Seminar Sep 5th: Teachings of Lord Caitanya
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple!

To inaugurate, as well as to set the mood for the upcoming Maha-Mantra Week (5th-15th Sep), we have a fun and interactive seminar which will be led by His Grace Kala Prabhu. He is a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada and will throw his creative spin on how to best imbibe the Vedic teachings to lead a better quality life.

Here are the details-
Day: Friday, September 5
Timings: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Cost: Free (Donations are welcome)

A sumptuous dinner will be served at the end. To help us plan better,  please register here.


Festival of Colors 2014
→ New Vrindaban

The world’s happiest event is just around the corner!  On Sat. Sept. 13 2014, the Palace of Gold will host its 3rd annual Festival of Colors.  Come and join the fun with hundreds of other lively color-throwing participants. The festival is an exuberant gathering of people united in the desire to celebrate life, where everyone is invited to join in!

Festivities include eight hours of continuous music and jamming, with hourly color throwings. Last year one guest appreciated that “those people at the Festival of Colors sure know how to throw a party!”

The event is perfect for all ages, as witnessed by one father, who confirmed, “My family and I had a great time, and look forward to coming back year after year to ‘celebrate life’ in this special way.”

So mark the date – Saturday, September 13th, 2014 - and invite your friends to come ‘Color your life and throw your worries to the wind!’

More info @ www.festivalofcolors.us

All In A Day
→ travelingmonk.com

For Radhastami in Omsk, Siberia we started off with kirtan, katha and abhisekha in the temple. After a big feast we went on harinam samkirtan and took the small Radha Krsna deities for a boat ride up the Irish river. That evening we finished the day with discussion of Srimati Radharani’s transcendental pastimes. All in [...]

Love is not Love
Krishna Dharma

Perhaps one of the most poignant sufferings in society is the failure of human relationships. Recent government statistics reveal that some fifty percent of marriages are ending in divorce. Every day four thousand children call the charity Childline for help. All around us we can all see so many examples of strained and collapsed relationships, possibly even in our own lives. We so much want to enjoy our relationships, but so often they become instead the cause of our greatest pain.

What is the solution? Is it just an inevitable sign of the times; times when selfishness and materialism seem to be more and more vaunted in the media? We all have different interests, so in any relationship where both parties are self-interested there will surely be a clash sooner or later.

The desire for relationship is intrinsic to our nature. The Vedas explain that every living being has an eternal relationship with God. When we forget that we search elsewhere to satisfy our need to relate. But our love is really meant for God. We cannot be satisfied if we offer our love to someone else. Only the Lord, sitting in our hearts, knows how to fully reciprocate our love. How often in any relationship do we feel that the other person simply does not understand us?

Offering our love to God does not mean we cannot love other people. Indeed it means the very opposite. With God at the centre of our relationships they can become truly successful. And according to Vedic wisdom if we do not relate in this way then our so-called love for each other is really not love at all. It is simply mutual exploitation to fulfill selfish needs.

Take a conjugal relationship, for example. It may seem selfless, especially in the beginning when are very accommodating of our partner’s desires, but what is its basis? Why do we form such relationships in the first place? Simple, because we like each other. In some way or another our partner pleases us. But when that happy situation ends, the relationship will very likely go the same way. The very selfishness that brought us together will break us apart.

The same can be said of all relationships, if we examine them carefully. Even parent and child, perhaps the most selfless of all, has selfishness at its root. It begins with a desire to enjoy the pleasure of having children, but when child and parent disagree there is separation and heartbreak.

We may say no, this is not true, that I would sacrifice everything for my loved ones. Maybe, but what about someone else’s loved ones? Would I do the same for them? Probably not, because after all they are not mine. So really it is mine and thus ultimately me that matters most.

By placing God first in a relationship it will work. Then it is truly devoid of selfish exploitation. By loving God we develop love for all beings, as we are all part of the Lord. Love of God is the only pure and selfless emotion, and if we can centre our human relationships on this spiritual emotion they will become sublime and deeply rewarding.

As only God can ultimately satisfy us, by always trying to bring our loved ones closer to the Lord we show them the greatest love. By pleasing him in this way we will become pleased. But if we try to please ourselves or others separate from God we will only become frustrated. No amount of selfish sensual pleasure ever satisfies the soul.

The family that prays together stays together. By coming together for daily spiritual practises and helping each other on our spiritual paths we will grow closer and closer. As our love for the Lord increases so will our love for each other. Instead of competing together for our own self-interests we put the Lord’s interests at the centre. In this way we co-operate without conflict. With a common centre we can draw so many circles and they will not cut across each other. But with different centres even two circles will conflict.

So let’s find the love we are really looking for by loving the Lord together. Then so many social problems will be solved.

