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Harinama in Venice, Italy (Album 8 photos)
Philosophy is the highest, but even higher than philosophy is the practice of philosophy. So if you simply remain pure, your preaching will have effect. Letter to Brihaspati, November 15, 1971.
http://goo.gl/qtuZFY
Windy Saturday Harinama in Tel Aviv, Israel (Album 38 photos)
Chant Hare Krishna as many times as possible and be liberated. Thank you very much. Vrindavana, November 14, 1976.
http://goo.gl/ydDuAS
I will never forget the moment when I heard that George Harrison had passed away, shortly after Thanksgiving in 2001. My strong feelings of separation surprised me—and made me think how important and dear George must have been to Srila Prabhupada and Sri Krishna. And I remembered my own little experience with George in Bombay.
In 1974, almost exactly forty years ago, George came to visit Srila Prabhupada at Hare Krishna Land, in Juhu. I took him around the construction site, and he expressed his appreciation for the work and encouraged us in our efforts. When at twelve-thirty we heard the conch shell blow for raja-bhoga arati, we proceeded to the small temple shed, where George chose a pair of karatalas and sang with the other devotees. Puri dasa, originally from Scotland, was doing the arati, and when he turned to offer the ghee lamp to the devotees and saw George, his hand trembled so much that, as he told me later, he was afraid the ghee lamp would fall.
After the arati, I arranged a full plate of maha-prasada for George and accompanied him to meet Srila Prabhupada in Prabhupada’s one-bedroom apartment. I left them together and returned to my office.
About two hours later, a pudgy ten- or twelve-year-old boy with glasses—the son of our friend and supporter Pranjivan G. Valia of the “Hare Krishna” house in the Juhu Vile Parle development—came to my little office at the back of the property. “I heard George Harrison is here,” he said. “Yes,” I replied, “he is.” “I want to see him,” he stated. “Well, you can’t. He’s meeting with Srila Prabhupada.” He looked me straight in the eyes—he was sizing me up—and concluded that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with me, then turned, dashed to the stairs, and bolted down the steps. “Oh my God,” I thought. “He is determined; he’s going to try to find him.” So I bounded down the stairs in hot pursuit.
I ran across to the next building, and when I reached the second landing, in front of Srila Prabhupada’s flat, I found the door ajar. The boy stood just inside, and beyond him George sat cross-legged with his back erect, like a yogi—like a perfect disciple listening attentively at the feet of his master.
With the abrupt appearance of the boy, Srila Prabhupada and George ended their meeting, exchanging some final words. George was very gracious and appreciative, and Prabhupada was very affectionate and kind.
I was upset that the boy had interrupted their meeting, but they took it as a matter of course. Maybe it was time for the meeting to end; maybe they took it as Krsna’s arrangement.
The next year, on a morning walk in Sanand, Gujarat, Srila Prabhupada recalled the meeting. “He is very nice boy—George. I have studied. Very good boy. He showed me in Bombay. He came to see me in Bombay, last year. He is keeping Jagannatha within his beadbag and chanting.”
I and many thousands—perhaps millions—of people are thankful to George for all the service he rendered to Srila Prabhupada and the Krishna consciousness movement, for making the holy name of Lord Krishna—the Hare Krishna maha-mantra—and the principles of Krishna consciousness so accessible to people all over the world and for attracting so many souls to the all-attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna.
Hare Krishna.
Why wars?
Srila Prabhupada: As long as human society continues to allow cows to be regularly killed in slaughterhouses, there cannot be any question of peace and prosperity. - Srimad Bhagavatam 8.8.11 purport
Around forty North American youth aged 17 and up will spend this Christmas and New Year’s on the adventure of a lifetime.
Traveling 7,000 miles all the way from Alachua, Florida to Cancun, Mexico and back on ISKCON Youth Ministry’s Krishna Culture Tour bus, they’ll stage festivals and change lives all over Mexico.
