Deity Darshan: 5/5/2013
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Blog!
Deity Darshan: 5/5/2013
Second Generation to Share and Inspire at German Kulimela
→ Seeking The Essence
Second Generation to Share and Inspire at German Kulimela
By Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on 3 May 2013
Between 300 and 500 gurukulis—members of ISKCON’s second generation—are expected to gather at this year’s Kuli Mela in Germany from August 7th to 11th.
Attendees will hail not only from Germany itself but also Austria, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Italy, and England.
The festival, which has already been held in various locations around the US, Russia, Europe and Australasia is intended as a forum for “Kulis” to share their talents and realizations as well as to be educated and inspired.
This year, it will take place on ISKCON’s 17-hectare Simhachalam farm, situated in the Bavarian Forest and conveniently located right in the center of Europe. Many Kulis grew up and attended gurukula (school) at the farm, which has the only Nrsimhadeva temple in Europe.
Damodara Asen, who is organizing the Mela alongside Haridas Thakura Das and gurukuli and Simhachalam president Govinda Dev Das, is one of them. He attended gurukula in Simhachalam for two years, but went through the rest of his schooling in his native Austria.
“The fascinating thing is, Austria is such a small country, with only eight million people,” he says. “And we have only one temple. But when I organized a gurukuli party some years ago, sixty kids showed up. That’s just Austria. I imagine there must be many more from Germany. So I wanted to hold the Mela in Germany to reunite all these old friends.”
Kuli Mela Germany will feature a variety of interesting workshops and seminars which Kulis will be able to use in their spiritual and everyday lives.
To begin with, ISKCON guru Sacinandana Swami will offer one of his famous kirtan and japa workshops, exploring the Holy Name with many helpful techniques and meditations.
“He will also be available for personal talks, which we appreciate very much,” Damodara says. “Kulis will be able to go for walks in the forest with him, ask him questions, and share their insights and experiences.”
Damodara’s father Jagannidhi Das will also give a seminar, about how to see Krishna consciousness not just as a religion, but as a way of life. He will discuss practical Krishna conscious methods to manage our everyday lives and stay positive in the face of the modern world’s current economical and ecological challenges.
Meanwhile Prabhupada disciple Sri Sarvabhavana Das will give personal consultations. Extremely well-versed in both spiritual and scriptural knowledge, and in Ayurveda, Vedic astrology, and palmistry, he’ll help gurukulis with questions about their current challenges as well as their futures.
Practical life skills will also be offered at Kuli Mela Germany.
“Sesa Das, a gurukuli who worked in the Austrian army for years as an instructor and recruiter, will be giving two seminars,” Damodara says. “One will be a fun and entertaining self-defense workshop. He is also an expert in memorization techniques, and will be giving a seminar on that too.”
Then there’s Madhusudhana Das, also a German gurukuli, who just finished his yoga teacher training in New York, and will be giving a yoga workshop.
As well as the workshops during the day, the evenings will be packed with entertainment.
Govinda and Vasudeva Clayton, gurukuli brothers from Vancouver, Canada will appear with their band The Ghost Brothers, a twist on their common middle name “Ghosh”. Infusing a blend of pop, reggae, world, urban and surf rock with the Krishna conscious influences of their childhood, they’ll bring a positive, upfliting vibe.
Hip-hop artist Prayz 108, meanwhile, will rap in German with deep Krishna conscious lyrics which Damodara describes as “astonishing.”
Kulis will also enjoy a magic show from Goura Hari Das, and a fashion show organized by Sita Dasi from Belgium which will feature gurukuli models and blend the catwalk with artistic circus-like performances.
Finally Mel Merio, an Austrian DJ and friend of Krishna, will have everyone dancing as she spins her spiritually-themed techno tunes.
Besides the entertainment and workshops, Kulis will also get to stretch their legs competing in a two-day football championship tournament (soccer for American readers). Six teams from different countries will compete through semi-finals and finals for a special prize.
At the German Kuli Mela, Kulis will also get the chance to interact with ISKCON leaders and discuss some very important questions.
“We want to establish a bridge between the two generations,” Damodara says. “I invited Sacinandana Swami and Dina Sharana Dasi, the GBC for Germany and Austria, to give a one-hour presentation on the current state of ISKCON, as well as where authorities envision ISKCON going in the future.”
After the presentation, questions will be discussed such as what is the role of the temple in today’s ISKCON? Are gurukulis welcome to take up active roles in ISKCON? If yes or no, why? Do gurukulis themselves want to have an active part in ISKCON? And how can gurukulis contribute to ISKCON in leading roles?
Damodara hopes Kulis will leave Kuli Mela Germany with a strong feeling that they’re not alone in the world, but have a big family they can rely on who share their backgrounds, challenges and gifts.
He would also like them to leave the Mela feeling that they are valuable people and loving children of Krishna.
“Many gurukulis don’t think of themselves as devotees, because they don’t have a strong sadhana (regular spiritual practice),” Damodara says. “But I want them to just appreciate the fact that they like Krishna, and to value whatever little they are doing. At the same time, I would love that each gurukuli goes home promising themselves to do a certain sadhana, however small it may be.”
Kulis are warmly invited to share their unique gifts, talents and abilities at Kuli Mela Germany. If you have something you’d like to share please contact Damodara at damo.asen@bliss4u.net.
Organizers also encourage Kulis to purchase their tickets for Kuli Mela Germany as quickly as possible to ensure them the financial ability to put on the best possible festival. Please purchase your four-day festival pass here: http://kulimela-germany.com/wordpress/tickets.
Visit from Vilasini dd
- TOVP.org
Our head architect from Pune was recently in Mayapur for some meetings with the TOVP staff. Below is an account of her time here and the progress she made with the Art Department.
Every 10am in Pune, I open my window peering as far as I can into the construction and design of TOVP as it manifests in Mayapur dham. Windows 7 is actually that one window and the phone calls are my connections!
The warm hugs and smiling faces of the TOVP team as I enter the office brings to oblivion the prolonged yearning to be in Mayapur! Sadbhuja Prabhu’s skills as a managing director complement his and the TOVP team’s exceptional hospitality in ensuring that I along with my family am comfortable during our stay.
The fire of service to the TOVP rejuvenated, showering fresh inspirations to my heart, and reorienting the plan of action for the coming months. All this occurred in 3 solid working days… in that corporate world within the dham, all for the pleasure of Guru and Gauranga.
“SEEING” THE PREDICTION UNFOLD
A visit to the construction site was revealing. The new design of the double height columns was a reassuring decision, as the vertical elements appropriately communicate to the user of space – splendor and grandeur, architectural equipment for worship. The temple is now being capped off as the dome panels are underway. The entire set of columns and beams are ready for absorbing the intricate designs of marble, plaster, gold and various finishes, to relay the language of dynamic symbolism and culture intentionally planned. The overwhelming scale of the building is indeed a challenge to any architect to harness, and stage the built form to facilitate the pilgrim in his/her onward spiritual journey. But under the guidance of Sadbhuja, Bhavananda Prabhus and blessings by Ambarisa Prabhu, the intangible became a practical and exciting experience.
The exquisite 1:30 model of the dome skillfully done by Parvata Muni Prabhu offers a great opportunity for the study of design particulars, materials and anticipated color schemes for the interior as well as exterior of the dome. It also serves as the platform to understand and derive real dimensions for each panel of the highly intricate coffered dome.
The Guru Parampara Altar stands as the first amidst the three main altars. The modeling of the Guru Parampara Deities has begun by our skilled Drdha Vrata Prabhu with the involvement of Bhaskara Prabhu. With the start point of the modeling being very few and unclear pictures of our acharyas, these blessed devotees serve as instruments to assist in the manifestation of the murtis, after understanding their mood, age, posture and various other facets. The arrangement of the Guru Parampara murtis has been finalized. There will be 15 murtis from Srila Prabhupada to the Six Goswamis.
Walking through each floor, each space is a testimony to the reality which was once only a sketch on paper, a target for construction. The smell of cement, sight of cranes, reinforcement bars, water for curing feels like the incense and flowers offered to the dham.
BRINGING IDEAS TO THE BOARD ROOM
A vital portion of the altar platforms was achieved due to the presence HG Jananivasa Prabhu for the meeting on the altars. The deep understanding of a client requirement is the quintessential element for a successful architectural design. As the head pujari and a profound devotee, it was fascinating to see how reflective he was in understanding each detail and dimension of what the Lord requires in his Archa Vigraha form and communicating to us.
The entire meeting process was very fruitful in work organization and assignment between team of artists in Mayapur and team of architects in Pune. As goes the exciting process of design, many dichotomies were resolved and others were born.
Exhaustive research is underway for the state of the art building materials that we anticipate using in this unique building.
The talented team of artists and researchers are an asset for the TOVP. (I can vouch they would say vice versa!) The variegated experience the devotees bring from their native countries contributes a great deal to the richness of the library we are assembling to enable undertaking of the finishing works.
IMPORTANT BREAKTHROUGHTS WE HAD:
- Preparation of Finishing Tenders to embellish the building
- Go ahead on several designs towards detailed drawings
- Important structural issues addressed in a conference call with Structural Consultant, Mr BB Chaudhari
- Statutory challenges strategized with Satadhanya Prabhu
EXISTING MAYAPUR WITH THE SPIRIT IN THE HEART
On a personal note, the devotees went all out to ensure that our two small children had all the facilities. It was simply overwhelming. We cannot repay the debt that Mahaprabhu and his devotees have showered upon us.
Film Night
→ The Loft Yoga Lounge Auckland
Dinner & Doco’ This Tuesday 28st May there will be another Documentary screening at the Loft due to popular demand. This weeks Doco will be ” URBAN ROOTS”. Only $8 which includes dinner! Check out the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG2sE6_0_B8 @ The Loft 5:45pm for just $8 (includes dinner). Bring your friends and learn new things [...]
The post Film Night appeared first on The Loft Yoga Lounge Auckland.
Ratha-Yatra Launch this Sunday!
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Blog!
The program will be as follows (subject to change):
4:00pm to 4:30pm - Kirtan and Jagannathastakam
4:30pm to 5:45pm - Special Fire Sacrifice
5:45pm to 6:00pm - Tulasi Arati
6:00pm to 6:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
6:30pm to 6:40pm - Welcome & Announcements
6:40pm to 7:30pm - Ratha-Yatra/Festival of India Presentation
7:30pm to 8:00pm - Class by HG Kratu prabhu
8:00pm to 8:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
8:30pm - Free Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)
Ratha-Yatra Launch this Sunday!
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Blog!
The program will be as follows (subject to change):
4:00pm to 4:30pm - Kirtan and Jagannathastakam
4:30pm to 5:45pm - Special Fire Sacrifice
5:45pm to 6:00pm - Tulasi Arati
6:00pm to 6:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
6:30pm to 6:40pm - Welcome & Announcements
6:40pm to 7:30pm - Ratha-Yatra/Festival of India Presentation
7:30pm to 8:00pm - Class by HG Kratu prabhu
8:00pm to 8:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
8:30pm - Free Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)
07 Indradyumna Swami and His Quarterback Mentor
→ Successful Vaisnavas – Personal Development for Hare Krishnas
In this week’s podcast we hear how Indradyumna Swami was inspired by a famous football player, and how that interaction still influences him today. In this week’s podcast we hear how Indradyumna Swami was inspired by a famous football player, and how that interaction still influences him today.
The post 07 Indradyumna Swami and His Quarterback Mentor appeared first on Successful Vaisnavas - Personal Development for Hare Krishnas.
07 Indradyumna Swami and His Quarterback Mentor
→ Successful Vaisnavas
In this week’s podcast we hear how Indradyumna Swami was inspired by a famous football player, and how that interaction still influences him today.
Societies based on unique birth-print
→ Servant of the Servant
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" - Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 1776 ACE
“According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me” - Lord Sri Krishna, Bhagavad Gita (4.13), 3100 BCE
Krishna’s statement is categorically opposite to what Jefferson has stated above. In fact, it is self-evident from society that men are not treated equally implying they are not created equally. Existence of slavery was one example. Another one is the issue where men and women and different races get different incomes despite having the same qualifications. Broadly, one can say there is discrimination based on skin color, external beauty, IQ levels, job skills, religion etc. One’s social and economic status is dependent upon these criteria and one is discriminated based on it.
Not everyone is interested to become a doctor, or accountant, or lawyer or entertainer etc. Human beings have a natural inclination towards certain fields of knowledge and consequently engage in that field. That natural inclination begins right from birth. So if these inner qualities are from birth, then all men actually are not created equally rather they are born with innate qualities which are unique and individualistic to the person right from birth. Every individual creates a unique birth-print on this world.
Krishna’s model of this world of divisions of society based on nature acknowledges that unique birth-print and hence is a more accurate portrayal (self-evident) of reality versus the Utopian idea of equality. Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness are possible only if beings are treated fitting their inner nature. Therefore discrimination and differentiation is an inevitable truth. Modern society woefully falls short of creating conditions or environments that suit the differences among men.
In the Vedic society, however, there were eight broad divisions which were clearly demarcated. The four social orders were the intellectuals, the administrators/soldiers, the businessmen/farmers, and the laborers/technicians who served the above three. Then there were the four spiritual orders which were the celibate students, married householders, intern-renunciates and full renunciate monks. These broad eight divisions were clearly demarcated based on one’s desire to work and spiritual values. When the demarcations are clearly established, there is respect for one another and happiness is automatic.
The fact that today’s society is ridden with so many social mores is enough evidence to conclude that artificial equality among human beings creates friction and hence not working. It is therefore scientific to create a society where all types of people are respected for who they are and treated appropriately for who they are. Only such societies can actually yield liberty and happiness.
Hare Krishna
“According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me” - Lord Sri Krishna, Bhagavad Gita (4.13), 3100 BCE
Krishna’s statement is categorically opposite to what Jefferson has stated above. In fact, it is self-evident from society that men are not treated equally implying they are not created equally. Existence of slavery was one example. Another one is the issue where men and women and different races get different incomes despite having the same qualifications. Broadly, one can say there is discrimination based on skin color, external beauty, IQ levels, job skills, religion etc. One’s social and economic status is dependent upon these criteria and one is discriminated based on it.
