Planet ISKCON

Lecture Podcast

Lord Chaitanya stressed that the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare is the easiest means of self-realization. Mantras were only chanted softly until Lord Chaitanya started harinam sankirtan, the loud public and congregational chanting of the maha-mantra accompanied by musical instruments. Srila Prabhupada brought harinam sankirtan to the streets of cities, towns and villages around the world. Read more ›

Hare Krishna devotees, this day had harinam program in the temple and went to town, participated many enthusiastic devotees, is always a success harinam program for everyone in the city and visitors who arrive daily and they are enthusiastically involved with us, these are just some photographs, all glories to harinam sankirtan movement !!!!! Read more ›

The chapter summary for 10^th chapter says that the Lord’s aisvarya is the cause of Bhakti, which is discussed in the 7^th, 8^th and 9^th chapter. The same is now explained in more detail. For 7^th chapter, the verses are 7.8-12, and  for 9^th chapter, the are verses 9.16 to 9.19. Which are the verses for 8^th chapter which discuss lord’s aisvarya?

Answer Podcast

Podcast

Its been few weeks since i started my new service of making the Sunday morning salad at the temple.

Whenever I thought about cooking, I would contemplate on vegetables, spices and oil – boiling, frying and baking. The heavy fragrance of melting ghee, crackle of the mustard seeds, the stringent aroma of the hing, the turmeric powders, the garam masalas.

Salad? Would it a step down in my cooking efforts? Would throwing some leaves together be cooking? No one ever say, I am cooking salads.

Thats what I made by the way this morning. I can’t believe it but making salads is something I really enjoy now. As I was talking about my attempts about the recipe with my wife at the temple, a lady in front of me was looking around for someone to talk to. Seeing me there, she boldly and perhaps hopefully walked up.

She : Excuse me…Hare Krishna
Me : Hare Krishna
She : I heard you mention salad
Me (heart pounding) : yes…?
She : Do you know how its made? It was really good.

What in the world just happened!?!

So, this is what I made today:

Vegetables Used
– sweet potato marinated in olive oil, dry basil, oregano and rosemary and then baked
– small potatoes cut in half and baked
– carrots in strips and baked

Leaves & Greens used:
– Celery, Rockets, Lettuce

Dressing:
Yoghurt mixed with Olive oil, Oregano, basil, rosemary, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, paprika powder, pepper, salt and sugar.

Bring them all together and be happy :)

A big thanks to Sri Krishna Chandra prabhu & Chetan prabhu for giving me the tips and guidance. And thanks to Aravind prabhu for the entertainment he provides while I prepare the salad.

Waking up early morning, doing japa and walking over to temple, spending beautiful time in the kitchen with wonderful devotees, kirtan in the background – i think the whole project is making me a better person. So, I think I am not making salads. The salad is making me.

This is always a fun event for the whole family, which includes of course veg-friendly food from Kalachandji’s. The parade started at 10 am and went through the neighborhood, accompanied by hundreds of devotees as they sung,danced,& played musical instruments. The entertainment program followed at 12:30pm with: traditional dances, kirtan music, spiritual discourse, a childrens fair, henna tattoos & facepainting, contests & games, yoga, photobooths, art & cultural booths, food booths and more! Read more ›

Class: HG Murli Manohara Prabhu – SB 10.63.1-6 – 03.04.2014

Srila Prabhupada Encourages Devotees to “Work Cooperatively” to Build New Vrindaban – July 1971.

From a series of letters written by Srila Prabhupada outlining his vision for New Vrindaban.

Thanks to Vanipedia for the source material.

——————————————————————

July 31, 1971

My Dear Satadhanya,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you very much for your kindly letter dated 25th July, 1971. Very soon I am going to Europe; London and Paris, but soon thereafter I will be returning to USA. At that time I may very well visit New Vrindaban. In the mean time you work cooperatively with the others to make our New Vrindaban a very nice place. Then how I can refuse to visit there? So far your name, Satadhanya was a great devotee king.

Hoping this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

"It’s such a good thing when you chant your japa decently. It brightens your day. You feel hope for the ultimate goal. After all, chanting is the prime necessity, the easiest way to achieve love of God. In fact, it’s the only way in Kali-yuga."

From Japa Transformations
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 02 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, BYS Lecture)

A saint in one tradition,one morning came out of the house, carrying a bucket with fire and a bucket with water. People said, “Ooooh, what you gonna do with all of that?”

And the saint said, “With the water, I will put out the fire of hell and with the fire, I will burn heaven.”

(Gasping) “You’re gonna burn heaven!? You’re gonna put out the fire of hell!? What is this?”

“Yes,” the saint said, “Because most people are into spirituality either because they want to avoid hell or because they want to attain heaven where they enjoy eternally instead of being in it for the love of God.”

So that, I thought, was a nice statement. If I look cross-cultural at the saints who represent their traditions and who are meant to have realized something through their meditation, then you see in these saints, certain characteristics as a result of their process, their meditation. These saints, they have an inner strength. They are not disturbed by any outside factors. Internally, they are unaffected. These saints hold love in the highest esteem. These saints are aiming to dedicate their life to God and at the same time they are dedicating their life to benefiting all the living beings. So they are well-wishers, that is a saint and I think we can see it in every tradition. I’m summarizing in a short talk like this, the result of traditional meditation is basically: sainthood, saintliness. That is something that interests me.

