Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Festival of Inspiration 2015 @ New vrindaban (Album with photos)
Filled with inspiring lectures, seminars, workshops, entertainment, and dramas, the Festival of Inspiration was the most spiritually inspirational and motivational event. A uniquely wonderful opportunity to share chanting of the holy names in the association of vibrant and fascinating souls from all over the three worlds.
See them here: https://goo.gl/gve3AN
“Suddha-nama retreat” in Irkutsk 2015 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Although the Hare Krishna maha-mantra is powerful in itself, a disciple upon initiation receives the mantra from his spiritual master, for when the mantra is chanted by the spiritual master, it becomes more powerful. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.24.32 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/BqrWSe
Japa & Kirtan retreat in Kemerovo 2015 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: By the grace of the Lord, if a devotee, at the time of death, can simply chant Hare Krishna, he immediately surpasses the great ocean of the material sky and enters into the spiritual sky. He never has to come back for repetition of birth and death. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.10.30 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/DMltpI
Two unique opportunities have arisen in New Vrindaban, West Virginia, USA. ECO-Vrindaban, a non-profit organization that promotes Prabhupada’s ideals of simple living, cow protection, engaging oxen, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, is searching for managers for its ox care and garden programs.
One of the catchiest kirtan albums you're likely to hear, "Bhakti Without Borders" is immaculately produced by Dave Stringer, and features creator Madi Das and eleven Vaishnavi singers including legendary kirtaniyas and new arrivals. The best thing about it? 100% of the proceeds go to Food For Life Vrindavan’s Sandipani Muni Schools.
The ISKCON-devotee-run student club VOICE made an impact on students’ consciousness on April 21st when they organized the first ever Veg Fest at the University of Texas (UT) in Dallas.
Hare Krishna! Tamil Bhagavad Darishanam Festival 2015, Vellore
The 4th Annual Tamil Bhagavad Darishanam, or Tamil edition of Back To Godhead Festival took place in Vellore on Saturday, 9th May 2015 at the Jayaram Chetty Hall in Vellore city, Tamil Nadu. This festival is held every year to present a forum where the Magazine production team and distributors can motivate the members of the Tamil devotee community to spread this magazine more and more in terms of subscriptions and readership. The past year is reviewed, discussions on overcoming obstacles and strategies made on how to increase the readership.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17355
Hare Krishna! Tamil Bhagavad Darishanam Festival 2015, Vellore
The 4th Annual Tamil Bhagavad Darishanam, or Tamil edition of Back To Godhead Festival took place in Vellore on Saturday, 9th May 2015 at the Jayaram Chetty Hall in Vellore city, Tamil Nadu. This festival is held every year to present a forum where the Magazine production team and distributors can motivate the members of the Tamil devotee community to spread this magazine more and more in terms of subscriptions and readership. The past year is reviewed, discussions on overcoming obstacles and strategies made on how to increase the readership.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17355
The post Psychology in Krsna consciousness appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
The post Daily Darshan – May 14th, 2015 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
What it Means to be Detached, by Radhanath Swami
Question: I am married and have a family with certain responsibilities. Recently I took up the spiritual practice of Bhakti-yoga and heard about ‘detachment’ as one of the principles. With so many responsibilities how can I practice this principle? Radhanath Swami: We have to understand from Bhagavad-Gita, what it means to be detached. To be detached means that you are attached to the service but you are detached from the results of the service for your personal enjoyment. Arjuna was a warrior and his duty was to fight. Lord Krishna told him, “You must fight. You must fight better than anyone else. You must fight with care, with conviction, and with all your intelligence, strength and energy; but fight for me. Do not fight according to your own will, but according to my directions. This is the responsibility that I am giving you.” It is detachment that Krishna is herein teaching Arjuna. For instance, if you have a child, that means God is giving you that child. You are the secondary father but God is the primary father and he has the ultimate proprietorship. You are only a father on his behalf but he is the father. Therefore, you have a great responsibility to be a father on behalf of God and to raise that child according to His will and not according to your whims. If you neglect your duty and your responsibility, you are not on the path of God consciousness.
