Planet ISKCON

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Krishna Das or KD as his famously called in the Kirtan and Yoga circles and a Grammy-award nominated singer, visited ISKCON's Glory of India project in New Delhi last week while on a visit to the country's capital. The singer recalled his association with Srila Prabhupada when he would go to join the kirtans at Tompkins Square Park in New York in the late 60's.

Starting March 15^th, once again, more than 100,000 Vrajavasis, devotees, farmers and people from various organizations will march from Vrindavan to Delhi to stop the abuse of the Yamuna River. This Pada Yatra represents a turning point in the popular Save Yamuna Campaign and takes place under the name “Yamuna Muktikaran Abhiyan”.  

Juhu temple and Srila Prabhupada’s quarters in Mumbai (Album 35 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/4lWDyx

Divyana’s 5th birthday party :-) (Album 33 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “For one who wants liberation from the fruitive reactions of material activities, the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, or glorification of the name, fame and pastimes of the Lord, is recommended as the most perfect process of atonement because such chanting eradicates the dirt from one’s heart completely.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.12).
See them here: http://goo.gl/qj4WRh

7th Annual Krsna Kidz Camp! Iskcon Detroit - The Bhaktivedanta Cultural Centre (Album 112 photos)
As stated by our founding Acharya - His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada –These children are given to us by Krishna, they are Vaisnavas and we must be very careful to protect them. These are not ordinary children, they are Vaikuntha children!
Please, tag and like! Pictures with most likes will be printed and displayed :) Hare Krishna! Jaya Srila Prabhupada!
See them here: http://goo.gl/YlVuQK

Amazingly beautiful Radha Gopinath temple in Chowpatty, Mumbai (Album 50 photos)
All glories to HH Radhanath Swami and his dedicated disciples!!! I have never seen such beautiful temple with such sweet homely atmosphere!
See them here: http://goo.gl/GIzK33

Puspa Abhishek at Sri Sri Radha Gopinath on 31st Jan 2015 (Album 125 photos)
Amazing Puspa Abhishek celebration at Sri Sri Radha Gopinath on 31st Jan 2015 by HH Radhanath Swami, HH Indradyumna Swami, HH Niranjan Swami,HHGiriraj Maharaj, HG Bada Haridas Prabhu, HG Gauravani Prabhu and many more devotees.
See them here: http://goo.gl/t63EWS

The post Information about the April festival for moving Radha-Syama back to their renovated quarters appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

The post Reading the first chapter of Caitanya Bhagavat on Nityananda-trayodasi appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Hare Krishna! Everyone should have it!
This article has been written by Premanjana Das (Pranjal Joshi) in January 2015 in Jaipur, India. The writer is seen giving the books of Srila Prabhupada to some famous personalities at hotel Diggi Palace in Jaipur (Rajasthan), India on the occasion of Jaipur Literature Festival which is held every year in January at this hotel since 2006. It is the largest literature festival in the whole world.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15332

Hare Krishna! An analysis of the paper “Some Evidence Regarding Education and Guruship for Vaishnavis”
By Goloka-ranjana Dasa
Among scholars, the position of women in the Vedic culture is a cause for controversy and debate because of different, sometimes contradictory statements found in Vedic literature. Sages have their own opinions and often contradict other sages. Thus the only path to the truth is the path traversed by great authorities. That is why we would like to analyze through the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and our previous acaryas some of the different quotes and arguments presented in the paper “Some Evidence Regarding Education and Guruship for Vaishnavis,”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15329

Nityananda Trayodasi at Iskcon Salem (Album 89 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat: even a little devotional service can save one from the greatest danger. Devotional service, which begins with chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is so powerful that even if one falls down, he can be saved from all calamities if he somehow or other chants the holy name of the Lord. This is the extraordinary power of the Lord’s holy name. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.1.63 Purport).
See them here: http://goo.gl/VTrjoP

The post February 2nd, 2015 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Bhakti Charu Swami on Srimad Bhagavatam 04.01.27

Lord Nityananda Prabhu’s Appearance Day celebration at Bhaktivedanta Manor, England (Album 84 photos)
See them here: http://goo.gl/8GZ13u

Is Krishna sadistic and narcissistic?

