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The post Do our dreams reflect our anarthas? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Vraja reads from and briefly explains his overview of Tattva Sandarbha, just recently published as the introduction to Basic Truths of Gaudiya Philosophy – available at http://vrajakishor.com

This installment talks about the goal of life, and the means and result of attaining it. Then it focuses on how to evaluate truth or falsity, reality or fantasy – explaining how observation, logic and revelation WORK TOGETHER, and establishing the importance of the Veda and, especially, the Purāṇa.

Tagged: Tattva Sandarbha

Vraja reads from and briefly explains his overview of Tattva Sandarbha, just recently published as the introduction to Basic Truths of Gaudiya Philosophy – available at http://vrajakishor.com

This installment talks about the goal of life, and the means and result of attaining it. Then it focuses on how to evaluate truth or falsity, reality or fantasy – explaining how observation, logic and revelation WORK TOGETHER, and establishing the importance of the Veda and, especially, the Purāṇa.

Tagged: Tattva Sandarbha

"By chanting the Holy name of Krishna, one can actually purchase Krishna. Krishna had such faith in Haridas Thakura, that he was willing to put Himself in Haridas Thakur's hand."

Jayapataka Swami Maharaja
Thursday May 6, 1982

Many senior devotees including: Trivikrama Swami, Jagat Purusa Dasa, Jayadvaita Swami, Romapada Swami, Radhanatha Swami, Guru Gauranga Dasa, Niranjana Swami, Anuttama Dasa, Visaka Dasi, Nava Yogendra Dasa, Cintamani Dasi, Maha Visnu Swami, Anuttama Dasa, Ambarisha Dasa, Gopasvami Dasa, Sumati Dasi, Rukmini Devi Dasi, Rangavati Dasi, Sarva Siddhi Dasa, Svayam Prabha Devi Dasi and Giriraj Swami shared their accounts of how they were personally effected by Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the USA.

“I was standing out front on the steps of the church when Srila Prabhupada walked out and started talking to me. He told me important it was to understand that we are not the body. I had so many conceptions and misconceptions that I thought, ‘The guru is not supposed to go to the disciple —  the disciple is supposed to go to the guru.’ But that is what Srila Prabhupada has been doing at every stage, with all of us: He has been coming to us. He came to Boston, he came to Brandeis, and he came into our hearts.”

— Giriraj Swami

50th Anniversary Introductions, Boston

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 23 September 2012, Durban, South Africa, Radhastami Lecture)

If we want some deeper understanding of the aim of life, it is possible by the mercy of Srimati Radharani, who is most compassionate. She is more compassionate than Krsna. We can easily attract her mercy by doing some service. That is the key and we should think of how she did so much service; she did everything for Krsna’s pleasure and what are we going to do today for Krsna’s pleasure? Maybe someone will put a lakh in the box… or ten or more! Maybe someone will really try and really do something extraordinary today. Maybe one fortunate soul… ‘Out of so many, hardly one endeavours for perfection! And out of those who endeavour for perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.’ (Bhagavad-gita 7.3)

Radhastami is for us a day of soul searching, a day that we ourselves are realizing, ‘I have to come up. It’s time that I make a real sacrifice for Krsna’s pleasure.’ That is the inner meaning of Radhastami.

Hare Krishna! Rupees 10 Crore ($1.5 million) was gifted during Vyasapuja of HH Bhakti Charu Swami
The devotees in Surat, India celebrated 50th Anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in USA, along with the Vyasapuja of HH Bhakti Charu Maharaj. However the main theme of this convention was to encourage devotees to participate in construction of the TOVP. With folded hands HH Bhakti Charu Maharaj gave a presentation on the TOVP project in front of thousands of his disciples whom had come from all over India and different parts of the world. He explained that the desire of Srila Prabhupada was to build a wonderful temple for Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and for the satisfaction of our Vaishnava acharyas. Radha Jivan Prabhu also made presentations for two consecutive days to more than one thousand assembled devotees. The TOVP fundraising team received more than four hundred pledges for contributions, reaching a total of 1.5 million dollars or ten crore in Rupees.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19938

Amazing “Cake Art” by Anuradha Devi Dasi of Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK, Temple.

