Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Around 1,000 devotees, including many youth, from Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, the U.S., the U.K., and India are expected to celebrate the New Year with the Holy Name during Kirtan Fest at Brazil’s Nova Gokula Dhama from December 31st to January 3rd. It is the biggest Vaishnava festival in Latin America.
This is “a completely new phase of our existence,” the Archbishop of Canterbury said.
Karthiga deepam a festival celebrated in honor of Lord Shiva attracted more than 12 lakh of people at Thiruvanamalai, South India this year. This festival has been attracting millions of pilgrims to this tiny town of for hundreds of years now. In the midst of all this there was one thing that caught a lot of attention, the Bhagavat Gita As it is.
ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Manor has just made a meditation app available on iTunes and Playstore. It has been designed for an unfamiliar audience and features Sandipani Muni, Ghanashyam Priya and Jahnavi. It's an honest and free app. After beginning with guided generic meditations it introduces our unique contribution in the section named heart.
Devotees in the war-torn Donetsk region have mobilized themselves into a "Food for Life" team which has gained government recognition and very substantial support. They are known by the new government as the "Hare Krishna devotees". Not only have they found a means for themselves to survive, but these devotees have taken the initiative to work cooperatively with the local government, to raise funds from within Russia, and to find the means to get large supplies of produce and grain for distribution. To find out more: fund.niranjanaswami.org
The 10th of December 2014 marked the 18th Anniversary of the signing of the South African Constitution. This day was also the commemoration of the disappearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. These two seemingly arbitrary events in history converged in the shape of a lecture entitled The Law Meets The Vedas delivered by Jayadvaita Swami at the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
In a country torn apart by war and suffering a plunging economy, Ukranian devotees are braving sub zero winter temperatures to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books this December. And they’re being rewarded by a receptive public. “People are very grateful,” says ISKCON Ukraine Regional Secretary Acyuta Priya Das.
Everyone is invited!
We would be honored to have your association at New Vrindaban’s New Year’s Bhakti Retreat starting the evening of Wed. Dec. 31, 2014 through Sun. Jan. 3, 2015.
Spend this New Year’s Eve along with your whole family in the scenic, rolling hills of West Virginia, getting spiritually re-charged. Associate with experienced Prabhupada disciples and listen to their enlivening Krsna Katha and Prabhupada Katha. Feel the purification of the New Year’s Eve Maha Yajna, and greet the new year in a most auspicious atmosphere. Attend enlightening devotional workshops, soothing bhajans and ecstatic kirtans. Enjoy sumptuous, healthy prasad. Does life get any better than this?
Some of the highlights are (times subject to change):
Wed. Dec. 31,2014 – 8:30 to midnight – Kirtan
Thurs. Jan. 1, 2015- 8:00 to 9:00 AM – Special Srimad Bhagavatam Class
10:30 AM -New Year’s Fire Yajna for Auspiciousness
Special Afternoon Classes & Workshops
Afternoon to Evening – Kirtan
Fri. Jan. 2, 2015 – 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM – Special Presentation in Anticipation of the 2015 50th Anniversary of Prabhupada’s Arrival in America by HG Sankirtan das
4:30 PM to 6:00 PM – HG Gopal Hari das speaks
Evening Kirtan
Sat. Jan. 3, 2015 – 8:00 to 9:00 AM – Srimad Bhagavatam Class by H G Gopal Hari das
11:00 AM to 12:30 PM – Her Grace Malati dasi speaks Prabhupada Katha
Holy Name Meditation Podcast:
Gita verse-by-verse study Podcast:
Holy Name Meditation Podcast:
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 28 September 2014, Durban, South Africa, Sunday Feast Lecture)
If we can have Krsna in the foreground, in every situation – first Krsna and then everything – then we have Vrindavan. Simply Krsna, is most important in every situation and that is the spirit of Krsna consciousness.
Then there is another level of Krsna consciousness, where Krsna is the backdrop. In a nice backdrop, we kind of like it and we would not want any other backdrop in our life; but it is a backdrop nonetheless! In our own pastimes… in activities which are on our mind… in our own life and what we are going through and what we are not going through… in what we wish we would be going through… all these things that had never happened… and all that had happened that we had never asked for… like that, so many things and Krsna was always there.
Nice auspicious life, good life, blessed life when Krsna was always there. But how much better could it be when Krsna was always there in the foreground. Then such a life it would just dissolve the demarcation between the spirit and matter. We would be walking in the spiritual world. Our feet would not touch the ground!
