Planet ISKCON

TOVP Presentation and Tour by Sadbhuja das (Album 56 photos)
See them here: http://goo.gl/k54DP8

https://flic.kr/s/aHsk7Ne7pg

The post Walking with Govinda Maharaja appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

I’m afraid I laughed at the misfortunes of another human being this morning. Its not a Vaishnava quality to laugh at others, I know, and I should be much more compassionate. I’m sorry.

The subject of my laughter was Mrs. Cho, the daughter of the Korean Airways CEO, who ordered the plane she was on to be turned around from the runway and one member of the cabin crew ejected for failing to serve her peanuts on a plate. Apparently she also forced him into kneel in apology before her. Now she is the one who is being forced to bow, as the judge has sentenced her to one year in prison for violating air safety law.

How do people get so above themselves?

The great king Yudhisthira was once asked a series of riddles: “What is it that, when you abandon it, the whole world loves you?”

“Pride,” the king replied correctly.

“And what is that, when you lose it, you become happy instead of sorrowful?”

“Anger.”

“What is it that, when you give it up, you become rich?”

“Desire.”

That question and answer dialogue may be 5,000 years old but the rules still apply today. The notion of having power over others may provide a temporary gratification, but it starts to unravel pretty soon. Real happiness – and I’m speaking here of ordinary happiness within the world – comes when you are loved, and love comes to you when you think of others first, thinking of their happiness before your own.

Ordinary logic dictates that if you are powerful, then others will serve you, and that they should serve you, so the best course of action is to cultivate power, and specifically power over others. But that only leads to power being the one commodity everyone aspires for, which leads to power struggles. People will serve someone with power often because they want the same power or possessions. It is a service based on selfish aspiration, envy or political flattery.

In Vedic circles, being very highly placed in society then falling to a low position is known as yoga-bhrasta, a hubris followed by a nemesis. Its painful when it happens, but Nature provides us all with these precious opportunities so that we can reform ourselves and develop the key that will open the door to the highest heaven: Humility.

 

This sixty-minute documentary by Vasudeva Das shows the birth of devotional Bhakti-Vriksha In The Middle-East.

 An intriguing and inspiring new documentary by French filmmaker Vasudeva Das takes viewers into the world’s largest Bhakti Vriksha community, comprising of multiple Krishna conscious congregational groups. The twist? It’s located in the Persian Gulf, in a country whose name is withheld due to its laws against public exhibition and propagation of non-Islamic practices.

The first “Latin American Congress of Education with ISKCON,” brought together ISKCON educators from all over South America, along with prospective collaborators. Their goal was to create effective networks amongst each other, share inspiring reports of educational efforts; identify strengths and challenges faced in ISKCON education in South America; and develop practical proposals for implementation.

Hare Krishna! Second day of GBC AGM focuses on Disciples Course, Child Protection and Healthcare Services in Mayapur
11th February 2015: After four days of Strategic Planning Network meetings, the GBC Body reconvened today beginning with a presentation by Anuttama Dasa on the ISKCON Disciples Course (IDC) which shall be a mandatory pre-requisite for all devotees accepting first or second initiation by an ISKCON guru, from Janmastami, 2015 onwards.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15517

After four days of Strategic Planning Network meetings, the GBC Body reconvened with presentations on the ISKCON Disciples Course, the Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai and Mayapur and on ISKCON's Child Protection Office.

An examination of the structures reveals that they were built by advanced civilizations from over 29,000 years ago.

The post Purusottama Swami gives Bhagavatam class appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

The post Summary of today’s class – how Mayavadi’s fall to become diamonds and more appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

The Temple of Vedic Planetarium in Mayapur during the 2015 presentation to the GBC (Album 23 photos)
See them here: http://goo.gl/cp2HLU

Preaching in Ram Chandra Govardhan School (Album 12 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Simply by chanting the holy name of Lord Krishna, one can be freed from all undesirable habits. This is the means of awakening all good fortune and initiating the flow of waves of love for Krishna.
(Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 20.11)
See them here: http://goo.gl/bdhshh

Meet TOVP Seva Office Designer, Sri Radha Vallabha Das
The TOVP Team would like to recognize the wonderful service of Sri Radha Vallabha Das who is responsible for the interior design work of the new TOVP Seva Office in Mayapur.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/OXnOLs

