Planet ISKCON

The post Daily Darshan – September 3rd, 2015 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

MEMORIES: Anecdotes of a Modern-Day Saint
We are proud to announce that after 10 years in the making, the fourth volume in the “Memories” book series is ready for shipping! Over 100 disciples of Srila Prabhupada and well over 5,000 anecdotes fill this 430-page book with nectar. This book is a definite “Page Turner” as we guarantee a story on every page that will inspire and educate every reader.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19525

HH Bhakti Caru Swami – SB 10.87.19 – 31.08.2015 Iskcon London

QUESTION: How would Maya devi be knowing how to enslave us to her? Paramatma is in our heart, and therefore knows us perfectly. Does she have access to that, in some way, or does she monitor our behavior, and act to that, or is there some other way i haven’t conceived of? Perhaps you can shed some light on this. I would appreciate it very much.

You’re assuming that its particularly difficult to “enslave” us. In truth, however, it’s not. It doesn’t require any special genius.

Nor is it an act of “enslaving” – that is another mistake.

Please read a book I have written, translating the Third Canto of Bhāgavatam. The name of the book is Varāha, Vidura, and Kapila. You can get it from my website. In there, when you read Kapila’s conversation with his mother, you’ll find everything you need to know to answer these questions.

To summarize:

We are very simple creatures, we simply want happiness. We will fly towards anything that we think provides happiness. So it is not at all difficult to “capture” anyone – just give them what they think will make them happy, and they are yours.

Māyā provides us happiness, because she is so beautiful and has so much energy to create so many wondrous situations in which we can experience happiness. She does not “enslave” us, she serves us.

Attracted to her, we enter into her. In that copulation, we experience oneness with her. She generates names and forms for us, and we experience oneness with them. She generates a “subtle body” for us – a sense of consciousness, a sense of identity, a sense of emotions, and a power of comprehension – and a “gross body” – senses that experience, and senses that interact. We experience oneness with these, but in truth they are her. So everything in our senses, mind, thoughts, identity and sentience is all factually in her. Therefore she knows our every desire and morphs continually to fulfill it.

The only problem with all of this is that each individual consciousness has different objects of love. There is no unification of purpose and emotion among the individuals. What makes one happy causes another to suffer. Therefore existence in Māyā by nature cannot be flawless or perfect. When we realize this, we gradually find flaws in Māyā’s beauty – lose attraction to her, stop seeing her as the source of actual happiness. Then we become eligible to move towards mokṣa, liberation – and potentially begin an existence in a different sort of māyā, one where there is unification of purpose and emotion centered on love for the core root of all consciousness, Krishna.

– Vraja Kishor

VrajaKishor.com

Hearing a celestial voice that the eighth child of Devaki would kill the demoniac King Kamsa, he killed all the children born from Devaki. Mother Devaki was in deep distress during her seventh pregnancy because she felt the child would be divine in nature.

To allay the fear of Devaki, Lord Krshna called Yogamaya and told her to transfer the child to the womb of Rohini, another wife of Vasudeva living in Gokula.

When Garga Muni went to Gokula, Rohini met the saint and he said, “Your child’s father is your husband Vasudeva and He will grow into a strong and beautiful divine boy.” After the birth of the child, Garga Muni again visited Gokula and named Him Rama (one who brings piety and prosperity). Garga Muni also said that He would grow very strong and become famous as Bala as well.

The appearance of lord Balarama was very nicely observed by the devotees in Cairns.

Ambarish’s first donation to ISKCON.
Ramesvara das: We were getting letters from a person named Alfred Ford and nobody had the slightest idea that he was “the” Ford family! So we were getting some letters and Krsna Kanti found out about it. At that time Krsna Kanti was still working at Spiritual Sky and he wrote this Alfred Ford a letter at his ski resort in Hawaii and asked him to please give a donation. “I’m trying to start a tape ministry to record all the lectures of Srila Prabhupada. There is no system at all.” And Alfred Ford gave a donation and Golden Avatar was started in 1972. We bought the Uher tape recorders, we bought whatever equipment there was. This was a monumental thing. From that day on Prabhupada’s servant or secretary had to carry a tape recorder and every single thing Prabhupada said was recorded. That was a major event for the history of the world. It ended up by 1977 when Prabhupada said we could use his talks, his classes and his lectures to produce books. It’s a very major event. It started in 1972 with this donation, the very first donation Ambarish ever gave ISKCON went to pay for Prabhupada’s voice to be recorded and preserved for as long as there is a Krsna consciousness movement. That is an important event in the history of our movement and Prabhupada approved it. Obviously he allowed his disciples to carry that tape recorder and stick that microphone in front of him and if it was annoying to him he would have mentioned it.

