Only The Beginning
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Two days before Woodstock officially opened 20 thousand young people had already arrived and set up their tents. We took full advantage and went on harinam with 500 devotees and invitations to Krsna’s Village of Peace. Though we ourselves were still putting the finishing touches to our village we managed to have kirtan in our [...]

VIHE opening course in Vrindavana (Album 8 photos)
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The VIHE in Vrindavan was established to fulfill Srila Prabhupada's desire for an educational institute in Vrindavana. The VIHE in the holy Dhama provides an ideal facility and atmosphere for you to improve your sadhana, develop your devotional qualities, engage in serious study, associate with senior devotees, and receive training in practical skills relevant to management and preaching. The VIHE also aims to preserve and disseminate standards Srila Prabhupada set for acting in Krishna consciousness and to deepen devotee's understanding, realization and appreciation of Srila Prabhupada's teachings and movement. Thus, the Krishna conscious culture and values that Srila Prabhupada gave us can be passed on to successive generations. All courses are well researched and taught by senior devotees who have a deep understanding of the subject. Read more ›

Thousands get the mercy in Poland’s Woodstock festival (Album 62 photos)
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Indradyumna Swami: Two days before Woodstock officially opened 20 thousand young people had already arrived and set up their tents. We took full advantage and went on harinam with 500 devotees and invitations to Krsna's Village of Peace. Though we ourselves were still putting the finishing touches to our village we managed to have kirtan in our Mantra Yoga tent for 8 hours and distribute 6,000 plates of delicious prasadam. It's only the beginning .... Read more ›

Police in Vrindavana removes illegal roadside kiosks, benches in front of teashops, hoardings and billboards and more
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The holy town of Vrindavan’s narrow streets are made even narrower by the makeshift businesses encroaching on the pavement and using this space for their shops. Since this is having a negative impact on traffic flows, the municipal government last week launched a campaign to remove them, starting on Monday. Under the direction of the Executive Officer of the Palika Parishad, Rajneesh Sharma, and junior engineer Suresh Chandra Lawania began the campaign to remove roadside encroachments, primarily motivated by the expectation of an influx of pilgrims over the next two months, when Vrindavan is invaded by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. Read more ›

New Vrindaban’s Varsana Swami speaks on “Prosperity of the Earth Culture”
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Prosperity of the Earth Culture

By Varsana Swami

July 2014

Varsana Maharaj

Varsana Maharaj

In healthy families and communities, both male and female are valued equally. A flourishing child’s psyche is guided and protected by the father figure, while the mother figure nurtures growth and development. Without such a stable structure, children perceive a hostile world (lack of feminine nourishment) within an empty universe (lack of masculine direction giving meaning and purpose). Without proper relationship to mother and father, a suffering condition develops which tempts its subjects with intoxication in order to fill the void and dull the pain.

Without loving families and communities, we feel inadequate, lost, with no sense of belonging. Unable to tolerate, we rapidly fill that void with artificial types of happiness. These “quick” fix solutions simply exasperate the distress.

In fact, in current times, we see how everything has to be faster and faster. “Snail” mail is outdated and high speed internet is considered a necessity of life which can answer all of our dilemmas. We live in a society where the price of fixing something exceeds the cost of a new one. Modern consumerism requires petroleum and fuel from the earth, drawing out more of her energy. Although it is simpler for the individual to dump broken items and waste into a landfill, the toxic waste burdens Mother Earth, kills our life support systems, and concurrently pollutes our collective unconscious.

As this mentality expands, it pervades within the realm of our relationships which also become disposable commodities. There is not enough time to cultivate meaningful connections. Accustomed to the comforts and luxuries of technology, parents work harder and longer to earn more money to provide what the global and socially transmitted disease of Affluenza (addiction to modern conveniences and the narcissism that it aggravates) deems as “normal”. There is therefore less time and energy for children.

Laxmi Anjani small 2 rasa priyas

Having strong relationship with both parents offers more than mere emotional stability, it furthers connection to the supreme seed-giving Father of all (Krishna) and the original Mother (Radha), the tender-hearted feminine beloved of the Lord. Organic lifestyle and quality time with parents can help offspring naturally develop faith in God above (dharma) and respect for Mother Earth below. Such healthy individuals propagate the perennial seeds of prosperity, living in communion with God’s plan.

Conversely, the ongoing disintegration of our culture, of our families and communities, and of sustainable infrastructures, has destroyed our natural sense of rejuvenation and regeneration. It has become evident to many that we need to “slow” down and develop a long term scheme that will conserve our natural resources, as well as preserve our relationships. However, Krishna has already created such a system. Maybe it is time to re-examine how to incorporate His gifts.

Understanding our relationships, our place and purpose, facilitates God’s original plan and will to resonate and blossom within us. It is our dharma, our constitutional position, to feel and experience our relationship to the Lord. In the Varnashram system, agrarian lifestyle naturally appreciates and utilizes male and female energies in order to maintain a balance. Honoring Mother Earth, we develop genuine respect for birthing (renewing), nurturing and growth processes. We value our many mothers which include, our human mother, Mother Earth and Mother cow. The Male figure in the Agrarian society is represented by the Bull – the protective and providing father.

New Vrindaban Cows Oxen ISKCON

To re-establish an ox program as a component to a more holistic lifestyle will facilitate a breakthrough in consciousness, piercing the layers of denial of our addictions, confronting our attitudes about the masculine and the feminine, as well as humbling us and preparing our consciousness for the profoundly deeper spiritual significance of what Srila Prabhupada wanted for us at New Vrindavan.

Foremost among Srila Prabhupada’s primary mandates for New Vrindavan was cow protection and agriculture. He emphasized the position of the cow and the bull as the mother and father figures in order to safeguard our consciousness from seeing them as objects of our exploitation.

Cow protection, as set forth by Srila Prabhupada was not merely that the cow and the bull lead a full and natural life, but that they also be jolly, as a member of a family would feel. Cows and bulls are happy to be fed and brushed. While cows like to be milked, the main source of pleasure for the ox has been obscured by the tractor. An ox is a bull who has surrendered his procreative potential, transforming that energy into a submissive and manageable temperament capable of being trained and utilized for agricultural and transportation services. As a father figure he loves to provide for his family of humans by pursuing his occupation in the field which assures a source of income and prosperity to mankind.

From the inception of the New Vrindavan vision until his later visits, Srila Prabhupada showed consistent concern that the bull maintain a solid footing on the soil of the holy dhama and in the agricultural field. He considered the use of tractors as a concession, only to be used in addition to oxen, never as a replacement. When the father figure is unemployed, the family can experience only temporary and artificial prosperity, nothing secure, long lasting or fully satisfying. At some point in time, an unemployed father (the bull), will be seen as a burden to the family.

