get more involved in the story flow. However, we should never think that a careful study of the Bhaktivedanta purports may be avoided or skipped over in our reading of the Bhagavatam. Rather, the more we study the purports, the more we will appreciate Prabhupada’s relationship with Krishna. As Prabhupadanugas, we want to understand Prabhupada’s Krishna consciousness as much as we can. This will help us to understand our own relationship with Krishna.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=4

Prabhupada Gave At All Levels

Giriraj Swami and Guru Prasada Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.11 during the Sunday program in Houston.

“It’s a natural response: If someone is hurting you, you will withdraw from that person. You won’t want to be close to that person. So, if we offend Krishna’s devotees, that causes pain to Krishna, to the Holy Name, so He will withdraw, or His mercy will recede, from the person. But there is a way to rectify the offense—to use the same tongue that vilified the devotee to glorify the devotee. If you have spoken in a bad way to a devotee, you can go to the devotee and apologize and beg for forgiveness and mercy. If you have spoken badly about a devotee to other people, you should go to them and apologize and use that same tongue to glorify that devotee. Every devotee by virtue of being a devotee has good qualities. So we should focus on their good qualities and not their faults, which are like spots on the moon.”

—Giriraj Swami

01.24.16, Kirtan, Houston
01.24.16, SB 2.1.11, Houston

Here is a breakdown of how it all works, based on Kapila’s sankhya, explained in the final chapters of Śrīmad Bhagavatam’s Third Canto.

The senses feed their data into the intellect.

The intellect has three sub-organs within it. Each performs its own function:

1) Pattern recognition
2) Pattern matching
3) Memory (storage of patterns)

So, intellect can take the raw data from the senses, recognize the patterns, and figure out what the patterns are – by matching those patterns with the information stored in memory. “Education” is the process of putting recognized patterns into the memory.

The mind observes the intellect. Mind reflects consciousness. With this reflected consciousness it observes the intellect, so it observes the processed data from the senses, and the order and meaning that the intellect has digested from that data. Then the mind reacts to it. It also has three sub-organs, each performing its own function:

1) Preference
2) Desire
3) Emotion

Observing a recognized pattern presented by the intellect as an object, the mind develops a preference towards that object, or away from it. For example, the nose smells something. The intellect comprehends the pattern of olfactory data to be the scent of roasting spices. The mind, which always observes the intellect, reacts to this by a perference: “I love this!” or “I hate this!” Or something somewhere in between these two extremes.

Next, the mind establishes desire based on that preference. If the preference is “I love it” the desire is “I want more of it.” If the preference is “I hate it” the desire is “I want less of it”

Next the mind produces emotions based on that desire. If the desire is fulfilled, the emotion is happiness. If the desire is unfulfilled, the emotion is sadness. Other emotions represent various versions of or precursors to happiness or sadness.

Tagged: intellect, mind, Sankhya

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, October 2010, Melbourne, Australia, Lecture)

Compassion only really begins if we appreciate that we have something better. If we have something better then we can be compassionate. Otherwise, if you are out on book distribution and you can see all your old friends sitting on a terrace somewhere, enjoying the sunshine, then you may feel compassion for yourself – that you have to stand out there in the street with those books and everyone else is having a good time!

But if we are convinced that we have something better, then we can develop compassion for others. Then we can experience real compassion. The more we relish Krsna consciousness, the more compassionate we can be, the more easily we can preach! When we are fully relishing this Krsna consciousness, then naturally we will want to give it to everyone and then people start appreciating it also.

It is like when I bought a yellow jacket and someone said, “Why do you have a yellow jacket?” I said, “Because it reminds me of the sun. It is something bright. A positive effulgence in a world where everyone dresses in black and darkness!”

Krsna is like the sun. He brings light into the darkness of this world. That is a fact. That is Krsna consciousness! It brings light into the darkness of this world, Krsna surya-sama maya haya andhakara (Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 22.31). Maya brings us so much darkness in all directions – suffering, burden, difficulties, stress and anxiety; but Krsna consciousness just lights it all up! So if we get absorbed in Krsna consciousness then compassion will follow.

