Planet ISKCON

Narottamanand Prabhu at ISKCON Juhu 37th Temple Anniversary 15 Jan 2015 Makar Sankranti (7 min video)
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/3oZ7AR

Harinama in ISKCON Johor Bharu (Album 17 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The Hare Krishna chant is called the maha-mantra, the great, exalted mantra above all other Vedic mantras, because simply chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra brings so many beneficial effects. (Srimad Bhagavatam, 9.1.17 Purport).
See them here: http://goo.gl/hqshHh

Preaching program in 26 Second Ave Matchless Gifts the Seed of Hare Krishna Movement in the West (Album 12 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “There may be discrepancies in pronouncing the mantras and observing the regulative principles, and, moreover, there may be discrepancies in regard to time, place, person and paraphernalia. But when your Lordship’s holy name is chanted, everything becomes faultless.” (Srimad Bhagavatam, 8.23.16).
See them here: http://goo.gl/oiYJVH

Preaching in San Diego (Album 7 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Although Sukracarya was a strict brahmana addicted to ritualistic activities, he also admitted, nischidram anusankirtanam tava: “My Lord, constant chanting of the holy name of Your Lordship makes everything perfect.” (Srimad Bhagavatam, 8.23.16 Purport).
See them here: http://goo.gl/gamrCR

BY PALAKA KRISHNA DASA

PHOTOS BY INDRANUDJA DASA

JOHOR BHARU - Every year we get the pleasure of seeing the Russian devotees in Malaysia enthusiastically distributing books, performing harinam and participating in our many ratha yatras throughout Malaysia. With at least 3 hours of harinam everyday, they inject such zest into the lives of people here. Currently they are travelling in the southern part of Malaysia visiting our ISKCON branches in Seremban and Johor Bharu and spreading the sweet Holy Name around. 

The name of Hari was not born in this material world. A jiva who is the atomic miniature of the infinite consciousness is only eligible to pronounce the name of Hari, when he lives in his real unsullied form, in his transcendental body. Nobody of this world who lies in the bondage of illusion,is able to utter the hallowed name with any of the sense organs, but when his real self works through the grace of the hladini-sakti of God, it is then and then alone that the real name of god appears with the appearance of that holy name, the pure nama most kindly descends on the mind of the devotee and begins to dance on his tongue sanctified by devotion. The name is not something of the shape of letters, it manifests itself in the shape of alphabet at the time of dancing on a material tongue, here is the mystery of the HOLY NAME.

Jaiva Dharma Chapter 23 - Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

And Bhagavatam inspired codes of conduct for and between men and women, were the two main themes from our Varnasrama conference leaders want to see in their sphere’s of influence.

The post Systematic education on the 30 qualities appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Dear Devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila
Prabhupada.
We are happy to announce the first event this year in Vrndavana Dhama in honor of the 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s historic journey on the Jaladutta to start this wonderful ISKCON mission, AND in honor of the 40th anniversary of the historic Opening of the Krishna Balarama Mandir.
On Vasant Pancami, 24, January 2015 we will inaugaurate a fantastic
presentation of the Changing Bodies Diorama upstairs in Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi Museum. We will also post new nameplates and descriptions of Parampara for our 4 parampara Deities upstairs.
Ceremonies will begin at 10 a.m. with guest speakers, kirtan and Prasad
distribution. Pictures will be sent out later on the Samadhi site of the
Vrndavan temple web.
Hope this meets you all well and in jolly spirits.
Your servant on behalf of the Samadhi,
Parvati devi dasi

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Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavtam 10.14.8.

“The idea is that just as a legitimate son has to do nothing but stay alive in order to inherit his father’s property, similarly all a devotee has to do is remain alive in Krishna consciousness and he will inherit the kingdom of God. What does it mean to ‘remain alive’ in Krishna consciousness? It means to continue to follow the process of bhakti-yoga in the association of devotees. And if we just stay alive in Krishna consciousness we will inherit the kingdom of God. The relationship between the father and the son or the parent and the child is such that the parent does whatever is best for the child. One of our acharyas, Srila Visvanatha Thakur, has given the example that sometimes the parent will give the child sweets and sometimes the parent will give the child bitter medicine. But, both are meant for the child’s benefit.”