Cultivating a relationship with Mother Earth by utilizing the Father figure, the bull, brings us together in community spirit. In an agrarian culture, both planting and harvest are festive occasions where everyone comes together in a joyful mood, delighting in preparing an offering of the gifts of Mother Earth, plowed by Father Dharma, back to their source, Sri Krishna. If we as devotees of Krishna cannot employ our father and appreciate his position as provider, how will we ever develop a wholesome love for Krishna, Who so dearly loves both the cows and the bulls?

bull and cow

As a replacement to the sustainable culture of the land, in the Iron Age, in order to produce machines, Mother Earth is exploited for iron ore by industrial enterprises fueled by petroleum. In India, rubber trees are planted to replace the sandal wood forests, meaning that tires are given preference over articles of sacrifice. Every step of the industrial world diminishes the life force of the planet. Chemical fertilizers are used which adversely affect our lives, poisoning both the soil and those who partake of the toxic crop.

Conversely, every step in cow protection and ox power enriches the ecology with renewed life and vitality. Fuel for the ox team is grass which otherwise needs to be mowed. When it becomes food for the ox, it returns to the earth transformed and enhanced as manure, liquid gold. When a tractor dies, some of its parts are recycled, some go to the toxic waste dump; whereas a deceased ox contributes to mrdunga heads, bull horns for the deities, ayurvedic remedies and the rest of his body is composted back to Mother Earth.

Furthermore, tractors, cars, and machines often become an extension of ego and aggravate the false identity we are attempting to overcome. In training and driving an ox team, the animals will never cooperate with the egotistic outbursts of man. They cannot be “controlled” like a machine and so they serve as a mirror reflecting the passionate and stubborn attitudes of ego. Driving an ox team can assist a devotee in learning patience, sensitivity and a cooperative spirit, such a precious service which a tractor cannot offer.

The bull represents power. Whereas technology encourages competition (Power over paradigm), true agriculture necessitates and cultivates cooperative, united efforts (empowerment with others).

In addition, while working a team of oxen, the teamster is never haunted by the scarcity issues which accompany the tractor (how will I pay for the machine, parts and fuel and replace the tractor when it wears out?) By the time an ox team retires, it has already been replicated (reproduced) many times over since about one half of calves born are bulls. In working the land with oxen, every step leads to prosperity, whether that comes in the form of overflowing bounty, the faith that Krishna will always provide enough to go around, or simple lessons in cooperative team spirit.

The full range of spiritual and practical import served by the bull is integral to our Krishna Conscious culture, New Vrindavan’s identity as the very first farming community, as well as a source of insight into the subconscious mind. The bull stands as an emblem of male fecundity or procreative potency which tends to be wild and combative until tamed and disciplined.

The common sight of a bull driving a turnstile reflects the image of Vrishabha, the macrocosmic Vedic bull, who sets the turning of the universe into motion and is the source of Dharma, whose four hooves represent the four pillars of spiritual life: cleanliness, austerity, mercy and truthfulness. At the end of each Yuga, Vrishabha lifts one of his hooves from the ground indicating the loss of yet another pillar.

In Kaliyuga, truthfulness alone stands, and even that is being challenged. While Kali attacks in an attempt to exploit both Dharma, the bull and Bhumi, Mother Earth, Maharaj Pariksit intervenes to re-establish Dharma. Without the bull and the cow – spiritual culture diminishes being left with “no leg to stand on”. Cow protection both ensures and indicates the barometer, the spiritual health of the society. The work of the oxen is represented by the plow which turns under the weeds of the field and opens the furrow where seeds of our sustenance as well as seeds of bhakti are sown and cultivated for the upcoming harvest.

Placing dharma back in the field represents more than a satvic and sustainable way of life, as these are mere consequences, not the actual fruits of the harvest. The root significance is valuing Krishna’s arrangements and Srila Prabhupada’s intent for us, the spiritual foundations for everything else we do. Combining our efforts to include all the essential ingredients offered by Srila Prabhupada, we can assist in re-creating New Vrindavan as a harmonious, interdependent farming community, where sustainability is manifest in both earthly and spiritual ways. The world can then see a true and complete solution to the ominous ecological crisis overshadowing us all.

In attuning our lives with the rhythms of earth culture, we live in harmony with Mother Nature and her laws and in accordance to dharma, Krishna’s design for order in the universe. Honoring archetypal mother and father figures facilitates understanding real meaning and purpose in life while creating a deeper connection to our universal and merciful Mother, Srimati Radharani, and to the message of our Father, Lord Krishna: to chant His holy Names.

The Maha Mantra is likened to the sound of Sri Krishna’s flute song which calls all the lost cows back home. Sri Krishna, by his flute playing and the rope He carries, assures the cows will be home in time for their milking. His big brother, Dauji, by the plow He carries, ensures that the oxen will be properly situated. And Srimati Radharani, Vrishabhanu Nandini, by the Name She cherishes, assures that the archetypal bull, Vrishabha will forever be honored.

Although lost and misguided, we can follow in the footsteps of the cows and the cowherd boys and girls. By chanting Krishna’s Names, attracted by that sacred vibration, we too can return home to Krishna’s heartland.

A visit to ISKCON Karuna Bhavan temple, Lesmahagow, Scotland
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There was something that Maharaja did and said that held great importance to me. Firstly, he sang the famous Hare Krishna maha mantra tune that which Srila Prabhupada immortalized at No 26, Second Avenue and at Tompkins Square Park. Even today when we look at the red tinted videos of those recordings our hair stands on its ends surcharged with its spiritual potency. Srila Prabhupada had a unique gravity in his chanting and in his kirtans. His kirtans assumed musical quality not for the sake of music but for the sake of the holy name itself. Similarly Danavir Maharaja sang the same tune for almost 45 minutes with identical solemnity. He sang only the aarohan (upscale) version and sustained it for so long without slightest variation in his enthusiasm towards singing harinama. Read more ›

Devotees start prasadam distribution along with Harinama in New York’s Tompkins Square Park (Album 28 photos)
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The Krsna consciousness movement is based on this principle: chant the Hare Krsna mantra at every moment, as much as possible, both inside and outside of the temples, and, as far as possible, distribute prasada. This process can be accelerated with the cooperation of state administrators and those who are producing the country's wealth. Simply by liberal distribution of prasada and sankirtana, the whole world can become peaceful and prosperous. Read more ›

Extended Summer Gopinath’s Kids Camp – August 7 – 9, 2014!
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple!

Imagine a day full of games, laughter, delicious prasadam, chance to make new friends and especially, NO PARENTS! ISKCON Toronto is providing just that and more for the younger members of our community with the 8th Annual Gopinath's Kids Camp!

This year, the 8th Annual Gopinath's Kids Camp will be held from Thursday, August 7th to Saturday, August 9th from 9:00am - 5:00pm, strictly for kids aged 4-12 years. We are extending our annual one-day camp to a three-day camp and it will provide an opportunity to ignite the spiritual spark in our children while doing fun and interactive activities that they enjoy. In addition to outdoor games, some of the primary activities being planned for the day are a Mega Scavenger Hunt, fun cooking classes, learning how to play different musical instruments, sumptuous prasadam and many fond memories.

 All this and much more for registration fees of only $25 per day or $60 for all three days! You can register at the temple or use our online form by clicking here (last day to register is August 5th). For further information, please don't hesitate to email us at kids@torontokrishna.com.