By Praghosa Dasa

A common denominator for practically each of the unlimited varieties of material bodies is that the spirit soul dwelling within is to one degree or another attached to the particular body they reside in. In turn most resided in bodies have others who are also attached to them, generally family members, or what Srila Prabhupada often referred to as ‘skin disease’. He specifically used this term to describe excessive attachment to family members which leads to increased illusion and the bizarre hope that one thinks they are able to save other family members from death - an impossible dream: “One is often attached to family life, namely to wife, children and other members, on the basis of "skin disease." The krpana thinks that he is able to protect his family members from death; or the krpanaa thinks that his family or society can save him from the verge of death. Such family attachment can be found even in the lower animals, who take care of children also.” Continue reading "Samsara
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By Mahatma das

If you are like me – or for that matter everyone I’ve ever met - you resist negative things. When others tell you what they don’t like about you, point out a mistake you made, criticize you, etc., you probably get defensive. Give Me Some Respect. Dale Carnegie said the desire to be appreciated is one of our greatest needs. It seems to me like it’s right up there with eating, sleeping mating and defending. Tell someone how great they are and even if they know you are exaggerating, they’ll still eat it up. We are hungry for appreciation and respect. Lord Caitanya says, amanina, mana-dena, one should offer ALL respect to others and should not demand or seek respect for oneself. When your peers do better than you, are you happy? Do you appreciate what they’ve done or do you feel concerned or upset that you are not getting as much attention as they are? Do you sometimes not even acknowledge they have in fact been successful (“Anyone could have done that. It’s no big deal”)? Do you seek more to be appreciated than to appreciate? Continue reading "Humility Means No Resistance
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If it is better to be a sahajiya than an atheist, mayavadi, or impersonalist, then it is well again to be a sentimentalist than not a devotee at all. However, sentimental behaviour can present problems if left abandoned by a mind unrestrained by capable intelligence.

By Kesava Krsna Dasa

The spiritual master is the central object of vision for every disciple. Quite often, the imposition of external conditions can deflect the natural bias from something, which is essentially internal, or hidden from unqualified worshipers. ‘The solid truth of religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated self-realized person.’ (Mahabharata, Vana Parva 313-117)

If a disciple fails to discern the difference between external and internal worship of the guru, it can mean a divergence from understanding the inner or outer words of the spiritual master. This also applies to understanding Srila Prabhupada’s universal siksa instructions pervading his writings. ‘Please wake up and try to understand the boon that you now have in this human form of life. The path of spiritual realization is very difficult; it is like a razors edge. That is the opinion of learned transcendental scholars.’ (Katha Upanishad 1.3.14)

The disparity can be as stark as that between arcana ‘ which means worship; and bhajana ‘ which also means worship, for want of a better word, and point towards normal or higher worship. The process of worship does not guarantee receiving the Lord’s grace. Lord Krishna says ca cejyaya ‘ ‘nor by worship’ can He be understood. (BG 11.53)

Immediately one will have detected the linkage of the word ‘normal’ with arcana, one of the nine processes of pure devotional service. On the outer level or for those who are not exceptionally obedient, arcana is a necessary way to focus our attention. Srila Prabhupada writes, ‘In the devotional service of the Lord, therefore, these prescribed activities are called arcana, or engaging all the senses in the service of the Lord.’ (BG 16.18 purport)

Later in the same purport it is stated that arcana is meant for people who are not very renounced; ‘Therefore, for people in general especially those who are not in the renounced order of life ‘ transcendental engagement of the senses and mind’. is the perfect process of transcendental achievement, which is called yukta in the Bhagavad-Gita.’

To be clearer, purified arcana eventually becomes bhajana. ‘Any civilized man has to perform some religious ritualistic ceremonies; therefore, Krishna recommends, ‘Do it for Me’, and this is called arcana.’ (BG 9.27 purport)

In the same purport Srila Prabhupada refers to bhajana, but not by name; ‘Nowadays people are very much inclined to the meditational process, which is not practical in this age, but if anyone practices meditating on Krishna twenty four hours a day by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra round his beads, he is surely the greatest meditator and the greatest yogi, as substantiated by the sixth chapter of Bhagavad-Gita.’

In the final verse of the sixth chapter, we will find the words yukta and bhajate. Bhajate means to render transcendental loving service, and yukta-tamah means the greatest yogi.

When the mind has not befriended the intelligence, it can devise seemingly befitting ways to please the guru, which may be actually offensive, and will divert us from proper guru worship. Some acaryas used the heavy word bahirmukha to describe an external disciple. Srila Prabhupada also describes this, ‘Bahirmukha. Bahirmukha means those who are trying to be happy by adjustment of this material energy.’
(Lecture on CC Madhya 154-155, Gorakhpur, Feb 19, 1971)

There are many examples of sentimental guru worship, which are not readily detected, but cause a disturbance to others, even unwittingly.

Wanting to get noticed.

It is a natural desire of every disciple to receive a blessing from the guru, and perhaps to hear such magical words like, ‘Now your life is perfect. Thank you very much’, along with a loving embrace.

