Planet ISKCON

Hare Krishna! Death and Dying in the Vedic Tradition
By Giriraja Swami
In 1969, when I was a student of psychology at Brandeis University, I met my spiritual teacher, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In 1970, after studying with him for a year and a half, I accompanied him to India. And in 1977, he taught us by his example how to leave the world in proper, pure consciousness. He retired to Vrindavan, a holy place in India, and surrounded himself with devotees who were always chanting or reading to him from sacred literature. Being in such a holy place was itself conducive to spiritual consciousness, to God consciousness. And the atmosphere was enhanced by loving disciples singing songs of the Lord and reading books about Him.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16721

The post Moving Radha and Syama closer to each other appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

The Jewels of Vaishnava Association
Kadamba Kanana Swami: It is said that even a moment of association with vaisnavas can bring us all perfection. The scriptures say so, but how does it happen actually? Vaisnavas give us many gifts of their service but, they can only give us gifts that they personally have – they cannot give us gifts that they do not have. So first one has to get wealth in order to give it graciously to others. The wealth of the vaisnavas is the wealth of their service – it does not come from some karma but it comes from serving Krsna and making a special endeavor. This is where we get the mercy of vaisnavas – through their service. That is the gift of the mercy of vaisnavas and that kind of association is what we are looking for.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16718

Iskcon Chicago To Host Brahmacari Training Program Summer 2015
It’s been a while since we have seen numbers of devotees clad in saffron chanting in the streets and filling up our temples in the United States. In response to a growing trend of Westerners wanting to learn more about a full-time Krsna Conscious lifestyle, ISKCON Chicago is stepping forward to offer an exciting 3-month program for young male devotees interested in getting brahmacari training in ISKCON. The second-annual Program will commence on May 15th and run through August 15th, offering three 1-month sessions. Various aspects of the program include extensive Sastic study classes, daily Harinama Sankirtan and Book Distribution training, association with other brahmacaries from across North America, leadership training, retreats, seminars, and more. The focus of the program is fostering loving relationships among peers, and giving a taste of the bliss of Krsna Consciousness and Temple life to those interested in pursuing the brahmacari lifestyle. We invite you or anyone interested you may know to join us for an unforgettable summer and valuable training in diverse aspects of Krsna Conscious life. Come chant and be happy with us this summer in Chicago!
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16715

Hare Krishna! Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura on Enthusiasm
I am overjoyed to hear that your enthusiasm for chanting is increasing. As our contaminations are removed by chanting, the Lord’s form, qualities, and pastimes will be revealed to us in the holy name. There is no point in making a separate effort to artificially remember the Lord’s form, qualities, and pastimes. The Lord and His name are one and the same. This will be understood clearly when the coverings in your heart are removed. By chanting without offenses you will personally realize that all perfections come from the holy name. Through chanting, the distinction that exists between the self, and the gross and subtle bodies, is gradually effaced and one realizes one’s own spiritual form. Once aware of the spiritual body, as one continues to chant, one sees the transcendental nature of the Lord’s form.
Read more: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16709

Hare Krishna! Going Nowhere In Particular!
It appears that a number of atheistic scientists have caught wind of the accusation of ‘No-purpose’ levelled against them. They have done some homework and figured out cute responses in debate. They now try to make atheism appealing for the heartstrings, like religion does. “Yes, of course there is purpose to our lives… and we love and want to share that love…” is their charming open-arms invitation. Is there such a thing as scientific love? How would such ‘love’ benefit humankind? It should be a very interesting concept. We are considering soul-less love, mechanistic love, God-less love, mammal love and the rest.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16706

Now: Live Broadcasting the Kirtan Mela Mauritius Festival
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/V1B7cL

New Zealand Recharge Festival (9 min video)
Recharge your bhakti heart with enthusiastic kirtan, delicious prasadam, friendship, and inspiring discussions on the science of bhakti-yoga
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/QQlkRm

The post April 10th, 2015 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

She who annihilates her enemies then wrapped herself in a yellowish-saffron cloth, sanctified herself with water, and sat silently on the ground in the northern quarter of Dakṣa’s sacrifice. Closing her eyes, she set her sight completely on the paths of yoga: After establishing firm sitting posture, she equalized her inhalations and exhalations to concentrate her energy in her navel chakra. Then that faultless woman used the serpentine energy to gradually and carefully raise her energy upward into her heart, and into her throat. Finally, she fixed it firmly between her eyebrows.