Forever young!
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 September 2013, Durban, South Coast Hall Program, Class “Living in truth”)

krishna-art-painting-coolI was reading a story where it is said that “Knowledge” and “Renunciation” had become very weak. They had become very depleted due to the influence of kali; they had become very old! Although they were young, they looked very weak and gray, as though they were eighty!

It is said that their friends and relatives such as “Truthfulness”, “Tolerance” and “Wisdom”, were also very weak. “Friendship” was totally crippled, was seriously crippled. “Friendship” could barely walk; “Friendship” only existed on the basis of profit!

So gradually, in the age of kali, all these qualities became weak, but one quality somehow or other, was still youthful and that was BHAKTI! Bhakti still stood. Bhakti was unaffected. So after a long time of not having seen each other, Bhakti met “Renunciation” and it was like, “Renunciation, you are still alive!? I haven’t heard from you for so long! I thought you would have passed away by now. Oh, Renunciation, I heard you are not in good health.”  

Then “Renunciation” said, “Bhakti, you haven’t changed at all: you are still ever-fresh. What happened? How come, my dear Bhakti, my dear devotional service? How come Bhakti has survived when all other qualities have become weakened…?”

Bhakti explained, “Because of this benediction: kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt, because in this age of kali there is HARI-KIRTAN and this hari-kirtan is the nourishment of Bhakti, the nourishment of devotional service. It is the essence of devotional service. Actually, it is the most important activity within the realm of devotional service. Everything comes from that!”

So in this way, Bhakti knows the secret of youth. She looked as young and elevated than ever when all the others were weakened.

——————————————————-

kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuḿ
tretāyāḿ yajato makhaiḥ
dvāpare paricaryāyāḿ
kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt

 

TRANSLATION: Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṇu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.  (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.3.52)

 

 

Krishna Lounge Kirtan & Talk for July 17th 2014
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pineal-gland-portal-of-higher-dimensions
 
Kirtan lead by Mukunda:


 
Kirtan lead by Giriraj Gopal dasa:

 
Talk by Giriraj Gopal dasa:


 

Gita Nagari Retreat & Vyasa Puja (Album 80 photos)
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"I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lotus Feet of my Spiritual Master and unto the feet of all Vaishnavas. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lotus Feet of Srila Rupa Gosvami along with his elder brother Sanatana Gosvami, as well as Raghunatha Dasa and Raghunatha Bhatta, Gopala Bhatta, and Srila Jiva Gosvami. I offer my respectful obeisances to Lord Krishna Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda along with Advaita Acharya, Gadadhara, Srivasa, and other associates. I offer my respectful obeisances to Srimati Radharani and Sri Krishna along with Their associates Sri Lalita and Vishakha." Read more ›

Travel Journal#10.12: London, Stonehenge, Nottingham, and The North of England
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 10, No. 12
By Krishna-kripa das
(June 2014, part two)
London, Stonehenge, Nottingham, and The North of England
(Sent from Kostrzyn, Poland, on July 29, 2014)

Where I Went and What I Did

After the London Ratha-yatra, I continued to do harinama with the World Harinama Party and the local devotees in London for the next week. Then we attended the Stonehenge Solstice Festival when we did a Ratha-yatra and chanted for six hours through a crowd of around 30,000 people. Next I went to Nottingham for three days to encourage my friend Shyamananda Prabhu and do harinama, advertising the Govinda’s restaurant and nama-hatta programs there. Then I did harinamawith Sutapa Prabhu and a party of twenty-five devotees, mostly Pandava Sena youth, along with the World Harinama Party, in the cities near Manchester where we have regularly have programs: Sheffield, Preston, Liverpool, Leeds, and York. The last two days of June I spent in Newcastle doing harinama and giving the Sunday feast lecture there.

I share insights from Srila Prabhupada’s lectures and letters. I include excerpts from the lectures of Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati Thakura compiled in a book called Vaktritavali. I also include excerpts from Prabhupada Meditations, Volume 3, by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I include notes on a recorded lecture by Hridayananda Goswami and notes on classes I heard in London by Candramauli Swami, Vicaru Prabhu, who spoke about his guru, Tamal Krishna Goswami, Murli Manohara Prabhu, Harinamananda Prabhu, and a class I heard in York by Govardhan Devi Dasi with material I had never heard before about the life of Bhaktivinoda Thakura and a class I heard in Manchester by the Scotland-based book distributor, Adhoksaja Prabhu.

Itinerary

July 28–August 3: Kostrzyn (Polish Woodstock)
August 4–7: Czech Padayatra
August 8: Ancient Trance Festival (near Leipzig)
August 9: Leipzig Ratha-yatra
August 10: Ancient Trance Festival
August 11–12: Bratislava
August 13: Prague
August 14–17: Trutnov (Czech Woodstock)
August 18: Czech Farm (Vyasa Puja with Kadamba Kanana Swami)
August 19–22: Paris harinamas
August 23: Rotterdam
August 24: Amsterdam Ratha-yatra
August 25: London
August 26: Nottingham
August 27: Sheffield
August 28: Preston Sacred Sounds
August 29: Liverpool
August 30: Newcastle
August 31: Leeds
September 1: Newcastle
September 2: Newcastle (Radhastami with Bhakti Caitanya Swami)
September 3: Sheffield
September 4: Manchester and Chester
September 5: Dublin (World Holy Name Festival Begins)
September 6: Dublin Ratha-yatra
September 7–11: Irish Harinamas
September 11–mid November: New York

More London Harinamas


Having the World Harinama Party in London for another week was a great boon for harinama program. Often they would do harinama in the morning in addition to the one in the afternoon. Unfortunately because I had proofreading deadline, I could only attend the afternoon one. Jayadev Prabhu, who plays the accordion and is an accomplished singer, usually comes out once a week on Tuesday. But that week, inspired by the presence of the World Harinama Party, he came out twice. He is great at encouraging the onlookers to participate as you can see in these videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWqJGyoae3Q and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMGWJdM7gC4:




Even without the assistance of Jayadev Prabhu, the World Harinama Party was so enthusiastic after hearing the devotees for a while, people would suddenly start dancing, like these schoolchildren did (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UddjYvmMek):


One time the devotees, while singing on the sidewalk, induced people inside a shop to dance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBDQWs6mUe0).


One interesting character who loved to participate in the harinamas is a waiter in the Aberdeen Steak House. Sometimes he would dance to the devotees music inside the restaurant.



Other times he would come outside on the sidewalk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB6kOlC3hN4).


There was a golden man who danced with us (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmrHzM9HNG4).



Also a man, who was dressed in the colors of the British flag, enjoyed dancing with us on a couple occasions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGbibX0AGO0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZlIuNFX_xU):



Sometimes people joined our party for a few minutes, like these girls dancing before us (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2DoKGjLq94):




Jake, on the extreme left of the above picture, who has been coming to our programs in Newcastle for a year of so, stayed an extra few days after Ratha-yatra and came on harinama.

There were many, many people who danced, chanted, and smiled, encountering our harinama party in London.

  




















One young devotee lady, Tatiana, took some video while following our harinama party which gives you a feel for how we were received (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS-OnTDavDE):


The Stonehenge Solstice Festival


This was without a doubt the best Stonehenge Solstice Festival of the five I have attended. One reason was the weather. 



