The great philosopher Uddhava
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 21 November 2012, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening Talk)

One maybe, or may not be, a greuddhavaat philosopher like Uddhava. Uddhava was a great devotee from Dwarka and Uddhava was a disciple of Brihaspati who is the spiritual master of the demigods. Uddhava was very, very learned and he was also a great, loving devotee of Krsna but he had a bit of slant towards learning, so he was always philosophizing. Krnsa sent him to Vrndavan and then he realized that he is not a devotee at all. When Uddhava saw Mother Yasoda, when he saw the gopis, he realized. He tried to preach them, “Do you know that Krsna is the Supreme Lord?” 

I mean (laughing), they couldn’t even hear it, “Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Krsna is all pervading.”

“All pervading? No! He’s gone to Mathura! We’re suffering, we’re suffering like anything. Krsna left Vrndavan, you know, he left Vrndavan and you’re telling us that he’s all pervading? When is he coming back? Please, you know, after you’ve finished with all that, that Krsna’s all pervading, do you have any news of Krsna? Tell us something about Krsna. How is he doing? Is he sometimes thinking of this mother?”

Like this, they did not care about jnana (knowledge); they couldn’t care less but Uddhava had a bit of that interest in the opulence of Krsna. So it is interesting. In the beginning, philosophy is very important because it keeps us on the path. Otherwise we go here, we go there, we go everywhere. In this way,

yadā te moha-kalilam
buddhir vyatitarisyati
tadā gantāsi nirvedam
śrotavyasya śrutasya ca (Bhagavad-gita 2.52)

When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard. Only Krsna and that stage we want.

 

 

Mayapur Chandra’s Parikrama
→ Mayapur.com

We cannot even begin to describe what a wonderful experience we had on the1st Kartik Navadwipa Mandal Parikrama with the Mayapur Chandra’s.  It was one of the most ecstatic, enlivening experiences we have had. What we really appreciated about the parikrama, was the thoughtfulness of the Mayapur Chandra’s in lovingly facilitating those devotees who are […]

The post Mayapur Chandra’s Parikrama appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Notice for all ISKCON Artists and Entertainers
→ Mayapur.com

 Mayapur, ISKCON Leadership Sanga (ILS) Gaura Purnima Festival Entertainment Feb 16 – March 18, 2014 From February 16 – 20, ISKCON Mayapur will host the ISKCON Leadership Sanga (ILS). Over 800 temple presidents, GBC members and sanyasis are expected to attend. Following the ILS is the annual Mayapur Gaura Purnima Festival which will run from […]

The post Notice for all ISKCON Artists and Entertainers appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Navadwip Parikrama 2014
→ Mayapur.com

Silver Jubilee Celebration of Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama We are happy to invite devotees from all over the world to come and experience the Silver Jubilee celebration of Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama organized by ISKCON Mayapur. This unique event will take place from 5th to 11th March 2014. Please watch our invitation, because images can say more than thousands words. […]

The post Navadwip Parikrama 2014 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

TEXAS FAITH 114: Did JFK have a greater impact on religion than any modern president?
→ 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.

The nation and certainly the city of Dallas are coming upon the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. There are many parts of his presidency and death that our paper and others are starting to examine, from the legacy of his foreign policy to his imprint on civil rights to his use of television to communicate.

One area that hasn’t gotten much coverage is John F. Kennedy’s impact on religion in America. Often, we read about how Jimmy Carter and then Ronald Reagan awakened evangelicals and changed the face of religion in America, particularly in politics.

But did JFK have a greater effect than perhaps any modern president on religion in America?

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

Yes he did, but how so? He was a young, attractive man with an attractive wife and nice children. He had wealth, fame, power, and presidency. He had many people protecting him and his wellbeing. He worked hard to achieve all this but lost it all in just a second.

This predicament affected the lives of many and some that I know began to inquire if life had more to offer than just wealth, fame, power, family, and comforts. Will these temporary things truly fulfill the heart of an eternal being?

Some wise souls began to ask, "Should I be investing in the temporary, am I am actually eternal?" Likewise, they asked, "If the President could lose all that he had worked for throughout his life in a second then what about me?"

For these rare souls his untimely departure was more profound than the works of his life. -Nityananda Chandra Das

 

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

New Preaching Centre in Sri Lanka
→ Dandavats.com

Last week we had a grand opening of a new Hare Krishna Centre in Batticaloa, Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. With the blessings of the GBCs and support of ISKCON Colombo authorities we had a wonderful two days festival. The lightning board of "Hare Krishna Centre" on the main road has now become a new land mark of the City and a new bus stop's name. Read more ›

Service Opportunity for Festivals Preparation in New Vrindaban
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

——Service Opportunity at ISKCON New Vrindaban——–

ISKCON New Vrindaban is looking for enthusiastic team members for our Festivals Dept.