Sri Krishna Janmastami Iskcon Kuching, Malaysia, 2014 (Album 104 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

On the auspicious Janmastami day, the Hare Krishna Multipurpose Hall were decorated with vibrant sarees, flowers, balloons and Rangolis with Lord Krishna’s footsteps and colorful lights which was a treat to watch. In this majestic backdrop, the deities of Srila Prabhupada, Standing Krishna and Radha Madhava carried on palanquin made way from the multipurpose hall to the Abhisekh Mandap along with kirtan Read more ›

From the Archives: Radhastami, September 23, 1993, Auckland, New Zealand
Giriraj Swami

23Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila, Chapter 4.

“Krishna is saying here that He left the gopis to increase their love for Him. But the gopis did not accept His statement, because the gopis’ love for for Krishna is without limit. There is no question of Krishna’s increasing their love or eagerness, because it is already at the highest stage—and it is naturally always increasing. But it may be true in the case of other devotees. For example, if  someone is in the stage of asakti and wants to come to the stage of bhava but he is not quite able, Krishna may give him darsana—as Krishna gave darsana to Narada Muni—and then disappear. Then the devotee will be the mood of intense separation, always crying and lamenting that ‘I had Krishna and I lost Him—Krishna is not coming back.’ Feeling completely heartbroken, free from all lust and pride and full of humility, the devotee can cry for Krishna. With such longing in separation the devotee who is in asakti can come to bhava.”

Radhastami 1993, Auckland NZ

Krishna is Radharani’s Property
→ ISKCON Malaysia

BY SHEVAANNI PILLAI

Krishna is known as Madana-Mohana because He is so attractive that He attracts even Cupid. But Srimati Radharani is known as Madana-Mohana-Mohini because she attracts the attractor of Cupid !

 

"Our philosophy is to please Krsna through Radharani. So we should offer pushpanjali and pray to Radharani that 'Radharani, kindly be merciful and tell about me to Your Krishna. Your Krishna. Krishna is Yours.' Krishna. Radha-Krishna. Krishna is not independent. Krishna is Radharani's property. So you have to approach Krishna through Radharani. That is, today is the auspicious day. Worship Radharani very nicely and be happy. " - ( extracts from Srila Prabhupada's talks on Radhastami, London, 1971 & 1973)

Srimati Radharani’s Appearance Day, September 2, 2014
Giriraj Swami

Radharani in VrndavanaToday is Radhastami, the appearance day of Srimati Radharani, Lord Krishna’s pleasure-giving potency and eternal consort. Srila Prabhupada explains,

“We pray to Radharani because She is the pleasure potency of Krsna. Krsna means ‘all-attractive.’ But Radharani is so great that She attracts Krsna. So today we should try to understand the position of Srimati Radharani and offer our obeisances to Her.

tapta-kancana-gaurangi
radhe vrndavanesvari
vrsabhanu-sute devi
pranamami hari-priye

‘I offer my respects to Radharani, whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the queen of Vrndavana. You are the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, and You are very dear to Lord Krsna.’

“Radharani is hari-priya, ‘very dear to Krsna.’ Approaching Krsna becomes very easy when done through Radharani, through the mercy of Radharani. If Radharani recommends, ‘This devotee is very nice,’ then Krsna immediately accepts us, however great a fool we may be. Because we have been recommended by Radharani, Krsna accepts us. Therefore in Vrndavana you’ll find all the devotees chanting Radharani’s name more than Krsna’s. Wherever you’ll go, you’ll find the devotees are addressing one another with, ‘Jaya Radhe!’ They are glorifying Radharani. They’re more interested in worshiping Radharani than in worshiping Krsna, because however fallen I may be, if some way or other I can please Radharani, then it will be very easy for me to understand Krsna.

“Otherwise, if you try to understand Krsna by the speculative process, it will take many, many lives. But if you take devotional service and just try to please Radharani, Krsna will be gotten very easily, because Radharani can deliver Krsna. She is such a great devotee—the emblem of the greatest devotee.” (Lecture on Radhastami, August 29, 1971, London, adapted from BTG, Sep/Oct 2014)

Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami prays,

bhajami radham aravindam netram
smarami radham madhura smitasyam
vadami radham karuna bharardram
tato mama nyasti gatir na kapi

“I worship Sri Radha, who has eyes like lotus flowers. I remember Sri Radha, who smiles so sweetly. I glorify Sri Radha, who is full of mercy. I have no destination but Her.” (Stavavali, Sri Visakhanandabhidha-stotra 131)

Hare Krishna.