It was the first time it was clear enough you could actually see the sun rise, and I think that put everyone in a good mood.

We also had Ratha-yatra, which we did not for two of the last five years because of rain. 




We did it from 1:00 to 3:00 a.m. in the morning! I think it is the only Ratha-yatra performed at the time of day, or rather, that time of night. 


People are attracted by the opportunity to pull the Jagannatha cart, although often they are a bit intoxicated.


Mahavishnu Swami was there, and his enthusiasm for kirtana boosts the energy level.


I was amazed to see many people, who had never met the devotees before, stay with us for half an hour or even an hour, first listening, then smiling, dancing, and finally chanting along with us. That was truly awesome.

Someone from the TV did a live interview with me. To try to create controversy, they asked about why Hare Krishnas were at a Druid festival. I explained that there is evidence that there was one world culture about five thousand years ago, and different groups separated off from that, so ultimately there is a relationship between the Vedic culture of Krishna consciousness and the Druid one. That was not the most Krishna conscious thing to say but the best I could off the top of my head with no sleep.

At Stonehenge, most people liked the devotees. One man dancing with our Ratha-yatra procession said, as if sharing a realization, “This is all good, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I replied smiling, “it is all good.” And I recalled Rupa Goswami saying, “Pure devotional service is the beginning of all auspiciousness.” It was wonderful that an apparently ordinary guy could glimpse the truth that Krishna consciousness is all good, or as it is described in the Sanskrit literature, suddha-sattva, pure goodness.

One young man pushing the steel railing of the Ratha cart said, “This is the best steel I have ever touched!”

Bhaktin Erzsebet handed a Solo temple mantra card to a young lady following our chanting party saying, “This is amazing!”
The lady replied affirmatively, “It isamazing!”


One young lady from Bristol, on the right in the above picture, was so happy to see Vishnujana Prabhu and I, who she had seen last March in Rishikesh that she wanted to embrace us. 



I went to give her my card, saying I could tell her about all our festivals in the UK, but she said she still had my card from Rishikesh.

People expressed profound appreciation for the free food that Parasurama Prabhu and his staff prepared and distributed. It was beautiful to see.

Some people posted videos of the devotees on YouTube, and you can see how lively the chanting was (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-dy8WaXSdw, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UB7ocQeI18, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJwRcKV1CWY):




All in all, many people were happy to encounter the Hare Krishna devotees at Stonehenge, either once again, or for the first time.

Nottingham Harinamas

Usually the Nottingham devotees do harinama on the third Sunday of the month, but on that day in June most everyone was at the London Ratha-yatra. Thus I suggested to them that they do their monthly harinama on the fourth Sunday when I would be there, and they agreed. We chanted together for about an hour and fifteen minutes, and I completed the rest of my three-hour quota on my own. While our party was going through the town chanting, one old, short, black man loudly protested. We kept chanting, and he came toward us, poking me with his cane. The devotees pacified him, and explained to me that he was drunk. We kept moving, and he did not follow us, but the experience was disconcerting and disturbed my mind the rest of the day. The previous time I came to Nottingham, I also encountered some negativity. Some people consider such negative reactions as a reason to avoid such places, while others consider that such negativity means the places are in greater need of the chanting!


I chanted alone the next two days. One young lady took a picture of me chanting near Old Market Square. I gave her my card and asked her to send the picture to me. Usually less than 20% of such people send you the picture, but she did. She is Lucia Buffa, an amateur photographer, and she has a blog with other pictures, including some ones of a cathedral in Cologne where I once chanted with some friends. She is a vegan, and I encouraged her to come to Govinda’s in Nottingham and tell me how she liked it.

Sheffield Harinama

We started chanting in shops in Sheffield, where one greeting card lady was happy to have us chanting through her shop (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a0gvDvX26c):


Preston Harinama

The Preston harinamas included a lot of processions through shops, including this one at Mc Donalds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TPJ_8HxwGY):


And this one at a clothing shop called Top Shop (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coizKqiSNQY):


Some ladies danced with us in the streets (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP0tS-z8UJ0):


One street musician, a saxophonist, on his cigarette break, played excellently with us (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0PaT53Olmo):



Preston Sacred Sounds

Preston Sacred Sounds was special because Pandava Sena youth were very enthusiastic in kirtana. There were some new local singers. 


One such lady, in addition to singing nicely, loved to play the djembe.


I had never seen a mother and son dance so much in kirtana as this enthusiastic pair.


Meg, who met the devotees for the first time on harinama in Liverpool and who came to the program there last month, came all the way from Liverpool to Preston for Sacred Sounds and was really happy she did.

At the end, everyone really got into the chanting and dancing, and it was beautiful to see (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd5Jft3-vJ0):


Liverpool Harinama


Meg took a break from work to join our harinama and came back again after her work was over. It was wonderful to see her go from meeting the devotees on harinama to becoming a harinama regular almost immediately. It shows us how important it is to go on harinama because there are always some people out there who are looking for Krishna, and are willing to accept His process of chanting. 


Not only did she chant, but she distributed invitations to the Liverpool program.

Leeds Harinama

In Leeds we chanted for almost two hours. Some of the local devotees came out. A couple of them were so inspired they decide to come to York for the evening program there. 

In Leeds we chanted in a natural cosmetics shop, and all the employees were happy we were there. 

York Harinama


The city center in York is fairly small, and we would keep running into the same people.


Dayananda Swami, who was visiting York for some North UK meetings, joined us.

Some girls took pleasure in dancing to our music two and possibly even three times. We also encountered a natural cosmetic shop in York, and all three employees loved the kirtana, and they also danced around in a circle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyvAONyGwuE). 



We even all danced in a circle at one point. I do not recall ever getting such a nice reception in a shop! Thanks to Nikhil Padhiar for the great video! Who would guess that natural cosmetics sellers in The North of England would have a spontaneous attraction to kirtana?

In York Sutapa Prabhu’s party of brahmacaris and Pandava Sena youth distributed all the books they brought and were very happy to see the response of the people there. I think from his good experiences in The North of England, in the future he will come more regularly with the devotees under his care.


Thanks to Preitie and Aji for the photos of York.

To see photos which I have of the above events but did not include in this journal, click on the link below or copy it to your web browser:

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

Everyone is seeking pleasure but they do not know where to find the actual pleasure which is on the platform of the soul, the platform of consciousness.

If our consciousness is pure at the time of death, we do not have to accept another material body.

As pure soul I am not American, Indian, black, white, cat or dog.

God is omnipotent and thus He can invest His potency in His names.

It is a fact that Lord Jesus Christ is present in His words.

Hearing from Bhagavad gita is the same as hearing from Krishna.

The father will never forget the son, although the son may forget the father.

Even if one does not understand, there is so much power in hearing. Because it is pure transcendental sound, the contamination we have accumulated for millions of lives is washed off. It is hard to give up these material designations, but by this hearing it becomes easy. This is because the material nature becomes slackened, and we become free from passion and ignorance and situated in goodness. Then we become free from hankering and lamentation.

