Sunday Love Feast When? Sunday, February 16th Program starts at 11 am Where? 6 George Street South Brampton, Ontario L6Y 1P3, Canada Phone:416-648-3312 New! Listen Click here to listen to previous class recordings on our blog Make a Donation  Bhagavad-gita As It Is 9.8 prakṛtiḿ svām avaṣṭabhya visṛjāmi punaḥ punaḥ bhūta-grāmam imaḿ kṛtsnam avaśaḿ prakṛter vaśāt             TRANSLATION The whole cosmic order is under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end.              PURPORT Program Schedule: 11.00- 11.15               Tulsi Puja                                            11.15 - 11.30               Guru Puja                                             11:30 –11:55               Aarti & Kirtan                                       11.55 - 12.00              Sri Nrsingadeva Prayers                   12.00 – 1:00               Vedic Discourse [While you're hearing,your kids can participate in the Sunday School,one of the best in the North America]    1:00 –  1:30                Closing Kirtan    Best Vegetarian Govinda's Natural Foods Snack Bar                                                                               Govinda's has always been a giver of love and friendliness, food with a home cooked feel, Check this out Sunday your own Govinda’s Snack Bar at ISKCON Brampton for dine in or take out. This snackbar definitely has the best selection of cruelty-free eats with a bang for your buck.                    Why go else where,when Govinda’s is there!!                                                                                                    Please note that ISKCON Brampton is a nut free environment in order to support those with allergies. Your cooperation is appreciated. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Chant and Be happy!

What is this wonderful thing? I don’t know. The crowns of the Vedas lovingly glorify it. Krsna eternally serves it. It is the source of the sweetest nectar of love. Is it a creation of the most wonderful nectar of intense bliss, or is it the purifying land of Vrndavana.

[Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, 1-62 Translation.]

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1967 February 15: "I allowed you to deal with the Bank for two reasons: 1) That I may be free from monetary dealings, 2) That you may learn how to deal with it. But recent indiscriminate issues of checks have perturbed my mind. By indiscriminate issues of checks, $1000 of society's money have been put into risk."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

1967 February 15: "You are all innocent boys so please be careful in Krishna Consciousness of the cunning world. We should not ask Krishna but let Krishna give us when He likes. When Krishna will desire it will come to us automatically. So we should only wait for Krishna's mercy. I hope you will not misunderstand me."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

1968 February 15: "There isn't any difference between chanting the Holy Name at the same time washing the dishes of the Temple. There is variegatedness in transcendental activities. Sometimes we like to chant, sometimes we like to wash dishes. There is no difference on the Absolute plane."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1968 February 15: "12.14 Bembo on 70 lb. paper is approved by me. The sample of hardbound and the covering cloth, etc., are very nice. The paper is also nice, and the printing is also nice; now if they come down to the nice price, it all will be nice."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1972 February 15: "I thank you very much for understanding our philosophy correctly. Yes, if one is always engaged in following the orders of the bona fide Spiritual Master, even in hell, that is Vaikuntha. Now do everything nicely and I shall completely trust this important business to you."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1971 February 15: "Inform all Temple Presidents that prospective initiations may wait until I return to the States. However you may offer the second initiation to this brahmacari and encourage him to open a nice center in Quebec. That will be great service and I know he is very enthusiastic devotee."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1972 February 15: "I have just received a cable that Mr. Saraf has given us the land. We shall gladly accept the offer. So Krishna has been very kind upon us, now let us all work cooperatively. We shall settle up our Vrindaban program when we meet in Mayapur."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1973 February 15: "Right from the beginning of my mission, I have always stressed and encouraged my disciples to work with the college students. So you GBC men formulate some program to preach this Krishna Consciousness in the colleges and this will please me very much."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

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Bhagavatam class in Coimbatore (Feb 10)

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Below, the head of the Art Department, Drdha Vrata das answers frequently asked questions.

What are your tasks and process?

My crew and I have been given the task of making the artwork being designed for ToVP. This means, after the designs are finalized either for deities, dioramas or architectural elements, we get it done in the required materials, size and finish.

