Mother Manorupa dasi leaves body for Supreme Abode
→ Mayapur.com

  On 16th February morning, just after mangala arotika in Sridham Mayapura, Mother Manorupa dasi left this world for the supreme abode. Her two sons, Sri Nama Vanamali das and Sri Paramahamsa Gaura das were by her side loudly chanting the holy names. Such an auspicious departure. Her husband, Prahlada Nrsimha das is now arranging for […]

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Sravan utsav is a success
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Sravan Utsav ended on 15th Feb. There was 8 hour of daily katha from 12th to 15th February. Many sanyasis like HH Bhakti Charu Maharaj, HH Bhakti Vighna Vinasa Narasimha Swami, HH Jay Pataka Maharaj, HH Radhanath Maharaj and HH Sacinandana Maharaj gave lectures during the event. The lecture topics included pastimes of Lord Gauranga and […]

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This morning, just after mangala arotika in Sridham Mayapura,…
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This morning, just after mangala arotika in Sridham Mayapura, Mother Manorupa dasi left this world for the supreme abode. Her two sons, Sri Nama Vanamali das and Sri Paramahamsa Gaura das were by her side loudly chanting the holy names. Such an auspicious departure. Her husband, Prahlada Nrsimha das is now arranging for the funeral ceremony. Devotees knew her as the perfect disciple, the perfect wife and the perfect mother.

When The Mind Wanders
→ Japa Group

 
"When the mind wanders, bring it back in a mood of prayer and supplication, thinking, “O holy name, I want to chant, I want to hear, I want to be engaged in Your service by chanting and hearing.” Then simply practice the mantra-yoga of vibrating with the tongue and hearing with the ear."

From Japa Reform Notebook
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

Behind the temporary
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 26 December 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Initiation Lecture)

Krsna and BalaramBehind all these temporary manifestations, behind the changing of the seasons, behind the changes that never seem to end, behind the endless waves of the ocean, behind all that, we see Krsna.

We see that Krsna is constant, that Krsna never changes, that Krsna is eternal, and we see that we are meant to be in an eternal relationship with him.

The Sandals of God
→ The Vaishnava Voice

bharata-receives-paduka_1

During this morning’s lecture I shared with the audience a few verses from the Paduka Sahasram of Sri Vedanta Deshika. Its a mammoth poem of 1,000 verses glorifying the footwear of God.

The work is not something the Gaudiya Vaishnavas recite regularly; Vedanta Deshika is in the line of teachers coming from Sri Ramanujacarya, but his poetry is so inspired and imbued with devotion, the listener cannot help but rise up in consciousness of God by hearing it.

That morning’s Srimad Bhagavatam class described how the devotees of Ramachandra were concerned that His soft feet might be hurt by the thorns of the forest, and our discussion covered the reason why the feet of God are even more important than His face. So I thought some verses would add to our meditation. Deshika was also a great devotee of Ramachandra, so here are a few thoughts of Deshika – in English – from the verses I read.

He says: “I salute my guru and the sandals, both of which are attached to the feet of the Lord.”

“Bharata, the brother of the Lord, was the first to take the Lord’s sandals upon his head. In this way he is the leader of all those who worship the sandals of the Lord.”

bharat

Above: Bharata takes the sandals of Rama before his brother leaves for a 14-year forest exile

“When you place the sandals of the Lord upon your head, you also have the foot-dust of the Lord on your head. This means you can distribute this dust to all your disciples.”

“Without any partiality, the sandals are on my head, as well as the Upanishads. There is discrimination.”

“One who remains standing after seeing the Lord’s sandals (one who does not bow down) will be lowered anyway (by misfortune or death), and one who lowers himself to bow down will be raised up. Why, even the Lord Himself is raised up by His sandals!”

“If the entire sky became writing paper, and the seven oceans became ink, and even if Adisesha with his thousands of heads was the reciter of the poetry, only then would the glories of the Lord’s sandals be recounted.”

“The sandals smell of the Komai flowers adorning the head of Lord Shiva. Why is this? Because Shiva always has his head at your feet.”