We need friendly, co-operative, hard-working team players right away to come to New Vrindaban to help organize specifically for the well-known and inspiring Festival of Inspiration in May 2014 and the first of two fun Festival of Colors, in April 2014.

Great accommodations and sumptuous prasadam will, of course, be provided, along with honorarium.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Vrindavana Das at:

304 843 1600 ext 129  or  vrindavanadas@gmail.com

From

Vrindavana Das

ISKCON New Vrindaban, Home Of The Palace of Gold

3759 McCrearys Ridge Road, Moundsville, WV 26041

______________________________________________

Phone: 304-843-1600 Ext: 129

Mobile: 001 – 304 – 312 – 3665

vrindavana@newvrindaban.com

______________________________________________

www.festivalofcolors.us

www.palaceofgold.com

A unique live experience!
→ Dandavats.com

I went to a monthly event called Mantra Lounge in Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden. This event usually consists of Kirtan (congregational chanting of sacred mantras), Meditation & a Vegetarian Feast. Last Friday they had Chakrini as special guest, who happens to be my favourite Kirtaneer, and as a bonus they were offering a Vegan Feast (yes, I am a Vegan). To give you an idea about Chakrini, you have to imagine a celestial being having taken birth on this planet to bring joy and enlightment to us lost souls through the most powerful sound vibrations put into melodies for easier digestion Read more ›

All it takes is a cool head!
→ Servant of the Servant

The more I think about it, people are ok with old age and death as long as they have their way, that they can be the controllers and the lord of all they survey. The power of control and enjoyment in this world is so intoxicating that one is ready to wager with disease and death.

So today is Gita Jayanti - the day Krishna spoke this epic dialogue with His devotee and friend Arjuna. In the introduction to the Bhagavad Gita, Srila Prabhupada comments that students who question old age, disease and death are the likely candidates to read this sublime discussion. And because most of us are not serious about reading the Bhagavad Gita, we can imply that we are happy controlling and enjoying in this world that we do not care so much about old age, disease and death.

Now, one may argue that I don't read the Gita because I don't believe in reincarnation or that the consciousness is independent of the body etc So if i don't believe in reincarnation then i don't have to worry about old age, disease and death as a problem because it happens only once in this life and i don't have to worry after that. This sort of childishness is a subtle way of saying I like to be in control, and that I am in control and that I want to enjoy. In other words, in order to enjoy and control, we believe what we want to believe versus the truth. But if we are sober, detached from worldly enjoyment, we will realize by mere observation of nature around us that consciousness is separate from the body and that consciousness is bound to be reborn in another body. All it takes is a cool head!

Hare Krishna



If Vrajavasis love each other doesn’t that mean Krishna is not all-attractive for he can’t exclusively attract their love?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

From: Keshav
If everyone loves Krishna in Vrindavan,then does it mean people do not love anyother thing ? Do the parents of Gopas love Krishna or their son ? If it is different then comparision will be made as their can not be two love in absolute world. How can a girl who is married ,love his husband and Krsna in same way when everyone in Goloka Vrindavan is a soul.If she loves both husband and Krsna ,then will it not mean Krsna is not totally attractive ? Also a variety of relationship exists between individual souls and between god and individual soul in spiritual planet.So how come two love thoery exist there? Isn't Love is love , or its real meaning is yet to be discovered?

Answer Podcast

How do we understand our love for our relatives from the soul point of view?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

From: Keshav
Is the love of Soul toward God and love of Soul toward other soul different ?
A Question which Bhagavat Gita does not answers is, It is said that there is a relationship between God and Soul ,
but what is the inter-relationship between two Souls ? When we meet our dear ones after a long time,
we embrace them very tightly;so tighly that we feel if we can pass the ultimate love we have for them,but suddenly we realise that we can not pass that love because we are limited by our body,more embrace can damage our body . If one living entity feels love toward other living entity in such a strong way, then what is their relationship from soul point of view.

Answer Podcast

Winter Bus Tour Photo Essay
→ Seed of Devotion


A big silver bus outfitted with bunkbeds and filled with youth will head out to Mexico tomorrow for the 2013 Winter Bus Tour. Two years ago I had the honor of going on the Tour to perform bharatanatyam dance, sing kirtan with Madhava Prabhu, and connect with the amazing people on and off the bus.

In tribute of the Bus Tour, here's a photo essay of some of the pictures I took two years ago. 


waiting for prasadam




I often escaped to visit cathedrals

The Gita play

kirtan programs almost every evening






Agua Azul



kirtan with Madhava Prabhu





the ruins of Palenque


panoramic shot of a city wall 



Our Bus Tour Gaura Nitai and Haridas Thakur deities. They're the ultimate adventurers.   

