Planet ISKCON

From Dr Roy:

Christians hold that life exists only on earth, whereas Vedas hold that life exists on other planets. So how can we use as evidence for God's existence the scientific inference that life on other planets is improbable, as the below widely read article mentions?

http://www.wsj.com/article_email/eric-metaxas-science-increasingly-makes-the-case-for-god-1419544568-lMyQjAxMTI0MjMyMTYzODExWj

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I saw the news today of protests and counter protests in Germany. One party is protesting over the ‘Islamisation’ of Germany, a ‘Christian nation,’ and the other party is protesting their protests. Can a country own a single religion any more? Can any modern (post-modern) country truly be labelled as one religion or another?

Here’s what one German woman, living in India, has to say about it:

Here

The post January 6th, 2014 – Flower Dress Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

HH Bhakti Vidyapurna Swami at ISKCON Mayapur on 2015-01-04, Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 06 02 35 37

Evaluating the validity of rituals based on their sensibility seems like a sound criterion, but is it really? Let’s consider three factors:

1. Are we ready to reject all rituals that don’t make sense?
2. Is making sense the essence of rituals?
3. Are we mature enough to properly evaluate the value of rituals?

1. Are we ready to reject all rituals that don’t make sense?

Let’s consider the ritual of blowing candles during birthday celebrations. What is the sense in blowing candles? And what is the sense in blowing as many candles as the age of the birthday celebrant? If we investigate the history of this ritual, we find that it originated in a medieval European superstition that people were haunted by as many evil spirits as was their age; and with each candle that was extinguished, one spirit would be driven out. Makes terrific sense, doesn’t it? If all senseless rituals are to be rejected, then why make a caricature of religious rituals alone? Why not make a caricature of the birthday ritual of blowing candles? Stopping that ritual might even promote hygiene – it will save participants from consuming the birthday celebrant’s saliva droplets that may fall on the cake while blowing the candles.

2. Is making sense the essence of rituals?

Rituals provide standardized templates to guide us towards emotions and actions appropriate for specific situations. Consider for example the ritual of shaking hands when we meet someone. From a strictly logical point of view, there’s no sense in this ritual – whatever is to be done in the subsequent meeting could well be done without an initial handshake. But the ritual of shaking hands when done properly sets a positive, warm emotional tone for the meeting.

Tribals living in forests whose greeting ritual is a nod or a hand-wave from a safe distance may well consider the physical proximity required for a handshake a threatening intrusion into their personal space. We moderns on the other hand may consider the tribals’ refusal to shake hands as a sign of their rudeness. Both arrive at wrong inferences because the rituals come from different frames of reference, frames within which the essence of rituals is not making sense but experiencing and conveying emotions. To unsympathetic observers who can’t or don’t want to experience those emotions, those rituals may make no sense even when they retain their validity for the ritual-performers.

3. Are we mature enough to properly evaluate the value of rituals?

Say a child’s foot has been cut by a nail. When a doctor checks the wound, that doctor gives a preventive anti-tetanus injection. It makes no sense to the child: “I have pain in my foot and this doctor who is supposed to remove that pain is instead causing pain in one more place – the thigh.” The child doesn’t have the sense to make sense of the injection, but those who have more sense – the parents – will gently but firmly persuade the child to take the injection. And as the child grows up and understands how medicines work, then the child too will be able to make sense of what had earlier seemed like nonsense.

Similarly, we may feel that some rituals are insensible, but the problem may well be with us, not with the rituals – we may not be mature enough to understand their value, even when the rituals are deeply meaningful.

 

They can be, but what is the solution?

When we come to know that the number we are dialing is wrong, we seek the right number by consulting the appropriate authoritative book, the phone directory.

Similarly, we can find the right rituals by referring to the appropriate authoritative book, scripture. Scripture offers us much more than does a directory. By studying scripture, we can understand much more than just which ritual to perform – we can understand why to perform it and how it works.

When people don’t have scriptural knowledge, they can’t differentiate between proper rituals that actually connect them with God and improper rituals that have come up by concoction and become established as convention. That is, they can’t understand the difference between the right number and the wrong number. As such a state of affairs is widespread in today’s society, there’s an urgent need for systematic scriptural education.

But if instead we indulge, as does PK, in simplistic denunciation of all rituals based on naïve caricatures of some rituals, then that’s like rejecting all numbers as wrong because some numbers don’t work. Such caricature-centered derision of rituals is the surest way of keeping people perpetually disconnected from God, for it’s like telling people to never dial again for the fear of dialing a wrong number.

Holy Name Meditation Podcast:

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In Chapter Ten [of Canto Three] we get a very logical, evolutionarily sequential description of Creation progressing through 10 stages. Brahmā becomes involved from stage 7. In that 7th stage, Brahmā creates flora. In the 8th, fauna. In the 9th, humans. And in the 10th he creates super-humans.

