Best way to spend the night before Christmas (Album 136…
→ Dandavats.com



Best way to spend the night before Christmas (Album 136 photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Last night, accompanied by a police escort, we took a small Ratha Yatra cart on harinam through old Hong Kong, distributing the gift of the holy names to everyone. Being Christmas Eve the people were in good spirits and many smiled, waved and even danced with us as we made our way through the crowded streets. A most perfect way to spend the night before Christmas!
See them here: http://goo.gl/3lv3za

Sri Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama 2015 (6 min beautiful…
→ Dandavats.com



Sri Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama 2015 (6 min beautiful video)
ISKCON Mayapur invites all of you to join our Sri Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama 2015 from 22nd to 28th February 2015. This year we are celebrating the 500th anniversary of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s visit to Sri Vrndavana Dham. Special evening classes by different sannyasis and senior devotees will be the highlight of this Parikrama. Our Adhivas will take place on 21st at Yoga Pita. See you there! Hare Krsna!
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/Gljsry

Krishna Balarama Mandir to Celebrate 40th Anniversary At least…
→ Dandavats.com



Krishna Balarama Mandir to Celebrate 40th Anniversary
At least one hundred Prabhupada disciples, including several who helped build Krishna Balarama Mandir, are expected to attend the epic five-day celebration of the Vrindavan temple’s 40th anniversary from March 24th to 28th 2015. They’ll be recalling the even grander original opening festival from April 16th to 27th, 1975. Attended by 1,000 devotees, it was the culmination of a ten-year struggle by ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupada to get a temple established in the sacred village Lord Krishna grew up in – something he saw as an important need especially for foreign devotees. The first three days of the 1975 festival were filled with elaborate yajnas performed by professional brahmanas. On the day before the installation of Sri Sri Krishna Balarama, Their utsav vigraha (small festival Deities) were taken on a grand procession with elephants, cows, bands, drums, hundreds of devotees and Srila Prabhupada through Vrindavan town.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/5b8L2x

ISKCON’s Tribal Care Initiative Reaches Out to Tribal People of…
→ Dandavats.com



ISKCON’s Tribal Care Initiative Reaches Out to Tribal People of India
The recently formed ISKCON Tribal Care Initiative, headed by GBC Bhakti Purusottama Swami and chief coordinator Sridham Govinda Das, is reaching out to the numerous tribal communities located in forests and remote areas of East and Northeast India. The Initiative is currently focusing on the Munda and Sauntala tribes of the state of Orissa, the Karbi and Dimasar tribes of Assam, the Riang and Tripuri tribes of Tripura, the Mizo tribes of Mizoram, and the Naga tribes of Nagaland.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/doxOTh

Gita has principles for leaders, says US Congresswoman Speaking…
→ Dandavats.com



Gita has principles for leaders, says US Congresswoman
Speaking to the audience here, Gabbard narrated the turning points in her life which led her to believe strongly in the Gita. In fact, after elections, she even took her oath by the Gita, she said. But what it means to her is more than the symbols of religion. For her, the teachings in the Gita are life principles that all leaders must follow. There is a dearth of leaders who are not selfish and who truly care for the society, she said.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/P0fZes

Gita 03.13 – See God not just as the provider of food but also as its enjoyer.mp3 Gita 11.37 kasmac ca te nameran mahatman .mp3
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Gita Verse-by-verse Study Podcast:


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Observing Jiva Gosvami’s Disappearance Day
Giriraj Swami

Srila_Jiva_GosvamiToday is the disappearance day of Srila Jiva Gosvami, one of the Six Gosvamis of Vrndavana, direct disciples of Lord Chaitanya. Srila Prabhupada writes, “Srila Jiva Gosvami composed and edited at least twenty-five books. They are all very much celebrated . . . After the disappearance of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami in Vrndavana, Srila Jiva Gosvami became the acarya of all the Vaisnavas in Bengal, Orissa, and the rest of the world, and it is he who used to guide them in their devotional service. In Vrndavana he established the Radha-Damodara temple, where, after retirement, we had the opportunity to live from 1962 until 1965, when we decided to come to the United States of America.” (Cc Adi 10.85 purport)

In London I am staying in the home of Ramanuja dasa and Shyama Sakhi dasi, and their son Varun. In Vrindavan Varun did some service to restore and preserve Srila Jiva Gosvami’s chanting beads (japa-mala), and in reciprocation, the Goswami in possession of the beads gave one to Varun. Today I chanted japa on that bead, remembering Srila Jiva Goswami’s exalted qualities and activities—and love. And in response to a prayer to him, I felt that he instructed me, “Just serve your gurudeva. By the service of your gurudeva you will get everything.”

