Hare Krishna! Xenophobic Crisis – A Spiritual Perspective
There has been an unfortunate resurgence of xenophobic attacks in South Africa. Leaders condemn these; Media outlets sensationally convey coverage to the world and people become more sceptical. Nations whose citizens are affected by xenophobic attacks voice loud concerns through channels such as the African Union. Yet in spite of the condemnation, the important questions to ask are ‘Why is this happening?’ Why here in South Africa? Is there a solution? Is there a quick fix?’
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17040

Hare Krishna! Xenophobic Crisis – A Spiritual Perspective
There has been an unfortunate resurgence of xenophobic attacks in South Africa. Leaders condemn these; Media outlets sensationally convey coverage to the world and people become more sceptical. Nations whose citizens are affected by xenophobic attacks voice loud concerns through channels such as the African Union. Yet in spite of the condemnation, the important questions to ask are ‘Why is this happening?’ Why here in South Africa? Is there a solution? Is there a quick fix?’
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17040

The post April 28th, 2015 – Chandan yatra Darshan- Day 8 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

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From Pawan P

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From Pandurang Charan P:
From the below purport from Srila Prabhupada. Could you please explain how can one work in office where one is absorbed in work and with people around him to at the same time not associate with work and the workers.
Text from the purport.
"A man working in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in a factory does not associate himself with the work of the factory, nor with the workers of the factory. He simply works for Kṛṣṇa."

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Śrī Bhāgavata 4.7.13 ~ 15:

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“Aho! What great affection you have shown to me, despite my insults,” Dakṣa exclaimed to Śiva. “Your punishment has corrected me.

“I am not truly a brāhmaṇa, I merely claim the title by some formality. Yet, Your blessed self and Hari never neglect to show affection to anyone related to a brāhmaṇa. What can be said, then, about how you care for the dutiful brahmaṇas themselves?

“You created the learned brāhmaṇas first, to protect knowledge of self-realization by their qualities of scholarship, discipline, and religious practices. Your punishment protects those brāhmaṇas from all deviations, like a shepherd herding his flock with a stick.

“I am one of your animals, but since I know and see only ignorance I injured you with arrows of cruel words in front of everyone. You did not mind, but my insults of the most exalted person made me fall from my haughty heights. After all this, you saw me with compassion and lifted me back up. I hope your Blessed Lordship will find the act of compassion satisfaction in and of itself, for I think I could never repay you or thank you properly.”

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Comment

“Your punishment has corrected me.”

Śiva’s punishment utilized the vehicle of anger but was not motivated by hatred, and therefore is not really “anger” in the way we usually experience it. His punishment was, like punishment given to a student or child, an effort to help. When we insult someone and they react, we should not fault them for it. The reaction is their compassion on us, to help correct us. If our hand is inadvertently over a flame, we should not fault the pain we feel, rather we should be thankful that the pain alerts us to the danger and inspires us to move our hand to a safer position.

The daṇḍa (punishment) is not the first method of correction, it is the last. First one tries to use reason, rewards, and other techniques. If these fail, punishment is the last resort. Parents and teachers should not immediately and constantly recourse to punishment, this merely shows a lack of patience, the result of too much selfishness and not enough love. Similarly we should not immediately punish insults. Like Śiva, first we should tolerate them for a very long time, and see if there is any way they might resolve on their own.

“I am not truly a brāhmaṇa, I merely claim the title by some formality.”

Here I am expressing the meaning of Brahma-bandhu. Dakṣa identified himself as such.

“You created the learned brāhmaṇas first,”

This identifies Śiva as identical to Brahmā, for it is Brahmā who created the Brāhmaṇas from his first (Eastern) mouth (as explained in Canto Three). Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravarti mentions this in his comments. Atreya’s experience of Śiva, Viṣṇu, and Brahmā confirms it, also (See Canto Four Chapter One). The three guṇa-avatars are identical to one another because they are all expansions of Nārāyaṇa.

“[they] protect knowledge of self-realization by their qualities of scholarship, discipline, and religious practices. “

The way the brāhmaṇas protect brahmātma-tattva is by cultivating vidya, tapa, and vrata. Not necessarily by “preaching” or posting to facebook or debating, they protect the science of self-realization by practicing and perfecting self-realization themselves.

