Planet ISKCON

The epic journey to find the source of the Ganges. Reaching the temple of Gangotri - the place where Hindus believe that Ganges first appeared on Earth. Further on we will also trail Kedarnath, Valley of Flowers, Yamunotri and Badrinath.

The post The self-evident nature of sastra appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

The post Daily Darshan : January 20th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

New devotional CD by Stoka Krishna das from Italy “Calling of the soul”
Dear devotees, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I am very happy to present this CD for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and all the Vaisnavas.
“Really beautiful, innovative in the Vaisnava soundscape and done very well, very devotional and professional. They are all new melodies, sweet, virtuous and relaxing, with soothing voices perfectly tuned and synchronized, the instruments are played expertly and the introductions are extremely attractive”
(Review from the Italian magazine “Movimento Iskcon” by Sri Lalita devi dasi)
The CD “Calling of the soul” is available here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/stokakrishnadas and on www.amazon.it, also obtainable for download on Itunes and Spotify.
Your humble servant,
Stoka Krishna das (GRS)

Iskcon Lithuania: Vaishnava Winter Festival 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Narada Muni, citing a practical example from his own life, established that by associating with devotees and chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, any man in any condition of life can achieve the highest perfection without a doubt. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 7.15.74 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/0QFLH3

Harinama in Queen Street, Auckland, New Zealand (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If we simply place ourselves at the lotus feet of Krishna by taking to Krishna consciousness and keeping always in touch with Him by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, we need not take much trouble in arranging to return to the spiritual world. By the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, this is very easy. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 7.15.53 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Wen8xj

NBS#29: The appearance of Lord Kapila.
This issue covers the appearance of the divine son of Kardama Muni and Devahuti, Lord Kapila, who is an incarnation of Lord Himself. Also included for this issue, is translations of various acharyas on the famous verse from Bhagavad Gita.
“Janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so ’rjuna”
We pray this issue brings some pleasure to the devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
NBS # 29 Features:-
1) Kardama Pacifies Devahuti
Sri Maitreya Rishi
2) The Appearance of Lord Kapila
Sri Vishvanatha Chakravati Thakura
3) Why Did Kardama Muni Leave Home?
His Divine Grace A .C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
4) Birth and Activities of The Supreme Lord
Sri Sridhar Swami, Sri Madhusudana Saraswati,
Sri Vishvanatha Chakravati Thakura, and Sri Baladeva Vidyabhushana
5) How Should One Approach The Supreme Lord?
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur,
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/EpTTO3

Inspirational Videos by Ghanashyam Priya ( 3 brief videos)
“The Bhagavad-gita says that when we focus on a deeper motive, or a higher purpose, or deeper meaning in life, then we can affect and impact the outer space,” he proclaims. The vibrantly colorful images and dramatic music create a euphoric tension that make you want to jump up, pump your fist, and shout, “I can do it!”
Watch them here: https://goo.gl/acimhz

January 20. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Do It For Him. It is reassuring to take stock of the fact that we follow Prabhupada in almost everything we do. Often we feel bereft of love for Prabhupada, and we think that we are distant from him. However, if you take inventory, you will see that you are always doing what he wanted you to do. I do not wear sannyasi clothes because it is my destiny to be a Vaisnava monk; I do it because he introduced it. When I think like this, it gives me assurance that I am completely immersed in Prabhupada consciousness. Even me, a laggard who does not fulfill front-line duties, who fails in many ways to cooperate with devotees – even I am following Prabhupada in general, and in the particulars, with devotion. Chant your rounds, read his books, do your preaching service, whatever it may be; do things the way he wanted them done. With the instinct of a well-trained person, you act the way Prabhupada taught you. To give a crude example, consider the way a jet pilot moves in the cockpit. He does not expressly think, “Now I am going to pull this switch and that lever to make the plane take off and veer to the left.” He does not have to think so specifically about what he is doing because he has experience. We also have experience and should be guided by Prabhupada’s vani. Whatever comes up in our lives, we simply act according to Prabhupada’s instructions. If someone asks us, we may verbalize the source of the instruction. Usually, we do not have to verbalize it – you see something and you do it the way Prabhupada did it, because you see the wisdom of his ways.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=4

There is no statement to that effect in the Mahabharata. To gain a sense of Draupadi’s feelings towards Karna, let’s look at the relevant incidents.

