Planet ISKCON

BY PREMANJANA DASA

PURI - The four Directions of India are sanctified by 4 main holy places (Dhama) dedicated to worship Supreme Lord.Dhama refers to a place where one can immediately contact the Supreme Lord. 
The 4 Dhams are : 

1. Sri Badarinatha - In North 
2. Sri Ramesvaram - In South 
3. Sri Dvaraka - In West 
4. Sri Jagannatha puri - In East

About the 4 Holy Dhams of India,it is said that Lord Visnu mediates at Badrinatha;his kingdom rules at Dvaraka. He sleeps at Rameswaram and He eats at Sri Ksetra Nilacala (Jagannatha Puri). According to Gaudiya vaisnavas of all the 4 spiritually uplifitng Holy places,Jagannatha puri is so glorified that simply by eating The Maha-Prasadam of Jagganatha puri dham one acchieves perfection in Krsna-prema.such is the Glory of Sri Kestra Jagannatha Puri Dham. 

India's Ancient Vedic texts refer to Jagannatha Puri as Sri Purusottama-ksetra.The Skanda Purana contains a lengthy chapter entitled,Sri Purusottama-ksetra Mahatyam,in that chapter Jaimini Rsi, the main speaker,states that anyone simply desiring to visit this place will become free from his past sinful karmas.

Sri-ksetra - The word Sri refers to Srimati Radhika,the source of all krsna's saktis or powers.thus the tract of land predominated by Sri-sati.

Madhurya-Bhaktas see this as the place wherin the sweet charm of Sri Radhe's Madhurya-rasa manifest.for this reason, Caitanya Mahaprabhu stayed here relishing Radha-bhava.whenever He took darshan, Mahaprabhu saw Lord Jagannatha as Syamsundara and cried out, "O Pranatha,Beloved of My heart ! "

Sri Sankha-ksetra - Puri is called sankha-ksetra because the land area that it encompasses resembles shape of a conch-shell. 

Sri Siva Purana states that in this sri-ksetra there are 7 means to attain freedom (samsara-cakra) those are : 

1. Rememberence 
2. Maha-prasadam 
3. Yatra 
4. Sankirtanam 
5. Residence 
6. Darsnama
7. Death

According to Padma Purana,Yamaraja has no jurisdiction to punish anyone in Puri, because it is Vaikuntha. 

All glories to Sri Kestra Dham!!!

As the devotional ecstacy of building and completing the TOVP increases like the flood of love of God, devotees worldwide are coming forward to assist with promotion and fundraising.

Officially formed under the banner of the Toronto, Ontario temple with the guidance and inspiration of His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami, the TOVP Canada Team has begun moving forward, spreading the glories of the TOVP and helping to raise funds for its completion by 2022. Due to regional laws and regulations, the fundraising will focus on specific items for the TOVP, the first of which will be a highly advanced and powerful Lightning Arrester System (see below for description) costing around $100,000. With this new initiative, Canadian donors will now also be able to receive a tax-deductible receipt for their donations.

For more information and to donate, contact Rajasuya das at: *protected email*.

If you are an ISKCON leader, temple president, etc. and also feel inspired to help fulfill this desire of Srila Prabhupada in your community on an ongoing basis, please contact Vraja Vilas das at: *protected email*.

The post TOVP Canada Team To Promote TOVP In Canada appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Friday’s talk in Istanbul.

The post Making yoga into a lifestyle starting with cleanliness and eating habits (Part 1) appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Gopal’s Garden Home School Co-op End-of-the-Year Party

By Lilasuka dasi

“Why did Krsna ask, ‘Which Brahma?’”

This question came from a puzzled Lord Brahma, played by nine year old Josh Fintel, during the dramatic reading of Sankirtan das’s play Which Brahma? at the end of the year school party for Gopal’s Garden.

Reciting favorite Bhagavad Gita verses

The students at Gopal’s Garden Home School Co-op ended another school year with some very fine presentations. The recited their five favorite Bhagavad Gita verses by heart; then they each read their favorite story out of many stories that they themselves had written throughout the school year, and finally, they performed the dramatic reading Which Brahma?.

Their audience, made up of parents, teachers and interested residents of NV, were delighted at the entertainment, and impressed at the level of education of the kids.

Veteran teacher, Ruci dasi, acknowledged each and every one of her students for his or her individual strengths and interests.

Ruci dasi, long-time teacher

“If you have any questions about killer whales, just ask Josh – he did a lot of research and is expert in the subject! He’ll be ten years old in a few weeks.”

“The nine year old twins, Ram and Shyam, are both such willing and eager helpers. This party wouldn’t have come together if they hadn’t come down early to clean and vacuum in here.”

“Brinda, who is now 11 years old, is a poet. She’s an artist and a writer. She’s amazingly talented, as are all the kids!”

“Seven year old Jacob could hardly speak English when he first came to the school, and now he’s got an amazing grasp of both reading AND writing in English. He’s curious about everything around him and Jacob loves to learn.

“Jacob’s older sister, 12 year old Shemaella, is a thoughtful and caring girl who is also a creative artist. She brings a lot of sensitivity to her art and writing.”

We took the opportunity to interview Brinda, who is going to 7^th grade next year.

