Choose The Proper Environment
→ Japa Group

Choosing the proper environment for Japa is critical. More often than not we tend to chant in a place where our mind can be distracted easily - perhaps near our computer where we can check Facebook or in a place where people or things will distract you.
If we want to really focus we have to consider this aspect of Japa. Find a place that reduces the chances of distraction - away from electronic gadgets and away from distracting elements.
When we do this it shows we are really serious about attentive chanting and we are taking a step towards the Lord with this effort.

Mailing Love to Krishna
→ TKG Academy

“What do I have in my hand?” asked Vara’s mother. The students guessed: “Paper!” “Rectangle!”… “It’s a letter”, she explained. “What do you do when you wish to send a letter?” “Put it in the mailbox!” came the answer. “So, just as letters will arrive at their destination when being placed in the authorized mailbox, we can deliver our love to Lord Krsna by worshiping Him in His scripture-authorized Deity form”, Krishna Priya explained. And so we began by preparing outfits for our little set of Jagannātha deities.

 
Next, we enthusiastically strung necklaces. Now we were almost ready!  Krishna Priya’s mother, who was visiting in India at this time, has sent more outfits, jewelry and other accessories. It’s time to send our first message of love!

We learned the Bhagavad-gita verse in which Lord Krsna encourages us that if we would offer Him, with love and devotion, even simple things such as a leaf, flower, fruit or water, He will accept it.
We then offered Him water and dressed Him with His new outfit and crowns. He looked majestic and pleased!


Jaya Jagannatha!

The tale of the lucky liver fluke
→ Servant of the Servant

The question of evolution always come into play as i think it is more fiction than facts. Scientists, in my opinion, make enormous leaps of faith to make conclusions based on evidences. Below is an opening real-world scenario that begins to expose the inadequacy of this theory in regards to accounting for the facts of life.

Like many parasites, liver flukes require more than one distinct host-species to carry them through the various stages of their life-cycles. In their specific case: cows, snails and ants fulfil such roles. As adults, they live in the livers of cows, where they mate, with their eggs being excreted via the host’s fecal matter. Terrestrial snails that dine on such literal left-overs become infected by the fluke’s larvae, which then settle in the snails’ digestive tracts. To protect themselves, the snails form cysts around the little parasites, before excreting them in their own waste. Finally ants, looking to snail slime as a source of moisture, simultaneously ingest these cysts, each of which is filled with hundreds of juvenile flukes.

At first glance, that may all seem to be pretty random. Except that there’s nothing random about the fact that the very distinct stages the flukes pass through in their life- cycle are precisely aligned with their existence within these several and very distinct hosts. The flukes manifest multifarious and specific adaptations to the distinct circumstances posed by each host; while the hosts themselves also provide specific circumstances and responses so as to perfectly serve the flukes’ needs, including their transportation to their next destination. There is some seriously outrageous synchronicity going on here, such a complex and interconnected chain of events as to seemingly defy any rational explanation for how or why it came to be. Nor have we yet come to the most mind-blowing part of their story.

Meanwhile we’ve been educated to believe that explanations of such phenomena are indeed what science is able to provide. In fact Leon Lederman, previous director of the Fermi Particle Accelerator, predicted that the ultimate goal of all their research would manifest in the form of a single equation that would explain absolutely everything, and that would be elegant enough to be written on a T-shirt. Yet never mind a single equation that could sum up everything; how can we account for but an infinitesimal speck of all that absolute ‘everything-ness,’ in the form of the amazing life-journey of the tiny liver fluke?

We just left off this journey with the juvenile flukes about to emerge from their ‘space-capsule’-like cysts within the body of their new unsuspecting host, the ant. These juveniles are then free to wander throughout the ant’s body, but one in particular moves to a critical cluster of nerve-cells lying just underneath the ant’s esophagus, and this is indeed where the most extraordinary element of the story of the Lancet liver fluke takes place.

