Planet ISKCON

Harinama in Moscow, Russia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Krishna, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 20.12)
See them here: https://goo.gl/ZLzWb0

A grove of Indian sandalwood trees

Once, a long time ago in India, there was a poor man who lived with his wife in a small cottage deep in a forest. Every day the man would pick up sticks from the forest floor, make them up into bundles then stack them carefully in a circle. Covering them over with earth he would burn them slowly until the wood had charred black. The result was charcoal – a fuel that was very light to carry but excellent for cooking. He made very little money from this trade but was satisfied with what he had. Not many visitors came into the forest because it was filled with wild animals, so sometimes the man and his wife felt lonely, but the forest was peaceful and they were happy.

One afternoon a stranger arrived at the door of the cottage. He was visibly exhausted and his brow was damp with sweat. “Can you help me please?” he asked the man, “I was out hunting and my horse galloped off – I’ve been walking for miles and I’m lost.” The charcoal-maker immediately gave the stranger a place to rest and some water to drink. His wife set about cooking a meal and the stranger began to feel at home, so much so that he fell asleep and spent the night as the guest of the man and his wife.

The next morning the stranger asked to be escorted to the edge of the forest. It was quite a distance to walk, but the charcoal-maker happily obliged. As the dense forest gave way to a path, the stranger revealed his identity. “What I did not tell you, my friend, is that I am actually the king of this region. I could see that you didn’t recognise me, and that all the kind hospitality you offered was from your heart. I am very grateful and I would like to offer you a gift. Please walk another mile with me.”

Walking on, they came to a forest from which came a wonderful fragrance. “This is my sandal-wood grove,” explained the king, “fifty of the oldest and finest trees – and I want you to have it.” The charcoal-maker was astonished that his guest had been the king, and even more surprised that he was being given his own personal wood. He thanked the king profusely and they parted company.

One year later, the king visited the sandalwood grove and discovered, much to his surprise, that all the trees had gone. Not one tree was left standing. Curious, he went deep inside the forest to visit the charcoal-maker. “So I see that you have made good use of the sandal-wood?” he asked the man. “Oh yes,” replied the man, “I made all of the fifty trees into charcoal.”

“But did you not realise,” exclaimed the king, quite aghast, “that just one twig of a single sandal-wood tree can be sold for the price of a hundred bags of charcoal? That the fragrant oil inside the tree is worth much more than the wood that contains it?” “No,” replied the man, “I’m a simple charcoal-maker…”

Moral: In ordinary consciousness we attribute a greater value to the body than the soul within. Not even knowing the value of the soul, we use our body as fuel and burn through it in seventy years, never capitalising on the sweet fragrance that could have been ours. The guru is the teacher who explains the difference between body and soul; then shows us how to obtain the real value of life.

Hare Krishna! Raga-bhakti
“In the beginning one has to render service strictly according to the regulative principles set forth by the revealed scriptures and spiritual master. By continuously rendering service through the process of vaidhī bhakti, one’s natural inclination is gradually awakened. That is called spontaneous attraction, or rāgānugā bhakti”. (CC Madhya-lila 22.153 purport)
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17692

The post Remembering the disappearance of Mukunda-datta appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Hare Krishna! Exploring Love
True love is not casual but is an act of will that requires the lover’s concentration on and commitment to the beloved (in Sanskrit called asakta-manah — “mind attached”). In other words, love is about my beloved’s—and not my own—thoughts, feelings, and desires. True love is selfless. One who would love is concerned with and alert to the beloved in every sphere of life. In fact, one who would love sees everything in relation to the beloved and sees the beloved everywhere. This does not mean losing oneself in the infatuation of love, but finding oneself. Those who truly love understand their own identity (vijnana — “realized knowledge”), and they act in accord with that understanding.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17689

With only one extra day in New Orleans, the many eager devotees there could not get enough association with Jananivas prabhu.

On Monday, May 18th we visited the homes of devotees with the Padukas and Sitari for kirtan, Krishna katha and prasadam. For breakfast we went to the home of Satya Gaura das, for lunch to the home of Guru das, and for dinner to the home of Pracheta das. To these devotees, being of Bengali origin and having their roots in devotional service in Mayapur Dhama, it was like Mayapur coming to their home.

The post TOVP Daily Tour Day 68: Visits to Devotee Homes in New Orleans appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Auspicious celebrations in Alachua, Gainesville & Orlando (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Simply by chanting the holy name of Lord Krishna, one can be freed from all undesirable habits. This is the means of awakening all good fortune and initiating the flow of waves of love for Krishna. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 20.11)
See them here: https://goo.gl/KybxKe

Snana yatra (7 min video)
Today i.e. 2nd June 2015 is Snan Yatra, the Bathing ceremony of Lord Jagannath wherein the Deities are taken out for Royal Bath, Please, if you want, go through the video for knowing more about Snan Yatra Celebration
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/UpW8Ri

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Srimad Bhagavatam class at ISKCON Melbourne
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The post Daily Darshan – June 2nd, 2015 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Srimad Bhagavatam class at ISKCON Melbourne
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Hare Krishna! 50th Anniversary briefing pack launched to help local temples plan celebrations
“There are five features that have been identified for the fiftieth anniversary,” said Pancharatna Das, a member of the Executive Committee of the 50th Anniversary. “They are: celebrate events, educate the world, accelerate our mission, appreciate ISKCON and motivate achievements. The briefing pack provides different ideas and celebrations that can be organised against each of these five features. Hopefully, local temples can pick and choose what they want according to resources available with them, so that every centre can feel a part of the global celebrations.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17686

Bhagavatam-daily Podcast:

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Our school here in New Zealand is situated in beautiful, peaceful surroundings just 100 metres away from the Radha Giridhari temple in North West Auckland. 