Read it here: http://goo.gl/wIJ3u2
Harinam in Nadi, Fiji (Album 42 photos)
Why do you want to go on world tour? People everywhere are doing the same thing-eating, sleeping, mating, and defending-each in some slightly different way, but the same substance is there. It is better, if you want to travel, you can travel to preach and spread this Krishna consciousness to the suffering humanity at large. Letter to Kris, November 13, 1968.
http://goo.gl/xS7mI8
SRI NAMA SANKIRTANA ADIVASA
(Inauguration Ceremony)
FRIDAY 28/11/2014
SRI JAGANNATHA MANDIR, KUALA LUMPUR
7.15 p.m. - 8.00 p.m. Class by HH BB Govinda Swami
8.00 p.m. - 8.30 p.m. Adivasa ceremony
8.30 p.m. - 9.30 p.m. Kirtan
Upon collecting and arranging all kinds of articles and inviting everyone to mercifully come and attend the program.Ojasvi Prabhu weaving his charm at UNITEN, a local university in Kuala Lumpur
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By Madhava Smullen
“You have New York, New England, and so many ‘New’ duplicates of European countries in the USA, why not import New Vrindaban in your country?” --Srila Prabhupada, Letter, 3/17/68
In the spring of 2013, board members for ISKCON New Vrindaban and ECO-Vrindaban unanimously adopted a new community vision statement. It was called “Srila Prabhupada’s Vision for New Vrindaban.”
Its implementation as a renewed focus for the community might be new. But its roots go back long before Srila Prabhupada had even left India for the United States.
Back in 1956, while working alone in Delhi on his Back to Godhead magazine, Prabhupada had written a series of articles detailing his vision for a community where people would live a simple life based on the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita.
When he established ISKCON in New York in 1966, his seven purposes for the society included bringing members closer together “for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.”
As early as January 1968, he was issuing specific instructions about the community to his disciples: “The Ashram may be named as "ISKCON-Nagari or New Vrindaban.” And from May 1968 – the year when New Vrindaban was established -- he issued a string of letters to his disciples describing exactly how he envisioned the community.
Through these, it’s clear that Prabhupada saw New Vrindaban as a sacred place known worldwide for five primary things: cow protection, self-sufficiency, holy pilgrimage, spiritual education, and above all, loving Krishna. And it’s these things that form the core of New Vrindaban’s vision statement today.
The first four are all inextricably connected to the last, loving Krishna. While teaching the importance of cow protection, for instance, Srila Prabhupada aligned New Vrindaban with the original transcendental village of Vrindavan, where Lord Krishna, His brother Balaram and Their friends would take Their cows to the pasturing grounds every morning.
“Krishna by His practical example taught us to give all protection to the cows and that should be the main business of New Vrindaban,” he wrote in a 1968 letter to Hayagriva.
Prabhupada taught the early residents of New Vrindaban to respect the cow and bull as their mother and father, as they could provide so many of the essentials of life. The bulls could till the ground, and be used for carting and transporting; while the cows could provide dung for fuel, and milk, butter, ghee and cheese for nourishment.
“The whole idea of New Vrindaban is that men who are living there should produce their own food, of which milk is the principal thing,” he wrote to Kirtanananda in July 1969.
Prabhupada envisioned New Vrindaban as a “self-governing village” that would set an example for the world and contain all the basic necessities residents needed: in one letter he explained how they could grow vegetables, fruit, wheat and other cereals, hand-weave cloth, and use an ox-powered mill to grind seeds into oil. Working to create this self-sufficiency, meanwhile, would keep devotees busy in the service of the Lord and ensure that they didn’t have to search for work outside.
This simple life wherein devotees had everything they needed, and weren’t distracted by trying to derive sense pleasure from modern amenities, was key to developing high thinking; or, in other words, Krishna consciousness, the true nature of the soul.
Adding further to the spiritual atmosphere of New Vrindaban were Prabhupada’s grand plans to physically recreate the original Vrindavan there, turning the community into a pilgrimage place. New Vrindaban is unique as the only farm community he envisioned in such a way.
“I have got ambition to construct there 7 temples as follows: 1. Radha Madan Mohan, 2. Radha Govinda, 3. Radha Gopinatha, 4. Radha Damodara, 5. Radha Raman, 6. Radha Gokulananda, 7. Radha Syamasundara,” he wrote to Hayagriva as early as 1968. He added in other letters, “The hilly portions may be named as Govardhana” and “If there are lakes, they can be renamed as Syamakunda and Radhakunda.”
Prabhupada hoped that these attractions and the Krishna conscious way of life would draw the public to visit. “I am sure this… attraction will make our neighbors friendly and surely they will come in number in future so that New Vrindaban will be ideal place for visiting from the neighboring provinces,” he wrote.
