Planet ISKCON

Faith is the pathway or method interconnecting hypothesis and evidence. Travelling this pathway or method takes time. This is true for both material science and Bhagavad Gita science which implies there is faith involved in material science as well. The only difference is the length of time.

In material science, the time between evidence and hypothesis setting is relatively small, in comparison the time between evidence and hypothesis related to Bhagavad Gita is very long. Therefore patience is one of the principal principles of Bhagavad Gita.

Dogma on the other hand just has a hypothesis but no clear pathway or method towards evidence. In reality as we experience daily, there is no operating system that exists with just hypothetical statements where no clear pathway to gathering evidence is laid out. So why should religion operate on such an open ended path? Henceforth, today we have so many religions and religious postulates which are at loggerhead with each other.

Anyone who is aspiring to understand the metaphysical aspect of life should have a sound hypothesis followed by a clear path towards gathering evidence with an experienced teacher guiding us and also have references from pantheon of experts before us. All these principles are found in modern science and hence majority if not all people trust and follow modern science.

What people don't know is that all these principles are also laid out in Bhagavad Gita where the subject of the Supreme Absolute Truth is dealt.

Try the Gita path, surely you will not be disappointed.

Hare Krishna.

From Grisham P

Einstein compares religion to feet and science to eyes, whereas Prabhupada compares Eastern wisdom to eyes and Western technology to feet. Why the difference?

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Another relevant quote:

"You know in the West we have built a large, beautiful ship. It has all the comforts in it. but one thing is missing: It has no compass and does not know where to go."

Werner Heisenberg to Albert Einstein, Quoted by Dr Abdul Kalam in Ignited Minds

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Albert Einstein's full quote:

"Science  can  only  be  created by  those  who  are  thoroughly imbued  with  the  aspiration towards truth and understanding. This source of feeling, however, springs from religion. To this there also belongs the faith in the possibility that  the regulations valid for the world of existence  are  rational, that  is,  comprehensible  to  reason. I  cannot  imagine a scientist without that profound faith. The  situation  may be  expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

Greenwood, British Columbia

Beauty Along the Way


I walked amidst the red pine, cedar, and deciduous trees, and myriad herbs that seemed to line the roads on both sides.  The road is a marvelous vein that slices through nature’s environment.  Each morning I receive the nostril arousement from fragrant disbursements that those green companions share.   I only wish that the world could be with me to experience it.  You are lucky to catch it at the right hour, somewhere at dawn. 

A cattle rancher from the area proposed to offer a ride.  I declined for obvious reasons.  He was inquisitive so I explained my pilgrimage purpose.  His remark before he trailed off was, “Hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“Will do!”  I said, while in my mind I was content to believe that I’m indeed finding it – Divinity and all that’s natural around me. 

I met the Websters, a couple with this lovely home overlooking a valley with a lake.  They tell me their son has made it big on a TV show called “Timber Kings” to do with log homes.  Well, they have the ideal home themselves, which they proudly wanted me to view from the deck so I could capture the ultimate vista.  This was a slight divergence from walking while at the same time the meeting of people is part and parcel of this walking mission. 

May the Source be with you!

35 KM

Grand Forks, British Columbia

In The Doukhobors’ Town


I went to the emergency ward at the local hospital simply to address a fingernail infection.  The pain of it kept me up most of the night – no connection to Friday the 13^th full moon I hope.  While waiting with patients for some treatment, I clued into some of the conversations.  Topical were the two subjects of disease and death. 

“It’s all those chemicals they put in the food that’s causing the cancer.  It’s killing all my friends,” said a woman to an acquaintance. 

Then a new patient took a seat and told me why he was in the hospital, “Lower back issues,” he said.  I suggested he walk, which is what I did when I encountered low back spasms.  Another older woman, 88, with a walking cane, intimated to me that even with her cane she falls frequently.  Then she showed me the bruises on her legs – the result of injury from collapsing.  One couple started the conversation on euthanasia, about willful and premature dying.  This all sounded somewhat depressing. 

I was compelled to tell each and all about the actual truth regarding dying as being superficial.  The spirit goes on, only the body is shed.  I felt, however, that the opportunity didn’t really arise.  Friendship and listening was apropos, as opposed to preaching a sermon.  Many of those really good folks I chatted with and listened to have a unique ancestral background. 

