Planet ISKCON

18-04-2014 What is the Ratha Yatra Festival, Durban Ratha Yatra 2014.mp3

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTjswKs2qh4

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Many international visitors to the UK, as well as local devotees were in attendance. Wonderful décor was provided by devotees from as far as Kenya. Kadamba Kanana Swami, Sacinandana Swami, Madhava Prabhu, Jahnavi Harrison and many UK kirtaniyas kept the kirtan going for what turned out to be in excess of 24 hours. Teen sensation Bhakta Nimai Prabhu from the UK moved everyone with his expert singing of Aindra Prabhu’s sweet melodies. In addition to the traditional kartalas, harmonium and mdranga, many musicians made their contributions to the kirtan with violins, flutes, trumpets and even bass guitar. Read more ›

With Kavicandra Swami. Read more ›

By chanting and dancing for the glorification of Lord Krishna's Holy Names! Read more ›

Drumila Dasa: Just bumped into Walton Goggins from the Fx television series 'Justified' while walking down a side street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. He took this 'selfie' of me and himself with my IPhone. He received a copy of 'The Perfection of Yoga' by his Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. So now he has become one of the 'Fortunate Souls'! By Srila Prabhupada's grace. He was really a very nice guy, with a very humble demeanor. Read more ›

Gadadhara Pandit Dasa is a most unlikely monk! Read more ›

Akinchana Krishna das, KBM 2012-05-12

Indradyumna Swami: Yesterday in London on my birthday, I visited the Radha Krsna Temple on Soho Street to get the blessings of Sri Sri Radha London Iswara, who were installed in the early years of the movement by Srila Prabhupada. I first saw Them in 1972. I asked for Their mercy to continue with my service to the samkirtan movement for as many births as They desired. Then Bada Hari prabhu and I led kirtan with the local devotees. It was a very sweet day in the heart of London. Read more ›

by Madhava Smullen

It’s 7:30 on a February morning at New Vrindaban. The sun rises into an orange sky, setting the leafless silhouettes of the trees ablaze and giving the snow packed on the rooftops a golden hue. Devotees crunch over the snow to the temple for Deity Greeting, wrapped up warmly with shoulders hunched against the crisp cold.

Head pujari Abhinanda Das is dressing Sri Sri Radha-Vrindabanchandra this morning. He’s already been up for four-and-a-half hours – since 3:00am. Deity worship services will continue until 8:30pm, and he’s not likely to go to sleep until 10:30 at night.

“I have to find time to chant my rounds, too,” he says, grinning.

Abhinanda is part of an international group of new pujaris working hard alongside an existing team of senior devotee priests to maintain and increase the high standard of worship. For him, being a pujari at New Vrindaban is an adventure — a challenge, but blissful as well.

He began the adventure when he moved from his native Mauritius, where he served for many years as temple commander and pujari, in May 2012. “I had heard a lot about New Vrindaban, and wanted to have a new experience,” he says.

Abhinanda was followed later in 2012 and 2013 by Gopalila Dasi from Russia, Lalita Kunda Dasi from Mexico, Kumari Dasi from Peru, and fellow Mauritian Mangala Charan Dasi. They join many long-time residents of New Vrindaban to create a team of about twenty pujaris.

Having that many priests might seem like a luxury, but at New Vrindaban it’s more of a necessity – no fewer than 24 Deities reside on its intricate golden altars.

Back in the 1970s, when the community consisted of multiple villages called Bahulaban, Madhuban, Guruban, and the original Vrindaban farmhouse, each worshipped their own sets of Deities — which explains why there are so many today.

At the center of the temple room are Radha-Vrindabanchandra. The first officially installed Deities in New Vrindaban, They appeared at the original New Vrindaban farmhouse on Janmastami 1971 and moved to the current temple when it opened in 1983.

The other large Deities are Gaura-Nitai, Gopalnathji, Prahlad-Nrsimha – the largest Nrsimhadeva Deity in North America – Srila Prabhupada, and Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra, Who were carved by Nara Narayana Das in the early 1970s from a New Vrindaban tree.

Along with them are Radha-Vrindabannath, Radha-Madhava, and Laksmi Nrsimha, Shalagram and Dwarka Shilas, and smaller forms of Radha-Vrindabanchandra, Gaura Nitai and Prabhupada.

To care for all these Deities at a level befitting the Lord is a superhuman feat, making a New Vrindaban pujari’s day long and absolutely jam-packed.