Why are we interested in the Battlefield of Kurukshetra? Because the whole battlefield has become Krishnized.

The hog does not know he is in a nasty condition. He is quite jolly, but we who are situated in a higher status can see.

The real position of the living being is to be the servant of God, but in Bhagavad-gita we see Krishna is driving the chariot of Arjuna, so we should not consider being a servant of God is like being a servant in this world.

We are consciousness, and we are subordinate to the supreme consciousness, in other words, we are eternal servants of God.

The modern philosophers set aside the problems of birth, death, disease, and old age, but this is not human life. Human life is meant to make a solution to these problems.

Pious activities give one wealth, education, aristocracy, and beauty, but when we possess these advantages we still must experience birth, death, diseases, and old age. Therefore we do not care for ordinary pious activities.

from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam1.3.29 given on October 4, 1972 in Los Angeles:

God is everywhere, but we do not want to see God. That is the only difficulty.

If you follow the principles of devotional service, it is not very difficult to see God and to understand God.

You may not think the God eats, but in Bhagavad-gita (9.26), Krishna says, “I eat.”


from a letter written on September 18, 1972:


“ . . . this sankirtanaor street chanting must go on, it is our most important program. Lord Caitanya’s movement means the sankirtanamovement.”


Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:

from Vaktritavali (a compilation of notes on his lectures):

[Note: In the month of June, I proofread Vaktritavali, soon to be published by Touchstone Publishing, and I took notes on my favorite parts. I am including one quarter of these notes in four issues of this journal, and this is the second quarter.]


“Everyone in this world is greedy for sense gratification because of bad association, of which they have plenty. When these people speak on religious subjects, their audiences always ask first if there is anything in their religion that will please their senses. They are eager for material enjoyment. The whole world is filled with phrases like ‘my enjoyment,’ ‘my happiness,’ ‘my peace,’ ‘give me,’ ‘give me,’ ‘give me.’ No one thinks even accidentally about Krishna’s sense gratification. The day we understand that our only duty is to serve the master of the senses, on that day we will find our fortune.” (p. 169)



“Everyone and everything in existence should serve the Supreme Personality. No matter what our condition, our only duty is to serve Lord Hari. Either in this world or the next, everyone, including the demigods, human beings, animals, birds, and so on, has no duty other than to serve the supreme eternal Lord. No other activity is natural to the soul because all other objects and tendencies continuously change.” (p. 170)



“The soul has the propensity to engage in five kinds of relationships with Sri Krishna. That is, it is the eternal propensity of the soul to serve Krishna by manifesting five kinds of rasasthrough five kinds of ratis[attachments]. The five rasasare santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, and madhura. Santa-rasa is a neutral existence without anything unfavorable. Dasya-rasahas a little affection, so by comparison, it is superior to santa-rasabecause it includes the qualities of santa-rasa. Sakhya-rasais further advanced. In this rasathere is no thorn in the form of reverence. Instead, its main ornament is love and devotion. Vatsalya-rasais superior to sakhya-rasa. This rasahas such thick affection that the worshipable object appears to be under one’s care. Madhura-rasais topmost, and it includes the beauty and greatness of santa, dasya, sakhya, and vatsalya.To serve Sri Krishna with these five kinds of ratis,or types of attachment, without interruption or motivation is the soul’s eternal duty.” (p. 171)



“The phrase ceto-darpana-marjanaindicates the removal of unauthorized philosophical speculation, the cheating propensity, previous anarthas,and all inauspiciousness from the heart. By properly performing krishna-kirtanaall material desires and philosophical misunderstandings are vanquished. By properly performing krishna-kirtanathe blazing forest fire of attachment to karma and jñanaare extinguished. By properly performing krishna-kirtana the lotus of all auspiciousness blossoms in the heart and is as soothing as the cooling rays of the moon. Proper krishna-kirtanais the beloved husband of the wife of transcendental knowledge. For those who chant, it enhances the ocean of bliss at every step, and it bestows on them the ability to relish transcendental nectar. It gives love of God and bestows on the soul the freedom.” (p. 173)



“After many lifetimes a living entity comes to the human form of life, which is rare and temporary yet can bestow spiritual perfection. There is no doubt that serving the Supreme Lord is the only duty of human life. The ultimate goal of the human form of life is to gain knowledge about the Supreme Lord. In this ever-changing world, human beings will either advance toward godly life or degrade themselves and become animals. Without serving the Supreme Lord and remaining subordinate to Him, those temporarily in human bodies can never be benefited.” (p. 181)

“One becomes attracted to serving Sri Caitanya in proportion to how much one hears of His mercy. One who has heard a complete description of that supreme, cognizant personality dedicates his life completely to His service. Sri Caitanyacandra is full in sixteen attributes and qualities. Therefore, if His glorious kathaenters the living beings’ hearts, it will certainly completely attract them to His lotus feet. One who has partially heard caitanya-kathawill dedicate his life only partially to the Lord’s lotus feet. Until people sincerely and constantly engage in Sri Caitanyadeva’s service with body, household, children, wife, mind, speech, and everything else they may have, we can understand that they have not heard the glories of Sri Caitanya completely.” (p. 202)


“Those who have been counted as Gaurasundara’s associates through intimate service are His sons. Atma vai jayate putrah: according to this statement, Sri Gaurasundara spreads the holy name and love of God by appearing in the pure hearts of His associates as their father. Those who are blessed with love of God and are completely under the shelter of the holy name are His sons; they are Sri Gauranga’s own family. The descendants who belong to this Acyuta-gotra have protected and continue to protect the flow Sri Gaurasundara released, spreading the holy name and love of God.” (p. 206)



“This Sri Krishna Caitanyadeva made the universe glorious by preaching about Krishna. He bestowed the beauty of His own devotional service, which is the topmost transcendental mellow and had never been distributed.” (p. 213)



“ . . . the living beings’ transcendental eyes, which are formed by their service-inclined hearts.” (p. 216)



“But the word Krishna is nondifferent from Krishna’s form, qualities, and activities; it is Krishna Himself. If we simply chant the name Krishna, we realize Krishna’s form and spiritually variegated characteristics. Therefore Krishna alone is the supreme truth – the Absolute Truth with an eternal form that can be perceived through spiritualized senses of taste, smell, touch, and so on. He is the object of meditation for the soul. We are meant to serve Him with our transcendental senses. It is He who is to be seen with the eyes, heard with the ears, whose fragrance we inhale with the nose, and whom we touch with the fingers. He is the object of all the senses.” (p. 216)



“We cannot understand Krishna’s most magnanimous pastimes properly when He kills Aghasura, Bakasura, and so on; but in the pastimes of Gaurasundara, who is nondifferent from the son of Nanda, we can understand His magnaminity. As Gaurasundara He is ready to bestow the supreme auspiciousness on fallen atheists like us who have been deceived by material knowledge. He is always eager to give even Krishna Himself, what to speak of others. The greatest charity He wants to award us will allow us to serve Krishna face to face. Let the most magnanimity of the most magnanimous Gaurasundara, which has never before been distributed, be spread all over the world.” (p. 217)