The history of Grand Forks is very interesting with many of the early settlers being immigrants from Russia.  The particular group were known as the Doukhobors, which when translated means, spirit fighter.  After renouncing the rituals of the Russian Orthodox Church, and refusing Russia military service, these early Doukhobors faced intense persecution by the church and state.  There was help from a number of influential humanitarians including the famous writer, Leo Tolstoy.  Apparently about 8,000 Doukhobors escaped Tsarist Russia and migrated to Canada in 1899.  Many settled in this area.  They were largely vegetarians as diet was concerned.  One of the radical branches of the Doukhobors would protest in the nude, and that was in the 1920’s, and that was a group called The Sons of Freedom. 

When I spoke to elders in the area, not necessarily the people I met in the hospital, some of their woes were that the current young generation keep meagerly to the ways of their ancestors. 

May the Source be with you!

30 KM

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Professor Sir John Polkinghorne: “Physics is powerless to explain its faith in the mathematical intelligibility of the universe.”

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Physicist Paul Davies: “Science can proceed only if the scientist adopts an essentially theological worldview ... even the most atheistic scientist accepts as an act of faith  the existence of a law-like order in nature that is at least in part comprehensible to us”.

 

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The Lord of the Universe graces with His presence thousands of devotees in one of the biggest metropolitan cities of the USA. Read more ›

HG Pankajanghri Dasa – CC Madhya 17.97-98 – 25.05.2014

1968 June 16: "What is the difficulty? They are rules, and they are simple rules, and must be followed. One must be prepared to follow these rules for Krishna otherwise where is the proof that he loves Krishna?"
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1969 June 16: "Eternally you are the servant of Visala, or Krishna, and thus you are always Visala Das. What your name will be eternally is not a very important subject at the present moment, but it is sufficient for you to know that you are always the servant of Visala, or Krishna."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1969 June 16: "Whatever is offered goes through the Spiritual Master. The Spiritual Master offers it to Krishna then Radha Krishna eats, then Caitanya Mahaprabhu eats, then the Spiritual Master eats, and it becomes Mahaprasadam."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1971 June 16: "And Sankirtana is being well received, especially at the schools and university. That is very nice. These books are so much potent. So we want to make propaganda in that way. And if you are enthusiastic and sincere in your efforts, then Krishna will give you all facility."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1972 June 16: "All my senior disciples and leaders now you must become very, very much aware of your grave responsibility to the human society and utilize every moment in the best manner possible."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 June 16: "We hear from the authorized sources, and then our hearing is perfect. Stick to whatever is mentioned in my books without trying to adulterate. Our preaching must be based upon the subject matter from my books and nothing outside of them."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 June 16: "I am very much concerned that the devotees should be given all good instruction. That is the duty of the GBC man. If the devotees, especially the responsible officers, do not have any knowledge, how can they preach?"
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1975 June 16: "Regarding these sannyasis, I have never approved of this action. You can tell them. Everyone is concocting something of their own. It must be checked."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

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This talk is a part of the "Fascinating Mahabharata Characters" series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

In terms of spiritual life, this offense is one of the biggest impediments for achieving a taste for chanting the Holy names.

We need this reminder - that somehow or other we have to avoid offenses to devotees and then we can more easily avoid the other offenses by the Lord's grace.

"When a mad elephant enters a garden, it spoils all the fruits and flowers. Similarly, if one offends a Vaisnava, he spoils all his spiritual assets." SB 5.10.17 purport

Yesterday devotees in Moscow celebrated the installation of their Gaura Nitai deities exactly twenty-two years ago. I was thinking how pleased Srila Prabhupada must be with them for maintaining a consistent and high standard for over two decades. Because of various factors the devotees have had to move their temple numerous times – but the [...]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 10 May 2014, Bhaktivedanta Manor, England, Caitanya Caritamrta Adi Lila 8.31)

When we just start reading alone, without the guidance of a spiritual master, there is a good chance that we can become confused therefore, ultimately we must hear from the vaisnavas. Sometimes this question was asked to Srila Prabhupada, ‘Is it enough if we are just reading your books at home or should we also hear them from the various speakers in classes?’ Srila Prabhupada pointed out that it is very important to hear from the speakers. If we read ourselves, we may have a particular understanding of what we read, according to our own limited conception, and it may not be completely right; it may not be completely profound. We just read and we just multiply our own misconceptions every time we read. Then when we hear a class, we hear a particular explanation of something that we read a thousand times and suddenly we think, ‘Well, I never have thought of it like that! Gosh!’ In this way, hearing from various speakers will deepen our understanding and refine our understanding. This is how gradually Krsna consciousness will begin to dawn upon us.