—Giriraj Swami

Radhastami Video
→ TKG Academy

TKG Academy students have the greatest fortune to be actively engaged in Sri Sri Radha Kalachandji’s Dham’s famous festivals, serving Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Kalachandji.  From reading mesmerizing pastimes about Srimati Radharani, to performing kirtan for the Vaishnavas, to dancing and jumping in the thousands of petals offered, their festival days are lifetime memories being created.  Take a look at the pictures.  Scroll down for the video of their Bhajan Presentation.

 

HG Vrindavan Candra Prabhu Leaves His Body on Srimati Radharani’s Appearance Day Tithi
→ ISKCON Malaysia

BY GOLOKA CANDRA DASA

KUALA LUMPUR - After a lifetime of devotional service, His Grace Vrindavan Candra Prabhu, a founding member of ISKCON Malaysia and Vice-President Malaysia, quit his body gloriously on the appearance tithi of Srimati Radharani on 02SEP2014. He has always been exemplary in his sadhana and spiritual life and spent the last part of his life absorbed in chanting and hearing the Holy Name and reading Srila Prabhupada's books. 

All glories to His Grace Vrindavan Candra Prabhu!

Note by Editor:

Funeral prayers on 3 september will be conducted by His Grace Parambrahma Das, 1p.m at No 72, Jalan Hujan Emas 2, Taman OUG, Jalan Kelang Lama. Hearse will leave the house at 2.45 pm and cremation will be at Loke Yew Hindu Cremation ground at 3.30 p.m.

 


Vrindavan Candra Prabhu's 80th Birthday Celebration

Who is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī?
→ The Enquirer

Who is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī?

Part I — The Ultimate Cause and Original Power

Everything has a cause.

Ultimately everything traces back to a “singularity” — a single original cause of all causes.

Vedānta: Eko bahu syāt — One shall be many

So, an essential property of the One Ultimate Cause is expansiveness.

What is the motive for expansion?

Vedānta: ānanda-mayābhāsāt — It is bliss

Taittiriya Upaniṣad: raso vai saḥ — He is ecstasy

Ecstasy / bliss motivates the One to become many. For, by becoming many, joy increases.

無上幸福を表明するために、一が無数となる。

What is bliss?

The original, most potent form of bliss is love.

Love is something exchanged between a lover and a beloved. Therefore “One shall be many”! The Original Entity eternally exists as a distinct person (the beloved) and expands into infinite distinct persons (the lovers).

Who is the Original Beloved?

Śāstra gives many important names for the Original Beloved. For example:

Krishna – The attractive one
Rāma – The beloved
Hari – The one who carries off (steals) all others’ (hearts)

Who are the Lovers of the Original Beloved?

Everyone and everything, including you and me.

But the Original Lover is particularly important. We call her “Rādhā” (literally, “Lover”).

Part II — The Complete Concept of Divinity

Recap: The Original Being is ecstatic love. By nature love wants to express itself and expand, so the the Original Being expands into infinite beings.

How? By ”śakti.”

What is śakti?

Tattva-dīpikā: śakti — kāraṇa-niṣṭhā kāryotpādana yogaḥ dharma viśeṣaḥ — Śakti is the power, within a cause, to generate an effect.

Kāraṇa = cause;
Kārya = effect;
Śakti = the power in the cause which generates the effect (aka. prakṛti)

What is the Original Śakti?

Kāraṇa: The original cause is ecstatic love — Krishna.
Kārya: The effect he wants to generate: the experience of ecstasy — Rasa

What is the Śakti that will enable ecstatic love (Krishna) to generate the experience of ecstasy (rasa)? In simpler terms, “How can love be experienced?” By expressing itself.

Thus the Original Śakti is the power to express love (literally, “Rādhā”).

One Becomes Many Through Śakti

Krishna generates everything through Rādhā.

How?

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad: parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śruyate | svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca — ”The Original Śakti functions in many ways, generating inspiration, sentience, and form.

Viṣṇu Purāṇa: hlādinī sandhinī samvit tvayy eka sarva saṁsthitau — “Bliss, form, and sentience are established by that one original śakti.”

The first function of the Original Śakti [Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī] is hlādinī-śakti — “the energy that expands happiness by expressing love.”

Her second function is saṁvit-śakti — “the energy that expands sentience.”

Her third function is sandhinī-śakti — “the energy that generates form.”

Siddhānta Ratna specifies this order: tatra sandhinī-samvit-hlādinyor yathottaram utkṛṣṭā jñeyāḥ — “Sandhinī, samvit, and hlādinī are successively more exalted.”

The reason for this order: The original entity, Krishna, is ecstatic bliss. His śakti, Rādhā, is the expression of bliss (hlādinī). For this expression to be experienced, there must be sentience (saṁvit), and sentience requires tangible things to be sentient of (sandhinī).

