Planet ISKCON

Consciousness is “light” (jyoti) because light illuminates the world and makes it perceptible. External objects are described as “dark” (tamas) because they are insentient. Yes, this is a dualistic paradigm, but is nonetheless useful and accurate because it describes the situation in the external world – which in fact is a dualistic reality.

Infinite lights shine upon the dark world, but the peculiar thing about consciousness-light which is different from ordinary light is that it is “svayam-jyoti” – a light that illuminates things only for the light-source (svayam-jyoti, btw, also means that it can illuminate itself to itself). Someone in a different city reads a Harry Potter novel, for example, and their consciousness illuminates the book to themselves. I don’t learn all about the goings on of Hogwarts as a result of someone else reading the book. I don’t see what you see, only you see what you see. [note: it IS possible to see what others see, but only if one looks inward properly]

Therefore the world is “dark” even though it has infinite points of light in it. The world only becomes bright to us, only insofar as we shine our own light upon it.

We try to shine our light upon other sources of light, but all we can illuminate is their projection into the external world of objects. This is because our light is fixed towards that external direction – we are “bahir-mukha jīva” – consciousness that faces outward. We try to experience and understand other people – the most valuable objects in existence – but we fail to penetrate beyond their mutable and mysterious physical, intellectual and emotional layers.

Direct experience of other sources of light (other “souls”) is not possible while our own light shines outward. Only when we illuminate our own inner reality can we be truly connected to other conscious, sentient beings – via Paramātma – a super-conscious being at the root of all conscious beings.

– Vraja Kishor
VrajaKishor.com

Tagged: Consciousness, dualism, jyoti, light

When people in the West throw their clothes away, their cast-offs often go on a journey east, across the oceans, to India’s industrial interior.

Modern science also supports this Ayurvedic claim that water stored in copper vessel up to 16 hours is able to considerably reduce the presence of harmful bacteria.

We had a wonderful Festival of India this month but the summer fun isn't over yet - join us for the
annual Summer Kids Camp, which is happening this year from August 4-7th (Tuesday - Friday every day).

You can register for any number of days! As always we have lots of fun activities planned out with sumptuous prasadam (vegetarian meansl) for all the children.

The registration is $25 per day or $75 for all 4 days. You can pre-register your child by emailing us at kids@torontokrishna.com or by clicking here for the registration form.

This tale of Pṛthu’s confrontation with the Earth Goddess continues from my previous post.

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“I will destroy you,” Pṛthu replied, “because you do not observe my orders.”

She would certainly wonder, “what orders did you ever give me?”

So he explained that he was referring to the standing order that the gods must reciprocate with sacrifices. “The people worshipped you and you accepted it,” he said, “but you refuse to grant us blessings. You are like a cow eating grass day after day but never giving milk. Such a creature should be punished and corrected, even if she is a cow! Your mind is so lowly that you refuse to fructify the seeds created by Self-born Brahmā, even when I ask you to!

“My poor citizens suffer from starvation! I will put a stop to their laments by feeding them your meat, sliced from you by my own arrows!”

The earth become absolutely terrified and wanted to cry out, “But I am a woman!”

Pṛthu stopped her by declaring, “You are not a woman – you are selfish! A selfish person has no compassion for anyone else and is therefore the worst person in the world – it doesn’t matter if they are a man, a woman, or transgendered! If a king kills such a person, it is not ‘killing’.”

She would cry, “But I am a cow!”

Pṛthu said, “You are pretending to be a cow! In truth you are a madly stubborn creature, and my arrows shall reduce you to food!”

“But I am the earth,” she would cry, “If you destroy me how will you keep from falling into outer space?”

Pṛthu said, “I will take care of that myself, by my own mystic power. I will personally become the ground upon which the citizens can stand.”

