Planet ISKCON

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi

by Jai Sita Rani Devi Dasi

Verse 4.30: All these performers who know the meaning of sacrifice become cleansed of sinful reactions, and, having tasted the nectar of the results of sacrifices, they advance toward the supreme eternal atmosphere.

The New Year often brings a sense of fresh beginnings. It's a time to introspect, make new resolutions or perhaps re-commit to old ones.

In order to make good on resolutions, promises and vows, it requires steadiness of mind. As we've discussed before, the mind can be a little crazy (to put it mildly)! It possesses the characteristic of chanchala which is the sanskrit word for flickering or moving rapidly. And that, my friends, is the problem many of us face when trying to stick to any promises we make.

Although we may have the best of intentions to stick to our commitments, it's difficult when we reside 24/7 with a tenant, the mind, who is constantly accepting and rejecting various thoughts and ideas. Notice how when first making a resolution or promise, you feel strong and focused? It's because at that moment, the mind may be accepting of it. However, as time wears on, the the sacrifices one may need to make to keep that commitment becomes more apparent.

Therein lies our problem. At that intersection when our commitment is standing in the way of something else that we desire, the mind can act as our worst enemy. If it controls us, our determination wanes and our resolve weakens to stick to our word. That's because the mind is always seeking out ways and ideas to please the senses, not the heart or soul. We are placed in a predicament because our senses seek pleasure which is often temporary and our commitments often require postponing that immediate pleasure.

Although it's an example that's been used before, we'll use it again just because it illustrates this point so beautifully. Resolving to work out more frequently is often a commitment that is renewed around this time of year. For the first few days, weeks or even months, this may seem pretty easy to maintain. However, as time wears on, it's the mind that often gets in the way. "But that cupcake is just so delicious, just a mini one can't hurt," it'll cajole. Then suddenly some unexpected projects fall onto our plate and the mind may say "Impossible to go to the gym, just see all the work you have to finish. And you can't work without eating, so eat what you want!" So tricky is the mind that it's often hard to realize what's happening! It provokes one to ask, "How can I control it or at the very least steady it?"

Integral to the practice of yoga is mantra meditation. By focusing on powerful sound vibration, it helps to calm the mind. Even better is if one incorporates mantra meditation as part of a regular practice. Whether it be two minutes a day or two hours, the effects are powerful. It is the most practical way to steady the mind and costs nothing except a small investment of time.

So go ahead and make new commitments and/or renew old ones! Now you know the secret for ensuring success!

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida by population and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. -- Read more ›

Indradyumna Swami: Yesterday evening we took darsan of Lord Padmanabha. Like many other temples in this region of India the Lord is lying down in a mystic slumber. Western, non-Hindu people are forbidden to enter the temple, but ISKCON devotees ( from anywhere in the world ) may enter with the express written permission of the King. -- Read more ›

An inspiring video by the brahmacaris of Yurlovo ashram about the book distribution leaders in Russia. -- Read more ›

Would Hare Krishnas wear Karen Walker? Probably not. But at the New Zealand designer’s spring/summer 2014 show yesterday, Walker focused on just that: Krisha-style clothes. Despite being unexpected, the idea - which produced a definable slouch to just about everything she delivered - has been ‘in the back pocket for a while,’ Walker explained during a post-show interview. ‘You just always see Krishna people and they’ve just got that amazing mix of traditional Eastern utility and modern Western utility.' -- Read more ›

New Year's Eve Kirtan Fest 2014 in Mayapur. -- Read more ›

Lecture Podcast

An inspiring video by the brachmacharis of Yurlovo ashram about the book distribution leaders in Russia. 

Death calls my dog by the wrong name.
A little man when I was small, Death grew
Beside me, always taller, but always
Confused as I have almost never been.
Confusion, like the heart, gets left behind
Early by a boy, abandoned the very moment
Futurity with her bare arms comes a-waltzing
Down the fire escapes to take his hand.

“Death,” I said, “if your eyes were green
I would eat them.”

For what are days but the furnace of an eye?
If I could strip a sunflower bare to its bare soul,
I would rebuild it:
Green inside of green, ringed round by green.
There’d be nothing but new flowers anymore.
Absolute Christmas.

“Death,” I said, “I know someone, a woman,
Who sank her teeth into the moon.”

For what are space and time but the inventions
Of sorrowing men? The soul goes faster than light.
Eating the moon alive, it leaves space and time behind.
The soul is forgiveness because it knows forgiveness.
And the knowledge is whirligig.
Whirligig taught me to live outwardly.
Shoe shop. . . pizza parlor. . . surgical appliances. . .
All left behind me with the hooey.
My soul is my home.
An old star hounded by old starlight.

“Death, I ask you, whose only story
Is the end of the story, right from the start,
How is it I remember everything
That never happened and almost nothing that did?
Was I ever born?”

