Avoiding criticism of others
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 02 January 2015, Germany, Caitanya Caritamrta Antya 7.16)

23 March - JHBQuestion: What can I do to stop my mind from criticizing others?

On the surface, we can try to start by glorifying others. We can get out of the habit of criticizing others by creating the habit of glorifying others, but that is external, on the surface only.

On a deeper level, we have to change our whole mood. We have to start thinking, ‘Who am I to criticize?’ When we criticize others, it means that we have a puffed up concept of ourself – we think that we are important and know better than others, ‘Gosh, are they helpless creatures! Can’t they do anything right? If I was not here, oh gosh! Thank God that I am here! Otherwise, everything would go wrong. I saved the day again! Hopeless cases!’  Pride sneaks in when we think that we are something we are actually not.

Instead, we should think that we are simply mercy cases and that we even do not belong here, ‘What is someone like me doing in the association of vaisnavas?! It is not because of my credit, it is because of the credit of the devotees who just picked me up and then Prabhupada forced me with his expert preaching tactics and defeated all my arguments. Otherwise, l would have never done this, never!’  That is what we have to remember.

We have committed so many sinful activities in this life time because we had so many sinful inclinations from previous lifetimes. Therefore, how sinful we are by nature… Therefore is it surprising that we are critical of everyone, bearing in mind that we are so fallen and lowly. This is what we have to practice, to actually see ourselves like that, in order to really get over that criticizing tendency otherwise it will get back again in some other form.

But overall, this is Lord Caitanya’s movement and although this criticism is going to block us a little bit, Lord Caitanya understands that we are neophyte vaisnavas therefore he does not take it so serious. It is not that everything is maha-aparadha! You know, you have these devotees who go like, ‘Oh, I have criticized this devotee and this is maha-aparadha, and now I am doomed for the rest of my spiritual life, as I can never make up for this!’  All they can do then is to go into some kind of depression. Or people who come every day to beg forgiveness for their offences and then at one point you say have to say to them, ‘Ok, I will forgive you for your offences, if you stop asking me to forgive you for your offenses!’

We see that Lord Caitanya is very merciful and generous and he accepts us. Yes, we are a rough bunch – a little uncultured, somewhat in a lower consciousness and that is how we deal with each other. We call each other names; we tend to disrespect each other and so on. And it is because of Lord Caitanya’s protection that we do not immediately fall down. We are still here, as gradually we are getting more purified and over the years, we get more knowledge and more responsibility to be up to the standards of purity. Therefore, it is said that in the beginning, the path is very wide but eventually it narrows down. So in the beginning of our spiritual lives, we are not held as responsible as we are later on.

We have to understand that, but still, if too often we are falling prey to criticism, it will make our spiritual life a bit dry as it will take away the taste and then it gets hard! Then how can one stay focused on Krsna, and not again go down to desiring happiness in this world? Criticism is very dangerous and especially is so for those who wear saffron robes.

The Yoga of Love, March 31, Dallas
Giriraj Swami

ABYogaGiriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavat-gita 15.7 at the Atma Bhakti Yoga Center in Dallas.

“Our origin is Krishna and so our natural love is for Him and He has natural love for us. In fact one of the great sages has said that the two most basic necessities for the living entity are to love and be loved. But that desire to love and be loved can be perfectly fulfilled only in relationship to our origin—Krishna. Bhakti-yoga is the process by which our dormant love for Him can be awakened.”