– Translation of Śrī Bhāgavata 4.17.22 ~ 27
A draft for Part 4 of Beautiful Tales of the All-Attractive

by Vraja Kishor

VrajaKishor.com

Tagged: meat eating, sacred cow, Vegetarianism

Everyone of you should be thoroughly convinced of the power of the Hare Krsna mantra to protect you in all circumstances and chant accordingly at all times without offense. Then advancement will be swift and you will gradually come to see everything clearly so that you may act for the pleasure of the Lord without uncertainty.

Letter to Damodara
January 10, 1971

Calgary Ratha Yatra & Festival Of India (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: One must engage his tongue in the service of the holy name. Our Krishna consciousness movement is based on this principle. We try to engage all the members of the Krishna consciousness movement in the service of the holy name. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 8.16 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/cevAVI

Hare Krishna! Liberation Through Chanting
Srila Prabhupada: In our country Carvaka Muni has advised, bhasmi-bhutasya dehasya kutah punar-agamano bhavet: “Why are you thinking of your next birth? Another birth is not possible. We see that the gross body is burnt into ashes. And where is the soul? Who is coming back again? Don’t care for all these things.” Yavaj jivet sukham jivet: “Live happily. Eat, drink, be merry, and enjoy.” This philosophy is going on. “There is no mind, there is no intelligence, there is no soul, only this gross body, and as long as we possess this gross body, let us enjoy the senses.” This is called maha-vimoha, the greatest bewilderment. People have no education about how we are existing in the material world, how nature is working. They are thinking there is no life after this one, but that is not the fact. They are living in a very great entanglement.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18675

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Rathayatra in Leicester
The Leicester Rathayatra Festival of Chariots takes place this Sunday 2nd August 2015, for the second largest festival in the UK.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18672

Iskcon Penang Gelugor: Hare Krsna, we are please to inform that ‘GITA’ (an NGO associated with ISKCON Gelugor) gave away 3,000 Bhagavad Gita’s to 28 Tamil Schools in Penang this morning at Auditorioum A Komtar, Penang. ISKCON Gelugor would like to thank HG Madhusudan prabhu and his core team in this first time, record breaking event! 25/07/2015 (Album with photos)
See them here: https://goo.gl/z20a3s

SRI JAGANATH RATH YATRA @ Aruppukottai (Album with photos)..
On occasion of ISKCON NAMAHATTA ARUPPUKKOTTAT 1st year Anniversary-
First Ever ISKCON Rath Yatra in south Tamil nadu.
See them here: https://goo.gl/QdqSwf

Hare Krishna! Ratha Yatra 2015 celebrations in Mayapur
The nine day long annual Ratha Yatra celebrations in Mayapur ended on 26th July. Although the festival began on 18th, the festival preparations started much earlier. Special wooden carts were designed for Their Lordships Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra devi this year. People from different parts of the world visited Mayapur for the Ratha Yatra. Many people came from nearby areas. All of them and also the local devotees participated in the festival with great enthusiasm. The Ratha Yatra took place on 18th July. Dignitaries such as the Vice Chancellor of the Kalyani University and Pundarikaksha Saha were present on this occasion. In the early afternoon, there were classical dance and music events at Rajapur Temple.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18669

“My humble question is what is, according to your own realisation and practice of the divine path of Lord Gauranga associates, the best meditation and mood to receive the complete and topmost mercy of the Holy Name?”

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Hare Krishna! Lord Nityananda Delivers the Thieves
When I was eight or nine years old, my parents took me to the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. After meandering through myriad halls and galleries, we came across an exhibit of valuable gemstones in the Museum of Natural History. I remember being particularly struck by the famous Hope Diamond, a large bluish diamond pendant surrounded by small white diamonds. I was surprised that something could be so beautiful and so valuable. Although I’ve forgotten most of what I saw during my weeklong visit to the Smithsonian, I vividly remember my sense of wonder upon seeing such a unique jewel. Lord Krishna likes jewels too. Scriptures explain that He adorns His body with jewelry. He is famous as the wearer of the Kaustubha gem, and scriptures describe other forms or incarnations of the Lord as decorated with exquisite valuable jewels.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18665

