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From Upendra P
if Krishna acted so that people dont follow his path of non-action, thus abandon their duty and end up creating Varanasankara then why did Krishna perfrom Rasa-lila which anyway has inspired many superficial observers to enjoy with multiple partners under the guise of "following Krishna". thus creating the same Varnasnakara which krishna wanted to prevent ?
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A massive earthquake struck central Nepal on Saturday, April 25, affecting Kathmandu and he city of Pokhara. The tremors could also be felt in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. According to international new agencies hundreds of people had been killed across Nepal. Rescuers are digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kathmandu trying to reach survivors. A number of historic buildings have been destroyed.

Disciples Course Required for Initiation by September 5th
From the holy day of Janmastami – September 5th – this year, devotees wishing to take initiation from an ISKCON guru will be required to first pass the ISKCON Disciples Course. The course grew from the ISKCON Guru Seminar, created by the GBC Guru Services Committee in 2008 to educate those taking up the service of guru in how to be effective in caring for their disciples. A course for disciples was a natural follow-up. It was developed in 2011 under the Guru Services Committee, the Mayapur Institute, and ISKCON Communications, with the input of senior devotees, diksa and siksa gurus, and educators from around the world.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/gAv3Cp

The post Ihara paramahamsa, gaurangera nija-vamsa, tadera carana mama gati appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

25 April,2015 Ganga-saptami or Jahnu-saptami appears in the month of Vaisakha (Vaisnava month of Madhusudana-April/May) on the 7th day of Sukla-paksa, or the waxing fortnight of the full moon. After the Ganga descended onto the Himalayas, the river entered the sacrificial arena of Jahnu Rsi and disturbed his meditation. This pastime is stated in the […]

The post Jahnu Saptami appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Hare Krishna! Nepal Iskcon Temple with severe cracks after massive earthquake. No injuries for devotees
Indradyumna Swami: A massive earthquake of 7.9 magnitude has just struck central Nepal, affecting Kathmandu. Many buildings are damaged and there are numerous injuries. I just spoke with Patri das, ISKCON’s regional secretary in Nepal, who told me our temple in Kathmandu is basically OK. But there are severe cracks in a number of buildings on our property. The Deities have been moved outside from the main temple. No devotees were injured at the temple complex, but he stressed that many houses in the area collapsed and he cannot say at this point if all our devotees are safe. So please everyone pray for the safely and lives of our members living in and around the affected area.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16972

Hare Krishna! Nepal Iskcon Temple with severe cracks after massive earthquake. No injuries for devotees
Indradyumna Swami: A massive earthquake of 7.9 magnitude has just struck central Nepal, affecting Kathmandu. Many buildings are damaged and there are numerous injuries. I just spoke with Patri das, ISKCON’s regional secretary in Nepal, who told me our temple in Kathmandu is basically OK. But there are severe cracks in a number of buildings on our property. The Deities have been moved outside from the main temple. No devotees were injured at the temple complex, but he stressed that many houses in the area collapsed and he cannot say at this point if all our devotees are safe. So please everyone pray for the safely and lives of our members living in and around the affected area.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16972

Gita Verse-by-Verse Study Podcast:

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The post April 25th, 2015 – Chandan yatra Darshan- Day 5 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

May 8th – 10th, 2015

The countdown has begun! New Vrindaban’s Festival of Inspiration is only two weeks away, and it’s a big one — the 15th anniversary! Get ready for exciting and inspiring presentations by ISKCON’s best speakers; top-quality entertainment from dramas to stand-up comedy; rip-roaring kirtans; and mouth-watering prasadam, and much more!

So don’t miss this priceless opportunity to have the association of advanced devotees like H.H Jayapataka Swami, H.H. Jayadvaita Swami, H.H. Bhaktimarga Swami, and H. H. Varsana Swami. There will also be many senior devotees including Deena Bandhu dasa, Ravindra Swarup dasa, Dravida dasa, Urmila dasi, Malati dasi, world famous kirtaneer Agnideva das, Havi das, our hometown girl, Karnamrita dasi, ISKCON’S renowned comedian Yadunatha das, and many more. We are also expecting a special visit from Sally and Gopal Aggarwal, the family that sponsored Srila Prabhupada’s travel to America and hosted him in their home.

Good news: there is still accommodation available. You can register today at the Festival of Inspiration website or call us at 304-843-1600 ext. 135.

We look forward to serving you. Hare Krishna.

