Transcendental Identity of Lord Caitanya
Prelude to Gaura Purnima, Part 1, March 15, ISKCON Silicon Valley, Mountain View, California
Giriraj Swami
Giriraj Swami and Vaisesika das read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila.
“When we take up the process and make the effort to chant without offense—which means without distraction, with attention—we will see how many different thoughts pass through our mind. Those thoughts have underlying conceptions, mainly related to the body, that ‘I am the body’. Some are gross, like ‘I’m hungry; when can I take prasada?’ And some are subtle, like ‘How are people regarding me? Are they appreciating me?’ But if we stay steadfast in our practice, these things will vanish. Srila Prabhupada gave the example of making ghee from butter. When you put the butter on the fire, the impurities come up, and you wipe them off. Then more come up, and you wipe them off. And then, eventually, none come up, and it is pure ghee. So the fact that these things come up need not discourage us as long as we remain steadfast in our practice. They come, and they go—the holy name takes care of them. It may be that some are a little persistent, and in such cases we may want to consult some senior devotee or go deep into the scriptures to find an answer. Then gradually the chanting becomes more relishable.”—Giriraj Swami
No worries, mate!
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 01 October 2013, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.1)
Many things are considered justified in the name of sankirtan. You know, in the name of sankirtan, you can do any damn thing! I wouldn’t think so.
I think that even in the name of sankirtan, sankirtan devotees should be careful and should avoid unnecessary suffering to other living beings. We should be strict about what we eat, we should read the E-numbers and if they’re the wrong ones, we should not eat it.
(Australian accent) “Anyway, who cares about these things! Can’t be fanatic. You know, it’s the sankirtan movement, Lord Caitanya is very merciful. It’s alright! No worries. She’ll be right”. (This is a reference to an Australian slang/idiom which basically means “everything will be okay”)
I’m not so sure if “she’ll be right”. Yes, I have my doubts about it.
Ecstatic Kirtan By His Grace Gaura Dasa – March 16th, 2014
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Meaning Of The Names PT.11
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Vedic Discourse by His Grace Gaura Dasa – March 16th, 2014.
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Sri Gaura Purnima @ ISKCON, Ludhiana (Album 40 photos)
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Gaura Purnima Abhiseka
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Sri Gaura Purnima celebration at Sri Narasimha Giridhari Mandir, ISKCON Bangalore (Album 27 photos)
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Sri Gaura Purnima Celebration at Iskcon Delhi (Album 74 photos)
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A “muy feliz” Gaura Purnima at the Hare Krishna Temple of Guadalajara, Spain (Album 52 photos)
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THAT OTHER PERSON
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Harinama at Broadbeach 16 March 2014 (Album 39 photos)
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Gaura Purnima Festival in Iskcon Rome (Album 57 photos)
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Gaur Purnima celebrations @ ISKCON Baroda (Album 48 photos)
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Gaura Purnima Festival 2014 in the Hare Krishna Temple of Melbourne (Album 94 photos)
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Gaura Purnima Festival in San Antonio Village, Makati City, Philippines (Album 75 photos)
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Govinda Swami reading Act Two of Caitanya Candradoya Nataka – Revelation of all Incarnations
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Krsna varnam tvisakrsnam…
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Srimad-Bhagavatam class in Krsna Balaram mandir.
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Was this the wildest kirtan?
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40th Anniversary of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai installation in Atlanta! (Album 54 photos)
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What is it like to hold a Harinama during Holi in Vrindavan? (Album 19 photos)
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What is the significance of lighting a bonfire on the festival of Holi?
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Short Answer: It signifies the burning of the impurities of our heart and the subsequent realization of our spiritual glory.
Answer: Let’s first understand the significance of festivals themselves.
In traditional Vedic culture, festivals served a purpose that has been almost forgotten nowadays. They were primarily meant to bring humanity closer to divinity; they served as occasions for people to put aside their worldly preoccupations and focus on the Lord and His glorious deeds, as connected with the specific days of the festivals. Without knowing this spiritual purpose, people nowadays seek only material fun through festivals and miss the internal enrichment.
The festival of Holi, celebrated on the last day of the bright fortnight of the month of Phalgun, offers an excellent opportunity to regain what we have missed for long.
Let’s now come to the bonfire.
The history of the bonfire dates back to millennia, when the demon king Hiranyakashipu ruled and terrorized the universe and considered God, Vishnu, and His devotees to be his arch enemy. When the demon saw that his own son, Prahlada, had become a devotee of Vishnu, he became enraged and decided to kill Prahlada. But Lord Vishnu protected Prahlada during all the assassination attempts. In despair,
Hiranyakashipu ordered his sister, Holika, who had been blessed with immunity from fire, to take Prahlada into fire and burn him to death. She complied, but to the dismay of the demon, Prahlada came out of the fire, unscathed, being protected by Lord Vishnu, whereas Holika was reduced to ashes. Why? Because she had been given that blessing by Brahma with the condition that it shouldn’t be used to cause harm to others. This burning of Holika is commemorated by the bonfire and by the name ‘Holi’.