Imagine – a modern saint. That would be something, right. Imagine if people would become saintly through their meditation. Imagine we have a few saints in a university. Imagine we even have a faculty, “Faculty for Sainthood!” I mean, you know, it sounds pretty cool. I think the university would benefit from such a faculty. Absolutely! Whether you would get a job, I don’t know. Saints are known to be unemployed these days, what can be said. A lot of unemployment among saints in the modern world but, you know, you can be optimistic because saints somehow or other, even although they may not find a job, somehow or other, it seems that they have a little angel that takes care of them. So in that way, in the end, you might wind up alright – if you get a degree in sainthood!

Whether one is a demigod or a demon, a man or a creature other than man, such as a beast or bird, everyone should worship Lord Ramacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appears on this earth just like a human being.

Walking into a clients home it soon became apparent things aren’t right, then the news their son had died in the early hours, the pain on the family and his young daughter told you all you needed to know before the words.
Working for over 20 years in health care means for some clients you build up a close relationship and also get to know the individual family dynamics, the highs lows and the difficulties. Dispite this their is a great attachment.
Difficulty of family dynamics are hard to explain only as far as to say we have many functional dysfunctional families and from these we develop our identity and values. So from these their is identification with the body and those who are engrossed in this find it so painful when their is a loss of that loved one.
What always surprises me is given the exposure that that health care professionals have to the suffering that this material world inflicts on the entrapped soul that few stop and question what the meaning of life is. And its hard to explain, even to the disconnect from dealing with peoples pain and suffering while keeping that professional remoteness.
Trying the other week to explain this and how even on the worst night were we had over five people loose their temporary material body how I simply went home to bed unmoved by what had just happened, after all I had other patients on the ward who dispite the odds had servived the night. In many ways the profession doesn’t allow you time to stop and really analysis what is going on in front of you given theirs always someone new who needs to be cared for and they become your focus. Surviving on the discharge and the accolades that come with this.
Maya is amazing how she covers us so nicely to the reality of material suffering as we plan and plan for our futures and even when faced with the painful reality,
Humbling indeed is this knowledge and understanding.
Maya’s ability to bind us into this material world through our attachments to family and work.

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

1966 April 12: "Astami. Today I have been to New India House. Mr. Mukherji of Passport Department kept my undertaking and passport for necessary action will return on Monday the 18th. Bus fare .30. An address on the Bhagavad-gita, chapter 2, verses 51-55."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1966

1967 April 12: "Don't be overburdened. We don't want anyone to be overburdened. Rather I shall ask him who is not a family man to take the whole responsibility. So don't be agitated. Prosecute Krishna consciousness in peacefulness."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

The tiger does not eat rice and wheat or drink cow's milk, because he has been given food in the shape of animal flesh. Among the many animals and birds, some are vegetarian and others are carnivorous, but none of them transgress the laws of nature, which have been ordained by the will of the Lord. Animals, birds, reptiles and other lower life forms strictly adhere to the laws of nature; therefore there is no question of sin for them, nor are the Vedic instructions meant for them.

- Srila Prabhupada, Sri Isopanishad Mantra 1

Vladivostok is a city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia, located at the head of the Golden Horn Bay, not far from Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Read more ›

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjWRwXDb

The post Radha-Syamasundara and Radha Damodara on Saturday appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Tonight His Holiness Ramai Swami gave a talk on “Developing Spiritual Qualities”. As he went through the list from Chapter 12 of the Bhagavad-Gita, I couldn’t help noticing that I had none of those qualities.

Chapter 12, Verse 13-14.
One who is not envious but who is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor, who is free from false ego and equal both in happiness and distress, who is always satisfied and engaged in devotional service with determination and whose mind and intelligence are in agreement with Me–he is very dear to Me.

Chapter 12, Verse 15.
He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anxiety, who is steady in happiness and distress, is very dear to Me.

Chapter 12, Verse 16.
A devotee who is not dependent on the ordinary course of activities, who is pure, expert, without cares, free from all pains, and who does not strive for some result, is very dear to Me.

Chapter 12, Verse 17.
One who neither grasps pleasure or grief, who neither laments nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious things, is very dear to Me.

Chapter 12, Verse 18-19.
One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contamination, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn’t care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and engaged in devotional service, is very dear to Me.

Chapter 12, Verse 20.
He who follows this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engages himself with faith, making Me the supreme goal, is very, very dear to Me.

Wish me luck as I try to perfect myself.

26-01-2014 Lord Krishna’s Devotees, Kazan, Russia

The post My very best time in Krsna consciousness appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

The post April 12th, 2014 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

It is filmed with the help of a drone. Read more ›

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi SJMKL - HH Jayapataka Swami Vyasa Puja 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi SJMKL - HH Jayapataka Swami Vyasa Puja 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi SJMKL - HH Jayapataka Swami Vyasa Puja 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi SJMKL - HH Jayapataka Swami Vyasa Puja 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi SJMKL - HH Jayapataka Swami Vyasa Puja 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi SJMKL - HH Jayapataka Swami Vyasa Puja 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi SJMKL - HH Jayapataka Swami Vyasa Puja 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi SJMKL - HH Jayapataka Swami Vyasa Puja 2014

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi SJMKL - HH Jayapataka Swami Vyasa Puja 2014