Not everyone is interested to become a doctor, or accountant, or lawyer or entertainer etc. Human beings have a natural inclination towards certain fields of knowledge and consequently engage in that field. That natural inclination begins right from birth. So if these inner qualities are from birth, then all men actually are not created equally rather they are born with innate qualities which are unique and individualistic to the person right from birth. Every individual creates a unique birth-print on this world.
Krishna’s model of this world of divisions of society based on nature acknowledges that unique birth-print and hence is a more accurate portrayal (self-evident) of reality versus the Utopian idea of equality. Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness are possible only if beings are treated fitting their inner nature. Therefore discrimination and differentiation is an inevitable truth. Modern society woefully falls short of creating conditions or environments that suit the differences among men.
In the Vedic society, however, there were eight broad divisions which were clearly demarcated. The four social orders were the intellectuals, the administrators/soldiers, the businessmen/farmers, and the laborers/technicians who served the above three. Then there were the four spiritual orders which were the celibate students, married householders, intern-renunciates and full renunciate monks. These broad eight divisions were clearly demarcated based on one’s desire to work and spiritual values. When the demarcations are clearly established, there is respect for one another and happiness is automatic.
The fact that today’s society is ridden with so many social mores is enough evidence to conclude that artificial equality among human beings creates friction and hence not working. It is therefore scientific to create a society where all types of people are respected for who they are and treated appropriately for who they are. Only such societies can actually yield liberty and happiness.
Hare Krishna
Societies based on unique birth-print
→ Servant of the Servant
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" - Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 1776 ACE
“According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me” - Lord Sri Krishna, Bhagavad Gita (4.13), 3100 BCE
Krishna’s statement is categorically opposite to what Jefferson has stated above. In fact, it is self-evident from society that men are not treated equally implying they are not created equally. Existence of slavery was one example. Another one is the issue where men and women and different races get different incomes despite having the same qualifications. Broadly, one can say there is discrimination based on skin color, external beauty, IQ levels, job skills, religion etc. One’s social and economic status is dependent upon these criteria and one is discriminated based on it.
Not everyone is interested to become a doctor, or accountant, or lawyer or entertainer etc. Human beings have a natural inclination towards certain fields of knowledge and consequently engage in that field. That natural inclination begins right from birth. So if these inner qualities are from birth, then all men actually are not created equally rather they are born with innate qualities which are unique and individualistic to the person right from birth. Every individual creates a unique birth-print on this world.
Krishna’s model of this world of divisions of society based on nature acknowledges that unique birth-print and hence is a more accurate portrayal (self-evident) of reality versus the Utopian idea of equality. Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness are possible only if beings are treated fitting their inner nature. Therefore discrimination and differentiation is an inevitable truth. Modern society woefully falls short of creating conditions or environments that suit the differences among men.
In the Vedic society, however, there were eight broad divisions which were clearly demarcated. The four social orders were the intellectuals, the administrators/soldiers, the businessmen/farmers, and the laborers/technicians who served the above three. Then there were the four spiritual orders which were the celibate students, married householders, intern-renunciates and full renunciate monks. These broad eight divisions were clearly demarcated based on one’s desire to work and spiritual values. When the demarcations are clearly established, there is respect for one another and happiness is automatic.
The fact that today’s society is ridden with so many social mores is enough evidence to conclude that artificial equality among human beings creates friction and hence not working. It is therefore scientific to create a society where all types of people are respected for who they are and treated appropriately for who they are. Only such societies can actually yield liberty and happiness.
Hare Krishna
“According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me” - Lord Sri Krishna, Bhagavad Gita (4.13), 3100 BCE
Krishna’s statement is categorically opposite to what Jefferson has stated above. In fact, it is self-evident from society that men are not treated equally implying they are not created equally. Existence of slavery was one example. Another one is the issue where men and women and different races get different incomes despite having the same qualifications. Broadly, one can say there is discrimination based on skin color, external beauty, IQ levels, job skills, religion etc. One’s social and economic status is dependent upon these criteria and one is discriminated based on it.
Not everyone is interested to become a doctor, or accountant, or lawyer or entertainer etc. Human beings have a natural inclination towards certain fields of knowledge and consequently engage in that field. That natural inclination begins right from birth. So if these inner qualities are from birth, then all men actually are not created equally rather they are born with innate qualities which are unique and individualistic to the person right from birth. Every individual creates a unique birth-print on this world.
Krishna’s model of this world of divisions of society based on nature acknowledges that unique birth-print and hence is a more accurate portrayal (self-evident) of reality versus the Utopian idea of equality. Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness are possible only if beings are treated fitting their inner nature. Therefore discrimination and differentiation is an inevitable truth. Modern society woefully falls short of creating conditions or environments that suit the differences among men.
In the Vedic society, however, there were eight broad divisions which were clearly demarcated. The four social orders were the intellectuals, the administrators/soldiers, the businessmen/farmers, and the laborers/technicians who served the above three. Then there were the four spiritual orders which were the celibate students, married householders, intern-renunciates and full renunciate monks. These broad eight divisions were clearly demarcated based on one’s desire to work and spiritual values. When the demarcations are clearly established, there is respect for one another and happiness is automatic.
The fact that today’s society is ridden with so many social mores is enough evidence to conclude that artificial equality among human beings creates friction and hence not working. It is therefore scientific to create a society where all types of people are respected for who they are and treated appropriately for who they are. Only such societies can actually yield liberty and happiness.
Hare Krishna
Letting The Cows Out
→ Life With the Cows and Land
The ISCOWP herd is always enthusiastic to graze the spring grasses after a long winter. The artik and treats showed in this video are offered to the cows in honor of any ISCOWP donor who gives $1000 or more to the cows.
Letting The Cows Out
→ Life With the Cows and Land
The ISCOWP herd is always enthusiastic to graze the spring grasses after a long winter. The artik and treats showed in this video are offered to the cows in honor of any ISCOWP donor who gives $1000 or more to the cows.
Shri Nityananda: The Everlasting Beatitude
→ Matsya Avatar das adhikari
In order to understand Shri Nityananda Prabhu’s image in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, we have to know the Avatara doctrine, which describes the way the Lord appears in this world in behalf of His spiritual energies. Shri Nityananda Prabhu is a manifestation of compassion, of mercy and of divine love. He is the supreme Person, God himself who stepped into history and made His appearance in this world in the second half of the sixteenth century, according to the Western calendar. Like in the Shrimad Bhagavatam literature, which narrates Shri Krishna-Balarama’s adventures, in the Caitanya Caritamrita and the Caitanya Bhagavata, respectively written by Krishnadas Kaviraja Gosvami and Vrindavana das Thakur, they narrate Shri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s and Shri Nityananda Prabhu’s divine adventures.Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna himself, who is manifested with a special rasa, that of Shrimati Radharani. Shrimati Radharani’s love for Krishna is experienced and manifested in full by Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who lives in Shrimati Radharani’s rasa and that ontologically represents the divine union between Radha and Krishna. Shrimati Radharani is endlessly and for ever in love with Krishna, the same as Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s love is everlasting and infinite.
Like Shri Krishna, whose brother and inseparable friend is Shri Balarama, Shri Caitanya has an inseparable friend too, whose name is Shri Nityananda. They are inseparable in the feelings of love that join them together. Shri Nityananda Prabhu would have shared Shri Caitanya Deva’s company all time long, however he had to fulfill his mission in behalf of His beloved associate: to travel from city to city in order to spread the holy name of the Lord. Therefore Nityananda, together with one of his best friends, Shrila Haridas Thakur, engaged himself completely in the diffusion of the sacred science, practising Harinama Kirtana and Harinama Sankirtana. In this way, by sharing this responsibility with other dear devotees, in this supreme mission that is the diffusion of love for God, Shri Nityananda Prabhu became one of the most dear Shri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s spiritual associates.
Like Balarama, enterprising, strong, outgoing, generous, always compassionate towards the devotees, whose manifestation was considered as one of the original spiritual Master, the same Shri Nityananda Prabhu preached the sacred science and spread his teachings to all the people of good will, in the practice of Bhakti.
Shri Nityananda: The Everlasting Beatitude
→ Matsya Avatar das adhikari
In order to understand Shri Nityananda Prabhu’s image in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, we have to know the Avatara doctrine, which describes the way the Lord appears in this world in behalf of His spiritual energies. Shri Nityananda Prabhu is a manifestation of compassion, of mercy and of divine love. He is the supreme Person, God himself who stepped into history and made His appearance in this world in the second half of the sixteenth century, according to the Western calendar. Like in the Shrimad Bhagavatam literature, which narrates Shri Krishna-Balarama’s adventures, in the Caitanya Caritamrita and the Caitanya Bhagavata, respectively written by Krishnadas Kaviraja Gosvami and Vrindavana das Thakur, they narrate Shri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s and Shri Nityananda Prabhu’s divine adventures.Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna himself, who is manifested with a special rasa, that of Shrimati Radharani. Shrimati Radharani’s love for Krishna is experienced and manifested in full by Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who lives in Shrimati Radharani’s rasa and that ontologically represents the divine union between Radha and Krishna. Shrimati Radharani is endlessly and for ever in love with Krishna, the same as Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s love is everlasting and infinite.
Like Shri Krishna, whose brother and inseparable friend is Shri Balarama, Shri Caitanya has an inseparable friend too, whose name is Shri Nityananda. They are inseparable in the feelings of love that join them together. Shri Nityananda Prabhu would have shared Shri Caitanya Deva’s company all time long, however he had to fulfill his mission in behalf of His beloved associate: to travel from city to city in order to spread the holy name of the Lord. Therefore Nityananda, together with one of his best friends, Shrila Haridas Thakur, engaged himself completely in the diffusion of the sacred science, practising Harinama Kirtana and Harinama Sankirtana. In this way, by sharing this responsibility with other dear devotees, in this supreme mission that is the diffusion of love for God, Shri Nityananda Prabhu became one of the most dear Shri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s spiritual associates.
Like Balarama, enterprising, strong, outgoing, generous, always compassionate towards the devotees, whose manifestation was considered as one of the original spiritual Master, the same Shri Nityananda Prabhu preached the sacred science and spread his teachings to all the people of good will, in the practice of Bhakti.
Kīrtana –The Glorification Of The Supreme Lord
Bhakti Charu Swami
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS Founder-Ācārya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda Kīrtana –The Glorification Of Supreme Lord Lecture Given By His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami In Philadelphia, US, 3 May 2013 His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami: Hare Kṛṣṇa. So, Kīrtana means the glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are various ways of […]
Escaping the Transcendental Interferer
→ Devamrita Swami's Facebook notes
"Whatever you need to believe in, go for it," people often say now. "Hold to whatever you need, think what you need to think, be what you need to be"—just so you can make it through the day and night.
Put your faith in something: water skiing, cafe hopping, Krishna, careerism, Buddha, sensualism, traveling, Jesus, scuba diving—whatever works for you.
Simply remember: no matter what you believe, it's all about you. Your body, your mind. After all, who knows anything about the atma, the soul. And if there is God, didn't this Great Whoever give us these bodies and minds to enjoy?
Take whatever you need; give what you feel you can give. This is dharma in the Age of Darkness. Whatever you believe, don't admit to any control over you by a supreme being. Say it loudly—"My life is my affair!" Say the same thing softly—if you want people to know you as humble.
As one materialistic philosopher said, real happiness is the feeling that your power increases while resistance to your power and plans is overcome.
Our problem with Krishna is that He is too active and too close. First, there are His enviable original pastimes as the supreme enjoyer, in the spiritual world as well as when He tours the material world. Then, He also has an expansion in our heart, regardless of what body we take.
Moreover, He's not lazy in our heart, as Srila Prabhupada once said. He's doing things, as the Witness and Permitter. Along with facilitating our desires, He's trying to influence us. The thought of His presence in our heart, advising, coaxing, campaigning, agitates our materialistic consciousness—we want to rebel.
"You see, my heart is actually my own affair, my personal business, my own realm—private, fenced. To know that Supersoul is there, at the core of my being . . . well . . . Lord in the heart . . . give me space . . . autonomy, to do my life my way."
Escaping the Transcendental Interferer
→ Devamrita Swami's Facebook notes
"Whatever you need to believe in, go for it," people often say now. "Hold to whatever you need, think what you need to think, be what you need to be"—just so you can make it through the day and night.
Put your faith in something: water skiing, cafe hopping, Krishna, careerism, Buddha, sensualism, traveling, Jesus, scuba diving—whatever works for you.
Simply remember: no matter what you believe, it's all about you. Your body, your mind. After all, who knows anything about the atma, the soul. And if there is God, didn't this Great Whoever give us these bodies and minds to enjoy?
Take whatever you need; give what you feel you can give. This is dharma in the Age of Darkness. Whatever you believe, don't admit to any control over you by a supreme being. Say it loudly—"My life is my affair!" Say the same thing softly—if you want people to know you as humble.
As one materialistic philosopher said, real happiness is the feeling that your power increases while resistance to your power and plans is overcome.
Our problem with Krishna is that He is too active and too close. First, there are His enviable original pastimes as the supreme enjoyer, in the spiritual world as well as when He tours the material world. Then, He also has an expansion in our heart, regardless of what body we take.
Moreover, He's not lazy in our heart, as Srila Prabhupada once said. He's doing things, as the Witness and Permitter. Along with facilitating our desires, He's trying to influence us. The thought of His presence in our heart, advising, coaxing, campaigning, agitates our materialistic consciousness—we want to rebel.
"You see, my heart is actually my own affair, my personal business, my own realm—private, fenced. To know that Supersoul is there, at the core of my being . . . well . . . Lord in the heart . . . give me space . . . autonomy, to do my life my way."
His Grace Kratu Prabhu will be at ISKCON Scarborough coming Friday
→ ISKCON Scarborough
Hare Krishna!
Please accept our humble obeisances!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!
His Grace Kratu Prabhu - a disciple of His Divine Grace A . C . Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada will be gracing us with his presence coming Friday - May 3rd 2013.
Program starts at 6.45 pm sharp!
CC Madhya 22.54
The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.
Srimad Bhagavatam 4.30.34
Even a moment's association with a pure devotee cannot be compared to being transferred to heavenly planets or even merging into the Brahman effulgence in complete liberation. For living entities who are destined to give up the body and die, association with pure devotees is the highest benediction.