In Melbourne there are 14 Bhakti Vrksa groups who regularly meet in various parts of the city.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 06 April 2015, Durban, South Africa, Ratha Yatra Lecture: What is devotional service)

Having a spiritual master is not a casual thing! One should really dedicate himself to the spiritual master and to the desire of the spiritual master; that is very important. Sometimes, we may feel that our spiritual master is not really giving us a lot of instruction and he is not really telling us something special. That means, he just wants us to do the regular things like daily chanting sixteen rounds of japa and following four regulative principles – no meat, fish or eggs; no gambling; no intoxication; no illicit sex. It means that he wants us to learn the regular principles of prescribed practice for every devotee. It means that he wants us to rise early in the morning, preferably during Brahma-muhurta. It means that he wants us to study especially Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. It means that he wants us to be kind and merciful. It means that he wants us to become very respectful to the vaishnavas and to see that every vaishnava is worthy of my respect and to see that every vaishnava is my teacher!

Giriraj Swami spoke at Nilamadhava dasa and Madhuri Radha dasi’s wedding.

“I will quote one authority on marriage who said that marriage is not meant to make you happy—marriage is meant to make you married. Once you are safely and wholly married, you have a structure of security and support from which you can find happiness. And, our only real and enduring happiness comes in our relationship with God or Krishna. However nice another person is, no matter how compatible we are, ultimately our desires can only be satisfied in relationship with Krishna. And so the family and friends all encourage each other in their relationship with Krishna.”

03.21.15, Marriage Ceremony, Houston

CC-daily Podcast
[audio mp3="http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2015%20classes/04-15%20classes/CC%20daily%2084%20-%20M%206.14-20%20-%20A%20providential%20meeting%20between%20the%20Lord's%20associates%20advances%20his%20pastime.mp3http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/ccd%20classes/desiretree/2015%20classes/04-15%20classes/CC%20daily%2084%20-%20M%206.14-20%20-%20A%20providential%20meeting%20between%20the%20Lord's%20associates%20advances%20his%20pastime.mp3">Download by "right-click and save content"

Hare Krishna! Conviction
Doubt is the motor of the modern mentality, the indefatigable engine that drives the spirit of our age. Doubt was honored with an early recognition in the essays of the Renaissance courtier Michel de Montaigne: “We are, I know not how, double within ourselves, with the result that we do not believe what we believe, and we cannot rid ourselves of what we condemn.” During Montaigne’s time, religious wars of unbearable cruelty rent Europe. The absolute certainty of the raging antagonists began to taint conviction itself with bad odor.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16966

Hare Krishna! Conviction
Doubt is the motor of the modern mentality, the indefatigable engine that drives the spirit of our age. Doubt was honored with an early recognition in the essays of the Renaissance courtier Michel de Montaigne: “We are, I know not how, double within ourselves, with the result that we do not believe what we believe, and we cannot rid ourselves of what we condemn.” During Montaigne’s time, religious wars of unbearable cruelty rent Europe. The absolute certainty of the raging antagonists began to taint conviction itself with bad odor.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16966

Bhagavatam-daily Podcast:

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ISKCON extends its support to ban on slaughter of cows
“The cottage industry through cow protection and cow rearing is a wonderful model for rural development,” ISKCON spiritual leader Radha Nath Swami Maharaj said in a statement issued. He said in the statement that with little investment, even a simple farmer owning a cow could manufacture products by using animal waste. Apart from medicinal benefits, utilising cow’s waste products could generate revenue and this in turn, could help maintain the animal.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/ioYCva

Wonderful vaishnavas perform parikrama in the Holy places (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krishna is dancing - you have seen - similarly, our position is simply dancing with Krishna and being happy. That is our position. But we have to come to this material world to enjoy independently of Krishna. Therefore we have been captured by the illusory energy. Hyderabad, April 23, 1974.
See them here: http://goo.gl/iZxkKQ

Material existence, when subjected to a hard look, seems futile. A lion pounces on a deer and rips it apart. What terror and trauma the deer must be undergoing during its last moments as it watches itself getting caught and cut and consumed!

On observing such brutality, naturalists such as Darwin posited that the struggle for existence was nature’s innate feature. Given the severity of this struggle, he held that only the fittest could survive. However, he didn’t get it quite right – actually, even the fittest can’t survive; they too end up on the losing side in the struggle for existence. That they may die a little later than the less fit doesn’t change death’s inescapability.

Contemplation on this harsh nature of nature begs the question: What is the point of it all? Struggle, struggle, struggle, and then die – is that all there is to existence?

Struggle, struggle, struggle, and then die – is that all there is to existence?

No, there is more, declare the world’s great wisdom-traditions. Vedic wisdom explains that at our core lies an immortal being, the soul. That soul is the real person. The soul within you is the actual you and the soul within me is the actual me. And this soul has an eternal relationship with the supreme soul, God, Krishna, who is the all-attractive Supreme Person. By redirecting our love from temporary things to our eternal Lord, we can raise our consciousness to the spiritual level of existence, which being immortal is beyond the meaninglessness of mortal material existence.