I think of the suicides, all of them thriving,
Many of them painting beautiful pictures.
I think of boys and girls murdered
In their first beauty, now with children of their own.
And I have a church in my mind, set cruelly ablaze,
And then the explosion of happy souls
Into the greeny, frozen Christmas Eve air:
Another good Christmas, a white choir.

Beside each other still,
My Death and I are a magical hermit.
Dear Mother, I miss you.
Dear reader, your eyes are now green,
Green as they used to be, before I was born.

Filed under: Poetry

As the rising moon dispels darkness, so too did the Golden Avatar Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appear in this world to bestow infinite light, hope, and love. Day by day, the worldwide bhakti revolution He ignited accelerates, as the background noise of doubt and fear is drowned by the vibration of sacred mantra. A video by the KRIYATE group.

Would Hare Krishnas wear Karen Walker? Probably not. The designer’s show focused on just that: Krisha-style clothes.

New Vrindaban’s Transcendental “Throwback Thursday” – 01/09/14.

Each week we highlight an earlier era of ISKCON New Vrindaban.

This week’s challenge: Name the three devotees who can be clearly identified in the photo.

Extra credit: With a little patience and determination, you might be able to ID a few more.

Post your best guesses on the “who, what, when & where” in the comment section at the New Vrindaban Facebook Page.

Technical stuff: We share the photo Thursday and confirm known details Sunday.

Let’s have a bit of fun and see who knows their New Vrindaban history!

Logan Laplante is a 13 year-old boy who was taken out of the education system to be home schooled instead. Not only was he home schooled, but Logan had the ability to tailor his education to his interests and also his style of learning, something traditional education does not offer. As Logan has mentioned, when he grows up he wants to be happy and healthy. 

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

14 01 04 Chaitanya Charitamrita By H G Bhakti Brihat Bhagavata Swami Maharaj ISKCON Juhu

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

1969 January 9: "I am very much anxious for getting my books published. But I do not know how I will get them published. I do not mind for the profit concerned. But I want to see them published."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1970 January 9: "Simply we have to see that in our books there is no spelling or grammatical mistake. We do not mind for any good style, our style is Hare Krishna, and such literatures are welcomed, read and respected by bona fide devotees."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1973 January 9: "These boys and girls have understood what is austerity and what is the difference between matter and spirit. Though they may be dressed in rags, still they are more exalted than kings."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1973 January 9 : "That is the secret of my success, those who are helping me are sincere, they have done the work. A little sincerity is very difficult thing in this age of hypocrisy and bluff."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1974 January 9: "If you take the royalty it will be personal interest in money and trade, and this will deviate your principle of sannyasa. Sannyasi lives by begging alms for the bare necessities of life."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1975 January 9: "Everyone should adore our members as honest. These dishonest methods must be stopped. It is hampering our reputation all over the world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1975 January 9: "Money collected for feeding people in India should be collected under ISKCON Food Relief. Not any other name. Every farthing collected for that purpose must be used for that purpose."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1975 January 9: "Everyone must be full-time engaged and the best engagement is to sell books. All should attend classes 2 or 3 times daily, chant 16 rounds, and go out for street sankirtana."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

Answer Podcast

From Sushant Kulkarni

Answer Podcast

From Rekha Mathkarr Mataji

I believe and trust Krishna and follow all the scriptural regulations, but what we are experienceing weather wise in united States is beyond tolerance. Since last two wks.there are snow storms after snow storms. People are striended at airport unable to rich there destination. Schools are closed. People are unable to go to work. Elderly people like me are unable to see Dr.and stuck at home unable to get groceries.
How do you apply Gita wisdom in such situations?
Is there anything left to us other than keep praying?

Answer Podcast

Answer Podcast

Its pretty obvious what’s wrong with eating meat – you have to kill other living beings to get it. But its not so obvious why other foods are forbidden on the plates of yogis.

Some are easy or obvious. Wines and so on, for example, obviously have a fuzzing effect on the mind and a liberating effect on animal instincts. So a yogi avoids intoxication (or, in some yogic disciplines, engages it very systematically). But there are some prohibited foods that just seem mysterious. Garlic and onion is the most popular. Actually Carrots are also included in the group classically, but for some reason that gets overlooked.

Garlic-abstainers will often quote fabulous stories about how these vegetables originated from the corpse of a slain cow, or the blood of a demon, or some variety of tale. We are going to ignore these, because they do not appeal to logical persons. They are meant for the masses who simply require a vivid storyline.

Some claim that these foods cannot be offered to Krishna, and therefore devotees cannot eat them. However, I haven’t heard such claims ever accompanied with actual authentic evidence from a śāstra. I don’t know for sure that such authentic evidence doesn’t exist, but I do know for sure that no one saying “Krishna won’t accept garlic/onion/carrot” has ever given me an actual source quote substantiating the claim. The best general argument I’ve heard is that devas (divinities) are, of all the senses, most sensitive to smell. This is why everything involved in religious ceremonies (flowers, incense, oils, and so on) smells good, and its why things that “smell bad” (not sure how carrots would fit in here) are not part of religious things. Anyhow, I think a lot of people would be really shocked to actually make a deep survey of the Sanskrit sourcebooks and discover the wide varieties of food and drink Krishna reportedly enjoys, many of which contain substances forbidden to the practitioner.

