Either to the prison or to the university – It’s our choice
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Government creates university also, or government creates prison house also. But it is your freedom. You make your choice: either you go to the university or you go to the prison house.

- Srila Prabhupada, Town Hall Lecture -- Auckland, April 14, 1972:

Syamasundara: Does Krishna create the universe or does He just make it possible to be created?

Prabhupada: No, the universe, this material world, is created by God. That's a fact. But if the question is that whether God has created this body for suffering in this material world, that is not God's creation; that is our creation. Just like the government creates the prison house. That does not mean that government wants that somebody should be criminals and fill up this prison house. It is a freedom to the citizens. Government creates university also, or government creates prison house also. But it is your freedom. You make your choice: either you go to the university or you go to the prison house. It is your choice. Just like government opens some liquor shop, gives license. That does not mean that government is encouraging drinking. The liquor shop is there. Those who are drunkards, they can go. That's a facility. That's all. Otherwise, that is not encouragement.

Krishna Fest in Baroda (Album 367 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Indradyumna Swami: Last night we had an unfortunate accident on our festival tour. One of our devotees, Lal Krsna das, slipped from a balcony and fell two stories to the ground. He broke both hands and an ankle and is presently undergoing surgery at a nearby hospital. The good news is that there are no serious internal or head injuries. The doctors say he is out of danger and will make a full recovery. Please everyone keep him in your prayers. -- Read more ›

Special Visit From Venezuelan Ambassador
- TOVP.org

With the festival season upon us, there are several visitors coming to Mayapur. Since The TOVP is a focal point, most pilgrims and guests are interested in touring the site. Recently, the project received the esteemed honor to host Manuel Guzman.

He joined us from Kuala Lumpur where he serves as the Venezuelan ambassador for Malaysia and Thailand. An experienced traveler and connoisseur of internationally renowned landmarks, he was impressed with the ambition of our project both architecturally and educationally. He looks forward to returning to Mayapur once the temple opens and has pledged to bring his family so they can share in the excitement of the occasion.

Remembering Shrila Prabhupada
→ Matsya Avatar das adhikari


 PART II
Due to God's mercy, Shrila Prabhupada was able to undertake the adventurous and difficult missions to satisfy the desire of his Guru Maharaja. He knew how to deal with risks, dangers, loneliness, sickness and temptations... Krishna blessed Shrila Prabhupada with such a success that, while originally owning nothing, his movement gradually reached a huge development, comparable to that of the richest and most envied companies, but even so Shrila Prabhupada remained always the person of the great inner qualities: no pride, no arrogance, no material ambitions or futile interests. He was exactly the same person when He went, with only 40 rupees in his pocket, to America, always dedicated to love for Krishna and for all creatures. Shrila Prabhupada had many talents, he was versatile, with great skills, but He was first and foremost a pure Devotee of the Lord.
He loved everyone, because in Shrila Prabhupada's opinion everyone was a potential devotee. He had always the same mood and the same tone of voice, sometimes He got vibrant, speaking with strong words, sometimes He reprimanded, sometimes He praised, sometimes He was moved, but His interest was always to improve the understanding of the devotees, their health, the image of the Movement. We must unmask the so fashionable artificial way to see an Acarya as detached from everyone and everything. Prabhupada was very interested in the success of the various services, he cared about everything working and running the best way, thus satisfying Krishna and encouraging the spiritual elevation of so many people.
Spiritual life does not mean a cold, detached attitude towards the world, we cannot live without relations, without affection, without empathy, without love. We just have to be careful to those we direct these feelings to. We should not prioritizewhat calls on the material level, but strive to fulfill our spiritual desires that represent our true essence. Prabhupada had Krishna in His heart and He was always thinking of what he could say or do to bring people closer to God. Krishna had a special relationship with Shrila Prabhupada who had a special relationship with Krishna: this was visible in every activity He had undertaken,either in those particular moments when, for example, He took the initiative to modify a service that maybe was stagnating, or when in the last days of life in this world He was brought in front of the Divinities on a palanquin because He was in a condition of extreme physical weakness and He could no longer walk. In every circumstance Shrila Prabhupada has proved to be a pure devotee of Krishna.
When I read the Bhagavad-gita, chapter twelve, shloka 13 to 20, I see Shrila Prabhupada. I have known many lovely devotees, but Prabhupada is the model for me.
Prabhupada was always connected to Krishna and helped everyone to offer their talents and energies to the service of the Lord.
The most beautiful part of Shrila Prabhupada is his being so devoted!
He was good at many things: a very good cook, a grammarian, a great preacher, a prominent philosopher and scholar; He was expert in playing music and in offering praise to the Lord, but His main feature was the pure and ardent devotion to God and His constant commitment to the spiritual education, in order to help others to become pure devotees of the Lord. Great it was, and surely still is, the satisfaction of Shrila Prabhupada to see people take seriously the path of Bhakti. And this satisfaction is the source of strength to all those devotees who carry Shrila Prabhupada in their heart.
Despite the apparent departure the Acarya lives forever with us, if we live with Him. As Satsvarupa Maharaja says in his book: "He lives forever ..."