ISKCON Vrindavan Ratha Yatra 2015 (Album with photos)
For the first time ever, Ratha Yatra in Srila Prabhupada’s home, Vrindavan Dhama! 5 hours of blissful chanting and dancing before Their Lordships and Srila Prabhupada!
See them here: https://goo.gl/JXtYlb

Ratha Yatra 2015 in Mayapur (Album with 163 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: One is understood to be an eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he considers himself a servant of the holy name and in this spirit distributes the holy name to the world. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 8.16 Purport)
See them here: http://goo.gl/UFsPrU

London Yatra: ISKCON50 Festival of Srila Prabhupada’s Arrival in Boston
Date: Thursday, 17th September
On 17th September 1965, Srila Prabhupada reached Boston’s Commonwealth Pier in hopes of fulfilling the order of his spiritual master. The ship was to stop briefly in Boston before proceeding to New York City. Fifty years on, on 17th September 2015, we will be commemorating this milestone at ISKCON-London with a range of festivities.
He took a short walk into the city and then returned to the ship. As he awaited the ship’s departure for New York, Srila Prabhupada composed a Bengali poem, entitled “Markine Bhagavat-dharma” (“Teaching Krsna Consciousness in America”). Being a pure devotee of Sri Krishna, Srila Prabhupada prayed, “I wish that You may deliver them. Therefore, if You desire their deliverance, only then will they be able to understand Your message.”
We would like to invite everyone to come and take part in this festival.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/o6OOJh

Ratha Yatra in New Vrajamandala (Album with photos)
Hare Krisna Spain Guadalajara
See them here: https://goo.gl/QOOn1L

Latest Nityam Bhagavata-sevaya Magazine is available
NBS#17 Features: 1) Vidura questions Uddhava Srila Sukadeva Goswami 2) The Most exalted Personality in the Vrishni Dynasty Sriman Purnaprajna Dasa 3) Uddhava remembers Krishna Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakur 4) Uddhava guides Vidura to take shelter of Maitreya Rishi Srila Sukadeva Goswami 5) Why did Uddhava refuse to become the Spiritual Master of Vidura? His Divine Grace A .C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 6) Why did Krishna send Uddhava to Badrikashrama? Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakur 7) Who is Maitreya Rishi? Srila Krishna-Dvaipayana Vyasa
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18661

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Preparing for the preaching in the huge Polish Woodstock Festival (7 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: The great Polish Woodstock Festival is still days away but the entire area is quickly filling up with young people and tents. Our good friend, Chaturatma das, also arrived today. As we walked around the festival grounds we were greeted everywhere with “Hare Krishna!” and a number of warm hugs. Woodstock!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/Rp0IdW

The latest issue of Sri Krishna-kathamrita Bindu e-magazine was just released. Topics include: * THE KING OF ALL EDUCATION – An Excerpt from a lecture by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, wherein he speaks about what is real knowledge. * DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR BHAJANA – Wise advice from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada. * EMBODIMENT OF KRISHNA’S MERCY – Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja speaks about the glories of the Lord’s devotees. * EXPLAINING THE INEXPLICABLE – An excerpt from Srila Rupa Goswami’s Laghu-bhagavatamrita, wherein he explains how it was that millions of gopis were able to assemble together in a small area during the rasa-lila.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18658

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2015 07 11 Chetana Festival Life’s Balancing Act Kalindi Mataji ISKCON Chowpatty

The Bhagavad-gita is, as indicated by its name The Song of God, a song. So, it is a literary work and it uses many literary devices, as befit a work of its genre. Yet its literary side often remains under-appreciated because we usually focus on its content – its philosophical message – not its style; and also because we may not be familiar enough with its language, Sanskrit, to appreciate its literary merits.

Some of its more striking literary devices are: its use of full-word alliterations as in 02.14: the word purusha in purusham purusharshabha; or its use of chiasmus (inversion of word order) in 07.12: na tv aham teshu te mayi “They (the modes) are in me, but I am not in them”; or in 09.29: mayi te teshu capy aham “I am in them (my devotees) and they are in me.”

