Rain of mercy
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 29 April 2014, Radhadesh, Belgium, Srimad Bhagavatam 6.4.49-50)

We must, somehow or other, connect to Krsna and that changes everything. We had this one kirtan, a Ratha Yatra actually in South Africa, in Newcastle and it was raining cats and dogs, as they say in English. When it rains cats and dogs, you can understand that it is not just a little bit. It was just raining buckets! It was not clearing up and the Ratha Yatra was postponed for an hour, but there was no hope. It just kept on pouring and pouring, so we had to go out in the rain.

dancing in the rainSo, we went. I had to give an opening speech from the chariot which I did and I remember that I said, “You know, the rain of mercy is greater than the rain of water.” (laughter) I was trying to be positive! Say something positive and get everyone in a positive mood about it, right!

You know, we were just out there and it was raining so much, fish were swimming passed! (laughter) At one point, we just started dancing! To hell with it all and we just started dancing and it became one of the most ecstatic Ratha Yatras we ever had, just dancing like mad men because it was mad, so we got mad! We danced like mad in the rain. We would have never danced mad like that, but because of that rain, it sort of just made us mad! Everyone went berserk and it really brought out something extraordinary. So what can be said, it was a special opportunity!

So, if one takes everything as a special opportunity, a special opportunity to serve Krsna in a special way, then one can rise above this sense of austerity in life. Otherwise, the material austerity will always follow us and burden our mind.

 

Sunday, May 25th, 2014
→ The Walking Monk

Calgary, Alberta

A Day in Calgary

For practical reasons, our group of four decided that a one day stay in Calgary would make sense before embarking on the long continuous trek to the destination point, the Pacific Ocean.  We were already here and the Sunday Open House at the Radha Madhava Cultural Centre should be attended by us.  Michael opted for visiting and attending Mennonite services at a church nearby. 

At the Radha Madhava Cultural Centre, I did speak from Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 3, regarding every endeavour being a sacrifice.  Otherwise, one’s actions create a kind of bondage.  In other words, you function in life with the best of efforts.  Being detached from the fruits, so to speak.  Our best foot should be put forward.  Even walking can be done, or any activity, for that matter, as an offering.  In the course of your activity, you don’t seek attention for your own profit.  If what you do brings what you do to an increased state of awareness, then you are on the right track.  If you act in such a way that ego becomes inflated, then you can consider you’re taking several steps back. 

After our time speaking, chanting and mingling, a group of us headed for the placid waters at the Jaypur Bridge on Princess Island, situated on the Bow River.  Our kirtan, which included voice, harmonium, drums, karatals (cymbals), met with delight by park browsers. 

In addition to this, just to keep up some foot momentum, Gaura Chandra, a local devotee, Karuna and I, took to the Calgary Greenway Trail, in the city’s northeast end.  The day was full and rich. 

May the Source be with you!

7 KM

Does the M-theory do away with the need for God, as Stephen Hawking claims in The Grand Design?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Answer Podcast

Quotes by scientists pointing out the limitations of M-theory:

"The connection between this multiverse idea and M-theory is, however, tentative. Advocates of M-theory such as Witten and Hawking would have us believe that it is done and dusted. But its critics have been sharpening their knives for a few years now, arguing that M-theory is not even a proper scientific theory if it is untestable experimentally. At the moment it is just a compelling and beautiful mathematical construct, and in fact only one of a number of candidate TOEs [Theories of Everything]."

- Theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili

“It is not testable, not even in any foreseeable future.”

- Physicist Paul Davies

“M-theory is not even defined …we are even told ‘No one seems to know what the M stands for.’ Perhaps it is ‘myth’... I don’t see that M-theory adds one iota to the God debate, either pro or con.”

- Oxford physicist Frank Close

“M-theory is highly speculative and certainly not in the zone of science that we have got any evidence for.”

-  Physicist Jon Butterworth, Large Hadron Collider, Switzerland

“The book is a bit misleading. It gives you this impression of a theory that is going to explain everything; it’s nothing of the sort. It’s not even a theory."

- Mathematical physicist Roger Penrose

FFL Bosnia with help of Hungarian devotees distribute 300 warm meals to affected victims of recent flooding in Bosnia (49 pics)
→ Dandavats.com

FFL Bosnia with help of Hungarian devotees distributed 300 warm meals to the most affected victims of recent flooding in Bosnia. These victims were from Željezno Polje and Topčić Polje villages in the Zenica-Doboj Canton and they literally lost everything. Their homes were totally destroyed (see previous album Topcic polje). They welcomed devotees and appreciated our gesture. Thank you all for supporting our mission in Bosnia. We will visit them again. Stay tuned and please keep contributing! Please donate if you can over PayPal to "dhiraprasanta@gmail.com" for FFL Food relief in Bosnia. Thank you for you blessings, services, donations, support! Read more ›

How do we respond when prominent scientists like Stephen Hawking write books propounding atheism?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Answer Podcast

Some logical absurdities from The Grand Design:

“Because there is a law of gravity, the universe can and will create itself out of nothing.”