Congregation Program at Alachua

Lecture Podcast:

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The post MIND acronym 1 – Magnifies the problem appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

About Radhastami (Fasting till Noon):
 
ISKCON Brampton is pleased to invite you, your family & your friends for the celebration of Radhastami. Radhastami is the celebration of the advent of Shrimati Radharani in this world who appeared over five thousand years ago. Lord Krishna is the male aspect of God, the energetic source of the supreme energy, and Shrimati Radharani is the female aspect, of the energy. So when Krishna descends, Shrimati Radharani also descends.
On this day in particular, we appreciate the mercy of Radha in order to get Krishna’s mercy. Radharani is simultaneously the personification of devotion, gratitude and topmost humility for Krishna, as well as the ideal example of what being a devotee means. The word “Radha” comes from the word aradhana (worship), and so Her name indicates that She possesses the topmost method of worship and devotion to Krishna. Devotees keep fast till noon on Radhastami.
 Srila Prabhupada on Radhashtami in London in 1973:

we are pleased to announce that ISKCON Brampton will be hosting a seminar on "Building Strong Krishna Conscious Families". This seminar is designed to help you take your relationship to a higher level. This is a 3-days seminar, please mark your calendar for the following dates:

Hare Krishna! Maha Harinaam in Krishnanagar with 300 devotees
A Maha Harinam Sankirtan was held in Krishnanagar city on 8th Sep, 2015. This was the second Maha Harinaam held in Krishnanagar. The sankirtan was inaugurated by Rajkumar Malakar, inspector in charge, Kotwali P.S., Krishnanagar. The procession started from Rajbari Maidan at 4:30 PM and it covered city’s important areas like Kshanish Park, Sadar Hospital, Post Office, Kitowali police station and returned back to Rajbari Maidan. The procession was colourful and there were many flags, festoons, Abhiram patik etc. About 800 devotees participated including more than 300 Mayapur community devotees. Local devotees (Bhakti Vriksha, Namhatta, Chatra Samaj and others) also took part in Nagar Sankirtan Party.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19934

Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna school achieves top marks in NAPLAN
Hare Krishna devotees established the Bhaktivedanta Swami Gurukula school in 1980 at Eungella on the outskirts of Murwillumbah in northern New South Wales, Australia. The introduction of new teaching programs has resulted in students outperforming others across the nation in this year’s tests. Students performed above the national average in all categories in the compulsory literacy and numeracy exams. The school also performed above the average achieved by other Australian independent schools, with an 84 per cent increase in average score growth.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19930

Now, bid to push back antiquity of the Vedas
Moves are on, at the Sanskrit Department of the University of Delhi, to push back the commonly accepted date of the Vedas through astronomical calculations. Next weekend, the department will host scholars from across India who, over three days, will reassess the existing Vedic chronology accepted by a range of European scholars and Indian historians.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/SMZnGK

Mispronouncing the Holy Name?
“The letters of the holy name have so much spiritual potency that they act even when uttered improperly.
PURPORT
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura states that the word vyavahita (“improperly uttered”) is not used here to refer to the mundane vibration of the letters of the alphabet. Such negligent utterance for the sense gratification of materialistic persons is not a vibration of transcendental sound. Utterance of the holy name while one engages in sense gratification is an impediment on the path toward achieving ecstatic love for Krsna. On the other hand, if one who is eager for devotional service utters the holy name even partially or improperly, the holy name, which is identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exhibits its spiritual potency because of that person’s offenseless utterance. Thus one is relieved from all unwanted practices, and one gradually awakens his dormant love for Krsna.
CC Antya 3.59

Hare Krishna! Prabhupada’s arrival in the west: Day Two at Bhaktivedanta Manor
‘Today is the 38th day of our journey and we reached New York Port at 12/30 p.m. about three hours later than the scheduled time.’ Srila Prabhupada, Sunday 19th September 1965 In 1922 Kolkata, a young A.C. Bhaktivedanta SwamiPrabhupada met his spiritual master for the first time. In that meeting he received the instruction to go to the west and teach the message of Krishna. He took the instruction to heart as he later told his followers: ‘Because I have been ordered by my superior, my spiritual master: “Whatever you have learned, you should go to the Western countries, and you must distribute this knowledge.” So in spite of all my difficulties, all my inconveniences, I am here.Because I am obligated by duty’.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19913

21st September, 2015 is the auspicious appearance day of Srimati Radharani. On this day we will have kirtans, katha, bhajans, abhishek and feast glorifying Her. You can sponsor prasadam for devotees in Mayapur on this occasion. Pilgrim prasad has been sponsored already. It is still possible to sponsor for Srila Prabhupada’s disciples, Brahmacaris and Community.

The post Sponsor for Radhashtami appeared first on Mayapur.com.