The significance of this historical narrative is immense. Prahlada signifies our godly, serving, selfless nature; Holika, the ungodly, exploitative, selfish tendency that covers our original nature. When gold is placed in fire, the impurities melt away and the purified gold emerges, shining brighter. Similarly, the purifying Holi bonfire signifies the burning away of our superficial, lower tendency and the re-emergence of our essential, higher nature. When our pure nature re-emerges, we realize our identity as spiritual beings, as souls, who are sac-cid-ananda, eternal, enlightened and ecstatic. Realizing our identity as the beloved children of the infallible Lord, we become free from fear and full of joy.
Prahlada emerged triumphant from the fire by dint of his unflinching devotion to the Lord. Similarly, we will emerge successful through all the fire-like trials and tribulations of life by developing unflinching devotion. Just as Prahlada developed devotion from his devotee-guru Narada Muni, we too can develop devotion by learning chanting of God’s holy names from a contemporary devotee-guru.
With this devotional training, when we light the Holi bonfire, then the sacred fire will illuminate us not just externally, but also internally.
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-03-17 08:46:00 →
"Ekadasi. Received letter from Salvation Army Finance Secretary. At once went to see him. The result is favourable by the Grace of the Lord. In the evening two ladies and one gentleman came to see me. There was some discussions."
Prabhupada Journal :: 1966
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-03-17 08:43:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-03-17 08:28:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-03-17 08:25:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-03-17 08:21:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-03-17 08:16:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-03-17 08:14:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-03-17 08:12:00 →
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
New Vrindaban Greets Sally Aggarwal
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Sally Aggarwal visits NV
One elderly American lady and two younger ladies wandered into the lobby of Sri Sri Radha Vrindabanchandra temple the afternoon of Thurs. March 13, 2014.
Parampara prabhu inquired: “Good afternoon, ladies. May I help you?”
One of the younger women replied, smiling, referring to the elderly American lady, “You know, this lady is very special to your Hare Krsna movement!”
Parampara didn’t understand what she was referring to.
“Yes, this is my mother, Sally Aggarwal! She sponsored Srila Prabhupada on the Jaladuta from India in 1965!” she proudly declared.
Parampara was very happy to accompany Sally, her daughter and her daughter’s friend on an adventure to the goshala, where they had fun seeing the three new little bull calves and some of New Vrindaban’s milking cows.
Sally spoke of how humble Srila Prabhupada was when he stayed with them in their small apt. in Butler, PA, where he had to sleep on the couch.
She recalls, “At first, we would, of course, cook meals for the Swami and ourselves. But our apt. was so small that after a short time, we had to get the Swami a room at the local YMCA. Even so, he used to come to our apt. every day and cook delicious meals for the whole family! What a treat! It was a very special time. But I did feel bad taking service from him.”
Sally spoke about how Srila Prabhupada expressed a strong desire to go to New York. She told Parampara that Srila Prabhupada’s main goal at the time was to distribute many books to the American people.
“He told my husband, Gopal, and myself that his original idea was to come to America, distribute his books and then return to India. As a matter of fact, he had left a trunk of books with us for 10 years, so we finally asked some devotees here from New Vrindaban to come and pick them up. I realized much later that I should have kept those books. If I had, I’d be a millionaire by now!” Sally laughed at this thought.
Caitanya Bhagavat das took the opportunity of Sally’s visit to give her a copy of the DVD “Your Ever Well-Wisher”, in which she appeared, since she had heard about this movie, but had never seen it. He gave her a Bhagavad Gita as well, for which she was very thankful.
Soon after the Swami had arrived in Butler, PA, Sally was concerned that people in the small town would think he was weird. So, in a motherly and protective mood, she went straight to the local newspaper, Butler Eagle, and arranged for an article, so people would know more about him.
Sally described another very amazing time in their lives. “When Srila Prabhupada was leaving his body in Vrindavan, India, both my husband, Gopal, and I had the unbelievable fortune to be at his side.”
New Vrindaban was very fortunate to have a special and very fortunate lady, Mrs. Sally Aggarwal, drop in for a visit.
Kripamoya Prabhu at Kirtan Mela Mayapur 2014 Day 2
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Kripamoya Prabhu at Kirtan Mela Mayapur 2014 Day 2
Do the daivi maya in Gita 7.14 and daivi prakriti in 9.13 to the same thing or different things?
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I am a Physics student. How can I study the Bhagavad-gita scientifically when it seems like a discussion in a story?
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True colours
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 March 2009, Korsnas, Sweden, Srimad Bhagavatam 3.2.15)
Question: Are the faults that we see in others simply a reflection of our own faults or is there something else to it?
Not always but it can well be. If one is a liberated soul, when one sees faults in others then one sees real faults in others, faults that are there. If one is a conditioned soul then there are two options. One option is that everything one sees is coloured by the glasses of one’s false ego. The false ego gives us coloured glasses where everything is coloured by them. In that case, we see faults in a person and we add a little colour from our own false ego to it as well. Thus we make faults into something more than what is really there. We take what is there and then add something. That is looking at faults through false ego. The other option is that there are no faults at all, and that we just project with our false ego faults onto someone.
So these possibilities are there for the conditioned soul – first is that there are real faults but they are coloured, and other times there are no faults but they come from projections of our false ego. But in the case of a liberated soul, he sees things as they are because he is completely sober and he can see right through you and he sees everything at the glance: the faults, the good qualities – but with compassion, with unlimited compassion.
Meaning Of The Names PT.10
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Sri Gaura purnima Shobha Yatra in ISKCON-Delhi (Album 117 photos)
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