Planet ISKCON

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Skype conference in Russian.

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Temple Department Head Meeting: At the beginning of each year the New Raman Reti Management Board has a strategic planning meeting to set priorities for the coming year. This year we decided to go in a different direction since our priorities seem to be set: building a new Goshala and Eco Farm, guest cottages, and making plans for a new temple and conference center complex. Instead, we invited each Temple department head to meet with us. They shared their achievements, challenges and ideas for succession with the Board members and with each other. It was so enlivening and eye opening for all of us that we decided to hold this as an open meeting at the beginning of each year from now on. -- Read more ›

Krishna Lunch has launched a feature on its Facebook page called Humans of Krishna Lunch as a part of its campaign to fund the Plaza of the Americas renovations. The posts include pictures of people eating with quotes about their experience. Photographer and Krishna Lunch employee Amy Hollis said the project aims to connect members. “We wanted to collect stories not just for the fundraising campaign but to help the Krishna Lunch community grow,” she said. “These Krishna Lunchers are all individuals all doing the same thing every day but don’t really know each other.” -- Read more ›

H.G. Bhurijana Prabhu (Caitanya Lila) Day 1

Bimal Prasad das, a wonderful disciple of Srila Prabhupada and a good friend of mine, passed away a few hours ago. In Memoriam If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane, I’d walk right up to Heaven and bring you home again. Few farewell words were spoken, so little time to say goodbye, [...]

They who are very unfortunate will not take shelter of Vrndavana, where the wonderfully handsome fair and dark divine couple eternally enjoy amorous pastimes and plunge Their friends into the great nectar of intense bliss.

[Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, 1-53 Translation.]

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Filed under: News, Ramblings or Whatever

Everyone is invited!

BHAJANS

FRIDAY FEB 7, 2014
5:00 PM
GOPA’S HOUSE

 

Spiritual life immediately leads to fearlessness. Leaving it up to Krsna. Trusting in Krsna that Krsna will protect us. Krsna will take care of us. Krsna is not going to forsake us. Krsna is surely going to give us an auspicious destination, so what is the problem!? Everything is fine and he will decide when and where and how and this and that…

 

"The first regulative principle is that one must chant the Hare Krsna maha mantra loudly enough so that he can hear himself, and one must vow to chant a fixed number of rounds."

Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Antya 11.24

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 19 January 2013, Durban, South Africa, Lecture)

Devotional service is given to us by devotees. You cannot take devotional service. It is a gift. And because that element comes in, that a superior vaisnava is asking us to do a service and then we do that service. This is where the selfless element comes in. We just do what the superior vaisnava wants. Not that we think, ‘What I will offer Krsna.’ No, we do what the vaisnavas ask us to do. And it is there we can overcome that selfish motivation.

Ananta Vrindavan dasa from Australia arrived two days ago to spend a week with our festival tour here in Gujarat. His photography is a work of art. He perfectly captured the mood of our festival in Vadadora the other night.

Money given in charity to a suitable person is guaranteed bank balance in the next life. Such charity is recommended to be given to a brahmana. If the money is given in charity to a non-brahmana (without brahminical qualification) the money is returned in the next life in the same proportion. If it is given in charity to a half-educated brahmana, even then the money is returned double. If the money is given in charity to a learned and fully qualified brahmana, the money is returned a hundred and a thousand times, and if the money is given to a veda-paraga (one who has factually realized the path of the Vedas), it is returned by unlimited multiplication.

- Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.17 purport

1968 February 4: "Lord Caitanya instructed us to be more humble than the grass on the street, and more tolerant than the trees, and to offer all respects to all, demanding no respect for ourselves. All these nice qualifications make one worthy to chant Hare Krishna."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1969 February 4: "Our movement is not for some theoretical teaching, it is for developing practical character. By their exemplary character our boys and girls have drawn the attention of many respectable persons and public papers. Our exemplary character will conquer the whole world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1972 February 4: "I am very much pleased that you want to remain there because the people are in desperate need of Krishna Consciousness. That is our policy, once we enter a place, to sit down, then to lay down and eventually occupy everything!"
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 February 4: "Teaching Krishna consciousness in the schools, this is our best field. Simply demonstrate chanting and dancing, and induce them to participate, give them nice philosophy talk, distribute prasadam profusely, ask them to buy our books and study them closely - that's all."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 February 4: "We cannot become very good preachers in such difficult language but if we take a few weeks to train some local men in Krishna Consciousness philosophy, then they can preach like anything. In this way, we shall expand very rapidly."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 February 4: "We shall not expect that anywhere there is any Utopia, even in the Krishna Consciousness Society. Utopians cannot find anyone without faults, so they want to become void, merge, nothing - that is their Utopia."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

