Planet ISKCON

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 07 July 2014, Serbia, Summer Camp, Caitanya Candramrta Seminar Part 1)

Sri Caitanya-candramrta by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati

Chapter 1, Verse 4:

 “Let us glorify the boundlessly merciful Supreme Personality of Godhead, the prince of Vrindavan. To taste the intoxicating, sweet waves of the nectar of the transcendental love for Krsna, as well as to give that nectar to others, he has now appeared in the transcendental abode of Navadvip as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. One who is untouched by any piety, who is completely absorbed in irreligion or one who has never received the merciful glance of the devotees, or been to any holy place sanctified by them, will still ecstatically dance, loudly sing and even roll about on the ground, when he becomes intoxicated by tasting the nectar of the transcendental mellows of the pure love of God given by Lord Caitanya. Let me therefore glorify that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”

So, yes, piety! Such a thing – piety! Where is piety? All we know is hypocrisy, in this age. Pious prayers, holy faces – but what is behind it? A masquerade, a show for the general public. Who in the world is pious, really pious? Piety means purity. Piety, as explained in the eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, is steadiness in one’s devotional practices. When we are pious that means that we can actually serve Krsna without interruption. Can we? Not so easily. Yes, sometimes we are so inspired but at other times so down. Sometimes thinking, ‘I am almost on the platform of ecstasy!’ And at other times, ‘I am on the edge, maybe I am over the edge! Maybe I am gone, I am doomed. Maybe there is no hope – I might as well give up!’

Piety, where is piety? Anyway, this verse addresses those who have not been touched by any piety, even worse, those who are completely absorbed in irreligion as their normal activity. The bar around the corner, you know what I mean!? The casino that is advertised at the airport; the prostitutes that are found everywhere, along the highway to serve truck drivers and in the city and wherever else you want; next to expensive hotels so that high class businessmen in fancy suits, who fly business class, would not have to spend a night alone, deprived of comfort. Like that, irreligion is everywhere, what shall we say!? It is just our second nature.

So this verse speaks of the persons who have no piety, who are completely absorbed in irreligion, who have never even received the merciful glance of the devotees. Yes, that glance makes all the difference! In the middle of our lives, suddenly a devotee appears who somehow or other leaves some transcendental mercy with us. Ajnata sukriti, the unknown spiritual benefit, is attained by the association of devotees and those who are going further and are getting purified even more, they will actually knowingly take up devotional service and by the mercy of devotees, they will be able to continue. But what if you have never met a devotee, then what? No piety – one stays absorbed in sinful activities! Then what is the case? What if you have never been to a holy place sanctified by the vaisnavas? It is said that it does not matter! Even that person will still ecstatically dance, loudly sing and even roll about on the ground. Because even that person will become intoxicated by tasting the nectar of the transcendental mellows of pure love of God given by Lord Caitanya.

In other words, somehow or other, Lord Caitanya’s mercy will reach the fallen, conditioned souls and somehow or other Lord Caitanya will purify such souls and bring them very quickly to the ecstatic platform. 

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At various places around the world there are those who are working to provide the most ethically produced milk in an atmosphere of care and lifelong protection for the cows, calves and bulls. This comes from an understanding of the message of Lord Krishna and explained by Srila Prabhupada and these initiatives are a dedication to the founder of the ISKCON society. These milk and products will cost significantly more than the modern dairy milk as more cows are cared for with more personnal interaction with the cows and produced in a more natural and sustainable farm system. Would you choose this milk and products if it was available at a higher cost? Read more ›

"I am not in Vaikuntha nor in the hearts of the yogis. I remain where My devotees engage in glorifying My activities." It is to be understood that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not leave the company of His devotees. Padma Purana Read more ›

Published July 29, 2014 Read more ›

Ecstatic Kirtan by HG Madhava das- Toronto Rath Yatra 2014

1967 August 3: "Go on playing your guitar and make it successful for Krishna kirtana. You do not require to learn freshly about sitar. We have to engage whatever talents we have already got. Our life is short but any type of education is great and long; so best to utilize properly whatever qualifications we have got for the service of the Lord."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

1968 August 3: "His Holiness Pope Paul VI: The Krishna Consciousness movement is meant for overhauling the world. We are creating men of character to become Lovers of God. If you think a meeting will be beneficial for the human society, I shall be very much pleased."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1969 August 3: "Our Krishna Consciousness Movement is a declaration of war against the activities of Maya. So your idea of marching 300 soldiers all over the world with the Hare Krishna Mantra is very encouraging to me. I am always dreaming of a world Sankirtana Party."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1972 August 3: "Today we are looking at a very nice place near London with Mr. George Harrison, who has found the place and wants to have our asrama there. He is coming to see me daily and he is a very nice boy and I like him very much."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1973 August 3: "There is nothing in the world can compare to our Movement of chanting and dancing. This is our actual solid preaching work all over the world. If we go on preaching vigorously as we have been for another twenty-five years then all other religions will disappear."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1975 August 3: "They have made these modern cities as hell. I wish to introduce this village ideal now. Then if we are successful this cheating civilization will stop. If people do not cooperate with them, then how will the hellish factories run on?"
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1975 August 3: "The village organization is that the local people produce their necessities like grain, vegetables, milk, and cloth; and for recreation they have the chanting of Hare Krishna. They should live there comfortably and have spiritual recreation. They should not come to the cities."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1975 August 3: "So many men are there and you are all simply writing letters to me. Without my personal presence you cannot do anything. Simply correspondence. Why there is so much delay?"
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

The forms of Radha’s maidservants are wonderful bubbles from the particles of foam from the effulgent spiritual ocean of sweet transcendental love that flows from the beauty of Radha’s lotus feet. These young girls are filled with all artistic skill, and their wonderfully beautiful limbs are decorated with splendid garments and ornaments. O friend, please become the follower and servant of these maidservants of Sri Radha.

[Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, Sataka-2, Text-86, Translation.]

Please click here for more photos 

I write this in Brooklyn, New York in a room with white walls, high ceilings, and bright wooden floors.  My suitcases are lined up against the wall, slightly open.

I look around at this small yet lovely room and breathe in deep. This place shall be my home for the next one to two years.

Today I moved from my temporary home in upstate New York to this room. There is something profound for me to call a room MY room. I have been flying from room to room over the past two years. Now, like a bird that has circled and circled a particular perch, I have come in to land.

Wondrous things shall unfold over the next 1-2 years while I live in this very room, like a bird who constantly flies off to adventures during the day and then returns to rest upon her perch. Tonight is my first night in this place, may many adventures take wing.

Thank you for sharing in this moment with me.

As devotees, we should know our limits of spiritual purity. We should not imitate pure devotees in terms of eating, sleeping and other mundane bodily functions. Srila Prabhupada enforced minimum rules such as four regulative principles, chanting 16 rounds and honoring prasadam. If we practice this sincerely and diligently, we can advance towards Krishna. But out of false-pride and duplicitous nature, if we make a show of advancement of sleeping irregular hours, eating little, engaging in bhajana etc, then such show will eventually pull us down. Therefore we have to be humble in progressing towards Krishna.

What does that mean? It means we have to wait till Krishna allows us to get to the next level of purity whatever it may be. We have to perform to our current capacity with sincere diligence and wait for Krishna to give us confidence within us to go to the next level. Either that or we advance purely based on our attachment to our Guru. This is not so common. Intense attachment to Guru can enable one to disband material hankerings instantly and take up to deep levels of Krishna consciousness.

However, those who are not at that level of attachment can however practice vaidhi bhakti gradually till they receive higher taste from Krishna and in that way progress towards spontaneous bhakti. But for all of this to happen, we have to acknowledge our insignificant nature, and in that mood practice our sadhana (whatever we have committed to) strictly every day and beg for Krishna’s mercy to make progress towards Him.

Patience, confidence and enthusiasm is the key.

Hare Krishna

"We are full of many mundane impressions; so we have to guard ourselves against those ten offences that should not be committed during the chanting of the Name of Hari."

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Goswami Maharaja

O Lord Krishna, at this moment let the royal swan of my mind enter the tangled stems of the lotus of Your lotus feet. How will it be possible for me to remember You at the time of death, when my throat will be choked up with mucus, bile, and air? Mukunda mala stotra Read more ›

Lecture Podcast

Lecture Podcast

Lecture Podcast

Lecture Ppt

25-07-2014 Govardhan Parikrama Continued Part 3(With Russian Translation), Vaisnava Summer Festival 2014, Lithuania.mp3

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Kavicandra Swami: At the end of the kirtan one boy from England approached me asking how he could join. Since he got a book two years ago has has been planing to join Hare Krsna.. He came to Europe looking for devotees and was told we were at the Polish Woodstock. I introduced him to Krsna Kripa Prabhu and he will join him for the Czeck Pada Yatra. Bhakta George is very excited about. Read more ›

1958 August 2: "We should learn to look upon every living being as our own brother and treat him in that love. Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy began from this universal brotherhood which is not restricted to the human kind but to all species of life."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1947-64

More than 500 police officers were on crowd control, traffic security and peacekeeping duty in Vrindavan from Tuesday on July 30. Along with the uniformed police, plainclothesmen and K9 squads were also patrolling the crowded city streets. Nevertheless, many people expressed regrets that preparations to make the streets clean to welcome so many outside guests to the holy town were inadequate and the thoroughfares in many places, especially on the Mathura Road, are in need of reparations. Read more ›

In this day and age, our lives are busy, and we are all running around with the urgency to fulfill various needs. If we have any more time left in between, we are bombarded with electronic stimulation in different ways. The sad part of this life style is that our children follow what they see around, and become attached to those habits. Our children need to be engaged in our ever blissful spiritual culture and values. The only way, they can experience this bliss, is by engaging in pure spiritual connection with the process of Bhakti Yoga. Engaging their intelligence, mind, and senses in the devotional service to the Lord. This was the essence of the just concluded successful Children’s 4th Annual Gita Camp, held at Houston Hare Krishna Temple from July 7 – 13. Read more ›

Pictures of the crops which are growing nicely and the milking cows grazing in the sun. Pictures of the first bales of hay to be harvested and transported back to the farm this year, all by ox power. Read more ›