(Utkalika-vallari 65)

The post Verses leading us to Radhastami, on the day of Prabhupada’s arrival in USA and Lalita Devi’s appearance day appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Harinama in Israel, Tel Aviv (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “When a person is actually advanced and takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord, who is very dear to him, he is agitated and loudly chants the holy name. He also laughs, cries, becomes agitated and chants just like a madman, not caring for outsiders.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.2.40)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/cCXtES

Hare Krishna! Radha-Prema Makes Krsna Mad
Gour Govinda Swami : “The love of Radhika is My teacher, and I am Her dancing pupil. Her prema makes Me dance various novel dances.”(Cc, Adi-lila 4.121-124) “You will find three topics in radha-prema. Radha-prema is so powerful that it makes Krsna, who is almighty and all-powerful, mad. Krsna is all-powerful, almighty and omnipotent, yet He becomes mad for radha-prema. So radha-prema is greater than Him. Number two is that the pleasure and happiness derived from relishing the mellow of that love, radha-prema, is unknown to Krsna. It is unknown to Him who is all-knowing. Therefore radha-prema is greater. The third and last point is that there is a combination of two opposites in radha-prema. One after another we will discuss these three topics.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19908

The post Daily Darshan – September 19th, 2015 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Hare Krishna! A Look at India From the Views of Other Scholars
First of all, as explained in The Ancient World by John Haywood, “India is the birthplace of two of the world’s great religions, Hinduism and Buddhism. Today, nearly half the world’s population live in countries whose cultural development has been influenced by one or both of these religions. Apart from India itself, these countries include China, Tibet, Nepal, Japan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Indonesia. The influence of ancient India was not just limited to its religions. Indian mathematicians were the first in the Old World to discover the mathematical value of zero, and gave the world quadratic equations and the now universally used system of ‘Arabic’ numerals. The alphabets of Tibet, Mongolia and all of the Southeast Asian languages are of Indian origin. Yet despite their wide-ranging influence, the early civilizations of the Indian subcontinent are the least well-known of any of the ancient civilizations.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19905

Mangal Arati Of Sri Sri Radha Gopinath; 9th September 2015

"We should always be very grateful to Krishna for giving us the Hare Krishna mantra, and we should show our gratitude by chanting it as much as possible. That way we will bond with Him, which is our heart’s greatest desire. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare."

From Japa Transformations
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 23 September 2012, Durban, South Africa, Radhastami Lecture)

Krsna is known as the transcendental cupid who is interested in his amorous sports, who is always thinking of the gopis who have given everything. Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita 4.11, ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham, as you surrender unto me, I will reward you accordingly. Krsna says, ‘But with the gopis, I don’t know what to give them! With them, my promise falls short because I have nothing to give them in exchange for their service.’

If someone gives you a jewel then in exchange, you cannot really give a piece of glass; you have to reciprocate. If I give you something very valuable, you also have to give something valuable back to me. So Krsna was thinking, ‘I have nothing in my possession that can match the value of what the gopis are offering. Therefore let their service stand as their reward and we speak of their glory.’

In this way, we remember how Krsna is just taken by surprise! He does not know how to deal with the gopis. They show a level of love which goes beyond what he can comprehend. It bewilders his mind! And of all the gopis, Srimati Radharani is the most outstanding!

So Krsna is not only enchanted by Srimati Radharani’s devotional service but it is beyond his comprehension that anyone can experience such amount of love! It is stated that the gopis are experiencing thousand times more happiness than Krsna by serving Krsna. Their existence is puzzling Krsna. Krsna cannot understand the nature of the gopis, what to speak of the nature of Srimati Radharani. That nature, their love, their happiness exceeds his love and his happiness.

N

The Auckland yatra celebrated the 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada arriving in America. The festival went for three days starting with maha-harinam in the city.

Yesterday was an historic day in the Mongolian yatra. We performed harinam samkirtan for the first time in the country since 1992. In the early morning, when the Gobi desert sun was still tolerable, we took to the streets of Sainshand, a town of 23,000 people, with mrdungas, kartalas and the sweet chanting of Krsna’s [...]

