Planet ISKCON

From Istanbul.

The post Friday’s class on bhakti yoga – sravanam, kirtanam and smaranam (Part 2) appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Hare Krishna! Respect – the Foundation to True Intimacy
Maybe this is one reason why we have not managed to establish the Vanaprastha ashram so far. Giving guidance to the younger generation and sharing their wealth of life experience and wisdom is the main and most valuable contribution the elders are making to human society. And this can only take place where giving and accepting shelter based on deep respect is cultivated. When this respect is not there, the elders don’t have any function in human society and are simply seen as a burden.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18201

The post Daily Darshan – July 1st, 2015 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Kaunteya das S.B.6.9.48 – June 17th 2015

Hare Krishna! ISKCON 50: Data Needed
For the purpose of celebrating ISKCON’s 50th Anniversary in 2016 we are compiling some approximate facts & figures about ISKCON. We are collecting some quantitative data about ISKCON’s global achievements in terms of: Temples (including farms & schools) Devotees (including initiated, Nama Hatta, & visitors) Books (amount distributed in all countries & languages) Festivals (Including Harinamas, Rathayatra & Padayatra) Prasadam (Plates distributed globally since 1966; Includes restaurants, Sunday Feast, FFL etc)
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18195

During Kadamba Kanana Swami’s visit to the UK (10-17 June), Bhakta Nandan very diligently made notes during Maharaj’s classes and informal conversations with disciples. The content was too good not to share so here is Part One for you!

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By Bhakta Nandan

From the airport, Maharaj along with his merry band of disciples arrived at the house (10 June). After a bit of conversing, it was inevitable that Maharaj would soon steer the subject towards Brahmananda Prabhu who had just recently passed away and was one of the pivotal members in setting up ISKCON.

It was obvious that Maharaj had a deep reverence, love and friendship with Brahmananda Prabhu and he recalled that no one had such absorption in always remembering Srila Prabhupada, twenty-four hours a day as did Brahmananda Prabhu.

For the next few hours, Maharaj just started glorifying Brahmananda Prabhu nonstop – his life, his achievements, his qualities and everything in between. It was truly wonderful to behold.

Maharaj explained how Brahmananda Prabhu was a phenomenon – one of a kind. With his huge kapha body, he remembered everything like an elephant. Not only was he one of the first leaders in ISKCON, he was also Srila Prabhupada’s secretary up until Srila Prabhupada had left the planet.

He was an extremely knowledgeable person and had, in recent years, accumulated vast knowledge with precise details about the life of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur and the history of the Gaudiya Math institution.

Maharaj then started talking about the history of Brahmananda Prabhu’s own life. In 1964, his father had arranged a job for him on a ship to India. He loved it. He got sandals and lungi. He even learnt how to smoke beedies satvically, without touching the lips! Of course, when he went back to America, he lived around the corner on Sixth Street in those early days. In many ways, it was obvious he was a good candidate for Krsna consciousness. He did dissertations on Gandhi and talked about the demigods Ganesh and Shiva in oral presentations. For him it was all about, “India! India! India!”

When someone had asked Brahmananda Prabhu, when was the first time Srila Prabhupada touched his heart, he replied that it was with the very first time he saw him. It was obvious to Maharaj that Brahmananda Prabhu was dry grass from the start, waiting for the fire of bhakti to ignite.

Maharaj then stated how personal Brahmananda Prabhu was. He always knew who Maharaj was. The manner in which Maharaj said this was so sweet, almost like a star-struck kid – kind of similar to how Maharaj’s own disciples look at Maharaj these days! In 2002, Brahmananda Prabhu had even come up to Maharaj saying, “So you’re gonna be a Guru, huh?” Coming from Brahmananda Prabhu, who was Srila Prabhupada’s right hand man, this was incredibly overwhelming. When Tamal Krsna Maharaj had just left the planet, Maharaj was standing outside the gate of Mayapur with Brahmananda Prabhu waiting for Tamal Krsna Maharaj’s body to arrive. For hours, they were just conversing. Brahmananda Prabhu mentioned that this is not just the end of Tamal Krsna Goswami as a person but the end of an era. Now, so many years later, Maharaj admitted he felt the same for Brahmananda Prabhu. It is actually the end of an era; no one had a relationship with Srila Prabhupada like he did.

Maharaj then recalled how Srila Prabhupada sent Brahmananda Prabhu to Pakistan and Gargamuni to East Pakistan. Brahmananda Prabhu was in Pakistan with dhoti and tilak. Of course, the citizens were rather hostile and constantly trying to wipe off his tilak but he was in the mood of Haridas Thakur – tolerating and chanting Hare Krsna, amazing determination and loyalty to Srila Prabhupada’s instructions!