“Sri Gaurasundara is prepared to give that coveted object Krishna to the whole world. But the godless world is living in darkness, thinking it light, and in ignorance, thinking it knowledge.” (p. 217)

“According to Buddha’s followers, Sakyasimha left home with the selfish interest to attain nirvana. Sri Caitanya left home for a different reason. He went to the forest simply to bestow on humanity the eternal treasure of freedom from their eternal poverty. He lacked nothing. Sri Caitanya is the only husband of all women, the only son of all parents, and the only friend and master of all who are related to Him in friendship or servitorship. It is not that His great contribution will remain confined to Bengal and that only the brahmanaswill benefit. The whole world – the people of all castes, creeds, and faiths, the sinful and the pious – and all living beings can give up their pride and accept this greatest of all gifts that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu offered them. This gift is neither imperfect nor narrow-minded because He Himself is the most magnanimous. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, eternal, and full of knowledge and bliss. He is the Absolute Truth, eternal and cognizant, and He has descended to relieve humankind from their ignorance. He has incarnated to deliver all conditioned souls.” (p. 221)

“May the son of Saci appear in the core of our hearts. He is directly Lord Hari. In His previous incarnations He gave many things, but now He has come to give a wonderful gift He has never awarded before.” (p. 223)

“He [Gaurasundara] awarded the delight of His own devotional service to the living entities. He revealed the difference between the services rendered by devotees in each of the five rasas.To distribute the highest transcendental beauty of His own devotional service, which is extremely rare and has never before been awarded to the desertlike burning hearts of poverty-stricken fallen souls like us, He made His advent in this world.” (p. 224)

“Because the names, forms, qualities, and activities of this world are temporary, and because all mundane beauty is eventually covered by ugliness, the wise do not become entangled in mundane names, forms, qualities, activities, opulence, power, fame, beauty, knowledge, or renunciation. They know the flow of worldly happiness will dry up because we can experience it only with our limited, material senses. The living beings here want more than they deserve. As a result, they lose even what they do deserve.” (p. 225)

“So it is only by the mercy Sri Gaurasundara that we have a full illumination of that rasaat present. The soul can easily attain madhura-rasabecause it manifests along with the soul. You cannot develop it by some artificial process of sadhana.Understanding it is beneficial to all. Such a unique thing the Lord awarded and propagated.” (p. 228)

“Sri Gaurasundara said, ‘The congregational chanting of Krishna’s holy name is a human being’s only duty.’ Krishna-sankirtanais His greatest gift because by participating in krishna-sankirtana,the living beings can attain the treasury of love of God in Vraja, something rarely attained by the best of the demigods, the greatest of sages like Narada, or even the best of devotees like Uddhava.” (p. 228)

“But the Brahman emanates from Krishna, and Krishna is its cause. The attempt to ascertain the cause of the Brahman by the ascending process may currently pass as erudition, but it is actually great foolishness. Such Brahman realization is subject matter for human knowledge, but Sri Gaurasundara said that Sri Krishna alone is the cause of all causes.” (p. 229)

“If we perform true krishna-kirtana,then even people who are fully absorbed in and bewildered by material enjoyment can attain the actual perfection of life. King Prataparudra is the prime example of this. Pure krishna-kirtanawill give liberation even to the attending trees, stones, animals, birds, men, women, and anyone else. The trees, creepers, animals, and birds of Jharikhanda are the prime example of this. It’s only because people are not performing pure krishna-kirtanathat the living beings are not becoming liberated. Gaurasundara came to this world to benefit all living beings, including the trees, animals, and birds as well as the human beings.” (p. 233)

“I do not know if the Bhagavatamverse, sa vai pumsam paro dharmah,is found in any other literature, but by discussing this verse, the desire to practice a narrow sectarianism and an insignificant, deceitful religious synthesis can be destroyed.” (p. 234)

“If while chanting the holy name of Hari someone develops attachment for material life – or if his propensity for material enjoyment increases – we can understand that his chanting is not hari-nama.” (p. 239)

“Sri Gauranga-sundara is the preacher of the Absolute Truth. He explains that the Absolute Truth personally reveals Himself when faced with a fortunate living being’s desire to serve Him.” (p. 240)

“Sri Caitanya’s devotees are always eager to do good for us, but we are ever ready to stop them. Our first obstacle is our gross body and the second our mind.” (p. 240)

“Hari’s holy name can be chanted even while we’re passing stool or urine. The body’s external functions are done out of habit, and they create no bar to chanting the Lord’s holy name. We can chant the holy name when we are asleep, awake, and when we go to bed. We can chant whether we are aristocrats or born in a low family. We can chant the holy name in any condition of life. Everyone, including sudras, outcastes, mlecchas,women, men, boys, youths, and the old, are eligible to chant the holy name. One can chant in a solitary place or congregationally – alone or with many people. One can chant neglectfully or with faith.” (pp. 249–250)

“When an uttama-bhagavataappears in a particular family, one hundred generations before and after him are delivered. When a madhyama-bhagavataappears in a particular family, fourteen generations before and after him are delivered. When a kanistha-bhagavataappears in a particular family, three generations before and after him are delivered.” (p. 253)

“But it is seen in the material world that the devotee who takes birth in a low-class family appears diseased or foolish by material vision. This has great purpose. If ordinary people see that devotees appear only in high families and that they are healthy and educated, they will become discouraged. So to benefit all people, Lord Gaura Krishna has His devotees appear in different classes and then display great compassion toward all fallen and unqualified beings.” (p. 254)

“Although the marginal energy is conditioned by the external energy and so the living beings appear to have material qualities, it does not mean they don’t also have spiritual qualities, or the nature of the internal energy. All the qualities of the internal, spiritual energy are present in the marginal energy, but in minute quantities.” (p. 258)

“When the living beings become fixed in pure goodness, they come to understand the insignificant, needless, imperfect, and temporary nature of performing fruitive activities, and they lose their taste for being bitten by the sharp teeth of the material energy. When the minute spirit souls then begin to cultivate service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead while trying to give up their service to the external and the temporary, they become free of material ignorance and revive their constitutional position. From this point on, the living being gradually tries to remain aloof from being in the mood of an enjoyer or the enjoyed in this world.” (p. 259)

“Only when the spirit soul falls into illusion by mistaking his gross body and subtle mind to be himself does he develop a thirst for liberation. Therefore fruitive workers and mental speculators, or impersonalists, are both situated on the ascending path and are respectively glorified in this world as bhogisand tyagis.Unless and until each of them can detect how they are misusing their independence, or true spiritual nature, they cannot understand that karma-khandaandjñana-khandaare two pots of poison. Because they misuse their spiritual intelligence, bhogisand tyagiscontinue to glorify fruitive activities and false renunciation. Until they become attracted by the beauty of the supremely sweet magnanimous Person, who is full of six opulences, they will either remain enjoyers of the stool of sense gratification or think that remaining aloof from that stool is the goal of life.” (p. 260)

“Sri-krishna-sankirtana alone bestows all perfection on all living beings in this world. Worshiping the holy name in the form of chanting it congregationally, understanding that the holy name and Krishna are nondifferent, is real worship and the topmost form of worship.” (p. 269)