Primarily, we have been working on creating the Guru-Parampara deities, which will be included on the altar line-up, along with Sri Panchattatvas and Sri Radha-Madhava-Astasakhis. The deities of 15 Acharyas from the 6 Goswamis down to Srila Prabhupada, will all be life-size and cast in Bronze.

Our process has been to begin with the clay model of each of the Acharyas, using photo references for the contemporary Acharyas or custom designed drawings, if no photos are available.

Once, we get the required finish in clay, we prepare molds from which we cast our fiber-glass resin prototypes. Once we have all the fiber-glass models ready, we will approach the metal casting foundries to have them cast in bronze.

What is the process so far?

Up till now, 9 of the acharyas have been made in fiber-glass. We are now starting with the clay models of the Six Goswamis. The drawing of Gopala Bhatta Goswami has been approved and will be the first to start.

How do you decide on the appearances of the Acharyas?

Well, for instance with Six Goswamis, time and effort has particularly been given to identify and depict in drawing form their appearances before proceeding to sculpting. To ensure authenticity, guidance has been taken from senior devotees such as Jananivas Prabhu.

Considerations include:

• Their teachings
• Relative ages
• Locality features
• Stances and bodily statures
• Facial features and expressions
• Hand positions, mudras and/or attributes in them

Another example is with the Srila Prabhupada murti; Jananivas prabhu envisioned the Srila Prabhupada murti with a smiling face, rather than the usual grave look on most other murtis. The idea is that Srila Prabhupada should look very pleased by seeing his desire to build ToVP manifest.

What are some of the other things you produce?

We also work on architectural elements, be it full scale column mock-ups or small scale models with design details.

Now we are working on a 30:1 model of the temple Kailash, which will top Parvata Muni prabhu’s temple model.

We start by making the basic shape to scale in plaster of paris, and then we proceed to carve the lotus petals and other design details which cover it. This will give everyone an idea of the way it will look with designs, colors and shape on a small scale.

As I was running in and out of the kitchen I saw our now-departed god-brother and great cook Vibhu Caitanya Prabhu. I asked him to prepare kacoris for Srila Prabhupada's offering. He sweetly smiled and agreed. But in the chaos of that kitchen .. lugloo was an impossibility. The kitchen storeroom was managed by our Japanese god-brother Sri Charana Prabhu. As he was running to join the procession, he called out, "Ayodhyapati, "here are the keys to the storeroom .. take whatever you want." That's quite a dangerous thing to say when I am cooking :-) Read more ›

Srila Prabhupada desired that ISKCON devotees come to Sridhama Mayapur to just chant. One former Governing Body Commissioner (GBC) recalls, “One time, during the annual Gaura Purnima festival in Mayapur, Prabhupada called his GBC men to his room. With his leaders gathered before him, Prabhupada stated that all the devotees in the world should come to Mayapur and constantly have kirtana. He was very blissful as he told them of Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s statement that he had searched the fourteen worlds but found nothing of value except the chanting of the holy names. Prabhupada said that this was Mayapur’s purpose, to come and chant. “We may have problems in different parts of the world, but they will go away if we simply come together and chant. Lord Caitanya always chanted and we could do it also. We now had a big building in Mayapur, so everyone could come and live there and simply chant.” Read more ›

Appearance Day of Lord Nityananda (Sri Nityananda Trayodasi) festival was celebrated at Iskcon,Ludhiana on Feb.12,2014 with great enthusiasm. The festival starts at 11AM with abhishek of Lord Nityananda. Prabhu ji from ISKCON, Chandigarh gave lecture on the past life of Lord Nityananda. Chhapan Bhoga was offered to Their Lordship. A large number of congregations attend this grand festival. After aarti, prashadam was distributed to the people. Read more ›

The event was created by ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission (GBC) to provide leaders with a forum where they could share best practices and learn from each other. Each day of the ILS will begin early at 4:30am with the full traditional ISKCON morning worship program, and then breakfast. This will be followed by an hour-long plenary session, which all attendees will gather at. The session’s focus will be different each day, but the topic will always be one of universal interest. Read more ›

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

Follow up on a Throwback Thursday’s picture of two young boys with oxen. Photo supplied by Judy Logsden, Floyd’s daughter.