After rising and showering by 3:30am they wake the Deities, offer Them a variety of milk sweets and then offer Mangala-arati at 5:00am. They then prepare jewellery, dress all the Deities, and offer Sringar-arati at 7:30am.

“At 8:00am we offer a breakfast of three different varieties of fruits, along with malpura, paratha, samosa, and orange juice or, in the winter, home-made herbal tea,” says Abhinanda.

There’s another arati at 8:30, then the Raj Bhoga arati at 12:30pm and an offering consisting of 12 to 14 different preparations, after which pujaris put the Deities to rest at 1:00pm.

At 3:30, they wake Their Lordships up again, and there are more elaborate food offerings and aratis at 4:00pm, 4:30, and 6:15. After Sandhya arati at 7:00pm, the Deities are dressed in Their evening outfits, and a final arati is offered at 8:30, before the Deities take rest for the night.

In between all of this, pujaris must make garlands, cook the various offerings, and chant their sixteen rounds of japa. Abhinanda has the added responsibility of organizing the pujari schedule and finding replacements for pujaris who are ill or have emergencies.

 At the end of the day, most pujaris fall exhausted into bed at 10 or 10:30 at night, and sleep for about five hours before getting up and doing it all over again.

 

In the winter, when many devotees leave for warmer climates and the pujari department is halved in size, there is even more work for everyone: each pujari must dress two sets of Deities. And with the deep snow making travel difficult for those who commute, and temperatures falling to minus ten degrees, things are tough – especially for Abhinanda, who hails from a tropical island.

But here’s the unique thing about Deity worship. Despite all these challenges, Abhinanda loves his service. And surprisingly, he especially loves it during the winter.

“It’s hectic, but very blissful, because we get so many opportunities to serve the Lord,” he says. “In summer, when there are lots of devotees, you don’t always get the chance to dress all the Deities. But in winter, you get the chance to serve Them all. So you develop a relationship with the Lord, and feel closer to Him. And the more you serve the Lord, the happier you become.”

Winter brings other benefits. “Because we are just a small team, we become very close to each other,” says Abhinanda. “With so much snow outside, we tend not to go anywhere, and so our focus is just on our chanting, and on our service. We become very close to each other, and a family mood is created. That’s what I really relish – that family mood amongst the devotees.”

Of course, Deity worship is sweet all year around too, particularly during New Vrindaban’s many festivals. Abhinanda remembers being in an especially blissful mood during Govardhana Puja, when the lecture by Varshana Swami, kirtan and abhishek were especially ecstatic; and during Gaura Purnima, when he and his team spent the previous day creating flower outfits until two o’clock in the morning, and then began dressing the Deities at 5:30am.

“I got to dress Lord Chaitanya myself,” he says. “It was really something to remember – a wonderful spiritual experience.”

The Swan Festival, during which the Deities ride a Swan boat every Saturday throughout the summer, is another highlight. So, too, is the Pushpa Abhishek festival, introduced in 2011 and held every July, during which pujaris shower the Deities with 25 baskets of flower petals.

“Then we go up into the temple room dome, and pour the petals that have bathed the Deities down onto the devotees,” Abhinanda says. “And they pick up whatever petals fall on the floor and start throwing them at each other!”

Abhinanda also appreciates his pujari work because it pervades all areas of his life and helps him to develop brahminical qualities.

“Because you have to maintain a fixed schedule, it helps you become very regulated and focused,” he says. “And because you’re always touching the Lord and have to be very clean, it helps you keep your room, clothes and body clean. It helps you become clean internally too, because you’re constantly thinking about the Lord.”

Abhinanda has also become attached to the place where he serves the Lord. “For me, New Vrindaban is very special, because it was such an important project for Srila Prabhupada, and because some of the Deities were installed when he was physically present,” he says. “And of course it’s wonderful to be serving in a community where you can have the association of so many senior Prabhupada disciples.”

Moving on into the future, Abhinanda hopes to improve the standard of worship, punctuality, and cleanliness at the New Vrindaban Pujari Department. He personally guides the pujaris in this, encouraging them to repeatedly study and apply the New Vrindaban Deity Worship Manual, which was approved by the Mayapur Academy of Deity Worship. He also encourages pujaris to approach him at any time if they’re having any difficulties.

“My vision is to reach high standards like that of Mayapur,” he says. “It’s not going to happen today or tomorrow. But New Vrindaban has great potential.”

But the most important element in reaching this standard, Abhinanda feels, is creating a stable department that leaves behind the ups and downs of the past and runs peacefully and smoothly.