Adding to the appeal of New Vrindaban would be its spiritually-educated residents, who would be able to realize the first of Prabhupada’s seven purposes for ISKCON and “systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society… in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.”
Prabhupada specifically called for a “Rupanuga Vidyapitha” in New Vrindaban, a “school for educating brahmanas and Vaisnavas.”
He also recommended a school to teach Varnashrama, a traditional Vedic social structure of natural vocations and life stages, as well as a primary school where children could come from urban centers to learn reading, writing, mathematics, the basic sciences and Krsna consciousness.
All of this, of course, ultimately comes down once again to the essence of all of Srila Prabhupada’s directions for New Vrindaban: Loving Krishna.
“The cows, the trees, the cowherd men and gopis [of Vrindavan], their chief engagement was loving Krsna,” he wrote in July 1973. “And in New Vrindaban we want to create this atmosphere and thereby show the whole world how practical and sublime our movement is.”
During his first visit in May 1969, Srila Prabhupada thought of Krishna when he tasted New Vrindaban’s fresh well water, and told devotees of all the other things there that could help them remember the Lord: the sun, the moon, the cows, the fragrance of the earth, the wind and the thunder.
“It is so easy here at New Vrindaban,” Prabhupada said. “So much is there to remind us of Krishna that the devotee can’t forget Him for a moment.”
Another integral part of loving Krishna, of course, is to love His devotees; and this was perhaps Srila Prabhupada’s second most important instruction for New Vrindaban residents and for the greater ISKCON society: to love and appreciate each other and work cooperatively together.
While at New Vrindaban in June 1969, he told devotees discussing how to manage the fledgeling community: “You must jointly work [together]... There may be sometimes disagreement, but you should settle up. Otherwise how you can make progress?”
In a letter to Upendra, he wrote: “Now all my disciples must work combinedly and with cooperation… Our Society is like one big family and our relationships should be based on love and trust.” And to Babhru he wrote: “Sometimes there may be disagreement and quarrel but we should not go away. These inebrieties can be adjusted by the cooperative spirit, tolerance and maturity…”
After his first visit to New Vrindaban in May 1969, Srila Prabhupada continued to guide his disciples in how to follow these instructions during visits in 1972, 1974, and 1976.
And now, nearly fifty years later, New Vrindaban residents and well-wishers continue to cooperate together and sincerely work to realize his grand vision for the ideal spiritual community – a New Vrindaban, imported all the way from Krishna’s sacred village right into their country.
But enjoy the prelude TONIGHT
in
SRI NAMA SANKIRTANA ADIVASA
(Inauguration Ceremony)
FRIDAY 28/11/2014
SRI JAGANNATHA MANDIR, KUALA LUMPUR
8 p.m. - 10 p.m.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 29 September 2014, Pretoria, South Africa, House Program)
The stories of Brahmananda show incredible surrender. Are we ready to just take an order, no matter what? That is why I am saying that when we read this, hear this, and when we meet Brahmananda then we see so much love for Prabhupada and so much faith in Prabhupada and such conviction and dedication to Prabhupada. It is like inconceivable… extraordinary!
This is the most wonderful thing because we cannot approach Krsna directly. Nobody can. We have to approach him through his devotee and there is a chain of devotees. We approach devotees and they approach devotees. Prabhupada gave Krsna consciousness to us in a way that we can fit it in our modern life. If we would have to go back to traditional India, could we do it? Could we live that simple? Could we live that austere like the sadhus who were living before in India or even right now? I mean, could we? It would be very tough, very austere. Simply chant all day? Could we do it? Sixteen rounds and even during the sixteen rounds we think of so many other things to do. Send some SMSs (text messages) in-between and do anything but chanting. The mind wants to do anything but chanting. Then you think, “Oh! This is important. This, I have to do right away.” Any opportunity to interrupt our chanting, that is natural to us. So these points are there.
For us, everything has been simplified. So we understand that Brahmananda is an intimate associate of Srila Prabhupada. There is no doubt about it, not an ordinary person at all. Therefore, I tell everyone, I will tell you also, that he lives in Vrindavan and he likes it when devotees come to visit him. He likes it very much. It is not that you cannot see him, that he is too big a devotee to see. Not at all. That is not Brahmananda at all. He is happy to see any devotee. He is very personal and interested in devotees.
