Planet ISKCON

We are so excited for this new school year – to see what’s in our classroom and meet our new friends. We happily explore new materials, and learn much more than ABCs and 123!

Here Kanai is working with building blocks to make a big bridge where cars can go on top and people can walk underneath. I wish I could record his conversation.

Building with Bristle Blocks is one of Pavit’s most favorite activities. He engages himself in making different patterns and structures.

During our science session we learned about our body and soul. We referred to a relevant Bhagavad-gita verse: “Dehino smin yatha dehe”. We made our body booklet learning different parts of our body and naming them in the book.

 As a group project we traced an outline of our bodies on a brown paper and marked some detailed parts in it. It was real fun.

During Friday’s cleaning session, Kirtida swept the floor, keeping our classroom clean and beautiful.

In Language Arts we learned phonics through singing “Aa Apple Bb Ball…” and working on the letter ‘S’. We did object-hunt in the classroom, trying to find as many objects as possible which begin with the sound ‘s’.

As a project we made snakes using ‘s’ shape and sang about a snake.

During our individual learning session children work with the teacher one on one. Here Aditi is working on sound object box where she is choosing objects and placing them according to their beginning sound.

In Math we learned about calendars and reviewed the numbers. All my enthusiastic students participated in this group project of tracing numbers and choosing glitter stars, counting and placing them according to the numbers.

Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna in popular culture
From Wikipedia : Contributions to popular culture involving direct reference to the Hare Krishna mantra, or the Hare Krishna movement include the following. 1 In music 1.1 Beatles influence 1.2 Music 1.3 Straight Edge subculture 2 In movies 3 In television 4 In fiction 5 In video games 6 In advertising 7 Other
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=1214

Perfectly Standardized

Several months ago I was speaking to a number of faith leaders one was excited about his congregational growth, “we have a wonderful Filipino congregation it’s simply wonderful to preach to a full congregation we have had to put on extra service though”
Being inquisitive I asked for more detail had the congregation grown so much the church was too small to accommodate the numbers, the extra service it turned out was simply to accommodate language although most Filipino’s I met spoke perfect English. So I asked about integration and was dismayed to hear that they met separately mainly and only came together for big services.

It made me stop and ponder, especially in the christian faith I’ve seen how groups create their own church communities based upon, language, ethnicity and social class; very few have a diversity of congregation as we see in ISKCON indeed this has been it’s strength so much diversity, but diversity brings it’s own problems hence Srila Prabhupada reminded us of the need to learn how to get on and in the most part this has been achieved.
Yes we’ve seen fall-down but then Sri Krishna perfectly explains this in the Gita, and yes over the years people have found fault; “I spoke to so and so and they couldn’t answer”, “I know so and so isn’t following this or that” and so the list goes on.
This didn’t bother me, indeed my answer is simple, Srila Prabhupada simply said you become the example, by your example than others will follow. Each person is on a journey each has strengths and weaknesses indeed I think my weaknesses defiantly out-ways my strengths however I’ve been fortunate to work along side devotees that understood this and managed to coax the best out of this puffed full of pride fool.

And this is the point it’s ISKCON’S diversity that has been it’s strength and the ability of skilful devotees who can bring the best out of the individual whilst working on improving the parts that are that individual’s weakness.

Now we have standardization and yes I’m worried, for what are we standardizing?

Often it is to make sure we are surrounded by people who are just like ourselves, it’s easy to get on with like minded people, same social class and upbringing; it’s much harder to get on with those outside of this.

But if we want to progress in Krishna Consciousness then we need to learn how to get on with all types after all Sri Krishna likes diversity and if we cannot develop love and understanding with all types of people then how can we possibly think we can develop an intimate relationship with Krishna?

I am reminded that on a number of occasions the disciples of Our Founder Acharia Srila Prabhupada didn’t quiet get what he was saying their appeared to be contradictions to which Srila Prabhupada said you will figure it out.

I wonder if down the line we would realize that ISKCON’S strength is not in standardization but that it’s strength is in it’s being UN-standardised.

Srila Prabhupada spoke about the art of self realization, for some they get it straight away, for some it may be a little longer; some love exams and courses but for others it’s simply run away; some like book distribution for others it’s not so easy; some love the discipline needed in deity worship others it’s too disciplined; some love cooking and are expert prasadam distribution others well.