A warm invitation goes out to you and your family to join us coming Friday
With best wishes from,
ISKCON Scarborough
3500 McNicoll Avenue, Unit #3, Scarborough
Email: iskconscarborough@hotmail.com
Website: www.iskconscarborough.com
Bio data of HG Kratu prabhu:
Kratu Prabhu was born in aristocratic Gujarati Gaudiya Vasihnava family on July 5, 1944. His father was an ardent vaishnava and his mother persistently chanted 16 rounds of Hare Krishna maha-mantra. His wife Her Grace Amrita Devi Dasi is also initiated disciple of Srila Prabhupada.
During high schooling years, he became president of the students union and went on to receive a bachelor degree in engineering from the M.S. University, Baroda. He also achieved a Masters degree in Engineering from St. Louis University, Missouri USA.
His first exposure to ISKCON happened in 1970, at St. Louis. He later joined full-time in 1974, in Toronto. He met his Guru, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada in 1976, from whom he received a direct order for preaching Krishna consciousness. He and his wife were initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1977 in Toronto, Canada.
While in West, he worked as professional engineer for five years in Toronto In Chicago he worked for Chicago temple as director of congregational preaching. He then become temple President of Vancouver temple in 1987. In 1993, he moved to Baroda, Gujarat and conducted college and school preaching. He also started a book distribution program by Bullock Cart for every town and village. In 1997, he became temple President of ISKCON, Delhi and continued house and pandal preaching programs.
In 2002, he became an initiating Spiritual Master in ISKCON and is ever since vigorously traveling and preaching all over the world.
At present he is traveling across the wolrd and regularly visiting USA, Canada, UK, Europe and continuously preach in India, conducting pandal programs, educational programs and devotional tours.
In footsteps of previous acharyas, Sat Goswamis ans Srila Prabhupada, he is vigorously preaching he gospel of Lord Caitanya
Govardhan Eco-Village Receives IAA Olive Crown Award
→ The Yoga of Ecology
The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (an international body of Media & Advertisers) conducted the Olive Crown Awards for the year 2013 in Mumbai on the 1st of April. A Special Jury Award was conferred upon the Govardhan Eco village (GEV) in recognition of its continued efforts towards environmental sustainability. On behalf of the Govardhan Eco village, the award was collected by Shri Hrishikesh Mafatlal, Shri Kushal Desai and Shriman Gauranga Dasa.
Under the inspiration and guidance of Radhanath Swami a dedicated community began the development of the GEV in 2003 with the aim of demonstrating the principles of self-sufficiency and localized economy and highlighting the importance of living in harmony with nature by presenting a sustainable living model. Gradually they have developed fundamental aspects of the eco-village including organic farming, cow protection, education, rural development, alternative energy, eco-friendly constructions and sustainable living.
Govardhan Eco-Village Receives IAA Olive Crown Award
→ The Yoga of Ecology
The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (an international body of Media & Advertisers) conducted the Olive Crown Awards for the year 2013 in Mumbai on the 1st of April. A Special Jury Award was conferred upon the Govardhan Eco village (GEV) in recognition of its continued efforts towards environmental sustainability. On behalf of the Govardhan Eco village, the award was collected by Shri Hrishikesh Mafatlal, Shri Kushal Desai and Shriman Gauranga Dasa.
Under the inspiration and guidance of Radhanath Swami a dedicated community began the development of the GEV in 2003 with the aim of demonstrating the principles of self-sufficiency and localized economy and highlighting the importance of living in harmony with nature by presenting a sustainable living model. Gradually they have developed fundamental aspects of the eco-village including organic farming, cow protection, education, rural development, alternative energy, eco-friendly constructions and sustainable living.
Deity Darshan; 4/28/13
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Blog!
Deity Darshan; 4/28/13
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Blog!
Travel Journal#9.5: North Florida
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 9, No. 5
By Krishna-kripa das
(March 2013, part one)
By Krishna-kripa das
(March 2013, part one)
North Florida
(Sent from London, England, on April 28, 2013)
(Sent from London, England, on April 28, 2013)
Where I Went and What I Did
March began for me with my alternative Spring Break. While my friends from Krishna House visited our farm in Mississippi and temples in Houston and New Orleans, I decided to chant at the North Florida schools whose Spring Break was later in the month, Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee and the University of North Florida (UNF) in Jacksonville. In the ten-day break, I did harinama on nine of the days, organizing eight of the harinamas, and joining Amrita Keli dd and her friends on the remaining day on the green at UNF. The second week of March, I was back in Gainesville, chanting on the campus there, until Saturday, March 16, the day of the St. Augustine Ratha-yatra, another delightful experience.
In the “Insights” section I have great quotes from my personal reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books, very inspirational Srila Prabhupada memories by Yadubara Prabhu, extensive notes on a lecture Kalakantha Prabhu gave in Mayapur on what encouraged him in his devotional service and practical and effective ideas for encouraging others, some additional knowledge about Lord Shiva, the greatest of Vaishnavas, and notes on other lectures by senior and junior notes from classes in North Florida.
First Friday Harinama in Tallahassee
I love it when the devotees from Gainesville come and chant at First Friday in Tallahassee. We can do some very lively chanting that attracts people’s minds with a large group of enthusiastic young devotees. There were sixteen of us stopping in Tallahassee on the first evening of our Spring Break trip. Daru Brahma Prabhu now distributes his spiritual food on the access road to Railroad Square, and everyone has to pass by his booth, both coming and going. We set down a few blankets and chanted near where the prasadam was served out, but we had so many people we could also chant on the street which encircled Railroad Square, and as we did so, many people were happy to see us and some joined in the dancing with enthusiasm. Damodar Prasad was very happy to distribute five Bhagavad-gitasin a half an hour to the many people walking by. Tulasirani and Hladini also distributed many books. It was Alex’s first time, and she really liked the event. We chanted from about seven to about ten in the evening. It was a great way to start the Spring Break.
Harinama in Tallahassee
Nimai Pandit and I stayed in Tallahassee for our alternative Spring Break trip while the others continued on to Houston. On Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s appearance anniversary we chanted at Tallahassee’s Lake Ella. The Thakura had great faith in the chanting as a spiritual practice saying, “Srinama-sankirtana [the congregational chanting of the the holy name] is the best sadhana[spiritual practice].If other sadhanas help us in krishna-sankirtana, then they deserve to be called sadhana; otherwise they are simply impediments to sadhana. Sri-krishna-nama-sankirtana is the emperor of sadhanas. It is the only infallible sadhana capable of bringing us to siddhi [perfection].”A new person joined us at the lake, played the African djembedrum and bought a Bhagavad-gita. I had prayed to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura that she buy a book. After all, the book distribution was his idea! He had told our Srila Prabhupada, “If you get money, print books!” We ended having seven people chanting altogether, and Nimai Pandit Prabhu distributed so many cookies I had to make another batch. Melanie wrote, “I’ll never forget that little girl with a slice of half eaten pizza in one hand so enthusiastically accepting the prasada[food offered to the Lord] in the other. She was in bliss!” Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati also promoted prasadam distribution as well as the chanting of the holy name, saying “We have to force-feed prasadato persons full of anarthas[nonbeneficial desires]. Those who have no interest in spiritual life should be given prasada.By taking prasadathey will gradually attain kanishtha-adhikara[the first stage of devotion to the Lord]. If someone has no inclination for bhakti[devotion to the Lord], then a devotee should offer some food to Krishna while chanting mantras and then give him that prasada.”
We also chanted at Lake Ella on Sunday, and Franco and Eric, two workers at Krishna Lunch in Gainesville, who had come to Tallahassee to visit a friend, came to the Sunday feast program, and then kindly drove us to Lake Ella and chanted for half an hour with us.
Monday and Tuesday Nimai Pandit joined me in chanting on the campus with a book table, invitations, and oatmeal cookies. We met many interested students who were previously unaware of our lunch program, cooking classes, and Bhagavad-gita classes and who came to know of them. Nimai Pandit Prabhu, although originally expressing shyness, ended up going out by himself with the book table on Wednesday and Friday while I was in Jacksonville, and he collected the emails of many interested students. Thursday it rained.
Harinama at UNF in Jacksonville
While chanting at UNF, I talked to one girl who glanced toward the kirtana as she walked by. I invited her to our program of hatha yoga, spiritual discussion, chanting, and vegetarian food. She was a political science major, and she said they could use doing some yogain the political field. I replied that they could use some chanting too. I asked if she was hungry and offered her rice, vegetables, and granola, and she took a handful of granola. She said she was vegetarian and that none of the clubs serve vegetarian dinners, and that she would come by our Krishna Club.
When I offered an invitation to someone who walked by, another boy who overheard me said, “I’ll take one.” His name was Dan, and he had done meditation, and he also said he would come to the programs.
Troy, who had once played drum for Amrita Keli and I, came by and stopped to talk. I offered him some granola which he accepted.
One boy who liked the club but was busy on Thursday, the day of our meetings, came by. He was happy when I told him of our Friday breakfast program, with its walking meditation on the nature trails, singing, class, and breakfast, and I took his email so we could remind him about it.
One man with a party of twenty high school students from Miami came right up to me, and figuring they were on a tour, I explained myself by saying, “This is the free speech area.” He asked if I was with the university or was just here recruiting. I said we had a club here, and I was promoting our meetings. I told him that we also had clubs at University of Florida, where we distribute 800 plates of food a day, and also at Florida State University, where we distribute 130 plates a day. He said he ate the food at UF, back when we served it for free, probably decades ago. He said, “I have a question for you. Most students are from Christian backgrounds, so how do you introduce them to your tradition, which is so different from their own.” It was a great question, and I wished I had a great answer all prepared to give him. The best I could do off the top of my head was to say that glorification of the Lord through song is present in practically every tradition. And I told the story of attending the progressive dinner organized by the chaplins at UF. There I talked to girls in a couple of different Christian choirs and explained that glorifying the Lord in congregation through song, according to our tradition, is the most powerful spiritual practice for this age. Both girls agreed, each saying, “That is what I like best about our church too.” The leader of the high school group was satisfied with my answer, and I wished his party well on their tour of UNF, one of my favorite campuses because the people are so friendly and have time to talk.
Tallahassee Rainbow Gathering
I failed in convincing my friends from Krishna House to go to the Tallahassee Rainbow Gathering on the way back from their trip to Houston, so I only had three participants lined up to go and one of them canceled at the last moment, having to serve in our Tallahassee Restaurant, Higher Taste, to cover for someone who did not show up for work. Thus I was left to chant and distribute Krishna food at the Tallahassee Rainbow with just one other devotee, an Indian Ph.D. physics student and brahmacari, Nimai Pandit Prabhu. As Rainbow Gatherings are not ideal places for Indian brahmacaris, Nimai was afraid to go, so I told him to pray to Srila Prabhupada and Gaura Nitai for protection, and off we went to distribute halava from Krishna House in Gainesville and some very tasty and nutritious kitri which Daru Brahma and Nama Kirtana Prabhus had freshly prepared in Tallahassee.
The gathering was conveniently located at Moore Lake, under half an hour from our student center in Tallahassee. Two people were too few to carry our supplies, so we engaged some helpful Rainbows. One girl, who was visiting from Michigan with some friends, helped us carry stuff both in and out, and on the way out when we sangHare Krishna, she sang along, all this without having had contact with the Hare Krishna devotees before. I met Amanda, who I saw several years ago at University of North Florida, and who arranged a program with the devotees and her peace organization on the campus. In later years, I would see her at the Ocala Rainbow Gather, and this year, in Tallahassee. She took two plates of prasadam, one when we arrived and one just before we left. We had a little extra kitri that we left at a crossroads called Max’s Corner, along with some halava, The bulk of the extra halava we left in a box at a school bus in the parking lot, along with a message to give it to our friend, Kyra, from Alachua, who we heard was camping out there and who we were sure would distribute it. After the event, we encountered Kyra later in Alachua at a Sunday feast, with friends from the Tallahassee gathering, and learned that she did get some of the halavawe had left, but the Rainbows had distributed a lot of the halava without her assistance. It was beautiful to see the Rainbow kids that Kyra had brought singing and dancing before Radha Shyamasundara in Alachua. At the gathering we also met Bhakta Clay, a new devotee from the Tallahassee area, who had lived in Krishna House while I was traveling. Nimai talked with him briefly, and he helped us carry our remaining supplies out and chanted with us on the way. One boy at the trading circle asked if I could recite Bhagavad-gita as he worked on some handicrafts. I was more interested in chanting Hare Krishna than reciting the Gita, but considering that it was rare to be asked to speak the Gita, I read the four key verses from chapter 10, which he appreciated. Because of his sincerity, I gave him a Gita which I paid for myself. As we left, a young man needed a ride to the city, and we let him come in the back of the van. He recognized we were Hare Krishnas, and recited the entire Hare Krishna mantra perfectly and told us how much he liked Bhagavad-gita. I explained how it had so many universal truths in it and he agreed. On the whole, it was inspiring to be instrumental in some people getting initial contact with Krishna, and others happily getting another dose of Krishna food and Krishna chanting. I was grateful to Nimai Pandit Prabhu for his going beyond his limits in doing that outreach, and he was glad he had come.
Saint Augustine Ratha-yatra
Saint Augustine Ratha-yatra is one of my favorite experiences of my winter in North Florida. Because people come there from all over the United States, it is a great location, and this year, the weather was perfect, sunny and in the 70s (the low 20s Celsius). Before the Ratha-yatra, we do harinama on the very crowded and narrow St. George Street, which is otherwise not allowed. In the beginning very few people took the Krishna, Reservoir of Pleasurepamphlets we were freely handing out, but after the awhile, people loosened up and many people began smiling and taking them. A few people even danced with the devotees.
It was first Ratha-yatra of the season for the Alachua-based Jagannatha Deities, who go to about six Ratha-yatras in North Florida in the course of the year. The sound system was good, the chanting melodious, and many devotees danced.
We had a stage show in the park, and some devotees played music there during the harinama and the Ratha-yatra, and there was more chanting and traditional Indian dance as part of the stage show afterward. There was also a free feast with a curd vegetable preparation that was very good.
During the chanting at the stage show I danced for awhile amidst the crowd of people wandering through the park and those having lunch. Tulasirani dd engaged some of the middle-aged bikers in dancing, which was a humorous and surprising first for her.
As our festival was ending and as we were cleaning up, locals who had come each year thanked us for doing the festival, and it was beautiful to see their appreciation.
