Gopal’s Garden: New Vrindaban’s Family School
→ ISKCON News

Just down the hill from the Sri Sri Radha Vrindabanchandra Mandir, in a simple wooden building under the shade of tall, leafy oaks and maples, lies the key to New Vrindaban’s future. Four children are currently taught in the brightly painted aqua classroom of Gopal’s Garden, a homeschool co-op established in 2007. That may not be many, but it doesn’t make Gopal’s Garden any less important to New Vrindaban’s families, or to the very foundations of the community.

Krishna-shaped Hole
→ Seed of Devotion

For as long as I can remember, ever since I was a little girl, I have always had this longing for something or someone. Something or someone is missing from my life. It's either new clothes, a temple, a community, adventurous travels, friends, a husband, an education, a house, a car, money, spiritual initiation, a guru.

Something.

Someone. 

And when I finally get what I want, I long for something else, I long for someone else. This longing has been a curse and a blessing. A curse when I long for material things, because I get consumed with a fire that burns me up. A blessing when I long for spiritual things, because I get consumed with a fire that lights my soul. 

Lately I have been consumed with a longing for furniture. Sounds silly, but it's true. I have this intense desire to really just get settled into where I live - I've been wandering the world for so very long and now I just want to live in. one. place. One. Place. Getting the perfect bed and curtains is a product of this longing for home. But it's a feverish search, my ideas keep shifting and changing, I feel consumed and burnt out. 

Lately I have also been missing Radha Shyamasundar from New Raman Reti. There's an ache in my chest of longing. I miss singing for Them, putting away Their clothes, dancing for Them, and just being within Their glowing glance. It's this ache that gets more painful and also sweeter. I want to forget the ache, distract myself, but at the same time I know that it's sweet. I feel that it's sweet.

My spiritual master Radhanath Swami once told me, "There's a Krishna-shaped hole in your heart and no one will be able to fill that hole - not your parents, not a husband, not me. Only Krishna."  

For the past several months, whenever I have found it hard to get to sleep, I call into my mind's eye the faces of Radhe Shyam. I meditate upon Their forms and soon enough my heart and mind are at ease and I find myself drifting off to sleep. Radhe Shyam fill that custom-made hole in my heart. And for that window of time, my longing for someone or something is quieted and my soul rests.



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Chanting Produces A Taste
→ Japa Group

Chanting produces a taste
for chanting. It becomes
an indispensable part of
your life, you can not
bear to go with out chanting
early in the morning. Prabhupada
said of his 1 A.M. rising
and writing his books, “This
is taste.” Similarly, this is
taste which drives me to
go around the beads for sixteen
rounds with out letup,
building the strength and
relishing the sounds, and
when I am extra fortunate,
con tem plating on Radha and
Krishna who stand together
on the altar and play in
Their pastimes in my mind.

From Viraha Bhavan #106
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

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 ›