1. Svayamvara: The first interaction between Draupadi and Karna is during her svayamvara. When Karna tried to compete, she certainly didn’t favor him in any way. Irrespective of whether Karna was refused permission to participate in the svayamvara by her or by Dhrishtadyumna, or whether he competed and missed the target by the thinnest margin among all the kshatriyas (as stated in the Mahabharata-tatparya-nirnaya by Srila Madhvacharya), the key point is that Draupadi didn’t exhibit any sign of love for Karna, whether at first sight or later.
2. Marriage amidst poverty: When Arjuna in the garb of a brahmana won Draupadi’s hand in that svayamvara, she willingly, even happily, accepted a life of poverty while serving him. She may have accepted such a life either out of deference to her father’s will and the svayamvara tradition or out of attraction to Arjuna, who had so spectacularly won her hand during the svayamvara and the fight thereafter with Karna and the other peeved kings. If she accepted that life because of deference, then it’s extremely unlikely that such a submissive woman would entertain love for anyone like Karna who was an avowed rival of her husband. If she accepted that life because of her attraction to Arjuna, then it’s even more unlikely that she would feel love for her beloved’s enemy.
3. Marriage amidst prosperity: Draupadi’s poor-seeming husbands turned out to be princes, who went on to become emperors. During this period of rising fortunes, there’s no reason for her heart to have turned to someone other than her husbands. The Mahabharata reports neither any friction between her and her husbands, nor any noteworthy interaction between her and Karna.
4. Dishonor in the gambling match: Some people hold that, after the failure of her husbands to protect her during the gambling match, she felt that Karna would have protected her better. But such an analysis overlooks the reality that Karna was the very person who had instigated her dishonor by suggesting that she be dragged into the assembly and be disrobed in public. And it was Karna who called her a prostitute for having married five men. Even if she had had any affection for Karna as a hero, that attraction would have been destroyed by his villainous behavior. And the short duration of the incident as well as her strong-willed nature wouldn’t have allowed the occurrence of anything remotely resembling the Stockholm syndrome.
5. Need for a protector: Even if Draupadi had felt that she would have been better off with some protector other than her Pandava husbands, that feeling didn’t make her turn to Karna. Even though he was present right there in the assembly, she didn’t ask him for protection; instead, she prayed to Krishna, even though he was not present visibly. During their forest exile, when Jayadratha kidnapped her in the Pandavas’ absence, she castigated him not just for the irreligiosity of his action, but also for its sheer folly in provoking such formidable warriors as her five husbands. When the Pandavas came charging after Jayadratha, she proudly pointed them out to him, describing the heroic attributes of each of them. Her words don’t give even the slightest indication that she felt that their protection was inadequate. To the contrary, her words convey that she had full confidence in her husbands’ ability to rescue her and to punish her abductor. During their yearlong incognito exile in Virata, when she refused Kichaka’s advances, he abused her in Yudhishthira’s presence. Yudhishthira refused to intervene, not wanting to blow up their cover by retaliatory action – few warriors could overpower the formidable Kichaka and if any unknown person had overpowered him, suspicions would have immediately flared up that Kichaka’s conqueror might be a disguised Pandava. And that’s what happened – Bhima’s killing Kichaka made the Kauravas suspect that Bhima might be responsible, thereby prompting their attack on Virata. Anyway, the relevant point for us is that even if Draupadi had felt disappointed and angered by Yudhishthira’s failure to protect her, that didn’t make her turn to any protector other than her husbands – she turned to Bhima, who more than adequately punished her abuser. Moreover, the martial track record showed that Karna was inferior to Arjuna, as was evident from the fight of the Kauravas and the Pandavas with the Panchalas on the occasion of giving guru-dakshina to Drona. At that time, the Panchalas had defeated the Kauravas, who had Karna on their side; and then Arjuna had defeated the Panchalas. For a detailed comparative analysis, see my answer on “Who was the better archer: Karna or Arjuna?”

