Planet ISKCON

Our culture allures us with the promise of immediate pleasure: “Eat this, smell this, touch this – and you will enjoy real fast.”

Material pleasures may come fast – just by the contact of the senses with the sense objects. But they never last. Because the capacity of the sense objects to give pleasure is limited, as is the capacity of the senses to enjoy pleasure.

Though we get on to what is touted as the fast track to enjoyment, we never reach destination enjoyment. We may enjoy a bit, but it’s so tiny and transitory that we just can’t believe that there’s nothing more. So we keep going on the same beaten path, hoping to find a pleasure that will be fast and will also last. The wise recognize this hope to be a delusion and do not indulge in it, as the Bhagavad-gita (05.22) indicates.

Obviously, our wisdom is meant not to deprive us of happiness, but to help us to get the best happiness – spiritual happiness.

We as souls are inherently joyful – a joyfulness that we can relish when we love and serve Krishna according to our spiritual nature as his parts. To access that joy, we need to purify our heart. This endeavor takes time, but rewards a result that lasts for all time. The preceding Gita verse (05.21) urges us to concentrate on the Supreme and be satisfied thereof. The more we become purified, the more that satisfaction will increase, till finally our devotional service will revive our original pure love for Krishna. That love yields an ecstasy that fills our entire heart and lasts for all of eternity. That’s life’s greatest attainment and it’s eminently worth our patience and persistence.

***

05.21 - Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within. In this way the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates on the Supreme.

 

 

 

 

Such people [impersonalists] think themselves to be the Supreme Lord, and in this mentality they worship themselves. This is also a type of God worship, for they can understand that they are not the material body but are actually spiritual soul; at least, such a sense is prominent. Generally the impersonalists worship the Supreme Lord in this way.

Bhagavad Gita As It Is 9.15 purport

Holy Name meditation podcast

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

Just take letter "s" out of the word "scared". So instead of thinking "I am scared", think "I am cared for".

If you want to be enlightened, want to be happy, step into the sunshine of Krishna consciousness.

Our religious tradition centers on a mood of bhakti, or service of the divine. Wedding guests are considered the Lord’s representatives sent to grace our marriage, and our desired atmosphere was one of grateful service to these representatives. Read more ›

"As I began to spend more time with the brahmacaris, I noticed an unusual trait. They seemed to be always joyful, beyond the moody ups and downs that had plagued my spiritual quest." "What would happen to me if I wanted to become a Hare Krsna devotee?" a young man recently asked me. The first step, I told him, would be to enter the brahmacari asrama, the status of life for single men serious about spiritual advancement. Though I am now happily married, the conversation reminded me of the years I spent as a brahmacari. Read more ›

Rangadevi -Sri Govindananda Gosh Rangadevi is the seventh of the varistha gopis. Her complexion is the color of a lotus filament and her garments are the color of a red rose. She is seven days younger than Srimati Radharani. Her personal qualities are much like those of Campakalata. Her parents are Karuna-devi and Rangasara. Ranga-devi is always like a […]

Everyone must accept the spirit of sannyasa to enter into the Sannyasa Dhama – Goloka.

New Raman Reti is an ocean of devotional service...Situated on a rural 127-acre property surrounding a tranquil, marble-floored temple, New Raman Reti is a devotional refuge from the material world.The temple deities are the most merciful Sri Sri Radha Shyamasundara, Sri Sri Krishna Balarama, and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. Read more ›

G - What are your most important Goals? I - What best Ideas can help you achieve them? T - What are the hardest Tests you have to pass? A - What is the best course of Action right now?

 

 

ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 9-07-2013

Mission Statement: ECOV (Earth, Cows, Opportunities & Vrindaban Villages) is dedicated to cow protection, sustainable agriculture, self-sufficiency and simple living — all centered around loving service to Sri Krishna, as envisioned by the ISKCON New Vrindaban Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Participating Members of the ECOV Board of Directors:  Chaitanya Mangala, Krpamaya, Madhava Gosh, Navin Shyam and Ranaka.

Advisors present: Jaya Krsna

1. Prototype house at G7G

The Cabin roof was insulated this past week.  It still needs flooring, a window, solar panels, a water catchment system, and potentially a composting toilet.  Though it will not likely be fully ready for the October 5^th opening, the ceremony will take place.

After hay harvesting is done, Tom and Ray will work on the cabin.

Although funding for the solar panels and floor pavers will come from other sources, more money is needed for labor and other aspects of the project.