A few weeks after arriving in New Vrndavan at the end of 1973 I was incorporated into what was then referred to as the “plough department.” Although most of the work with the horses at that time was being done by Kasyapa Das (Varsana Swami) the department was headed up by Paramananda Das.
At that time there were three teams of horses. Tom and John a beautiful team of young Belgians that Kasyapa drove, Prince and Molly a team of white horses which I was trained on and drove, and Ranchor and Saivya which were primarily a back up team.

In the next year Manonatha Das and Garga Rsi also drove the horses for brief spells. My brother in law Kholaveca Sridhar Das, was a frequent helper to all the various horse drivers. Madhava Ghosh worked closely with all aspects of the “plough department.”

Across the road from Bahulaban in a very small house just past the “new barn,” lived Floyd Coffield. At that time I believe Floyd would have been in his late sixties or seventies. Floyd Coffield was the person that sold the Bahulaban property to the community and then continued to live there in its shadow.

When I was learning about the horses on more than one occasion Paramananda Das took me out to meet with different local farmers that he had developed a rapport with. Sometimes it was in regard to buying equipment and sometimes just to learn from them. Both Paramananda Das and Kasyapa Das had not only talked very highly about Floyd Coffield and his knowledge of farming and specifically the horses but both took me over to meet with him and ask him questions at different times.

Floyd was always very generous not only with his time but also generous of spirit. It must not have been easy for an elderly man from West Virginia to understand and accept a bunch of young westerners living the lifestyle that we did but you would never have known it by how Floyd treated us.

When Floyd turned ninety years old which must now be almost twenty years ago we had just tried to start a “New Vrindavan Residents Association.” One of the first and only things we ever did before disbanding was to purchase a gift certificate of one hundred dollars to present to Floyd for his birthday. Looking back now it is something that we did for a neighbor that I think we could all be proud of. I wish we could have done more not only for Floyd but for other good neighbors such as the Bardalls.

Floyd’s daughter Judy still lives across the road and has remained a good friend to many members of the community. She presented me with the picture of Floyd and his brother and their team of oxen outside of the building which would become the temple of Sri Sri Radha Vrndavan Candra more than five decades later. I would dare to say that the picture shows two of the earliest cowherd boys of New Vrindaban dhama.

HG Jai Nitai Prabhu. Appearance of Lord Varahadeva. 11.02.2014

Srila Prabhupada visited Surat, Gujarat with 25 western disciples in December, 1970. He spent 14 days giving lectures in various places throughout the city. Today in an old house here in Surat, I found an album of 30 black and white photos taken during his visit that have never been seen before. Here is one [...]

Noida, India                 
 
What Needs Doing                  
One journalist, G.S. Tripathi writes, "The second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is a primary source of eternal knowledge. Bewildered by the challenges before him,  Arjuna seeks Krishna’s intervention in removing his ignorance and leading him on the path of righteousness.  In response, Krishna talks about the immortality of the soul, knowledge of eternity and the transient, supremacy of action bereft of desire for it fruits and the necessity of being equipoised under the spell of the duality's of life." 
While so many reverential and celebratory activities are going on with the opening of a new temple, and this eventful day of saint/avatar Nityananda, our drama troupe is focused for our evening performance of  "Gita:  Concise".  I had the privilege to partake in the ancient abhishek rights for installing murtis (beautiful images of Krishna).  The balance of the time, however, was with the guys in our troupe who committed to the full eighteen chapters presented in a nut shell. 
While introducing the drama to a crowd of hundreds, I confessed to giving not much time to the puja, or the rituals. My puja has been to the members of the troupe, who are my deities, in a sense. 

Mukunda, who is a new fellow for me to work with and who plays the role of Arjuna, told me between practices, "I'm really getting absorbed in the part and trying to comprehend my characters dilemma".  Maha Mantra, who has got the dance steps down in the production, is like the pillar of knowledge of props and costumes and just how to "rhythm it”  on the stage.  Fil had manifested as the details person.  Goura is the dependable person Krishna, and Kish is my co-voiceover person.  Manoj is perfectly cast a Ganesh.  We have all become inter dependent in the endeavor, learning from Krishna's message that a warrior-type focus is necessary in the discharge of duty. 

While our Aussie sound man, Damodara Pundit, Kish and I are on the side-lines to do our job. Our stage boys wowed the crowd when finally our turn came for a marvelous cultural show. 