The St. Augustine Recordprinted an article “Decorated chariot rolls through St. Augustine” in which author Sheldon Gardner which describes the festival and includes brief descriptions how some of devotees became attracted to Krishna consciousness. Thanks to The Record for the Ratha-yatra cart illustration above.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.49, purport:
“Somehow or other one must be enlightened about his past, present and future. One who is interested only in his present body and who tries to enjoy his senses to the fullest extent is understood to be engrossed in the mode of ignorance. His future is very, very dark. Indeed, the future is always dark for one who is grossly covered by ignorance. Especially in this age, human society is covered by the mode of ignorance, and therefore everyone thinks his present body to be everything, without consideration of the past or future.”
from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.50, purport:
“For example, if one is struggling in the ocean, he must swim through it alone. Although many other men and aquatics are swimming in the ocean, he must take care of himself because no one else will help him. Therefore this verse indicates that the seventeenth item, the soul, must work alone. Although he tries to create society, friendship and love, no one will be able to help him but Krishna, the Supreme Lord. Therefore his only concern should be how to satisfy Krishna. . . . We should remember that everyone is responsible for his own life. If an individual becomes a pure devotee of Krishna, he is then delivered from the ocean of nescience.”
from Cc. Adi. 14.1 purport:
“The Hari-bhakti-vilasaconfirms that difficult things become easy to understand if one remembers Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and easy things become very difficult to understand if one forgets Him. We actually see that even those who are very great scientists in the eyes of the general public cannot understand the very simple idea that life comes from life, because they do not have the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They defend the false understanding that life comes from matter, although they cannot prove that this is a fact. Modern civilization, therefore, progressing on the basis of this false scientific theory, is simply creating problems to be solved by the so-called scientists.”
from Cc. Adi. 14.19 purport:
“Because of His protecting and maintaining this world in the present Kali-yuga, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is known as Visvambhara, which refers to one who feeds the entire world. The movement inaugurated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He was present five hundred years ago is again being propagated all over the world, and factually we are seeing its practical results. People are being saved, protected and maintained by this Hare Krishna movement. Thousands of followers, especially Western youths, are taking part in this Hare Krishna movement, and how safe and happy they feel can be understood from the expressions of gratitude in their hundreds and thousands of letters.”
from Cc. Adi. 14.22 purport:
“In the Caitanya-bhagavata this pastime is described as follows: "The Lord, with His beautiful eyes, would cry, but He would stop immediately upon hearing the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. When the ladies, understanding the fun of the Lord, discovered that He would cry and then stop upon hearing the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, they all took it as a clue to chant Hare Krishna as soon as the Lord cried. Thus it became a regular function. The Lord would cry, and the ladies would begin chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, clapping their hands. In this way all the ladies of the neighboring houses would assemble in the home of Sacimata to join in the sankirtana movement twenty-four hours a day. As long as the ladies continued to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, the Lord would not cry but would very pleasingly smile upon them."
from Cc. Adi. 14.51 purport:
“Our Krishna consciousness movement is introducing this bona fide method of worship in the Western world. Its members are going from village to village and town to town with Deities of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, teaching people how to worship the Lord by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, offering prasadamand distributing prasadam to people in general.”
from The Nectar of Devotion, chapter 34:
“No one, while remaining on the material platform, should discuss these different descriptions of bhava and anubhava by quoting different statements of transcendental literatures. Such manifestations are displays of the transcendental pleasure potency of the Lord. One should simply try to understand that on the spiritual platform there are many varieties of reciprocal love.”
from Bhagavad-gita As It Is 10.12–13, purport:
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and one should always meditate upon Him and enjoy one’s transcendental relationship with Him.
Kalakantha Prabhu:
The value of my poeticized Srimad-Bhagavatam is that it is very condensed. Thus you can cover all the pastimes in theKrishnabook in just thirty classes.
from a lecture given in Mayapur:
“This verse has many interesting facets. For one thing, it puts the position of father, mother, husband and guru on the same level. Nobody should take any of these responsible positions unless they are capable of giving real shelter to their dependents. No one would think I cannot be a perfect mother or father, therefore I should not become one. Similarly, no one should think I cannot be perfect as a spiritual master, therefore I should not become one. Caitanya Mahaprabhu encouraged everybody, yare dekha, tare kaha 'krishna'-upadesa amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei desa. (CC Madhya 7.128) Everybody, wherever you go, whomever you meet, tell them about Krishna and that way become a spiritual master and try to liberate your land.”
“There is something very wonderful about the commonality between gurus, husbands, and parents and the responsible people. And that is they have the wonderful ability to give unconditional love to their dependents, love that is given so freely regardless of how the dependent responds, that is the unifying quality of these various positions.”
“Ravindra Swarup Prabhu wrote a very beautiful and eloquent praise of Srila Prabhupada, in which he described how he went, this elderly swami went to the lower east side of New York City Manhattan very degraded place, and presented sainthood as a viable career option.”
“So I was thinking about what has kept me in Krishna consciousness for forty years. In every case, it was the loving reciprocation, the loving presentation of the devotees.”
“Srila Prabhupada was there [in Mayapur] each morning giving class, taking us around, circumambulating the Deities and ringing the bell, making everyone dance in ecstasy. Speaking from the 7th canto telling us how the same hand that ripped apart Hiranyakashipu was patting the head of Prahlad Maharaja.”
“In this way so many wonderful memories were there. I was twenty years old, very inexperienced, I felt like I was living the Caitanya-caritamrtaand those memories of Srila Prabhupada and his kindness have kept me in Krishnaconsciousness.”
“H. H. Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja and I lived in the back of a van together for years. We have very different backgrounds. He was very experienced, college educated, and he was very strong in his spiritual life. Every morning he would get up at midnight every day and he would chant many rounds and write a letter to Srila Prabhupada every day and read and then he would wake me up. . . . He never ever made me feel anything but very much appreciated and respected and loved. Never did I feel like he is laying some kind of guilt trip on me or feeling better than me. I never thought I felt anything from him but this unconditional love. That sustained me for many, many years.”
“H. H. Tamal Krishna Maharaja was so kind to all of the families in the community and very accommodating to everybody and very respectful and appreciative and so unconditional in his love. . . . He said not everybody can oversee a community. He said the Six Goswamis could do this, dhira adhira jana priyo.He quoted this same verse, they were dear to every body, both devotees and nondevotees. And they would come to them for advice.”
“And finally one very special devotee, Yamuna Devi Prabhu, Prabhvi. I don’t dare call her Mother Yamuna. I tried that one time and she said, yes, Father Kalakantha. . . . We would go to her ashram for Srimad-Bhagavatamclass. It was so sweet. She and Dina Tarini were so learned and also loving in their approach to Krsna consciousness. . . . She told about the time that they were recording the Radha Krsna temple album. All of the devotees were at the studio in Apple records. George was in the control room mixing. They were recording for several hours. . . . She was awake by herself, so she sat down at the harmonium began singing a bhajana. . . . She [had] listened to this bhajanaover and over again, never seeing it in print. Just to pass the time, she started singing as best as she could remember “Bhaja Hu Re Mana.” Of course she sang bhaja mana hu re.And she was just singing and when she finished George came out of the studio, and said I was recording that and I want to put it on the album. . . . She had no idea it was being recorded. She did not want to put it on the album but George insisted, ‘I have to put it on.’ There were many mistakes in the language and the words.”
“Later Srila Prabhupada heard the bhajana and said, ‘You have made a mistake.’ She was so embarrassed, and said ‘I’m sorry.’ He said, ‘No, no, that’s alright, you can fix it later.’”
“So when talking to new people, look for some way in which they are better than you. Maybe they are older than you, maybe younger, more educated, better looking more experienced, something in them that is superior to you and then talk about that thing.”
“The second thingyena tena prakarena, manah krsna nivesayat(from The Nectar of Devotion) first of all, think about Krishna, the rules and regulations can come later.
Another thing that was very radical I noticed whenever students came to the temple room, they would see the murtiof Srila Prabhupada in our small temple room, and they would become very disturbed, just very strange. We had a full size murtiof Srila Prabhupada in a small temple, and it just dominated everything. So we opened a Bhaktivedanta Library in another room and we moved the murtithere. Then the students seemed to feel more comfortable. It was less strange because they did not know who Prabhupada was. So when they came we started teaching them about Prabhupada, reading Lilamrtaover lunch everyday, talking about his life, teaching the words of the songs he taught us and explained the meaning and then more and more of them started joining and then they said, ‘Why is the murtiof Srila Prabhupada not in the temple room?’”
“When they asked for it, then we brought it back. And now it’s cool because they tell the other students, ‘Oh yeah, that’s Prabhupada, he’s so cool.’”
“We let them come in on the basis of an experiment. We say just enroll for a semester. You have to get up early and chant eight rounds, but there is no commitment. You don’t have to be a member of ISKCON, you don’t have to join ISKCON, you don’t even have to like ISKCON. Just learn bhakti and then decide. You do this for one semester, and you attend your classes and then after a semester, you decide if you want more. If you don’t like what you got then you go right back to where you were, karma back guaranteed.”
“And one more important point is this, conversely to catch them doing something right, we have learned not to catch them doing something wrong. Somebody is eating with their left hand. What do we do? ‘Oh, Stop that.’ they are going to feel very uncomfortable like they are on trial. Any moment they can be punished. So we just started noting down, I and the other senior devotees, in our little notebook that they are doing something wrong. Once a week, we sit down together and say here are some of the rules of etiquette we would like you to learn. And without pointing any fingers, we say, eat with the right hand and so many other details.”
“This analogy of guru and parent is very similar. Nothing in my life has prepared me more for taking disciples than having children. You give them love and love and love and that is very natural, but then they do what they are going to do. You learn the meaning of unconditional love when you have children. But with disciples, it is so much nicer. No diapers. And in most cases, they do what you suggest.”
“To see people equally is only possible by loving everybody.”
“We should know that’s the indication we are advancing, when we don’t feel enmity towards anyone else. When we feel love towards them, we can see ourselves honestly, if I would have been in that person's position then I would probably be doing the same thing. We could see how we are common. Not distinguishing by gender or age or race or country, and we can give that affection unconditionally. That is a signpost that we are actually coming closer to loving Krishna. That will be the success of our movement and that will be the glory of Srila Prabhupada. When all the followers of ISKCON show unconditional love, then the whole world will become Krishnaconscious.”
Find the entire text of this lecture at:
Kaliyaphani Prabhu:
comment before St. Augustine Ratha-yatra:
The holy name is Krishna. And Krishna is the worldwide solution for everything.
Laksmimoni dd:
Material things are never as good as we thought they would be, nor do they give us as much satisfaction as we thought they would.
There is a small tinge of the idea of spiritual separation in material life. When we are separated from someone we like, we just remember the good things about them.
The association of the Lord is so nice that when it is lost, one desires it even more than before, and because of that desire, one remembers the Lord constantly and thus gains the perpetual association of the Lord by that constant remembrance.
There is a feeling we have of a lacking within, which is there ultimately because we are lacking Krishna, and to be fixed in devotional service, we have to understand that there is nothing that can remove that feeling of lacking until we attain Krishna.
In spiritual separation one appears to be dissatisfied because he has not attained Krishna, but on the other hand, he is satisfied because he is remembering Krishna more intensely in separation and associating with Him through that remembrance.
We have to hanker to hanker for a taste so that we want to do devotional service.
If we do not desire Krishna, we have to desire to desire to Krishna, and if we cannot desire to desire Krishna, we have to desire to desire to desire Krishna.
George Harrison wrote “My Sweet Lord” after a conversation with Srila Prabhupada in which he was explaining separation from Krishna. When the dawn comes when we see the initial light we anticipate the sun rising, and our desire to see the sun develops more and more.
Srila Prabhupada created the society of devotees to keep us strong in Krishna consciousness.
Sometimes Krishna disappears as a test for His devotees.
comment by Kalakantha Prabhu: Garuda Prabhu in his book about the rasa dance of Krishna gave an analogy in which God disappearing from the gopis who desired enjoy His association alone and reappearing when they cooperated, is compared to God disappearing from sectarian religions who claim to be His favorite until the time they learn to cooperate with each other, when He will appear.
comment by Syamala Kishori dd: One can say the gopis are humble because they did not mind being used as a example for all eternity of devotees who became so proud that Krishna disappeared from them.
Nanda dd:
When life gets especially tough, we must increase our hearing and chanting about Krishna so that that we can see our situation in proper perspective.
comment by Ballabha Sena and Gopala: Prabhupada said in morning walk in Dallas that we know we are beyond the regulations of sadhana-bhaktiif we are beyond eating and sleeping.
Yadubara Prabhu:
[Yadubara Prabhu has several slide shows of still photos taken from the Following Srila Prabhupada video series. He came to Krishna House in Gainesville one Friday evening and commented on some on these slides. Below are some highlights. One devotee youth said she dreamed of Prabhupada that night as a result of his wonderful presentation.]
The San Francisco devotees were very liberal and the New York devotees were conservative, but Srila Prabhupada was such a great soul he encouraged both. Once when Srila Prabhupada was recuperating in New Jersey, the San Francisco devotees sent him a reel-to-reel recording they had made with Hare Krishna chanted to a new tune and accompanied by all kinds of unusual instruments. The New York devotees were aghast, but Srila Prabhupada accepted it, happy that they were still chanting Hare Krishna.
Gaurasundara read all kinds of books about India and learned about the idea of a brahmana, and so he asked if Srila Prabhupada could make him a brahmana. As a result Srila Prabhupada had the first brahmana initiation in Boston.
Prabhupada’s favorite flower was the gardenia because of its wonderful fragrance.
Srila Prabhupada asked his disciples why we had taken so much trouble to organize the San Francisco Ratha-yatra. Then he answered his own question, “It is the compassion of the Vaishnava.”
Srila Prabhupada always paid special attention to the children. He loved the children very much. He understood they were the future of the movement.
Srila Prabhupada noticed there was salt in the caranamrita, the ISKCON Press book he was giving class from had a bad binding, Prabhupada’s name was simply “A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami” instead of “His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,” and the picture of Srila Prabhupada’s guru was upside down on the altar, and thus he could understand something was wrong —they were minimizing their spiritual master.
Srila Prabhupada would be concerned when something was wrong and do the needful, but he never became angry or morose.
Sahajiyaism and impersonalism are two enemies of Vaishnavism.