WHEREAS: The ECOV Board wishes to complete the prototype cabin in the Garden of Seven Gates (“G7G”) as originally envisioned.

RESOLVED: The Board augments the project budget of the G7G prototype cabin by $3K.

2. Temple foundation plantings

Brikhasanga dug a trench, applied insulation and back filled on the temple building’s foundation.

3. Pine-tree trimming around Temple area

The project will begin after the foundation plantings are completed.

4.  Reduce/Reuse Initiative

Navin Shyam will resend the final version of the three posters to Krpamaya to print, laminate, and distribute to the various reusable metal water bottle vendors.

5. Gopal’s Garden School

As requested by ECOV, Ruci and Ranaka are developing a September issue of a school newsletter, focusing on Radhastami activities by the students.

6. Bahulaban barn demolition

This will begin in October after the combination barn closing ceremony and G7G Cabin opening celebration.

7. Bulk grain purchasing

WHEREAS: The ECOV Board wishes to help improve the self-sufficiency of the New Vrindaban community.

RESOLVED: The Board authorizes a line of credit to INV of up to $20K to make bulk grain purchases, to be stored in the bins that ECOV has previously purchased and set up. Precise terms of the arrangement will be worked out in a separate written agreement between Ranaka and a representative of INV management.

8. Budget for Valley Barn maintenance

WHEREAS: The ECOV Board wishes to provide adequate shelter for its cows as well as maintaining buildings in its care.

RESOLVED: The Board authorizes a budget of up to $10K  for repairing the roof of the valley barn.

Rama Raya Prabhu is hosting daily (EVERY SINGLE DAY) harinamas in Union Square/Washington Square Park just like the Golden days with His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada! If you want to know more, please contact Rama Raya Prabhu @ 617 304 7061 Read more ›

After Srila Prabhupada left his body in 1977, many of the devotee members of the famous Radha-Damodara Sankirtana Party came to stay in Dallas and Houston. Today, more than 15,000 followers now live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. There are presently 25 temple-owned homes in the immediate neighborhood which have became models of community redevelopment Read more ›

Kirtan At Villa Vrindavana, Italy, With Jahnavi Harrison 18th Aug 2013

This is a translation of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven, Śloka 22

Brahmā: When the hell bent government strayed from the moral path by controverting the philosophers who explained the spirit of the law, the Great Soul made them the oil in the sacrificial offering to fate. With his very sharp, terribly powerful axe, he uprooted those thorns from the earth, thrice seven times over.

Nārada: The Paraśurāma avatāra.

In his elucidation on this śloka, A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda comments that some of these governors/kings were able to flee from Paraśurāma to distant places, especially to Eqypt – where they founded the Egyptian civilization. He says this claim is supported by Mahābhārata. Elsewhere he has been quoted as including Greece and Rome among the civilizations begun by those who fled from Paraśurāma.

"Hurt feelings or discomfort of any kind cannot be caused by another person. No one outside me can hurt me. That's not a possibility. It's only when I BELIEVE A STRESSFUL THOUGHT that I get hurt. And I am the one hurting me when I am believing what I think. This is very good news because it means I don't have to get someone else to stop hurting me. I am the one who can stop hurting me. It's within my power." BK

As always I record the classes during my stay at Bhaktivadanta Manor, they have been converted to mp3 and put onto my file sharing network for easy access; please use and enjoy:

Hg Dayal Nitai Das

Hg Gaur Gopal Das

Hg Gaura Krishna Das

Hg Visvambhar Das

Patients admitted in a hospital know that the doctor’s counsel is essential for their recovery. If some patients were inhospitable to the doctor, we would be appalled by their irrationality: is this a mental hospital?

Yet, might we ourselves be acting like those patients?

Gita wisdom indicates that the disease of misdirected desires afflicts us. Though we are eternal and spiritual, we crave for the temporary and the material. Whenever we lose our desired objects, as we inevitably do in due course of time, we suffer. Terribly. Repeatedly.

To heal us, Krishna, the Supreme Doctor, provides the therapy of devotional service. This process efficiently and expeditiously reverts our desires back from the world to Krishna. The Bhagavad-gita (08.15) assures that those who learn to love Krishna become forever free from this miserable world.