As the above examples of chiasmus may illustrate, many devices require some literary background – something that most readers may not have and may not even want to have, being interested more in the Gita’s philosophical message. So while exploring the Gita from a literary perspective, I will focus on metaphor, the device that directly assists in conveying the Gita’s message and doesn’t require any literary background. Appreciating the importance of metaphors, the Greek philosopher Aristotle stated in his book on literary theory, Poetics: “The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblance.” Incidentally, Poetics is considered one of the oldest extant books on literary theory; so, its quote about metaphors conveys the enduring appeal of this literary device.

The Bhagavad-gita uses metaphors frequently and aptly, thereby adding color and force to its message. For each metaphor, I provide a brief explanation – something that can be read in a few minutes. Many of the Gita’s erudite commentators have illumined its metaphors in their commentaries and I have drawn from their insights. But to keep each reflection short and to prevent the presentation from becoming too technical, I won’t explicitly quote the commentators too much.

While this presentation will serve as a refresher for Gita connoisseurs, I hope that even those without any background in the Gita will find it accessible. Though these metaphors occur within the Gita’s flow, they can usually be studied independent of their specific context because they talk about universal truths of life that we all can find illuminating and empowering. In fact, I hope that these brief reflections will give readers a glimpse of the profundity and the relevance of the Gita’s wisdom, and inspires them to dive deeper into it.

As is often done while referring to literary devices as a broad genre, I use the word metaphor inclusively to refer to all the three literary devices used for explanation through comparison: analogies, metaphors and similes.

1. Analogies take the form: As A is to B, so C is to D. Consider, as an example, this quote by Joseph Addison: “Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body.” Or from the Gita (11.29): “I see all people rushing full speed into Your mouths, as moths dash to destruction in a blazing fire.” While using analogies, the Gita frequently frames them with the words yatha (as this is) and tatha (so is that). Sometimes analogies can be extended so that they take the form: “As A is to B, so C is to D, and E is to F, and G is to H …” In fact, many of the reflections in this series will involve extending the comparison. Obviously, a comparison cannot be extended unlimitedly, otherwise, it breaks down, as does a rubber band when stretched excessively. Astute readers will have recognized that here rubber band is an analogy for analogy.

2. Metaphors involve direct assertions of equality instead of explicit comparisons. So, they take the form: A is B. Shakespeare’s well-known quote “All the world’s a stage” features a metaphor. The comparison of the world with a stage is implicit, as is the comparison of the body with a city in the Gita (05.13) in its reference to the soul residing in the city of nine gates.
3. Similes involve explicit comparisons of the form: A is like B. Sydney Smith’s statement, “No furniture is as charming as books” features a simile, as does the Gita’s (06.35) statement controlling the mind is as difficult as controlling a stormy wind. While using similes, the Gita frequently employs words such as iva.

I will start with the metaphors drawn from nature in the Gita. Sometimes the Gita uses the same element from nature to convey different points in different contexts. Let’s begin with the metaphor of the wind. The Gita uses it four times: 02.67, 06.19, 06.34 and 09.06. I will begin with 02.58 in the next article in this series. I will try to publish two articles per week.

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Shelter, Inside Out, Quicksand – Summer Tour 1990… It wasn’t a tour; it was the big bang, the the beginning of a completely new chapter in the history of rock music. Shelter was the dawn of Krishna-core, a genre that would dominate straightedge for at least four or five years. Quicksand would spawn the post-hardcore genre that would lead to bands like Tool and the Deftones. Inside Out was at the beginning of its end, which means the rap-rock genre pioneered by Rage Against the Machine was about to be born.

Ironically, at the time, Krishna-core seemed the biggest of the three developments. At least, to me.