“The universe can and will create itself from nothing.”

***

The book simply demands faith in M-theory, making it into a surrogate God. My review comment about this book that was published in the Mumbai Mirror article here:

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/Did-God-create-Universe-or-did-it-create-itself/articleshow/16049770.cms

Chaitanya Charan Das, ISKCON:

Hawking assumes that the laws of nature existed before the universe. He simply substitutes God with the laws of physics. Our experience shows that laws need an organising intelligence.

Sadhu Sanga Retreat 2014, Boone, North Carolina, USA (Album 48 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Sadhu Sanga is an annual Kirtan retreat held during the Memorial Day weekend in North America featuring soul filling kirtans, association with devotees and delicious prasadam. A wonderful weekend of kirtan, lectures, association and delicious prasadam with special guests Radhanath Swami, Sacinandana Swami, Giriraja Swami, BB Govinda Swami, Indradyumna Swami, Bada HariDas Prabhu, Madhava Prabhu, Gaura Vani Prabhu and many more. Read more ›

Even those who deny the form of God accept his form
→ The Spiritual Scientist

In some  religions, because  the   greater emphasis on logic, the worshipper simply   forms  a conception of God  in the mind,  and  worships it.    They  do  not  accept   an  external form  of  God.       In  reality,   however,   all  these conceptions are forms of the Lord.

Chaitanya Shikshamrita, Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Q & A on Freewill
→ The Enquirer

Originally posted on Vic DiCara's Astrology:

Q: Is our intelligence is covered with the three modes of nature?

That’s one way of describing it.

We are ātmā – a quantum (infinitesimal particle) of sentience. The very nature of sentience is to be aware of its own perception and volition. Thus will (“freewill”) is inherent within the core of what we are, ātmā. 

Our material identity is a projection of our core being. So the sentience of ātmā expresses itself through structures and mechanisms in the tangible and intangible world, structures like consciousness, intellect, emotion, and sense perception. So you can say that these “cover” the ātmā or you can say that they express a projection of the ātmā. The reason the word “cover” is useful is that the expression of ātmā through external structures is limited, unlike the ātmā’s inherent potential.

So, to answer the question you are probably going to ask, or want to ask…

View original 966 more words


Taste Of Devotional Pleasure
→ Japa Group

It's vital that our Japa is as good as we can make it....with this effort, the Lord reciprocates and we can taste of devotional pleasure in our spiritual lives. Here is a nice quote by Srila Prabhupada about this very aspect:

"....Practically we see that as we sincerely try to improve our chanting for the pleasure of Krishna, Krishna reciprocates and we feel our greatest pleasure which is devotional service to the Lord...."

Letter to Syamasundara
November 24, 1968

The story of Krsna Das
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 May 2014, Bhaktivedanta Manor, England, Caitanya Caritamrta Adi Lila 8.27)

Govindaji_jaipurThere is a story about a vaisnava, in the time of the goswamis when the Radha Govinda deities were still in Vrindavan, who was serving in that temple in a very humble position – he used to sweep the courtyard. In India, one who is a sweeper is not considered to be a very elevated person. He was known as Krsna Das.

Once the King of Jaipur, who would regularly come to Vrindavan for darshan, had a dream and in this dream, some mahaprasadam of Radha Govinda was offered to him. As he tasted that prasadam, it was amazing. He had never in his life tasted anything as refined, as sweet and as nicely prepared as that. He asked, “Who cooked these preparations? What an amazing devotee that must be! There is so much devotion that one can taste in the preparations. Who cooked?” Then in the dream, it was said that it was Krsna Das who had cooked.

So shortly after that, the King had visited Vrindavan and said, “I want some of that mahaprasadam, especially that which has been cooked by Krsna Das.” Everyone goes, “Krsna Das! Who is Krsna Das? We don’t have anyone cooking here named Krsna Das.” Finally, it came out that there was only one Krsna Das in the whole congregation and he was sweeping the courtyard so the King was a little bewildered.

pani-puriThen it is said in the Caitanya Caritamrta that the truth was revealed in the heart of the King; Sanatana Goswami said that to the Nawab Hussian Shah. So, the King felt in his heart that actually something special was going on with Krsna Das. It turned out that Krsna Das, although externally was sweeping the courtyard, had internally in his mind been cooking for the Lord! That came out now and by the arrangement of the King, he was asked to cook for the deities and then indeed, whatever he cooked was just incredible. From that day on, he became the cook of the deities!