There are twelve vanas in the Vraja Mandal. Madhuvan, Talavan, Kumudvan, Bahulavan, Kamavan, Khadiravan, Vrindavan, Bhadravan, Bhandiravan, Belvan, Lohavan. -- Read more ›

1974 February 4: "Please see that accounts are kept carefully, not that money is taken for whimsical expenditure. This kind of thing should be carefully watched. Let us all work together for the glory of Lord Caitanya's sankirtana movement."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1975 February 4: "One copy of our book, Lord Caitanya in Five Features may be handed over to Svami Cinmayananda as our humble presentation. As far as possible, all big Mayavadis sannyasis should be presented with this book."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

Mangala Arati of Sri Sri Radha Gopinath ,ISKCON Temple,Chowpatty,Mumbai; on 4th February 2014

The post February 4th, 2014 – Vasanta Panchami Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

The route of the Ratha Yatra: Manickpur Ground – Pandit Dindayal Nagar – Navyug Nagar – Sri Govardhannath Haveli -- Samta Nagar – 100 Feet Road – Vidhyamandir Marg -- Ambadi Road – Gurudhwara – Station Road – Manickpur Ground. Highlights of the Festival: 1. Special Darshan Lord Jagannath and Cow Protection Theme 2. Lunch and Dinner Prasadam for everyone 3. Maha aarti & 56 bhoga offering to Their Lordships 5. Distribution of Vedic literature 6. Anand Bazar (Food Mela) 7. Question and Answer booth 8. Spiritual fun & fair for children 9. Prasad distribution (Maha Prasadam) -- Read more ›

Hungarian Leadership-sanga Day 3.

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By Vaishnava Italian artist Giampaolo Tomassetti -- Read more ›

Indradyumna Swami: Ananta Vrindavan dasa from Australia arrived two days ago to spend a week with our festival tour here in Gujarat. His photography is a work of art. He perfectly captured the mood of our festival in Vadadora the other night. -- Read more ›

Sri Raghunatha dasa was the only son in the family of Hiranya and Govardhana and there was no limit to the care and affection which was showered upon him. Though he was brought up just like the son of a king, by the powerful influence of saintly devotees, he realized at a very young age that material existence is temporary and a mood of detachment towards wealth, parents and relatives began to grow within him. Upon hearing the glories of Sri Gauranga and Nityananda, he became extremely eager to have darsana of Their lotus feet. When he heard that Sri Gaurasundara had taken sannyasa and was leaving Nadia forever, he rushed madly to the home of Advaita Acarya in Santipura to meet the Lord. -- Read more ›

Prabhupada’s five days on Russian soil in 1971, provided him ample opportunity to position himself well for the eventual checkmate his movement would play in Soviet Russia. -- Read more ›

Montreal, Quebec

Ride to Quebec

The ride to Montreal is a six hour chakra like line, eastbound from Toronto.  With driver, Vrindavan, a loyal bhakti practitioner for many years from Toronto, I could only dream of walking.  When getting closer to Montreal, a mere approximate 100 KM away, I could see some of the parallel roads that I traversed on foot in 2012. 

My visit to Montreal was an encouraging one.  We took a peak, well, a little more than a peak, at the soon to open Bhakti Centre at 3485 Saint Laurent.  Presentations will be done in the French medium.  It will be a learning and cultural centre, but the highlight will be the art of bhakti (devotion).  The location is ideal being that Saint Laurent is a hip street.  The one room and one storey building with toilet attached is set slightly off the street which creates a kind of more private situation.  The place is cozy; it will be facilitated by a recently retired school teacher, Nara Narayan.  May he succeed. 

I just have to mention the pretzels that I met with the people behind them.  They are these colossal swirly pieces that really taste more like bagels.  I just can’t resist describing them, soft, tasty portions of rusty looking goodness.  The baker is Radha Krishna, who always comes up with something creative. 

At the ISKCON Centre, I met with individuals, which involves some counseling and hearing reports of progress made on devotional frontiers.  I had the honour to lead kirtan, then deliver a message based on the Gita, chapter 3, which reads, “Whatever a great person does, the world is inclined to follow.”  I asked the community up front, “Who’s a leader in this room?”  And the answer came back as, “We all are.” 

“Correct,” I said. “As soon as you’ve reached adulthood, you have reached the realm of responsibility, and the impressionable young ones under you will mirror what you do.  Be the example.”