New Gurukula Set to Open Near Sochi, Russia by 2017
Construction is set to begin on a new day school gurukula near Sochi, Southern Russia sometime this spring, with plans to open in September 2017. With no other gurukulas currently in operation in Russia, it may be under high demand as the only one of its kind. The gurukula is planned in Baranovka, a small village 15 kilometers from Sochi City Center, which devotees have dubbed “Balaramovka.” The devotee community there, started by the late leader of ISKCON’s Sastric Advisory Council Purnachandra Goswami in 2009, consists of about fifty devotees. Meanwhile the nearby Sochi ISKCON community is about 200-strong with many children.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/cEctSJ

Parividha Das and Saradiya Rasa Devi Dasi in Vrindavan Chandra’s “Dracula Gets The Sauce” (9 min video)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/adkIqx

ISKCON Auckland New Zealand: Over 200 devotees join tonight’s Harinam (Album with photos)
To honour Srila Prabhupada on the 50th anniversary of His arrival in the west.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/LJajgK

Hare Krishna! Being in the Moment – Bhakti Rasamrita Swami – Veda London (video)
In today’s fast-paced world, where the use of technology is outweighing the quality of our interactions, it is easy to be physically in one place and mentally in another. Being present in every moment and every action empowers us with clarity of thought, enhances our creativity, and maximises our performance. Bhakti Rasamrita Swami delivered an interactive seminar on how the art of consciousness, mindfulness and meditation can help us to achieve our ambitions in both our personal and professional lives.
Watch it here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19899

Kirtan In The Gobi Desert (7 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: In 1996, several foreign devotees who were visiting Mongolia, held kirtan in the streets of the capital, Ulaanbaatar. They were immediately caught and deported. For almost 20 years now the streets of the country have remained silent of the singing of Krsna’s holy names. Our renewed status as a religious organization, however, now allows us to sing freely everywhere with prior permission. So yesterday with great enthusiasm we took to the streets of Sainshand in the Gobi desert and chanted and danced along with the local people. Later in the day we had a hall program in the center of town. Another milestone in the history of Lord Caitanya’s samkirtan movement!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/X2hYAT

Hare Krishna! Srimati Radharani- The Origin of the Sankirtan Movement
How can one understand the esoteric personality of Srimati Radharani? She is the principal inspiration for the Lord, and only confidentially revealed in the Vedic scriptures. Yet, She takes shelter within the deepest realizations of pure hearted bhakti yogis. Lord Sri Krsna is bewildered by the profound brilliance of Her transcendental qualities and thus awakens a yearning within Himself to exhibit, absorb and experience Her divine nature. The influence and presence of Srimati Radharani, the embodiment of the Lord’s hladini shakti, is expanded in the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19896

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The post How to respond when a devotee is criticized by a devotee or a nondevotee? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Srimad Bhagavatam class (10.74.35-38) at New Ramana Reti, ISKCON, Alachua

Lecture Podcast:

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Lecture Summary:

10.74.35

What we speak about others speaks more about us than about others

Criticism is phrased contextually, but the malicious intention is often intentional

Eg. Today racist

What we speak is not as defining as why we speak it

Eg. SP – rajas tamo gune era sabai acchana al

Shishupala – friendly to Pandavas, envious of Krishna

 

10.74.36

Std strategy: Dredge up old stories to denigrate others

Yayati’s curse

“He has been in good standing recently, but he had problems earlier”

VCT – vyaja-stuti

What is unknown soon becomes falsely known

Eg ISKCON devotees – cult members in US and drug users in India

 

 

10.74.37

Common mistake: equate geographical with cultural / spiritual

Eg. Area outside India – fallen

Pure devotee’s potency: yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah

Rumors don’t need facts – they just need feelings

Eg. People being exploited in Dwarka / Christians being exploited in India

Jiva G – Krishna shifted Mathura-vasis to Dwarka primarily to protect Vrajavasis

 

 

10.74.38

Different kinds of criticism require different kinds of responses:

Tiny – neglect will die out

Big – may need to be countered

It requires great strength to resist the natural human tendency to defend oneself by countering criticism

The harsh words of our enemies don’t hurt as much as the deafening silence of our friends

3 different responses:

1. Neglect
2. Let others respond
3. Respond yourself

The post Deconstructing Shishupala’s character assassination of Krishna appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Hare Krishna! Srila Haridasa Thakura Samadhi
Thakura Haridasa was present during most of the Lord Caitanya’s pastimes in Nadia, and when the Lord went to Jagannatha Puri, Haridasa also went and took up residence there. Every day, after attending Lord Jagannatha’s mangala arati, Lord Caitanya would come to see Haridasa Thakura and bring him some of Lord Jagannatha’s prasadam. When Sri Sanatana Goswami and Sri Rupa Goswami would come from Vrindavana to Puri they used to stay with Haridasa Thakura. Haridasa, in order to maintain the etiquette, would not go near Lord Jagannatha’s temple but would offer his obeisances to the Cakra on top of the temple, from a distance. As he was considered to be a Mohammedan by birth, his presence in the temple would be objectionable to those who were caste conscious. He passed away in the presence of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19879