To reach that end, one may always try to seize the guru’s attention and remain in his purview, continuously remaining in the limelight as it were. The association of an advanced devotee is naturally attractive, but an over-dependence on this feature for the wrong reasons indicates a lack of philosophical conviction that the instructions of the guru are more important than close physical proximity.

If one is possessed of shallow fervour, when the guru is out of sight or leaves for a considerable time, it may translate into a slackened service attitude allowing complacency to creep in, only to be excitedly rejuvenated again when the guru comes back. Srila Prabhupada writes,”. The regulative principles will be easier for one who has served the spiritual master without reservation.’ (BG 8-12 purport)

This same sort of mentality may compose a wonderful Vyasa-puja offering on the chosen day, belying real intentions, where in fact the real Vyasa-puja offering is conducted on all 365 days of the year, again without reservation. On occasions like these, an official mindset develops. ‘Nor is He (Krishna) to be understood by persons who officially go to the temple to offer worship They make their visit, but they cannot understand Krishna as He is.’ (BG 11.53 purport)

My guru is the best.

As children, we always thought our mothers and fathers to be the best in the world, naturally. To have a father figure in the form of the guru requires more enlightened sentiments directed towards him.

Any posturing or advertising that one’s guru is better than another is fraught with material calculations. If Krishna empowers each spiritual master, it is His prerogative to decide whether the guru accomplishes greater or lesser preaching successes. For a disciple to judge or compare in terms of small or big, empowered or enfeebled, popular or unpopular and so forth, is to be a dualistic eye in Krishna’s absolute vision. ‘Lord Krishna is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.’ (Krsnadasa Kaviraja, CC, Adi 5.142)

Another slice of material gain to derive from advertising the guru could be a polite way of saying, ‘If my guru is the best, so I am also the best for following the best.’ Such extended pride neatly fits in with the adjustments of a well-intentioned, but ultimately selfish bahirmukha mentality.

Imitating the guru.

A vaisnava develops sublime characteristics, which are attractive to behold. Such fine ornaments can tempt a follower to emulate the way the guru speaks, dances, dresses or behaves. The wearing of identical spectacles, or copying certain authoritative behavioural traits may appear quite flattering, but this deludes no one but himself or like-minded adjusters.

Some orders of prakrta-sahajiyas like to dress up as Radha and Krishna to engage in what they think is licensed debauchery. Though the comparison with them seems rather harsh, the simulation of the external image is relegated to the neophyte level resulting in a theatrical distortion of the truth, which is internal.

Over-glorifying the guru.

Is there such a thing as glorifying the guru in excess? In excess of what? If a devotee likes to glorify others, then the guru should certainly not be the exception. However, the way we glorify should tell the difference.

What if one eulogizes the guru, or another devotee, and exclaims an uttama-adhikari status, when it might not be true in some cases? It can be a paradoxical mind jolting experience if a disciple learns that an infallible guru is discovered having spiritual difficulty, or worse, falls away from Krishna consciousness.

A disciple will naturally block out any slight hint or notion that the one he or she worships could possibly be any less than infallible. What if a disciple thinks, ‘I know it is highly, highly unlikely my guru will fall, but the remote possibility is there? If that dreaded moment comes, I can be prepared emotionally.’

Will such a thought as this cushion the blow of any eventuality? Alternatively, will this thought ruin the disciple’s spiritual life? Would it hurt the image of the guru if he were to say to his disciples, ‘My dear disciples, let us be clear about something. I am not quite the uttama-adhikari you say I am, but I am nevertheless fully engaged in Krishna’s service, and will do my utmost to take you back to Godhead. So please tone down your glorification of me.’

Since glorification is poison for a vaisnava, if some followers persist in excess simply to be noticed, and if the guru looks approvingly on this behaviour, the combination is a rather toxic cocktail. ‘Sometimes penances and austerity are executed to attract people and receive honour, respect, and worship from others. Persons in the mode of passion arrange to be worshipped by subordinates and let them wash their feet and other riches.’ (BG 17.18 purport)

Essentially, the guru is to be engaged in serious bhajana. It is a healthy sign for a disciple to see. The pursuit of sraddhavan bhajate yo mam should help the renounced order rise above normal arcana. If not, one famous woman gives a stinging rebuke, ”. and anyone situated in renunciation that does not lead him to devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, must be considered dead, although breathing.’ (SB 3.23.56)

Ys, Kesava Krsna dasa.