Pune Counsellor Meeting

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Seberang Jaya - Temple update 17/1/2015 (Album 6 photos)
Simheswara Dasa: Latest progress report on our Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple of Devotion & Understanding building project in Seberang Jaya, Penang, Malaysia. Met with Vice Chairman of project Kalesa dasa and site manager Mr. Ehambaram for two days. We have finalised paintwork decision, Kalasam for sikhara, wall work on perimeter of temple and worked on gantt chart to complete all works by July 2015. We have proposed opening of temple on Balarama Purnima 2015, August 29.
See them here: http://goo.gl/WZzeOa

Chanting Pledges
Reciting the Hare Krishna mantra is the foundational spiritual practise for devotees. Practitioners from around the UK who make their lifetime commitments vow to meditate for more than one hour each morning, but that’s not easy in the beginning. So to mark gradual progress a ceremony is held whenever members feel ready to make a specific commitment to 15, 30 or 45 minutes of chanting each morning. In Bristol, a Vaishnava Sankalpa ceremony was held for ten meditators who were making their commitments to between 1 and 16 rounds daily. They each performed a short puja before receiving a certificate, to the loud applause of the local members.

Training the Temple Managers
Bhaktivedanta Manor devotees attended interactive workshops co-ordinated by Sanjay Bhandari (Sandipani Muni Das).
The sessions focused on developing communications skills, goal setting and time management. Sanjay runs training workshops for the world’s leading financial organisations such as Barclays in London and Goldman Sachs in New York.
“We know in theory the qualities that were explored, but unpacking them for today’s sensibilities made a lot of usefuldifference,” said Caitanya Jivan Das. “It was great to spend time with colleagues and getting to learn deeper aspects of each other’s personalities,” added Brijlata Dasi.

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The post January 17th, 2015 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Bhaktivedanta Research Centre Mission for Manuscripts Team has been busy with their service at Navadwip Sadharan Granthagar (library), They are cataloging and digitizing manuscripts that have been neglected for many years, making them available for devotees and scholars in the future.
See more recent photos here: http://goo.gl/DYMpCk

The post Report on the Leaders’ Sanga by Lake Balaton and the Varnasram-dharma theme to which the conference is dedicated to appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Mitzvah Day
As part of Mitzvah Day 2014 local Jews, Christians and Bhaktivedanta Manor devotees worked together to plant hundreds of daffodils adjacent to Aldenham Parish Church. Mitzvah Day is an annual day of faithbased social action that takes place in November each year, primarily in the UK and masterminded by the Jewish community.

The Holy Name As Our Only Benediction – Harinama At Rawang Kuala Llampur (Album 75 photos)
By Bhaktin Suja Anathay. The words ‘street chanting process must go on’ from Swami Srila Prabhupada…and ‘Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings’ from Lord Caitanya’s Siksastakam drives our focus persistently back to Harinama Sankirtana. With this driving force in its spine, SJMKL made its first Harinam of the year on 10th January 2015, at Rawang KL. This time, the event was led charmingly by HG Gaura Kesava Prabhu, accompanied by a group of devotees from the temple including Temple President HG Kripa Sindhu Prabhu, devotees from Mayapur and Russia, to reach out and supply divine mercy to all. The beautifully decorated palanquin of Their Lordships Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda graced many homes throughout the distance of approximately 3 km and this was indeed a very special occasion to all who had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the attractive Lordships, because this was a New Year visit from the Supreme Himself! The palanquin procession started at 5.30pm and ended by 9.30pm at Taman Bayu Permai, Rawang and throughout the route, families living in the area graciously offered archanas to the deities. While some devotees were engaged in kirtan, others were focused on distributing books, patiently explaining its’ content and preaching about Krsna Consciousness to the public. A total of 3 Tamil Bhagavad Gita and 20 small books were sold and 31 chanting beads were distributed out. There were also distribution of sumptuous full meal prasadam to about 50 families living in this area to let them experience divine taste of pure vegetarian prasadam. The event ended after closing kirtan at the temple, and devotees left Rawang fully satisfied with its accomplishment. Here’s a fascinating excerpt on the object of Harinama Sankirtana: “…this sankirtana or street chanting must go on, it is our most important program. Lord Caitanya’s movement means the sankirtana movement. You may simply take two hours for chanting sixteen rounds daily, two hours for reading congregationally, and balance of time go out for sankirtana. We must do both, reading books and distributing books, but distributing books is the main propaganda.” Srila Prabhupada Letter, 09-18-72
See them here: http://goo.gl/G4SDjq

Bhakti Vriksha Team
The achievement of the East London based Bhakti Vrksha team, which includes 150 members from acrossthe city, was extraordinary. During the Winter Book Marathon they distributed 10,200 books in all kinds of ways around their local areas.“It’s wonderful to make Srila Prabhupada famous by talking about his books to so many people,” explained Bhakti Vrksha leader Aravind Krishna Das. “It’s inspiring to see so many devotees of all ages focused on the same goal. To be amidst the atmosphere of so much book distribution is contagious and intoxicating!”