Sadistic means “to enjoy causing pain.” It may seem that God is sadistic:

a) God is all-powerful, nothing can exist against his will.

b) Pain exists

c) Therefore God must want pain to exist. He is sadistic.

Statement A, however, is flawed.

Being all-powerful doesn’t mean you are the only one with any power. It doesn’t mean you won’t respect the power of others. “All-powerful” does not mean “absolute-maniacal-dictator.” “All-powerful” means śaktimān: all energies are rooted in him. All freewill and all power comes from him. It is not that only God is free and conscious, but everyone and everything else is an insentient puppet. Many, many entities exist with freewill and power (tat tvam asi). From the One Complete Will, many complete wills emanate (pūrnaṁ adaḥ pūrṇaṁ idam).

Therefore not everything that exists is a direct result of God’s will, some things are a result of my will, your will, his will, her will, etc. Pain is not directly manifest from God. It exists as a result of other willpowers.

Narcissistic: Complaints About God’s Ingenuity

We could complain, “why did he create a situation in which pain is even possible?”

Basically it is because there is no meaning to pleasure unless there is also a possibility of pain.

Here comes the complaint of narcissism: “So for the sake of pleasure, he allows pain to exist? How narcissistic!”

It’s not narcissistic (self-serving, self-engrossed). His intention is to share pleasure, not to horde it.

The One Being expands into many beings for the sake of expanding ānanda (so’kāmayta bahu syāt). That ānanda is the ultimate purpose of existence itself (ānanda-mayābhyāsāt) Ānanda is perceived as love, just as spatial dimensions are perceived as sound, wind is perceived as movement, and light is perceived as vision. Bhakti (love) is the tan-matra(perceivable essence) of ānanda (bliss).

So, the purpose of existence, the reason why the one becomes many, is to share and amplify the bliss of love. If we understand what love is, we will understand why freewill and pain exist.

The core of love is is anukūlyatā – an emotion of being “favorably inclined” towards the beloved. An angle cannot be measured with only two points, there must be three. One point, at the center, is the will of the individual existence (you or I). Another point – to the right of center, let’s say – is the self integrated in the Original Being. The third point – to the left of the center – is a the self separate from the Original Being. With these three points we can measure an angle of inclination, with the ray of will emanating from the center of the line.

Thus there must be an option for the will to divorce itself from the Original Being rather than integrate with it. If there is no such option, the anykūlyatā that is the core of love, cannot express itself. So we have the option to separate from the Original Being and exist on our own.

If we want to take this option, however, we run into a problem, engrained in the fundamentals of geometry itself.

Infinite existence is a circle (an infinite shape without sides or corners or beginning/end points). The root of the circle is the center-point. Circles have only one center point. So, if we want to exist without centering on that point, how will it be possible at all?

God has a powerful śakti called māyā which allows reality to be perceived subjectively, according to preferences of the individual will. Those inclined to separate from the Origin come under the wing of Māyā, and experience existence as if there were more than one center, or as if they themselves were the center.

A problem still exists. Again its in the fundamental architecture of geometry. Points within a center that subjectively imagine themselves central will inevitably come into conflict with one another. This conflict is experienced as “pain.”

We could file a complaint to God: “Change geometry!” But why should he? Geometry is working wondrously well for infinite zillions of individual wills experiencing ever-amplifying bliss by inclining themselves towards the real center. How would it be fair for him to change this situation?

“Change it just for us!” To an extent, he already did. That’s what māyā is. It permits geometry to be circumvented. But the side-effect of this circumvention plays an important role in bringing the divorced will eventually into a situation of true joy. More about this in a moment.

We could modify our complaint: “Change us! Stop us from conflicting.” He tries. He helps by establishing ethics and moral principles, and by his avatāra demonstrating the actual joy available in an existence centered correctly on the Original Being. But to actually stop us from generating pain would require him to force us into certain positions, defeating the purpose of creating individual wills, and horribly disrespecting our essence. This is the one thing that you must do. This is the “rock God created, to heavy to lift.” You must willingly embrace the concept of self integrated with his center. He cannot force it upon you.