Burlavaripalem, India, Offers its Green Turf for Preaching.
Burlavaripalem village happened to be the 47th one in the Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra series. It is a sleepy village situated at a distance of about six kilometers from the ocean. It’s a small village with around 2000 population. The village has a mix of modern and old mud-and-straw houses. Agriculture is the main occupation of the villagers here. One very special feature of the village people is their self-sufficiency in the growth of vegetables. Here almost everybody grows their own vegetables and the extra is sold in other villages and towns. It seems even a millionaire in the village grows his own food and goes to sell them as a custom. This village is known for growing many varieties of leafy vegetables.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/yutYdn

The post Daily Darshan : January 26th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Is sincerity based on our past karma?
Question: Is sincerity based on our past karma, our circumstances as the living entities traveling through different bodies and certain situations?
Answer by Radhanath Swami: Certainly our present condition is deeply influenced by our past karma and whatever sincerity we have is due to how we have cultivated in the past but most important is that we have free choice now. And what we do with that free choice determines how this seed of the devotion and the sincerity required to nourish that seed of devotion develops. Someone may come to Krishna Consciousness and even the slightest rules and regulations are extremely difficult to follow. Someone may come and has no taste for chanting the Holy Name and someone else may come in the first day following the rules, following the regulations, chanting sixteen rounds is just easy and natural. This is obviously due to our previous spiritual development in previous life but if a person wants it you have the free choice to want however difficult it is. And if you choose to put your self in association with those who are sincere and to follow the instructions and serve those who are sincere then you can become the most sincere.
So we are not so concerned with the condition that has been created by our past. We are concerned with receiving the mercy of the Lord now. Jagai and Madhai they were totally insincere souls. They were thieves, murders, drunker but just by coming into the association of Lord Nityananda Prabhu and Lord Caitanya and understanding the necessity of surrendering to them they receive the mercy of the Lord and with that mercy they became the supreme most sincere devotees of the Lord. So we should not compare our selves to others because every two devotees are different. Every devotee has previous sinful activities that are influencing your mind and previous devotional activities that are influencing your mind. We should not be envious that this person Krishna Consciousness is so easy and natural and for me it such a hard struggle. I have been a devotee for fifteen years and I am struggling this devotee has been for six months and he is just so Krishna Consciousness, so naturally advanced why should we compare our selves. You are thinking you have been for fifteen years and she is been for six months but actually she may have been a devotee for six life times and you may have been for fifteen years. So we shouldn’t even try to calculate or compare our selves with other because we don’t know what’s in the background but what we should know with complete faith that whatever our level of sincerity is if we associate with people who are sincere. We submissively hear from them and we try to serve them then Krsna will give us all the sincerity i.e. required to perfect our lives.
So yes, the particular condition that you are in now is due your past. But the particular condition that would be before you in the future is according to what you do now. If you associate with sincere devotees you become sincere. If you associate with insincere devotees whatever sincerity you have will be lost. And Krsna sees how you make that choice who to associate with. And how you associate with them by hearing submissively, by serving, by following their example Krsna can give us everything i.e. required to perfect our lives in Krishna Consciousness. And at the present movement our sincerity is simply based on how we are willing to associate with devotees. If we want to become Krishna Conscious, however difficult it may be, if we just follow this principle Krsna will help us. But if we are critical or if we are envious then we are lost Krsna will not recognize our endeavor.

The post Controlling the mind and senses appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Indian Gov’t taking steps to help Vrindavan widows.
Scale Industries Kalraj Mishra, while expressing great concern for the condition of Widows of Varanasi and Vrindavan, said that BJP government was all set to initiate several measures to ensure their dignity and welfare in the near future. The Minister was addressing a large number of widows, who came here from Vrindavan and Lucknow to take part in a programme on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose here, today. Pointing out the mindset of society towards the widows in general and Vrindavan in particular, he said they have been ignored, so far. Mr Mishra said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed for the welfare of Widows and he promised to take steps soon. Mr Modi, during his yesterday’s visit to Varanasi, referred about the condition of Widows and promised to make provisions for their welfare. On the occasion, Mr Mishra lauded the efforts taken by s Sulabh International for the welfare of widows in Vrindavan and Varanasi. He said other organisations should come forward to extend a helping hand to the old-aged widows.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/TBhXw2

Jake Emlyn - Sleepy Souls (3 min new musical video)
Srila Prabhupada: Krishna is everywhere. Simply you have to catch Him. And He’s also ready for being caught. Yes, if somebody wants to catch Him. Suppose you are a devotee. If you want to catch Him, He comes forward ten times than your desire. He’s so kind. Therefore, we have to simply receive Him. London, August 21, 1973.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/8HHG0h