“My dear Lord, your feet:
– removed the curse of Ahalya, turning a stone into a beautiful woman;
– destroyed chakatasura;
– measured the universe as you took three steps in your Vamana incarnation;
– brought forth the Ganga river.

“My dear friends, if you wear the sandals of the Lord on your head, you too can wear the crescent moon on your head (like Lord Shiva) and you too can sit on a lotus flower seat (like Lord Brahma) for you will be numbered among the gods.”

“If you have taken the Lord’s shoes just once upon your head, Yamaraja’s servants will have nothing to do with you, for the Lord of Death will keep them under restraint. The lines on your hands will become rearranged so that you have a golden future.”

“When you devotees bow their heads with you upon them, they merely have to reach out their fingers and they’ll be able to touch Vaikuntha.”

“The mercy of the Lord takes the form of these sandals!”

“These sandals serve as the chains to bind the ten maddened elephants of the senses; they are the bolt-rod of the door of Hell itself, keeping it firmly closed; they are the champion of all the surrendered souls.”

Paduka_1

Above: Lord Rama’s shoes are placed upon a shatari which the devotees place upon their heads.


His Holiness Giriraj Swami Speaks About the TOVP
- TOVP.org

His Holiness Giriraj Swami recalls the TOVP project during Srila Prabhupda’s time and relates many pastimes with him in this regard. He believes that ISKCON is now ready for this project and encourages all devotees to take it seriously. It will be one of the great wonders of the world and people from all over the world will come to see it.

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His Holiness Bhakti Anugraha Janardana Swami Speaks About the TOVP
- TOVP.org

Bhakti Anugraha Janardana Swami urges devotees all over the world to help the TOVP project, ISKCON’s most important project which will help validate to the world in general the significance of the Hare Krishna Movement.

The post His Holiness Bhakti Anugraha Janardana Swami Speaks About the TOVP appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

His Holiness Bhakti Purushottama Swami Speaks About the TOVP
- TOVP.org

Bhakti Purushottama Maharaja implores us, just as Ambarisa prabhu has taken so seriously his instruction from Srila Prabhupada to build the TOVP, so all devotees in ISKCON should come together and take this instruction to heart. And if you want your own temple to flourish, give to the TOVP and your temple will benefit also.

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His Holiness Atmanivedana Swami Speaks About the TOVP
- TOVP.org

Atmanivedana Maharaja stresses that the TOVP is not just another ISKCON temple or Hindu temple, but is meant to establish the actual fact of the entire creation as expressed in the Srimad Bhagavatam. This will give the world the true understanding of what the creation is all about. The TOVP is a prophecy in the making and we have the unique opportunity to be a part of that.

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His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja Speaks About the TOVP
- TOVP.org

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami talks about a time when Srila Prabhupada mentions how each acharya had done something for Mayapur Dhama, and that he also was trying to do something for the Dhama. It was Srila Prabhupada’s desire to manifest this adbhuta mandir as predicted by the acharyas and Lord Nityananda.

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North American GBC and Temple Presidents Speak About the TOVP
- TOVP.org

At the January, 2015 North American GBC/TP Meetings in Dallas, Texas, several GBC’s and Temple Presidents spoke about the TOVP project after an enlivening presentation by Radha Jivan, the International Fundraising Director, announcing the TOVP Tour starting in North America in mid-March 2015.

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His Holiness Sivarama Swami Speaks About the TOVP
- TOVP.org

Sivarama Swami magnifies the point that the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium is the emblem of the instrument by which we are to dismantle the misleading philosophy of the materialistic scientists which has come to bewilder the whole world. We must be able to show the scientific basis of Krishna consciousness in order to substantiate the version of reality presented in all the Vedic literature. Aside from our personal worship of the Lord, that is the purpose of the TOVP.

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Message from the GBC Chairman: 2015 Year of the TOVP
- TOVP.org

In a gesture expressing unity of purpose for the service of ISKCON Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, His Grace Praghosa Das, the newly appointed Chairman of the GBC, has announced in Mayapur that 2015, the 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the Western world, is the Year of the TOVP.