I like this story because it really illustrates the mentality which is kind of what we find in this purport: accepting simply what is given, not hankering for more but just taking that humble position and then leaving it up to Krsna. Leaving everything up to Krsna, whatever position is due to us will all come by his arrangement. In the story of Krsna Das, this is exactly what transpired but that requires great faith. It requires faith that in simple service we will be satisfied. One may ask, “But what about my potential, what about my abilities, what about my nature? What about all of those? Shouldn’t I sort of make sure that is engaged so that I will be satisfied and so on?”

That is the lower platform! That is the platform of material attachment. That is the platform of thinking that unless I satisfy these needs; I will never be able to progress. We can see the higher level, which makes one fully satisfied, is that level of leaving it entirely to Krsna; this is the stage where one can come to transcendental loving service to the Lord, where ecstatic symptoms are awakened!

 

 

New Vrindaban sponsors Festival of Colors in Pittsburgh, PA
→ New Vrindaban

Festival of Colors Comes to Pittsburgh, PA.

by Lilasuka dasi

The first Pittsburgh Festival of Colors on Sat. April 19, 2014 was fabulous!

 

This family-friendly event was a big hit in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh.  It was the first time that the Festival of Colors had come to Pittsburgh, and we heard from many that Pittsburgh wants to do it again next year! Pittsburgh is a great city with a diverse cultural spectrum.  About 5,000 Pittsburghians and others were there at the Festival.

 

There were many Festival tents set up around the perimeter of Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park.  The T-shirt tent was packed all day.  There were line-ups at the colors tent, but they kept things moving right along.  Smiling faces were seen leaving the vegetarian lunch tent, where free home-made cake was available to all.

 

One of the event staff at a T-shirt table said: “The bands had the crowd going, and everyone participated.  It was very enlivening to see so many people who would ordinarily not be chanting Hare Krishna to now be chanting and dancing, having the time of their lives.”

 

A festival participant, who was not from Pittsburgh, told us, “I was impressed by the diversity of people who attended the festival, and everyone really seemed to enjoy it.  For instance, there were two Muslim women wearing their head coverings and, when they went to the table for Festival Of Color T-shirts, I was thinking ‘how are they going to wear these’?  Well, they just pulled them on right over their headdresses and later on, I saw the same ladies totally covered with colors.  Actually, before I came to the festival, I had expected to see mostly college kids, but, instead, I discovered mothers with teenage daughters, and all ages of people.  From the looks of things, everyone had a great time.”

 

“Good day, good vibes, good people!”

 

“You will see very happy, laughing and smiling faces, you will see peaceful faces, you will see contentment on the faces. And you will not find a sad face.”

 

And one young lady had a very special, once-in-a-lifetime experience:   “Hey!  So I got proposed to on stage by my boyfriend at this year's Festival of Colors! What an amazing experience and fun way to get proposed to! Glad to have shared it with everyone there.”

 

Another festival-goer exclaimed, “The weather was perfect, the music was wonderfully LOUD and absolutely amazing! So much true talent on that stage today, the brilliant colors being thrown in the air at intervals transformed the park into a Spiritual/Psychedelic Wonderland, the likes of which haven't been seen in many years! Everyone was having a blast and chanting the Holy Names, and talking philosophy with people, as well as displaying their own wide variety of talents and crafts.  The Prasadam was delicious, as always, thank you Kitchen Crew!”

 

One very grateful participant exclaimed, “I thoroughly enjoyed this party from start to fabulous finish! This was a wonderful event to balance the somber moments of the Easter season with moments of joy! I danced, I smiled. I had almost 200 hugs to add to my current goal of reaching 40 thousand overall hugs in my lifetime! What a celebration! I hope we get to do it again next year! “

Scientism is self-contradictory
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Scientism is the belief system that places the halo of omniscience on science. Scientism claims that all valid knowledge has to come only through the hallowed lanes of science – whatever comes from anywhere else is corrupted by the cardinal “sin” of being unscientific and so should be rejected as “untouchable.”

Ironically, the core claim of scientism that science has monopoly on human knowledge doesn’t come from science – there’s no scientific theory or experiment to substantiate it. Here’s why.

