Planet ISKCON

HH Radhanath Swami – Radharani leaves Vrindavan and comes to London to be with Londonisvara?

Niranjana Swami, Indradyumna Swami and famous international kirtaniyas as Madhava Naidoo and Bada Haridas have arrived in Evpatoriya, Ukraine for the annual Bhakti Sangam Festival. According the organizers over 10,000 devotees have registered. Yesterday night (September 16th) took place the first kirtan in the main tent. Read more ›

Presentations and People

Calgary, Alberta

We enjoyed a packed house attendance, what was literally true, a house that was packed with people in Calgary’s north east section.  It was in the residence of Asitosh and Shirpal, a Bengali family which included a feast of green subji and sweets of misty dahi and rasagula.  I’m not a great fan of sweets, but am surrendered to the mild sweet yogurt of dahi.  Nice chanting session and an attentive group was special – all an experience of previous nights.

Sahadev, the coordinator of the Krishna community, took me to a prospective new lot with building which indicates the need for an expansion for the now existing Radha Madhava Cultural Centre in downtown Calgary.  It was a healthy sign to see a bursting attendance here also for a morning session on topics from the Gita.

Last evening we spoke from verse 6.25 which reads:

“Gradually step by step, one should be situated in trance by means of intelligence sustained in full conviction.  And thus the mind should be fixed on the Self alone and should think of nothing else.”

And this morning I spoke from 3.7 where in our guru, Srila Prabhupada, in his commentary on the verse about karma yoga, expressed this:

“A sincere sweeper in the street is far better than the charlatan meditator.”

I was thrilled to be part of a second speaking engagement today at the home of a Fijian family when another squeezed in group came to listen.  It was a reading and interactive discussion on Krishna’s entering the ancient city of Mathura.  The light that glared the most for today was a three hour kirtan chanting session at Princess Island, which is hugged by the fresh water flow of the Bow River.  The public response was tremendous.

0 KM

Highway Home

Walsh, Alberta

A Doctor Brewster Higley had composed in 1870s a well known song, ‘Home On The Range’.  His description of the countryside and the atmosphere is quite spot on when venturing through the Prairies.

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam
And the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard
A discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

I had three hours to trek before reaching a landmark – the Alberta border.  Two provinces to go.  Hip Hip Hari!  That milestone, Brenda and Victoria, from the town East End, joined Daruka and I for that special moment.  This called for a celebration with a picnic, compliments of our friends, the two additional walkers.  For me, the hummus was the main feature of the roadside meal before we picked up to meander the quiet streets of Walsh, population 52.

The cross-the-border-feat entailed Daruka and I leaving Highway 13 which had turned to gravel in a practically peopleless zone, and making one more leap north to the only nearby east west passage, Highway 1, or the Trans Canada Highway.  It was not so much by choice that we came to this much busier four lane road.  There is less charm here, but it was a practical move we had to make.

Obligations for an evening talk in Calgary cut the pleasant walk short today and the three of us, most notably Daruka, and let’s not forget our feathered friend Billy, and I will revisit this piece of the road Tuesday, and resume trekking the amazing trail.

I was left to contemplate on our three hour ride to Calgary of memories stuck in the mind of some fine exchanges with people from Highway 13.  It left me pining over that ‘back home feeling’.  And then, one farmer, a cattle rancher we met, who had actually turned vegetarian for a time and who had been reading the Gita, remarked in a warm tone, “I’ll be ending up life meeting a big guy who’s blue and has an extra pair of arms.”  To that, I had a laugh at the cowboy’s genuine remark.

Home, home on the range!

18 KM

I think it’s sort of funny (even maybe a little disturbing?) that a post about garlic gets more views that a post about Radharani.

BY SANTI VARDHANA CAITANYA DASA

KUALA LUMPUR - HH Bhakti Vrajendranandana Swami is in ICU Mawar hospital now.

