Planet ISKCON

“If you want to follow Caitanya Mahaprabhu, there is no question of sleeping in the morning."

Srila Prabupada, Conversation, Aligarh, 10/9/76.

Harinama Sankirtana ki Jaya! -- Read more ›

The post Short morning kirtana in New Vraja-dhama appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Kali Yuga series 12.

The post Markendeya Rsi describes the age of Kali – lots of crows among other things appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Every year at the end of month Kartik VIHE holds the annual Govardhan Retreat. Devotees from all around the world come to participate in a wonderful week of Krsna-katha, ecstatic kirtans and many breathtaking darsanas of Giriraja Govardhana. The sublime atmosphere of the sacred Govardhana Hill enables those who live and preach outside of the Holy Dhama to immerse themselves in the magical world of Krsnas pastimes -- Read more ›

13-12-2013 SB 12.2.10 The Symptoms of Kali Yuga 3, Beau Bassin, Mauritius.mp3

The whole force of nature seemed to have that bonding effect on everyone in Toronto. In the ashram at meal time where there’s no access to light in the eating room, all the monks were getting together hovering around a single candle. Everyone was quite liking it. It was as it should be, perhaps. -- Read more ›

Dec 2013 -- Read more ›

1967 December 30: "You will be glad to know that yesterday I have signed the agreement with MacMillan for publishing Gitopanisad. So far my health is concerned, Gaurasundara is keeping me fit by massaging and Govinda dasi is supplying me upma."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

One east Indian gentleman had a question regarding dietary principles, “The meat diet is something that’s been going on for generations because in colder climates, western people in particular were forced to hunt as nothing else was available. People are habituated to this diet, what do you have to say about that?” -- Read more ›

1970 December 30 : "Enclosed is one letter to the editor of the Times replying the several letters you sent me. Hand it in personally so it is published immediately. We invite all kinds of men to discuss on this high philosophy of life."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1970 December 30 : "On the 4th we are all going to Bombay and from there my party of about 25 men will go to Allahabad for Ardhakumbla mela. I am reaching Calcutta on the 5th and shall attend an important meeting & then come back to Allahabad & then to Gorakhpur, etc."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1971 December 30 : "Increase our preaching programs by using all the mass media which are available. We are modern day Vaisnavas and we must preach vigorously using all the means available."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1971 December 30 : "The success of our Movement is due to my books and BTG being distributed throughout the world. So I hope you will see that the magazine comes out regularly and that my books can be published in Hindi."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1971 December 30 : "Please see that we acquire land in Vrindaban immediately. We are ready to begin construction of a large Temple there. So do whatever is required, but somehow secure the land."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1972 December 30 : "There is no question that he is only pure devotee and no one else is pure devotee. All of my disciples, as soon as they surrender themselves to Krsna, they become pure devotees."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 December 30 : "If you simply do as I am doing, then without doubt you will remain always fresh and enthusiastic for working very energetically on Krsna's behalf, without any falldown."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

H G Bhurijana Prabhu – SB 05.1.18

Burnaby, British Columbia

Fidgety, Feisty and Fun

Before and after treks near the local green houses I engaged in a nine hour drama practice.  Rekha Sharma Wilson is a pro in drama and she made a difference in helping to hold down the reigns.  What I mean by that is that apart from her expertise in stage presentation, she helped in calming the participants, all rather young (in their teens).  They are rather wild, but wonderful.  Fidgety, feisty and fun.  Totally loveable.

Our assignment, or shall I say, volunteer passion, was to pull together the story of Ram and Sita and to take it’s epical scale down to a modest 30 minute production without losing colossal quality.  In it I have the Divine couple along with brother, Laksman, portray a wandering of the wilderness trails in the Dandak forest.  I couldn’t resist inserting some walking.  The piece is called, “Little Big Ramayan”.

To hold down a good production, much energy is required.  We have it.  When working on one scene which required undivided attention, those actors from our crew who are off the set also have their own undivided attention in other corners of the room.  I thought at times that our crew was a galaxy of planets.  Yoga, discipline, control, harmony, didn’t seem to be full reality.  Rekha and I strove for cohesion.  I am not complaining as much as I was admiring the hyped nature of things.  It seems sugar levels were high.  Seeing this dynamic I thought I was going to lose it.

After six hours of bhakti engagement, we then got down to a full run through of the play and just by seeing all the participants in action, everything got redeemed for me.

These young folks are at an age where they can be out drinking, smoking dope, having casual sex and so many other things.  They’ve chosen instead to involve themselves in a superior engagement.  They have a taste for what’s sweet and they take pride in keeping it clean.