Still, there is a valid reason why certain vegetables should be avoided:

Every substance in the world has a specific effect on you when you perceive it. Its just the way the world works, food included. Each food has a different effect on you when you ingest it. We don’t even notice it most of the time. If your room is filthy you don’t notice a little extra disorganization in your top shelf, but if you are trying to keep your room very clean and organized, you notice things right away. Similarly our psychological nature is so radically disturbed by things like FaceBook, text messages, billboards, talk shows, and video games that we really have no idea at all if something as innocuous as garlic might or might not have some effect on our mind.

So perhaps its a bit myopic for an aspiring yogi to insist on fastidious abstinence from onions, carrots, garlic and so on, while at the same time indulging his eyes in the comparatively raucous stream of images, videos, and ideas from FaceBook and Twitter on an iPhone in a movie theatre? Yes. Priorities, please.

Still, if you are one of those very few people who really sit down and want to focus your mind clearly on mantra-meditation, you will rightly want to not only govern (or abandon) your addictions to the internet and so on, you’ll also want to double-check your choice of vegetables.

What garlic does (and I guess presumably onions and carrots too, although I have to admit that in my personal experience onions seem innocuous compared to garlic, and carrots similarly innocuous compared to onions)… anyway, what garlic does is make the mind “fuzzy.” In yogic terminology it aggravates “rajas” - the effect of which is to disturb clarity of mind, and make it more easily distracted by “interesting” ideas and plans.

There are a few non-yogi, modern-medical-type people (like Bob Beck) who have also noticed this. And it’s not just an Indian thing, Romans (like Horace) and Chinese (like Tsang-Tsze) also noticed this. But as for you and I… we should also be able to experience it. And we can. But here is what you would have to do to notice it:

(a) For one month abstain entirely from: internet, video games, television, movies, newspapers and casual reading.

(b) During this time abstain of course from intoxications, meats, and sexual activity of any sort.

(c) During this time, abstain also from garlic (and why not also onions and carrots).

(d) Try to meditate for an extended period on a single mantra, with great focus.

The purpose of this cleansing month is to “organize the room of your mind.” Then, after one month of this, eat a nice big dose of the forbidden veggies (while still practicing the A andB). And take a note how how it makes you feel when you try to do D.

When you compare your mantra meditation in the few days at the end of the month, with your mantra meditation after you feasted on garlic like a cured vampire, you’ll notice for yourself that this is for real, Garlic and so on really does make a difference to the quality of your concentration.

But you’ll also notice that unless you are regularly doing A and B pretty fastidiously, it doesn’t really matter.

So, my advice?

Focus on D, the mantra.

If you do, you will want to try your best to do A and B.

If you do, C will make a difference, too.

Priorities please, not checklists for being “on the team.” Thanks.

Hare Krishna.

From Aniket:

We know the story of lord vitthal at pandharpur.
It is said that pundalik was serving his mother and father, krishna came to meet him,but he gives brick to lord and request for wait till his service to his mother and father,after words he meet to lord and pray for stand to give darshan to all devotees,
how can we understand this?

Answer Podcast

Answer Podcast

"As long as we chant as we have been taught we will not com­mit the first type of disruption, varna-vyvadhana. But a sub­tle form of this dis­rup­tion occurs when we don’t pro­nounce the mantra prop­erly. Srila Prab­hu­pada refers to a “hiss­ing sound” that is some­times pro­duced by a poor chanter and in a lec­ture he made a car­i­ca­ture of slurred chant­ing, and said “hurkr­ish hurkr­ish krishkr­ish” and said “Not like that. But with priti, with love."

by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
From Viraha Bhavan #140

Please click here for all photos

You may experience either happiness or distress. You may know fame or infamy. The lowest persons may insult you, or the saintly devotees may praise you. You may know poverty or great wealth. You may obtain all valuable things, or you may not obtain anything. Whatever position your past pious or impious deeds may place you in, just make Vrindavana your life and soul.

[Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, 1-30 Translation ]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 19.132.

“Being a Rupanuga doesn’t mean dressing in a loincloth and sleeping under a tree. The real essence is, as Srila Rupa Gosvami is described: sri-caitanya-mano-’bhistam sthapitam yena bhu-tale—he established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Chaitanya. He understood the mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and was empowered to establish it on earth (bhutale). That is done primarily—not exclusively, but primarily—through writing, publishing, and distributing books. And this has come to us through parampara. Srila Prabhupada compared it to a train: ”This is the parampara system. My guru maharaja pushed me, I am pushing you, and you are pushing others. It is like a train.” And so the pushing through parampara continues. That is seen and experienced very vividly here: the whole temple is surcharged, and it is very enlivening.”

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 19.132, Sant Nagar, New Delhi