6. Consistent faithfulness: Most importantly, nowhere in the Mahabharata did Draupadi waver in her faithfulness to her husbands. In the public assembly when she was being dishonored, Duryodhana tried to pit her against her husband by saying that he would release all of them (the Pandavas and Draupadi) if she stated that Dharma-raja Yudhishthira committed adharma by gambling her after he had gambled himself. Even at such a time, when Yudhishthira was clearly at fault, Draupadi refused to cast blame on him. Later in the forest she complained about what she felt was his unassertiveness; still she remained faithful to him, even accepting the position of a lowly maidservant during their incognito exile.

The Mahabharata doesn’t report any reaction of Draupadi at the death of Karna or even when his identity as the oldest of Kunti’s sons is revealed. This silence is telling because the epic doesn’t try to idealize its heroes – it unhesitatingly describes their morally ambiguous actions. And despite this striking candor, it doesn’t give even a whiff of any secret love of Draupadi for Karna.

Therefore, those who claim that Draupadi loved Karna are talking about a Draupadi of their imagination, not the Draupadi of the Mahabharata.

The post Did Draupadi love Karna? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Bhakti Vidyapurna Swami at ISKCON Mayapur on 2016-01-17, Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 06.19.14-18

Do It For Him

Gita verse-by-verse study Podcast

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Answer Podcast:

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Sunday feast at Radha Gopinatha temple on 17-1-16

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By the end of this year, the Christchurch temple will be rebuilt on the same land as before the earthquake.

In the meantime, the devotee community has been renting a hall to hold Sunday programs and festivals. Even though not the temple, the atmosphere is spiritually surcharged by the enthusiasm of the devotees.

Giriraj Swami continued reading and speaking from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.11.

“Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that by attentive chanting one can become free from all the other offenses—and that by inattentive chanting we allow all the other offenses to flourish. So it is critical that we chant with attention. When we are calling Krishna’s name and Krishna asks, ‘What do you want?’ we can pray,  ‘I want to hear Your holy names.’ We don’t have to ask for something very distant. We can ask for the thing that is most important at that moment—that we can hear the holy names. So that can be our prayer while we are chanting—’Please allow me to hear You. Please allow me to fix my mind upon You.’ And when we actually do that, everything changes. Then we get the real effect of becoming free from false ego and becoming situated in our actual positions as eternal servants of Radha and Krishna and Their dear devotees.”

Kirtan in Dallas
Talk on SB 2.1.11 in Dallas

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, November 2015, Vrindavan, India, Video interview)

I pray to one day love Krsna! The words ‘love Krsna’ cannot be used so cheaply. It takes great effort in devotional service, it takes effort to sacrifice and to go step-by-step from the initial stages of having some faith to learning to associate with devotees. Over how many years have I made so many mistakes in associating with the devotees? How then could I properly chant Hare Krsna and properly engage in devotional service?

What to speak of anartha nivriti, of the heart becoming purified… What to speak of getting some determination in devotional service… What to speak of getting some taste… What to speak of getting some attachment to Krsna… What to speak of getting ecstasy… What to speak of love… What can I speak on love for Krsna!!