Shortly after, he went to Africa. Brahmananda Prabhu was the first in so many things; for example in Nigeria and Kenya. He had a finger in everything. Soon, he became a strong university preaching man, this was ideal for him. He was a man with a strong brain – kapha brain, slow but deep.

Maharaj then reminisced that in front of Brahmananda Prabhu, everyone felt like their love was being kindled. Bhakti Madhurya Swami said that he was not just famous now; he was a legend even back then. Mukunda Goswami was in the first batch of devotees and he got preaching going in San Francisco, New York and London. No doubt, this was hugely substantial but then Mukunda Goswami went more into the background and Brahmananda Prabhu came to the fore. Of course, he was a wrestler so hardly anyone disagreed with him but he was extremely warm as well. Maharaj then started remembering how he used to do collection tours for Vrindavana in the US. By this time, Brahamananda Prabhu was somewhat retired from active service in ISKCON, but in New York he would be there in his black dungarees and would still want to know in complete detail what Maharaj was doing. It was no good simply saying, “I’m just preaching.” He wanted a fully comprehensive, detailed report. This was Brahmananda.

Shortly after Maharaj shared his realizations on Brahmananda Prabhu, Maharaj and the rest of the party made their way to the kitchen for some evening prasadam. Dinner conversation continued to revolve around Brahmananda Prabhu. Krsna Kirtan Prabhu read out aloud a beautiful tribute to Brahmananda Prabhu by Jayapataka Maharaj. Gradually, the conversation started shifting onto other great devotees within the movement. Maharaj talked about the time he met Mukunda Goswami in Australia. He observed how Mukunda Goswami had become more reclusive compared to his younger days. On one hand, this is to be expected but Maharaj then started reflecting on whether advancement in spiritual life leads onto one becoming more reclusive or introverted. He had asked Mukunda Goswami this question and he seemed to think so.

Maharaj then asked Sutapa Prabhu, what he thought. It was fitting that Sutapa Prabhu was asked this question since amongst the devotees present, he was one of the most senior of Maharaj’s disciples. All the other devotees were rapt in attention. Sutapa Prabhu replied that he did not necessarily agree because often when one grows in responsibility, one is forced to become an extrovert. Then Maharaj counter argued by saying it can also be the other way around! But, Maharaj also added in, there are highly advanced devotees who seemed extroverts; for example, Jayapataka Maharaj and Indradyumna Maharaj. For those present, it was fascinating to watch this verbal tennis match between Guru and disciple.

Maharaj then started defining extroverts and introverts, noting that extroverts tend to get their energy in crowds. So, for example, Jayapataka Maharaj will be happy if there were twenty people in the room, he would be joyous if there were two hundred people, he would be ecstatic if there were two thousand people and would be positively in his element if he was speaking to a crowd of twenty thousand people! Maharaj then confessed that in that situation, he would probably just want to disappear!

By this time, it was getting rather late into the night and Maharaj was really just sharing his thoughts on various aspects of life with his disciples. The mood was quite intimate and relaxed. It was interesting because Maharaj was sitting on the floor with one leg outstretched, the other leg pressed up against his chest. One arm was resting on the knee of the pressed up leg and the other arm was outstretched behind him. The interesting part was that on the wall, directly above Maharaj, was a picture of Srila Prabhupada sitting in exactly the same pose. Judging from Srila Prabhupada’s smiling face, it also seemed to be one of those intimate, relaxed moments Srila Prabhupada was sharing with his disciples! The parampara continues in more ways than one!

Maharaj then spoke on the ‘60s and how ISKCON developed in the midst of the counterculture. Going on Maharaj’s vyasa puja lecture earlier this year, it is evident that Maharaj is in no way sentimental about that period and certainly does not subscribe to the “good old days” mentality. However, saying that, Maharaj did express some appreciation for that period. Maharaj asserted that in those days, the devotees were real free thinkers with seriously original thoughts. At this point, Sutapa Prabhu mentioned Blazing Saddhus by Acyutananda Prabhu. It was well written, with a strong, psychedelic, “out-there” feel to it. Maharaj knew of this book and made the astute observation that for Acyutananda Prabhu, the ‘60s and Krsna consciousness went together. Actually for many devotees, the ‘60s was synonymous with coming into the Hare Krsnas. It was a seamless progression from trying to elevate your consciousness through psychedelic paraphernalia through to natural, spiritual processes.