Science is essentially the investigation of and the theorizing about the natural order of things. Whether anything exists beyond nature or not is not a scientific question – it is a philosophical question. Those who believe there’s nothing beyond nature are known as naturalists. Naturalism and scientism are close cousins. Some, even many, scientists may be naturalists, but that is their individual philosophical position, not science’s universal presumption. Naturalists disingenuously masquerade their philosophy as if it were science and thus attempt to misappropriate the prestige of science for their own belief system. Such misappropriation ends up becoming a disservice to science, because it creates unnecessary hostility between science and non-naturalists who comprise the vast majority of humanity.

Nobel Laureate Sir Peter Medawar, despite being an atheist himself, strongly warns scientists against unwittingly playing into the hands of those who would

harm science thus. In his book Advice to a Young Scientist, he writes: “There is no quicker way for a scientist to bring discredit upon himself and upon his profession than roundly to declare – particularly when no declaration of any kind is called for –that science knows, or soon will know, the answers to all questions worth asking, and that questions which do not admit a scientific answer are in some way non-questions or ‘pseudo-questions’ that only simpletons ask and only the gullible profess to be able to answer.”

Given that science doesn’t have a monopoly on knowledge, which is the core claim of scientism, where does that leave scientism?

Exposed as not just faulty, but also self-contradictory.

Why self-contradictory?

Because the only way scientism can be true is if it were untrue.

nature grassland wallpaper autumn spring background

Scientism’s defining precept “science is the only way to knowledge” can’t be known through science – it needs to be known from some other way, such as the belief system of those making the statement. And as that belief system is outside the scope of science, scientism requires that there be some other way to knowledge apart from science. Thus, scientism’s core claim falls squarely in the genre of standard self-contradictory statements such as “I don’t exist” (I need to exist to say that).

By thus being self-contradictory, scientism insults not only science in particular, but also to intelligence in general.

Why brook such insults?

 

Preaching in Rishikesh, India, April 30, 2014 (Album 38 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Kishore Krsna Das from Florida , Jayaprada Radhika Dasi from New Zealand, Bhaktin Yulia from Russia, got together and organised a three seminar on Mantra Meditation and Kirtan Yoga at Rishikesh India. Flyers were distributed to visiting Tourists from all over the world all day on seminar days and performed Hari Naam an hr before. Everyday we are surprised by around 20 tourists at our meeting who enthusiastically participated in the Hare Krsna Mantra Meditation lead by Jayaprada Radhika Dasi, followed by a talk and Kirtan Yoga ( kirtan with swami step) by Kishore Krsna Das. After the program we were able to sell over 50 small books at the three day meeting. We will try to do this preaching program everyyear in Rishikesh in the month of march april, anyone interested in participating feel free to email us at yogafru@aol.com. What follows are some pictures and videos for the pleasure of Sri Guru, Gauranga and Vaishnavas. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Read more ›

“Planting the seed” (Album 26 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

On the 10th of May 2014, devotees of Sri Jaganatha Mandir Kuala Lumpur attended a Bhakti Vriksha retreat at the New Godruma Dhama farm in Lanchang,state of Pahang,Malaysia. Transport departed from Sri Jagannatha Mandir, Kuala Lumpur at 6.00 am and reached the farm at 8 am. Upon arrival we were received by H G Gopesa Govinda Prabhu. Having been posted for 6 months at this farm Gopesa prabhu through the guidance of H G Simhesvara Prabhu has progressed in his knowledge and experience in farming and invariably blessed with a peaceful devotional life. This blessing if carefully observed can be seen to extend to all devotees who work at this farm. Strict rules in accordance to the Vedic principles are observed at this farm and all activities from dawn to dusk are regulated in the most ideal atmosphere to practice devotional service. Participants were served with breakfast after an offering was first made to the Lord. The uncompromising quality of preparations at ISKCON is also being observed here. Read more ›

Narsimha Caturdasi Festival Celebrations at ISKCON Malaysia headquarters (Album 22 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

The festival which was attended by around 150 people started at 7:30pm with Tulasi Puja followed by Arati for Lord Narsimhadev. HG Kripa Sindhu prabhu spoke about pastimes of Lord Narashimhadev and glories of the Holy Name. Chanting of 108 names and the Narsimha kavacha prayers followed the talk. This created a very prayerful mood in each and every one. After the chanting of the Lord’s name, a drama was performed by Vraja Arts Theatre on the appearance of Lord Narshimhadev. Temple president of The Ramar Alayam expressed his gratitude to ISKCON for arranging this festival and requested to organize more such programmes. Read more ›