“I want to create a good team, and a good mood amongst the pujaris,” he says. “I feel strongly that this family mood of caring, cooperation and being supportive of one other is very important, and is the real mood of Vaishnavas.”

“One should first of all understand that this material existence is anartham. Anartham means purposeless life. There is no purpose. Real purpose should be how to get out of the spell of material nature. That is real purpose. They do not know. They are taking very seriously some temporary purpose of life, which will be changed with the change of body. Now, as human being, I am manufacturing so many purposes of life, but as soon as the body is changed and I get the body of a cat or dog or tree, the whole purpose is changed. Therefore it is purposeless life, anartham. There is no meaning of this purpose. Because everything will be changed with the change of your body. Therefore they do not . . . They shudder to think of, that ‘We have got next life.’ They therefore deny, ‘No, there is no next life. This life is finished.’”

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.26.6, Bombay, December 18, 1974)

It is possible  for the jivas to realize  the form  of God,  for God  Himself  has  given  man the  ability  to realize  Him.   By this  ability  the  elevated jivas can realize  the  form  of the Lord.     Man  has  three  means of realization:  gross  material organs of knowledge, the subtle  body  or the mind's comprehension power, and  the ability  of the jiva to perceive spiritual matters.

The eye, ear, nose,   tongue and  skin are the five organs by which  the external world is understood.   This is all material knowledge.   By contemplation, remembrance, or meditation on objects of material knowledge, only more material knowledge, or at most, a perverted glimpse of spirit,   is possible.  These  two  ways  of gathering knowledge are material.   It is not possible  to have  realization of the form  of the Lord,  which  is purely spiritual, by these  bodily  faculties.    Unless  a person takes  shelter  of the faculties  of  the soul,  spiritual vision  of the  Lord  is impossible.

Chaitanya Shikshamrita, Bhaktivinoda Thakura

namaste – I offer myself to you (na-aham-astu-te).
narasiṁhāya – the lionesque-man (nara-siṁha)
prahlāda – Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who is the fountainhead (pra-) of loving bliss (hlāda / hlādinī-śakti)
āhlāda – loving bliss
dāyine – giving

I offer myself to Krishna, the Lionesque-Man who gives loving bliss to the fountainhead of loving bliss, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

hiraṇyakaśipuḥ – radiantly golden (hiraṇya) and pillow-soft (kaśipu)
vakṣaḥ – chest
śilā — mountain-like
ṭaṅka — proud / chisel
nakhālaye – fingernails

Your fingernails craft markings upon her proud, radiantly-golden, pillow-soft, yet mountain-firm chest.

ito nṛisṁha – the lion-man is here
parato nṛsiṁha – the lion-man is there
yato yato ya-āmi – in each and everything
taro nṛsiṁha – there is the lion-man
bahir nṛsiṁha – the lion-man is outside me
hṛdaye nṛsiṁha – the lion-man is inside my heart
narasiṁham adim – the original lion-man
śaranam prapadye – I submit my whole self

[Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī thinks:] “Here is my Lionlike-Man. There is my Lionlike-Man. Everywhere I look, there I see my Lionlike-Man. Not only outside me, he is even inside my own heart! I submit myself wholly to the original Lionlike-man.” 

tava-kara — your hands
kamala-vare — super excellent lotuses
nakham – nails
adbhuta śṛṅgam – incredibly beautiful
dalita – marking / diving into
hiraṇyakaśipu – radiantly-golden (hiraṇya) and pillow-soft (kaśipu)
tanu – body
bhriṅgam — bumblebee

Your nails are incredibly beautiful bumblebees on the exquisite lotuses of your hands, eager to dive into the nectar-pollen of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s pillow-soft and radiantly-golden body.

keśava — Krishna, whose beautiful hair overpowers cupids bowstrings
dhṛta — maintains
narahari-rūpa — the beautiful form of a Lionlike-Man
jaya — victorious
jagadīśa — master of everything
hari — the all-attractive heart-stealer

By this beautiful form the Lionlike-man steals the hearts of the entire universe, conquering all, and defeating even the bow of cupid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I offer myself to Krishna, the Lionesque-Man who gives loving bliss to the fountainhead of loving bliss, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Your fingernails craft markings upon her proud, radiantly-golden, pillow-soft, yet mountain-firm chest.

“Here is my Lionlike-Man. There is my Lionlike-Man. Everywhere I look, there I see my Lionlike-Man. Not only outside me, he is even inside my own heart! I submit myself wholly to the original Lionlike-man.”