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 27 May 2015, Sydney, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 7.10.23)

This morning, I listened to the sankirtan scores being announced. It was very nice. I was very happy to hear that books are going out. But, what if I get a little cynical or sceptical, and I say, “Well, how many people are there in Sydney and how many books did you distribute? If you go at this pace, it is going to take forever to get books out to all the people of Sydney! How are we going to make an impact? Are we actually changing the city… and what about the country? So, is our mission successful?”

We have to take it that our mission is successful and that it does not depend on material calculations! This kind of material calculation does not apply – so many books going every day and the population is this number therefore mathematically, it would take an average of so many days before we can finally reach the people of Sydney, and then we hope that they all surrender! No, it is not like that because the ancient story of the sparrow who had lost her eggs in the ocean, applies. The sparrow had threatened the ocean, “If you do not return my eggs, I will drink your water!” The ocean did not care but Garuda cared! Garuda was attracted by the sincerity of that sparrow, and then Garuda threatened to drink the water of the ocean.

So this ‘Garuda principle’ is there. If we endeavour to spread Krsna consciousness, that attracts the causeless mercy of Krsna and then Krsna will do it. Ultimately, Krsna will do it! When the Lord is attracted by the service of the devotees, the Lord intervenes and then it starts happening!

Maha Harinam in Ljubliana-Slovenia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krishna-sakti vina nahe tara pravartana:unless one receives special power of attorney from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he cannot preach the glories of the Hare Krishna mantra. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.83 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/FJ1zmh

Hare Krishna! Daytona Beach, FL Festival of Chariots – Rathayatra
Last Saturday, May 23rd, we had another wonderful Rathayatra festival at Daytona Beach. We started at the Holiday Inn with kirtan led by Vishvambara Prabhu. Bhadra Prabhu then spoke to all of the assembled devotees about how important it was for each one of us to engage as many people in pulling the Rath cart and joining the kirtan as possible in this Rathayatra since so many devotees had other engagements that day. He inspired us by reminding us that we are all preachers in this Krsna consciousness movement, so it is our duty to bring people to this Krsna consciousness movement
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17681

Hare Krishna! First Jagannath Ratha Yatra in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
The annual Isen Mulang cultural festival or the New Year festival in Palangka Raya is held to commemorate the anniversary of city. The festival highlights the cultural diversity of the different communities from various part of Central Kalimantan (Borneo). This year on May 18, 2015 Palangka Raya celebrated its 58th anniversary and received special Mercy from Lord Jagannath. Lord Jagannath along His brother Balaram and Their beloved sister Subadra Devi on the Ratha yatra participated in the Isen Mulang Festival. The Ratha Yatra gave special colour to the festival because of the beautifully decorated chariot and the fired up melodious Hare Krishna Maha Mantra kirtan.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17678

Food for Life Global joins Yogathon event
The United Nations declared June 21 as World Yoga Day on December 11 last year, following a proposal by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During his visit to the United Nations in September last year, Modi had urged the world community to celebrate Indian Yoga at the international level and that June 21 be declared as the World Yoga Day.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/yYIjKA

Celebrating Iskcon’s 50th Anniversary! Don’t miss out!
The Global Office for the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of ISKCON has appealed for volunteers who can serve on the International Team for this milestone event in the history of ISKCON.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/AiB9xv

Ganga puja celebrations (Album with photos)
On 28th evening, devotees at ISKCON Mayapur celebrated Ganga puja festival. Also known as Ganga Dussehra, the day marks the descent of mother Ganges to earth. Hundreds of devotees gathered at Prabhupada Ghat to worship Mother Ganges and take bath in Her holy waters.
The program started off with melodious kirtan. Then to the delight of all the assembled devotees, there was katha on the descent of mother Ganges by HG Pankajanghri prabhu and HH Bhakti Purusottama Maharaj. Following the lectures, a grand arati was performed for mother Ganges. Devotees were also distributed small leaf plates containing flowers and a dipa, so they could also perform their own worship. Not to forget the final part of Vaisnava events (if you guessed prasadam, that’s right), delicious Mayapur mango prasadam was served to all the devotees.
Ganges in Mayapur is very dear to Srila Prabhupada. He wished to have a nice ghat in Ganga so that devotees can offer proper worship to Mother Ganga. You can now please him, mother Ganges and Vaisnavas by sponsoring for Ganga ghat development at Mayapur. We have a wide range of services that you can choose from and you can contribute from as low as Rs 1000.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/1ftYL2

Panihati celebration at Sri Mayapur International School (Album with photos)
On 31st May afternoon, children at Sri Mayapur International School hosted a beautiful Panihati Festival. The children had taken a lot of time and effort in painting clay pots with amazing art work. They then filled the pots with delicious chipped rice, kheer, yoghurt, fruits, and other tasty treats.
The pots where all offered to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, and then auctioned off to the highest bidder. This entire effort was fun for the children, and also helped to raise funds for the school.
Aside from the auction, the students gave various entertaining performances, such as dance, drama and music. There was also katha on Panihati festival by HH Bhakti Purusottama Maharaj.
See them here: http://goo.gl/juZssY

viṣān mahāgneḥ puruṣāda-darśanād  asat-sabhāyā vana-vāsa-kṛcchrataḥ mṛdhe mṛdhe ’neka-mahārathāstrato  drauṇy-astrataś cāsma hare ’bhirakṣitāḥ

My dear Kṛṣṇa, Your Lordship has protected us from a poisoned cake, from a great fire, from cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during our exile in the forest and from the battle where great generals fought. And now You have saved us from the weapon of Aśvatthāmā.

http://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/1/8/24