“Your punishment protects those brāhmaṇas from all deviations, like a shepherd herding his flock with a stick.”

The word for punishment is daṇḍa, which is the same word for “stick.” (Because a stick / staff / rod is used to inflict punishment). So the analogy is very poetic in the original language.

“You did not mind, but my insults of the most exalted person made me fall from my haughty heights. “

This is important, and Śrī Viśvanātha also talks about it in the sādhu-ninda section of Mādhurya-kadambinī. We tend to think, “Man, I was lucky, I insulted her but she didn’t mind. Now I don’t have to apologize.” BIIIIIG MISTAKE! If a person doesn’t mind your insult, you are in even worse trouble, because it shows that the person really doesn’t at all deserve your insult. If someone minds our insult we should apologize a few times, but if someone doesn’t mind an insult, we should apologize forever.

It is not the anger of the offended person that ruins us. The anger of the offended person saves us. It is the insulting attitude itself, lodged in our so-called heart like an emotional cancer, which ruins us.

Jai Śrī Hari.

Vaiṣṇavāparādhī,

Vraja Kishor dās

VrajaKishor.com

Tagged: Anger, Aparadha, Forgiveness, insults, Offenses, Vaishnava aparadha

Kadamba Kanana Swami gives deep insights into achieving the higher taste during chanting. Email subscribers please click the big blue link to hear the audio.

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Hare Krishna! Knock of an uninvited guest
As humans too we are subjected to trials and tribulations of life. The three forms of sufferings which constantly punish us are: Adhibhautika klesha: Miseries caused by people who are inimical to us. They can be our foes or even our family members and relatives. Adhidaivika klesha: Miseries caused due to natural calamities like earthquake, tsunami, floods, heavy rain, famine etc. Adhyatmika klesha: Miseries caused by our own mind, senses and body. Mind and senses can ruin our life if they are not properly controlled. However the silver lining is that as humans we have been gifted with the ability and opportunity to not just get rid of all types of sufferings but also have the chance to put an end to the cycle of birth and death forever. And the process to do this has been explained in Vedic books. In Gita 8.15 & 8.16 Krishna says that this world is full of sufferings so he asks us to return back to him to the spiritual abode from where we will never return again to this mortal world.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17037

ISKCON NEPAL Food For Life 26th, 27th April BKT (Album with photos)
We are trying to Distribute Prasad to the most destructed area where people lost their homes and its still danger to go to there home for cooking and eating. So we are distributing those parts more. We are trying our best to expand Our Food For Life Prasad Distribution all over places. People are happy to get Khichadi Prasad.
So Please everyone Pray/ Help/ Support Us…
Thankyou everyone for ur Prayers wishes n Help. Hare Krsna.
See them here: http://goo.gl/YrR9sW

Devotees in Nepal emgaged in prasadam distribution accompanied with Harinama (Album with photos)
See them here: http://goo.gl/pdu3q9

Iskcon devotees from Nepal recorded this 6min video-message for you. Watch it here: http://goo.gl/8zEUE6

We can see all these symptoms today. It was predicted 5000 years ago but these things are considered fashionable.

In Kali-yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power. Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brāhmaṇa just by his wearing a thread. - Srimad Bhagavatam 12.2.2-3

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Bhakti Shastri Graduation in England.
The graduation ceremony for the 2013-14 cohort of Bhakti Shastri students took place on last February with an impressive twenty one students successfully completing the course. The Bhakti Shastri course provides an opportunity to systematically study four key texts – the Bhagavad Gita, The Nectar of Instruction, Sri Isopanisad and The Nectar of Devotion. The interactive sessions not only equip students with knowledge of the scriptures but also explain how to assimilate and apply those lessons to their own lives. One of the graduates, Harsha Parmar, explained ‘ Studying Srila Prabhupada’s books in the association of devotees enabled a greater depth of understanding, it was an enriching and transformative experience!’ The course is entering its tenth successful year this September, with around 300 students having participated since its launch in 2006.

