Thursday, October 1st, 2015
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Thursday, October 1st, 2015
Montgomery, New York

Walk or Drive But Move

The temperature has dropped to 45 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s still fine and the weather is not severely austere. Yesterday, rain and drizzle came periodically and whether accompanied by umbrella, plastic poncho or not, constant walking provides warmth. In looking at the bright side of things, the rain of yesterday and the coolness of today provides a transition of texture and colour to the vegetation and foliage all around. Hence, the awesomeness of autumn begins to show its usual splendor.

By 1:30 PM I had completed my targeted 20 miles. That was done to make room for a drive to Schenectedy, a historic city in New York State. There we conducted a sangha, a devotional gathering with the Guyanese community. Sabrina was our host. With children all the way to seniors in the group, the mild challenge is to keep everyone perked up and attentive. Any presentation should inspire. For me, before attempting such a task, an internal mindfulness of prayer, as brief as it may be certainly helps in the endeavour.

I spoke from 9.29 of the Bhagavad Gita and explored the fairness of God. We read through the purport of our guru, Srila Prabhupada, by the way of charades. That’s always a winning approach for the kids.

Kirtan (chanting) and blessed food known as prasad finished off a great evening before the long drive back to our rendezvous in Newburgh. When choosing whether to be a passenger in a van or walking on the road, I prefer the latter. However, it’s always good to be in that vehicle to maximize time in the company of my team players, Vivasvan and Tre’von. Incidentally, Tre’von is completing a good amount of mantrameditation on his beads. It’s day number two of accomplishing 16 revolutions on the beads.

 
May the Source be with you!

20 miles / 32 km

IDEA – 4 insights for facing adversities
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Talk to students of California State University, Channel Islands
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How can I write a book?
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I have been sharing bhakti wisdom for many years and have many ideas that I wish to put together as a book. How can I go about doing this?

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Is thinking that we may not attain Krishna in one life being realistic or being lethargic?
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How can we avoid losing enthusiasm as we keep practicing bhakti over the years?
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How do our relationships in this world relate with our relationship with Krishna?
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Overcome discouragement through spiritual wisdom
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Gita class at ISKCON, Laguna Beach
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When prasad is so purifying, why don’t those who take prasad regularly get fully purified?
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“Man is the architect of his own fortune, so you make your…
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“Man is the architect of his own fortune, so you make your fortune now.”
Dhruvanath: I’d come back from India as a hippie in 1969 or ‘70, and I was attempting to write a book based on the hallucinogenic drug experiences I’d had there. At that time the devotees had a big hit record, The Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, and I thought it would be a great idea to have a chapter of interviews with the devotees.
When I finally found the temple, I met Kulashekar prabhu, and he said, “Our spiritual master is upstairs, why don’t you talk to him?” I said, “Great, why not?” We went to Prabhupada’s room on the first floor in Bury Place.
Before we entered, Kulashekar told me that Prabhupada was a great personality and we should offer our respects to him. I said, “Fair enough.”
Prabhupada was sitting on a cushion behind a low desk on the far side of the room with his back to the window. He was writing something and had his glasses down his nose. He peered up and said, “Hare Krishna,” and somehow I felt overwhelmed to be in his presence.
I automatically fell to the floor like a stick as I had seen devotees do in the temple downstairs. I simply lay there frozen, thinking: “What do I do now? When do I get up?” A few moments passed and Kulashekar motioned, “Okay, you can get up now.”
I had preconceived questions I was going to ask, because at that time LSD was my method for achieving self-realization. But when I sat there directly facing Srila Prabhupada, I went blank. I was speechless.
Somehow or other I had read The Nectar of Devotion, and I remembered that the pure devotees’ eyes are anointed with the salve of love.
Looking at Prabhupada’s eyes I could see this, and I could see that he was unlike anyone I had ever met in my life. After we had exchanged pleasantries, some moments passed, and then Prabhupada broke the ice by saying something that showed he knew what I was thinking.
He said, “How unfortunate it is that the youth of today are trying to become self-realized through the use of hallucinogenic drugs.” I was totally taken aback because this was exactly what I was going to challenge Prabhupada on. All my thoughts of writing a book went out the window.
After that I plucked up some courage and asked a question, “What are the characteristics of a pure devotee?” Prabhupada expounded for about twenty minutes just on that question.
I was with Prabhupada for about an hour, and Kulashekar was the only other devotee in the room at the time. Before I left, Prabhupada looked at me straight in the eyes and said, “Man is the architect of his own fortune, so you make your fortune now. Whatever is done is done. Now start a new chapter in your life, and in the next life go back home, back to Godhead.”
Those words are still ringing in my ears to this day.

Hare Krishna! The Cow Incarnation Of Lord Vishnu O Shri Hari,…
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Hare Krishna! The Cow Incarnation Of Lord Vishnu
O Shri Hari, Krishna, You are the Remover of all that is evil in the form of materialistic desires that have chained us conditioned souls to the vicious cycle of birth and death. I eternally bow again and again in the dust of the hoof prints of the cows that follow You in Vrindavana. Again and again let us take the dust of the hooves of the cows of Vrindavana upon our heads as we fall down like a stick before the dust of the herd of Vraja. By the grace of Mother Cow alone we see imprinted here and there in the pasturelands wetted by milk from the joyous herd numbering crores, the footprints of Lord Krishna and His cowherd boy friends running here and there. Veritably Shri Krishna, the Source of all Incarnations, is none other than Vraja Gopala, Govinda, Gopinatha and Gopijanavallabha in His Original Form.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20223

Curiosity kills the cat
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 27 August 2015, Stockholm, Sweden, Srimad Bhagavatam 3.6.6)

Krsna_and_gopakumar

The living beings originate in the spiritual world and then come to a state where they enter into tatashta – tatha, it means the edge – the marginal state where they are neither in the spiritual world nor in the material world. It is the state where the living being enters into contemplation upon his nature, as it is within his nature to not only be the servant of Krsna but also to be isvara, or the controller and enjoyer.