Individual wills are inherently free to change their position, their vantage point, their center. Those not centered on the original being often come into conflict with one another, trying to occupy the same space, or control the same perimeter simultaneously. This causes the experience of pain.

Pain is a waste-product of love. But excrement and evacuation is also crucial to health. It is not that pain is without purpose. As the individual wills experience first-hand the pain incurred by conflicting with other centers, they began to want an answer, a solution. They start to avail of ethics and morality (dharma), and eventually seek their original root (mokṣa) and attain the perfect bliss within the Original Circle (prema).

Thus pain eventually leads us to incline away from a divorced conception of self, towards a conception of self fully integrated with the Original Whole.

I believe this demonstrates that God is neither sadistic nor narcissistic.

Vraja

Back in 1973, George Harrison of the famous popular music group, The Beatles, purchased a large house in the Hertfordshire countryside, and gave it to a small group of devotees of Krishna.

45 years later it has become a well known centre for learning, worship and celebration – a sanctuary for the soul.

Here is a new film, told mainly by visitors and friends of the Manor:

Bhagavatam-daily Podcast

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Nityananda Trayodashi Abhishek - ISKCON-Delhi (Album 68 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krishna-sakti vina nahe tara pravartana:unless one receives special power of attorney from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he cannot preach the glories of the Hare Krishna mantra. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.83 Purport)
See them here: http://goo.gl/TjBVso

The post February 1st, 2015 – Ntityananda’s App. Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

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On the sacred occasion of Nityananda Trayodashi, we are happy to announce the starting of a feature called Chaitanya Chairtamrita daily (CC daily) that will feature a 10 min talk on one or more verses of the Chaitanya Charitamrita.

Nityananda Trayodasi 2015 - Abhisek Darshan - ISKCON Vrindavan (Album 17 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: One who chants the Hare Krishna mantra develops bhava, ecstasy, which is the point at which revelation begins. It is the preliminary stage in developing one’s original love for God. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.83 Purport)
See them here: http://goo.gl/wMJxRE

12th Anniversary Festival in Vrinda Kunda 2015! (Album 47 photos)
This year, Varaha Dvadasi turned into a wonderful Spring day and we had an ecstatic festival at Vrinda Kunda!
See them here: http://goo.gl/s1NYlt

Hare Krishna! Success Depends On Succession
By Navina Nirada Dasa. With a significant generational turnover ahead of us, the issue of succession in ISKCON has become more pressing than ever. This presentation explores Srila Prabhupada’s view of succession by extracting principles and lessons from his teachings. The success of any society depends on the quality of its leadership. Hence, succession depends on the training of good leaders. A good leader is one whose character and behavior are based on Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15327

Moscow Kirtan Mela! (Album 68 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “It is the nature of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra that anyone who chants it immediately develops his loving ecstasy for Krishna. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.83)
See them here: http://goo.gl/3S4pJB

Harinaam in Krishnanagar, near Mayapur
For the pleasure of their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Madhav, Pancatattva, Prahlad-Nrisimhadev and Srila Prabhupada, Mayapur Local Preaching (MLP) organized a Mahaharinaam sankirtan in Krishnanagar on 21st January, 2015. MLP preaching co-ordinator HG Mathuresh Prabhu managed to take all necessary permissions from Krishnanagar administration for this event. Devotees from various preaching organizations like Bhakti Vriksha, Namhatta, School preaching and local well-wishers participated in the event. There were around 600 devotees in all including more than 50 foreign devotees from Mayapur. Participant devotees chanted and danced with great enthusiasm. The audience joined them by raising their hands and chanting Haribol, Hare Krishna. People were especially inspired to join the Harinaam seeing foreign devotees lead the kirtana. The kirtana was accompanied with distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books and gaja prasadam to people on the way.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/TxdAfZ

The post Reading the first verse and commentary of Caitanya Bhagavat on Nityananda-trayodasi appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

The post But are there things that we should legitimately not be satisfied with? appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Chanting Hare Krishna in sign language and dancing in Chennai, India on 25th January 2015 (1 min video)
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/Gh8JDM