Websites from the ISKCON Universe
“Why does the dust that falls from my lotus-like feet immediately destroy all impurities? Why does Goddess Śrī not leave my side even though I do nothing to keep her there, while everyone else struggles to attract the slightest fragment of her attention? I am so pure and blessed only because I am so thoroughly devoted to serving those pure, blessed souls who listen deeply to my kīrtan.”
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.7
Iskcon London Greeting Deities & Guru Puja – 23.12.2014
Gita verse-by-verse study podcast:
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On New Year's Day, Thursday, January 1st, 2015, Toronto's Hare Krishna temple will be hosting our annual Srila Prabhupada Festival! Promising to be a great way to start the new year, the festival is usually one of the biggest of the year.(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 01 December 2014, Mayapur, India, Srimad Bhagavatam Lecture 6.1.50)
Question: You have said that we are on our own and it is up to us to go back home, back to Godhead. What are we supposed to do?
Take devotional service very serious. Take it very serious! That is what we are supposed to do. Really, all I can say is: Be serious about serious things.
We can have lots of fun. Everyone wants some fun – so we can joke, we can play, we can feast and so on, but let’s be serious about serious things! Serious about chanting sixteen rounds, serious about following four regulative principles, serious about reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, serious about devotional service, serious about our ashram. Let’s be serious about serious things and then we will find that gradually we have become very focused and that we have become very serious about going back to Godhead.
Urban Yoga advertised the title of my lecture, “Spiritual Life in the Modern Age,” for another night at the centre, which has now been beautifully renovated.
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Harinama in Vladivostok, Russia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: No one can be more pure than devotees. Anyone who once utters the name of Vishnu immediately becomes purified, inside and outside. Since a devotee constantly chants the Hare Krishna mantra, no contamination of the material world can touch him. He is, therefore, actually purified.
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.12.37 Purport)
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ISKCON Radha Golokananda temple, Phoenix, Mauritius (Album 21 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: A devotee, either in danger or in happiness, constantly chants the Hare Krishna mantra. When he is in danger he is immediately relieved, and when he is in a position to see Lord Vishnu or His associates directly, by chanting this maha-mantra he can please the Lord. This is the absolute nature of the maha-mantra. Either in danger or in happiness, it can be chanted without limitation. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.12.21 Purport)
See them here: http://goo.gl/hsMgss
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With thanks to Dhamananda mataji for her lovely service finding this pic on Desire Tree.
If you happen to be passing through or staying in Norwich, or visiting the North Norfolk coast, you may be interested to know that there is a lovely devotee cafe right in town.
I stumbled upon Lili Cafe one day when I walked by and noticed Srila Prabhupada’s books in the window. I walked in and received a warm welcome from Vijay prabhu and Urmila mataji , had a lovely chat and delicious prasadam and they gave me information of Sunday evening meetings. I was staying at the coast in late October and trains, one an hour, would have left me walking in the pitch dark alone when I returned. But hopefully next time…
Do give the cafe a visit – it’s on Upper Goat Lane, just past the Queen of Hearts if you are walking from town.
Radhanath Swami Speaks at the London School of Economics
The talk had a visible impact on a large portion of the audience, many of which stayed behind after for book signing or a quick conversation. Moreover, with the amount of effort and people involved, it would seem that it was a sign of more initiatives to come here at the LSE, especially from students and students’ union societies. A quote from the night that was continually repeated by attendants afterwards acts as an ideal summary of the event; “’you can count how rich you are by the number of things you have that money can’t buy.”
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/INmHC9
Friday Harinama in Tel-Aviv, Israel (Album 111 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given us a nice weapon for this age. The narayanastra, or weapon to drive away maya, is the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra in pursuance of the associates of Lord Caitanya, such as Advaita Prabhu, Nityananda, Gadadhara and Srivasa. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.11.1 Purport)
See them here: http://goo.gl/UthGO4
Albert Einstein once said, “Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.” Today when the world is increasingly apprehensive of barbaric tyrants acquiring weapons of mass destruction, his statement seems more than prophetic. Unlike an axe that can maim a few, such weapons can massacre millions in moments.
Actually, Einstein’s bleak diagnosis came true in his own lifetime – and with his unintentional participation. He, due to fears that Hitler might develop atomic weapons first, wrote to the US President the letter that kick-started the Manhattan Project and led to the atomic devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is a tragic testimony to the hazardous nature of technological progress that the greatest insight of one of the greatest modern minds (Einstein’s discovery of the inter-convertibility of matter and energy) paved the way to one of the worst man-made modern disasters.