In the Brhad Bhagavatamrta, there is an interesting description of how Gopa Kumar meets his spiritual master whom he does not see very often, but when he does, sometimes the spiritual master is not really finishing his instruction. Due to ecstasy or whatever, he gives him half an instruction or he just moves on, and then Gopa Kumar does not quite get it, ‘What did he mean?’ But anyway, he tries as good as possible to execute that instruction and then somehow, it is revealed from within.

In the Bhagavad-gita, in the purport of one of the catur-sloki, the same point is made – Srila Prabhupada says that Krsna is always enlightening us with transcendental knowledge, but if somehow we are so unfortunate that still we don’t understand, then there is the spiritual master and the devotees, vaisnavas, who are instructing spiritual masters to enlighten us further. But if one is so unfortunate that even in spite of receiving such instructions, one is still not acting properly upon the path, then Krsna will make arrangements; in other words – you get smashed! So it is something like: hear or get smashed!

So, we learn not only through hearing but also through life in the material world, through the interaction of the modes of material nature. And thus both Krsna and guru are teaching us both from within and from out therefore, the instruction of the spiritual master is the last word.

 

“The mlecchas who are born from mixed countries ruled by descendants of Kasyapa (demons) and the sudras will become brahmanas by initiation. They will wear sikhas and brahmana threads and will be well versed in the uncontaminated fruit of the Vedas ( Srimad Bhagavatam ). They will worship Me by the yajna prescribed by the [...]

Yesterday Russia celebrated, Russia Day, a national holiday. Taking advantage of the occasion devotees in Moscow held a festival to celebrate their goal of creating 100 Nama Hatta centers throughout the greater city. There are 7,000 devotees in and around Moscow. May Srila Prabhupada be ever glorified!

Giriraj Swami and Bhakti Caru Swami spoke during the festival in Laguna Beach.

“Jagat Purusa Prabhu would cook in Bombay in extremely austere conditions. One day it was so hot he could hardly stay on his feet; he felt like he was going to collapse. He was so hot and sweaty—and you are not supposed to sweat when you are serving the deities—his mind was reeling. Afterwards he left the cooking area and went to the part of the shack where the devotees lived. He was condemning himself: ‘What kind of a person am I? I am just thinking of my body—my mind and my senses. I am not thinking about Krishna.’ Then he saw a small picture of Krishna in the room. And he saw a peacock feather stuck in the chatai. He took that peacock feather and started to fan the picture of Krishna. And he immediately felt complete relief. All his fatigue and heat just went away. Then he realized, ‘This is Krishna consciousness: thinking of Krishna and how to please the senses of Krishna—not thinking about my own mind and senses.’ ”

— Giriraj Swami

Bhakti Caru Swami
Giriraj Swami

Murari Band originally formed in 1977. Balabhadra dasa and Naradi devi dasi were two of the founding members of the Murari Band Read more ›

For over 5000 years the Rathayatra festival has been celebrated in India by millions of pilgrims. This transcendental festival was brought from India to the west in 1967 by the founder of the Hare Krishna movement: His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The Rathayatra festival is now celebrated every summer in over 200 cities around the world. Read more ›

The Chida-dadhi Mahotsav, also known as the Chipped Rice Festival of Panihati, is a yearly celebration of the pastimes of Srila Raghunatha dasa Goswami and Lord Nityananda Prabhu. This astonishing pastime took place on the banks of the Ganges at Panihati, which is just north of Calcutta. Lord Caitanya and his associates enjoyed many transcendental pastimes here. Chida-dadhi Mahotsav remembers how the Lord mercifully reciprocated with His devotees by arranging, through Nityananda Prabhu and Raghunatha dasa, to provide an ecstatic feast of yoghurt and chipped rice, along with various other nectar foodstuffs. Read more ›