“From Sri Gaurasundara’s instruction to Sri Ramananda Vasu of Kulina-grama we can understand that staunch worship in the form of chanting is the doorway to devotional service to Lord Vishnu, or the kanistha[beginning] platform of Vaishnavism. On the madhyama[middle] platform one chants the holy name of Krishna constantly and makes progress on the path of bhajana,and on the uttama[topmost] platform one has already made sufficient advancement and chants the holy name ever in the association of exalted devotees. Simply by chanting the holy name the act of performing kirtanais accomplished. As soon as the holy name is chanted anarthasare vanquished – anarthareferring to the living being’s thirst for sense gratification.” (p. 270)

“Distributing love of Krishna is the one way the most magnanimous Gaurasundara united the people of the whole world with Krishna. Performing that service is the only way to worship Sri Nitai-Gauranga.”” (p. 272)

“Although the Aghas, Bakas, and Putanas tried to kill Krishna, they couldn’t do it. Yet they indirectly spread His glories. Similarly, those envious of the dhama,even though blinded by self-interest, can never destroy the eternal, transcendental dhamabecause it cannot be destroyed. Rather, the attempt simply helps spread the dhama’sglories.” (p. 278)

“‘Regardless of what the truth is, I will not do something that will make some people unhappy’ – to seek this type of popularity will cheat us of our eternal good fortune and our piety. ‘I want to be popular’ – this kind of mentality is for foolish, ignorant people bewildered by maya.The Almighty Lord is the Absolute Truth. If we think we need to be popular we will disregard the Absolute Truth.” (pp. 280–281)

“It is not proper to think that everything about the Absolute Truth is also faulty just because the so-called transcendentalists behave in less than idea ways. Just because someone hasn’t seen something doesn’t mean we should deny its existence.” (p. 284)

“Many of you know the story of the cat under the basket. Cats caused a particular householder a great deal of disturbance. When one of the cats began to meow during his son’s marriage ceremony, the boy’s mother covered the cat with a wicker basket. Gradually, every marriage ceremony performed in that country included an arrangement for covering a cat with a basket. If someone didn’t have a cat, to follow the custom he would hire one cat from someone else. No intelligent person should be so greedy for popularity that he adopts the behaviors of the ignorant.” (p. 284)

“There is a story: Once, a so-called guru went to his disciple’s house and was offered a meal. After eating, the disciple brought a myrobalanand offered it to his guru. His guru asked him to peel it. The intelligent disciple, thinking the skin of the myrobalanuseless, threw it away and presented his guru with the inner part, or the seed. His guru became unhappy because he had wanted to eat the myrobalan.

“The next day the over-intelligent (foolish), but repentant disciple came forward with a cardamom pod for his guru, but this time he had removed the seeds. The guru saw that his great disciple had brought only the cardamom pod but none of the aromatic seeds. This is how mental speculators think: they reject the actual object as false and accept the false as real.” (p. 285)



Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:


from Prabhupada Meditations, Volume 3:

“Prabhupada kirtanasare blessing us still. We hear them on car radios, in temple rooms, kitchens. They may not be as popular as the kirtanasperformed by his followers and other singers, but we should remember it is all coming from Prabhupada.”

“Prabhupada wanted us to bring the chanting into the street. He wanted people to hear the holy names. In his lectures you can hear him encouraging the harinamaparties. He was pleased they went out, even though they were sometimes harassed by police.
“In the beginning he himself went to Tompkins Square Park. We never would have gone out otherwise. After he went, there was regular chanting of harinamain the streets of New York, San Francisco, Boston, and everywhere.”

Candramauli Swami:

Lord Krishna’s palaces were illuminated by jewels.

They think there was no civilization five thousand years ago, but here we encounter these elaborate descriptions of Krishna’s palaces.

Krishna is the source of all illusion, so He is never illusioned, but sometimes He appears to be illusioned to make his pastimes more exciting.

Little kids are empowered by Krishna to do mischief. Krishna’s mischief is superior to theirs because in the end, everyone benefits from it.

Sometimes we think we are free from maya, but in reality, at that point we are so much in maya, we cannot see how illusioned we actually are. Those who are really free from maya are those people, who out of fear of maya, are always praying to Krishna for protection.

Krishna gave the demon Aghasura the liberation of having a form like his own. We can only imagine the benedictions He gives the devotees.

Once Srila Prabhupada said, “The perfection of life is to look in Krishna’s lunch pail and see what Mother Yasoda made for Him for lunch.”

The cow’s milk is an expression of her love for her calf.

If we could perceive a little of the beauty of Krishna, we would immediately leave this material world.

If Krishna is not served nicely, Radharani will let you know, and if Lord Jagannatha is not served served nicely, Baladeva will let you know.

Everything belongs to Krishna, and yet we give a little to Krishna and become proud of our donation.

Devotees who are really serious want to be remembering Krishna while they do their service.

Q: If the cowboys’ got married during the year they were under Brahma’s slumber, did they remember these marriages when they woke up?
A: Krishna wanted those marriages to take place, and thus He would make the arrangement for the cowboys’ to remember their marriages.

Hridayananda Goswami:

from a recorded lecture in Gainesville:

There is no difference between objectivity and subjectivity in Krishna because he is omniscient.

If one wants to approach Krishna and not turn back, he has to be willing to give up impurities because Krishna is supremely pure.

In approaching Krishna, all we are giving up is that which we are not.

If something is actually fun, Krishna is all for it. It is just those things that appear fun but are not, that Krishna wants us to give up.

The funny thing is that Krishna respects us more than we respect Him.

Why is there evil in this world? To protect us from being stupid eternally. To protect us from a greater evil.

Govardhan Devi Dasi:

from a lecture on Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s disappearance day:

Just as someone who spends a night in a hotel and wants to make improvements on the room is foolish, so one who tries makes material improvements in this life is foolish.

People who do not make an endeavor to advance spiritually are compared to dead fish floating on water.

The different ways of dealing: (1) loving with the Lord, (2) friendly with the devotees, (3) compassionate toward the innocent, and (4) not associating with the envious, are natural for the pure soul.

God will not be jealous if you worship the Deity. Satan is a figment of your imagination.

Q: Is it not better to think of God in your mind than worshiping God in a material form?
A: There is no difference. Because the mind is also a material element, therefore, thinking of God in your mind is worshiping God in a material form.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura wanted to go to Vrindavan, but Lord Caitanya appeared in a vision and told him, “I have more work for you to do in Bengal – to find My birthplace.”

Bhaktivinoda Thakura requested many times Gauraikisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja to initiate him into babaji. and finally he agreed.

Murli Manohara Prabhu:

If we read Mahabharata or the Srimad-Bhagavatam we will find opulence surpassing the present day. That was because they followed religious principles. In their free time, they would glorify God. It would only rain at night.

Krishna taught how a king should properly receive a brahmanas in his respectful receptions of both Narada and Sudama.