Having just accepted this wonderful service as the GBC Chairman, I’d like to start my term by announcing this as the Year of the TOVP. Fortunately, since 2010, with the wonderful help of Ambarisa prabhu and his team, huge progress has been made and we just want to keep that momentum going, and that’s the idea behind the Year of the TOVP and the year that the whole of the ISKCON community and society can group together and make the TOVP a particular focus.

His Grace Pragosh prabhu

To bring this focus into reality the TOVP Team, along with the GBC, will recommend some practical and implementable actions that each temple and devotee can follow. The first of such recommendations is for each temple to place a photo of the TOVP on their altar. Other ideas will follow shortly.

With this spirit of cooperation, the essence of what Srila Prabhupada said would show our love for him, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, the adbhuta mandir predicted by Lord Nityananda Prabhu, will fully manifest and we will together all see the Grand Opening in 2022.

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Hare Krishna! What a saint learned from a prostitute While…
→ Dandavats.com



Hare Krishna! What a saint learned from a prostitute
While prostitutes are often depicted negatively in traditional literature, some religious texts depict them positively as testimonies to the transformational potency of divine grace. Thus, in the Gospel is found a story of a prostitute (considered by some to be Mary Magdalene) who was redeemed by Jesus. In Gaudiya Vaishnava literature such as the Chaitanya Charitamrita comes the story of the saint Haridasa Thakura, who delivered a prostitute who had been commissioned to orchestrate his fall.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15577

Hare Krishna! Krishna Consciousness: The Golden Opportunity The…
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Hare Krishna! Krishna Consciousness: The Golden Opportunity
The Golden Avatar delivered the gold standard of spiritual practices for this age. In general, people like gold. It represents wealth and success. A golden age refers to an era of goodness and plenty, acknowledged in Greek, Roman, and Indian cultures. If you have everything, you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth. The Golden Rule is the epitome of cosmic justice or fairness: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. As the saying goes, “As good as gold.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15574

Huge donation received for the Temple of Vedic…
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Huge donation received for the Temple of Vedic Planetarium!
Below is a letter from a sincere donor.
Dear Vaishnavas,
During book distribution in railway station; two small boys and a girl … all were about 8 - 6 years. I asked them to please donate some money for TOVP temple. In one line of explanation they got convinced. Three of them had handed over 1 rupee each from there begging pot ( all were beggar ). They gave me these three rupee … for us it is like a drop [in the] ocean, but for these big hearted … it was life and soul.
Another two rupee coin … I collected from [a] person … who was collecting money for Shanidev.
I am adding 500 rupees from my side as a drop to the ocean of donation given by these big hearted souls.
My only request [to] you … is to please utilize it in exclusive manner … considering as it … as golden bricks..
Please bless me so that, … I may go back home back to Godhead and engage in serving the devotees of devotees of devotees … of devotees assisting Srimati Radharani.
Your servant,
Piyush
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/u5P2MK

Hare Krishna! From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir: HH…
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Hare Krishna! From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir: HH Badrinarayan Goswami
I was at one of our temples. The archetype hippies showed up with bells and long hair in a pony tail. It was a husband and wife, couple. The wife’s name was Wish. His name was Comet. So naturally I asked, “Where did you get those names?” They said that they gave them to themselves. So naturally I asked why. The wife said, “Because I’m always saying that I wish I had this, I wish I was there, I wish, I wish, I wish.” So naturally I asked the husband, “Where’d you get the name Comet?” He said, “I’m flying around the world this way and that way, trying to fulfill her wishes.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15572

Preaching in Sweden. Monday, February 9, we held three lectures…
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Preaching in Sweden.
Monday, February 9, we held three lectures on the Brinell in Fagersta.
Anneli, who are teachers of religion, will retire in the spring.
We have known each other since 1980 and I have visited her classes almost every year.
Stone, who is a faithful parishioner of Fagersta, drove me to the train. He’ll visit Almvik yard on 14 March and talk about their successful vegetable crops in Fagersta.
It was distributed 44 “Nectar Equal instructions” and the Srimad Bhagavatam set in Fagersta.
Mukunda das