But there were also many devotees at the time for whom Krsna consciousness meant something different from the ‘60s. It meant, one had to extricate themselves from the ‘60s thing’ and then take to Krsna consciousness – almost like a fresh start. For Maharaj, the ‘60s was maya and Krsna consciousness was something altogether different. The ‘60s was a time when Maharaj would visit a tea house near his home town in Holland called the Electric Centre. Everyone, everyone was off their faces on drugs at this place. Just to add to the surrealism of this place, they were live tropical birds flying around inside this tea house. It was all about hippies, breaking all the taboos and singing, “Why don’t we do it in the road!?” Maharaj then humorously added that they did “do it” on the road! All the devotees burst out laughing.

Shortly after the Electric Centre period, Maharaj went off backpacking to India. When he came back, the Electric Centre had become zero. It became all Indian: white yoga pants, colourful neck beads etc. It was all over for Maharaj by that point. Krsna had already pulled him in.

Shortly afterward, Maharaj called it a day and the devotees left thoroughly satisfied and looking forward to what would be a great week ahead

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Now that I had gone to the Hare Krishna temple and survived, I felt brave enough to try one of their “Sunday Love Feasts.” The temple was a lot less imposing on Sunday afternoon with dozens of people around, a lot of them “normal looking.”

Inside, the temple floor was rich checkered marble. Marble pillars lined along the side walls, with beautiful original Krishna-paintings in the archways between them. The ceiling was two stories high, and looked  like an Indian version of the Sistine Chapel, with a huge painting of beautiful people in robes dancing and chanting in some rural setting. A big, crystal chandelier hung from the middle. Above the pillars, on the second-story level of the walls, were ornate bas-relief statues of Vedic deities dancing, singing, and playing drums and hand cymbals.

At the front of the temple was a stage about a meter high, with three elaborately carved wooden doors, opened so that only pillars and Indian-style arches remained visible unless you looked from the side. Brilliant light streamed out from the altar inside, revealing a huge, incredible wooden structure, carved and shaped more gorgeously than anything I had ever seen before.

This wooden masterpiece from another dimension formed a canopy over three sets of deities. The set on the right included the big round eye that had jumped out and stared at me when I peaked in the door the last time I had been here — three wooden figures, squarish, with exaggerated and simplified eyes and mouths painted over their black, yellow, and white surfaces. The set in the middle was Rādhā and Krishna in marble — big, full of flowers, amazingly colorful and, to use some of my favorite words from Prabhupāda’s books, “sumptuously opulent.” The set on the left were another two marble figures with arms upraised. The entire sight saturated and satisfied my eyes the same way a cake saturates and satisfies the tongue.

Someone was explaining what the Krishna philosophy is all about. I don’t remember much about that, but I remember the dancing! The Krishna’s had these two-headed drums and little metal hand-cymbals, and could really get something going with them. They even had mosh-parts! Their chanting would speed up and speed up and speed up, and then drop into a huge, slow, moshy, stomp. I was leaping and moshing around with my dreadlocks flying all over the place – feeling like a puzzle piece put in the right spot.

People gave me a little distance as I jumped around, but they looked at me with smiles. Some of the Krishna guys would even come over and leap around with me.

By the time it was over, I was sweating and out of breath. I sat there on the floor with paper plate and cup in front of me, in a line with the dozens of other people, plates and cups. Chatter was all around, but I had no one to talk to, and liked it that way. Talking to myself was more fun. A devotee proceeded down the line of plates and people, pushing a plastic bucket in front of him, scooping food onto the plates.

Splish… he dumped some spinach into my plate.

It’s green mass sat there on the white plate, slowly leaking green juice around it. There was nothing in the world I hated more than cooked spinach. Sometimes I would literally vomit when my mom put it on my plate and make me eat it.

Maybe the next bucket would have something I could stomach?

Splash.. This time a devotee plopped down something with a lot of carrots. Besides spinach, there was nothing I hated in the world more than cooked carrots.

I stared at the two dire enemies of my taste-buds, with growing determination. “This stuff is ‘prasādam’” I thought. “Krishna ate it. I should at least try it.”

I spooned a bit of the spinach into my wary mouth. It was delicious! Incredible!

Next, a spoon of the carrots… “What the fuck!?” I shouted to myself in amazement. “Why do I love this?”

– Excerpt from early draft of
Train Wrecks and Transcendence:
A Collision of Hardcore and Hare Krishna

By Vraja Kishor dās
VrajaKishor.com

Tagged: Hare Krishna, hare krishna temple, iskcon temple, sunday feast

Chanting alot is only possible if you chant attentively and free from offences, otherwise the mind will not cooperate.