Pulling a production together in India at an outdoor pandal (marquee) program isn't often an easy task.  Only if you “focus focus focus " are you likely to succeed at anything.  Still, the Gita teaches, "Do not be attached to the fruit of the work, but to paying attention to the execution of what needs doing."
 
May the Source be with you!
 
3 KM

Noida, India 
 
Dusty Street  
         
While I had a chance, I went for a stroll on a dusty street and made friends with a cow.  I made enemies with dogs.  I tried to follow the old and wise directive, "Let sleeping dogs lie”.  I was trying to do just that, but one of the mutts was awoken by my foot steps, and that was it. They blasted out their barking.
I also tried to connect with a pedestrian youth by saying, "Hare Krishna!" as it's common enough in India, but he remained resolute in his purpose.  He noticed me for sure, but he had been plugged in with a white i-pod, so I didn't matter. 
I did befriend a Chaukidhar, a security person with uniform and stick, near someone’s lot.
You will sometimes succeed in friend making, other times not. 
The big news in India is about a tigress out in the wilderness who claimed her eighth human victim in a rural area. The last one was a 78 year old man where remains were found by locals. "Gruesome!"  “Sad karma!" were my thoughts.
I was chanting japa during this time of the short stroll and mentally addressing or taking note of all the interactions both repelling and attracting which were all very real. Then a moment of truth gripped me in the course of the walk, in the course of the chant – “I have so much cleaning to do."  Nothing in this was to do with laundry but only to do with the internal cleanse.  It hit me like a ton of bricks. 
There is all kinds of trash within all of us that needs nullification. The individual endeavour to "clean house",  so to speak,  the human obligation.  I can’t fault a pack of dogs for barking or a hungry tiger on the prowl, or even judge a youth for being in his own little world.  Even when petting the cow at the flabby neck her response wasn't 100% courteous.  I have got my own inebriety to work on.
So, absorb myself in the mantra as best I can and carry on. 
May the Source be with you!
 
3 KM

Noida, India           
 
Temperature Getting Us Close         
At this time of year in India,  at least in this more northern region, everyone gets bitten. Not by dogs. Not by mosquitoes. By a chill.
In the soon to be inaugurated temple in Noida, all those present are wrapped  up in or under dhotis or saris with long johns, coats, chadars, toques and hoodies. There is no central heating so you live off the warmth of your own body heat.
Us Canadians, that is Maha Mantra, Fil and I, have a better immunity to winterism. Thank God! The other members of our theater troop for instance our two guys from Florida, Kish and Mukunda are a little more sensitive to the nippiness.  Finally, Godruma Goura from Pennsylvania can handle it alright.  Actually he could probably pass for a polar bear in terms of relishing the coolness. 
Apparently we have been all accommodated for our practices of drama, "Gita: Concise" , in a tight and relatively warm space.  The room is approximately a 12X12 space, ridiculously small.
I'm not really complaining.  I told the crew, "For starters, this space is and needs to be like an incubator.  In this snug area as actors we can develop the abhinaya facial expressions, the actual emotional side.”  As the director I get the opportunity to see more close up projected feelings.  Once we get that down then we move to a more spacious facility which permits more unrestricted physical movement. 
Busy we are with drama preparations for the opening night of the inauguration.  I see less chance for walking with time restraints and also lack of pedestrian friendly walkways.  Maybe we are in the wrong part of town where our guest rooms are located, but up to this point, it’s a hard place to figure out, although on some kind of grid system. The settlement of the city of Noida is a progressive, expansive place.  Too much of a car city for me.  As a redeemer though, I’ll give the place a 8.5 out of 10 for the people being so nice.  To be truly introspective though,  I have a ways to go to match that kindness I can be cold at heart.
May the Source be with you!
 
3 KM

Something very special about the launch of The Journey Home in Tamil was the opportunity to witness the heart warming exchanges between Bhattar, chief priest of the most revered temple for the Sri Vaishnavas, the Sri Rangam temple and Radhanath Swami.