Your nails are incredibly beautiful bumblebees on the exquisite lotuses of your hands, eager to dive into the nectar-pollen of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s pillow-soft and radiantly-golden body. By this beautiful form the Lionlike-man steals the hearts of the entire universe, conquering all, and defeating even the bow of cupid.

~~~~~

tūrṇaṁ hiraṇyakaśipuṁ bhagavān nṛsiṁha
candrāvalī-kaṭu-kucaṁ nakharair vidarya
prahlādam ullasitam āśu kuru tvam ity ā-
karṇyaiṣa valgu lalitā-lapitaṁ jahāsa

 

 

 

[I hope to be able to write new material in a few weeks, but for now, I am continuing to mainly post already published blogs. This one was first published on this day last year.] May 20th was my mom's death anniversary. Every year I do my best to post something meaningful to honor her, with the intent to prompt you to think about your relationship with your mother and parents so you can ponder its meaning. How has it affected you, your relationship to others, and your spiritual life? I was a bitter young man for many years until I came to realize that my mom did the best she could, and was struggling in a very abusive relationship. Thus with maturity and knowledge I gradually forgave her for leaving me with my dad--I came to find out that he had threatened to kill both of us if she had tried to get custody. He had a gun and a very bad temper, so it didn't seem an idle threat. As I have shared often, when I became a devotee in 1970 and moved into the temple ashram as a monk, I was not very sensitive and thoughtful in my dealings with my mother. While in the ultimate sense we are souls with nothing to do with the body, we still have to deal with our material life responsibly according to our realization--and this certainly includes being kind and understanding to others who aren't on our path, and/or who raised us.

As a lad of 19 years coming from a shallow understanding of the counterculture of everything young and anti-establishment, I had no common sense, or practical experience. Plus I had no wise devotee elders to soften my fanaticism, but only other very young persons to teach me, who although sincere, didn't have a balanced perspective. In general, the culture at that time in the Krishna movement was very black and white--you either lived in the temple, or you were in illusion (maya), and if you were a devotee you were good, and if not, you were bad and to be avoided. In the beginning while we were trying to gain faith and experience in bhakti, this "all or nothing" attitude had some utility, but for most of us, in the long run it wasn't helpful in our relationships and in dealing with the material world. I would, of course, do things much differently now if I could live my life over, but what was done can't be changed. Still, for future generations I write much about my mistakes and immaturity with the hope of educating others.

As an interesting aside, this last weekend my wife and I performed a wedding, and met the parents of the bride and groom. Plus many children and their parents attended,

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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
Audio 

"Japa is an important part of devotional life. If your japa is not up to standard, this is serious. You must reform. That is, out of your regret may come success. Prabhupada used to say, ‘Failure is the pillar of success.’ Assess yourself, and try to improve your chanting of Hare Krishna."

From Japa Reform Notebook
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 April 2014, Radhadesh, Belgium, Caitanya Caritamrta Lecture)

Focus of purpose is what I was thinking about and that is what I would like you to think about. What is your purpose? I am not going to carry people and sort of micromanage their life. Of course, if you want to ask about material life, how to deal with it, I will try to answer. But whatever advice I give about material things, it is not necessarily absolute. When I give advice about scripture, Krsna’s or Prabhupad’s teachings, that is absolute. But for questions like, ‘Should I stay in this country? Should I stay in this ashram? Should I do this service or should I do that service?’

Then, ‘You told me to do this and it all went wrong!’

Yes, that could happen (laughter). I am telling you. If I give any material advice, it may all go wrong because, the material energy is a crocodile and I cannot control it either; it bites me also from time to time. It does! As much as you do, I also get beaten around by the material energy. Okay, when you are sixty-one years old, you surely got a few tricks up your sleeve and surely, I would be willing to share it with you…

To some people, I would say, ‘Why don’t you do this?’ But most of the time, people do not do what I say anyway! (laughter) That is my experience, you know. Most of the time when I tell them, ‘Why don’t you do this?’

‘Errr, well, I can’t!’

‘Ok, then what do you want to do?’

‘Well, this and that… Is that ok?’

‘Yes, it is ok…’

Most of the time, it becomes like that, that is the reality – most of us have strong desires of our own. In the beginning of spiritual life, we can do it. We can be strict and dedicate ourselves to following the process, authorities, the mission and so on. Some can do it for a whole life. But many, on the way, will find a desire to fill it in a more individual way and it is okay with me. Give individual shape to your life but with that you are responsible for the purity. As we create more space for an individual way of life, more responsibility is there. Someone in the ashram can be told, ‘Okay, time to get up, time to go out, time to eat…’  Ashram life means someone telling you what you should do with your time.