Hare Krishna! From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir: HG Vaisesika Das
There is a way in which to perform tapasya in order to control the senses. It is a kind of combat between the practitioner and the desires and emotions within. But after all, we are sentient beings, which means we have emotions and we have desires. Therefore, the abject denial of desires and emotions can make the heart hard. From a hard heart, anger may arise. Therefore, we as Vaisnavas, perform yukta vairagya. That is, we perform austerities by rejecting anything that cannot be used in the service of Krishna.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15514

27-10-2014 Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON Durban, South Africa.mp3

Lecture Podcast:

Download by "right-click and save content"

The post February 12th, 2015 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Sharing Krishna consciousness with others is surely like an express highway to becoming dear to Lord Krishna and this coming weekend you will have an opportunity to equip yourself with the best tools and techniques in achieving this cherished goal. Gain inspiration and empowerment through a special seminar Sankirtan 101!

So whether you are a seasoned veteran, or just an aspiring book distributor, this seminar is for you! Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krishna consciousness!

The seminar will take place at the Hare Krishna Temple on Friday, February 20th from 6:30pm-8:30pm. For more information please contact 647.400.0564/toronto.sankirtan@gmail.com

Lecture Podcast:

Download by "right-click and save content"

Lecture Podcast:

Download by "right-click and save content"

Lecture Podcast:

Download by "right-click and save content"

Lecture Podcast:

Download by "right-click and save content"

BY SIMHESWARA DASA

LANCANG, PAHANG, MALAYSIA - For those who are interested to use pure sugar cane syrup for your cooking - here is the food news. Our farm is now producing 100% pure sugar cane syrup. You can get your bottles on Sunday at Sri Jagannatha Mandir Kuala Lumpur. Not to forget sugar cane juice and other farm products.

By the way after all the sugar cane juice gulping, I scored 4.7 on the sugar test I did last Monday. The juice is also high in minerals such as potassium, calcium etc.

After dropping out of school, my first job was at the A&W and my favorite was very hot waffle with sugar syrup and butter on top, and eat with very cold thick ice cream. And as a devotee and when I was looking after my father with brahmacaries staying in the same house I used to make pancake and serve with syrup and butter. Sometimes I made fruit ice cream and ate with it. So you can make pancakes and instead of purchasing expensive and unreliable syrup you can eat your pancake with our farm syrup. I guarantee you will like it.

And......no worry of himsa as surely no controversy of cow bones used for this syrup. You will be happy and so will the cows, additionally our cows get to eat the sugar cane tops after harvest. 

Price is RM15 per bottle and perfect for use in gulab jamun and milk sweets.

Note: Mature sugar cane is harvested from the juicy stem beginning ground level up to the point where the hard stem ends. From that point upwards begins softer stem and is called "sugar cane top". Sugar cane tops can be cut and directly fed to cows or can be cut and made into silage which are good feed for dairy cows.

There is no "secret" to japa; it is a struggle. There is no easy shortcut. The secret is to surrender to the struggle. The secret is to be afraid of death and to take it as very urgent that you must chant Hare Krsna. We used to have a slogan, "Chant while you can," on some posters and show a scary picture of a graveyard. So we have to think like that: "Chant while you can." That is the secret.

From Japa Reform Notebook
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

Laughing is a Vaisnava Activity! (Album 8 photos)
Beautiful photos of Srila Prabhupada laughing!
See them here: http://goo.gl/nKLCCt

Old photos from the San Francisco temple room (Album 72 photos)
Include also the initiation of Visnujana Maharaja and Tamal Krsna Goswami!
See them here: http://goo.gl/tp3LMd

At the risk of being entirely misunderstood, I must clarify for any old friends and for all Vaishnava readers that my post yesterday was not written as a campaigning shot against the traditional dhoti. Neither was it to promote the wearing of any particular item of clothing in place of dhotis. I have personally been wearing a dhoti for over 40 years and do not intend to stop any time soon.

Thank you.

I merely wanted to point out the obvious fact that religious garb, generally, has both a geographical and historical origin. Climate has affected the choice of raw material, for instance, and history, social milieu and fashion sensibilities have all conspired to how such items are worn.

That being the case, religious clothing styles often get a little frozen in the decade – or century – in which they were first adopted. The average monk or nun, when wearing their traditional habits, are more or less wearing the style of conservative clothing that was in vogue when their respective founders were teaching. So anywhere between the 13th to the 15th century. And I already pointed out that the Hasidic followers of the Baal Shem Tov, the great Jewish luminary and mystic have more or less frozen their any-colour-as-long-as-its-black clothing style somewhere in the mid-18th.