Whenever the train would stop in India, the devotees would get off the train and have kirtana. One time enroute from Bombay to Amritsar, the train stopped at Mathura for 20 minutes and the devotees had an especially ecstatic kirtana there in the holy dhama.
I asked Srila Prabhupada if I could travel with his party and take pictures. Srila Prabhupada asked if I planned to become a devotee. I was attracted, but I did not think I would join, and so I told him that, and he said, “You cannot stay.” I stayed for two months, and he did not say anything. He knew I was attracted. I came to understand that we cannot stay with the devotees for long if we do not become a devotee. If we try, we will not be able to enter deeply into the association.
One devotee engaged some boy scouts in kirtana. Kirtana was our life and soul. It was about all we did.
In Surat there were four or five engagements each day with full prasadam.
Prabhupada came on the harinamas his discples did at the Kumbha Mela. He could have stayed with friends in Allahabad, as he knew many people from living there for years, but he preferred to stay in the cold in a tent with his disciples.
Three-year-old Sarasvati would tug on people’s shirts and say, “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and you should surrender to Him.” Srila Prabhupada said she was a perfect preacher as she told others what she knew about Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada did not care for style of the garments offered him but the devotion they were offered with.
Jean [now Visakha dd] wanted to do a photo essay of a Indian village and suggested she asked Srila Prabhupada which one. Prabhupada replied, “Vrindavan,” and so she did the photo essay and became a devotee in the process, touched by the devotion of the widows chanting in Vrndavana.
Radhika Ramana Prabhu:
from a lecture in Alachua on Shiva Ratri:
Shiva and Parvati lived at Kedarnatha. Once they went to take bathe in the Mandakini, and they saw a beautiful baby, and Parvati was attracted to the beautiful boy who appeared there, but they were busy taking bath, so she set him in their ashram and bathed, When they returned, they found they were locked out of their place, because the boy was Vishnu, and he took over their ashram, and that became Badrinath, and Shiva and Parvati created a new place nearby.
A devotee of Lord Shiva was so faithful in worship, Lord Shiva wanted to reward him, and asked what benediction he wanted. The young devotee said he did not know what was best, and asked Shiva to give him wherever Shiva considered to be best. Lord Shiva thought for a while, and decided devotion to Krishna is the ultimate benefit, and gave him that.
Lord Shiva wanted to participate in Lord Krishna's dance of love, but was told it was not possible. After much protest, he was told he could bathe in a special river and get the body of a gopi, and so he did and joined the dance. But as he is Shiva, the Lord of the dance of destruction, he did an extreme dance that was rocking the whole area. Krishna came to him, praised His dancing and offered Him a benediction. He asked to witness all of Krishna’s pastimes.
Shiva likes to connect people with Krishna.
Shiva asked Yasoda to sprinkle Him with water from Krishna’s bath and remnants of food offered to Krishna.
One early Rajapura Jagannath pujari was annoyed that the local residents were offering everything to a Shiva deity nearby and not Lord Jagannath, so he hid the Shiva deity. After returning to Mayapur he fell from his bike, vomiting blood. He had dream where Shiva appeared saying, “You are so great a devotee of Jagannath you can offend me? You will suffer until you pour water on a Shiva Deity at Alalanatha. He did not immediately follow that order, but he continued to suffer until he did.
Parvati asked for Lord Jagannath’s prasadam, but not for herself. As mother of the universe she wanted to share it with all her kids.
Madhava Prabhu:
Just as in math we start with addition, and then learn the other operations, and then calculation, algebra, and higher and higher mathematics, we start with our regulated spiritual practice (sadhana) and ultimately attain prema (pure love of God).
Comment by Bhakta Paul: We all want to go to heaven, but we don’t want to die first.
Prema Manjari dd:
Defending is the same as fearing because it is the reaction to fear.
In Sweden I was appreciating the beauty of nature during a japa walk and then I noticed a bug trapped in a web and a spider approaching it. I also saw a bird swooping down to catch a worm. I was suddenly struck with the cruelty that is present in nature all around us.
Fear of maya [the energy that causes us to forget our relationship with God], fear of separation from Krishna, and fear that harm may come to Krishna are the fears of the devotees.
A nondevotee sees himself as the Lord of all he surveys, although he may not do so consciously.
Fear of maya [the energy that causes us to forget our relationship with God] is a very healthy fear.
A friend of mind decided she would not take the devotional services to seriously and do some other things. Her experience was that the further she got away from her devotional practice, the more she felt anxiety.
We can be fearless for a day by trying to be complete surrendered to Krishna for that day.
Get up before maya gets up.
Through the different activities of our morning program we are taking shelter of Krishna in different ways.
We have to both endeavor our best and depend on Krishna’s mercy.
Only if we relish pleasure internally from our relationship with Krishna can we be truly detached from the external world.
Try to see how everything Krishna does is good, and behind apparently bad things there is a great good. We have to practice this.
comment by Tulasirani: We do our best to show Krishna that we want to advance our relationship, but we knows that result is up to Krishna.
Nama Kirtana Prabhu:
from a conversation after class:
Gambling seems harmless but there are a lot of bad activities associated with it.
Rohini Kumara Prabhu:
Consider the people in general to be your brothers and sisters and invite them to experience Krishna consciousness.
Q: Suppose a senior person is always very condescending to me. How do I handle it?
A: Approach your authority and explain the situation and ask him the best way to act.
Tulasirani dd:
An ordinary man cannot complete satisfy one wife, but Krishna could completely satisfy so many.
Krishna performed a pastime of having a headache, saying that only the dust of the feet of His devotees could cure it. Narada asked all varieties devotees including Krishna’s queens and the great demigods but only the gopis would risk hellish punishment for committing such an offense [by touching their foot dust to Krishna’s head] to relieve their beloved Krishna’s headache. Seeing the gopis devotion, Narada desired the dust of their feet.
Many of the great teachers in our line are assistants of the gopis in their original spiritual forms, and they retain their completely selfless spirit in their activities in this world.
By our offering prayers and glorifying the pure devotees we can attain the platform of pure devotional service because when we do those things, Krishna will be pleased to help us.
We have taken to this path of pure devotional service, and so we must become purified. We can go through the purification kicking and screaming, or we can surrender to it.
Every time I do not feel like going on harinama, going on book distribution, or going to mangala-arati but I do it anyway, telling Krishna, “I do not feel like doing this, but I am doing it for You,” then it becomes really sweet.
Better to do your sadhana with complete attention and focus than to do something that is way more than you are capable of doing, with distraction.
Krishna consciousness takes great determination, and when you are surrounded by loving devotees, who are supportive, then it is a lot easier.
Sometimes it is valuable to come before the Deity and say, “I want to come to the point of complete surrender, please help me. That is all I want.” I always feel better after that.
The more we do our activities for Krishna’s pleasure, the happier we will be and the more we will be inclined to act for His pleasure in the future.
from a conversation after the St. Augustine Ratha-yatra:
I was walking down the same street, hours after the harinama was over, and it seemed so boring. But that is what the people experience every day. Sometimes we forget how life sucks without kirtana.
Dr. Dina Bandhu Prabhu:
The sweetest thing for the Supreme Lord is when the living entity uses his free will to offer Him presentations in devotion.
Karma-yoga is like if you are an expert chef and you make what you are best at cooking and offer it to your friend. Bhakti-yoga is like if you ask what your friend wants to eat and make that for him.
Prateek:
from a conversation:
Bankameans very good looking, so banka-bihari means Krishna is a very good looking performer of pastimes.
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“The name of Krishna is purely spiritual. There is no knowledge as great as that of the name, and no practice of austerity or meditation, no result of spiritual activity, no form of renunciation, no act of sense control, no pious act, and no goal that can match it. The name is the supreme liberation, the supreme destination, and the supreme peace. The name is eternal life itself. The name is the supreme devotion and the supreme intelligence. The name is the supreme love and the supreme remembrance. The name is the soul's reason for existence. The name is the lord of the soul, the most worshipful object, and the supreme guru.
“These high praises are verified by the realizations awakening devotees gain as they practice chanting, and so they come to have deep conviction in the holy name.”
—Agni Purana
Travel Journal#9.5: North Florida
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 9, No. 5
By Krishna-kripa das
(March 2013, part one)
By Krishna-kripa das
(March 2013, part one)
North Florida
(Sent from London, England, on April 28, 2013)
(Sent from London, England, on April 28, 2013)
Where I Went and What I Did
March began for me with my alternative Spring Break. While my friends from Krishna House visited our farm in Mississippi and temples in Houston and New Orleans, I decided to chant at the North Florida schools whose Spring Break was later in the month, Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee and the University of North Florida (UNF) in Jacksonville. In the ten-day break, I did harinama on nine of the days, organizing eight of the harinamas, and joining Amrita Keli dd and her friends on the remaining day on the green at UNF. The second week of March, I was back in Gainesville, chanting on the campus there, until Saturday, March 16, the day of the St. Augustine Ratha-yatra, another delightful experience.
In the “Insights” section I have great quotes from my personal reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books, very inspirational Srila Prabhupada memories by Yadubara Prabhu, extensive notes on a lecture Kalakantha Prabhu gave in Mayapur on what encouraged him in his devotional service and practical and effective ideas for encouraging others, some additional knowledge about Lord Shiva, the greatest of Vaishnavas, and notes on other lectures by senior and junior notes from classes in North Florida.
First Friday Harinama in Tallahassee
I love it when the devotees from Gainesville come and chant at First Friday in Tallahassee. We can do some very lively chanting that attracts people’s minds with a large group of enthusiastic young devotees. There were sixteen of us stopping in Tallahassee on the first evening of our Spring Break trip. Daru Brahma Prabhu now distributes his spiritual food on the access road to Railroad Square, and everyone has to pass by his booth, both coming and going. We set down a few blankets and chanted near where the prasadam was served out, but we had so many people we could also chant on the street which encircled Railroad Square, and as we did so, many people were happy to see us and some joined in the dancing with enthusiasm. Damodar Prasad was very happy to distribute five Bhagavad-gitasin a half an hour to the many people walking by. Tulasirani and Hladini also distributed many books. It was Alex’s first time, and she really liked the event. We chanted from about seven to about ten in the evening. It was a great way to start the Spring Break.
Harinama in Tallahassee
Nimai Pandit and I stayed in Tallahassee for our alternative Spring Break trip while the others continued on to Houston. On Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s appearance anniversary we chanted at Tallahassee’s Lake Ella. The Thakura had great faith in the chanting as a spiritual practice saying, “Srinama-sankirtana [the congregational chanting of the the holy name] is the best sadhana[spiritual practice].If other sadhanas help us in krishna-sankirtana, then they deserve to be called sadhana; otherwise they are simply impediments to sadhana. Sri-krishna-nama-sankirtana is the emperor of sadhanas. It is the only infallible sadhana capable of bringing us to siddhi [perfection].”A new person joined us at the lake, played the African djembedrum and bought a Bhagavad-gita. I had prayed to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura that she buy a book. After all, the book distribution was his idea! He had told our Srila Prabhupada, “If you get money, print books!” We ended having seven people chanting altogether, and Nimai Pandit Prabhu distributed so many cookies I had to make another batch. Melanie wrote, “I’ll never forget that little girl with a slice of half eaten pizza in one hand so enthusiastically accepting the prasada[food offered to the Lord] in the other. She was in bliss!” Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati also promoted prasadam distribution as well as the chanting of the holy name, saying “We have to force-feed prasadato persons full of anarthas[nonbeneficial desires]. Those who have no interest in spiritual life should be given prasada.By taking prasadathey will gradually attain kanishtha-adhikara[the first stage of devotion to the Lord]. If someone has no inclination for bhakti[devotion to the Lord], then a devotee should offer some food to Krishna while chanting mantras and then give him that prasada.”
We also chanted at Lake Ella on Sunday, and Franco and Eric, two workers at Krishna Lunch in Gainesville, who had come to Tallahassee to visit a friend, came to the Sunday feast program, and then kindly drove us to Lake Ella and chanted for half an hour with us.
Monday and Tuesday Nimai Pandit joined me in chanting on the campus with a book table, invitations, and oatmeal cookies. We met many interested students who were previously unaware of our lunch program, cooking classes, and Bhagavad-gita classes and who came to know of them. Nimai Pandit Prabhu, although originally expressing shyness, ended up going out by himself with the book table on Wednesday and Friday while I was in Jacksonville, and he collected the emails of many interested students. Thursday it rained.
Harinama at UNF in Jacksonville
While chanting at UNF, I talked to one girl who glanced toward the kirtana as she walked by. I invited her to our program of hatha yoga, spiritual discussion, chanting, and vegetarian food. She was a political science major, and she said they could use doing some yogain the political field. I replied that they could use some chanting too. I asked if she was hungry and offered her rice, vegetables, and granola, and she took a handful of granola. She said she was vegetarian and that none of the clubs serve vegetarian dinners, and that she would come by our Krishna Club.
When I offered an invitation to someone who walked by, another boy who overheard me said, “I’ll take one.” His name was Dan, and he had done meditation, and he also said he would come to the programs.
Troy, who had once played drum for Amrita Keli and I, came by and stopped to talk. I offered him some granola which he accepted.
One boy who liked the club but was busy on Thursday, the day of our meetings, came by. He was happy when I told him of our Friday breakfast program, with its walking meditation on the nature trails, singing, class, and breakfast, and I took his email so we could remind him about it.
One man with a party of twenty high school students from Miami came right up to me, and figuring they were on a tour, I explained myself by saying, “This is the free speech area.” He asked if I was with the university or was just here recruiting. I said we had a club here, and I was promoting our meetings. I told him that we also had clubs at University of Florida, where we distribute 800 plates of food a day, and also at Florida State University, where we distribute 130 plates a day. He said he ate the food at UF, back when we served it for free, probably decades ago. He said, “I have a question for you. Most students are from Christian backgrounds, so how do you introduce them to your tradition, which is so different from their own.” It was a great question, and I wished I had a great answer all prepared to give him. The best I could do off the top of my head was to say that glorification of the Lord through song is present in practically every tradition. And I told the story of attending the progressive dinner organized by the chaplins at UF. There I talked to girls in a couple of different Christian choirs and explained that glorifying the Lord in congregation through song, according to our tradition, is the most powerful spiritual practice for this age. Both girls agreed, each saying, “That is what I like best about our church too.” The leader of the high school group was satisfied with my answer, and I wished his party well on their tour of UNF, one of my favorite campuses because the people are so friendly and have time to talk.