From Prathamesh P:

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From Prathamesh P:

You mentioned that the Brhad-aranyaka upanishad comes before Isopanishad and the samhitas are before the aranyakas, etc. Is this order based on increasing spiritual realizations or suggested order of study of these books?

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From Prathamesh P:

How is the living entity able to experience infinite happiness when he is limited? I have heard that pure devotee experiences more happiness by serving Krsna than Krsna experiences in being served. Could you kindly elaborate on this. Thank you.

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Giclee Prints of TOVP Drawing by Award Winning Artist
Kishori Radha, a talented young artist from Mayapur, is working on a project to help raise funds towards the construction of the TOVP.
Read more: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17007

From Prathamesh P
Among the 3 ways for reading scriptures - literal, moral / ethical and metaphorical, the literal way, as mentioned in the lecture, is most purifying. Which is considered to be the best? How does one decide which way to use for reading? Kindly elaborate on this. Thank you.

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From Prathamesh P:

Since material prosperity is proportional to good karmic credit, why do we see that the people in west are more materially prosperous even while committing much more sinful activities compared to the people of India, who have been performing relatively much less sinful activities because of following Vedic doctrines? Kindly elaborate on how to understand this point.

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From Prathamesh P:

Is the experience of pain due to bodily injury a result of attachment to the body? If so, does a liberated person experience pain? Neuroscience explains the mechanism of pain on the bodily level and ways to alter it (e.g. anesthesia). How does this factor into our understanding of pain? Kindly elaborate. Thank you.

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From Prathamesh P:

You mentioned in the Bhakti Shastri video that Bramhan is also sat-cit-ananda. I am confused about the difference between this ananda and the ananda which is derived from devtional service (that is, the 'andanda' in sat-cit-ananda). Is there ananda in the cit aspect also? Kindly elaborate. Thank you.

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TOVP Construction Update (Album with photos)
Work on the final ring, which is number 9, has commenced!
Today the first of the 24 sections was put into place without any problem.
We will be adding more pieces in few days.
Within a month’s time, the 9th ring will be completed!
With this, the main part of the temple dome structural frame will be concluded, we will then commence preparation for the Kailash supporting structure.
You can see in the first photo what will be the angle of the segments once placed on the dome.
See them here: http://goo.gl/ALPJ6n

The post Boat festival 2015 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Srila Prabhubada’s followers in Nepal provide fresh prasadam, place to stay and medical faclities to all aflicted from the earthquake.
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https://youtu.be/eQ4TKSfGzJA

The post SRS: Thank you appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Mantra Therapy Retreat in Iskcon UK
Earlier this year was the first ever Mantra Therapy Retreat at Buckland Hall in Wales. Rich with history and natural beauty, the UK’s premier Retreat venue was the perfect setting. Nearly 40 professionals from different backgrounds came together for the common purpose of personal, physical and spiritual transformation, led by long-standing temple congregational devotee, Prashant Kotecha. Mantra Therapy is the culmination of this outreach work, which includes regular meetings and Retreats for professionals between 25-50 years old. The Retreat included mantra meditation and personal development workshops in the mornings, followed by yoga, hiking and martial arts in the afternoon, and culminated with Mantra Therapy freestyle east-west fusion kirtans. For more information contact Prashant at pck_108@yahoo.com

Sunday Feast program, 26/04/15, at Sri Jagannatha Mandir, ISKCON Malaysia (Album with photos)
See them here: http://goo.gl/g4HEP7

Auckland NZ: Harinam (Album with photos)
O son of Maharaja Nanda [ Krsna ], I am Your eternal servitude, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.
See them here: http://goo.gl/ebae2v

Preaching program at Krasnodar, Russia (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Krasnodar is located on the Kuban River about 148 kilometers northeast of the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in Russia. It was founded on January 12, 1794 as Yekaterinodar, meaning “Catherine’s Gift” in recognition of Catherine the Great’s grant of land to the Black Sea Cossacks. ISKCON has a bustling community of over 300 devotees in Krasnodar with a nice temple just outside of the city. Within the temple is a beautiful Deity of Lord Nrsimhadeva, alongside Gaura Nitai. We enjoyed two evenings of kirtan and classes with the devotees.
See them here: http://goo.gl/7A3WS9