Bhagavad-gita 15.7

Radhadesh Mellows 2015 – Krishna Consciousness Society (6 min…
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Radhadesh Mellows 2015 - Krishna Consciousness Society (6 min video)
The Krishna Consciousness Society has launched its first ever trip to Radhadesh Mellows. This festival was a perfect way to relish in an entire weekend of the sweet sounds of the holy name. We invited all the KC Soc members for a once in a lifetime experience; to a kirtan weekend like they have never experienced before. Life will never taste the same again.
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/bHeJkR

Hare Krishna! Life and Afterlife: Does Modern Science Have it…
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Hare Krishna! Life and Afterlife: Does Modern Science Have it Right?
I recently read one of the latest books by Ian Stevenson, entitled European Cases of the Reincarnation Type. Dr. Stevenson is a research professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia, and he has been doing research on the subject of reincarnation for more than thirty years. Over this period, he has accumulated several hundred accounts of young children who consciously remember details of past lives, exhibit birthmarks or phobias connected with a former person’s death, or even speak fluently in languages with which they have had no prior contact.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16654

Hare Krishna! “Do You Still Believe in God?” “Do you still…
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Hare Krishna! “Do You Still Believe in God?”
“Do you still believe in God when He didn’t – or couldn’t – protect you in His own temple?” This blunt question in my friend’s email brought a smile to my face. Some months before, I had slipped on some spilled water in the ISKCON temple at Juhu, Mumbai. The fall was minor, but the pain was severe. An x-ray showed a cervical hip fracture that had dislocated the bone at its neck. I was rushed to the devotee-run Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai, where the orthopedic surgeon Giriraja Dasa (Dr. Girish Rathore) performed a 4.5-hour surgery and advised a three-month rest for healing.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16651

Hare Krishna! Proposal From The Temple of Vedic Planetarium…
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Hare Krishna! Proposal From The Temple of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) Team
Whereas the GBC Body, recognizing the special priority personally expressed and emphasized by Srila Prabhupada in his words and writings to construct the TOVP, provided for the entire BBT Construction Fund to be contributed to the TOVP for a period of five years, which is now ending; Whereas notwithstanding the launching of a full-time, world-wide Fund Raising Campaign, the TOVP’s very nature and magnitude is unprecedented in size and quality of materials and works—as specified by Srila Prabhupada—and in spite of the frugality of expenditure as evidenced by its accounts, remains in critical need of further funding to keep the construction going without interruption to prohibit any further increase in budget and delay, especially as it now enters the crucial finishing stages;
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16646

Glorification of HH Jayapataka Swami by HH Radhanatha…
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Glorification of HH Jayapataka Swami by HH Radhanatha Swami
Jayapataka Swami is a senior disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
He was born John Gordan Erdman on April 9, 1949 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA to John Hubert and Lorraine Erdman. He was born into opulent surroundings, his grand-father being the founder of a large paint factory, which was a multi-million dollar concern at the time of his birth. Later HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja was glad to see that his name – Gordan John (Gour Dhan Jan) – already suggested what Srila Prabhuapda confirmed, that he and two other devotees were formerly associates of Lord Caitanya and that they had taken their birth in the west to facilitate spreading Krishna consciousness around the world.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/LtP9Dc

Harinama in Turin, Italy (Album with photos) Srila Prabhupada:…
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Harinama in Turin, Italy (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma (Supersoul) in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.2.17).
See them here: http://goo.gl/sDMTH6

Harinama with special guest H.H. Janananda Goswami at Surfers…
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Harinama with special guest H.H. Janananda Goswami at Surfers Paradise (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The tapasya of chanting and glorifying the name, fame and attributes of the Lord is a very easy purifying process by which everyone can be happy. Therefore everyone who desires the ultimate cleansing of his heart must adopt this process. Other processes, such as karma, jnana and yoga, cannot cleanse the heart absolutely. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.12 Purport).
See them here: http://goo.gl/hf8bHc

Hare Krishna! “By his example”: GOVARDHAN HILL About the…
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Hare Krishna! “By his example”: GOVARDHAN HILL
About the Vrindavan days from my book “By his example”. The entourage included the Maharaja of Bharatpur, two queens, the prince, various relatives, zamindhars (landowners loyal to the king), agents, a doctor, and eight soldiers dressed in Jat military uniforms, part of the Maharaja’s private army. Twelve servants carried the supplies and the largest incense sticks I have ever seen. These sticks were twelve feet high and thick as a python. Servants, beautifully dressed in long, silk robes, carried large torches ahead of the party so we could see.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16643