In Chapter Twelve we seem to get other details. Basically, I can satisfactorily harmonize these details with Chapter Ten…

1. The five darknesses he creates are a refinement of darkness itself which evolved on its own prior to Brahmā’s birth (stage 6 of Chapter Ten).

2. Before creating the flora, fauna, humans and super-humans, he created some other important beings who are distinct from these four categories, namely: the Kumaras, the Rudras, the Prajapatis (Inc. Nārada and Kaśyapa), Vak/Sarasvatī, and finally Humans (Through Svāyambhuva Manu and Śatarūpā). The chapter describes other important things he created as well, that are not living beings.

So far so good, but then we get Chapter Twenty… describing Brahmā’s creation…

Text 18: He creates darkness
Text 19: He creates monsters/night
Text 22: He creates gods/day
Text 23: He creates demons/sunset
Text 38: He creates angels/moonlight
Text 40: He creates ghosts/sleep
Text 42: He creates Sādhya and Pitṛ/ Technology and Ritual
Text 44: He creates Siddhas and Vidyādharas / Magic
Text 45: He creates human-animal hybrids / sunrise
Text 47: He creates serpents and dragons / frustration and depression
Text 49: He creates humans (Manu) / the central life-form in the universe
Text 52: He creates the sages

To fit Chapters Twenty, Twelve, and Ten onto a single consistent timeline is challenging. But this seems to work: texts 19 through 47 give details about the 10th stage of creation (the super-human entities). Text 49 talks about the 9th stage (humans). Text 52 and 18 talk about things that happen after Brahmā’s birth but before stage 7 (flora).

To put it all into charts…

This is my conception of the first 6 stages of creation, taking all three chapter’s into account:

"The chanting of the holy name resonates in your mind and comes out your mouth. You pay attention to the quality, that each mantra is uttered clearly, each syllable pronounced and heard. You try as usual for reciprocation with the Divine Couple."

From Bhajana Kutir #101
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 21 May 2014, Prague, Czech Republic, Lecture at Govindas)

We have to look at our life as a whole and not only get lost in the moment. We are enjoying the material world but still it is not fulfilling. There is enjoyment, but it is not enough to fulfill the emptiness in our heart. If we want enjoyment, it has to be authorized, and it has to be within the boundaries of pious life. Not that we enjoy in a sinful way because if we enjoy in sinful way then we get tied up with sinful reactions. So, one who wishes to enjoy the senses, is allowed to, but within the boundaries of authority. Anyone who is breaking the rules of scripture, is binding himself to suffering in future, in the material world. Therefore we must take shelter, shelter of the principles of dharma!

 

This is a continuation of Gopisa das’s India Journal.  See DAYS 1 & 2 in this Brijabasi Spirit, Dec. 26, 2014.  The link follows.

http://www.brijabasispirit.com/2014/12/26/new-vrindabans-gopisa-das-discusses-rotis-and-spirituality-in-the-land-of-bharatavarsha/

DAY 3

Dearest family,

Day two was comprised of seminars, workshops and bhajans. Jaya Krsna and I went to the market in the afternoon for a cotton chadar (a gift for Abinanda to be brought back with the dust of Srimati Radharani’s temple), some fruit and a couple of spoons (ah, the little things). This was an amazing scene of cows, dogs, pigs and people all harmoniously roaming the streets in perfect synchronicity. We even saw one monkey which I understand is rare for Varsana. The residents greet us with “Jaya Radhe” or “Hare Krishna”. This is not a show put on for the starry eyed foreigners, it is their way of life. Even this morning we were awakened at 4 am by Radha Krishna bhajans over a loudspeaker. Throughout the town, the bhajans are playing over what appear to be a government owned sound system.

After 16 rounds today, I’m a little less apprehensive of the last day that is the 64 rounder. Sacinandana Swami and Bhurijana Prabhu are wonderful and encouraging guides. Tomorrow we are off on a field trip to Krsna Kunda where we will remain for 12 hours of bhajans. It should prove to be an exciting adventure.

Regarding time zones, we are 10 1/2 hours ahead of you. There is no WiFi here so all these emails will come at once when we reach Vrindavan. In the meantime, I’ll keep writing and saving them as drafts.

Love and Krsna to you all, g…SEE DAY 4 BELOW…..

DAY 4

Dearest family,

 

Today we took a field trip to Krsna Kunda for a 12 hour kirtan session. The monkeys there are numerous and playful, not aggressive little thieves like I hear they are in Vrindavan. We were in a spacious hall and the devotees that organized the event moved the floor padding and cover from the current temple room. You may find it interesting that the floor is completely covered with pads that are covered with a huge sewn white cotton sheet. It is expansive and easy to sit and dance on. Besides dressing Their Lordships every morning, there are also flower designs on the steps leading into the temple. Kalindi, you’d be in ecstasy seeing all the marigolds they have available.