Just as the demigods, their feet never touch the ground. The demigods are floating above the ground. But the devotees who always put Krsna first, with every step, they walk in the spiritual world. Not just touching the ground but touching cintamani dham – touching these transcendental touchstones. These cintamani stones are for the spiritual world, the land of the wishful fulfilling desire trees. The land of the Kamadeva, the surabhi cows who can give oceans of milk. That abode, the abode of Krsna…
(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player is needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer; if you are using Google Chrome it will automatically play, so if you don't want to listen, mute your speakers.)
As I was working on last week’s blog about undercurrents in communities, I also thought about a related, important topic concerning our personal undercurrent, and how that affects our life, relationships, and whatever groups we are part of—such as family, school, occupation, and religious organization. I did bring up the subject, without naming it, when I spoke about how devotee’s unresolved “life issues” or undiagnosed mental health problems can create difficulies in any group they are part of. However, that was about “them,”—you know, those “other” devotees that cause all the problems—and I wasn’t specifically addressing you, that saintly person who never causes any conflicts. (Smile!) Many “you’s” make up any group, and each person has an effect on the whole. We must soberly consider that we can’t change others, but only ourselves—and that with great difficulty and endeavor. Never the less, changing for the better, within and without, is our most important work in life, and specifically for those on the path of loving devotional service to Krishna, or our conception Divinity.
If we are in a leadership position, we can carefully and lovingly point out problem areas we observe in others, or if serious enough, recommend they seek professional help. Ultimately each person has to accept their shortcoming and see the value of working toward improvement. Taking personal responsibility for relationship conflicts is the first step, combined with a willingness to do the difficult work of introspection and self-examination. I have written before about our “shadow” side, or those disowned or repressed parts of our psyche, that we don’t want to accept or deal with. “Undercurrent” is another way to label those problematic parts of ourselves and encourage everyone, in addition to spiritual practice, to be engaged in self-improvement and developing less reactionary ways of dealing with others. The principle to “Seek first to understand, then to be understood,” applies if we are to minimize our problems with others, and be a positive force in our family and/or community!
Daily-Bhagavatam Podcast:
The eternal glories of transcendental book distribution!
…Kavicandra’s bus covered the Midwest states. The fifth bus, now under the charge of Gurudasa Swami and Parivrajakacarya Maharaja, was more or less like a “phantom.” The two Maharajas were difficult to control and refused to be pinned to a particular area. A week would go by without any report, when suddenly they would appear a thousand miles away in a completely new location. And finally our sixth bus, led by Dhrstadyumna Prabhu, had the thankless task of working right in the midst of our archrivals. Like the great warrior Abhimanyu, Dhrstadyumna had to contend with the mighty sankirtana-maharathis of Los Angeles. Placing his men in towns along the West Coast, Dhrstadyumna personally drove his bus from van to van, keeping the devotees constantly supplied with books, fresh prasadam, and much-needed association.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/1rnb5H
ISKCON Communications Prepares for 50th Anniversary, Seeks Funds for Next Phase
As it prepares to play a major role in creating awareness for ISKCON’s upcoming 50th anniversary in 2016, the ISKCON Communications Ministry (IC) is looking back on decades of relationship-building and gaining support for Srila Prabhupada’s society. Meanwhile, it’s also seeking funds to ensure an even more effective next fifty years. It was really ISKCON Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada himself who started ISKCON Communications. Always looking for opportunities to meet with government officials, media representatives, religious leaders, scholars, and opinion-makers like the Beatles, Prabhupada sought ways to help them understand Krishna consciousness, support the movement, and thus improve its worldwide reputation.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/jRz4Oo
Krishna Consciousness Grows in South Korea
Krishna consciousness continues to spread in one of the last frontiers, South Korea, with Patanjali Muni Das and Prayojana Das recently returning from their third tour of the East Asian country. Former Korean army officer Patanjali Muni spent three years living and teaching Krishna consciousness in his native country in the mid 2000s, and has translated both the Bhagavad-gita As It Is and the Sri Isopanisad for the Korean audience. Today, he works as the kitchen manager in the U.K.’s Bhaktivedanta Manor, but has toured South Korea with his spiritual message for two weeks each in 2011, 2012, and 2014. Retired aircraft engineer and temple commander Prayojana Das assisted him each time.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/fEUY2v