It was a brief visit to Montreal, and I was destined to depart early the next day.  When you are a senior visiting monk, you are in hot demand.  I managed to slip away and go for a two kilometre walk, only to return for a much wanted all around massage, compliments of Jambhavan, an expert gripping therapist who realigned my machinery.  Thanks, Jambhavan.

May the Source be with you!

2 KM

Kleinburg, Ontario

A Different Kleinburg

At age 18 I hitchhiked with a friend to this village/town from southwestern Ontario to see the McMichael collection of artwork from the Group of Seven.  Their rendition of impressionistic art defined the nature, and I mean nature, of the Canadian landscape experience.  There are some fine pieces.  My favourite artist, Lauren Harris, did these outstanding pieces illustrating “raw” nature.
Four decades plus and I find myself in Kleinburg again.  It’s not the quaint place of before although nestled in a rolling-hills and tree environment.  Through a snow storm (what else is new) myself and a few other lay members of our community entered into an abode of mansions and more particularly the home of an accountant by the name of Rakesh.
It was the second engagement with the Punjabi community which was all geared up for an electrifying evening of kirtan.  Dhira Grahi of the Gaura Shakti bhajan band led the chant shortly after Emcee, Lajput introduced your humble servant as “the Walking Monk”.  Before the chant I suggested to Dhira that the Punjabi folks like zippy kirtans.  With a smile he said, “I know!”  And so he let it rip!
We honoured the thirteenth birthday of Rakesh’s son, Vipul.  The massive eggless cake was done up well with an ornamented “Prince” in front of his name.  The surface of it was designed like a basketball court which I imagined is Vipul’s passion.  He and his older bro danced up a storm over the percussion of the mridungas. Everyone, family and friends, lept into action in the rhythm of movement.  I noticed some wall-flowers, stiff and shy, who actually wanted to be part of the action.  In time, even they broke out of their shell and got caught up in the spirit of the evening.
A good gauge for knowing that the program went devotionally well is when the participants go away with reading material.  Bhaktivedanta Book Trust material, like the Bhagavad-gita, went into eager hands as the finishing touches were put to an ecstatic night.
Into the slush storm we went back to the ashram.
 

0 KM

Scarborough, Ontario

Three Monks from Montreal

Three monks from Montreal came.  They did not trek all the way to Toronto, but embarked on the usual Mega Bus.  This is a double-decker conveyance that you can see from miles away with its loud volume yellow and blue colours.  But let’s not get carried away by the means of transport, it’s the cargo that’s important.

On board was Tirtha Pavana, a Siberian born tall, thin, intense looking monastic turned family, but still a brahmin all the same, despite the change of colour from saffron to white.  He explained to me that he decided to do less travel and to get situated in a more grounded way.  I didn’t ask him, for lack of time, about a chosen life partner, but what I can say about him is that he’s very effective with people and has this incredible bravado about meeting with pedestrians, stopping them with his intense stare and then convincing them that spiritual life is worth looking at.

The other two monks from Montreal are Hayagriva and Frederic.  Let’s begin with Hayagriva.  He was born in Quebec, has a social worker’s background, was once a monk with the Swami Narayan organization, and is now the bhakta program in-charge at ISKCON Montreal.  He is studious, he is outgoing, and has a bubbly personality.  He’s as warm as a fresh baked baguette and is a real people person. 

Frederic is a newcomer, also an enthusiastic Quebecois.  He’s here along with the other two to have a little break or change before the long stretch of commitment at ISKCON Montreal where they will be acting as priestly substitutes while regular pujaris (priests) make pilgrimage to India.  I don’t know Frederic so well, but it looks like he’s a good candidate for liberation. 

India is a great place for pilgrimage.  I dream that one day Canada will have a reputation as such.  Currently, the whole world sees Canada as a safe and fair land that offers opportunity.  The spiritual component is sorely missing, however. 

Anyway, let’s see if the three monks from Montreal can change that.

For an evening engagement I slipped away about 20 KM via car (as passenger) towards Montreal to our Scarborough ISKCON Centre.  I was the teacher this evening on the topic of God’s impartiality, with source 9.29 from the Bhagavad Gita.  God’s disposition is like this:  equal, open to everyone, and offers a fair opportunity, and He responds more to those who respond to Him.  An apparent contradiction?  I don’t think so. 

May the Source be with you!

9 KM

"You require the water as it is. Then your thirst will be satisfied. But in the transcendental, absolute world, there is no such difference. Krsna and Krsna’s name, Krsna’s words and Krsna’s qualities, Krsna’s pastimes- everything is Krsna."

Srimad Bhagavatam 1:2:17 lecture