Tallahassee Rainbow Gathering
I failed in convincing my friends from Krishna House to go to the Tallahassee Rainbow Gathering on the way back from their trip to Houston, so I only had three participants lined up to go and one of them canceled at the last moment, having to serve in our Tallahassee Restaurant, Higher Taste, to cover for someone who did not show up for work. Thus I was left to chant and distribute Krishna food at the Tallahassee Rainbow with just one other devotee, an Indian Ph.D. physics student and brahmacari, Nimai Pandit Prabhu. As Rainbow Gatherings are not ideal places for Indian brahmacaris, Nimai was afraid to go, so I told him to pray to Srila Prabhupada and Gaura Nitai for protection, and off we went to distribute halava from Krishna House in Gainesville and some very tasty and nutritious kitri which Daru Brahma and Nama Kirtana Prabhus had freshly prepared in Tallahassee.
The gathering was conveniently located at Moore Lake, under half an hour from our student center in Tallahassee. Two people were too few to carry our supplies, so we engaged some helpful Rainbows. One girl, who was visiting from Michigan with some friends, helped us carry stuff both in and out, and on the way out when we sangHare Krishna, she sang along, all this without having had contact with the Hare Krishna devotees before. I met Amanda, who I saw several years ago at University of North Florida, and who arranged a program with the devotees and her peace organization on the campus. In later years, I would see her at the Ocala Rainbow Gather, and this year, in Tallahassee. She took two plates of prasadam, one when we arrived and one just before we left. We had a little extra kitri that we left at a crossroads called Max’s Corner, along with some halava, The bulk of the extra halava we left in a box at a school bus in the parking lot, along with a message to give it to our friend, Kyra, from Alachua, who we heard was camping out there and who we were sure would distribute it. After the event, we encountered Kyra later in Alachua at a Sunday feast, with friends from the Tallahassee gathering, and learned that she did get some of the halavawe had left, but the Rainbows had distributed a lot of the halava without her assistance. It was beautiful to see the Rainbow kids that Kyra had brought singing and dancing before Radha Shyamasundara in Alachua. At the gathering we also met Bhakta Clay, a new devotee from the Tallahassee area, who had lived in Krishna House while I was traveling. Nimai talked with him briefly, and he helped us carry our remaining supplies out and chanted with us on the way. One boy at the trading circle asked if I could recite Bhagavad-gita as he worked on some handicrafts. I was more interested in chanting Hare Krishna than reciting the Gita, but considering that it was rare to be asked to speak the Gita, I read the four key verses from chapter 10, which he appreciated. Because of his sincerity, I gave him a Gita which I paid for myself. As we left, a young man needed a ride to the city, and we let him come in the back of the van. He recognized we were Hare Krishnas, and recited the entire Hare Krishna mantra perfectly and told us how much he liked Bhagavad-gita. I explained how it had so many universal truths in it and he agreed. On the whole, it was inspiring to be instrumental in some people getting initial contact with Krishna, and others happily getting another dose of Krishna food and Krishna chanting. I was grateful to Nimai Pandit Prabhu for his going beyond his limits in doing that outreach, and he was glad he had come.
Saint Augustine Ratha-yatra
Saint Augustine Ratha-yatra is one of my favorite experiences of my winter in North Florida. Because people come there from all over the United States, it is a great location, and this year, the weather was perfect, sunny and in the 70s (the low 20s Celsius). Before the Ratha-yatra, we do harinama on the very crowded and narrow St. George Street, which is otherwise not allowed. In the beginning very few people took the Krishna, Reservoir of Pleasurepamphlets we were freely handing out, but after the awhile, people loosened up and many people began smiling and taking them. A few people even danced with the devotees.
It was first Ratha-yatra of the season for the Alachua-based Jagannatha Deities, who go to about six Ratha-yatras in North Florida in the course of the year. The sound system was good, the chanting melodious, and many devotees danced.
We had a stage show in the park, and some devotees played music there during the harinama and the Ratha-yatra, and there was more chanting and traditional Indian dance as part of the stage show afterward. There was also a free feast with a curd vegetable preparation that was very good.
During the chanting at the stage show I danced for awhile amidst the crowd of people wandering through the park and those having lunch. Tulasirani dd engaged some of the middle-aged bikers in dancing, which was a humorous and surprising first for her.
As our festival was ending and as we were cleaning up, locals who had come each year thanked us for doing the festival, and it was beautiful to see their appreciation.
The St. Augustine Recordprinted an article “Decorated chariot rolls through St. Augustine” in which author Sheldon Gardner which describes the festival and includes brief descriptions how some of devotees became attracted to Krishna consciousness. Thanks to The Record for the Ratha-yatra cart illustration above.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.49, purport:
“Somehow or other one must be enlightened about his past, present and future. One who is interested only in his present body and who tries to enjoy his senses to the fullest extent is understood to be engrossed in the mode of ignorance. His future is very, very dark. Indeed, the future is always dark for one who is grossly covered by ignorance. Especially in this age, human society is covered by the mode of ignorance, and therefore everyone thinks his present body to be everything, without consideration of the past or future.”
from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.50, purport:
“For example, if one is struggling in the ocean, he must swim through it alone. Although many other men and aquatics are swimming in the ocean, he must take care of himself because no one else will help him. Therefore this verse indicates that the seventeenth item, the soul, must work alone. Although he tries to create society, friendship and love, no one will be able to help him but Krishna, the Supreme Lord. Therefore his only concern should be how to satisfy Krishna. . . . We should remember that everyone is responsible for his own life. If an individual becomes a pure devotee of Krishna, he is then delivered from the ocean of nescience.”
from Cc. Adi. 14.1 purport:
“The Hari-bhakti-vilasaconfirms that difficult things become easy to understand if one remembers Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and easy things become very difficult to understand if one forgets Him. We actually see that even those who are very great scientists in the eyes of the general public cannot understand the very simple idea that life comes from life, because they do not have the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They defend the false understanding that life comes from matter, although they cannot prove that this is a fact. Modern civilization, therefore, progressing on the basis of this false scientific theory, is simply creating problems to be solved by the so-called scientists.”
from Cc. Adi. 14.19 purport:
“Because of His protecting and maintaining this world in the present Kali-yuga, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is known as Visvambhara, which refers to one who feeds the entire world. The movement inaugurated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He was present five hundred years ago is again being propagated all over the world, and factually we are seeing its practical results. People are being saved, protected and maintained by this Hare Krishna movement. Thousands of followers, especially Western youths, are taking part in this Hare Krishna movement, and how safe and happy they feel can be understood from the expressions of gratitude in their hundreds and thousands of letters.”
from Cc. Adi. 14.22 purport:
“In the Caitanya-bhagavata this pastime is described as follows: "The Lord, with His beautiful eyes, would cry, but He would stop immediately upon hearing the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. When the ladies, understanding the fun of the Lord, discovered that He would cry and then stop upon hearing the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, they all took it as a clue to chant Hare Krishna as soon as the Lord cried. Thus it became a regular function. The Lord would cry, and the ladies would begin chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, clapping their hands. In this way all the ladies of the neighboring houses would assemble in the home of Sacimata to join in the sankirtana movement twenty-four hours a day. As long as the ladies continued to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, the Lord would not cry but would very pleasingly smile upon them."
from Cc. Adi. 14.51 purport:
“Our Krishna consciousness movement is introducing this bona fide method of worship in the Western world. Its members are going from village to village and town to town with Deities of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, teaching people how to worship the Lord by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, offering prasadamand distributing prasadam to people in general.”
from The Nectar of Devotion, chapter 34:
“No one, while remaining on the material platform, should discuss these different descriptions of bhava and anubhava by quoting different statements of transcendental literatures. Such manifestations are displays of the transcendental pleasure potency of the Lord. One should simply try to understand that on the spiritual platform there are many varieties of reciprocal love.”
from Bhagavad-gita As It Is 10.12–13, purport:
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and one should always meditate upon Him and enjoy one’s transcendental relationship with Him.
Kalakantha Prabhu:
The value of my poeticized Srimad-Bhagavatam is that it is very condensed. Thus you can cover all the pastimes in theKrishnabook in just thirty classes.
from a lecture given in Mayapur:
“This verse has many interesting facets. For one thing, it puts the position of father, mother, husband and guru on the same level. Nobody should take any of these responsible positions unless they are capable of giving real shelter to their dependents. No one would think I cannot be a perfect mother or father, therefore I should not become one. Similarly, no one should think I cannot be perfect as a spiritual master, therefore I should not become one. Caitanya Mahaprabhu encouraged everybody, yare dekha, tare kaha 'krishna'-upadesa amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei desa. (CC Madhya 7.128) Everybody, wherever you go, whomever you meet, tell them about Krishna and that way become a spiritual master and try to liberate your land.”
“There is something very wonderful about the commonality between gurus, husbands, and parents and the responsible people. And that is they have the wonderful ability to give unconditional love to their dependents, love that is given so freely regardless of how the dependent responds, that is the unifying quality of these various positions.”
“Ravindra Swarup Prabhu wrote a very beautiful and eloquent praise of Srila Prabhupada, in which he described how he went, this elderly swami went to the lower east side of New York City Manhattan very degraded place, and presented sainthood as a viable career option.”
“So I was thinking about what has kept me in Krishna consciousness for forty years. In every case, it was the loving reciprocation, the loving presentation of the devotees.”
“Srila Prabhupada was there [in Mayapur] each morning giving class, taking us around, circumambulating the Deities and ringing the bell, making everyone dance in ecstasy. Speaking from the 7th canto telling us how the same hand that ripped apart Hiranyakashipu was patting the head of Prahlad Maharaja.”
“In this way so many wonderful memories were there. I was twenty years old, very inexperienced, I felt like I was living the Caitanya-caritamrtaand those memories of Srila Prabhupada and his kindness have kept me in Krishnaconsciousness.”
“H. H. Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja and I lived in the back of a van together for years. We have very different backgrounds. He was very experienced, college educated, and he was very strong in his spiritual life. Every morning he would get up at midnight every day and he would chant many rounds and write a letter to Srila Prabhupada every day and read and then he would wake me up. . . . He never ever made me feel anything but very much appreciated and respected and loved. Never did I feel like he is laying some kind of guilt trip on me or feeling better than me. I never thought I felt anything from him but this unconditional love. That sustained me for many, many years.”
“H. H. Tamal Krishna Maharaja was so kind to all of the families in the community and very accommodating to everybody and very respectful and appreciative and so unconditional in his love. . . . He said not everybody can oversee a community. He said the Six Goswamis could do this, dhira adhira jana priyo.He quoted this same verse, they were dear to every body, both devotees and nondevotees. And they would come to them for advice.”
“And finally one very special devotee, Yamuna Devi Prabhu, Prabhvi. I don’t dare call her Mother Yamuna. I tried that one time and she said, yes, Father Kalakantha. . . . We would go to her ashram for Srimad-Bhagavatamclass. It was so sweet. She and Dina Tarini were so learned and also loving in their approach to Krsna consciousness. . . . She told about the time that they were recording the Radha Krsna temple album. All of the devotees were at the studio in Apple records. George was in the control room mixing. They were recording for several hours. . . . She was awake by herself, so she sat down at the harmonium began singing a bhajana. . . . She [had] listened to this bhajanaover and over again, never seeing it in print. Just to pass the time, she started singing as best as she could remember “Bhaja Hu Re Mana.” Of course she sang bhaja mana hu re.And she was just singing and when she finished George came out of the studio, and said I was recording that and I want to put it on the album. . . . She had no idea it was being recorded. She did not want to put it on the album but George insisted, ‘I have to put it on.’ There were many mistakes in the language and the words.”
“Later Srila Prabhupada heard the bhajana and said, ‘You have made a mistake.’ She was so embarrassed, and said ‘I’m sorry.’ He said, ‘No, no, that’s alright, you can fix it later.’”
“So when talking to new people, look for some way in which they are better than you. Maybe they are older than you, maybe younger, more educated, better looking more experienced, something in them that is superior to you and then talk about that thing.”
“The second thingyena tena prakarena, manah krsna nivesayat(from The Nectar of Devotion) first of all, think about Krishna, the rules and regulations can come later.
Another thing that was very radical I noticed whenever students came to the temple room, they would see the murtiof Srila Prabhupada in our small temple room, and they would become very disturbed, just very strange. We had a full size murtiof Srila Prabhupada in a small temple, and it just dominated everything. So we opened a Bhaktivedanta Library in another room and we moved the murtithere. Then the students seemed to feel more comfortable. It was less strange because they did not know who Prabhupada was. So when they came we started teaching them about Prabhupada, reading Lilamrtaover lunch everyday, talking about his life, teaching the words of the songs he taught us and explained the meaning and then more and more of them started joining and then they said, ‘Why is the murtiof Srila Prabhupada not in the temple room?’”
“When they asked for it, then we brought it back. And now it’s cool because they tell the other students, ‘Oh yeah, that’s Prabhupada, he’s so cool.’”
“We let them come in on the basis of an experiment. We say just enroll for a semester. You have to get up early and chant eight rounds, but there is no commitment. You don’t have to be a member of ISKCON, you don’t have to join ISKCON, you don’t even have to like ISKCON. Just learn bhakti and then decide. You do this for one semester, and you attend your classes and then after a semester, you decide if you want more. If you don’t like what you got then you go right back to where you were, karma back guaranteed.”
“And one more important point is this, conversely to catch them doing something right, we have learned not to catch them doing something wrong. Somebody is eating with their left hand. What do we do? ‘Oh, Stop that.’ they are going to feel very uncomfortable like they are on trial. Any moment they can be punished. So we just started noting down, I and the other senior devotees, in our little notebook that they are doing something wrong. Once a week, we sit down together and say here are some of the rules of etiquette we would like you to learn. And without pointing any fingers, we say, eat with the right hand and so many other details.”
“This analogy of guru and parent is very similar. Nothing in my life has prepared me more for taking disciples than having children. You give them love and love and love and that is very natural, but then they do what they are going to do. You learn the meaning of unconditional love when you have children. But with disciples, it is so much nicer. No diapers. And in most cases, they do what you suggest.”
“To see people equally is only possible by loving everybody.”