The tour moved by two vans, a motor-home, and a greyhound bus. The inside of the bus had been gutted and converted into a rolling “preaching center.” It belonged to a Hare Krishna swamī, who captained it with a middle-aged single man as first-mate and a crew of three or four teenage boys – all practicing celibacy. Ray and I glued ourselves to this bus. We didn’t hang out with our own bands. Ever. 

They weren’t devotees.

My old friends, Tom Capone and Alan Cage were in Quicksand. They traveled in the van that always lagged behind and showed up suspiciously late. I don’t recall making any effort to speak with either of them more than once or twice, or for more than a grand total of three minutes. Maybe they used to be my dearest friends, but they weren’t devotees.

Unlike most tours, social dynamics were not determined by the boundaries of bands so much as they was established by simple census of who was a devotee and who wasn’t. An infinite chasm of total mutual disinterest separated the two groups: devotees and “non-devotees.”

The only exception was Shelter’s bass player, Yaso – a middle-aged Hare Krishna carpenter with no ties to punk rock at all. He was a tall, lanky, gentle angel; a friend to everyone. Yaso chanted with the devotees with just as much zeal as he chilled out and joked around with the non-devotees. Perhaps coincidentally, he was the only Hare Krishna on the tour who was married and had a child.

He often drove the motor-home, which I called “the swāmī van” because another swāmī traveled in it (yes, not one but two swāmīs came on the tour). The swāmī in the motor-home had a particular knack for being able to come down to earth and respond to all sorts of questions in relatively reasonable, intelligent, and logical ways. So, Ray and I would orchestrate occasions to have  people from the non-devotee clan ride in the motor home and talk with the swāmī.

I particularly remember Zack’s and Tom’s conversations.

Zack talked a bit about how he accepted my proposition that spiritual change in the individual was the only real foundation for true social change, but it was clear that he mostly conceived of spirituality as feelings and emotions and had no sympathy whatsoever for a hierarchically organized religious institution. The swami thought wasn’t impressed with Zack’s “sentimentality” and was honestly surprised a year or two later, when Zack achieved superstardom vastly outshining anyone else ever spawned from the depths of hardcore.

Tom’s conversation with the swāmī started out similar to the conversation we had years ago in my Dodge Dart. “Krishna enjoys life,” he asked, “so why should his devotees have to renounce everything? It’s not right.”

The swāmī tried to explain that sense gratification doesn’t lead to true  happiness, but Tom wasn’t into it. “There is happiness in sense gratification. I’ve experienced it.”

After a little more back and forth, the swāmī explained, “There are three kinds of intelligence. First-class intelligence hears, ‘sense gratification causes suffering’ and stays away from it. Second-class intelligence hears, ‘sense gratification causes suffering’ but engages in sense gratification anyway. Then by personal experience he realizes that it leads to suffering, and stays away from it. Third-class intelligence hears ‘sense gratification causes suffering,’ suffers first-hand by pursuing it, but still holds on to the hope that he will somehow achieve happiness from sense gratification. It seems like you have third-class intelligence.”

Tom took it as an insult. Maybe he thought he had a different kind of “first-class intelligence” – one that doesn’t believe in ideas that don’t match the reality he could experience.

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This is a first draft. If you were there and have memories, opinions, etc. that might change how this is written, or expand it, I would love to hear from you in the comments below.

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– From a first draft of
Train-Wrecks and Transcendence:
A Collision of Hardcore and Hare Krishna

by Vraja Kishor
VrajaKishor.com

Tagged: Hare Krishna, inside out, krishnacore, post-hardcore, quicksand, rap-rock, shelter, straightedge

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Bhāgavata 4, Chapter 17, tells the tale of King Pṛthu ending a severe famine. During this tale, the earth manifests as a Cow-woman and says several very important things, especially about how women should be treated…

The philosophers had coronated Pṛthu and declared him the protector of the people, so the citizens – emaciated from the famine spread across the faceof the earth – came to beseech him. “O King, hunger torments us, like fire burning a tree from the inside. You can protect us, and now we beg your protection, for you are the one who will bring about our prosperity. Please find some way to give us food, oh god of the gods of men. If we cannot get nourishment, the tormenting fire of hunger will devour us. We trust in your protection, for you protect the prosperity of everyone.”