“This school has a very good environment. It’s spiritual, plus the work is more individualized than in public school. We have a one on one relationship with the teacher, which is great. I mean, it’s not that everyone has to do the same lesson, that’s easy for some and very hard for others. The level of the lessons are just perfect for you.

Like, last year I had a spelling program, and if you don’t finish it in one year it’s ok, you just finish it next year. Or, if you can finish it before the year is up, that’s ok too. You go at your own pace. My older sister Visakha, who used to go to this school, was saying that this kind of teaching is good for all students, no matter what level you’re at. She says that she learned more when she was here than when she spent this last year in public school.”

Brnda doesn’t feel she’s missing anything by not going to public school.

“Art is one of my favorite things, and Krsna Bhava is a really good art teacher,” claims Brnda.

Some of the kids’ artwork

Shyam, a very polite and respectful boy, was born in New Vrindaban nine years ago.

He relates, “I was here at Mother Ruci’s school for five months this year. And what I appreciate most is that my teacher, Mother Ruci, is a Prabhupada disciple! My favorite subject here is the kirtan and the Bhagavad Gita classes.”

The kids love kirtan!

Any guest to the school will agree that it’s always a treat to visit Gopal’s Garden Home School Co-op, and see the refreshing faces of the talented students and their dedicated teacher.

12 June’14 Sringar Darshan at ISKCON Juhu

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

In our fast-paced, want-filled culture, it’s easy to get stressed out and suffer emotional breakdowns. Perhaps the emotion most likely to disrupt the lives of most people today is anxiety.

The whole process of becoming mature centers on becoming effective in managing our emotions. Babies are governed by their emotions – if they feel pain or anger or fear, they burst out into tears. As they grow up, they learn to better regulate their emotions. Or at least they are expected to.

While we adults don’t usually cry when things don’t go our way, we may still become overwhelmed by emotions such as worry, fury or self-pity. Worry may make us want to quit and forget the whole thing. Or fury may want us to hit out at someone, something, anyone, anything. Or self-pity may make us want to wallow in self-martyrdom, feeling sorry for ourselves, attracting attention through some desperate act of self-destruction.

The Bhagavad-gita helps us understand that we are far bigger than our circumstances. No matter how imposing they seem to be, they are ephemeral, whereas we are eternal.

Such emotion-driven responses usually make things worse. To improve things, we need responses that take into account our emotions, but don’t let them be the only thing in the account. The ability to respond thus is the essence of maturity.

While some of us may have better mastery over our emotions than others, we all can benefit from greater maturity. Gita wisdom helps enhance our maturity by providing a solid spiritual foundation.

The Bhagavad-gita helps us understand that we are far bigger than our circumstances. No matter how imposing they seem to be, they are ephemeral, whereas we are eternal. We are spiritual beings who can access the omnipotence of God by activating our latent power of devotion. Through metaphysical contemplation and devotional meditation, we gain glimpses of a transcendental terra firma, an arena that is forever beyond the anxiety-inducing changes of the world. By incorporating contemplation and meditation into our daily routine, we ground ourselves in spiritual reality, thereby enabling us to deal calmly and resourcefully with the changes inevitable at the outer level. The more we realize our spiritual indestructibility and our divine connectivity, the more we can manage our emotionality intelligently without letting it interfere with our responsibility.

The empowerment available through spiritual wisdom is demonstrated in the Gita through the example of its original student: Arjuna. At the start of the Gita (01.29), he is on the verge of an emotional breakdown, not even being able to hold his bow. But by the end of the Gita (18.73), he has regained his perspective and composure – and is ready for whatever challenge life sends his way.

Gita wisdom stands ready to offer us all similar spiritual empowerment.

Listen audio...

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

Answer Podcast

Lecture Podcast

Answer Podcast

Devotee-scholars' research is uncovering the presence in scripture of many verses whose sources were earlier unknown or debated. One excellent sample of such scholarship is this document compiled by a devotee-scholar and friend Hari Parshad Prabhu:

Prabhupada verses - sources found by Hari Parshad P

Specific reference to verses about Mayavada:

mayavadam asac chastram (sastram) pracchannam bauddham ucyate mayaiva kathyate devi kalau brahmana rupina

Answer Podcast

Answer Podcast

Answer Podcast

Answer Podcast

Answer Podcast

Answer Podcast

Lord Jagannatha’s Rathayatra was celebrated in central Brisbane, after many years absence, using the big Rathayatra cart from New Govardhana. This year the devotees were able to secure a permit from the City Council for the parade and use of the town hall square afterwards.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 09 May 2014, Bhaktivedanta Manor, England, Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.23.3-6)

Prahlad Maharaj said to the Lord, “You are such a kind personality, you have kindly promised to protect us – the demons!”

How nice is Prahlad, to see himself like that. Are we seeing ourselves like that? Or when we are reading the sixteenth chapter of Bhagavad-gita and the first few verses that describe the devotees, then we are like, “That is us,” and the rest of the chapter about the demons, “These are the neighbours.” Is that how we read the sixteenth chapter? Or are we reading the sixteenth chapter by holding it up as a mirror and reflecting, “How much of this is still to some degree present in me?”

Unless we are prepared to read the Bhagavatam, read the scripture in that introspective way; unless we are ready to question ourselves; and unless we are ready to have that mood of seeing ourselves as fallen, how can we be ready to improve ourselves?