As it is said, “Pray as if everything depends on God and act as if everything depends on you.” This is what Prabhupada did and Krsna definitely answered Prabhupada’s prayers. Personal responsibility towards preaching is empowering. Prabhupada’s god-brothers went to preach in England in the 1920’s and came back saying that the westerners are too fallen to take up Krsna consciousness. Fortunately, Prabhupada didn’t think this way. He took personal responsibility to spread Lord Caitanya’s mission. Remember, ninety-nine percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses. If the world is not Krsna conscious, we need to look at ourselves. Whenever devotees made excuses and told Prabhupada that people were not receptive or that they were difficult to preach to, Prabhupada always said that the problem was not with the people they were preaching to; the problem was with us. Continue reading "Who’s To Blame?
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The waking process may take some time. If it is very rare to attain bhava where our true eternally awakened self is developed, shedding the gross and subtle dream body, then only a greedy, hungry effort, anxious to adopt all positive awakening procedures may expedite matters. Lord Krsna states: “After many births and deaths, he who actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knows Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” BG. 7.19. While we are awakening, any acquirement of mercy can be passed on to other sleeping souls, to sound gentle informed alarm bell talks. When awakened souls gather to converse about the awoken reality personified [Krsna] and His nearest and dearest, such enlivening chatter will keep us awake and entice us towards Krsna Prema. “O Narada, I am not in Vaikuntha nor am I in the hearts of the yogis. I remain where My devotees glorify My name, form, qualities and transcendental pastimes.” Padma Purana. In the meantime while we are here staying awake, perhaps we can also, like Maha-Visnu, observe the incredible workings of this dream world, if even as a reminder to keep alert, or to be interestingly occupied. Continue reading "City of nine gates
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Sri Jagannath Rath Yatra Chennai (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If one somehow or other chants the holy name of the Lord (Hare Krishna) when he meets with an accident and dies, he will be saved from hellish life after death. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.15 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/WfCzGL

Pejawar Paryaaya Mahotsava Udupi 2016 (Album with photos)
Basu Ghosh Das: Please find pictures taken by myself of the Pejawar Paryaaya festival here at Udupi yesterday, Monday, January 18, 2016
Find them here: https://goo.gl/n9A3Lm

KK Bindu #367, “The Final Words of Bhakta Kavi Gopal Krishna”, plus more …
The latest issue of Sri Krishna-kathamrita Bindu e-magazine was just released. This issue includes:
* IRRESPONSIBILITY IN BHAKTI – In this excerpt from a letter to a disciple,
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada strongly speaks about the principle of guru.
* THE FINAL WORDS OF BHAKTA KAVI GOPAL KRISHNA – The story of the last day and final prayers of this great Odishan Gaudiya Vaishnava poet.
* NAMA-TATTVA: NAMA IS ALL POWERFUL – a verse from Skanda Purana.
* “MATAJI” – From the life of Srila Lochan Das Thakur
It can be downloaded here: https://archive.org/details/bindu367

New Zealand Yatra 2015 Sankirtan Marathon (7 min video)
New Zealand has a population of 4.4 million and over one month we distributed over 19,000 books! We had 5 full time travelling sankirtan parties and 1 part time going all over the country.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/O4WCYE

A sincere sweeper in the street is far better than the charlatan meditator.
[Perform your prescribed duty, for action is better than inaction. A man cannot even maintain his physical body without work.]
Anyone who is in the material world is certainly possessed of the impure propensity for lording over the material nature and for sense gratification. Such polluted propensities have to be cleared.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/klwOH7

What makes us act selfishly?
Answer by Radhanath Swami.
Question: The caring attitude is pleasing to everyone, but generally the default attitude in this world is one always thinks selfishly. So is it an inbuilt script of the mind that makes one think selfishly?
Radhanath Swami: The false ego misconceives: “I am this body, I am this mind, I am the controller, I am the proprietor, and I am the selfish enjoyer.” This is foundational to all material complications. It impels us to put ourselves above others and act selfishly. And when we continue to act in that way it becomes a habit. According to how we habituate ourselves, by making those wrong choices, we become more and more engrained in that way of thinking.
That is the way any habit works. For example, if you smoke a lot of cigarettes you become addicted, and the more you smoke the more you become addicted. The habit becomes a craving, and then it is very difficult to do anything without feeding your habit. When you are in the middle of it, you cannot really understand the effect of what you are doing because you are so much a slave of the habit. So that is exactly the way the ego works. Our selfishness, our arrogance, our greed, our selfish passions, our anger, and our envy – as we make choices to feed these habits, they become stronger and stronger and stronger.
But when we associate with saintly people we began to understand what we really want in life and what our condition is. And then we will take the medicine and the way of life by which we can become liberated from these habits of egotism. Chanting of the Holy Names is the simple medicine that will cure one from all the symptoms of ego, ignorance and selfishness.