Harinam in ancient Prague, Czech Republic (Album with photos)
Sri Nama Prabhu, the Holy name, likes to be distributed. Especially in kali yuga, Sri Nama Prabhu wants to go to every village and every person. Every devotee should be a distribution outlet for the holy name, channels of distribution for japa, kirtana and preaching.
See them here: https://goo.gl/vcNK8s
Heaven On Earth (6 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: It was ‘heaven on earth’ as myself, Bada Haridas and Chaturatma spent our last day in St. Petersburg chanting Hare Krsna and dancing in ecstacy with all the wonderful devotees in the temple. Special moments that we will remember and cherish until we return again.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/qJrNBE
Hare Krishna! Second Ratha Yatra at Surabaya, Indonesia
Ratha Yatra on Narasimha Caturdasi, a wonderful coincidence or two pastimes on the same day. On the auspicious day of Lord Narasimha’s appearance day, a flood of mercy swept out the second biggest city of Indonesia, Surabaya. Lord Jagannath, His brother Lord Balarama, and His beloved sister Subadra Devi on his ratha yatra chariot bestowed Their causeless mercy to the citizens of Surabaya on this year’s Flower and Cultural parade commemorating the anniversary of Surabaya city on May 3, 2015. This being the second Ratha Yatra in Surabaya.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17350
Hare Krishna! Second Ratha Yatra at Surabaya, Indonesia
Ratha Yatra on Narasimha Caturdasi, a wonderful coincidence or two pastimes on the same day. On the auspicious day of Lord Narasimha’s appearance day, a flood of mercy swept out the second biggest city of Indonesia, Surabaya. Lord Jagannath, His brother Lord Balarama, and His beloved sister Subadra Devi on his ratha yatra chariot bestowed Their causeless mercy to the citizens of Surabaya on this year’s Flower and Cultural parade commemorating the anniversary of Surabaya city on May 3, 2015. This being the second Ratha Yatra in Surabaya.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17350
On Tuesday evening, April 28th, Jananivas, Samik Rsi and Sunanda prabhus attended a program at the home of Sanatan Sundaram, Gandharvika Radha and their daughter Priya Kishori.
The small home was packed with devotees enthusiastically chanting and dancing while the Padukas and Sitari were bathed, offered arati, and adorned with flowers. The 3 TOVP Team devotees each spoke and prasadam was served to the Vaishnavas. The devotees concluded by chanting Nitai Pada Kamala in joy to the Padukas.
The post TOVP Daily Tour Day 48 – Ecstatic Evening Program at the Home of Sanatana Sundaram and His Family appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
Lecture on 3G – Ganga, Gomata & Gita by HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu and HG Gaura Gopal Prabhu at Colaba
Hare Krishna! ToVP Newsletter: April – June 2015
Never before seen design sketches! The artists and architects have been hard at work designing the temple to make it look more beautiful than any other in the world. Their sketches fill the art room walls with color and wonder, sastric books are stacked high on the large conference table for reference and drawing materials are strewn about as if a tornado hit the room. We have been anxiously waiting for some approved sketches to show all of you what ‘out of this world’ progress is being made, and now, for your pleasure, we have some.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17338
Gita Verse-by-verse Study Podcast:
Bhagavatam-daily Podcast:
CC daily Podcast:
Now the boy would want to know how to coronate this All-Attractive form in his heart. So Nārada explained, “Prince, now hear me tell you the most confidential japa. Anyone who carefully recites it for seven nights will directly realize its sound vibration.
Comment 1: Nārada previous defined the rūpa (form) of Hari, but said that the means of visualizing this form in the heart depended on a worshipful coronation. The means of that coronation is the mantra.
Comment 2: Nārada is going to give Dhruva a powerful and confidential mantra, even though he was a kṣatriya and had no upayana, dīkṣa, etc.