“We should know that’s the indication we are advancing, when we don’t feel enmity towards anyone else. When we feel love towards them, we can see ourselves honestly, if I would have been in that person's position then I would probably be doing the same thing. We could see how we are common. Not distinguishing by gender or age or race or country, and we can give that affection unconditionally. That is a signpost that we are actually coming closer to loving Krishna. That will be the success of our movement and that will be the glory of Srila Prabhupada. When all the followers of ISKCON show unconditional love, then the whole world will become Krishnaconscious.”
Find the entire text of this lecture at:
Kaliyaphani Prabhu:
comment before St. Augustine Ratha-yatra:
The holy name is Krishna. And Krishna is the worldwide solution for everything.
Laksmimoni dd:
Material things are never as good as we thought they would be, nor do they give us as much satisfaction as we thought they would.
There is a small tinge of the idea of spiritual separation in material life. When we are separated from someone we like, we just remember the good things about them.
The association of the Lord is so nice that when it is lost, one desires it even more than before, and because of that desire, one remembers the Lord constantly and thus gains the perpetual association of the Lord by that constant remembrance.
There is a feeling we have of a lacking within, which is there ultimately because we are lacking Krishna, and to be fixed in devotional service, we have to understand that there is nothing that can remove that feeling of lacking until we attain Krishna.
In spiritual separation one appears to be dissatisfied because he has not attained Krishna, but on the other hand, he is satisfied because he is remembering Krishna more intensely in separation and associating with Him through that remembrance.
We have to hanker to hanker for a taste so that we want to do devotional service.
If we do not desire Krishna, we have to desire to desire to Krishna, and if we cannot desire to desire Krishna, we have to desire to desire to desire Krishna.
George Harrison wrote “My Sweet Lord” after a conversation with Srila Prabhupada in which he was explaining separation from Krishna. When the dawn comes when we see the initial light we anticipate the sun rising, and our desire to see the sun develops more and more.
Srila Prabhupada created the society of devotees to keep us strong in Krishna consciousness.
Sometimes Krishna disappears as a test for His devotees.
comment by Kalakantha Prabhu: Garuda Prabhu in his book about the rasa dance of Krishna gave an analogy in which God disappearing from the gopis who desired enjoy His association alone and reappearing when they cooperated, is compared to God disappearing from sectarian religions who claim to be His favorite until the time they learn to cooperate with each other, when He will appear.
comment by Syamala Kishori dd: One can say the gopis are humble because they did not mind being used as a example for all eternity of devotees who became so proud that Krishna disappeared from them.
Nanda dd:
When life gets especially tough, we must increase our hearing and chanting about Krishna so that that we can see our situation in proper perspective.
comment by Ballabha Sena and Gopala: Prabhupada said in morning walk in Dallas that we know we are beyond the regulations of sadhana-bhaktiif we are beyond eating and sleeping.
Yadubara Prabhu:
[Yadubara Prabhu has several slide shows of still photos taken from the Following Srila Prabhupada video series. He came to Krishna House in Gainesville one Friday evening and commented on some on these slides. Below are some highlights. One devotee youth said she dreamed of Prabhupada that night as a result of his wonderful presentation.]
The San Francisco devotees were very liberal and the New York devotees were conservative, but Srila Prabhupada was such a great soul he encouraged both. Once when Srila Prabhupada was recuperating in New Jersey, the San Francisco devotees sent him a reel-to-reel recording they had made with Hare Krishna chanted to a new tune and accompanied by all kinds of unusual instruments. The New York devotees were aghast, but Srila Prabhupada accepted it, happy that they were still chanting Hare Krishna.
Gaurasundara read all kinds of books about India and learned about the idea of a brahmana, and so he asked if Srila Prabhupada could make him a brahmana. As a result Srila Prabhupada had the first brahmana initiation in Boston.
Prabhupada’s favorite flower was the gardenia because of its wonderful fragrance.
Srila Prabhupada asked his disciples why we had taken so much trouble to organize the San Francisco Ratha-yatra. Then he answered his own question, “It is the compassion of the Vaishnava.”
Srila Prabhupada always paid special attention to the children. He loved the children very much. He understood they were the future of the movement.
Srila Prabhupada noticed there was salt in the caranamrita, the ISKCON Press book he was giving class from had a bad binding, Prabhupada’s name was simply “A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami” instead of “His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,” and the picture of Srila Prabhupada’s guru was upside down on the altar, and thus he could understand something was wrong —they were minimizing their spiritual master.
Srila Prabhupada would be concerned when something was wrong and do the needful, but he never became angry or morose.
Sahajiyaism and impersonalism are two enemies of Vaishnavism.
Whenever the train would stop in India, the devotees would get off the train and have kirtana. One time enroute from Bombay to Amritsar, the train stopped at Mathura for 20 minutes and the devotees had an especially ecstatic kirtana there in the holy dhama.
I asked Srila Prabhupada if I could travel with his party and take pictures. Srila Prabhupada asked if I planned to become a devotee. I was attracted, but I did not think I would join, and so I told him that, and he said, “You cannot stay.” I stayed for two months, and he did not say anything. He knew I was attracted. I came to understand that we cannot stay with the devotees for long if we do not become a devotee. If we try, we will not be able to enter deeply into the association.
One devotee engaged some boy scouts in kirtana. Kirtana was our life and soul. It was about all we did.
In Surat there were four or five engagements each day with full prasadam.
Prabhupada came on the harinamas his discples did at the Kumbha Mela. He could have stayed with friends in Allahabad, as he knew many people from living there for years, but he preferred to stay in the cold in a tent with his disciples.
Three-year-old Sarasvati would tug on people’s shirts and say, “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and you should surrender to Him.” Srila Prabhupada said she was a perfect preacher as she told others what she knew about Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada did not care for style of the garments offered him but the devotion they were offered with.
Jean [now Visakha dd] wanted to do a photo essay of a Indian village and suggested she asked Srila Prabhupada which one. Prabhupada replied, “Vrindavan,” and so she did the photo essay and became a devotee in the process, touched by the devotion of the widows chanting in Vrndavana.
Radhika Ramana Prabhu:
from a lecture in Alachua on Shiva Ratri:
Shiva and Parvati lived at Kedarnatha. Once they went to take bathe in the Mandakini, and they saw a beautiful baby, and Parvati was attracted to the beautiful boy who appeared there, but they were busy taking bath, so she set him in their ashram and bathed, When they returned, they found they were locked out of their place, because the boy was Vishnu, and he took over their ashram, and that became Badrinath, and Shiva and Parvati created a new place nearby.
A devotee of Lord Shiva was so faithful in worship, Lord Shiva wanted to reward him, and asked what benediction he wanted. The young devotee said he did not know what was best, and asked Shiva to give him wherever Shiva considered to be best. Lord Shiva thought for a while, and decided devotion to Krishna is the ultimate benefit, and gave him that.
Lord Shiva wanted to participate in Lord Krishna's dance of love, but was told it was not possible. After much protest, he was told he could bathe in a special river and get the body of a gopi, and so he did and joined the dance. But as he is Shiva, the Lord of the dance of destruction, he did an extreme dance that was rocking the whole area. Krishna came to him, praised His dancing and offered Him a benediction. He asked to witness all of Krishna’s pastimes.
Shiva likes to connect people with Krishna.
Shiva asked Yasoda to sprinkle Him with water from Krishna’s bath and remnants of food offered to Krishna.
One early Rajapura Jagannath pujari was annoyed that the local residents were offering everything to a Shiva deity nearby and not Lord Jagannath, so he hid the Shiva deity. After returning to Mayapur he fell from his bike, vomiting blood. He had dream where Shiva appeared saying, “You are so great a devotee of Jagannath you can offend me? You will suffer until you pour water on a Shiva Deity at Alalanatha. He did not immediately follow that order, but he continued to suffer until he did.
Parvati asked for Lord Jagannath’s prasadam, but not for herself. As mother of the universe she wanted to share it with all her kids.
Madhava Prabhu:
Just as in math we start with addition, and then learn the other operations, and then calculation, algebra, and higher and higher mathematics, we start with our regulated spiritual practice (sadhana) and ultimately attain prema (pure love of God).
Comment by Bhakta Paul: We all want to go to heaven, but we don’t want to die first.
Prema Manjari dd:
Defending is the same as fearing because it is the reaction to fear.
In Sweden I was appreciating the beauty of nature during a japa walk and then I noticed a bug trapped in a web and a spider approaching it. I also saw a bird swooping down to catch a worm. I was suddenly struck with the cruelty that is present in nature all around us.
Fear of maya [the energy that causes us to forget our relationship with God], fear of separation from Krishna, and fear that harm may come to Krishna are the fears of the devotees.
A nondevotee sees himself as the Lord of all he surveys, although he may not do so consciously.
Fear of maya [the energy that causes us to forget our relationship with God] is a very healthy fear.
A friend of mind decided she would not take the devotional services to seriously and do some other things. Her experience was that the further she got away from her devotional practice, the more she felt anxiety.
We can be fearless for a day by trying to be complete surrendered to Krishna for that day.
Get up before maya gets up.
Through the different activities of our morning program we are taking shelter of Krishna in different ways.
We have to both endeavor our best and depend on Krishna’s mercy.
Only if we relish pleasure internally from our relationship with Krishna can we be truly detached from the external world.
Try to see how everything Krishna does is good, and behind apparently bad things there is a great good. We have to practice this.
comment by Tulasirani: We do our best to show Krishna that we want to advance our relationship, but we knows that result is up to Krishna.
Nama Kirtana Prabhu:
from a conversation after class:
Gambling seems harmless but there are a lot of bad activities associated with it.
Rohini Kumara Prabhu:
Consider the people in general to be your brothers and sisters and invite them to experience Krishna consciousness.
Q: Suppose a senior person is always very condescending to me. How do I handle it?
A: Approach your authority and explain the situation and ask him the best way to act.
Tulasirani dd:
An ordinary man cannot complete satisfy one wife, but Krishna could completely satisfy so many.
Krishna performed a pastime of having a headache, saying that only the dust of the feet of His devotees could cure it. Narada asked all varieties devotees including Krishna’s queens and the great demigods but only the gopis would risk hellish punishment for committing such an offense [by touching their foot dust to Krishna’s head] to relieve their beloved Krishna’s headache. Seeing the gopis devotion, Narada desired the dust of their feet.
Many of the great teachers in our line are assistants of the gopis in their original spiritual forms, and they retain their completely selfless spirit in their activities in this world.
By our offering prayers and glorifying the pure devotees we can attain the platform of pure devotional service because when we do those things, Krishna will be pleased to help us.
We have taken to this path of pure devotional service, and so we must become purified. We can go through the purification kicking and screaming, or we can surrender to it.
Every time I do not feel like going on harinama, going on book distribution, or going to mangala-arati but I do it anyway, telling Krishna, “I do not feel like doing this, but I am doing it for You,” then it becomes really sweet.
Better to do your sadhana with complete attention and focus than to do something that is way more than you are capable of doing, with distraction.
Krishna consciousness takes great determination, and when you are surrounded by loving devotees, who are supportive, then it is a lot easier.
Sometimes it is valuable to come before the Deity and say, “I want to come to the point of complete surrender, please help me. That is all I want.” I always feel better after that.
The more we do our activities for Krishna’s pleasure, the happier we will be and the more we will be inclined to act for His pleasure in the future.
from a conversation after the St. Augustine Ratha-yatra:
I was walking down the same street, hours after the harinama was over, and it seemed so boring. But that is what the people experience every day. Sometimes we forget how life sucks without kirtana.
Dr. Dina Bandhu Prabhu:
The sweetest thing for the Supreme Lord is when the living entity uses his free will to offer Him presentations in devotion.
Karma-yoga is like if you are an expert chef and you make what you are best at cooking and offer it to your friend. Bhakti-yoga is like if you ask what your friend wants to eat and make that for him.
Prateek:
from a conversation:
Bankameans very good looking, so banka-bihari means Krishna is a very good looking performer of pastimes.
-----
“The name of Krishna is purely spiritual. There is no knowledge as great as that of the name, and no practice of austerity or meditation, no result of spiritual activity, no form of renunciation, no act of sense control, no pious act, and no goal that can match it. The name is the supreme liberation, the supreme destination, and the supreme peace. The name is eternal life itself. The name is the supreme devotion and the supreme intelligence. The name is the supreme love and the supreme remembrance. The name is the soul's reason for existence. The name is the lord of the soul, the most worshipful object, and the supreme guru.
“These high praises are verified by the realizations awakening devotees gain as they practice chanting, and so they come to have deep conviction in the holy name.”
—Agni Purana
The Matrix of Illusion
→ The Loft Yoga Lounge Auckland
Creative Self Deception A drama using the Matrix theme to teach the highest principles of life, and the essence of genuine yoga. Please watch the talk by Devamrita swami in my videos that accompanies the drama. It is called Creative Self Deception (The Matrix) … these videos are for those who seek real wisdom and [...]
The post The Matrix of Illusion appeared first on The Loft Yoga Lounge Auckland.
Devamrita swami – Sunday 5th May
→ The Loft Yoga Lounge Auckland
THIS SUNDAY 5th May, we have a presentation by the international speaker, author and monk, Devamrita swami. His wisdom and insight, into moderns issues and spiritual aspirations, is not to be missed for those who seek balance and peace in an ever changing world. All comes with a wonderful dinner …. see poster for details
The post Devamrita swami – Sunday 5th May appeared first on The Loft Yoga Lounge Auckland.
Consciousness does not annihilate after death
→ Servant of the Servant
We can run but we can't hide is a popular saying from a rock band in the US. In one sense, it is true, we can run from the truth but eventually the truth will catch up with us, we cannot hide from it.
More and more, there is growing evidence from mainstream science - consciousness as separate from the brain and body. Dr. Sam Parnia, a leading scientist and doctor has been conducting studies over the years on patients who were resuscitated from death. Some of them have stories to tell that cannot be denied. Dr Parnia says "The evidence we have so far is that human consciousness does not become annihilated".
If you are interested to know more on this, please read the entire article in this link.
From a Krishna Conscious perspective and Bhagavad Gita, we have no doubts that consciousness is indeed separate from the physical body and mind. We existed in the past, exist in the present and will exist in the future, of this there is no doubt!
Hare Krishna
More and more, there is growing evidence from mainstream science - consciousness as separate from the brain and body. Dr. Sam Parnia, a leading scientist and doctor has been conducting studies over the years on patients who were resuscitated from death. Some of them have stories to tell that cannot be denied. Dr Parnia says "The evidence we have so far is that human consciousness does not become annihilated".