Once that contemplation is there, that is when the living entity enters into a neutral state. So it is not that in the spiritual world, in the midst of loving Krsna, suddenly envy develops, ‘Why do I have to serve Krsna?!’ That is not the case. It is simply that upon eternity, the living entity discovers an aspect of his own nature and when he dwells on it then for that moment, he is in tatashta, in marginal state where he is not absorbed in service.

Then from that state he can immediately return, ‘What is this?! I am not involved now in the nectarian service of the Lord! Let me immediately reassume that service!’  Or one can become curious – as they say in English, ‘Curiosity kills the cat.’  It is curiosity that can bring the living entity to the point where he decides, ‘Yes, maybe I want to try out that material realm!’  Then the living entity comes into the material energy – anadi mahirmukha – meaning that they are in the material world since the time immemorial…

Only the Best Marble for the TOVP – Part 2
- TOVP.org

This is a continuation of the previous article in which TOVP Managing Director, Sadbhuja das, went to Europe to see and purchase some of the world’s most unique marble, the best of the best.

Pictured in photo 1 and 2 is the Royal Blue marble from Bolivia that will be used on the Altars.

[See image gallery at tovp.org]

In photos 3, 4 and 5 we can see Sadbhuja standing next to some samples of white marble from Vietnam; a mock up what it will look like right next to blue marble mixed together on the steps.

[See image gallery at tovp.org]

And finally a pink marble from Turkey is shown in the photo 6.

[See image gallery at tovp.org]

The post Only the Best Marble for the TOVP – Part 2 appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Glastonbury Rathayatra (Album with photos) This Sunday was…
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Glastonbury Rathayatra (Album with photos)
This Sunday was Glastonbury Rathayatra, the last Rathayatra of the year! It was a blissful street procession as the devotees chanted and danced their way through Glastonbury town. The festival was carried on later in the Assembly Rooms with a stage programme of Bhajans, poems, songs, Parasuram’s famous magic show, a final kirtan and of course a delicious feast at the end. A really wonderful end to the Rathayatra season. Jai Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra! Jai Srila Prabhupada!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/12Vuyz

New video: Only devotees can know Krsna With the analogy of bee…
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New video: Only devotees can know Krsna
With the analogy of bee licking on the bottle of honey, Srila Prabhupada explains that Mayavadis do not have access to the real knowledge about Krsna as they do not dive deep into the ocean of devotion. Please watch this video to know some more philosophical points about how only devotees can know Krsna.
Watch it here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20212

Hare Krishna! Sivarama Swami addresses World Peace Forum A group…
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Hare Krishna! Sivarama Swami addresses World Peace Forum
A group of devotees from Radhadesh, Belgium, recently attended the World Peace Forum conference in Luxembourg and Germany for two days. The meeting was attended by MPs, diplomats, academics and other professionals. The general mood among the meeting’s participants was very open and friendly. We have been invited to these meetings for the last 3 years. The main topic was the current refugee crisis in Europe. Representatives of different projects described their work and got responses. On the first day we chanted for 20 minutes for the delegates and distributed nearly 100 burfis. On the second day devotees started the general program with a bhajan and then we played a 10 minute video presentation by HH Sivarama Swami on the topic of the ISKCON Hungary response to the refugee crisis.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20208

Krishna – The God of Gods
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No other religious/spiritual text proclaims the supremacy of God as Bhagavad Gita does. In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna proclaims His supreme dominion as supreme God of all that be in a poetic and awe-inspiring manner. Arjuna who was the direct first-hand recipient of this knowledge conceded to the supremacy of Krishna after Krishna proclaimed His supremacy. Following, Arjuna himself glorifies Krishna in his own words as follows.

You are the supreme Brahman, supreme abode and ultimate purifier, the eternal divine Person and original God - unborn and almighty. All seers, such as Devarsi Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasa, say this of you, and You in fact are personally telling me. Kesava, I accept as true all that You tell me. Neither gods nor demons know your personality, Lord. Only you yourself know your Self by your Self, O Supreme Person Who causes beings to be! God of gods! Master of the World! Kindly describe fully your vast, divine powers - powers by which You continue to pervade these worlds.

- literal translation of Bhagavad Gita 10.12-16 by HH H.D. Goswami

Hare Krishna

Hare Krishna! Who Owns God? Ravindra Svarupa Das: As we enter…
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Hare Krishna! Who Owns God?
Ravindra Svarupa Das: As we enter the Christmas season, and songs about God are playing everywhere, we might ask ours – who does God belong to? Is He a Christian God, a Jewish God, a Muslim God? This talk explores these questions with the Bhakti theology and the teachings of Srila Prabhupada.
Listen to it here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20205

Hare Krishna! Who Is a Guru, And Why We Need One Srila…
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Hare Krishna! Who Is a Guru, And Why We Need One
Srila Prabhupada: If one wants standard transcendental knowledge, not upstart knowledge, one must received it from the parampara system, the disciplic succession. Another meaning of the word srotriyam mentioned above is “one who has heard from a guru in the disciplic succession.” And the result of this hearing will be brahma-nistham, “He is firmly fixed in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” He has no other business. These are the two main qualifications of a bona fide guru. He does not need to be a very learned scholar with an M.A., B.A., or Ph.D. No. He simply needs to have heard from the authority in disciplic succession and be fixed in devotional service. This is our system.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20202

Three special results of loving Krishna – PSI: Purification Satisfaction Illumination (Bhagavatam 1.2.14)
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Srimad Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Phoenix
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