A selfless desire
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 13 January 2014, Mayapur, India, Lecture: Kirtan Academy 2)

Naturally, every devotee desires to see Krsna and the desire to see Krsna is not a fruitive one. You might say, “Well, the top most level of pure devotion was to be free from all selfish desire so isn’t it selfish when we are desiring to see Krsna. Isn’t it about our desire instead of the higher principle of satisfying Krsna’s desire?”

shri_radha_krishnaYes, but still every devotee in his heart-of-hearts desires to be with Krsna, desires to see Krsna because that is how we are designed, we are made like that. We are pleasure seeking – this we cannot stop. The constitutional position of the living being is described in the Vedanta Sutra (1.1.12) as ānandamayo ‘bhyāsāt, or being pleasure seeking.

So, this element of being pleasure seeking is something that cannot be taken away out of our nature therefore any process that denies us that is an artificial process and cannot be maintained. Therefore, we see that impersonalism and Buddhism are two processes that are based on negation, processes that are based on denial of desire, denial of pleasure. In these two processes, one has to basically write-off the whole material world whereas in Bhagavatam, we find that the beauty in this world can be taken as the smile of Krsna.

A smile can be taken as “welcome”. So the beauty in this world is the welcoming smile of Krsna. This is nice so then we don’t have to develop this mood where we write-off the material world altogether; that if we see anything beautiful in this world that can’t appreciate it. We can appreciate it and see that Krsna is behind it all. If we see some beautiful birds, not that we desire to become like that, but we can see that there is beauty in this world because it is reflecting the even greater beauty of the spiritual world. And that all the aesthetics of this world are inviting us to the higher world of beauty and aesthetics…

 

The ABC Of Japa
→ Japa Group

Always have respect for the Holy Names, as you would respect the Supreme Lord Himself
Be careful to avoid offenses in chanting the Holy Names, especially the offense of inattention
Chant a fixed number of rounds each day, and always aim to increase that number

Disappearance of Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji, Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami, and Srimati Manjari Dasi, March 1, New Dvaraka, Los Angeles
Giriraj Swami

JdBM108“As Srila Prabhupada often said, ‘There is nothing to be lamented.’ Even ordinary people don’t die—the soul continues; but in the case of Vaisnavas, not only does the soul continue to live but their devotional service also continues. When we were with Srila Prabhupada in Surat on his guru maharaja’s disappearance day, he said that on the spiritual, absolute, platform there is no difference between appearance and disappearance; just like the sunrise and the sunset—both are beautiful. But he also said that when a Vaishnava leaves we have mixed feeling of both happiness and distress. We are happy because we know that the Vaishnava has gone to serve Krishna—and I am quite confident that Manjari dasi has gone to her gurudeva and Krishna—but we also feel some sadness because we will miss the devotee’s association. But this is all Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy and Lord Nityananda’s mercy: so many souls are having glorious, auspicious departures.”

Disappearance Talk

Srila Jagannatha das Babaji Disappearance ISKCON-Delhi: 02-03-2014 (Album 31 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

"I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, who is respected by the entire Vaisnava community and who discovered the place where Lord Caitanya appeared." Sri Jagannatha Dasa Babaji Maharaja was born was born around the year 1800 AD. in the Mayamansingh district of West Bengal. Not much is known about his ealry life. Gaudiya Vedanta-acharya Sri Baladeva Vidyabhushana had a disciple named Uddhava das. His disciple was Sri Madhusudana Dasa Babaji who lived in Suryakunda and it was from Madhusudana Dasa Babaji that Jagannatha Dasa Babaji Maharaja took initiation. Jagannatha Dasa Babaji lived in Vrindavan and performed his bhajan there for quite some time. He became famous among the devotees there as one who was perfect in Krishna-bhakti. Read more ›

Chipiwada Temple, where Srila Prabhupada used to stay before going to USA (Album 16 photos)
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This is Radha Krishna Temple in Chipiwada (chandani chowk) where Srila Prabhupada used to stay before going to USA while he was staying in Vrindavan and writing the 1st canto of Srimad Bhagvatam, so he use to come to delhi to print and as well distribute them also. Srila Prabhupada use to worship the deities here, writing books in night time and day time go to press or to distribute the books or Back to Godhead magazine. Read more ›

Sri Panca-Tattva Maha Abhisek – Sponsors Needed
→ Mayapur.com

3rd March 2014 The historical festival in Mayapur will be again! Tomorrow, On 3rd March, 2014, the worldwide vaisanva community gathered  at Mayapur will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Sri Panca Tattva Installation in Mayapur. Around 6000 devotees are already in Mayapur, taking part in the kirtan mela. Many more devotees are expected to arrive […]

The post Sri Panca-Tattva Maha Abhisek – Sponsors Needed appeared first on Mayapur.com.