Maharaja's mucus lining inside stomach is gone or eroded because of the liver problem.The acids are attacking the blood capillaries directly and wounding the stomach. So, blood coughs.

The Doctor just examined Maharaja, who is 10% conscious, and said if the blood shot occurs again, it may be fatal. 

Doctors say it need a miracle and prayers are the only answer.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 25 July 2013, Durban, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.6)

In the opening verse of the Hamsaduta, Srila Rupa Goswami says that he is praying that a certain blissful personality may enter into his heart. It is a nice way to start writing – about a certain blissful personality. We can see that he is meditating on how blissful Krsna is.

We don’t think like that. We are just so covered by ignorance that we think, “Alright, I have to serve Krsna otherwise I’m going to have to suffer in the material energy. Krsna gives us so many rules and…”

How often do we think of Krsna as a nice blissful personality? Actually we don’t. So our attitude has not yet developed into an attitude of appreciating Krsna, of actually seeing him as amazingly blissful.

Blissful Krsna! Everything about him is just blissful. He is the most blissful personality and everyone is looking for somebody blissful.

 

 

 

 

 

In the Brihad-Gautamiya Tantra, Radharani is described as follows:

 devi krishna-mayi prokta

radhika para-devata

sarva-lakshmi-mayi sarva

kantih sammohini para

“The transcendental goddess Srimati Radharani is the direct counterpart of Lord Sri Krishna. She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all the attractiveness to attract the all-attractive Personality of Godhead. She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord.”
Radharani is the queen of Vrndavana. She is most always seen with Lord Krishna and this year I was able to get Her divine darshan on Radhastami at New Govardhana.

Myself and Bada Haridas have arrived in Evpatoriya, Ukraine for the annual Bhakti Sangam Festival. The organizers told me over 10,000 devotees have registered. Tonight we had kirtan in the main tent. It’s difficult to describe kirtan with 10,000 enthusiastic devotees chanting and dancing in great bliss! We’ll start with just a few photos and [...]

Haribol!

All glories to Sri Sri Guru & Gauranga!
Jay Sri Krsna! Jay Srila Prabhupada!

Thank you for inviting me to this group.
I´m alreading reading the japa group messages since about two months and it´s being really enlightful. The messages are always helping me to think better and try to improve the process of chanting the Holy Names.

Thank you!

And I hope I can be inspired to never let this determination wane and keep chanting and begging fot the mercy to serve the Lord.

Your friend from Brazil,

D******* Das

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

We want to make things better, to make our life better, to make the world better. This urge for betterment drives our various activities – economical, social, cultural, political, and even religious.

Gita wisdom informs us that this urge is natural because we are meant for a better life than what we presently have. We are souls who are entitled for everlasting happiness at the spiritual level of reality.

As long as we remain uninformed about what’s available for us spiritually, we let our urge for betterment drive us towards better things at the material level. Today, people seek material improvement primarily through technology, hoping that its gadgets and comforts will make them happier. In a more religious culture, as existed in the past, people sought material progress by aspiring to go to heaven by performing elaborate religious rituals – that was their version of material technology.

Though some people today may not believe in heaven or in the rituals that take one there, the basic belief motivating both heaven-seekers and hi-tech paradise-seekers is the same. It’s the belief that better material things will make us happy. The Bhagavad-gita (09.21) exposes the falsity of that belief – even the best material things are temporary, so they can never make us truly, permanently happy.

Instead of seeking higher material happiness, Gita wisdom urges us to seek higher than material happiness. It informs us that we are entitled for far greater joys than even the best material pleasures. We can have the everlasting joys of eternal spiritual love if we just redirect our heart’s love from matter towards Krishna. When we concentrate our drive for betterment on increasing our devotion to Krishna, he reciprocates mercifully by granting us the best happiness forever. That’s alone fulfills our longing for betterment perfectly.

**

09.21 - When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.

Everyone should attach himself to the bosom of the Supreme Personality of Godhead so that he can be eternally happy. The devotional service of the Supreme Lord is the only process by which all problems of all classes of men can be solved. Everyone should therefore take to Krishna consciousness and make his life perfect.