Sacinandana Swami

Hare Krishna! Srila Prabhupada Arrives in Singapore! Ratha Yatra festival celebration
It is with great happiness that we announce the installation of Srila Prabhupada in his murti form in Singapore! This most wondrous event took place on the auspicious day of Padmini Ekadasi on Sunday 28 June 2015, during the most auspicious month of Purushottama!
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18179

Hare Krishna! The colorful Chariot Festival: Indian tradition going worldwide
Chicago: On June 28, 2015 Hare Krishna devotees celebrated the 41st annual Chariot Festival organised by ISKCON. This year in Chicago, the Chariot Festival saw the participation of 5000 people, with 400 new attendees joining in the celebration. Team NewsGram too joined in this vibrant festival to catch a glimpse. The parade began at 11:30 AM at Daley Plaza (50 West Washington Street, Chicago) and concluded at 12:30 PM. The grand festival which comprised of ecstatic dancing, live music, vegetarian food, and meditation went on till 6 PM.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18176

Glastonbury Festival 2015 (Album with 272 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krsna and the sound vibration “Krsna” are nondifferent, so if one loudly vibrates Hare Krsna, he will be able to think of Krishna immediately. This process of chanting is the best process of self-realization in this age; therefore Lord Caitanya preached it so nicely for benefit of all humanity. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.24.35 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/O7MExB

Hare Krishna! HH Sivarama Swami’s Visit to Istanbul
We did 4 programs with Maharaja. 3 of them were in our yoga center in downtown, and one in our house for devotees only to inspire us more on preaching activities. Many new people were in the programs and in 3 days there were more than 100 people visited our Goranga Yoga Center. Sivarama Swami was giving lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam 7th Canto about nine processes of Bhakti Yoga in three days. Kirtans were wonderful. Turkish people are chanting really with full heart.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18172

Communist plot plants snakes in the living quarters of Mayapur! :-)
“OOOHHH! Prabhupa-da!” he dramatically exclaimed. “There is a snake in your bathroom! We need help! Let’s call Rasaparayana!” Rasaparayana was known as the big, strong, temple “ksatriya.” “Come on. Let’s call Rasaparayana!” Bhavananda yelled, as we ran out of S'ri-la Prabhupa-da’s quarters. We effectively terminated S'ri-la Prabhupa-da’s tranquil darshan. S'ri-la Prabhupa-da and his disciples left the room and went on the verandah. A couple of devotees went into the bathroom to search for the serpent while the others stayed on the porch. S'ri-la Prabhupa-da was undisturbed and quietly chanted japa, walking back and forth on the verandah.
Read the entire article here: https://goo.gl/0ZpwbU

Initiation ceremony in Poland (Album with 140 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The liberated sage Kardama Muni could see Garuda carrying the Lord on the way to Vaikuntha and hear the flapping of his wings vibrating the sound of Hare Krsna, the essence of the Sama Veda. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.21.34 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/h4YAbK

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From Istanbul.

The post Friday’s class on bhakti yoga – sravanam, kirtanam and smaranam (Part 1) appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

My Part Of The Bargain (7 min video)
Kurma Rupa Prabhu has lived in Vrindavan, India for many decades. He established Care for Cows, an international network that helps abandoned, sick or injured cows in Vrindavan for more than 25 years. He has been actively working to create awareness, educate, give guidance and support to likeminded charitable organisations worldwide.
Yet it is not only Krishna’s cows that he is dear to. It is amazing how many people hearts he touched throughout the years by being a good man and a humble devotee.
On June 28th, 2015 on the very special day of Padmini ekadasi in the greatly auspicious month of Purushottama Kurma Rupa Prabhu left his body in the holy land of Vrindavan amongst sacred cows, surrounded by devotee friends. This short video is our humble tribute to him.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/k9tEYS

Hare Krishna! The Passing of Kurma-rupa dasa
Prabhu remained alert, spoke philosophy, and concluded the administrative and financial arrangements necessary for the continued protection of the cows of Vrindavan. But days and weeks of fasting were now causing his external senses to fail. Bright lights became difficult to bear, sounds seemed further away, whatever small amounts of liquid were taken could only be swallowed with difficulty, and signing of legal documents was impossibly slow.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18165

Atlanta Rathyatra & Panihati Festival (2015): (90 Photographs)
Srila Prabhupada: If one repeats monotonous material words, he will feel exhausted, but if he chants Hare Krishna twenty-four hours a day, he will never feel exhausted; rather, he will feel encouraged to continue chanting more and more. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.21.22 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/EB4UKE

Hare Krishna! Brahmananda Prabhu “The Mountain of our mission”
Though I was not in constant contact with Brahmananda Prabhu I always had great affection for him and Gargamuni Prabhu, the “love brothers” because of their unflinching faith in and pure unalloyed love for Srila Prabhupada. Brahmananda Prabhu was archetypal of what it meant to be a “Prabhupada man.” He would take a bullet for Srila Prabhupada and be happy to have had the opportunity.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18159