Mentorship should not mean standardization, but that we look deeply at the individual get to know and understand them and then we can use the art given to us by Srila Prabhupada to help develop them along the path of bhakti.

ISKCON’S strength is it’s diversity; diversity comes because there is no standardization and that if we filter out by standardizing those we may not get on with, outside of an education or social level like most modern churches we end up lacking the diversity that makes ISKCON a home for everyone

After all Srila Prabhupada said “this is my humble request” and laid down what he required from his disciples outside of this well lets just say that’s a fantastic bonus.

So perfection in un-standardization

And as we enter this 50th year celebrations of Srila Prabhupada bringing this art of self realization and love of Sri Krishna to the west, I’m sure we can whole heatedly say it’s worked amazingly well, abait a few individuals who like me will always find fault.

And on a philosophical point if were doing it to prevent fall down, then why did Sri Krishna bother to mention it in the Gita reminding us that any progress is of great benefit.

http://bbc.in/1LsHqaN

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Early morning drone flight at Mayapur. (Album with photos)
The TOVP is nearing the stage of receiving the enormous Kalash.
See them here: https://goo.gl/THNsnl

From Ranjith A U Nair Prabhu

During our course of ISO, we discussed about 3 levels of devotees. In NOI also we are re-visting the same topic in more depth. Can we consider Krishna devotees outside ISKCON, who does’nt yet have knowledge about our paramapra and teachings (say they are chanting some mantra of Krishna and maybe reading other versions of BG/SB) as neophyte devotees? As per the discussion in ISO the qualities of those devotees match that of a neophyte.

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The post Are Krishna bhaktas outside ISKCON at the neophyte stage? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

From Praveen Nayak Prabhu
Prabhuji – In NOD Chapter 7 in the section Observing fasting on Ekadashi it is said “The basic principle is not just to fast, but to increase one’s faith and love for Govinda, or Kṛṣṇa.”

Could you please explain – How would doing fast increase ones faith and love for Krishna ?

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From Ankur Sharma Prabhu
Srila Prabhupada says in the purport of verse 4.14, “Anyone who is fully conversant with all the intricacies of this law of karma, or fruitive activities, does not become affected by the results of his activities.” Similarly thing is said in 4.9.
How can simply knowing something free one from the bondage of karma?

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From Ankur Sharma Prabhu
Srila Prabhupada says in the purport of verse 4.13, “as Kṛṣṇa is transcendental to this system of the four divisions of human society, a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is also transcendental to all divisions of human society”
a) What is the implication of someone is transcendental to all divisions of human society?
b) How could someone who is still contaminated by the modes be considered transcendental to social divisions? Should this not apply only to the paramhamsas (other than Krsna, of course)?

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The post Is a person in Krishna consciousness transcendental to varnashrama? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

From Vandana Goel Mataji
Verse three of NOI say the attitude while performing Bhakti should contain
ENTHUSIASM ….PATIENCE….AND CONFIDENCE
my question is having enthusiasm and patience simultaneously are two contradictory things why has a devotee been advised to have these two contradictory features simultaneously??

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From Promila Chitkara Mataji
Arjuna had all the rare accomplishments (e.g. winning boons from Shiva, entering heaven etc) because of the difficult austerities he performed before the war. He lived in forests to perform those austerities, fought wars etc. Then, why did he say he could control the wind but not the mind? He did control his mind otherwise he wouldn’t be able to do what he did. Moreover, he wouldn’t be Gudakesha if he had no control over mind.
Is this because the Gita was spoken for us and not so much for him?
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The post When Arjuna had enough mind control to perform great austerities, why does he say that he can’t control the mind? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

From Sunil Prabhu
In Bhagavat Gita 1.32-35 Arjuna says that he doesn’t want to fight even in exchange for the three worlds, let alone this earth and What pleasure he will derive from killing?
Later in 2.8 he says “I will not be able to dispel it even if I win a prosperous unrivaled kingdom on earth with sovereignty like the demigods in heaven”
In both statements, Arjuna is saying he doesn’t see any benefit in fighting; in another sense he can’t find solution for his grief. What is difference in Arjuna’s state of consciousness in reference to rejecting the kingdom, apart from the fact that he has accepted Krsna as Spiritual master in 2.7.