Bhagavad Gita As It Is 9.34 purport

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VICARU DAS
BHAKTIVEDANTA MANOR
ISKCON UK

SB.12.2.1
Sukadeva goswami said;Then ,O king, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness,tolerance,mercy,duration of life,phalysical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful infiuence of the age of Kali.

In Kali yuga,wealth alone will be considered the siqn of the man’s good birth, proper behaviour and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power

Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. womenliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brahmana just by his wearing a thread

A person’s spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A persons propriety will be se manriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar

A person will be judged unholy if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as virtue and Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is fit to appear in public if he has merely taken a bath.

A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and an beauty will be thought to depend on one’s hairstyle. filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.

As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political power.

Harassed by by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers and seeds, struck by drought,they will become completely ruined.

The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow, They will be further tormented by quarrels,hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety and maximum duration of life for human beings will become fifty years in Kali yuga.

Pete Doherty supports Food for All last night,
5,000 people turned out at the Brixton Academy for a sold out concert.

The manager of Matchless Gifts took to the stage to introduce the band and talk a little about our prasad distribution project.

Your servant Parasuram Das

Here is the video taken at the Brixton Academy gig by Achintya

For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this file contains the following North American results for the month of August Read more ›

Lecture Podcast

Answer Podcast

Answer Podcast

Nrsimhananda Das: We don't need to talk to the doctor; we have Srila Prabhupada's PERFECT example Read more ›

By hook or by crook Krsna makes us surrender everything, and not only can’t we complain, he wants us to be happy about it.

Boxes of property at Moscow's only Hare Krishna temple are packed and labelled in order of priority, so that the congregation's most treasured items can be removed "within 15 minutes if the bulldozers come", the congregation's lawyer, Mikhail Frolov, told Forum 18 News Service. Read more ›

The post September 16th, 2013 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

GET FREE! GET FREE! GET FREE! Chant this Mantra! This is the SECRET!Crazy Night Kirtans | Glastonbury Festival 2013Crazy Hare Krishna Tent at Night at the Glastonbury Festival June 2013 Continue reading →

06-09-2013 Sri Radha Katha with Bhakti Caru Swami, ISKCON Lenasia, Johaneesburg, South Africa.mp3

We are a community of devotees living in Brighton & Hove, holding regular programmes and festivals for ‘Kirtan’ (congregational chanting) taking ‘Prasadam’ (spiritual food) and reading from Vedic Scriptures (Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam etc) Read more ›

We came to you for enlightenment but find that you have turned your back on your splendid culture which offers the most penetrating understanding, the most elevated thoughts leading to the highest human achievement. Why have you traded those diamonds for useless material trinkets? Read more ›

ECO-Vrindaban: Where Truly Happy Cows Roam Free

By Madhava Smullen

We live in a world where animals—who are just as alive and feeling as we are—are treated like non-sentient commodities. A staggering nine billion animals are slaughtered every year in US factory farms alone. While they wait for their early death, like prisoners in a concentration camp, they are confined so tightly in battery cages or windowless sheds that they can barely move. They are de-beaked, de-toed, and finally slaughtered, often while fully conscious.

This system is not only incredibly cruel—it’s disastrous for the environment, too. According to a 2006 United Nations report, factory farming generates eighteen percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Millions of rainforest acres have been cleared for livestock grazing or animal feed crops. And all this for… well, not much at all. While you could feed twenty-two people with one hectare of potatoes, one hectare used to produce beef could feed only one.

Fortunately, there are people who are doing what they can to stop cruelty to animals, to give them their natural right to freedom, and to provide an alternative to factory farming. People at well-known organizations like PETA, the ASPCA, Farm Sanctuary, and Mercy For Animals.