In his purport to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 4.71), Srila Prabhupada writes, “Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhu gives the following directions in his Bhakti-sandarbha (270): ‘Chanting the holy name is the chief means of attaining love of Godhead. This chanting or devotional service does not depend on any paraphernalia, nor on one’s having taken birth in a good family. By humility and meekness one attracts the attention of Krsna. That is the verdict of all the Vedas. Therefore if one becomes very humble and meek, he can easily attain the lotus feet of Krsna in this Age of Kali. That is the fulfillment of all great sacrifices, penances, and austerities, because when one achieves ecstatic love of Godhead, he attains the complete perfection of life. Therefore whatever one does in executing devotional service must be accompanied by the chanting of the holy name of the Lord.’ ”

Hare Krishna.

Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Dome is Rising
- TOVP.org

The design of the TOVP is such that it will have three domes; one main dome in the center, flanked by two smaller domes on either side. The main dome is 58 meters (198 feet) in height and the two side domes are 30 meters (98 feet) and will be taller than Srila Prabhupada’s samadhi.

Under the main dome will reside the Deities on Their altar along with the Vedic chandelier/planetarium. Under the left smaller dome will be the Exhibits Wing. And under the right dome, Lord Nrsimhadeva on His beautiful marble and gold altar will reside.

Each small dome will be composed of four stainless steel rings, and each ring will consist of eight segments. We are planning to build both of the small domes at the same time. When the first two segments of Lord Nrsimhadeva’s dome will be in place we will start work on the left dome over the Exhibits Wing.

Work has now begun on the dome above Lord Nrsinghadeva’s altar and the first segment has just been lifted into place. Two cranes are involved in this procedure, one outside and one inside the TOVP structure. Due to the complicated nature of the work involved, one of the cranes requires to be re-situated, a procedure that itself will take several months. An estimate for the completion of the smaller domes is as yet not available.

It’s so exciting to see how the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium is coming up! We are blessed to be able to witness the daily progress of this historic project taking place.

The post Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Dome is Rising appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Jesus the teacher
→ Servant of the Servant


Christmas is a religious holiday where the birth of Jesus is glorified. On this day, traditionally, believers of Christ attend mass and sing songs of glory unto him. Unfortunately, only a handful take up christianity in a mood of prayer and worship while the majority lot are interested mainly in wrapped merchandise.

I want to share with you my realization of Jesus Christ and modern day christianity.

My introduction to Jesus happened rather at a very young age say about 7 or 8 years. I had two friends (both of them brothers) who were devout Christians. I and my brother used to visit their home regularly as they were our school mates. I remember them and their family as being loving, compassionate and very devout Christians. Every day, around evening time, the entire family come to gather to pray to the Lord. If I and my brother were there at that time, we would join the prayers as well. This sincere service to Jesus impressed me. Besides, their parents were more attached to their children than my own father were to me and my brother. I attributed their togetherness to their faith in Jesus. This positive experience opened up within me to know more about Jesus.

In India, Jesus is a minority. So it takes some effort to know him. Whenever i got the opportunity i learnt and appreciated the personality called Jesus mostly through popular media such as movies or television.

After taking up God consciousness seriously, i made efforts to understand christianity little more seriously. I read few books on christianity, watched documentaries etc. The more i exposed myself to Jesus and christianity, the more i realized that my naive understanding of the religion is not what it is in reality. Christians, today, are taught by the church to believe that there is no path to God but only through Jesus. Other religionists are simply destined to hell no matter how pious they may be, on the other hand, Christians are destined to heaven regardless of how they live. This philosophy i think does not fit with reality. This dogmatic approach to religion is why many relinquish it. Another aspect of the religion i found unsettling is to do with the scripture itself - The Bible. First of all there are so many variations of the Bible. Also, the four current gospels which tell the story of Jesus were handpicked by some scholars in the first century AD. Who were these scholars and who gave them the authority to pick certain gospels is not sure? Another interesting point is that the authors themselves (of the four selected gospels) are unknown to modern man. To me the divinity of the story teller is as important as the divine subject itself. Otherwise, there is no difference between the Bible and a mundane book.

So in more ways than one, i was disappointed to know how modern day Christianity evolved, is taught and practiced. Having said this, the personality called Jesus - i am still very much attached to. Although the veracity of Jesus can be questioned as i believe the current version of the Bible does not portray him in truth, i still believe Jesus was and is a divine person who came upon this earth to deliver mankind from his materialistic ways. To me he is a messenger of God who sacrificed his life to speak the truth about spiritual values. I see Jesus as a savior in the sense that he tried to enlighten and elevate people to a sublime state of consciousness. His sermon on the mount is a testament to this.