Somehow or other this fluke is now able to manipulate the nerves there so as to cause its ant-host to act in a most peculiar but obliging fashion. As evening draws near, such an infested ant begins to act in an entirely un-antlike manner, abandoning its natural behaviors in favor of a new set of behaviors that are tailor-made to suit the interests of the flukes. It breaks away from the rest of its nest-mates, who are all back at the nest, snug as only a bug can be; while this uncharacteristically individualistic member of the herd goes off to spend the night firmly ensconced at the tip of a blade of grass.

Now as if that isn’t bizarre enough, in defiance of basic (ant-) logic, it in fact locks itself into place with its mandibles for the apparent purpose of making sure that it will be included in the diet of any cow that happens to graze upon the particular patch of grass it’s perched in. Should no cow happen to thus include that particular grass-blade in its meal, the ant then climbs back down at dawn to rejoin the rest of the colony, acting just like any other ant, and thus escaping the heat of the day which would otherwise kill both it along with its parasitic controllers. What we can say then, is that this particular ant has now been re-programmed by one of the flukes so as to follow a suicide-mission specifically designed for the benefit of the flukes.

So the question is, programmed by what? The ant surely didn’t come up with such a program itself, acting under some self-sacrificing largesse aimed at helping the liver flukes in their own desperate struggle for survival. Yet is it any more reasonable to think that the flukes figured all this out for themselves, according to the panicked genius of the first generation of flukes that suddenly found themselves stuck in the digestive system of an ant, wondering what on earth they should do next to get out of there?

OK - so what is a reasonable answer? According to the theory of evolution, ‘it just happened.’ Science has adopted this answer – and science is, after all, the very paragon of rational and objective thinking. So if it’s science, and therefore presumably true and proven fact, who are we to question it?
Yet once we do begin to think about it, using the current example of the liver fluke as a case in point, all kinds of questions must surely arise. For instance: how did the very first fluke that was swallowed by an ant and then made its way to said ant’s sub-esophageal ganglion before seizing control of the entire ant ... well, how did it do that? How did it come to figure out how to pilot such an alien craft, and how did it even recognize what and where the controls were? After which, how did it determine its next life-supporting destination, namely the strange alien landscape of a cow’s liver; and without the use of anything like a Mars Rover, for instance? Plus, how did it come by the actual chain of events by which it could arrive at said next destination via its new ‘space- ship’... including programming said ship for such activities as are entirely foreign to the fluke itself, such as climbing up grass-blades for the night, locking mandibles (whatever they might be, from a liver fluke’s perspective) in place, and patiently and one-pointedly awaiting the approaching ‘jaws of death’?

Then there is the favorite old conundrum of course, suitably reworded for this particular example: which came first (as far as the fluke is concerned, that is): the cow, the snail or the ant? Or isn’t the simple fact that all three are required simultaneously? What series of prior evolutionary steps could be imagined that could have led up to this spectacularly complex and precise set of arrangements? How is it consistent or rational to imagine that the explanation for such unparalleled complexity is mere arbitrary randomness? Would anyone take seriously, for example, a billionaire’s explaining as to how he became so fabulously wealthy if his only answer was, “Well, I started with nothing actually; and then I didn’t really do anything at all – and, umm, here we are then”?

The development and survival of these parasites requires an incredible degree of precise coordination of many highly complex and specific factors. Nor does such occur only within the body of the fluke itself, but it takes place over several distinct environments, which are in perfect dynamic alignment with the various needs and developmental stages of the fluke.

A myriad specific adaptations are required for the little flukes to thrive within the various host species, which thriving includes being superbly able to take advantage of unique responsive processes within the hosts themselves, such as the snails’ cyst-manufacturing system. Plus a myriad specific adaptations more to facilitate their successful transportation from one species to the next, whereby the species involved are themselves both favorable environments for the flukes to survive in, as well as suitable providers of carriage to the next such favorable environment. In other words, the level of specificity and complexity of the system as a whole is virtually incalculable.