And then there’s those you may not have heard of, yet—like ECOV (an acronym for Earth, Cows, Opportunity, and Vrindaban Villages), an organization that has been quietly operating since 1969 from the green, rolling hills of West Virginia. ECOV is a farm sanctuary nestled in a small community that aims for a pre-industrial agrarian lifestyle in harmony with nature, animals and the earth. It specifically cares for cows, who are one of the most abused species on the planet—nearly 4,000 are killed every hour in the US alone.

As one of the oldest cow protection organizations in North America, ECOV has provided loving care for over 800 cows and bulls over its more than 40 year history. These animals are free to live out their full natural lives in peace and contentment, never seeing the horror of factory farms.

Some were rescues. Starting in the mid-1970s, as they grew their herd, the ECOV staff would visit auctions to bid against commercial dairies; and with the help of donations from animal well-wishers, they were able to rescue cattle from commercial farms, which they still do to this day.

“I remember going to pick out five pregnant Holstein heifers from a commercial dairy near Columbus, Ohio, in 2007,” says ECOV general manager Doug Fintel. “As I walked amongst a hundred cows, I was shocked to see the emotional state they were in. Whenever the breeder walked into the pen, they would run away and cluster into groups, just trying to get away from him. They were out of their minds with fear. I felt like I was in a scene from the movie Schindler’s List, and we were saving them from the gas chamber.”

Doug was delighted to be saving not only the heifers, but their unborn calves too—of which the males would have faced an especially grim future. As veal calves, they would have been confined in pitch dark pens so small that they would be unable to even turn around, resulting in their muscles remaining soft and undeveloped… just so that consumers could enjoy their tender meat. “Whenever rescued cows first arrived on our ECOV farm, they’d be pitiful and uptight, with a wild look in their eyes,” Doug says. “But gradually, they would calm down, and eventually when humans walked near them, they’d be completely relaxed, not even noticing we were there.”

Of course, while rescuing cows is very fulfilling and important work, it’s not a common activity for ECOV. Since cows live to be up to twenty-three years old, and ECOV commits to taking care of cows for life, they take in new additions to the herd very cautiously. Besides, the organization’s main focus is compassionate care for their cows and providing cruelty-free milk, which is integral to the simple village life its community is based upon.

Of course, ECOV cows are milked either by hand or with vacuum bucket milkers, the most subtle type of milking machine on the market today. And the calves are looked after with love and care.

“In factory farms, they completely separate the calves from their mothers at birth and bottle-feed them milk replacer instead of their mother’s milk,” explains Doug. “But at ECOV, the calves drink milk directly from their mother for their first six months, and stay in a comfortable pen within seeing range of her. Then they are gradually weaned and put on a hay and grain diet over a several week period.”

ECOV staff have always been dedicated to giving the best care possible to all of their cows no matter what the conditions, even if it means sacrificing their own comfort. While establishing their community in the early days, staff lived without heating or running water, chopped wood and built fences all day, and still found time to take care of all their cows’ needs.

Meanwhile in the 1990s and 2000s, when funds and manpower became scarce, the core group continued to stick to their mission. Having managed the herd for 34 years and counting, Doug Fintel has given his life to the program, as has ECOV Vice President Mark Meberg (37 years), and Doug’s assistant Ray (29 years). Today, Doug and Ray are the main full-time workers and they are helped by dozens of volunteers each year. Support is still low and things aren’t easy, but the program continues.

During the winter the current herd of of 65 cows—mainly Holsteins, Brown Swiss, and Jerseys—stay in a cozy, clean pole barn built for 240 cows. One thousand round bales of hay, weighing about 600 pounds apiece, are put up for them to eat and it’s good stuff, grown on a 160-acre meadow that’s spread with crushed limestone every three to four years. This neutralizes acidity in the soil and reduces weeds to produce healthier, more nutritious plants for the cows.

The animals are also given twelve tons of grain, salt licks, and plenty of fresh water. Even during the severe West Virginia winters, when the water fountains occasionally freeze, ECOV staff set up tarps and bring out a torpedo heater to thaw them out and make sure the cows get their water.