'India Rising Cultural Festival & Iskcon Fest 2015' (11 min video)
Iskcon Mumbai Chowpatty with Radhanatha Swami
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/ZXFhiZ

A visit to Melkote in Karnataka (Album 187 photos)
Indradyumna Swami: The town of Melkote in Karnataka is a celebrated place for Sri Vaisnavas. The illustrious head of the Sri Sampradaya, Srila Ramanujacarya ( 1137 AD – 1077 AD ) resided in Melkote for 12 years. The utsava ( festival ) Deity was once stolen by invaders and taken to Delhi. Ramanujacarya personally went to Delhi and rescued the Deity. Krsna and Balarama visited Melkote and gave a diamond crown to the presiding deity, Lord Narayana. Devout Sri Vaisnavas consider Melkote to be the Badarikasrama of South India. There is a famous temple of Lord Nrsimhadeva on the hill overlooking Melkote that was constructed in 1599 AD. Melkote is a small, quiet town that receives pilgrims from all over India throughout the year. There is a sanskrit school and a famous library containing ancient palm leaf scriptures in the town. During our visit we were fortunate to participate in a Deity procession around the temple. Melkote was the last stop on our South India pilgrimage. Now we turn our attention to our festival tour in Maharashtra. Time to share our good fortune with all.
See them here: http://goo.gl/JA6BRO

HG Hari Sauri Prabhu at ISKCON Mayapur on 2015-01-10, Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 06 02 45 46

Harinam Sankirtan at Bahulaban, New Vrindaban – 1973.

“The exact adjustment is in Vaishnava philosophy, which is called Yukta Vairagya, means that we should simply accept the bare necessities of our material part of life, and try to save time for spiritual advancement. This should be the motto of New Vrindaban, if you at all develop it to the perfectional stage.” – Srila Prabhupada, June 1968

Click here to read the rest of the letter at the Vanipedia website.

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It was a strange sight: In the middle of a vacant lot strewn with rubble and the metal bars that had once supported the temple structure were the beautiful Radha-Krsna Deities, Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari, dressed in Their green and silver outfits and garlanded with flowers. They stood on Their carved teakwood altar amid the fragrant scent of burning incense and the warm glow of ghee lamps. Only two or three small pieces of the roof over Them had been removed; otherwise, They and Their Deity room remained intact. And the picture of Lord Nrsimhadeva over the altar doors, though slightly tilted to the side, was still there too, as if He was looking down upon us and assuring us that He had been there to protect the Deities.

The year was 1973, and that field—a piece of what had been jungle in Juhu—was supposed to be in the process of being transferred to Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON. The seller, Mr. Nair, had taken a sizable deposit and was delaying the transfer under some pretext—as he had done twice before with the same land. Meanwhile, Srila Prabhupada had brought Deities of Radha and Krsna onto the property, which he named Hare Krishna Land, and built a temporary shed as a temple to house them. Srila Prabhupada told Nair, “If you want to keep the land, then return our money. Otherwise, keep the money and give us the land.” But the landlord wanted to keep both the money and the land—against all principles of law and justice.

One morning, on May 18, 1973, two large trucks from the Bombay Municipal Corporation drove onto Hare Krishna Land and fifty municipal workers carrying crowbars, chisels, and sledgehammers descended on the temple. Following close behind was a truck from the police department, from which numerous constables emerged. I rushed forward to meet the municipal officer in charge and asked him what was happening. He said that the structure was unauthorized and that they had come to demolish it. I replied that the temple was authorized and that I had a letter from the municipal commissioner to prove it. He seemed uninterested, however, and even after I showed him the letter and other documents in my file, he ordered the demolition to begin. So I approached the policemen. “We are here only to see that there is no trouble,” they said nonchalantly.