While the American and perhaps the world's notion of Jesus may be one of resurrection and salvation, I approach Jesus as my guide to a spiritual way of life. On his holy appearance, I offer respects unto him and pray unto him to give me the proper consciousness by which I can attain the Father In Heaven with great awe and reverence.

Hare Krishna

Goodbye 2014
→ KKSBlog

We wish you a Merry 2015, etc etc….

Did you know?

  • kksblog website updates new improvedWe had 12673 views per month! (last years average was 8510)
  • South Africans visited the blog the most with 18288 views this year
  • We published 338 articles, with 846 images and media files,
  • This is almost 650 MB in one year, with a total of 40.6 GB

Top 16

Top “ten” lists are flooding the internet at the end of the year, so here is  a spiritual top 16! You can make your own interpretations on this list. We just wonder why “Strong medicine” is still on top?! Check out the list from last year.

  1. Strong medicine
  2. Sex in Vedic culture
  3. The lonely vaisnava
  4. To be or not to be… vegan?
  5. A farewell to my disciple Visnujana
  6. The brahmachari and the grhasta
  7. Tightening the screws
  8. Visit Brahmananda
  9. Friendship is important
  10. The opening of Iskcon Noida Temple, Delhi
  11. Kirtan Mela Mayapur, 2014
  12. The perfect soul mate!?
  13. Kartik vows
  14. Offering potato chips!?
  15. Service in Serbia – Fruska Gauranga Summer Camp, 2014
  16. Sex: Is that all there is?

What was your favorite post? Let us know!!!

Who made this possible?

  • Ragalekha dd – 80 posts – our stalwart chief editor
  • Harsarani dd – 61 posts
  • Amrtavani dd – 55 posts
  • Ananda Vrindavan dasi – 49 posts
  • Nicole Moodley – 44 posts
  • KKSBlog – 34 posts – general account for posts 
  • Uddhava das – 17 posts – the nerd who didn’t change much this year
  • Kristin Kallas – 13 posts
  • Nama rupa dd – 6 posts
  • Candrasekhara das – 4 posts
  • Yamuna dd – 4 posts
  • Yadurani dd – 2 posts

Our team is, of course, much bigger. We get content from our readers and our regular contributors that are published under the general kksblog author account. We are not forgetting you!!

Fundraising

Next to our contributors, editor and other staff, we have our devoted financial backers. They support us with the much needed funds to keep this website running and going forward. In 2014, we changed our fundraising technique. Now you can buy an audio album, hard-drive or other goodies and support us at the same time. So, you get something wonderful and support KKSBlog simultaneously.

2014 is almost over but you may still visit our support page

We acknowledge the following people who have supported KKSBlog:

  • Aashish Sharma
  • Jyestha dd
  • Rachael Huang
  • Vanessa Schutz
  • Nadia Mani dd
  • Govardhanesvari dd
  • Astasakhi dd
  • Gita Govinda dd
  • Mark Davison
  • Doyal Govinda d
  • Tony Perkins

 2015 already?

Yes, welcome to the new age. You missed some stuff. And new content is coming daily. Join our newsletter so you won’t miss out. You can also be social on facebook or tweet away.

The Kingsday & Vyasa-puja festivals are coming!! Read more…

 

By This Positive Affirmation
→ Japa Group

I have been thinking about this today....we can create in our mind the right mood for chanting. Before we start our Japa can pray to the Lord for assistance and re-affirm the basics so we can avoid offenses to the Holy names.
An example could be something like this: "I won't do anything else"...by this positive affirmation we can create a goal in our minds and we can make our minds ready to overcome this obstacle....and we can pray to Krsna "Please help me chant your Holy names attentively".
We need to make the effort ourselves and we also need to ask the Lord for assistance to overcome our obstacles in Japa

Krishna Balarama Mandir to Celebrate 40th Anniversary
→ ISKCON News

At least one hundred Prabhupada disciples, including several who helped build Krishna Balarama Mandir, are expected to attend the epic five-day celebration of the Vrindavan temple’s 40th anniversary from March 24th to 28th 2015. They’ll be recalling the even grander original opening festival from April 16th to 27th, 1975, attended by 1,000 devotees.

Urban Yoga
→ Ramai Swami

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On the first Saturday of every month the devotees at Urban Yoga, Melbourne, advertise a big kirtan night followed by wonderful prasadam.

It is especially geared to attract westerners and usually there’s a good attendance. The mantras are projected onto a screen and everyone is taught to chant, especially the Hare Krsna maha-mantra.
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