Iskcon Escondido, California: Transforming a bus into a preaching lounge! (Album with photos)
Mahat Tattva Dasa: Bus re-conversion was done and we already had two first gatherings on the bus in Ocean Beach.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/xshGW6

New Malden Bhakti Vriska, 7 girls distributed 3000 books during the book marathon in UK (7 min video)
We are a small group under the name of New Malden Bhakti Vriska. It is our aim with Krishna’s mercy to spread the glories of the holy name by motivating people to get involved and possibly join us.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/pSbPQz

January 26. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada’s Heart. The gift of an artist is his ability to feel something with love and then convey it in an interesting way. The art should infect others with the exact same sentiment that the artist felt. A God-conscious teacher is able to do that, too. He has love of God, and he has the gift of conveying it. It was Lord Caitanya’s desire to convey Krishna-prema by chanting Hare Krishna. Prabhupada was empowered to do that – to chant Hare Krishna and to explain Hare Krishna. He was generous in interspersing his basic Krishna conscious talks with direct introductions into the topmost sphere of Goloka Vrindavana. Furthermore, he did it in plain language. Goloka Vrindavana is itself down-to-earth. The earth is cintamani, but nevertheless, it is earthy. It is not like Vaikuntha, with emphasis on the celestial. Vrindavana’s emphasis is on the humanlike. When Prabhupada talked about Krishna-loka, he did it like that, speaking as a resident and telling us what it was really like.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=4

Famous Failures before Success – Motivational Video
Ghanashyam Priya Prabhu

Prabhupada’s Heart

Question: I want to give up lust, but I always have lusty thoughts. How can I renounce lust?

My Answer: You ask how it might be possible to renounce lust. It is impossible. I am sorry.

Even the gods cannot get free from lust. Even Brahmā became confused by it and began to pressure the goddess Vāk for intercourse. Even the greatest yogī (Śiva) has to contend with it – he had to burn the god of lust with his third eye, thus disturbing his meditation.

Nara-nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, however, is noteworthy, for conquering lust is effortless for him. Nara-Nārāyana is Viṣṇu with his devotee. This is the key. I will try to explain it.

Lust is a permutation of love. When love is directed mainly upon one’s own gratification, it is “lust.”

Lust is a permutation of love.

Although sex is a very powerful way to explore lust, Sex is not inherently identical to lust. Krishna, for example, is extremely sexually active – but there is not even an atomic iota of lust in any of that sexual activity. Why? Because lust is the thirst to please oneself. There is no “thirst” in Krishna’s sexual activity, no sense of “need” or “emptiness to fill.” Krishna’s playful activities are not a search for happiness, they an expression of happiness. They are not attempts to fill a void of happiness, but are endeavors to share a surplus of it. His sexual activity is not an attempt to gratify himself, it is an endeavor to share his surplus bliss with other entities and thus please them.

Lust is undefeatable, but in the face of love, it disappears. This happens because love is the natural state of existence, and lust is a permutation that occurs only when existence is projected into some unnatural condition.

Lust only exists when a person feels emptiness and dissatisfaction inside; for lust is the endeavor to fill up that emptiness and remove that dissatisfaction. If we were completely satisfied, happy and effortlessly blissful – there would be no seed of lust.

So, never concentrate on “renouncing lust” – it will be a hopeless battle. Don’t try to take this enemy head-on. You can’t fight it head on, you have to cause it to surrender. Surrender to it is another option, but it never manages to fill the emptiness inside, so surrender to it is not a wise option. Better to make it surrender to you!

You can’t fight it head on, you have to inspire it to surrender!

But how?

The true self has svānanda (inherent bliss) in abundance. And the true self has an eternal, effortless relationship with the Supreme Self. This relationship facilitates Supreme Love, which causes an exremely abundant, overflowing happiness and joy, prema-ānanda. Try to realize this. It will cause lust to surrender to you.

Lust will begin to slacken as you begin to grasp the first hints of the first hints of the first hints of prema (Supreme Love). Eventually it will simply stop fighting, because it too becomes delighted by the Supreme Love, and wants to become involved in it, as a servant of that love.

Renunciation is hopeless.

So, don’t try to renounce lust, or anything else for that matter. Renunciation is hopeless. The ātmā is so small and dependent. Trying to renounce things and be independent from them is extremely difficult, painful, and almost surely doomed to failure since it is ultimately impossible for an ātmā to be absolutely self-sufficient. Instead of breaking yourself in this impossible battle, try to gain more and more cognizance of your true self, your eternal nature as a conscious being, your relationship to the Supreme Consciousness, and the divine love that is possible in that relationship.