The post Daily Darshan : January 19th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Leicester Sunday Program.

The post The preaching spirit appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

By Dravida dasa January 18, 2016

Dear follower of Srila Prabhupada,

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

Kindly submit your homage to Srila Prabhupada for his Vyasa-puja book by April 15.

Also, this year, in observance of the fiftieth anniversary of ISKCON’s founding, we have been requested to ask everyone who submits an offering to work in something about that theme.

In addition, if you’re a direct disciple of Srila Prabhupada, please check out www.sptributes.com to learn about a Vyasa-puja book open to all his disciples. The deadline for submission to this book is also April 15.

The standards for submitting an offering to the traditional Vyasa-puja book (the one published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust) are as follows:

————

*Absolutely no offerings will be accepted after April 15, 2016.*

Offerings must be in English.

Please restrict the length to a maximum of 3,000 words.

Please omit all diacritics on words that can be found in the VedaBase. It’s easier for us to put them in. If you quote a verse from outside the VedaBase or compose original Sanskrit, please include diacritics.

Do not “recycle” an offering — no offerings from previous years will be accepted.

The Vyasa-puja book is meant for glorifying Srila Prabhupada, not venting grievances. The BBT reserves the right to reject an offering it deems inappropriate or to ask for a rewrite.

When writing an offering on behalf of a temple or other unit, please try to write in such a way that the other devotees in your unit can also identify with the offering.

Who may write an offering?

1) Governing Body Commissioners

2) Sannyasis

3) Authorized representatives of ISKCON temples, preaching centers, farms, gurukulas, BBT offices, and “others,” such as BTG magazine and ISCOWP (this is not a complete list). If there is some doubt, we will request you to send written authorization from your GBC representative.

4) No multiple offerings. For example, a temple should not enlist all its bhaktas to write offerings under the temple heading. Joint authorship (2-4 devotees) of a single offering is fine.

5) Please make sure you tell us where the offering originates. For example: New Vamsi-vata (the Madagascar farm community), NOT just New Vamsi-vata. If we don’t know where the offering comes from, we will not print it.

6) Always leave a double space between paragraphs. If you want some special formatting, submit your offering as an attached file in Microsoft Word or RTF format.

7) Submit your offering by emailing it to Dravida Dasa at dravida108@gmail.com.

Offerings may be submitted any time from now until April 15, 2016. We will confirm receipt of your offering by e-mail. If you do not receive a confirmation, resend it.

The BBT is not responsible for lost offerings.

————

Hoping this meets you well, I remain
Your servant,
Dravida dasa

January 19. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Honoring Prasadam. The way he taught in his Prospectus written in the 1950s for the League of Devotees, Swamiji gave prominent mention to prasadam. He invited members to live with him in the asrama, and he advertised the daily schedule. There were many times during the day when prasadam was served. The menu was described exactly. By studying that daily schedule, one can understand that prasadam is like attending arotikas, bhajanas, or Bhagavatam readings. Prasadam was not a material break in a spiritual day. It was another full-fledged, spiritual activity – a devotee was either chanting, or working, or honoring prasadam. Prasadam works. It makes you feel satisfied and free of sex agitation. Everything seems nice. You don’t want to argue with people. Prasadam helps to heal the ailing self. The atma is not only the soul; it is the mind, body and self. All of these will be satisfied by eating prasadam. When you honor prasadam, the body says, “I like Krishna consciousness.” The mind says, “I like it too, I am not agitated any more.” The self exclaims, “This prasadam was offered to Krishna. Swamiji says it is not ordinary food.” Prasadam is an item of faith, a sacrament.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=4

Diksha Diksha Diksha £250/Rs11,000 Diksha

Perception
Understanding
Background

How much does initiation cost?