Salya was traveling to see Yudhisthira to join his army. When he passed through Duryodhana’s kingdom, Duryodhana offered such a nice reception to him, provided a feast and entertainment every night he was there, he felt obliged because of the reception, and offered to do whatever the person who had arranged it wanted. Duryodhana asked Salya to join his army. He agreed, but first asked to be allowed to visit his friend, Yudhisthira, and then he would return. When he saw Yudhisthira, he explained what happened, and Yudhisthira was not the least disturbed and offered him gifts, and he returned to join Duryodhana’s army. It is notable how respectfully the kings dealt with each other.

When the varnasrama social system was followed, people were not anxious to get money since by performing their occupations according to religious principles they attained life’s necessities.

A devotee is determined to understand the Absolute Truth.

By our sticking to our spiritual principles, Krishna will give us the intelligence to deal our daily affairs in a spiritual way.

Comment by me:

A modern example showing what happens if brahmanas and Vaishnavas are disrespected is the communist government of the Soviet Union which had a policy of torturing Hare Krishna devotees and other persons advocating religion. This government appeared very strong and powerful, and one did not expect it to be vanquished anytime soon, but very quickly it was dissolved as a reaction to its cruelty to religious people.

Vicaru Prabhu:

on the Vyasa Puja day of his guru, Tamal Krishna Goswami:

I never had that kind of mother or father in my life. When I first saw Tamal Krishna Goswami’s picture, I felt within that he was someone I could put my faith in and give my heart to. He did not come to Fiji for two years because of political problems. When he finally came, he stayed briefly. The next time he came, my godbrothers kept me away from him. Whenever he came to Fiji, he would always stay in one devotee’s house, and the next time, he said, “I will not stay in any one devotee’s house. In others’ houses, I will go one day. To Vicaru’s house I will go two days.”

I was serving him and his godbrothers, and he asked, “Why are you serving your guru’s godbrothers and godsisters before your guru?” Previously he had told us to serve his godbrothers and godsisters before him, so I was confused.

He wanted us to serve the preaching, serve Deities, and serve Vaishnavas.

Harinamananda Prabhu:

It is said “om” is composed of three sounds “a u m” and “a” refers Krishna, “u” refers to Radha, and “m” refers to the living entities. The Hare Krishna mantra is explained as names of Krishna and Radha, and it is chanted by the living beings. So you can say “om” and Hare Krishna are the same.

Giriraj Swami was put in charge of fund raising for a pandalprogram, and he asked Srila Prabhupada if we could force people to serve Krishna. Srila Prabhupada said, “No, we cannot force people to serve Krishna, but we can trick people into serving Krishna.”

The kissing and killing of the Lord are absolute.

One drug dealer, who was also a user of drugs, was so addicted he would find used syringes which still had a little drug left in them, and reuse them to get every bit of the drug. Once he let some book distributors stay at his place, and ultimately he became a devotee.

Because our body is produced from the body of our mother, our mother is so attached to us and has so much affection for us. But the soul is part of the Supreme Lord, so just imagine how much affection Krishna has for us!

Adhoksaja Prabhu:

There is one devotee, I think he was from Russia, who really wanted to distribute books, but somehow, although he went out almost every day he could only do one book, or maybe two or three on a really good day. That went on for twenty years! Then everything changed, and he would do a hundred books a day. The Lord was just testing his determination.

Radhanatha Swami said even if you keep butter in the freezer for twenty years, if you bring it in the presence of fire, it will melt. Similarly, even if you have been brahmacari for many years, if you are in the presence of an attractive women, you can become captivated.

To second guess Krishna is a way of trying to be Krishna.
I distributed books in Glasgow for many years. I could not relate to the Scottish accent of the people which always disturbed me. Once when one man did not take a book, I actually listened to the the way I was speaking to him, and it occurred to me I sounded so proud. From then on, I was more respectful and humble, and everything changed. Now I like distributing books in Glasgow.

If you are not patient, you will very soon lose your enthusiasm and confidence. And with Krishna, patience can mean waiting a long time.

comment by Vishnujana Prabhu:

I see when we do harinama and book distribution together, the book distribution goes very smoothly, and the devotees do not feel overwhelmed or burdened.

response by Adhoksaja Prabhu:

Although having done straight books for years, I experienced the truth of what you say last year on the Festival of India tour in Scotland. I would do harinama with the other devotees. Then for forty minutes I would distribute books. Then I would do a puppet show. Then forty minutes more of book distribution. Then I would do another puppet show. I always wore a dhotias there was no time to change. I found the books just went out very smoothly.

-----

ataeva ami ajña dilun sabakare
yahan tahan prema-phala deha’ yare tare

“[Lord Caitanya continued:] Therefore I order every man within this universe to accept this Krishna consciousness movement [the fruit of love of Godhead] and distribute it everywhere.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 9.36)

Kirtan Course with a virtual pilgrimage to the samadhi tomb of Bhaktivinoda Thakur (Album 60 photos)
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This week the Kirtan course students are over half way through their course and they had a special visiting teacher in the form of Jahnavi Harrison who took the students through reading and singing the Saranagati prayers of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. The students discovered songs from the 6 sections of the Saranagati: 1) Humility 2) Surrender 3) Accepting the Lord as one's maintainer 4) Considering the Lord to be one's protector in all circumstances 5) Accepting those things that are favourable for devotional service 6) Rejecting those things that are unfavourable to devotional service The week's objectives were to: 1) Connect with the author by reading extracts from The Seventh Goswami by Rupa Vilasa dasa 2) Connect with the songs 3) Feel comfortable reading in Bengali 4) Discover how the songs enhance the maha mantra To conclude the week they took a virtual pilgrimage to the samadhi tomb of Bhaktivinoda Thakur, via film footage, and wrote individual prayers of gratitude to offer to him. Each student received a packet with some small chips of his samadhi stone (after renovations), some dust from the floor of his chanting room, and twigs from the birthplace of Lord Caitanya. Towards the end of the week, the students were given a short class by HH Lokanatha Maharaja who extolled the importance of proper sanskrit pronunciation when singing. Then, the weekend brought the Radhadesh summer festival where the sun shone brightly and students were very much involved in the festivities - from throwing themselves into the Holi arena and being showered in colour to stepping onto stage with HH Lokanatha Swami and HH Kadamba Kanana Swami to presenting on stage what they'd been learning so far... Read more ›

Your prayers for Govardhana Hill on Balaram’s Purnima. August 10th
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The area of Radha Kunda, Shyama Kunda and Govardhan Hill is the topmost holy place in the universe. It has been recorded that about 10 million people visit Govardhana on Guru Purnima day alone. Education and trash cans are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what it will take to keep this holy place clean. To match the cleanliness and beauty standards of New York City’s Central Park, we will need a small army of sanitation workers, tree care experts, gardeners, drivers, park rangers, and more, all taking care of Govardhana. Right now we have about 30 local brajavasi’s (mostly widows) working to keep a few areas in Radha Kunda clean. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see 2,500 people working to keep all of Govardhana area clean, beautiful, and organized in many different departments, including relief for the poor and elderly? We don’t need to control the government. We just need to organize the care of Govardhana. Are we His servants, or is He ours? Read more ›