Some workers put a ladder up against the temple, and one of them started climbing up with a sledgehammer to break the roof. I threw the ladder down. Immediately three policemen grabbed me by the arms and neck and put me into the truck. Other devotees too rushed forward to stop the demolition squad, and one by one each was apprehended. Finally, the last one left was Maithili dasi, the head pujari. Having locked the doors to the Deity chamber, she stood there, ready to knock down anyone who came near. A policeman seized her, and she punched him. Several policemen ganged up on her and hit her with their clubs, grabbed her hair, and dragged her into the truck, where we all sat helplessly, witnessing the brutality and singing prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva. Neighbors, tenants, passersby—no one lifted a finger to help us.

We were taken to the Santa Cruz police station and locked up in a room. They did not allow us any phone calls. Only several long hours later were we released from custody and able to return to the site.

The following day, headlines and pictures appeared on the front page of several newspapers. One caption read, “Illegal temple demolished.” The seller’s main agent, the local municipal corporator had arranged for hostile reports about us to appear everywhere. I rushed to the office of the Bombay Municipal Commissioner but was told that he was too busy to see me.

We informed Srila Prabhupada in Calcutta. He suggested we take advantage of the incident to get our life members more involved in our activities. Prabhupada himself sent an open letter to our friends, members, and sympathizers, which we published in our local journal, the Hare Krishna Monthly. After summarizing the history of the Hare Krishna Movement, its philosophy, and its difficulties in Juhu, Srila Prabhupada concluded:

We have many sympathizers and life members of our society, and I wish that they may come forward to help us in this precarious position and save the situation. Our cause is so noble, scientific, and pure that everyone, irrespective of caste, creed, and religion, should come forward and save us from this position. I hope that my appeal to the people of Bombay will not go in vain.

Following Prabhupada’s direction, we arranged a meeting of all our life members in Bombay. Our good friend Sadajiwatlal, a staunch Hindu and supporter of ISKCON, helped us with the preparations. Only about twelve to fifteen members attended, but Sadajiwatlal gave a powerful keynote speech, and I read Prabhupada’s letter.

Thoughtful Hindus were concerned that if one temple were destroyed without any reaction or response leading to restitution and proper retribution, other temples would be vulnerable and could similarly be destroyed in the future. Sadajiwatlal put his whole heart into helping us with the temple campaign and enlisted the entire range of his friends and associates in the effort. Mr. Vinod Gupta, a member of the pro-Hindu Jan Sangh political party, published a leaflet proclaiming ISKCON to be a bona fide Hindu organization. And Sri Sarkar Singh, of the Hindu Mahasabha, threatened to go on a fast if the temple was not reconstructed soon.

We approached leaders of the Shiv Sena in the municipal corporation for help. Vamanrao Mahadik, the chairman of the Standing Committee, the most powerful committee in the Bombay Municipal Corporation, was incensed by the demolition, which he called illegal, and promised to raise the issue in the committee. On May 21, after a unanimous resolution was passed in our favor, he wrote to the municipal commissioner that the temple should be rebuilt at municipal cost and permitted to remain until the court decided the land dispute.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mhatre, the municipal councilor friend of Mrs. Nair who had instigated the demolition of the temple, approached the charity commissioner and raised various questions about our charitable status. Even more alarming, he approached the Foreigners Registration Office to have us kicked out of India. Soon notices came from the office of the charity commissioner as well as from the Foreigners Registration Office.

For fifteen hours every day the devotees, along with Save the Temple committee members, were making phone calls, writing letters, issuing circulars, contacting newspapers, and meeting influential citizens and government officials. But the main task was to work on getting permission to rebuild the temple. So Sadajiwatlal and I went to see the most important councilors in the municipal corporation, one by one, to convince them that the permission should be given. Then, as I also had to deal with other affairs, Sadajiwatlal, with Yadubara dasa and Visakha dasi, continued approaching the councilors, explaining the facts and counteracting the false propaganda Mr. Mhatre was making against us in the municipality. All of the hundred and forty councilors became convinced that we could not possibly be what Mr. Mhatre was saying we were. Our efforts propelled a great wave of sympathy in our favor, as people gradually came to understand who we actually were.