If you ask those fortunate to have been given first and second initiation by Srila Prabhupada, their was zero exchange of money, no courses, indeed Srila Prabhupada showed the greatest mercy and grace to his young disciples.

I once asked a dear friend of mine what it was like to be initiated by Srila Prabhupada, he looked at me and gave me an honest and surprising answer; “I can’t remember I think I was still stoned, we did a lot of drugs back then and it was probably still in my system”

He explained that unlike today, most got initiated very quickly, he had only been in the movement a few weeks; but with a tear in his eye he said this was Srila Prabhupada’s greatest gift, his grace and mercy; his love touched your heart you would do anything for him.

Some years later I spoke to one of our amazing Sanyasi about his brahmana initiation, it was a beautiful story; he explained how he was helping build the temple and Srila Prabhupada sent for him. Looking at his nails he recalls how Srila Prabhupada questioned what sort of recommendation for brahman initiation is this just look at the nails. But somehow he recalled he got second initiation. Again he noted that Srila Prabhupada gave the greatest grace and mercy to his disciples, and again the words he touched my heart I have tried my best to be a good disciple. He showed me his nail brush, I always now carry this to keep my hands nice and clean.

Each noted how Srila Prabhupada gave them both a chance despite being under-qualified and having little knowledge; but this endeared them more leading to a lifetime of selfless service.

They remain humbled by such mercy

Is this mercy and grace still being shown, perception and practicality or modern corporate ISKCON would suggest not; now we have waiting times, forms, courses and exams. And some come with a cost; no course no diksha, no diksha unless you do a course and that comes with a price, you pay so diksha is now business. Mentorship is not about guiding to bring the best out of the individual working on their strengths to become life long practitioners of bhakti.

Indeed in my own early days, their was no courses, forms, exams, no standardisation; mentorship was their they were called senior devotees who were so inspirational they could convince you to change your ways and practice devotional life. Those who got initiation were recommended by the same senior devotees, it was simple and effective. Each had a place and a wonderful spirit of cooperation despite different backgrounds, educational and social upbringings.

I personally miss these days and more so miss these compassionate devotees who’s mercy and grace was as unlimited as that of their own Guru Maharaja, who later became my own Guru Maharaja and who’s instructions remain deeply embedded in my heart; this cannot be replicated or quantified by any form, course or exam.

Unalloyed love, the special connection between Guru and disciple cannot be artificially made and this includes mentorship.
However now we cannot get diksha, we cannot get first or second initiation without doing courses and filling out forms to monitor and make sure were good little devotees; so diksha now comes with cost; many effectively argue that corporate ISKCON is more interested in money and making of money than devotees, this is perception. But there is a good rational for this argument as diksha is withheld unless you do the course so first you must hand over your money.

And what about those who are not academic?

Well I guess pack up your bags and ship out, sadly many have I’ve lost count of those who love Srila Prabhupada but hate corporate ISKCON and leave; with no system to catch them, no mentor, no grace, no mercy.

It appears we have lost the example that Srila Prabhupada gave, lost his grace and mercy, his unlimited compassion and love; making the unqualified qualified not by forms or exams but by giving them a chance, giving them initiation.

Can we not do the same?

Can we not return to the beautiful spontaneous inspirational ISKCON that captivated me so many years ago?

And if were insisting on courses before initiation, can we give them at the same cost our founder Acharia charged?

Lets not reinvent the wheel and return to basics, love care and devotion

Otherwise we risk becoming the professional reciters Srila Prabhupada warned us against, who will only give out diksha or speak about how to become devotees only if you pay; diksha diksha diksha course £250/Rs11,000, no course, no money, no diksha

ponder

and as always thoughts

and may we return to the stage were we recite stories of how great and merciful our Guru Maharaja’s are giving us the greatest gift despite how unqualified we are.