He body was beloved to Śiva, everyone’s guru and the beloved of great saints, and had always sat on his lap – but out of disgust with her father, Dakṣa, she wanted to abandon it. So she impelled the friction of her airs to ignite a fire within her body. Thinking of the intoxicating sweetness of her husband’s lotus-like feet, all her anxiety and troubles disappeared. Then, in a lightning flash, the fire born from her meditation blazed forth.

Seeing this, the earth and sky roared with shock, “Oh no! Oh no!”

The people at the sacrifice pointed in disgust at Dakṣa and cried, “Alas! Satī, the beloved goddess of the supreme god, has ended her life because of the anger he provoked! Aho, what a heartless person he is! He is supposed to be Prajāpati, the father of all animate and inanimate life-forms, but what kind of father is he? Even an ordinary father cares for his own daughter, but this wretch could not show an ounce of concern for his glorious daughter Satī, the most respectful and respectable person! He claims to be a philosophical brāhmaṇa but he is obviously just a cruel and hardhearted man! Because of his disgusting hatred of Śiva, the Supreme Person, he did nothing to dissuade his own daughter as she prepared to commit suicide! The whole world will know him as the most worthless, infamous man!”

As soon as Śiva’s followers had seen Satī suddenly and miraculously cast off her life, they rushed forwards with raised their weapons to kill Dakṣa. Powerful Bhṛgu saw them surging forward and quickly poured oil into the southern sacrificial fire while incanting mantras from Yujur Veda which destroy anyone who tries to destroy a sacrifice. “Oṁ! Ahapataṁ rakṣa!” With this, thousands of powerful divinities arose from the fire: the Ṛbhu, who possess the indefatigable vigor of Soma as a result their self-disciplines. Shining with magical power, and wielding blazing weapons, they attacked Śiva’s hidden, invisible fiends and sent them in all directions.

Bhāgavatam 4.4.24 ~ end.

Vraja Kishor dās

www.VrajaKishor.com

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Durban Beach Harinam (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The demigods are pleased when sacrifices are performed, just as prison officers are satisfied when the prisoners are turned into obedient subjects. Lord Caitanya, however, has recommended only one yajna, or sacrifice, called the sankirtana-yajna, the chanting of Hare Krishna, in which everyone can take part. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.6.20 Purport)
See them here: http://goo.gl/Dj53nr

A night of enlightened entertainment in Stellenbosch, South Africa, on the full moon night of 5 March, celebrating the life and teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Indradyumna Swami expresses his appreciation for the progress of the TOVP and the hard work of the TOVP Team to fulfill Srila Prabhupada's desire to establish the World Headquarters of ISKCON.

Five Religions, Five Minutes (5 min video)
Five children, five religions, (almost) five minutes. This short film takes us from the mundane to the sublime, from the chaotic to the peaceful, and for a moment we consider our beliefs about spirituality.
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/hFYoez

Over 650 tribal people from six different states and twenty-seven tribes in India attended the second annual ISKCON Tribal Convention from March 26^th to 29^th in Mayapur, West Bengal this spring. The event was organized by ISKCON Tribal Care (ITC), which provides spiritual, educational, emotional, social and health care to tribal communities throughout India.

We continue with reporting on Kadamba Kanana Swami’s visit to South Africa. It has been a very busy tour for Maharaj as he travelled between provinces, participating in various programs. Yesterday, he left for a short visit to Mauritius, a small island that is about 2000 km away from the east coast of SA, where Kirtan Mela is taking place (10–12 April). A live-steam is promised to be available via Mayapur TV from 10 am–10 pm (GMT +4). Once the schedule is known, we will share it with you. After the Kirtan Mela, Maharaj will return to SA for another week and then he will travel to Europe!

Here are further details about his stay in SA. After landing in Johannesburg on 19 March and being part of some programs in the region and the Ratha Yatra in Newcastle, Maharaj travelled to Durban on Monday, 24 March. Maharaj has been visiting Durban for twenty years now so he is a well-known personality, especially for his insightful classes, energetic kirtans and caring nature. Devotees sought after his association at the many engagements he held i.e. morning lectures, university preaching, Sunday Feast and home programs. On Wednesday evening, a special lecture entitled “The Science of Knowledge” was presented by Maharaj at the temple. HH Indradyumna Swami, who is currently spending some time recovering in Durban, attended the program and shared his appreciation of Kadamba Kanana Swami.