Comment 3: Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments that even recitation will be so effective, what to speak of silent enunciation or entirely mental meditation on the mantra – those methods are even more effective.
Then Nārada revealed the mantra, “oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya,” and said, “A wise person should worship the All-Attractive divinity with this mantra, and supplement it by worshipping a physical representation of Hari with materials and systems appropriate in consideration of the specific time and place.”
Comment 1: Nārada revealed a sacred mantra beginning with Oṁ. The rule is that such mantras may not be given to people who are not twice-born (recieving dīkṣa). But this action of Nārada demonstrates that Vaiṣṇava mantras are not restricted by this rule.
Comment 2: Meditation on the form of Hari is founded on chanting a Vaiṣṇava mantra and worshipping a physical representation of Hari. It’s interesting that the means of worshipping (or constructing) this deity is not absolute, it is relative to time and place.
To explain the materials to use in deity worship, Nārada said, “Worship with water, forest-necklaces, roots, fruits and so on, grasses and sprouts, cloth, and especially with Hari’s beloved Tulasī leaves. All the things should be pure and clean.”
To explain how to create the physical representation, Nārada said, “Create the worshipable physical representation from materials you can obtain, especially from moist clay.”
Nārada explained how to live while conducting this worship and mantra meditation, “Be self-sufficient, sage-like, and tranquil. Speak and eat minimally. Eat what grows in the forest.”
“Meditate on the Subject of the Greatest Poetry,” Nārada continued, “whose adventures unfold his own desires, by his own inconceivable power. Let that meditation occupy your heart. Try to realize that he is the very personification of the mantra upon which you meditate. Use that mantra to serve him in your heart, in a way similar to how great devotees serve him.”
Comment: The final paragraph above is a description of the principles Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī termed “Rāgānugā-Sādhana.” Firstly we should meditate, with feeling (“let the meditation occupy your heart”, hṛdayaṅgama), on Krishna with desires and adventures. Next, we should meditate on serving Krishna “in a way similar to how great devotees serve him.” This establishes Śrī Rūpa’s principle of rāgātmikām anuśrita, as well as his concept of seva done not only in sādhaka-rūpa but also in siddha-rūpa.
We should note that the mantra is the central focus of the practice, and the service and object of service exists within the heart of the mantra.
“Keep your mind on the All-Attractive by engaging your body, mind, and voice in this devotionally surcharged worship. He nourishes divine emotion and grants the ultimate goal to anyone who unpretentiously and wholly worships him. He grants the morality and other goals desired by embodied souls.
Comment: The way to keep the mind fixed in meditation is to also engage the body and words in the object of meditation.
“Indifferent to sensual affections, worship him by serious bhakti-yoga with incessant, unyielding affection. This worship will grant you a unique liberation.”
— Śrī Bhāgavata 4.8.53 ~ 61
Vraja Kishor dās
Tagged: Deity Worship, Mantra, Meditation, Raganuga 
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 April 2015, Durban, South Africa, Ratha Yatra Lecture: Sexuality and Spirituality)
Continued from Sexual entanglement
So now, let us shift to the soul. If we invest in the soul, then we invest in spirituality, in spirit, then we invest less energy into the body and less for the material energy.
You know, the problem is that the world is oversexed. They make too much of it. It is not that good! It does not bring that much happiness. We may have some attachment there but happiness, fulfilment? No. Fulfilment only comes on the spiritual platform. That is why we are here, at this festival. We would not have come to this festival if there was not something in us that got sparked, that got touched because we feel a need for something deeper, something more meaningful than just the things that the world has to offer. Even if sexuality takes places in love, which it is like the highest material manifestation of it, it still entangles us more and more into bodily existence.
Spiritual life – spirit is eternal. The soul is eternal and the soul has an eternal relationship with Krsna. When the soul enters into a material body, that soul enters into a dormant state. The soul falls asleep and lends some energy to the body but the soul is not really part of it because the soul cannot enjoy matter so the soul cannot enjoy the body. The mind enjoys the body. But when we do some service for Krsna, then the soul awakens and taste develops; and the more service we do for Krsna, the less interest we have in the material affairs.