Srimad Bhagavatam (11.09.28) outlines how the Lord didn’t feel satisfied after creating various nonhuman species, but became satisfied after creating the human form with its capacity for spiritual perception. This verse appears in a section of the Bhagavatam that deals with the importance of the human form, not the process of creation. This non-creationist context points to the verse’s thrust – not chronology, but teleology.

Krishna felt satisfied after creating the human form because humans alone can fulfill the purpose of creation. That purpose is to provide a facility for souls to rise from the temporary world to the eternal world. The human faculty for metaphysical enquiry, which is our unique gift, makes us seek meaning in life. Such a search if pursued unsentimentally forces us to admit that our present life is rendered ultimately meaningless by death. If we still persevere in our search, then we look for some meaning that survives and transcends death. That search, when guided by the wisdom coming from God-given scriptures, enables us to progressively realize our spiritual identity and ultimately attain eternal life with Krishna.

Thus, for the soul entrapped in pointless-seeming material existence, the human form offers the intelligence to understand the point of it all. Put another way, the human form makes all of material existence meaningful – souls in nonhuman forms need to evolve by transmigration to the human form, wherein alone they can realize their spiritual identity and thus transcend material existence’s meaninglessness.

As the need for meaning keeps nagging materialists, they try to construct a colossal edifice of meaning through material society, friendship and love. 

Unfortunately, many humans neglect their privilege of metaphysical enquiry and devote their lives to pursuing material pleasures. As the search for meaning keeps nagging such materialists, they try to construct a colossal edifice of meaning through material society, friendship and love. But the whole edifice comes crumbling down when the Grim Reaper comes calling. Thus, though material existence inclusive of the human form is ultimately meaningful, still this meaning eludes those humans who live non-spiritually. So, the responsibility to make our existence meaningful by living spiritually rests on each one of us.

Pertinently, the next verse (11.09.29: arthadam anityam api) indicates that though human life is mortal, like life in all other species, still it holds the potential to grant a meaningful fruit – the fruit of eternal existence. And the verse urges us to not waste time in pursuing the bodily pleasures available in all other species, but to forthwith pursue the spiritual fulfillment available only in the human form, thereby making our existence supremely meaningful.

From the holy day of Janmastami – September 5^th -- this year, devotees wishing to take initiation from an ISKCON guru will be required to first pass the ISKCON Disciples Course. The course grew from the ISKCON Guru Seminar, created by the GBC Guru Services Committee in 2008 to educate those taking up the service of guru in how to be effective in caring for their disciples.

Hare Krishna! Sri Khira Chora Gopinatha Temple at Remuna
The famous temple of Sri Khira Chora Gopinatha, the Krishna Deity who stole condensed milk (Khira), also known as amrta-keli, for His most-beloved devotee – Sri Madhavendra Puri, lies in a small pastoral village named Remuna in the Balasore (Baleshwar) District of Orissa. Remuna is called Gupt Vrindavana because Sri Gopinatha had many pastimes here in the mood of Vrindavana with His intimate devotees.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16963

Hare Krishna! Sri Khira Chora Gopinatha Temple at Remuna
The famous temple of Sri Khira Chora Gopinatha, the Krishna Deity who stole condensed milk (Khira), also known as amrta-keli, for His most-beloved devotee – Sri Madhavendra Puri, lies in a small pastoral village named Remuna in the Balasore (Baleshwar) District of Orissa. Remuna is called Gupt Vrindavana because Sri Gopinatha had many pastimes here in the mood of Vrindavana with His intimate devotees.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16963

Prince Ea: An Apology Letter to Future Generations.

Amsterdam - known for being one of the largest street markets in the world, orange coloured everything, and its yearly Kingsday festival with music concerts, street performances, and lots of intoxicated people. So what better way to spread Krishna consciousness, than to bring it to a large mass of people, in their time of celebration?

To expand ISKCON’s outreach mission Srila Prabhupada offered sannyasi (renounced monk) initiation.
Thus ISKCON’s Ministry for Sannyasa Service has established a website to provide
information about potential sannyasis to the ISKCON community and to get
feedback in order to help in the candidate's training.

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Answer Podcast:

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Answer Podcast:

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Answer Podcast:

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New Vrindaban's Festival of Inspiration is only two weeks away, and it's a big one -- the 15th anniversary! There will be exciting and inspiring presentations by ISKCON’s best speakers; top-quality entertainment from dramas to stand-up comedy; rip-roaring kirtans; and mouth-watering prasadam, and much more!

ISKCON's Govardhan Ecovillage is saying that rearing these animals would add much more to the economy rather than killing them.