It is a tragic testimony to the hazardous nature of technological progress that the greatest insight of one of the greatest modern minds (Einstein’s discovery of the inter-convertibility of matter and energy) paved the way to one of the worst man-made modern disasters (Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
My point is certainly not to blame scientists or science or technological progress. My point is the same as was Einstein’s in his above quote – to highlight the danger of lopsided human progress, of sharpening the axe without reforming the criminal, of gaining increased outer control without gaining commensurate inner control. Martin Luther King Jr echoed, “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.”
“Spiritual power” refers here to the power that brings out humanity’s higher side and curbs and cures its lower side. Metaphorically speaking, spiritual power disarms and heals the axe-holder. The Bhagavad-gita (16.21) indicates that lust, anger and greed are three anti-spiritual inner forces that bring out the worst within people. That is, they make the axe-holder criminal and pathological. Under their spell, people abuse technology. For example, greed for absolute power made Hitler’s Nazis abuse technology to murder millions in the Holocaust.
Authentic spirituality counters the inner enemies by connecting us with our noble core, the soul, and also with the noblest being, God. Such spiritual connection centers on tangible inner transformation, not nominal religious affiliation. Nominal religionists are as vulnerable as everyone else to the inner enemies.
Transformational spiritual practices such as yoga and meditation enable us to realize the spiritual connectedness of all living beings and to relish higher fulfillment – fulfillment that empowers us to resist the lures of power and pleasure dangled by lust, anger and greed.
In recent times, humanity has invested enormous intellectual energy in developing technologically, but hardly any energy in developing spiritually. If we take up spiritual practices diligently and set positive examples of all-round human progress, we can stimulate a healthy chain reaction of similar holistic progress in society. Such balanced all-round progress alone can empower people to use technology for human well-being.
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“It is a new year ahead with renewed opportunities for service! The annual occasion of celebrating the Vyasa-puja of HH Kadamba Kanana Swami is approaching. The Vyasa-puja book, containing offerings from friends and disciples of Kadamba Kanana Swami, is a wonderful way in which we as a spiritual family can come together in glorification of the spiritual master. Now, you have the opportunity to put down in written form some of that mercy which has been collected over the past year. Now is your chance to share it with others by being included in our book of offerings.”
The deadline is Sunday, 22 February 2015. Don’t hesitate, start writing now.
Send your offering
Go here for all the Vyasa-puja downloads from previous years.
Christmas Kirtan & Prasadam Festival 2014 in Iskcon San Diego (Album 53 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Spiritual enlightenment is possible by the mercy of the spiritual energy of the Lord. The chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is first addressed to the spiritual energy of the Lord, Hare. This spiritual energy acts when a living entity fully surrenders and accepts his position as an eternal servitor. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.9.6 Purport)
See them here: http://goo.gl/h0b25B
Yesterday’s cold and foggy morning in Vrindavana, by Indradyumna Swami (Album 94 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: When the chanting is performed offenselessly the Lord will automatically reveal Himself to the view of the chanter. The chanter, therefore, has to concentrate on hearing the vibration, and without extra endeavor on his part, the Lord will automatically appear. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.53 Purport)
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Christmas harinam in Byron ISKCON New Govardhana - Sri Sri Radha Govardhanadhari (Album 21 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is the easiest process of meditation in this age. As soon as one chants the Hare Krishna mantra, he sees the forms of Krishna, Rama and Their energies, and that is the perfect stage of trance. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.53 Purport)
See them here: http://goo.gl/PaM0Ox
Harinama near Novokuznetskaya (a Moscow Metro station) (Album 42 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: By chanting the Hare Krishna mantra one immediately concentrates on the sound vibration and thinks of the lotus feet of the Lord, and very quickly one is elevated to the position of samadhi, or trance.
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.44 Purport)
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HG Ram Charan Dasa – CCM 19.145-146 23.12.2014
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A while back I sent out a survey. If you were one of the people who filled it out… Thanks! The response has been fantastic and the results have been really interesting (and a little surprising also!) The survey revealed four main challenges that devotees are facing right now. Can you guess what they are? Comment […]
The post What are the Main Challenges Devotees Face Today? appeared first on Successful Vaisnavas - Personal Development for Hare Krishnas.