Then lust will go away without effort, and merely as a side-effect.

Thus we see that people with a lot of prema, a lot of divine love, are very often very, very simple, minimalist, “renounced” people – because they have no wants or desires, because the prema satisfies them so completely. But it is a mistake to take this by-product of prema as if it were the main goal.

Try for renunciation: be prepared to fall on your face forever.

Try for prema: renunciation happens as a matter of fact, without effort, and very naturally and wholesomely.

– Vraja Kishor dās
www.vrajakishor.com

Tagged: Krishna, Lust, renunciation, sex

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 October 2015, Chowpatty, India, Srimad Bhagavatam 10.69.41)

We are currently serving in the material world and using the paraphernalia of the material world in the service of Krsna. We read about the gopis in Vrndavana, who with their long hair, sweep the marble floor in the kunjas, the meeting places. We sweep with brooms and mop the temple floor, so what is the difference!? It is the same. The benefit is the same. It is Krsna’s floor. So we are greatly blessed that at every moment there is so much mercy and so much benefit. Everything related to Krsna is transforming us; it is sparsamani or cintāmaṇi, transcendental touch stone.

This is the nature of devotional service; it awakens attachment to Krsna. That is the unique thing. Thus, with great faith and enthusiasm, we can engage in devotional service. It will surely transform us and anyone who gets touched by this movement will be transformed by it.

Nāmno hi yāvatī śaktiḥpāpa-nirharaṇe hareḥtāvat kartuṁ na śaknotipātakaṁ pātakī naraḥ (Brhad-visnu Purana). It is said by chanting the holy name once, one becomes purified from more sinful activities than one can commit in a lifetime. So, this is a very potent movement that will have tremendous effect on us.

Still, one may think that their attachment to Krsna is still not so deep. But there are two things that develop by chanting and devotional service. One is that attachment to Krsna develops and the other thing is that we are accumulating Krsna’s mercy by everything we do. Even if we do not feel some transformation right away, with all the service, mercy is accumulates and when Krsna so desires, then suddenly a great transformation may come.

Therefore, although attachment to Krsna is our aim, even if that is apparently not manifesting so much in us right now, we must carry on with great faith because Krsna will surely manifest that attachment. Nothing is forgotten; not the smallest service. Everything accrues in our eternal balance, our eternal credit. Therefore reminding ourselves of the great benefit of devotional service, we must be very eager to take shelter of such devotional service regardless of our position of ashram, regardless of whatever our position is in the material world. Anyone, in any place, can chant the holy name of Krsna and in that way anyone can take advantage of this movement!

Lord Caitanya taking sanyasa from Keshava Bharati“So, this is formal accepting of sannyasa, but real sannyasa will be fulfilled when you’ll be able to induce the people of the world to dance like you. That is real sannyasa. This formal dress is not sannyasa. Real sannyasa is when you can induce other people to become [...]

Are all religions equal?
Question. I have been pondering the unity of religions or the universality of religions, specifically how the essence is the same although the external aspects may differ. Can you shed some light on this?
Answer by Romapada Swami: The principles of any bona fide religion would be based on certain universal regulative principles primary of which are austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness and not on any man made dogmas. By adopting such principles under the expert guidance of a fully realized soul, the conditioned Jiva-soul reawakens to his original identity as a loving servant of God. Any authorized process which brings the soul to this end is a bona fide religion. The details, traditions, costume or practices may differ but the essential principles must be the same.
Further, these principles can be adopted at various levels of realization just as mathematics can be understood at various levels from primary school to Ph.D. depending on the capability and previous training of the student in the subject. Similarly, the principles of religion are presented to various people in progressive stages according to their ability to accept and comprehend them by the prophets who are compassionate representatives of God, who fully understand the mentalities and spiritual needs of the people whom they address.

One of the results of the Sankirtan movement: 16 Million People in the US are Now Vegan or Vegetarian!
In 2009, a tiny one percent of the US population reported eating vegetarian or vegan. Now, 5% of the United States population is vegetarian and half of those people are vegan. The rates have skyrocketed over the last five years and studies show the rates are climbing. So why are people continuing to go veg? The reason seems to involve a mix of various factors, with the largest impact coming from how much we have learned about commercial farming and animal treatment over the last five years.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/9KfJJJ