So after Pakistan, Srila Prabhupada sent Brahmananda to Africa. He gave him some time in Bombay to take a deep breath and then he said, “Hmmm… yes, now that you have done this, I think you should go to Africa.” That was the next assignment. At that time, he was in charge of all of Africa, of all the preaching in Africa; even South Africa was also under Brahmananda.
Although he could not come here, visa issues and that, he made arrangements for South Africa. And he made arrangements to start preaching in Kenya. Later he also went to Nigeria. Nigeria, he said, was totally different – people were so interested. In Kenya, it was tough but Nigeria, it really took off even then, foreboding what was to come.
So therefore, we should all go see Brahmananda. I have sent many devotees there. Sometimes, like last time, he was giving a lecture and I did not know about it and then I heard so I came late. So, I kind of ran in and I was just in time. He had already started. He just stopped the lecture and said, “Some of your boys came!”
He likes that. He remembers everybody. Big man, big heart. He likes to embrace many people and therefore can take interest in the life of many. Such wonderful devotees. Yeah, so we need the blessing of these devotees, the blessing of the vaisnavas. We should not be shy.
Sacred Maharashtra, India (Album 137 photos)
Indradyumna Swami: While traveling through Maharashtra, India, to organize our festival tour here early next year, I have taken the opportunity to visit a number of holy places in this western part of the country. There are many sacred rivers, ancient temples and saintly personalities throughout this lush and green part of India. In one temple we visited a deity of Lord Nrsimhadeva deep inside an underground cave. Traveling by bus, car, train ( and elephant! ) I have found the people here courteous and kind, and as always, curious to see and talk to a western devotee of the Lord. I am also pleased to see that ISKCON has a number of successful temples and projects throughout beautiful Maharashtra. [ Photos by Indradyumna Swami and Rupvilas dasa ]
http://goo.gl/mZHO5i
On Thanksgiving.
Radhanatha Swami: In order for that spirit of loving service – the spirit of bhakti – to grow, a very essential element is thanksgiving, or gratitude. The seed of love can only take root and grow if it is in fertile soil. Gratitude is that fertile soil. Whatever spiritual practices we do, like chanting God’s names, coming to satsanga, doing seva, all of these things are like watering the seed of that love that is within us. But that watering process will be ever more effective to the degree that our consciousness, or our heart, is a field of gratitude.
http://goo.gl/Koxij8
Street Spirituality
High streets are intriguing places; a microcosm of modern life. It’s where people descend in their thousands, searching for something extra to enrich their existence. These urban hubs are a melting pot of entertainers, campaigners, shoppers, beggars and advertisers, a marketplace for the latest commodities and ideas, a space for meeting, sharing and exploring. Here you’ll find people from every imaginable socio-economic background, swarming like bees around a hive.
http://goo.gl/250FnS
Assessments in Mayapur Academy (Album 11 photos)
“The essence of all Vedic knowledge-comprehending the three kinds of Vedic activity, the Vedic hymns, and the processes for satisfying the demigods-is included in the eight syllables Hare Krishna Hare Krishna. This is the reality of all Vedanta. The chanting of the holy name is the only means to cross the ocean of nescience.” (Narada-pancharatra)
http://goo.gl/2st4Hi
by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi Kirtan Mela Malaysia 2014 
Hare Krishna Melbourne (Album 5 photos)
“The Children at the Albert Park kinder had been excited about us doing a program there since the day we met with the teachers to arrange the program. Being a kindergarten we made a few modifications to the program from the one we usually take into primary and high schools. We had traditional wear, face painting, stories from the puranas, kirtan, henna art, maha cupcakes and maha garlands.
http://goo.gl/9jnZ95
The post November 27th, 2014 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.
And joining the other kirtaneers are Nitai Priya Dasa from Africa and Baladev Dasa from Phillippines. Its gonna be a truly international scene at Sri Jagannatha Mandir, Kuala Lumpur
- Devamrta, Niranjana and Sivarama Swamis.
The post Cc Adi-lila 4 Reading and discussion (Part 3) appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
Xmas Book Marathon
Every December the entire ISKCON world focuses its attention on Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental book distribution: it’s fun, easy and something we can all get involved in. We would like to conclude this amazing year at Bhaktivedanta Manor with a very special offering to Srila Prabhupada. We want to make this year’s marathon historic!
http://goo.gl/FH9PH5
On 19112014 in Mayapur Book distribution Marathon Month was inaugurated in the auspicious assembly of many senior vaisnavas and in the presence of Sri Sri Radha Madhava. In the Radha Madhava temple hall H.H Bhakti Purusottama swami, H.H Bhakti Chaitanya swami and many more senior devotees spoke on Book distribution and Srila Prabhupada as well […]
The post Marathon month begins! appeared first on Mayapur.com.