For the auspicious occasion of Rama Naumi, Maharaj travelled back to Johannesburg for the celebration at the temple in Lenasia. In addition to the many activities in glorification of Lord Ramachandra, a big initiation ceremony took place. On Sunday morning (29 March), Maharaj flew back to Durban and was the guest-speaker at the Sunday Feast programs at the New Jagannatha Puri Temple at 11 am and at the Sri Sri Radhanath Temple at 3 pm! In the days leading up to the Ratha Yatra Festival, Maharaj took some time to “tank up”…

Rama Naumi and Durban Ratha Yatra will be elaborated on in subsequent posts. Maharaj’s tour has been so full of activity that just following him around for a couple of days has been tiring. It leaves us awestruck as to how he does it week-after-week, year-after-year… We are grateful to the Lord for empowering Maharaj and allowing him to give so much of himself wherever he is!

Photos

Courtesy of Merumala dd

Visit flickr to see all the pictures

Audio

Courtesy of Vibhu Caitanya Das

Lectures

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KKS_DBN_25 March 2015_BYS_Lecture

KKS_DBN_25 March 2015_Lecture_Science_of_Knowledge

KKS_DBN_25 March 2015_SB_1.13.20

KKS_DBN_26 March 2015_Home Program_Ramayana_Lecture

KKS_DBN_27 March 2015_SB_1.13.22

KKS_NJP_29 March 2015_Sunday Feast_Lecture

KKS_DBN_29 March 2015_Sunday Feast_Lecture

KKS_DBN_31March2015_HomeProgram_Lecture

KKS_DBN_01 April 2015_SB_1.13.24

Kirtans

KKS_DBN_24 March 2015_BYS_Kirtan

KKS_DBN_25 March 2015_Evening_Kirtan

KKS_DBN_26 March 2015_Home Program_Kirtan

KKS_NJP_29 March 2015_Sunday Feast_Kirtan

KKS_DBN_29 March 2015_Sunday Feast_Kirtan_I

KKS_DBN_29 March 2015_Sunday Feast_Kirtan_II

Five children, five religions, (almost) five minutes. This short film takes us from the mundane to the sublime, from the chaotic to the peaceful, and for a moment we consider our beliefs about spirituality. Director - Katina Mercadante

How Do We Know Krishna Is God? - (video)
Why accept Krishna and not anyone else? Seminar with HH Kadamba Kanana Swami at Melbourne Mahaprabhu Mandir
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/3rp8wz

Gramya-iha-uparamah – not taking part in so-called philanthropic activities.

The post Samadrk-seva – rendering service to saintly persons who make no distinctions between one living being and another and who see every living being as a spirit soul appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Hare Krishna! Review of “Muslim Devotees of Krsna” by HH Chandramauli Swami
This book is not about converting from one faith path to another, but understanding the universality of all religious seekers by showing examples of persons going beyond the all designations into the realm of universal love, Love of God. Therefore, far from what it may seem by its title, “Muslim Devotees of Krsna” is aimed at an audience which transcends the confines of gender, race, caste, ethnicity or religion.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16700

Hare Krishna! The Beauty of Harinama!
By Indradyumna Swami
The following morning we went on harinama in Trzebiatow. To the amazement of all the devotees, as we drove into town we passed under a bright orange and green banner proudly advertising the Festival of India. As we descended from the bus into the center of town, several office windows opened and we heard one lady call out to her fellow workers, “They’re here!” As we started chanting down the street, children suddenly began appearing from everywhere, running toward us from all directions and calling out, “Hare Krsna! Hare Krsna!”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16698

Bhagans at Niagara Falls coming this June. You are all invited!

Hare Krishna! The latest news from the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre’s work
At the end of 2014, the disciples of Lalita Prasad Thakura (Bhaktivinode Thakura’s son) and members of the Bhakti Binod Gosthi committee visited BRC to see how BRC’s restoration efforts were coming along. The committee was very pleased with our efforts to preserve the literature. Test strips are used to determine the level of acidity present in the paper. Manuscripts are treated to neutralize the acid.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16692

The post April 9th, 2015 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Humorous class by HG Gaur Gopal Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty (video)
Prerana Youth Festival - Playing Master Strokes of Life
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/DO3Ebw

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