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Oh, how glorious are they whose tongues are chanting Your holy name! Even if born in the families of dog-eaters, such persons are worshipable. Persons who chant the holy name of Your Lordship must have executed all kinds of austerities and fire sacrifices and achieved all the good manners of the Aryans. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.33.7 Purport) Read more › 
Tulsi Gabbard: Today I was very honored to have the opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Modi, where I presented him with a gift of my personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita. Nothing could have been more special and valuable to me than this Gita which I have had with me since a child, and which I took shelter of in the war zones of the Middle East, and upon which I placed my hand when I took the took Congressional oath of office.
It is said that the greatest gift you can give someone is that which is of the greatest value to you, because it is a personal sacrifice to give up something which is very dear to you. So my presenting of my personal Bhagavad Gita to the Prime Minister was my way of expressing just how deep my affection and love is for India, for the Prime Minister, and for the people of India who he represents. Read more › The post Discussion with devotees on the stages of spiritual development (Part 1) appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
When our eyes are anointed with love of God, we can see Him everywhere. We have to develop our seeing power by developing love of Godhead. When one is sufficiently developed in Krishna consciousness, he can see the Lord every moment within his heart and everywhere, wherever he goes. San Francisco, June 27, 1971. Read more › 
New Vrindaban’s replica Radha Kunda up on the replica of Govardhan Hill got a fresh lining at the end of this summer of 2014. It’s called “Rhino”, a type of cement which hardens into enamel, and is guaranteed for 30 years not to leak. This took two weeks, and lots of time and energy to shovel all the muck at the bottom. After seeing the beauty of Radha Kunda, and understanding that Lalita Kunda is also leaking, Gopisa Prabhu suggested that we also line Lalita Kunda and Shyama Kunda. Read more › The post More pictures on the samadhi installations appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
As soon as you offer yourself to be enjoyed by Krishna as servant, according to His order you serve, then immediately you are in the spiritual world. If you want to remain in the spiritual world, this temple is the spiritual world. We are not living in Melbourne. This temple is not Melbourne. It is Vaikuntha. It is Vrindavan. So if you stick to this temple service, Krishna's service, then you are not in this material world. Melbourne, June 25, 1974. Read more › The post September 29th, 2014 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Indradyumna Swami: Macedonia, a landlocked country of 2 million people, is located in southeast Europe. It is bordered by Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Albania. It is the birth place of two famous personalities: Alexander the Great in ancient times and Mother Teresa in recent history. ISKCON has a small community of sincere and dedicated devotees with a temple in the capitol, Skopje. They kept us busy during our 3-day visit with temple programs, harinam and a public program in a prestigious hall in the city. It's wonderful to witness firsthand how Lord Caitanya's movement is truly spreading to every town and village in the world. Read more › 
To say nothing of the spiritual advancement of persons who see the Supreme Person face to face, even a person born in a family of dog-eaters immediately becomes eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices if he once utters the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or chants about Him, hears about His pastimes, offers Him obeisances or even remembers Him.
(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.33.6 Purport) Read more › 
New Delhi : The Ganga will be made a 'model river' for the world, Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Uma Bharti said Friday.
Speaking on the government's plans to clean and rejuvenate the river, Uma Bharti said government is making short, medium and long term goals for cleaning the river.
"India will be a model of development, and Ganga will be a model for all rivers," she said. The water resource minister said all tributaries of Ganga will also be cleaned. Read more › 
Photography Courtesy: Arjun Bhattacharyya & Vitaliy Grytsyuk. The materialist thinks that persons engaged in Krishna consciousness are crazy fellows wasting time by chanting Hare Krishna, but actually he does not know that he himself is in the darkest region of craziness because of accepting his body as permanent. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.28.10 Purport) Read more › 
By chanting the holy name of Krishna one is cleansed of the dirt that accumulates in the mind. One can purify the mind either by the breathing process or by the chanting process, just as one can purify gold by putting it in a fire and fanning it with a bellows. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.28.10 Purport) Read more › Sri Vamanadevas Appearance – Special Class by HG Suresvara Dasa – 06.09.2014
From Raj:
Although Arjuna says that it is difficult to control the mind 6.34), in the latter slokas, Lord Sri-Krishna explains how one can attain such arduous dhyana-yoga through diligent practice.
Also, in Srimad-Bhagavatam (SB 11.14.31-46), Lord Sri-Krishna explains the same process to Udhava.
Undoubtedly, Devotees are the supreme yogis of all (6.47), but to attain such a state of unflinching devotion/concentration, one should have a control mind. Therefore, dhyana-yoga looks like a precursor to Bhakti-yoga; since through dhyana-yoga one can transcend the gross-&-subtle senses so as to be determinately/resolutely situated in the process of Bhakti forever.
From Vaishakh R
Very often it happens that discussions invariably bring in topics of spirituality and what follows is each one defending his views. Usually such discussions end without any conclusion but nevertheless brings to the table a pool of new ideas.
Sometimes these new ideas affect one’s conviction, especially when it’s not possible to reconcile with them satisfactorily. So how does one remain steady, at the same time not considering oneself closed out to new ideas?
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 June 2013, Czech Summer Camp, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.2.33)
Sometimes, household life is compared to a deep dark well in the scriptures. It maybe that one is a brahmacari or brahmacarini and then one feels, “I cannot do this anymore. It is time to get married.”