A visit to Sri Mayapur International School (Album 46 photos)
The students of Sri Mayapur International School are fortunate to get the opportunity to hear about Krishna from senior devotees in the holy dham. In the last week there were classes in school given by H.H Bhakti Caitanya Maharaja, who spoke about the pastime of the killing of Dhenukasura
http://goo.gl/b30S27
Study suggests more dairy, less diabetes
Diets rich in high-fat dairy products could protect against type 2 diabetes (T2D), researchers say. People who consumed eight or more servings of cream, high-fat fermented milk, yogurt, cheese, or butter had a 23 percent reduction in their risk of developing T2D compared with people who consumed one serving or less. This association did not hold true for low-fat dairy products or fats derived from meat. [EASD, Abstract 62] “The decreased risk at high intakes of high-fat dairy products, but not of low-fat dairy products, indicate that dairy fat may at least partly explain observed protective associations between dairy intake and T2D,” said lead researcher Dr. Ulrika Ericson, of the Lund University Diabetes Center in Malmö, Sweden.
http://goo.gl/vUqpPz
OMG! BB Govinda Swami is Now in Kuala Lumpur
The Mayapur Chandras have arrived in Kuala Lumpur!!
This week’s challenge: There are nine people in this photo. Can you name them all and identify what are they doing?
Extra credit: What year was this photo taken?
What to do: Post your guesses on the “who, what, when, where & why” in the comment section at the New Vrindaban Facebook page.
SRI NAMA SANKIRTANA ADIVASA
(Inauguration Ceremony)
FRIDAY 28/11/2014
SRI JAGANNATHA MANDIR, KUALA LUMPUR
8 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Upon collecting and arranging all kinds of articles and inviting everyone to mercifully come and attend the program.We want your feedback on how we could make our meals the best they could possible be! Click here to help us out.
SRI NAMA SANKIRTANA ADIVASA
(Inauguration Ceremony)
FRIDAY 28/11/2014
SRI JAGANNATHA MANDIR, KUALA LUMPUR
8 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Upon collecting and arranging all kinds of articles and inviting everyone to mercifully come and attend the program.
“Prabhu,” Devahūti would request, “please also answer my question about time.”
“The supernatural thing which causes all forms to evolve from the great primal origin is called ‘Time,’” Kapila explained. “It is feared by those with separatist vision.”
“Why?” She would ask.
“Time is the powerful master,” Kapila explained. “In comparison to time everyone and everything is weak and subordinate. It destroys the very things it sustains, and is inescapably omnipresent.”
“Surely some good comes from time, also.” She would say.
“Yes,” Kapila explained. “Time is also known as “Viṣṇu,” since, like Viṣṇu it causes good deeds to bear fruit.”
“Does time discriminate and show partiality,” she would wonder, “giving harsh results to some and gentle results to others?”
“No,” Kapila explained. “Time loves no one, hates no one, and makes no treaties. Time never sleeps, and thus it impartially ruins those who sleep.”
Devahūti understood that if we are “awake” and make good use of time, we can evolve towards auspiciousness. If we “sleep” and neglect to make good use of time, we devolve towards inauspiciousness.
Everyone should observe time respectfully, as if fearful of its punishment. Even the forces of nature obey time, for if they don’t there will be no sequentiality, and nothing will ever happen. Kapila explained, “The wind blows, the sun heats, the heavens send rain, the stars shine, the trees, vines and bushes bear their seasonal flowers and fruits, the rivers flow, the ocean remains contained, fire burns, the mountain-bearing earth does not sink, space holds the atmosphere, seven substances grow into bodies for living creatures, the gods create, maintain, and destroy this world… aeon after aeon everything animate and inanimate evolves and functions due to obeying the sequentiality of time.”
Kapila concluded, “Time is endless, but ends everything. Time is beginningless, but begins everything. Time is never born, never ages, and never dies, but it causes people to give birth to other people, who age, and are finally destroyed by death.”
— From Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.3745.