“sat-cit-ānanda” describes the outcome of these three functions of Śrī Rādhā.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta: ānandāṁśe hlādinī, sad-aṁśe sandhinī, cid-aṁśe samvit— “ānanda (bliss) is the product of hlādinī. Tangible form (sat) is the product of sandhinī. Sentience is the product of saṁvit.

In conclusion, all of reality (sat, cit, and ānanda) comes from Śrī Rādhā, who is the inherent powerful energy of Śrī Krishna.

Rādhā is not Different from Krishna

Caitanya Caritāmṛta: rādhā — pūrṇa śakti, kṛṣṇa — pūrṇa-śaktimān | dui vastu bheda nāi, śāstra-paramāṇa — Rādhā is the Original Śakti, Krishna is the Original Śaktimān | They are two components of a single unit, according to the opinion of śāstra.

Śakti is not different from the cause, it is an energy within the cause (kāraṇa-niṣṭhā). But it is a distinct part of the cause (viśeṣa).

Rādhā and Krishna are two distinct parts of a single unit.

A Complete Conception of Divinity

Krishna alone is not a complete conception of divinity. A complete conception includes all three aspects: the original cause, the original energy, and the original effect.

The three letters of the mystic syllable ॐ represent these three aspects of complete divinity.

The beloved — Krishna — the original cause — A
With the lover — Rādhā — the original energy — U
Enjoying love — rasa — the original effect — M

Part III — How Love (Rādhā) Expands

Recap: The Original Entity, Krishna, is ecstatic bliss (ānanda), and wants to experience that bliss (rasa). Rādhā is the potency (śakti) in Krishna that enables him to experience his bliss.

Five Degrees of Love:

The purest, most concentrated bliss is love.

5 degrees of it: śānta, dāsya, sākhya, vātsalya, mādhurya.

  1. All love is founded on selflessness (śānta),
    our own wants and needs become secondary
    to the wants and needs of our beloved.
  2. Love actively begins with helpfulness (dāsya),
    we strive to fulfill the wants and needs of our beloved.
  3. Love intensifies into friendship (sākhya),
    intimacy and confidentially develop.
  4. Love can intensify still further into protectiveness (vātsalya),
    we begin to feel that our beloved depends on us, needs us.
  5. Fully matured intimacy and dependency become true romance (mādhurya)

First Expansion

Rādhā wants Krishna to experience the fullest, ripest joys of bliss – so she first of all establishes mādhurya-rasa by generating Krishna’s form as an infinitely attractive young man, and herself as an infinitely attractive young woman.

She also creates the perfect romantic setting (Vṛndāvana).

Second Expansion

Variety is important to enjoyment, so Rādhā manifests as a second, Candrāvalī, and then into infinite Gopīs.

Third Expansion

Rarity is important to enjoyment, so Rādhā manifests challenges to make the expression of divine romantic love more prized and desirable. This is why the gopīs have husbands, and Krishna has responsibilities (tending cows, being home and certain times for meals, etc)

So, Rādhā, Candrāvalī and the Gopīs manifest as Krishna’s parents and elders, his friends, their own husbands, etc.

In these third expansions Śrī Rādhā accomplishes two goals: (1) she increases the value of mādhurya-rasa and (2) she enables Krishna to enjoy vātsalya, sākhya and dāsya-rasa

Fourth Expansion

To expand variety and rarity still further, all of Rādhā’s expansions expand again and again, generating complete realms, “Vaikuṇṭha realms,” where Krishna can experience different flavors of love, friendship, and so on.

For example in Dvāraka Krishna experiences romantic love from the perspective of marriage and family, and in the more remote Vaikuṇṭhas he experiences love through reverence and majesty.

Fifth Expansion

Each expansion of Śrī Rādhā possesses, like her, independent sentience and will. In her fifth and final expansion, she tends the needs of her expansions who are not inclined to cooperate with their intended purpose.

This expansion generates a facsimile-reflection of everything she already created, but with a veil hiding the central importance of the Original Beloved, Krishna, enabling her uncooperative expansions to pursue their independent ambitions.

But she compassionately engineers this realm so that it affords the opportunity to take up our intended purpose as her assistant and participate in the real world, if and when we so desire.

Rādhārāṇī, pictured in the flier for the Rādhāṣṭhamī celebration in Tokyo, 2014


Workshop on now
→ Bhakti Lounge - The Heart Of Yoga in Wellington

Meditation workshop series
Learn how to meditate, Bhakti style. Easy, fun, effective … and possible amongst the contemporary fast-paced “no time” city lifestyle that we find ourselves living in! The series will run over three consecutive Tuesdays exploring pranayam (breath) and guided visualisations, all leading up to a powerful personal practise using mantra beads. If you want some extra glow in your life, a stress buster, some “me time”, more efficiency, improved concentration or just curious of what makes the Bhakti Lounge crew smile, then this series is for you…

meditation