Krishna offers his expert help freely and lovingly through his various manifestations like the scriptures and the holy names. But we are often inhospitable to him. We misperceive that his guidance will interfere with our enjoyment in this world. We give him as less time as possible – and even in that time, we give him as less thought as possible. Our inhospitality is evident in our half-heartedness and distractedness in devotional activities like mantra meditation. By being inhospitable to Krishna, we aggravate our misery and perpetuate our hospital sentence.

Gita wisdom gives us the intellectual impetus to become hospitable to Krishna. When we adopt his guidance, the practice of bhakti-yoga cures us quickly. It also makes our recovery a joyful journey, as the Gita (09.02) indicates. Using the things of this world in Krishna’s service grants us meaningful achievement and perennial fulfillment.

By regularly reinforcing our intelligence with Gita wisdom, we can become inhospitable towards our irrational inhospitability to Krishna and help him to help us.

***

08.15 - After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.

There is no difference between His [the Lord’s] mind and Himself (as there is a difference between ourselves and our present material mind) because He is absolute spirit. Simultaneously the Lord is present in everything; yet the common man cannot understand how He is also present personally. He is different from this material manifestation, yet everything is resting on Him. This is explained here as yogam aisvaram, the mystic power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Bhagavad Gita As It Is 9.5 purport

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

 
Dear Srila Prabhupada,
 
I am writing this because I sincerely regret blaming you for ISKCON’s apparent faults, and because my public apology was recommended by one dedicated disciple of yours.  I’m sure you realize I was practically going crazy over my lack of Krishna consciousness, and I know you would forgive me, but I didn’t think enough of how my mad elephant behavior toward you would offend others to whom you are so dear.

I do not fully understand how the troublesome facts developed, how events happened in ISKCON that were so upsetting to me, but I remember now that I did not come to ISKCON to act as its police.  I came to find Krishna, but experience forces me to admit my commitment to that goal has been mixed at best. 

Yet I expected others to behave practically as perfect Vaisnavas.  I judged devotees according to a standard much higher than I could keep myself, the opposite of what is advised for spiritual progress.  Because of this, I became critical of devotees at every level, my faith was destroyed by it, and I decided Krishna or God must be imaginary and became an opponent of theism. I tested whether you would save me from such gross ignorance, and now I am ashamed.

So I have again become a mouse, trapped by maya. I doubt I’ve learned all that I should from this, but I’ve learned something. I need your mercy. Please save me from my foolishness and do something useful with me. Hare Krishna.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hare Krishna Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obesiances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Please see below link which contains the photos I took over Janmasthami

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100637659@N06/sets/72157635635867413/

and at Brighton Ratha Yatra.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100637659@N06/sets/72157635633944374/

Please accept my apologies for taking so long to upload them.

Your servant,
Dipak

It was nice to welcome HH Sankarshan Das Adikari to Bhaktivadanta Manor especially on the appearance day of HH Bhaktivinoda Thakura; be inspired.

Nagar-Sankirtana Mayapur Dham (Mayapur Daily Harinama) Read more ›

Prasad was prepared by our kitchen staff for distribution at the Gotri Talao (lake) on the occasion of Ganapati visarjan (immersion of the idols of Ganesh) yesterday, September 18, 2013. ISKCON Baroda is grateful to Sri Shivlal and Smt. Kantadevi Goyal for supporting this program, and for their personal participation in the program as well Read more ›

A Picture Story of the Radhastami Festival in New Vrindaban Sept. 12:

Vaiyasaki Das: This morning we were featured at the program "Elementos" at Channel 7 Jalisco, in Guadalajara Mexico. I spoke about Srila Prabhupada, Lord Chaitanya and how the Maha-mantra gives peace to the mind and brings love to the heart Read more ›

08-09-2013 BG 15.1-4 The Reflected Tree, Gaurasundar Prabhu’s Home, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.mp3

Various Guadiya Math’s gathered at the house of Bhaktivinoda Thakur to glorify the acharya. Bhaktivinoda was an exemplary personality in our disciplic succession. Decotees in the grihasta ashram especially can take example from him and strive to follow in his footsteps Read more ›

In Vrindavan, on the holy Krishna Janmabhoomi, lies the temple that is a “must visit” destination for devotees completing the 84 kosh Vraj Parikrama Yatra. The temple is centuries old and is the first Indian temple that is dedicated to the divine couple and their Ashta Sakhi’s - the eight “friends” of Radha who were intimately involved in her love play with the Lord Krishna. Mention of the Ashta Sakhis are found in the ancient texts of Ramayan and the Srimad Bhagvat. Read more ›

Jahnavi and Friends at The Chaitanya College Festival