 

Back to Krsna Kunda…on the way there I saw an incredible bird that was medium sized with a turquoise body and black head. Very striking! Also saw Srimati Radharani’s green parrots flying overhead in pairs and talking pastimes to each other.

 

The kirtan featured many wonderful voices both men and women. One mataji sang with such a sweet voice that I had to record a little bit of it. BB Govinda Swami was in attendance and his kirtans are exceptional. Although the holy dhama is covered by vast seas of garbage, it is none the less a mystical place with treasures hiding just beneath the surface. We have come back late, it’s now 11 pm and the morning program will be upon us soon.

 

Love and Krsna to you all, g

 

 

Dr. Arvind Panagariya is a professor of economics at Columbia and an alumnus from Princeton. He is also an editor for India Policy Forum and Brookings Institution. He is currently the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog of India. Talking about climate change in developing countries like India and China, his solution is that developed countries such as the US should invest heavily in research in developing countries so there is enough technology using non-fossil fuels to alleviate climatic change. This may sound like a solution but so far, we have not found any convincing alternate fuel source that can be implemented at a global level. Besides, climate change, poverty and world economy are interlinked to the point that one can adversely impact the other. New technology still requires exploitation of natural resources which again may put us back to square one.

There is another solution – shutting down or at the least reduce half of the global slaughter houses that promote factory farming. This can have a significant impact on climate change and global poverty. Slaughtering animals on a mass scale (factory farming), repeated research has shown, creates massive amounts of greenhouse gases that it is the leading cause of climate change. Al Gore is on record saying "the growing meat intensity of diets around the world is bad for the planet…and the factory farming way so much of our livestock is raised now is very bad for the planet, no question about it". While Al Gore won Nobel peace prize for elevating the climate issue, he admits he likes his meat and has no plans of giving it up. Obviously, there is an inherent hypocrisy involved in his book and movie.

Raising animals for slaughter is a highly inefficient way to use our land and its resources. The prestigious Worldwatch Institute states, "Meat consumption is an inefficient use of grain—the grain is used more efficiently when consumed directly by humans. Continued growth in meat output is dependent on feeding grain to animals, creating competition for grain between affluent meat-eaters and the world’s poor.” According to the United Nations, raising animals for food (including land used for grazing and land used to grow feed crops) uses a staggering 30 percent of the earth’s land mass. More than 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to grow grain to feed farmed animals, and according to scientists’ at the Smithsonian Institution, the equivalent of seven football fields of land is bulldozed worldwide every minute to create more room for farmed animals. It takes more than 11 times as much fossil fuel to make one calorie from animal protein as it does to make one calorie from plant protein.

Raising animals for food gobbles up precious energy. Nearly half of all the water used in the United States goes to raising animals for food. In 2008, John Anthony Allan, a professor at King’s College London and the winner of the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize, urged people worldwide to go vegetarian because of the tremendous waste of water involved with eating animals. It takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat, while growing 1 pound of wheat only requires 25 gallons. You save more water by not eating a pound of meat than you do by not showering for six months! According to Greenpeace, all the wild animals and trees in more than 2.9 million acres of the Amazon rain forest in Brazil were destroyed in the 2004-2005 crop season in order to grow crops that are used to feed chickens and other animals in factory farms. Finally, According to Oregon State University agriculture professor Peter Cheeke, “factory farming constitutes a frontal assault on the environment, with massive groundwater and air pollution problems”

The evidence is overwhelming - animal slaughter is not only causing global climate issues, it also is promoting and sustaining food poverty. By living a vegetarian lifestyle, one can save large amounts of land and water resources. Using the saved land and water, more people across the world can be fed thus fully eliminating food poverty. When people do not experience food shortage (or food insecurity) there will not be a need to work in substandard working conditions at low-wages. This will also bridge the gap between the rich and poor thus creating a more equitable social, economic and political society.

If the leaders of society can simply take one strategy of stopping or reducing factory farming of animals, one can solve global poverty and reverse climate change. Since the desire to eat meat will always remain, a policy should be mandated to cull animals’ in small scale in local farms. As such a practice will be expensive; the frequency of meat consumption will reduce.

Bhagavatam-daily podcast:

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What is it like to preach in New York City? (Photos with descriptions)
Srila Prabhupada: By the grace of the Lord, if a devotee, at the time of death, can simply chant Hare Krishna, he immediately surpasses the great ocean of the material sky and enters into the spiritual sky. He never has to come back for repetition of birth and death. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.10.30 Purport)
See them here: http://goo.gl/OEmGJk

Yesterday we visited the home where the great saint Madhvacharya appeared. It is not far from Udupi. Madhvacharya was an incarnation of the wind god, Vayu, and previously appeared as both Hanuman and Bhima. He was instrumental is spreading Vaisnavism throughout India in the 13 century. We also took advantage to visit a nearby ancient [...]