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The Grand Opening! (Album with photos)
The Sri Sri Radha Krishna Kanhaiya Temple of Devotion and Understanding opening which took place on the 29th August 2015 concluded with a greater than expected day of festive and merriment, with the installation of the beautiful Radha Krishna Kaniya and the official unveiling of ISKCON Malaysias first ever purpose-built temple, with a unique 8 sided building, 3 towering shikara(domes) and 2 pyramidal glass domes. It was a day that will forever be etched onto thousands of devotees hearts and minds, and go down as one of ISKCON Malaysias biggest achievements.
See them here: https://goo.gl/2chmwW

ISKCON Hungary Steps Up to Help Middle Eastern Refugees
ISKCON Hungary has also risen to the challenge, and now distributes hundreds of plates of freshly cooked meal on two locations near the two main train stations. The prasadam is always being accepted with gratitude by the refugees, most of whom have not touched freshly cooked food for weeks. Devotees also provide them with clothes, shoes, diapers, soap and other items to help them maintain their health and personal hygiene. “Helping needy people without discrimination is considered to be a moral duty by Krishna-devotees.” Declares Gandharvika Prema Dasi ISKCON Hungary’s spokesperson. “Above all and most importantly we are all equal spirit souls, compared to which our specific religions, skin colors and nationalities are secondary. According to our scriptures it is our duty to respect and to take care of the people coming to our home, no matter what their backgrounds are.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/2bjIER

Hare Krishna! From the speech by: Shri Kaptan Singh Solanki, Governor of Haryana & Punjab
The residents of Kurukshetra, the Kurukshetra Development Board and all of us are grateful to the ISKCON Society that you have performed this task here- this temple, this Institution which will be a very great Memorial, a very great Landmark, a very big project that will make a mark for Kurukshetra in this whole world. Through this Project, Kurukshetra’s name will appear on the map of the Whole World. You might have seen several temples, but this is one where both God and his Devotee are there. Krishna is also there and so is Arjuna. This gives us messages that if you want to become a devotee, become one like Arjuna. This is a great message.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19522

Hridayananda das Goswami’s newest book—A Comprehensive Guide to the Bhagavad-gita
Hridayananda das Goswami’s highly anticipated book, A Comprehensive Guide to Bhagavad-gita, is now available for purchase.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19517

Jasomatinandan Prabhu suffered a third stroke
Basu Ghosh Das: This is to let you know that Jasomatinandan Prabhu ACBSP suffered a third stroke, the second since this past June, and is presently recuperating in the hospital at Ahmedabad.
Gopal Krishna Maharaj is presently there at Ahmedabad. He just returned from his two month tour of Russia, the USA, and Canada for the program at Kurukshetra, where he installed the Deity of Ananta Shesha in the ground below the proposed Krishna Arjuna temple, construction on which will begin shortly (plans were already approved by the local Government – the land was also given by the Haryana State Government - the State in which Kurukshetra is situated), and changed his program out of concern for Jasomatinandan Prabhu’s health.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19514

(English/Russian)

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Being stripped of the last shreds of dignity

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HH Danavir Goswami’s health is poor right now and so he has made arrangements to focus on his recovery. If you would like to help, we encourage you to offer your sincere prayers and kirtans for a speedy recovery; however, the request is being made that we give him and his assistant their space so he can focus on his health. If you have a message for Danavir Goswami, you can email (rasikananda@rvc.edu) and we will pass the message along when the time is appropriate. No other information is available at this time, but we will definitely keep everyone posted with the latest updates. Thank you. Hare Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada: “But you are not a woman; you are a Vaishnava.”
One of the loving exchanges Yamuna had on several occasions with Srila Prabhupada related to his teasing her, or as she used to say, “trying to get a rise out of her,” by quoting the Chanakya Pandit verse, “Never trust a politician or a woman.” Another variation was when he would purposely make a statement about women being less intelligent. This may have started in San Francisco, but specifically she mentioned that it occurred in London, then in Madras and Bombay. Once, she was riding in a car with him, and he quoted the Chanakya verse and then turned around to look directly at her with an almost impish smile on his face. When she didn’t react, he repeated it and looked around again in the same way. Yamuna simply smiled and said, “Yes, Srila Prabhupada, you are certainly correct.” Then some time passed, and Srila Prabhupada praised her to show that he in fact saw no distinction on the basis of body, but saw her as an eternal spirit soul sincerely engaged in practicing and promulgating Krishna Consciousness. Yamuna: I had numerous exchanges which illustrated Srila Prabhupada’s demeanor and mood with regard to my position as a woman. However, one such series of exchanges is what I call the Chanakya Pandit episodes. I was present on four occasions when Srila Prabhupada repeated the Chanakya adage: “Never trust a politician or a woman.” On each occasion, Srila Prabhupada looked me in the eye to see my response. On the last occasion, in Bombay in 1973, he quoted the Chanakya shloka again, heartily laughing in front of a small group of men. Then he said, “What do you think, Yamuna?” Immediately I retorted: “Of course, it is true, Srila Prabhupada,” whereupon he became grave, looked at me with great feeling, and said, “But you are not a woman; you are a Vaishnava.”
Read the entire article here: https://goo.gl/AifTH1