Gita Nagari Farm latest Newsletter.
Gita Nagari: The Gita-nagari will be therefore the main preaching center of the Supreme Authority of Sri Krsna the Personality of Godhead. It shall be proclaimed from that place that Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the Absolute Enjoyer of all benefits derived from all kinds of works, sacrifice, cultivation of knowledge, that He is the Absolute Proprietor of all the material and spiritual worlds, that He is unalloyed friend and philosopher of all living entities namely the gods or the rulers, the general people, the beast and the birds, the reptiles, plants and trees and all other animals residing in every nook and corner of the great universes. When such knowledge will be fostered from the vantage of the Gita-nagari, at that time only real peace and prosperity will usher in the world so anxiously awaited by the people of the world. - Srila Prabhupada - Conception of Gita Nagari, 1956
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/O9jUBI

By Madhava Smullen

The Service Appreciation Ceremony – a semi-annual custom introduced in 2014 that honors those who have contributed years of service to the New Vrindaban village – was held for the third time at ISKCON New Vrindaban’s Community Hall on Sunday December 6^th, 2016.

Previous ceremonies honored the late Madhava Gosh and his wife Vidya, Kripamaya and his wife Krsna Bhava, Malati Devi, Navin-Shyam, Jamuna, and Kacey Orr for diverse services from GBC to board member to cow and garden care.

This time, around fifty people gathered to honor ECO-Vrindaban veteran farmhand Ray Kuderski, cook and mother Dharmakala Dasi, performer and author Sankirtan Das, and his wife Ruci, a longtime teacher at New Vrindaban.

Joint board member Chaitanya Mangala Das acted as MC for the event, which for the first time included slideshow presentations on each honoree’s life and achievements.

Each person was also presented with a cherrywood plaque thanking them for their decades of service in the development of the New Vrindaban community, on behalf of Srila Prabhupada, Sri Sri Radha Vrindabana Chandra, and the Board of Directors of ISKCON New Vrindaban and ECO-Vrindaban.

Ray Kuderski – whose wife Kelli, son Michael, and sister-in-law Carol were all present – received his plaque from Ranaka Das, his boss and friend during his more than three decades of exceptional work with the cows and farming activities in New Vrindaban.

Born and raised in the Moundsville area, Ray didn’t have prior farm work experience, but learned on the job. He first began working with Ranaka in the Plough Department in 1983, which later merged with the Cow Care Department and eventually evolved into ECO-Vrindaban.

“For decades, it was mostly Ray and Ranaka doing everything,” says Chaitanya Mangala. “During the tougher times at New Vrindaban, when they had to look after 400 cows on a shoestring budget, they often had to put aside their own concerns and comfort to make sure the cows were cared for.”

The crowd laughed with fond familiarity when Chaitanya showed them a photo of Ray on his trusty John Deere tractor, commenting, “This is probably how you all recognize him.”

“Ray is known as a no-nonsense guy who does his work steadily without complaint year in and year out,” explains Chaitanya. “He’s been an amazing part of the fabric of New Vrindaban for so long. The place clearly wouldn’t be the same without him.”

True to form, when Ray was offered the chance to say a few words after his slideshow presentation, he declined with a self-effacing grin. But the crowd wouldn’t stay silent. One after the other, dozens got to their feet, praising Ray for his incredibly dedicated participation.

Next came Dharmakala Dasi, who has served New Vrindaban for more than four decades. After joining ISKCON in Maryland in 1972, Dharmakala was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1973 in New York, and began cooking for Krishna at the Henry Street temple there.

She moved to New Vrindaban in 1974, where she received 2^nd initiation in 1975 and began cooking for the Deities and devotees, a service she would continue for the next fifteen years.

Her opulent 4pm offering of elaborate cookies and cheese cake became legendary, as did the breadsticks, date nut bars, apple crisp and more she made for the devotees. Often spending eleven-hour days in the kitchen, Dharmakala still found time to raise her five children.

After stopping her work in the temple kitchen, she continued to bake cakes for weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries in New Vrindaban, a service she offers to this day. In 1995, she started her company “World’s Best Cookie,” which has sold over 500,000 handmade cookies.

Speaking about their mother, Dharmakala’s eldest son Suddha-Sattva and daughter Dinataruni appreciated how she had opened her home to their friends. “Our house was always packed with kids, and you’d feed them every day,” Suddha said. “That’s one of the ways you showed your love for devotees in the community.” Dharmakala’s son Vincent and daughter Sarasvati were also present.

In turn, the crowd then showered their love and appreciation on Dharmakala, mostly by enthusiastically yelling out the names of her different legendary preparations. Some reminisced about fighting over her offerings; others thanked her for the cakes she had made for them. ECO-V Board Chair Bhima Walker then presented her with her plaque.