Initiation ceremony in Iskcon Los Angeles (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommended five items of devotional service, namely to serve the devotees of the Lord, to chant Hare Krishna, to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, to worship the Deity of the Lord and to live in a place of pilgramage. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.19.38 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/S1gyqt

Hare Krishna! 15th Annual Seshadripuram Ratha Yatra – A Grand Success
This Year, ISKCON Seshadripuram had celebrated it’s 15th Annual Ratha Yatra Festival on the 20th of June. As The Rural Naama Hatta programs have been expanding, over 500 devotees from Rural Karnataka had visited and a Few International Devotees From Australia, Malaysia and Bangladesh had also Joined in to Pull Jagannath back into their Hearts. We were fortunate to conduct this festival with HG Revati Raman Prabhu (ISKCON GBC, ISKCON Tirupati Temple President) and HG Radhesyam Prabhu (ISKCON Pune)
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18154

http://bit.ly/1Hvu7ba

The post A beautiful video on Kurma Rupa Prabhu’s passing appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Can the Deities of devatas also be jagruta?

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The post Daily Darshan – June 30th, 2015 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

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From Raja Parikshit Prabhu
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From Raja Parikshit Prabhu
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From Raja Parikshit Prabhu
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From Raja Parikshit Prabhu
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22.06.2015 H.G.Hari Ram Prabhu_SB-5.25.4-5

Kurma Rupa Das has lived in Vrindavan, India for many decades. He established Care for Cows, an international network that helps abandoned, sick or injured cows in Vrindavan for more than 25 years. He has been actively working to create awareness, educate, give guidance and support to likeminded charitable organisations worldwide. He passed away on June 28th in Vrindavan, India. A video by Syam Gopal Das and Vijay Radhika Dasi (www.vrindavanexperience.com)

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By the time I left New York, Beyond had become pretty huge, at least relative to the size of Hardcore Punk. What started off as the offshoot of a battle-of-the-bands project now played real shows with real bands to real people paying real money. What started off as a high-school hobby now had national attention in the hardcore punk scene.

We even had a record offer! Of course we are talking hardcore punk, not motown. Our “record offer” was from John Porcel – guitarist of Youth of Today, singer and mastermind of the band who practically invented militant straightedge, Project X, and the Chief Executive Officer and Primary Shareholder of a record label called Schism Records. (Schism’s stock traded only slightly higher than Shred Zine Records but was destined for greatness with such an influential figure at the helm).

So, at the end of the Summer of 88, I flew back from San Diego to New York to record a full-length LP record with Beyond. The flight had one stop, in Texas, where I had to change planes. As I walked through the airport with a guitar, skate-punk clothes, and dreadlocks, a short man walked up to me, middle-aged and with round glasses over his kind eyes.

“You must be a musician,” he said. “Are you on your way to play a concert?”

“No,” I said, secretly thrilled to have the chance to say, “I am going to record an album.”

“Wow, that’s great!” he exclaimed, and reached into a large bag at his waist, hanging from his shoulder by a strap that went across his chest. “You would really like this book. A lot of musicians really like this book.”

I recognized the book the instant he began pulling it from his bag. “That’s Bhagavad-Gītā!!!” I exclaimed.

He froze with the book in his hand instead of handing it to me immediately like a properly trained salesman should. “You know about the Bhagavad-Gītā?” He asked in amazement.

“Yeah!” I said, “Can I have it?”

He was delighted to hand it to me. “How do you know about Bhagavad-Gītā?”

“Some of the bands I am into are into Krishna consciousness,” I said. “I’ve read one book… eesshoo…”

I struggled with the pronunciation, so he helped me, “Īśopaniṣad?”

“Yeah! And a few other zines and magazines.”

“That’s great!” he said, eyes as wide as his smile. “Can you give a donation to cover the cost of printing?”

“Well… I sent away for a free copy of Bhagavad Gītā,” I explained, “but it never came. Sooo… can’t you just give me it?”

He thought about it for a moment and then said, “Yeah, I suppose so… Sure, why not!”

Finally, I had a copy of Bhagavad-Gītā! Between this book and Śrī Īśopaniṣad I felt prepared to learn more about Krishna than any punker had ever dared to learn before.

— An excerpt from the first draft of
Train Wrecks and Transcendence:
A Collision of Hardcore and Hare Krishna

by Vraja Kishor

VrajaKishor.com

Tagged: airports, Bhagavad Gita, book distribution