As I was busy with other activities, Harikesa dasa volunteered to publish the next issue of the Hare Krishna Monthly. Harikesa was brilliant, and with Acyutananda Swami’s help he brought out a sensational issue—entitled “Special Demolition Issue”—a photo of the demolished temple wrapped around the front and back covers, and the heading “Religiosity in Shambles.” Articles also appeared in other publications, such as the journal of the Maharashtra Gopalan Samiti, forcefully condemning the municipality’s action. And from Calcutta, our friend Tarun Kanti Ghosh, who was minister of commerce, industries, and tourism in the government of West Bengal, sent a letter to the chief minister of Maharashtra:

The members of the Society had purchased a land near Juhu, Bombay, and constructed a temple. A few days back some miscreants demolished the temple and started a campaign branding them as “Hippies” and “C.I.A. agents.” This, as far as I know, is furthest from the truth. In fact, this Hare Krishna Society is purely a religious movement and deserves all sorts of help.

A few days after the demolition, Srila Prabhupada had expressed his opinion of the whole incident in a letter to Mrs. Nirmala Singhal:

The demolition of our temple by the municipality has strengthened our position. The municipal standing committee has condemned the hasty action of the municipality and has agreed to reconstruct the shed at their cost. Not only that, the temporary construction will continue to stay until the court decision is there as to who is the proprietor of the land. Under the circumstances we should immediately reconstruct the Deity shed. Barbed wire fencing should be immediately done to cover the naked land and if possible, immediately in front of the Deity shed, a temporary pandal should be constructed with our materials. If this is done, then I can go to Bombay and begin Bhagavata Parayana, to continue until the court decision is there. This is my desire.

As Srila Prabhupada had predicted, our position was strengthened and a great wave of sympathy rose in our favor. The apparent calamity served as an impetus for us to meet more and more new people and present Krsna consciousness, to organize and mobilize our devotees and allies far beyond what we could have done under ordinary circumstances. Srila Prabhupada often quoted the saying “Failure is the pillar of success.” He said that especially in spiritual life, failure is not a discouragement. We just have to try, and try again. And by his and Krsna’s mercy, we were successful. Soon we rebuilt the semi-permanent temple and eventually a beautiful marble temple and cultural complex for Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari.

At the time of the demolition, we felt that everything was lost, but with Srila Prabhupada’s intelligent direction and spiritual potency, we eventually gained everything that we—that he—wanted: not only permission to retain the small semi-permanent temple but also the permits, funds, resources, manpower, and whatever else we required to build the temple, guesthouse, restaurant, auditorium, and exhibits—for the pleasure of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari and for the benefit of the people of Bombay, India, and the world

Hare Krsna.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 16 August 2006, Goloka Dhama, Germany, Janmastami Lecture)

One pastime that I like very much is when Krsna eats dirt. I like it so much because Mother Yashoda looks inside Krsna’s mouth and sees the entire universe there, that is quite amazing – the universe is within Krsna, who at the same time, is within the universe! That is really extraordinary! He is within the universe very much, with us, and yet at the same time, the universe is within him. So how is this possible?

By the laws of nature, it is not! By logic, it is not but, it is happening and he shows it to Mother Yashoda right there and then! She sees the real universe because when she looks in his mouth and she sees Krsna in that universe, she also sees herself looking into the mouth of Krsna; and in that universe, again Krsna and again herself; again Krsna and again herself in so many universes! In that way, Mother Yashoda is totally amazed!

Celebrations for the anniversary of the grand opening of the Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari temple at Hare Krishna Land were held on the day of  Makara-sankranti.

“Srila Prabhupada had in mind a design similar to the Radha-Govindaji temple in Jaipur. During the pandal festival at Cross-Maidan a Dutch devotee was regularly coming to hear Srila Prabhupada’s lectures and see him afterwards. Then Srila Prabhupada discovered that he was an architect and he became very happy. Srila Prabhupada showed him pictures of the Radha-Govindaji temple in Jaipur and he used that as a basis for the design of the Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari temple. Srila Prabhupada also wanted a guesthouse—or hotel as Srila Prabhupada called it back then. A very unique hotel. Srila Prabhupada gave the initial design with the two towers that you see here. Where did Srila Prabhupada get the idea for these two towers from? He got the idea from the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. The Hilton Hotel in Nairobi has towers almost identical to these.”

—Gopal Krishna Goswami

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Gopal Krishna Goswami
Giriraj Swami