The glories of winter preaching in Tel-aviv, Israel (Album 42 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: There is competition of loving Krishna even in the party of Srimati Radharani. It is a kind of rasa to compete in loving affection centering around Krishna. Letter to Brahmananda, November 18, 1967.
See them here: http://goo.gl/T9S02L

The city of Udupi is situated in the southwest state of Karnataka in India. It has a population of 165,000 people, but is filled with visiting pilgrims throughout the year. Devotees come specifically to take darsan of the beautiful deity of Krishna [ Udupi Krishna ] who was established by Sripad Madhvacarya in the 13th [...]

Gita Verse-by-verse Study Podcast:

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Gita Verse-by-verse Study Podcast:

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I have shared this short video before, but it bears repetition. I hope my readers won’t mind. It’s that time of year, after all.

The beginning of a year is a good time to plan the rest of it. What will we do with 2015? We all have the same amount of time, and according to what gives us happiness – and what we think will bring us happiness in the longer term – we will allot our precious time accordingly.

A Vaishnava is one who considers that the highest happiness is available from discovering and acting in relationship to God. All other time-consuming actions in life are then allotted their respective importance.

It is a refreshing thing to carefully examine where our 24 hours goes, and whether we could fit something extra for our spiritual benefit into the day. Or, and more importantly, to carve out just the time we need for our spiritual practise first, then fit everything else in life around that.

The days of our life are not jelly beans, they add up to what our life is all about. It is a good thing to take stock of where the days are going and what we’re getting from them. Today is a good day to begin.

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi Klang - Ratha Yatra 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi Klang - Ratha Yatra 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi Klang - Ratha Yatra 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi Klang - Ratha Yatra 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi Klang - Ratha Yatra 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi Klang - Ratha Yatra 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi Klang - Ratha Yatra 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi Klang - Ratha Yatra 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi Klang - Ratha Yatra 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi Klang - Ratha Yatra 2014

Pushya Abhishek in Iskcon Vrindavan! 5/1/15 (Album 57 photos)
Pushya Abhishek of their Lordship Sri Sri Krishna Balram Gaura Nitai Sri Sri Radha Shyamsundara and Lalita Vishakha Devi with pure cow ghee!
Srila Prabhupada once explained the festival this way: “Krishna was just a toy in the hands of the Gopis, so one day the Gopis decided that we shall decorate Him. Pusya abhisheka means a ceremony to decorate the deity profusely with flowers, ornaments, cloths.
After there should be lavish feasting and a procession through the streets, so that all the citizens should see how beautiful Krishna appears.”
See them here: http://goo.gl/Ktq1Ry

Bhaktivedanta Academy Students in Alachua, Florida, help plant Fruit Trees
The Bhaktivedanta Academy students from Shanti Day’s class came out last week to help plant the first section of the fruit orchard. The students planted 15 trees including pear, persimmon, peach and plum, and learned some basic principles of dormant planting, where the plant’s roots shoot downwards, and the tree is prevented from budding. In two years or so the students will see the fruit of their work, literally. Now that the fruit trees are in they need watering. This can be easily accomplished by drip irrigation lines, which can be put down and connected to our new water tower tank. BUT the solar well pump needs to be hooked up to the new well and the solar panels installed by an experienced person.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/X0W2nc

A Krishna Conscious Taxi Ride - Yamaraja das
Yamaraja das likes to see each person that gets into his taxi as a potential recipient of Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. He is always looking for the right opportunity to introduce his customers to Srila Prabhupada’s books. More often than not people have been open and appreciative to receive a book and hear something about the Hare Krishna movement. The cab company owner Abhayananda das is also a devotee, which affords a degree of facility to Yamaraja prabhu’s mission.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/9egUr9

The qualities that a civilised society is meant to inculcate in its citizens.

The post Varnasrama series 5 appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Kirtan: Meditation with a bang (6 min video)
A short video to give a people a taste of kirtan.
Kirtan is actually the recommended yoga technique for this age, to uncover our original self which is beyond the body and mind, and reconnect with the Supreme consciousness, Krishna, Source of all pleasure. Yoga actually literally means this - to connect the tiny particle of consciousness, ourselves, with the Supreme Consciousness, Krishna in our original harmonious relationship - so we can again experience that taste and full resonance we are always searching for in everything we do - the Love Supreme. That is the highest pleasure available for us. But anyway that’s a look in to the deeper meaning of kirtan, if you just want to come for relaxation and a good time, feel free!
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/2G3WUV