Warm Hearts Brave Ice Storm at ISKCON Toronto
→ ISKCON News

Huddled together in sub-zero temperatures with no power during an ice storm this past holiday season, devotees in Toronto, Canada discovered the joy of simplicity and Krishna conscious association. The storm struck in the midst of book distributor Vaisesika Das’s annual “Festival of the Heart,” held from December 19th to 24th at ISKCON Toronto. 

India’s Vastly Oversubscribed Solar Allocations
→ View From a New Vrindaban Ridge

Renewable Energy World Editors

Last week India finally held its national solar auction, the first in two years, seen as the least risky of several national and state-level solar auctions held over the past few years.

Demand was as heated as expected: 58 bids were received pledging to develop more than 2.1 GW of solar energy capacity, nearly triple the 750-MW that state-run Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) was offering. Here’s the full list of eager developers, which includes Azure Power India (200 MW), Welspun Energy (160 MW), Goldman Sachs-backed local developer ReNew Solar Power (50 MW), First Solar (30 MW), and a handful of state-run utilities. Part of the spur behind the activity was the government’s promises to cover as much as 30 percent of project costs; part of the delay was the adjustment of payout period from one year to five years. And perhaps part of the huge interest was the delay of the auction to help clarify some of its structure and sooth investor and developer concerns.

More than half of the bids (36 bids for 700 MW) proposed to take advantage of the domestic content requirement (DCR), more than double what SECI expected. Developers appear to be hedging reliance upon domestic suppliers’ ability to support projects by de-emphasizing those requirements in favor of Viability Gap Funding (VGF), points out Bridge to India’s Jasmeet Khurana.

Another positive takeaway is that more than half (60 percent) of the bids in terms of capacity would end up being managed as an independent power producer (IPP), a big increase in their level of participation. Pure-play solar IPPs don’t enjoy some advantages of tax incentives such as accelerated depreciation, but separating such tariffs is giving pure-play IPPs a more level playing field, he added.

 


Filed under: Cows and Environment

Gauravani: Surrender
→ ISKCON News

Gaura Vani and As Kindred Spirits performing a moving rendition of their song -"Surrender"-from the album Ten Million Moons- at the Rhythm Hut in Gosford, NSW -Australia. (Dance: Vrinda, guitar: Bhakta Clayton Frick, bass: Shree Shyam, and Jahnavi Harrison on vocals and violin.)

Holy Name Seaside Retreat, Perth, Australia (Album 58 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. Iskcon Perth has been in operation since 1988 with a few devotees travelling out west to help spread the Sankirtan movement. Originally based in the Bayswater area, the temple proved a bit too small for the growing populus of devotees thus we have relocated to a bigger premises in the shire of Kalamunda. -- Read more ›

Coming Soon: Radhanath Swami’s New Book ‘The Journey Within’
→ ISKCON News

In this long-awaited follow up to The Journey Home, renowned spiritual leader Radhanath Swami shares intimate stories from his forty years as a teacher of devotional (bhakti) yoga. His heartfelt down-to-earth writing makes accessible topics that have remained esoteric for generations: explanations of the material and spiritual selves, the way of righteousness (dharma), and what happens at death.

New Vrindaban Daily darsan @ January 30, 2014.
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

01

O brother, please reside under the trees of Vrndavana, and from time to time enter the villages to beg alms. Drink as much Yamuna water as you like. Dress in some rejected pieces of cloth. Consider others’ praise of you the most bitter poison, and their disrespect sweet as nectar. Serve Sri Sri Radha-Muralidhara, and never leave this land of Vrndavana.

[Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, 1-48 Translation.]

Please click here for more photos

Endless Loop on YouTube
→ View From a New Vrindaban Ridge

When I was getting the YouTube address for Pete Seegar chanting Raghu[ati Raghava Rajarama I saw a lot of more traditional versions so I thought for my readers who weren’t familiar with it to post one of them.

Then I got obsessed with it and was playing it over and over again which was a pain because I had to keep hitting start. So I searched on “YouTube” ” loop” and found a lot of places you can do it.

Here is one of them.