Hearing the pitiful citizens, Pṛthu cried. Thinking carefully and patiently, trying to discover the cause of the famine. When his intellect became firm and decided about the cause, he picked up his bow, nocked an arrow, aimed at the earth, and drew back the bowstring – as angry as Śiva, the destroyer of three cities.

Seeing his immanent attack the earth began to quake. He would not lower his bow, so she manifest as a cow-woman and ran from Pṛthu in fear, like an animal pursued by a hunter.

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Vidura had just previously asked why the Earth had become a cow, of all things. The answer is that she was in fear of her life, and so took the form of a creature against which any form of violence was forbidden. This creature was gauḥ satī – a “cow-woman.” (The Surabhi / Kāmadhenu is a divine creature that manifests the physical form of both a cow and a woman – along with the tail of a peacock and wings of a beautiful bird.) 

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But Vena’s Son, his eyes red with rage, would not let her go – the arrow on his drawn bow followed her wherever she fled. The goddess fled in every direction, on the earth and into caves – but wherever she ran, she always saw the king right behind her, with his arrow drawn. Like a person unable to escape death, there was no place in the world she could escape fro Vena’s son.

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Maitreya repeatedly addresses Pṛthu here as “Vena’s son” to imply how fearsome and relentless he could be when necessary.

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Then, trembling with a terrified heart, she turned to face him. “O most opulent and blessed knower of morality and father of those who seek your shelter,” she said, “your majesty protects all creatures, including me. So please spare me from your wrath!

“Why do you want to kill a poor creature who has committed no crime? Everyone knows the saying, ‘How could a knower of morality ever harm a woman?’ Women must certainly never be physically punished, even if they have committed a crime. All people know this, so certainly a learned person like you must also know it, for you are a merciful king, like a father to the poor.

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This is the verdict of śāstra, directly stated by the goddess earth, who is the eternal śakti of bhagavān, an expansion of the adi-śakti Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. No one who strikes a woman can ever be considered a moral person – for a woman must never be physically punished, even if she has committed crimes! 

No one who values Śrī Rādhā or cherishes the ideal of transmorphing in liberation into a functional assistant of Śrī Rādhā can ever condone or ignore the instructions of Goddess Bhūmi.

If Canakya Pandit (or whoever may have interpolated his nīti sūtra) says something to the contrary, followers of the Bhāgavatam know it to be trash, and reject it. If any so called sādhu or guru says anything to the contrary, directly or indirectly implying that “physical discipline” is applicable to women, followers of Bhāgavatam denounce that person – loudly if necessary. Or, as far more likely, if any inept, inexperienced, and uneducated followers of a genuine sādhu or guru insist on representing their guru as condoning violence and threats towards women – we instantly and without second thought reject those useless person as far away as possible.

If anyone want to become an object of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s mercy, a genuine sādhu, but if that person has committed the heinous act of violence towards women, the first order of duty is to repair the evil they have done.  To a subtle extent, all men behave violently towards women by the instinct to enlist them in their personal gratifications. And all creatures have been men at some point. Therefore no one is exempt from the need to repair the evils and exploitations of women.

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“Anyway, think carefully!” the goddess concluded, “I am the ageless boat upon which the whole world stands. If you destroy me, how will you keep yourself or your citizens from drowning in the universal waters?”

– Translation of Bhāgavata 4.17.8 ~ 21
a rough-draft for Part 4 of Beautiful Tales of the All-Attractive

by Vraja Kishor
VrajaKishor.com

Tagged: abuse, domestic violence, sexism, Women

"Everyone can benefit spiritually by the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. When the transcendental vibration of Hare Kṛṣṇa is sounded, even the trees, animals and insects benefit. Thus when one chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra loudly, he actually shows mercy to all living entities."

Srimad Bhagavatam 4.31.19 purport