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Exploding Fuel Tankers Driving U.S. Army to Solar Power
→ View From a New Vrindaban Ridge

From Bloomberg

By Ehren Goossens

The U.S. Army is spending billions of dollars shifting toward solar energy, recycled water and better-insulated tents. The effort isn’t about saving the Earth.

Instead, commanders have found they can save lives through energy conservation. It’s especially true in Afghanistan, where protecting fuel convoys is one of the most dangerous jobs, with one casualty for every 24 missions in some years.

With renewable energy, “there is no supply chain vulnerability, there are no commodity costs and there’s a lower chance of disruption,” Richard Kidd, the deputy assistant secretary of the Army in charge of energy security, said in an interview. “A fuel tanker can be shot at and blown up. The sun’s rays will still be there.”

While President Barack Obama called on the U.S. government to cut greenhouse-gas emissions 28 percent by 2020, the Army is embracing renewables to make the business of war safer for soldiers. In May, it announced plans to spend $7 billion buying electricity generated by solar, wind, geothermal and biomass projects over the next three decades.

The transition is a sales opportunity for companies including Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), which is installing small-scale power systems at U.S. bases, along with Alta Devices Inc. and Sundial Capital Partners, which make sun-powered systems. The moves threaten U.S. utilities, which stand to lose revenue when the Army shifts to photovoltaic panels from traditional power sources.

Read full article here


Filed under: Cows and Environment

Choose your suffering
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 02 October 2013, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.2-7)

Through celibacy, can we get love of God? You can be celibate for a hundred lifetimes, do you think that will give you love of God? No, it is devotional service that will give us love of God!

“KKS_CZ_2004I am married to a devotee!” Do you think that will give you love of God? No, you yourself will have to be a devotee as well. You will have to do devotional service. It is not automatic. Even a lion has to go out and chase for breakfast. It’s not that the deer runs into the mouth of the lion… So, we have to do something in devotional service and that is what counts. Ashram issues are not so important, it’s only external. In one or the another, you are going to have to take some tapasya (austerity),

tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam
suddhyed yasmad brahma saukhyam tv anantam (SB 5.5.1)

That is life in the material world, no matter what you do, there is tapasya. You decide which tapasya you like better; that’s what it is all about – the tapasya of being married or the tapasya of being alone. You decide as both have tapasya. Material life has that element of tapasya, of some austerity. Inevitably so, no one can avoid it – it is basically the design of the material world therefore Lord Rshabdev pointed this out to his one hundred sons – this human form of life is not meant for sense gratification; it is not going to work. Therefore we shouldn’t be too particular about how we live but some things have to be a little suitable.

Krsna consciousness, bhakti, is not denying us this basic comforts. That is for the impersonalists. For them, everything in this material world is only maya. There is only maya in all directions therefore whatever they use has to be minimized… but we just use it for sustaining our Krsna consciousness, so sleep well – nice and warm and cosy, so that we can do devotional service – there is nothing wrong with that. Therefore we do not have to sleep on the hardest bed that we can find and use only a bed-sheet in the winter, no blanket!

I knew a devotee who never wore a kurta in winter, in Vrindavan. It was very cold and he was only wearing a lungi. You know, he lasted for fifteen years and then he got sick. What is the benefit of these things!? Great austerities – fasting, fasting, fasting… “I fast every ekadasi and dvadasi as well, for the last twenty-four years!”

Lord CaitanyaFine, you can do it for twenty-four lifetimes more and do you think you will make any more progress towards going back to the spiritual world with all your fasting!? Not really. In the Caitanya Bhagavat, there is the example of Caitanya Mahaprabhu who was having kirtans in the house of Srivas Thakur and the doors were closed, only devotees were allowed inside. The one day, Lord Caitanya couldn’t get into the mood and he felt that there was some intruder in the house. It turned out that Srivas had let in this brahmana who had been living only on milk for one year. Lord Caitanya had the brahmana thrown out, “Do you think that just by drinking milk for a year, you can attain me!” But later that brahmana was so excited that he had seen Caitanya Mahaprabhu and he was just praying to get a chance again, then Lord Caitanya let him back in.

So, it is not by austerity that we will attain Krsna! Although, austerity is highlighted by Lord Rshabdev in the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, austerity in itself is not one of the limbs of bhakti. Renunciation and austerity are not limbs of bhakti. They don’t give you devotional service.