We completed our practice and I took that last trek of the day to wind down the creative and mental affairs in my head.  All is good.  Om tat sat.

May the Source be with you!

8 KM

Special Days Meditation

Special Days Meditation

Maharaj’s stay in Mayapur continues. His service keeps him busy. We catch glimpses and short exchanges with him during and after the morning program. From time-to-time, he leads kirtan and gives Srimad Bhagavatam classes. In this way, our hearts get fulfilled.

Here are the latest recordings and pictures.  To download an audio file, please right-click on the title and save target as. 

 

 

Audio

KKS_Mayapur_28 December 2013_Lecture_SB 5.10.24

KKS_Mayapur_25 December 2013_Russian Lecture_SB 5.9.3

KKS_Mayapur_28 November 2013_Lecture_SB 5.9.11

KKS_Mayapur_23 November 2013_Lecture_Mamgachi

KKS_Mayapur_22 November 2013_Kirtan_Community Hall

 

Photos

If you cannot view the slide-show below then kindly visit flickr.

 

"Chanting Hare Krsna is not the solution, attentive chanting is the solution."

Gopal Krsna Goswami
16 November 2006

We recently relaunched our Sunday School program and rebranded it as Krishna Fun School! Here's a pic:

Vedic Discourses at the ISKCON Brampton Vedic Education and Learning Center.

The discourse, a main part of the Sunday program, consists of a speaker basing their talk on popular Vedic scriptures such as the Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam or Chaitanya Charitamrita.


Vedic Discourse by His Grace Acharya Thakur Das Vedic Discourse by Her Grace Prema Manjari Devi Dasi Vedic Discourse by His Grace Ananda Gauranga Prabhu Vedic Discourse by His Grace Gadadhar Pandit Prabhu

While I’m still not completely finished with the testing (and sort of feel like I’ve only begun), here’s another photo I took with what I’m calling the Polaroid EE100BSL (EE100 with a Big Swinger lens). I had been calling it the Frankencamera, but that’s just dumb.

This was taken before I (might have) figured out a way to get the focus to “infinity” (you can read about that here. I tramped around the Ballard neighborhood trying to remember that since the camera on focused upon things around five feet away from me, I really had to find subjects and backgrounds. Doing most landscape stuff, it’s not so easy to remember.

I took three photos and only one of them worked out (this one). For the other two, I just thought “well, hey, maybe it’s close enough.”

Over this next week, I’m going to try to do more testing and sharing, but we’ll see if I can manage that.

“Yamuna Devi was a super-perfectionist. Generally, perfectionists are either proud, thinking that they are better than others, or eccentric. She was a super-perfectionist, but she was neither proud nor eccentric—she was humble, loving, and expert. I feel blessed that I knew her personally. Many of us here, of all different sizes, shapes, and ages, have been blessed by her personal association. But even if you never met her personally, you can have access to her through “Unalloyed: The Yamuna Devi Legacy Project” <krishnamagic.com>. It is filled with nectar from the great ocean of her wonderful qualities and expert loving service.”

Yamuna Devi Memorial Talk

Deer Lake, British Columbia

Deer Lake

According to my hosts on this trail, a prison was once standing at Deer Lake.  I was shown some of the foundation which still remains.  What was then is no more.

At the edge of the lake, beavers have done their expert work chiseling almost to pencil point some sizeable trees.  One tree in particular has, in my estimation, only one chewing day left before you can holler timber, “Timber!” Such is the way of an ever changing landscape whether adjusted by man or by nature.  Change is changeless.  It is eternal.  The only feature of the world that does not change is the Creator.

It really was a break from people that I found at Deer Lake compliments of Manoharini and family who brought me here.  It’s just great to capture a piece of nature in the course of the day.

There’s a usual rendezvous for the lake’s turtle population.  Usually when the sun peaks out , these guys tend to cluster at one corner of the lake on a long piece of driftwood.  They just lie there motionless in perfect camouflage, but today they were just not there for us to view.  We didn’t have that satisfaction.  Yet we knew they’re in there somewhere in the silky mud.  Something was swishing around at the water’s bottom.

The soul is like that as well.  It appears hidden or perhaps even nonexistent, yet by the mere presence of consciousness, the testimony of its being lies in its life symptoms.

We carried on by foot along the lake and saw the eager response of birds at our tossing of pistachios.  Geese, drakes, crows and gulls all picked up speed at the first throw.  It looked as if we were capturing 2/4ths of their primary activities, out of eating, mating, sleeping and defense, we were observant of their eating and defense.  Defense came in the form of just that – speed.