My good friend, Visnu Murti dasa, who manages Vanipedia, kindly sent me this audio link from a ‘questions and answers’ session with Srila Prabhupada in New Mayapura, France on August 5, 1976, wherein I ask His Divine Grace a question. Srila Prabhupada’s response gives me great hope! The translation of the conversation is below. One [...]

It is the same message: “Chant Krishna’s name, worship Krishna, accept Krishna as your life and soul.” But the people Srila Prabhupada was approaching did not even know who Krishna was. The people Lord Nityananda approached in Navadvipa to chant Krishna’s name, worship Him, and accept Him as their life and soul knew who Krishna was; they knew what Nityananda Prabhu was saying. But in America and Europe, nobody knew who Krishna was. So that simple request had to be explained in detail, and thus Srila Prabhupada wrote so many books to explain Krishna and His name and His service. It was the same message that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked Lord Nityananda to deliver to everyone, whether pious or sinful, but in an expanded form, because the people Srila Prabhupada was approaching had no idea who Krishna was or what the significance of His holy name was or how to worship Him. Srila Prabhupada had to explain the message, but the essential message was the same.

Nityananda-trayodasi Evening

Filed under: Cows and Environment

I pray that I may engage in the service of the moving and non-moving residents of Vrndavana. What are Brahma and the other demigods in comparison to them? The residents of Vrndavana are more glorious. They are very dear to Vraja’s king. Their forms are eternal, spiritual and full of nectar. Their glories are limitless. They are the root that sprouts into the bliss of the Upanisads.

[Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, 1-61 Translation.]

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If Japa is attentive and concentrated, then when we read the philosophy we will be able to concentrate and immerse ourselves in the meaning of Krsna's knowledge.
If we listen to class, we will be attentive and able to absorb....when we perform some service for Krsna, we will be able to chant His Holy names and think of the Lord more easily.
Japa affects all the other aspects of sadhana and service so we need to give our chanting the best possible effort and love we can for each and every bead.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, March 2011, Melbourne, Australia, Lecture)

When we look at all the devastation in the world, all the pain and suffering, then we think, “It’s too much! It is! It really is!”

The only way to rise above it is to look at the bigger reality – how there is eternity and how these temporary ups and downs are not so important. We should ascend this temporary reality. We should not allow ourselves to become so involved in this reality. So again and again, we have to remind ourselves that through our embodiment, we are inclined to become involved in this temporary reality. It is difficult! We cannot see the whole picture. We are like a small piece on a chess board – all we see is our own square. We don’t see the whole board.

But we have to always remember, “No, no! It’s part of a bigger plan and Krsna is simply purifying the living beings and bringing them back to him.” The living being is going through this cycle of birth and death, and when he gets a chance to express independent desire, it will be taken away. In this way, slowly the living being is being cured from this particular conditioning so that he can return to Krsna, in the eternal spiritual world. Once he is there, it is like he has been away only for a moment. Only for a moment! All this time in the material world… only a moment in eternity! So we have to practise again and again to see the bigger picture!

Mahavishnu Swami - Advances in Science | East Africa Tour 2009This age of quarrel and hypocrisy has many benefits! For the person with Krishna Conscious vision no impediment is detrimental! Hear From Mahavishnu Swami ab... Continue reading →

by Dhayalan Raj Food for Life programme,thousands of prasadam plates have been distributed,Book distribution and Sri Sri Srinivasa Govindha of ISKCON Ipoh ghee lamp offerings for more info kindly plz visit :https://www.facebook.com/iskconipohmalaysia

by Dhayalan Raj Food for Life programme,thousands of prasadam plates have been distributed,Book distribution and Sri Sri Srinivasa Govindha of ISKCON Ipoh ghee lamp offerings for more info kindly plz visit :https://www.facebook.com/iskconipohmalaysia

by Dhayalan Raj Food for Life programme,thousands of prasadam plates have been distributed,Book distribution and Sri Sri Srinivasa Govindha of ISKCON Ipoh ghee lamp offerings for more info kindly plz visit :https://www.facebook.com/iskconipohmalaysia

by Dhayalan Raj Food for Life programme,thousands of prasadam plates have been distributed,Book distribution and Sri Sri Srinivasa Govindha of ISKCON Ipoh ghee lamp offerings for more info kindly plz visit :https://www.facebook.com/iskconipohmalaysia