If we need more space – have all the space you want but, everything has a price tag attached to it. The more we interact with the material energy, the more that material energy will take over our consciousness. I am talking about the mind; the mind will start worrying about it when having to deal with it.

On the other hand, if you are in the renounced position, then you have to make sure that you are happy. When a renunciate is not happy in his renunciation, then he is in total danger. Because, what is there otherwise? In grhasta ashram, there is some material enjoyment but for the renunciate, there is not much. You can eat but how much can you eat?

So in conclusion, I think it is very important to have a focus, to have an idea what we are going to do and to not just let it happen.

 

 

Leaders from the various temples in New Zealand attended the annual general meeting at New Varshan in Auckland. Each year topics are discussed ranging from temple management issues to strategies on how to push forward Krsna Consciousness locally and nationally

Hare Krisna Spain Guadalajara Read more ›

Yesterday Russian devotees held their annual Ratha Yatra festival in Moscow. Due to the present political climate in the country, city authorities restricted the event to a small area inside a park. But that did not deter 700 hundred devotees from participating. Afterwards a public program was held in a large auditorium for the public. [...]

Houston Temple Grand Opening & Radha Giridhari Installation Ceremony (Day 1) Read more ›

“‘In this Age of Kali there is no religious principle other than the chanting of the holy name, which is the essence of all Vedic hymns. This is the purport of all scriptures.’ purport: ...Since Krishna and His holy name are identical, the holy name is eternally pure and beyond material contamination. It is the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a transcendental vibration. The holy name is completely different from material sound, as confirmed by Narottama dasa Thakura: golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-sankirtana. The transcendental vibration of hari-nama-sankirtana is imported from the spiritual world. Thus although materialists who are addicted to experimental knowledge and the so-called “scientific method” cannot place their faith in the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, it is a fact that simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra offenselessly one can be freed from all subtle and gross material conditions. Read more ›

Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya is the initiator of sankirtana [congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord]. One who worships Him through sankirtana is fortunate indeed. Such a person is truly intelligent, whereas others, who have but a poor fund of knowledge, must endure the cycle of repeated birth and death. Of all sacrificial performances, the chanting of the Lord’s holy name is the most sublime. Read more ›

It is our great pleasure to report that a group of devotees from Sarajevo distributed prasadam to the flood victims from the municipality of Vogosca, Sarajevo Canton, today. Devotees collected donations amongst ourselves, then purchased the bhoga, cooked, transported and served Kitchri, bread, salad and drinking water to 73 of our fellow citizens, who were located in three collective centers in the municipality of Vogosca. After our mission at motel Beslic, there were media crews from TVSA and BH Radio 1 to which our spokesperson Amala Prema dd gave statements, even live in the radio program. We did not expect any media promotion or worked for it, but it was obvious that Krishna wanted it to promote efforts of his devotees. Read more ›

400 meals was distributed in worst flooded city Obreonovac. Police shifted us over the water to blocked parts of the city. Thank you all for the support and help! Read more ›

Canadian Shield, Ontario

Toronto / Wawa, Ontario

The post Kirtana for the first Hungarian volume of Nava Vraja-mahima appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Toronto, Ontario





 

Only unto one who has unflinching devotion to the Lord and to the spiritual master does transcendental knowledge become automatically revealed.

Learn Anasuya's history in her first video "Just Saved From Slaughter" at: http://youtu.be/Ak5BM5XQUsM Anasuya was so happy to get out of the barn and onto the pasture. She ran, jumped and kicked her heels in joy. The winter was long and harsh and the warm temperatures and green grass were like heaven. She may be a little hesitant when meeting new people but not very much and charmed some students from Hanover College when they came for a visit to the ISCOWP farm. She also is kind as we learned when we put Gourangi in the Old Cow Shelter that Anasuya and Indraneela were using. Anasuya stuck close as Gourangi passed away. Healthy and pretty (who would have known by the way she looked when she was rescued), Anasusya is living the good life at the ISCOWP farm as a protected cow. Read more ›

Conversation.

The post Do we really have to talk again about whether we were in the spiritual world or not? appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

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The post Scenes form this weekend’s festival and from Radha Syama’s new Campaka forest – 200 trees appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.