“My friends are the reason I’m still living in New Vrindaban after all these years,” Dharmakala was quoted in an article that was read out. “We all built this place together. We’re like family.”

Finally, Sankirtan and Ruci were honored. The two met in college in 1968, joined the Chicago temple soon after, and were initiated in 1973. They arrived in New Vrindaban on the eve of Gaura Purnima 1976 in the dead of winter, showing them just how austere the place could get. But nothing could deter them from serving there for the next four decades.

As well as her service to Tulasi Devi, Ruci is most known for her nearly forty years of teaching preschool and elementary students at different New Vrindaban schools since 1978.

Today, she continues to teach at the Gopal’s Garden Homeschool Co-Op, established in 2007. There, she provides a balanced blend of standard academic subjects and Krishna conscious ones, including japa, kirtana, and Bhagavad-gita slokas. At the end of each school year, she produces an anthology of the students’ writings and illustrations.

Over the years, Ruci developed bonds with her students that have remained to this day. She often receives mail from early students – now with successful careers and their own families – who tell her what an impact her teaching had on their personal and professional lives.

At the service appreciation ceremony, three generations stood to thank Ruci for everything she had done. Pioneer New Vrindaban residents told her, “You were a shining light throughout New Vrindaban’s history. You never let us down.” Their children, now in their thirties and forties, appreciated all the benefits they had gotten from her classroom. And their children, still currently studying with Ruci, piped up and said, “I love being in Ruci’s class!”

Meanwhile her husband Sankirtan is known for braving austere conditions out at the Bahulaban “Pits” to cook breakfast every day for nearly fifteen years, including the famed “oatwater.”

He’s perhaps most praised, however, for developing the Brijabasi Players and for his hundreds of plays and skits from the late 1970s to this day.

One of his most fondly remembered productions was the sweet Nandulal, in which he played the blind saint Bilvamangala Thakur, who unknowingly encounters Krishna, played by the then 12-year-old Sesa Walker. Sankirtan recalled the play as one of his favorite experiences from over the years, praising the professionalism and commitment of his youthful co-star.

Sankirtan also collaborated for many years with Lokamangala Das, performing transcendental dramas around the U.S. These included the two-man magnum opus Mahabharat, which they toured for four years to colleges, temples and even Off Broadway in New York City.

Sankirtan is also an award-winning storyteller and author, winning the West Virginia Artist Fellowship Award in 2005 for his storytelling at schools and colleges, and a Next Generation Indie Book finalist award in 2014 for his book Mahabharat: The Eternal Quest.

Recently, Sankirtan has been taking his PowerPoint about the 50th Anniversary of Prabhupada’s arrival in the West to colleges. And his project “Holding Srila Prabhupada,” in which he takes photos of pilgrims holding a picture of the ISKCON Founder outside his home – where Prabhupada stayed in June 1976 – has given hundreds a deeper New Vrindaban pilgrimage experience.

After the presentation on Sankirtan’s life, many devotees stood to say how moved they were by his service. Advaitacarya Das recounted how Sankirtan had spent eight hours a day for two weeks helping his son Halavah Sofksy rehearse to try and get an acting scholarship. As a result, Halavah won the scholarship. Present himself, Halavah added, “It shows the level of generosity that you have. And so many others have similar stories to tell about you.”

Sankirtan and Ruci also have two adult children of their own. Their son Josh (Sanjaya) – who was present at the ceremony — is an attorney and helps edit Sankirtan’s writings. Their daughter Visnupriya is a senior product and graphic designer for a consulting firm, and has designed and illustrated Sankirtan’s books.

At the end of the ceremony, Ruci and Sankirtan were presented with their plaque by INV board member Keval Patel.

In his concluding statement, Chaitanya Mangala recited Verse 4 from Rupa Goswami’s Nectar of Instruction, which discusses the six “symptoms of love shared by one devotee and another.”

He also quoted the purport, where Srila Prabhupada writes: “Even in ordinary social activities, these six types of dealings between two loving friends are absolutely necessary,” and further clarifies, “The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has been established to facilitate these six kinds of loving exchanges between devotees.”

“We don’t often just walk up to people we know and tell them our open-hearted thoughts and appreciations,” says Chaitanya. “So it’s important that we create spaces to facilitate this kind of sharing. When people do things to support and appreciate each other, it’s catching. The recipient feels good and then does something nice for someone else, and it causes a ripple effect.”

To finish off the evening, everyone had the chance to mill about and socialize with each other as they tucked into a delectable Ekadasi cake baked by Lakshman Das.

Plans are in place to continue the Service Appreciation Ceremony at New Vrindaban twice a year, well into the future.