You paste the 11 character YouTube video identifier  in the box on the right (everything after the = in the YouTube url) and you are off to the races, it endlessly loops it or maybe you can set how many times to loop it but I didn’t get that far.


Filed under: News, Ramblings or Whatever

TEXAS FAITH 122: Can you have morality without the existence of God?
→ Nityananda Chandra Das' Blog, ISKCON Dallas

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

When President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty exactly 50 years ago, advocates called it the moral obligation of a wealthy nation. Johnson said he was doing it not because it was efficient or helpful or politically expedient (which, of course, it was for liberals), but because it was right. The idea of advancing public policy in moral terms is hardly new. The Civil Rights movement invoked a moral imperative in its quest of public policy. Social conservatives want a government that reflects values they consider fundamental and unchanging. The impetus of President Obama’s health-care initiative and its various government precursors was, at least at some level, a moral one.

Robert Barron, a Catholic priest, notes in a column that one of the most common observations made by opponents of religion is that we don’t need God in order to have a coherent and integral morality. After all, aren’t there plenty of good, moral people who don’t believe in God? But supporters of religion warn that without God, there’s moral chaos.

Barron suggests removing God is tantamount to removing the ground for basic good, and once the basic good has been eliminated, all that is left is the self-legislating and self-creating will. Thus, he says, people of faith should be wary when atheists and agnostics blithely suggest that morality can endure apart from God.

So what is the relationship between morality and the existence of God? Can you have one without the other?

For all the talk by politicians and policy advocates about the morally in advancing various programs, good government typically means managing a competition between various secular interests in a way that benefits the common good. It’s about reaching a consensus in the community. It’s relative. But can morality ever be relative? And if not, doesn’t that mean it requires, at its heart, something absolute — like God.

What is the relationship between morality and the existence of God? Can you have one without the other?

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

Morality requires spiritual vision. For example if there is accident on the highway, what should be cared for first? The passengers in the car or the car itself? Similarly, a person with spiritual vision will know what is of greater importance, the body, or the soul within the body. That person who is in ignorance cannot see the soul and thus cannot make proper moral decisions.

"The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this. The endeavoring transcendentalists who are situated in self-realization can see all this clearly. But those whose minds are not developed and who are not situated in self-realization cannot see what is taking place, though they may try." -Bhagavad Gītā As It Is15.10-11

It is just like someone who is not trained in automobile repair. He can see the car and the mechanic can see the same car but he will not be able to see what the mechanic sees unless he has been trained to see it. Thus it is mechanic who can make decisions rather than the ignorant person.

"The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle priest, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater." -Bhagavad Gītā As It Is 5.18

Thus a moral person who has spiritual vision does not condone harm to anyone regardless what their race, species, or position within or out of a womb, if such harm is for personal gratification.

 

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

TEXAS FAITH 121: Is Christmas a religious holiday or a cultural one?
→ Nityananda Chandra Das' Blog, ISKCON Dallas

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

A new Pew Research Center Religion and Public Life survey reports that 90 percent of Americans — or almost all of us — celebrate Christmas in some fashion. The study shows that most still view it as a religious holiday, but certainly not all. In fact, only a slim majority consider it a religious holiday.

Interestingly, there appears a sharp generational difference in the way Americans see Christmas. According to Pew, Americans under age 30 are far more likely to see Christmas as a cultural holiday. Likewise, they are less likely to attend religious services at Christmas or to believe in the Virgin Birth.

The survey also reports on the similarities in the ways Americans celebrate Christmas. Most of us observe the holiday with families and friends.

You can read more about Pew’s Christmas survey at this link.

And here’s the question for this week:

How do you view Christmas: Is it a religious holiday or a cultural one?

And, if you like, share how you plan on observing the day, if it is one you will observe.

Read on for a variety of answers from our panelists:

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

In the Vedic tradition, religion, culture and everyday life are intertwined. The Sanskrit term Dharma means "The constitutional nature of an object."

Sometimes this term is misinterpreted as religion. However, a person can change their religion but they cannot change their dharma.

For example, the dharma of sugar is that it is sweet, the dharma of fire is that it is hot. It is not fire if it is not hot.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam teaches that the dharma of the self is to serve and love God. This nature of desiring to love and serve someone or something is always present in a person and is properly situated when directed towards God.

A follower of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad Gītā dedicates every action as an offering unto the Supreme. Thus ordinary things such as cooking, eating, and even sex to produce children are seen in relation to Krishna.

That is why it is called Krishna Consciousness because one is consciously and lovingly engaging their mind, body, and self in the service of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Krishna.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.