Planet ISKCON

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Harinama in the snow, Russia (Album 93 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommended five items of devotional service, namely to serve the devotees of the Lord, to chant Hare Krishna, to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, to worship the Deity of the Lord and to live in a place of pilgramage. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.19.38 Purport)
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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 31^st to January 3^rd.  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.

Holy Name Meditation Podcast:

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1968 December 19 : "All of the nonsense Bhagavad-gitas that deny Krishna are simply bluffs. If one is intelligent he is sure to get some inkling of the authorized nature of our Krishna Conscious philosophy. "
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1970 December 19 : "If our books are printed to this standard, that will be very, very good. I do not aspire to any more efficiency in printing, but simply the printing must go on regularly."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1970 December 19 : "This printing must go on. The plan to print 10,000 copies of the new, enlarged edition of Bhagavad-gita is approved by me. Please do it. Offer my blessings to all the workers of ISKCON Press because that is my life."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1972 December 19 : "If there is shortage, we must recruit some first-class men to help us. If this is attempted sincerely, Krishna will provide men, you may know it for certain."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972:

Gita verse-by-verse study Podcast:

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Holy Name Meditation Podcast:

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1972 December 19 : "Krishna does not like to see His sincere devotee suffer. He has got some plan for you, always think in that way, and very soon Krishna will provide everything to your heart's desire."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972:

1972 December 19 : "It is not the result of the work we want. Never mind big, big programmes, just one person, if we sincerely preach to such one person in a day, that is sufficient."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972:

1972 December 19 : "Simply give me a place to lay down, a little prasadam, whatever little service you have got, please give me, that's all. This is advancement in Krishna consciousness."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972:

1972 December 19 : "If you can finish the work by Janmastami next, that will be a very great credit for you, and I shall come there from any part of the world just to install the deity."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972:

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world...simply send me an introduction message and I will be happy to make you a member:

rasa108 ::_::{.at.}::_:: gmail dot com

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Rasa Rasika dasa

(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…

 

 

In solidarity with the people of Sydney, who were slowly coming to terms with the recent hostage siege downtown at Martin Place, we took our harinam party to the streets to give them solace and relief from the grief they were feeling. Our sign, “United in Prayer For Those We’ve Lost,” was greatly appreciated by [...]

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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!

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Daily-Bhagavatam Podcast:

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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

A homeless man in Preston, England helped a college student at 3am in the morning with her taxi fare so she can get home safely. The homeless person gave all the money he had with him at that time - about four pounds. The gal reached home safely and immensely touched by his selfless act is trying to do something in return. The full story can be read here.

How many of us will be willing to give "everything" we possess to a complete stranger? The man had no possessions except for few pounds and he apparently donated everything to the girl so she can reach home safely. Also the homeless man did not give any further contact details so it was all in all a selfless act of compassion to a complete stranger.

According to the Bhagavad Gita (17.20), Krishna says "Charity given out of duty, without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, and to a worthy person is considered to be in the mode of goodness". I think this incident fits all of the criteria for charity in the mode of goodness. It is the duty of humans to help fellow humans and the charity was done with no expectation or return to protect the girl from danger as it was in the wee hours of the night.

As devotees of the Lord, we should practice good samaritanism at the mundane level whenever the opportunity arises, but the greatest charity is to practice transcendental samaritanism. This greatest charity is to awaken the souls from their deep slumber of maya or illusion of materialism. Many devotees during this time engage in distributing books to strangers, undergo difficulties, somehow convince people to take a book and ask for donation. It is by no means easy as sometimes we invite the wrath of the people. However, despite the wrath and inconvenience, devotees persist on "reawakening" a sleeping soul.

This charity in one way is like the homeless person story, except this time the taxi will not take you to a temporary apartment, but a transcendental taxi that will take you back home back to Godhead where every walk is a dance and every word is a song! How much more should the book distributors and their charity be glorified! All glories to the book distributors!

Hare Krishna

1968 December 18: "You have got a nice temple by the grace of my Spiritual Master. You should always pray to His Divine Grace because generally one is more affectionate to the grandchildren so naturally He will be more affectionate to you than to me."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1970 December 18: "I am very encouraged to see your enthusiasm for preaching. Everyone is good, everyone is spirit soul but they have been mislead. Try to save them. That is our duty."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1970 December 18: "Our centers are meant to give relief to the dried up conditioned souls searching after the nectar of joyful life. So I request you all to flood the world with Krishna Conscious centers. The more we open branches, the more I feel encouraged."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1970 December 18: "As GBC member you must always keep yourself pure and in this way your preaching work will take effect. Others are also speaking but their speech has no effect because they are not following. Always maintain Sankirtana Party, prasadam, chant sixteen rounds and read all our literatures."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1974 December 18: "If there are Krsna Conscious leaders in government they will act as Krsna's representatives. At the present moment there is nothing but great calamity. By injecting Krsna Consciousness into the masses we can change this situation greatly."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 December 18: "In America there is very good system of democracy. They were able to get down this Nixon. So if we can simply convince a good majority of persons then automatically they will want a Krsna Conscious leader."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974