So Enchanting!
→ travelingmonk.com

The deities of Radha-vallabha in downtown Vrindavan are amongst my favorites. Krsna’s dark eyes are so enchanting! Popular amongst the Vraja-vasis, the old temple is not so well known amongst ISKCON devotees. Srimati Radharani is present as Her crown to the left of Vallabha, like at the more famous Radha Raman temple.

Wandering Around Mathura
→ travelingmonk.com

Yesterday I wandered around Mathura alone. To my delight, I found many old temples and interesting people – just like in nearby Vrindavan. The glories of the holy dhamas never cease to amaze me. “By speaking the name ‘Mathura’ one attains the same result as chanting the holy name of Lord Krishna. By hearing the [...]

For the fanatics
→ KKS Blog

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

KKS_CZ_2011Fanaticism means that we have a conviction that is without knowledge and realization. It is a conviction that is born out of other motives. We want to be advanced and recognized because of ulterior motives. In fanaticism, the motive is not Krsna’s pleasure; the motive is our pleasure – name, fame, glory and recognition; all these things are at the root of fanaticism.

Krsna consciousness is meant to be natural but purified naturalness. So, we must learn; we need knowledge and we need to adjust our life according to knowledge. The first point is adau guru-padashraya; first accept the guru-principle, not first accept a spiritual master! First accept the guru-principle that you are dependent on the directions of teachers. Do not doctor yourself.

 

 

Christmas Book Marathon Is Nearly Here
→ simple thoughts

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So after the joy of Kartika, and holding the second community Diwali then having one of the busiest visits to the Manor the past week has been relatively quiet a time to ponder and reflect.

December is looming and speaking to most of my clients and their relatives they are gearing up for Christmas, presents and food to buy for what should be one of the main Christian celebrations but unlike Kartika and Diwali were there is at least an understanding of the need to visit the temple few see the need to visit the church; each midnight mass I attend there is fewer and fewer in the puws whilst the temple appeared to be much more fuller this year.

So the month gives us a remarkable opportunity to reawaken the spirit soul to love of God (love of Krishna); Yes how much do we love Srila Prabhupada, how much do we desire to relieve others material suffering?

It’s the Christmas Book Marathon.

And before you get the excuse book out, it is not a temple devotee only activity but anyone’s and everyone’s young and old; even if it’s one small booklet or may be we can make it a gift for a loved one; these books are for sharing.

Weekend Warriors will always make you welcome, senior devotees will welcome you with open arms, Srila Prabhupada will beam the biggest smile, Sri Krishna will reciprocate; you will have the greatest joy.

Bring the love of Krishna into Christmas and remind the world of the real spiritual joy Jesus talked about.

Receiving a deep e-mail is always a joy
→ simple thoughts

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The thing with smartphones is your never ever away, so e-mails are received immediately but some stand out more than others, and some bring a smile and inspire.
This week I received such an e-mail so much so I checked to see if it could be shared, mainly as many live outside of the temple, work and study the balance is always difficult between the spiritual needs and practical work/study needs; so this was a deep realization from one of our shining young bhakta’s

Hare Krishna,
Dhirabhakta das,
Please accept my humble obesiances,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

How are you? How’s your health?

Feels like ages since we last spoke.

I am surviving, hanging on by someone’s dhoti, year 2 is most definately alot more intense. In the midst of it all I am actually enjoying it , I must be sick.

So 2 weeks ago we get an assignment, a programming assignment, I started and was getting through it quite well.

All of a sudden I hit a massive brick wall , my head hurts and I am lost in a warp of logic, if this equals that and I need to output this or that blah blah.

I stopped and started chanting, sitting infront of my altar praying to Sri Sri RadhaGokulananda, Sri Sri Sita Ram , Laxman and Hanuman as well as Sri Jagannath, Balarama and Subdra as well as Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari. “I CANT DO THIS” was the extent of my cries and begging for help and mercy.

Well two weeks later I have finished the assignment a week before deadline and the test on it is next week (blessings request :-)

So amazed at how their Lordships have reciprocated. The assignment is a paired exercise, so after my requests to their lordships, literally the best programmers who are light years ahead of me approached me and asked if I wanted to work with them. Whilst feeling overwhelmed instantly as I walked back from uni that day I had a conversation with Sri Krishna and explained how grateful I was for him sending the help and answering my SOS. Stating all the way I knew it was him, I just knew it.

I am speechless whilst overwhelmed.

Its so true, the lord can make the impossible , possible , I could not have dreamed of the way Sri Krishna helped me to even ask for the help he gave.

Its so helpful as I am swimming in work, one module ends another begins and blah blah and all I think of doing is finishing my rounds, an improvement on last year whereby I wouldnt finish them all but since May 2013 and the start of this academic year, its the first thing I do.

I know its NOT a business we are in and how much of a rascal I remain but boy it is so reassuring knowing THE LORD, I mean THE LORD is there hearing you and reciprocating accordingly. Whilst I always knew its just weird realising. As Srila Prabhupada says, “self realisation” and as HG Prayojana says, “Self Realisation, not people realisation” hehe

So I just wanted to share this episode with you as its thanks to you I am and never will I forget how much you did for me back then and still continue to do, so BIG THANK YOU..

All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga

your servant,
dee

They also included this wonderful video

Damodar Arati where??? Brilliant idea: Damodar Arati in a Chennai Mall!
→ Dandavats.com

Devotee volunteers from ISKCON invited the public to offer what they called 'lamps of love' to Krishna. Most of the visitors came forward to participate in the festivity with a lot of enthusiasm. "I am living away from home, and Diwali is not so grand when we are away. But offering this lamp here to, it has surely made it a wonderful Diwali for me" said Ankita Agarwal, 2nd year student at MCC. Read more ›

Why Chant Japa?
→ Karnamrita.das's blog

(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player is needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer; if you are using Google Chrome it will automatically play, so to not listen, mute your speakers.)
photo P1050191_zps21dbb05c.jpg
My wife, Archana-siddhi, a veteran facilitator of the wildly successful japa retreats of some years ago, presented a class on japa at our small temple. After our signature arotik and kirtan with guitar, mandolin, and vocal harmony, she began her talk in her favorite facilitator style by asking the class to write down why they chant japa. Fortunately, as she discovered by asking, everyone present chanted japa on their beads at least some days if not regularly. Then, as she had hoped, we all found the shared answers inspiring, hearing some perspectives we hadn’t considered in the exercise, but thoroughly appreciated.

While we generally cite certain verses in Vedic scripture proclaiming that Shri Chaitanya, the avatar for this age, came to propagate the congregational chanting of the holy name, chanting japa is a very important aspect of the life of a sadhaka, or spiritual practitioner in Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Lord Chaitanya and his followers all took a vow to chant a certain amount of japa. The general principle is to always remember Krishna and never forget him, and it could be argued that the holy name is the same whether in kirtan or in japa—and for many devotees, kirtan is easier to do than japa—which brings us to today’s topic, of why should we chant japa.

Those who chant 16 rounds of japa on their beads find it takes from 2-3 hours, so why can’t we just do kirtan for that time? Certainly we can do that if we have a taste, and yet, we find that new initiates take a vow to chant a certain amount of rounds of japa, rather than to do a certain amount of kirtan. From this we can conclude that chanting japa is not less important than kirtan. Many of the leading kirtaneers consider that their focused japa helps the purity and taste of their kirtan.

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