Some people, when they get married, it is like they go to a deep dark well and dive in head first! They think, “Oh, now I am changing ashram, now I am really going to do it and go straight down to the bottom.” But that is not intelligent.
Generally speaking, in these wells – I have seen many in India – they usually have some brackets inside that are made like levers so that maintenance work can be done. So there is no need to go to the bottom; one can keep a strong spiritual culture. In fact, that is the idea, that in the brahmacari or brahmacarini ashram we are cultivating good spiritual habits and then we maintain them in our household attachment. Because after all, we do not forget the long-term goal. All right, we want something in this life but, we cannot risk that we lose our opportunity for going back to godhead.
In some letters or in some other occasions when speaking about the household ashram, Srila Prahbupada made statements like, “Fifty percent less chance of going back to godhead,” or sometimes even stronger statements. So what can we say? The grhasta ashram is also meant for going back to godhead, all the ashrams are meant for that purpose and that is what we are doing.
Yesterday we had initiations but initiation into what!? Initiation into the process that takes us back to godhead! So that should be our result. We should always act in such a way that we are faithfully on the path back to godhead, from the very beginning of spiritual life.
When we are new and when we accept the four regulative principles, sixteen rounds, we are under the directions of the spiritual master and other spiritual authorities, then we are on the path back to godhead and we must stay there our whole life – no detours in the forest or in the hills, no vacations. No we must stay within the boundaries of Krsna consciousness.
Cleaning the Kundas in New Vrindaban Dhama
by Sukhavaha dasi, Madri dasi & Lilasuka dasi
Radha Kunda, the crest jewel of Govardhan, is now beautifully shining, and freshly lined.
New Vrindaban’s replica Radha Kunda up on the replica of Govardhan Hill got a fresh lining at the end of this summer of 2014. It’s called “Rhino”, a type of cement which hardens into enamel, and is guaranteed for 30 years not to leak. This took two weeks, and lots of time and energy to shovel all the muck at the bottom. After seeing the beauty of Radha Kunda, and understanding that Lalita Kunda is also leaking, Gopisa Prabhu suggested that we also line Lalita Kunda and Shyama Kunda.
Radha Kunda, “before”, awaiting renewal.
During the lining of Radha Kunda
Renewed Radha Kunda
Sukhavaha dasi relates the story:
“We had the rare opportunity of immersing ourselves (literally) in the sacred mud of those kundas, thus receiving some very special mercy. There was only two days to clean out the other two kundas. Tilak das and I worked along with some help from Lalita Gopi dasi, Ananda Vidya das, Madri dasi and Gaura Shakti, and some extra help from Venkatta das, TK das, Navin das, Daivata das and Bhaktin Autumn as we all proceeded to clean out Shyama Kunda, which was going to be really simple, because it was only 3 and ½ feet deep, according to Varsana Maharaj. No big deal. “We will have this done in no time”, we thought. Well, see the story in pictures below.”
1 Lalita, how fortunate we are- now we are receiving Lord Shyama’s mercy.
2 Good thing we got more “Man” power.
3 The more . . . the merrier.
4 We need a bucket brigade.
5 Keep those buckets moving.
6 The Sacred Mud from Shyama Kunda.
7 There’s a lot of rocks down here.
8 How did all this mud get in here anyway?
9 We need Varsana Maharaj’s help.
10 Maharaj comes to the rescue.
11 Maharaj, I thought you said this kunda was only 3 and ½ feet deep.
12 There’s a big rock right down there. And a heavy tarp.
13 Maharaj gets the rock out.
14 Venkatta holds the tarp on the bucket.
15 . Maharaj, that was the best ride I ever had.
16 How could this much mud fall in here? Is it frog stool?
17 How deep is this, Maharaj?
18 It’s seven feet deep. Keep digging….
19 Maharaj, I need to see the bottom. Is there really a bottom to this??
20 Yes . . . . it’s in there. Keep going. This is a practice in going deeper.
22 So, Maharaj, where DID all this mud come from?
23 Did no-one realize that maybe I put it there for a good reason – to protect the deer or humans from drowning in such a deep Kunda?
24 There’s the bottom, finally
25 Sukhavaha, we’re done. Come out now. Stop scrubbing.
26 Shyama Kunda, Ki Jaya. A job well done!
26 So, TK, how was your experience of the “Brijabasi spirit”?
27 This is what we are here for: the service of beautifying the Dhamas and purifying our hearts.
THE END
"My heart is always burning in the fire of material existence, and I have made no provisions for getting out of it. The only remedy is hari-nama-sankirtana, the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, which is imported from the spiritual world, Goloka-Vrndavana. How unfortunate I am that I have no attraction for this. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 5.1.22 Purport) Read more › From Ayushi Mataji
Can you please tell me how to keep mind steady and calm because our mind is driven by many factors beyond ones control and is subjected to evil which he never wants to do.Than we regret but krishna will not always forgive us.so how can we make our mind steady
You expand the empire of Krishna consciousness. Krishna has given you the ability. Do it enthusiastically with the courage of an Englishman and the heart of a Bengali mother. Vrindavan, August 10, 1977. Read more › If they are non-vegetarian, why do many people consider them to be vegetarian?