Just a few years ago the Salvation Army, the creation of one ‘General’ William Booth in 1865, in London, was confronted with something of a self-made crisis. The Victorian bonnets of the female members had not altered since the inception of the movement, was it alright to bring them up to date without losing the original spirit of the movement? For a short time it became a vigorous discussion, and then everyone relaxed – and changed their hats design.

Now, it could be argued (and I know that someone will) that the dhoti and chaddar, or shawl, are timeless. I agree. You can’t get anything simpler to wear than a single piece of undyed, un-stitched cloth fresh from the loom. It is designed to be free from ostentation and bows to no fashion sense whatsoever. Its a great piece of garb to demonstrate one’s commitment to simplicity and utter disregard for public opinion. And it is a piece of clothing that you can make yourself with some simple tools. The perfect outfit for a neo-Luddite.

But as Mahatma Gandhi found out when he turned up in England wearing one, when everyone else is wearing trousers, the dhoti practically screams: “Look at me!”

Be that as it may, when contemporary Vaishnavas wear the dhoti they do make an emotional connection with their purva-acaryas, their historical preceptors, and that does contribute to their feelings of commitment to the disciplines of their path, and that’s good. It has also become, ipso facto, a religious uniform whereby a devotee of Krishna, or a member of ISKCON specifically, can be recognised by the public.

Anyway, the point of my post was not to discuss religious clothing but rather the need to identify geographical, historical, ethnic and tribal origins of religious traditions. Those origins tend to get completely tangled up with the religion itself, and then have a habit of projecting themselves onto the consciousness of the uneducated observer. And people in general look at the packaging of the presentation first. If Islam has really nothing to do with Arabia, for instance, save for the fact that it was there that the angel Gabriel chose to speak to Mohammed, then let us separate the ideology from its country of origin, the Arabic language and 7th century tribal politics and discuss it. Its hard to do after 1400 years, but it would be a worthwhile exercise.

The ISKCON movement has had to do it. ISKCON has had the task of transplanting teachings originating in the Himalaya mountains to every country, language and ethnicity of the world. In a relatively short time. And in that it has had some success, above and beyond what was expected. The very existence of ISKCON as a world phenomenon has been possible only by making it accessible to a wide diversity of people. We can therefore talk about the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita without once needing to reference the land of India. The ideas presented by Lord Sri Krishna are not ‘Indian’ ideas, but universal knowledge worthy of serious consideration by anyone living anywhere.

Just as Christianity, in order to spread internationally, had to become loosened from its identity primarily as a small Jewish cult, a Middle-Eastern religion, and a power institution of the Holy Roman Empire, so Islam will have to make a similar transition in order to be of greatest worth as a form of pure God consciousness.

 

 

 

CC-daily Podcast:

Download by "right-click and save content"

Bhagavatam-daily Podcast

Download by "right-click and save content"

2015-02-08 Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 06 04 01 04 by HH Bhanu Swami at ISKCON Mayapur https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2AGgJlL8_A

Parikrama in Radhakunda, Vrindavana (Album 164 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The soul already has a spiritual body, which the material body covers. My material body grows upon me - my spiritual body - but my material body is unnatural. The real body is spiritual. I am accepting various bodies that are unnatural to my constitution. My real, constitutional position is to be the servant of Krishna. Los Angeles, May 13, 1973.
See them here: http://goo.gl/duJCV0

A visit to Mayapur (Album 24 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If Krishna does not supply you this light, sunlight, you will die. But he does not charge anything. But because you are human being, you should try to repay: “Oh, Krishna is giving us so much facilities. Let me render some service unto him.” This is Krishna Consciousness. This is to acknowledge, “Oh God, You are so kind. You are giving so many things. So I have collected this fruit. It is Your fruit, I know. Still, please accept.” Columbus, May 9, 1969.
See them here: http://goo.gl/CkIYfC

Hare Krishna! Where Is Our Education Leading Us?
Srila Prabhupada would say that this miraculously transformed educational system would still be a grand failure. Why? Because it would still be built on ignorance, on mistaking the body for the self, and on making the gratification of our bodily demands—the needs for eating, sleeping, mating, and defense—the central focus of our life. The animals know of no higher purposes in life than to eat, to sleep, to defend themselves, and to have sex. Of course, as human beings we share these same needs. But human life is meant for a higher purpose.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15511

Poetry and video by Gaura Klein. http://www.gaurakaruna.com