Therefore, between spirituality and sexuality, we have to put weight on the spiritual side by doing service for Krsna, then gradually the other becomes smaller. If we put all the weight on sexuality, then the spiritual side becomes small and we get more and more into the body and then gradually that side gets all the weight, and as we get more and more into the body, we get selfish and then it is about ME and MY enjoyment! Then others are to be used by ME for MY enjoyment. So bodily consciousness like that!
Hare Krishna! Why to become fan of lesser mortals who shatter our emotions?
Stars of this world are mortal beings, they are infinitesimal. Their name and fame stays with them for a limited period of time. In fact Krishna is the original superstar because he has all beauty, all strength, all intelligence, all wealth, all renunciation and all fame. No one other than the Supreme Lord can possess all these qualities in totality. And along with this the Lord has the most important quality and i.e. he is Bhakta Vatsal i.e. he is very kind, very magnanimous, very loving and very caring to all his devotees.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17332
Hare Krishna! Sri Bhishma-Stuti: A Prayer from the bed of arrows
NBS # 12: This edition is in honour of Sri Bhishmadeva, the pure devotee of the Lord who conquered Him on the battlefield of Kurukshetra! 1) Lord Krishna And Bhishmadeva 2) An Exchange Of Transcendental Pleasure 3) Yudhisthira’s Sorrow 4) Various Rishis Assembled To Witness The Passing Of Bhishmadev 5) Bhismadeva’s Prayer To Lord Krishna 6) Why Was Bhishma So Dear to Krishna?
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17329
Hare Krishna! TOVP Tour Daily Diary: Day 45-47, Programs in Portland, Boise and San Jose, Silicon Valley
The San Jose Temple (ISV) is home to some of the biggest book distribution scores in North America. This dedicated team of grhastha devotees living outside the temple, under the inspiration and guidance of His Grace Vaisesika prabhu, distributes almost as many books as some of North America’s full-time book distributors. On the weekend before our arrival they had distributed 14 full sets of Srimad Bhagavatams, along with many other books, and they now have over 150 youngsters going out weekly in teams.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17322
ISKCON Manchester, UK: Hare Krishna event and free food festival returns to city
Hundreds of Hare Krishna devotees will parade through a Sheffield park when a festival returns for its second year. The Sheffield Rathayatra is taking place from 1pm in Endcliffe Park next Sunday, featuring a stage show celebration, dance perfomances and stalls selling memorabilia.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/WgRRzy
The San Jose Temple (ISV) is home to some of the biggest book distribution scores in North America. This dedicated team of grhastha devotees living outside the temple, under the inspiration and guidance of His Grace Vaisesika prabhu, distributes almost as many books as some of North America’s full-time book distributors.
On the weekend before our arrival they had distributed 14 full sets of Srimad Bhagavatams, along with many other books, and they now have over 150 youngsters going out weekly in teams.
On Monday, April 27th we arrived in San Jose and were brought to the home of Sri Lalitha mataji where we remained for our 3 day stay. In the evening we attended a program at the home of Hansa Priya dasi, a second generation ISKCON devotee. During kirtan the Padukas and Sitari were bathed and worshiped with arati, and Jananivas spoke on Mayapur, after which prasadam was served.
The post TOVP Daily Tour Day 47 – Arrival in San Jose, ISKCON Silicon Valley (ISV), and home program at Hansa Priya Mataji’s Home appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
Harinama in the central park of Moscow (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: When a Vedic mantra is chanted within the mouth so that only the chanter can hear, the chanting is called japa. But when such mantras are chanted loudly it is called kirtana. Hare Krishna can be chanted both softly to oneself or loudly; therefore it is called the maha-mantra, or the great hymn. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.14.32 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/pAe3o8