To absorb the power of the lake, and all that’s connected to it, we stopped walking and sat by a blue spruce for gayatri chanting.  The smell of the needles from that tree when pinched, what can I say, wow.

It’s essential to meet nature each day.  It makes the day whole, complete.  There is much to learn from this encounter.

Deer Lake, I like it.  It’s a fine eco system with many wonders.  Only thing is you might not sight a deer, at least I’ve never seen any there.  I guess that’s a wonder in itself.

May the Source be with you!

5 KM

Burnaby, British Columbia

Christmas Day in the Life of a Hare Krishna Monk

What does a Hare Krishna monk do on Christmas Day?

He rises early at 4 am, showers, applies tilak (sacred earth substance) to 12 parts of the upper body, and then dons his robes, a dhoti (lower garment) and a kurta (upper garment).  With japa (meditative beads) carried in a pouch, he makes his way to the temple.  This then is the time when morning songs in honour of guru and Krishna are initiated.  Then, for an hour and a half or 2 hour period, he chants with the aid of his beads the Hare Krishna maha mantra:

This will be done in the company of others.  He may even choose to walk and chant on a trail, by a beach or on a street.

By 7 AM, he is poised for something called darshan, a viewing of the Krishna deity, followed by more song and drumming.  Culminating in a class delivered by a senior teacher just before breakfast.

Between 9 AM and 12, there is some time for specific duties.  My specific task at 12 o’clock was to speak on the subject of Christ and Krishna.  Naturally, the topic was selected to address the event, Christmas.  A subsequent feast was served, special features of this were mashed potatoes with a veggie gravy.  Yummy.  During meal time I had some people come to me with questions.  One east Indian gentleman had a question regarding dietary principles, “The meat diet is something that’s been going on for generations because in colder climates, western people in particular were forced to hunt as nothing else was available.  People are habituated to this diet, what do you have to say about that?”

Answer, “Granted, in colder climates people have resorted to eating other animals.  It’s true.  But the circumstances have changed since ancient times.  That was then but now is now.  Today you can acquire non violent food in the supermarket, vegetables, grains, fruits, etc. etc.  In some countries it had been the standard to eat humans on occasion, but now we know better.  We’ve evolved.  Let the animals enjoy their right to roam, crawl, or fly.”

Another question, “Is there truth to the theory that Jesus had spent time in India?”

Answer, “Some say he was in India, others theorize that there wasn’t a Jesus at all.  I will not argue that point, but what is relevant is the teachings that are propagated by someone who was called The Prince of Peace, and when those teachings are applied, they can improve our life.  Those teachings tell us to love your neighbour as much as yourself.”

Plus, “Love the Lord with all thy heart, mind, soul.”

The feast was great and it forced a nap which a monk is permitted to have.  A second walk, answering correspondence, and an evening program with kirtan (chanting,) sums up the day.  At least this is a look at my day.

7 KM

Burnaby, British Columbia

No Power

Being not at home base (Toronto these days), it spares me from the dynamics of the hottest news coming from there.  Correction.  It’s not hot news at all, and has nothing to do with an embarrassing Mayor who’s caught taking crack.

The ground breaking news from Toronto (T Dot – the  cool short term) is the cold ice storm that hit last weekend putting 300,000 home out of power.  Normally a power failure wouldn’t create such an out on a short term, but when you consider it’s the middle of winter and it’s dragged on, people will have had to make some adjustments.

I was on the phone with our temple operations person, Keshava, in Toronto.  He said with relief, “After 57 hours of no electrical power, we had a big pizza party.”  The whole force of nature seemed to have that bonding effect on everyone in Toronto.  In the ashram at meal time where there’s no access to light in the eating room, all the monks were getting together hovering around a single candle.  Everyone was quite liking it.  It was as it should be, perhaps.

I contemplated the joy within the crisis and thought how life must have been before homes were equipped with hydro.  Perhaps the utility has spoiled us; that it’s a curse.  At least you can safely say that an element of interedependence was very much status quo when we were all unplugged.

It was sadly reported though that through this time of testing, generator, power, propane, and other less safe ways of generating warmth left some people dead from the fumes and exhaust.

I had taken to walking in weather that was just below zero degrees in the lower mainland of Burnaby, BC at Christmas Eve, when things were rather Silent Night –ish.  I imagined myself being back in Toronto and how I would handle the cold.  Likely, I would find maximum satisfaction in keeping warm in my winter boots, doing a lot of walking.  After all, each and every one of us has a built in furnace as much as we have a soul.  At some point in time, our 98 degrees Farenheit will quit on us.  But the spirit goes on searching for a new furnace.

May the Source be with you.

6 KM