Is it truly and rationally thinkable that all of this could have spontaneously and randomly developed, unplanned and unguided? In other words, out of the incalculable number of possible random mutations or developments that could ever happen, somehow or other, a single precise chain of random events happened to take place as to facilitate the mind-bogglingly complex series of interlocking eco-systems we refer to as the life-story of the liver fluke. Because that is precisely what evolutionary theory tells us, as a matter of supposedly obvious and rational deduction, entirely consistent with experience and evidence. In which case, each and every species might best be referred to as a fluke!

Hare Krishna

The Journey Begins 2015 (10 min video) So the wait is finally…
→ Dandavats.com



The Journey Begins 2015 (10 min video)
So the wait is finally over Senagetaway trip team presents this years official pictures from Nueva Vraja Mandela. We hope the journey begins pictures were worth the wait and bring back many of the lovely memories, laughter and joy we all shared together. Even though the trip seems in the distant past these pictures will hopefully being alive the experience we all had. Classes were given by Gaur Gopal Prabhu and Kirtan was lead by Jahnavi Harrison Mataji.
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/v3813e

Preaching program in Ariel, Israel (Album 29 photos) Srila…
→ Dandavats.com



Preaching program in Ariel, Israel (Album 29 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: In the material world we want to minimize our activities and take rest more, but in the spiritual world, there is no rest and there is no limit of activities. Krishna is unlimited, and the energy of His servants is unlimited. Although we are in the midst of ignorance, still if we keep ourselves alert, there is no place for ignorance. Letter to Tamal Krishna, March 18, 1969
http://goo.gl/tM9Acm

Feeding the Homeless by ISKCON youth’s (Album 14…
→ Dandavats.com



Feeding the Homeless by ISKCON youth’s (Album 14 photos)
Iskcon Detroit - The Bhaktivedanta Cultural Centre
Srila Prabhupada: Worship of the Lord, whose name is like the sun, for just as a slight appearance of the sun dissipates the darkness of night, so a slight appearance of the holy name of Krishna can drive away all the darkness of ignorance that arises in the heart due to greatly sinful activities performed in previous lives. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 3.62)
http://goo.gl/giz4sL

2014 Krsna Kidz Camp, Detroit ISKCON, Hare Krsna Temple (Album…
→ Dandavats.com



2014 Krsna Kidz Camp, Detroit ISKCON, Hare Krsna Temple (Album 24 photos)
By the mercy of Their Lordships, it’s a bitter sweet ending to one of the most wonderful time of the year - 2014 Krsna Kidz camp! We want to send a BIG thank you to Kidz, teachers, volunteers, parents and temple for their support, efforts and dedication to sharing the message of Srila Prabhupada to the next generation! We will miss the smiling facing, sounds of kirtan and bhajans in the halls and excitement of learning that has filled Iskcon Detroit over the last 4 days! Thank you again! Please stay in touch and we hope to see you next year! 2014 Krsna Kidz Camp ki Jai! Srila Prabhupada ki jai! Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari ki jai! Haribol!
http://goo.gl/KXsnUF

Auckland New Zealand Ratha-yatra 2014 (Album 30 photos) Srila…
→ Dandavats.com



Auckland New Zealand Ratha-yatra 2014 (Album 30 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If a devotee once utters the holy name of the Lord, or if it penetrates his mind or enters his ear, which is the channel of aural reception, that holy name will certainly deliver him from material bondage, whether vibrated properly or improperly, with correct or incorrect grammar, or properly joined or vibrated in separate parts. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 3.60)
http://goo.gl/Zz3IRj

Rare photo of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Srila Prabhupada:…
→ Dandavats.com



Rare photo of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati.
Srila Prabhupada: “Please accept my blessings. I am just in receipt of your letter forwarded from New York. Please be happy in separation. I am separated from my Guru Maharaja since 1936 but I am always with him so long I work according to his direction. So we should all work together for satisfying Lord Krishna and in that way the feelings of separation will transform into transcendental bliss.” [ Srila Prabhupada letter to Uddhava dasa, May 3, 1968 ]
http://goo.gl/aJVgCn