First day of Iskcon Governing Body Commission’s Meetings and SMIS Annual Day (Album 52 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), established the Governing Body Commission (GBC) to be the ultimate managing authority for the society. In ISKCON’s Direction of Management written on July 28, 1970, Srila Prabhupada states: As we have increased our volume of activities, now I think a Governing Body Commission (hereinafter referred to as the GBC) should be established. I am getting old, 75 years old, therefore at any time I may be out of the scene, therefore I think it is necessary to give instruction to my disciples how they shall manage the whole institution. They are already managing individual centers represented by one president, one secretary and one treasurer, and in my opinion they are doing nice. But we want still more improvement in the standard of temple management, propaganda for Krishna consciousness, distribution of books and literatures, opening of new centers and educating devotees to the right standard. (SMIS is the Sri Mayapur International School) Read more ›

ISKCON Pandharpur revives Pandharpur Panchacroshi Parikrama (Album 12 photos)
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HH Loknath Swami revived the Pandharpur Panchacroshi Parikrama, which was originally initiated by Namdev Tukaram Maharaj in the holy land of Pandharpur ,which houses the traditional Lord Vitthal temple. The three day festival saw thousands of people participate in the 49 kms journey from various towns and cities of Maharastra from 1-3 February 2014. Devotees from ISKCON Pandharpur were congratulated for restablishing the broken tradition of Pandharpur Parikrama. Read more ›

Srila Prabhupada Appreciates New Vrindaban’s Protected Cow Milk – June 1969
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

SP IN NV 1969

Srila Prabhupada sitting outside the original New Vrindaban farm house – June 1969.

Srila Prabhupada Appreciates New Vrindaban’s Protected Cow Milk – June 1969.

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

Thanks to Vanipedia for the source material.

——————————————————————

June 24th, 1969.

My Dear Kirtanananda,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you very much for your kind attention for me continually for one month, and I was so happy to remain in New Vrindaban. Yesterday afternoon, we safely reached Los Angeles, and Tamala Krishna has rented a very, very nice entire house for me, with compound and garage, at $350 per month. So I am very comfortably situated here. Two brahmacaris, Purusottama and Sridama, are always taking care of me, but at the same time, I am always thinking of your New Vrindaban. The first thing I find in the taste of the milk. The milk which we are taking here is not at all comparable with New Vrindaban milk. Anyway, there must be a gulf of difference between city life and country life. As poet Cowper said, “Country is made by God, and city is made by man.” Therefore, my special request is that you should try to maintain as many cows as possible in your New Vrindaban.

The first thing is that whether the girls and women who live there are agreeable to work as I have suggested; namely 1) to take care of the children, both from health and educational point of view, 2) to keep the whole temple, kitchen, etc. very clean, (At the present moment, things are not kept very clean. You are right that if some outsiders come, they will view our situation as not very hygienic.), 3) cooking, 4) churning butter. If they agree to all these four principles, that is to say, if they cooperate with the boys, then surely very quickly New Vrindaban will develop as nicely as possible.

So far as milk is concerned, I can arrange for financing in the matter of purchasing cows. The arrangement will be like this, that I shall ask all the centers to finance at least for one cow, and you will have to pay them back the price by supplying ghee. Suppose somebody advances $200 for purchasing a cow; you will have to repay the debt by supplying $200 worth of ghee. After that, the cow becomes your property. But to produce this ghee means there must be regular churning.

The men should be engaged in producing vegetables, tilling the field, taking care of the animals, house construction, etc. and the women shall do the indoor activities. Of course, those who are engaged in typing, like Syama Dasi, they cannot do any other work. So you may arrange things in this way. Please request Satyabhama to send me back the Krishna Book immediately. Mail may be sent and forwarded to the LA temple, at the above address. Hope you are well.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Sunday 16 March 6pm
→ Bhakti Lounge - The Heart Of Yoga in Wellington

Moonlit Shrine – Glow Party!

On this upcoming full moon day it’s the birthday of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu – the leader & founder of mantra music meditation. It’s a big day in the Bhakti-Yoga calendar, so come for a Glow Party! … it’ll be a dazzling decorated evening for the eyes and ears with Kirtan, a live drama performance & gourmet food, then after dinner we’ll dive into more Kirtan interwoven with a candlelit arati ceremony, koha entry.

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