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The post How has surrender in Gita 2.7 changed Arjuna’s consciousness when he expresses the same sentiment in 1.35 and 2.8? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Varnasrama series.

The post The transition we will have to make to come to Varnasram appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Hare Krishna! The Art and Mechanics of Inspiration
“Everything should be done on the basis of love. Strictness is not very good. The students should act automatically, out of love. That is wanted. [However,] Superficially, strictness may be necessary—some material laws or basic principles—and if they don’t follow they’ll be reprimanded. But they should develop the idea of love. Sometimes you have to [force], but even so, the basic principle should be love. Sometimes, out of love, a father must force his son to do something; that does not mean the father is the enemy of the son. [If the teacher or preacher has not yet cultivated love:] In the meantime our regulated living will teach. Either with your son, your disciple, or your student, you should always strictly enforce the rules. Don’t be lenient. Out of love, shall we let our disciples and sons go to hell? That is foolishness.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=1243

Hare Krishna! On Conceiving the Inconceivable – Some Principles in Understanding the Origin of the Conditioned Soul
Ravindra Svarupa dasa: We conditioned souls are originally Krishna conscious living entities, but owing to a desire to be independent of God and to be the Supreme ourselves, we have fallen from our original position and become covered by maya (illusion), who provides us with false identities of gross and subtle matter. By the grace of Krishna and His pure devotees we fallen souls can regain our original Krishna consciousness and in so doing go back to Godhead. This simple dramatic narrative tells the story of who we are, where we came from, how we fell, and how we can be restored. Srila Prabhupada tells us this story, and so do the previous acharyas and the scriptures. This story is the profoundest truth about ourselves, and there is no fault in it. Yet the story becomes complicated when we discover (from the identical infallible sources) that the souls in the spiritual world are nitya-siddha, eternally or perpetually liberated souls, and that no one falls from the spiritual world.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=19289

Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir of Iskcon Vrindavana featured on History channel (Network 18) today (23-8-2015) evening. (3 min video)
History TV18 (formerly known as The History Channel) is a pan-Indian television channel broadcasting programmes related to historical events, infotainment and persons. Available in eight languages as English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali, in full HD across all major markets in India reaches out to more than 50 million households.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/vIwCxO

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The post Does the fact that religious knowledge doesn’t grow like scientific knowledge prove its irrelevance? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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The post Do the differences in various religions’ conceptions of God prove his non-existence? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Ratha Yatra in Soweto, South Africa

Chaitanya Charitamrita daily Podcast:

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ISKCON New Govardhan Sringar Darshan on 17 Aug 2015

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An album of many old, new and rare photos of Jayapataka Swami.
Jayapataka Swami is a Vaishnava swami and a religious leader for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He is a senior disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
See them here: https://goo.gl/upIFRB

Bhagavtam-daily Podcast:

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UK, Southall Ratha Yatra - 23 Aug 2015 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Practicing the yoga system of exercise and breath control is very difficult for a person in this age, and therefore Lord Caitanya recommended, kirtaniyah sada harih: one should always chant the holy name of the Supreme Lord, Krishna, because Krishna is the most suitable name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (Srimad Bhagavatam, 3.28.9 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/9ImRkf

Huge Harinama in Madrid, the capital city of Spain (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: For a devotee, liberation is no problem at all. The impersonalists undergo severe penances and austerities to attain mukti, but the bhakta, simply by engaging himself in the bhakti process, especially in chanting Hare Krishna, immediately develops control over the tongue by engaging it in chanting, and accepting the remnants of foodstuff offered to the Personality of Godhead. (Srimad Bhagavatam, 3.25.33 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/tHnNTd

Iskcon Mayapur Devotees On Zee Bangla Tv Show (13 min video)
This video clip is an excerpt from Prarthana Special episode of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa of Zee Bangla TV show. This is the 33rd episode of the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa performed on August 12th, 2015. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa which is Bengal’s best platform for music, rightly put as ‘Sangeet er shera mancha. It is the most popular and respected musical Reality Show of Bengal. In this special prayer episode Tulika Mondal and Gangadhar Mondal sing Krishna Kirtan together with the ISKCON Mayapur Devotees.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/jrLPiF