 

 

My formal resignation of ISKCON (a thought)
→ simple thoughts

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After much soul searching I’ve decided to resign indisputably from ISKCON and all of it’s affiliated segment’s.
It’s word’s I’ve sadly heard once to often, the reasons are always complex, the reasons always thought out and rationalised; indeed their has been times I have also thought of leaving and too have figured out that my logic is sound and my reasoning perfect in every way.
So why have I not left?
It’s an interesting question, given that their has been many reason’s to leave including broken promises, threats, and inter-personality difficulties.
Consider though this, how much do we actually love Srila Prabhupada?
Srila Prabhupada showed the greatest compassion and also tolerated so much including ridicule but was determined to do one thing, fulfil his spiritual master’s wishes to spread Krishna Consciousness to the whole world.
How much have we become attached to Srila Prabhupada’s mission?
How attached have we become to our Guru Maharajah’s request for us to serve?
Indeed how attached are we to the temple/preaching centre’s deities?
And finally how much effort have we put in to our personal relationships with devotees, no matter how difficult that may be?
Emotion’s are a hard thing to deal with, especially if we feel we have been wronged, the hurt goes beep, much deeper than some may feel able to admit. And in this age of quarrel and being under the influence of material nature, even in any spiritual movement we are going to find quarrel; despite our belief that were in a utopia.
Even if we leave, resign, turn our back’s on ISKCON one thing remains true, Srila Prabhupada’s word’s will in one way or another pierce even the frostiest of heart’s; it will remain their festering.
For some it will be the festering of hatred, not a good thing but sadly pride causes this. Or festering of the desire to fulfil Srila Prabhupada’s mission or refer to Srila Prabhupada’s works in a positive manor.
How much do we love, I mean really love Srila Prabhupada?
For if we say we love him, no matter what the difficulty we would never desire or want to leave what he set up; even if that means we continue following from a distance. Our meditation being that one day the way will open up for us to become an integral part of the movement, Srila Prabhupada nurtured and set up for everyone.
Yes Everyone even complete numptys like me.
So Please Please Don’t leave
Hare Krishna

anniversary special
→ everyday gita

Today marks the celebration of the day the Bhagavad-gita was spoken. It's a day when lovers of the Gita will sing its 700+ verses, reflect on the impact this great bhakti text has had on their lives and even give it as a gift to those who may not have a copy.

On a personal note, this day marks a year since I started this blog. :) I'll be honest - when I first began, I was writing primarily for myself. It was a therapeutic medium by which I could chronicle my thoughts and feelings and view it through the lens of the Gita. Never did I expect that this blog would create opportunities to meet people and develop friendships with individuals from all over the world whose curiosity, comments and encouragement have inspired me so much. To all those who have followed the journey so far (and will hopefully continue to do so!) - you have my deepest gratitude.

Writing on the Gita has brought it to life for me. It's taught that me that it's not just enough to read it as an observer but to experience it. And know what? It's amazing how easy it is to do so. After all, haven't we all felt some degree of despair and hopelessness, what to speak of struggled with discriminating between right and wrong, at some point in our lives? That's exactly what Arjuna goes through at the beginning of the Gita.

Arjuna's internal crisis reveals to us to that happiness and peace of mind is not attained through the externals. It can only be attained when we actually realize that we are spiritual beings having a material experience. Knowledge is not enough, as Arjuna finds out. To theoretically accept "I am the soul" is one thing, but to live our lives in that space is very different.

That is where the practicality of the Gita's guidance becomes strikingly apparent. It not only provides insightful knowledge but explains how to live our lives as spiritual beings at every moment.

On this special anniversary, I'd like to close by leaving you with one of my favorite verses of the Gita which serves to always put things in perspective for me and would like to invite you to leave yours in the comments below!

"O son of Kuntī, the non-permanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed." Bhagavad-gita 2.14

Govardhana Retreat, Learning from Govardhana Hill, December 3, Govardhana
Giriraj Swami

12.05.13_04.GovardhanaGiriraj Swami read and spoke from Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 18.34.

“Govardhana Hill is Krishna, but He is in the mood of a devotee. In that respect he is like Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is also Krishna in the mood of a devotee. In the mood of a devotee He is more magnanimous than in His original mood. The same applies to Govardhana Hill. That original idea of the gopis which they heard from Gargi—that one’s desires can only be fulfilled by great souls—that theme has been taken up by so many of our acharyas in their prayers to Govardhana Hill. In fact, Govardhana Hill is known to fulfill all desires. So whatever desires we have can be fulfilled by the grace of Govardhana Hill.”
———————————————————————-
12.05.13_01.Govardhana12.05.13_02.Govardhana12.05.13_03.Govardhana12.05.13_05.Govardhana—————————————————————–
Learning from Govardhana Hill