As well as this five-star treatment in their barn, the cows are also free to go out whenever they desire. “The big difference between us and commercial dairies is that their cows are trapped on a cement floor 365 days a year, and never get to see the light of day,” says Doug. “They never get any fresh air or sunshine, never get to put their hooves in the dirt. But our cows are free to come and go as they please.”

In the summer time, ECOV’s cows get to spend all their time on about 245 acres of lush, green pasturing grounds, where they can eat their fill. Meanwhile, the staff are repairing fences, and spending long hours harvesting the hay for next winter.

When they need it, the cows are given veterinarian and medical care. And when a cow passes away, usually between 20 and 23 years old, they are given special hospice care.

“One of our volunteers, Robert Vincioline, spends a lot of time with them,” says Doug. “He plays peaceful spiritual music for them, places garlands of blessed flowers around their necks, and of course makes sure they have a clean, dry place to lay, and plenty of food and drink. We check in on them regularly, and often more people from the community will come to visit them and offer their respects. The cows here are like part of the family. Rather than being exploited and treated like production machines, they’re taken care of with love and respect.”

After years of holding off on breeding to focus on stability and care for the current herd, ECOV now plans to begin breeding again, with two or three new Brown Swiss cows expected every year. Establishing an ox-drover program is another future goal towards a simpler lifestyle more in tune with the land.

Along with its expansion, the ECOV team will improve its facilities for the animals. Staff are currently planning a new ox-barn with a feed aisle and lie-down area, an isolation pen with a lift for sick oxen, an equipment room, and a gravity-flow grain storage. The environmentally-friendly structure will be built with timber from ECOV’s own woods, and will feature rainwater harvesting and solar panels. A more spacious and guest-friendly new milking barn—in which visitors will be able to view and pet the cows—is also planned.

To maintain a cow protection program of such high standards, ECOV must raise around $100,000 every year. For many years, the organization has struggled just to get by. Now, staff plan to establish a cow protection endowment fund, which would yield a more permanent income base that could be used to pay for ECOV’s annual operating costs—thus providing a stable source of income less dependent on the macro economy. Even with the endowment, however, ECOV staff still expect to rely on charitable donations from its supporters and well-wishers. Yet despite any difficulties, they are happy to continue on, no matter what, for such a worthy cause.

“Our modern consumer society is great at providing material goods, but it’s unsustainable and poor at providing inner peace,” ECOV Vice President Mark Meberg offers in conclusion. “So our mission is to show people an alternate lifestyle that can reduce consumption, and is not dependent on cruelty to animals. Such a lifestyle of simplicity, in association with the calmness of the cow, can bring greater satisfaction than all the trinkets from China.”

We would like to thank all the visiting preachers who grace our temple for their contribution. It cannot be overestimated. All of you are source of constant inspiration for Moscow devotees. So we sincerely beg you to continue blessing us by your association. Please come to our temple as often as possible, please stay here, preach here, inspire us by your sublime devotional qualities and profound realizations. Read more ›

Harinama-sankirtana (the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord) may be most familiar from seeing the devotees out in the streets, dancing and chanting the maha-mantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare accompanied by mridangas (two headed drums) and karatalas (hand cymbals). Krishnas holy names are endowed with all of His potencies and this sound vibration can reawaken a person to his spiritual identity and existence. Read more ›

Bhaktivedanta College is an international institution serving the educational needs of ambitious, spiritually minded students. For this purpose the College pursues six ideals: 1. Courage and Purpose 2. Student Wellbeing 3. Spiritually Integrated Learning 4. Academic and Professional Excellence 5. Moral and Spiritual Maturity 6. Collaborative Partnership The College is located in Durbuy, a hamlet nestled in the scenic Ardennes region of Belgium. Unequalled for its quietude and tranquillity, this forested area is a superb setting for research and reflection. At the heart of the College campus stands the historic Château de Petite Somme, the heart of a thriving Vaishnava temple and community. Read more ›