If you are interested to know more on this, please read the entire article in this link.
From a Krishna Conscious perspective and Bhagavad Gita, we have no doubts that consciousness is indeed separate from the physical body and mind. We existed in the past, exist in the present and will exist in the future, of this there is no doubt!
Hare Krishna
Consciousness does not annihilate after death
→ Servant of the Servant
We can run but we can't hide is a popular saying from a rock band in the US. In one sense, it is true, we can run from the truth but eventually the truth will catch up with us, we cannot hide from it.
More and more, there is growing evidence from mainstream science - consciousness as separate from the brain and body. Dr. Sam Parnia, a leading scientist and doctor has been conducting studies over the years on patients who were resuscitated from death. Some of them have stories to tell that cannot be denied. Dr Parnia says "The evidence we have so far is that human consciousness does not become annihilated".
If you are interested to know more on this, please read the entire article in this link.
From a Krishna Conscious perspective and Bhagavad Gita, we have no doubts that consciousness is indeed separate from the physical body and mind. We existed in the past, exist in the present and will exist in the future, of this there is no doubt!
Hare Krishna
More and more, there is growing evidence from mainstream science - consciousness as separate from the brain and body. Dr. Sam Parnia, a leading scientist and doctor has been conducting studies over the years on patients who were resuscitated from death. Some of them have stories to tell that cannot be denied. Dr Parnia says "The evidence we have so far is that human consciousness does not become annihilated".
If you are interested to know more on this, please read the entire article in this link.
From a Krishna Conscious perspective and Bhagavad Gita, we have no doubts that consciousness is indeed separate from the physical body and mind. We existed in the past, exist in the present and will exist in the future, of this there is no doubt!
Hare Krishna
The Zone
→ blog
<p>Have you heard of the zone? It's a state of mind sometimes called "flow state". Humans experience it when they get really absorbed in an activity, such as sports, music, art, computer programming, and gaming, etc. It is the mad scientist’s state of mind when he is so absorbed in his invention that he hasn't eaten, washed, or slept in three days; it is the child’s state of mind when she is so absorbed in playing that she doesn't realise that she has gotten hungry or tired; and it is the StarCraft champion’s state of mind when he is playing the computer game so intensely, executing ten actions per second, hammering his mouse and keyboard, ultimately defeating his opponent through superior focus and "micro", but has to retire at the age of twenty five because his reflexes become too slow.</p><ul><blockquote><br/><a href="http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Micro_and_Macro">Micro and Macro in Starcraft</a> <br/><a href="http://youtu.be/vTt9L3mMTbw">Video of someone who is in the zone playing micro Starcraft</a></blockquote></ul><p>If you have experienced the zone, then you know it is blissfully absorbing. Your attention is completely taken away from other things. Your mind detaches from your body. You are fully in the moment, not conscious of the body, outside reality, or the passage of time. The zone produces an inner clarity where the activity you are doing becomes its own reward and you feel fantastic.</p><p>Many Eastern teachings, including the art and science of Krishna Consciousness, explain that we are not the body, but are, in fact, beings of pure spiritual consciousness. The zone closely resembles our original state of pure consciousness and is therefore a state of such great happiness. It is not, however, automatically a spiritual experience. It can be spiritual, but more often than not, it is simply the material mind getting absorbed in a material activity without any direct spiritual connection.</p><p>For all its wonders, there are some problems with the zone. For one, it is difficult to get into. It requires an activity that you are very skilled at and that is very challenging at the same time. Such activities are hard to come by, and the more you master them, the less likely they reliably lead you into the zone. </p><p><img class="left" src="http://deltaflow.com/assets/_resampled/resizedimage500500-zone-diagram.png" alt="getting into the zone diagram" title="teststashapp" width="500" height="500"/></p><p>(source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)">Wikipedia</a>)</p><p>The zone is also very much a temporary state. You might loose track of time for a while, but sooner or later you emerge from the zone and enter back into mundane reality—the bills, the work, and the usual routine.</p><p>The yoga texts of ancient India elaborately describe Krishna Consciousness' path into the zone. The texts present a practice of meditation that leads to greater and greater absorption in relationship with the Supreme Consciousness, to Krishna Consciousness. This path starts with hearing sacred sound vibration, then repeating such sounds as you have heard them. This repetition can be done either quietly in "japa" meditation, or loudly in "kirtan" singing. The more you repeat the sacred mantras, the more they embed themselves into your consciousness. Soon, you start to remember them throughout the day, and your mood lifts. With determined practice, the mantras (sounds that represent the many names of the Supreme) become second nature, until you remember them in every situation. Prolonged practice of such Krishna Consciousness leads to a state known as "samadhi", pure spiritual trance, or fully awakened consciousness. In that state you completely understand your relationship to the Supreme and inhabit a body made of pure spiritual consciousness. You are no longer of this material world. You are completely happy, fully and permanently in the spiritual zone.</p><p><img class="left" src="http://deltaflow.com/assets/_resampled/resizedimage450254-Hannold2.jpg" width="450" height="254" alt="" title=""/></p><p>Below are some amazing videos of Alex Honnold, supremely expert free-solo climber. He climbs vertical walls without any tools, ropes, or support. I think part of the reason he does this is because he can reliably enter into the zone when doing such climbs and there is great happiness in that state. Alex has an amazing skill and I have the greatest respect for him. Still, as you watch the videos (notice your hands start to sweat as you watch) think to yourself how much safer, easier, and more accessible path into the zone you might find by seeking out a friendly group of spiritual practitioners, practitioners engaged in chanting japa and kirtan, practitioners on their way into "samadhi".</p><ul><blockquote><li><a href="http://youtu.be/SR1jwwagtaQ">60-minutes report on Alex Honnold</a></li><li><a href="http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/adventure/featured-videos-adventure/adv-beyond-the-edge-honnold/">Short version of Alone on a Wall</a></li><li><a href="http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjM3MTcyOTgw.html">Full version of Alone on a Wall</a></li><p> </p></blockquote></ul>
Letter to Pope Paul
→ Servant of the Servant
The letter by Srila Prabhupada to The Pope is as much relevant today as it was in 1968 in fact in my opinion it has gotten worse. Please read carefully the type of culture we are actively promoting for ourselves and our children. As Mahatma Gandhi said "be the change you want to see in the world" and so in that spirit, let us vow to make that change within our heart from materialism to God-centric and in time spread that consciousness to others. The change begins with us. Please read the letter - Hare Krishna.
AN OPEN LETTER TO POPE PAUL VI From A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
ISKCON Radha-Krishna Temple
3720 Avenue Du Parc
Montreal 18
Quebec, Canada
August 3, 1968
His Holiness Pope Paul VI
Vicar of Jesus Christ
State of Vatican
Rome, Italy
Your Holiness:
Please accept my respectful humble obeisances at your Lotus Feet. I beg to introduce myself as an Indian monk, following the Vedic principles of religious life. At the present, I am in the renounced order of Sannyas, aged 72 years, and am preaching God consciousness all over the world. I came to America in 1965, and since then I have many followers belonging to both Christian and Jewish faiths. And I have established a number of Krishna Consciousness temples in the USA and Canada. In the coming months, I am scheduled to go to London on this mission, and maybe I can visit other cities of European countries.
My mission is in the line of Lord Chaitanya, Who is personified Love of Godhead, and Who advented Himself 482 years ago in India, and preached God consciousness all over the world, on the basis of Srimad Bhagwatam (The Science of God). The principle of Srimad Bhagwatam is that any religious faith which helps a man to develop love of God, without any motives, and without being hampered by any material condition, is transcendental religion. And the best process or the easiest process, in this age especially, is to chant the Holy Name of God. From this definition of religion as we find it in the Srimad Bhagwatam, the criterion of religion is how it helps people to develop their dormant love of God. This is not artificially invoked, but it is aroused from within, due to bona fide association with devotees, and by hearing about God.
The human form of life is especially meant for this purpose, namely, to invoke the dormant love of God, because a higher development of consciousness is found in both man and animals. But the special significance of human life is to achieve love of God as the prime perfection of life. Unfortunately, at the present moment people are more concerned about the principle of sense gratification, or the animal part of human life, and they are gradually declining in God consciousness. This tendency is very much increasing, and because Your Holiness is the head of a great religious sect, I think we should meet together and chalk out a program for cooperation.
Human society cannot any longer be allowed to continue a Godless civilization at the risk of decreasing truthfulness, hygienic principles and mercifulness. Because, on account of the decline of these principles at the present moment, the duration of life, strength and memory of the human being is decreasing. Human society is gradually devolving in the matter of religiousness and justice; and "might is right" is gradually taking the place of morality and justice. There is practically no more family life, and the union of man and woman is gradually coming to the standard of sexuality. I understand it from reliable sources that people are trying to get Your Holiness' sanction for the contraceptive method, which is certainly against any religion of the world. In the Hindu religion, such contraceptive method and abortion are considered equivalent to murder.
Therefore, in the matter of sex, the human society is gradually becoming even less than animals. As a result of unrestricted sense gratification, even in ordinary dealing a man cannot trust another man, because the cheating propensity of man has increased beyond imagination. The attraction of young boys for young girls is no longer even a matter of love, but exists only on the basis of sexual potency. And as soon as there is a slackening of sex life, there is immediately a divorce petition.
In India, which was once the land of religion and Brahminical culture, things have deteriorated to such an extent that a man in a higher caste is recognized simply by putting a piece of thread on his body as a sign of sanctity. The so-called Swamis are cheating the public because the public wants to be cheated by some cheap method of self-realization. And today, if someone has no sufficient money, it is very hard for him to get justice from the court. And if anyone can simply bluff by so-called advancement of knowledge, he is offered the doctorate degree. If a man is falsely proud, he is accepted as civilized.
By frustration, people are gradually becoming communists and hippies, and the guardians of society must now take up the situation very seriously, without further delay.
The Krishna Consciousness movement is meant for overhauling the whole situation. We are creating men of character, and we are training our disciples to becoming lovers of God, or Krishna. From the very beginning, they are trained to refrain from the following four principles of degradation: 1) sex life outside of marriage, 2) meat-eating, or the eating of any animal food, 3) all forms of intoxication, and 4) gambling and idle sports. Our teachings are based on the authorized movement of Lord Chaitanya, on the principles of Bhagavad Gita, as the beginning, and Srimad Bhagwatam as the graduation.
I do not wish to prolong the body of this letter further, but if you think that my meeting with you will be beneficial for human society at large, I shall be very much pleased if Your Holiness will grant me an interview. Thanking you in anticipation of an early reply, I am
Yours in the service of the Lord,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
- From "Prabhupada-lila" by HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
AN OPEN LETTER TO POPE PAUL VI From A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
ISKCON Radha-Krishna Temple
3720 Avenue Du Parc
Montreal 18
Quebec, Canada
August 3, 1968
His Holiness Pope Paul VI
Vicar of Jesus Christ
State of Vatican
Rome, Italy
Your Holiness:
Please accept my respectful humble obeisances at your Lotus Feet. I beg to introduce myself as an Indian monk, following the Vedic principles of religious life. At the present, I am in the renounced order of Sannyas, aged 72 years, and am preaching God consciousness all over the world. I came to America in 1965, and since then I have many followers belonging to both Christian and Jewish faiths. And I have established a number of Krishna Consciousness temples in the USA and Canada. In the coming months, I am scheduled to go to London on this mission, and maybe I can visit other cities of European countries.
My mission is in the line of Lord Chaitanya, Who is personified Love of Godhead, and Who advented Himself 482 years ago in India, and preached God consciousness all over the world, on the basis of Srimad Bhagwatam (The Science of God). The principle of Srimad Bhagwatam is that any religious faith which helps a man to develop love of God, without any motives, and without being hampered by any material condition, is transcendental religion. And the best process or the easiest process, in this age especially, is to chant the Holy Name of God. From this definition of religion as we find it in the Srimad Bhagwatam, the criterion of religion is how it helps people to develop their dormant love of God. This is not artificially invoked, but it is aroused from within, due to bona fide association with devotees, and by hearing about God.
The human form of life is especially meant for this purpose, namely, to invoke the dormant love of God, because a higher development of consciousness is found in both man and animals. But the special significance of human life is to achieve love of God as the prime perfection of life. Unfortunately, at the present moment people are more concerned about the principle of sense gratification, or the animal part of human life, and they are gradually declining in God consciousness. This tendency is very much increasing, and because Your Holiness is the head of a great religious sect, I think we should meet together and chalk out a program for cooperation.
Human society cannot any longer be allowed to continue a Godless civilization at the risk of decreasing truthfulness, hygienic principles and mercifulness. Because, on account of the decline of these principles at the present moment, the duration of life, strength and memory of the human being is decreasing. Human society is gradually devolving in the matter of religiousness and justice; and "might is right" is gradually taking the place of morality and justice. There is practically no more family life, and the union of man and woman is gradually coming to the standard of sexuality. I understand it from reliable sources that people are trying to get Your Holiness' sanction for the contraceptive method, which is certainly against any religion of the world. In the Hindu religion, such contraceptive method and abortion are considered equivalent to murder.
Therefore, in the matter of sex, the human society is gradually becoming even less than animals. As a result of unrestricted sense gratification, even in ordinary dealing a man cannot trust another man, because the cheating propensity of man has increased beyond imagination. The attraction of young boys for young girls is no longer even a matter of love, but exists only on the basis of sexual potency. And as soon as there is a slackening of sex life, there is immediately a divorce petition.
In India, which was once the land of religion and Brahminical culture, things have deteriorated to such an extent that a man in a higher caste is recognized simply by putting a piece of thread on his body as a sign of sanctity. The so-called Swamis are cheating the public because the public wants to be cheated by some cheap method of self-realization. And today, if someone has no sufficient money, it is very hard for him to get justice from the court. And if anyone can simply bluff by so-called advancement of knowledge, he is offered the doctorate degree. If a man is falsely proud, he is accepted as civilized.
By frustration, people are gradually becoming communists and hippies, and the guardians of society must now take up the situation very seriously, without further delay.
The Krishna Consciousness movement is meant for overhauling the whole situation. We are creating men of character, and we are training our disciples to becoming lovers of God, or Krishna. From the very beginning, they are trained to refrain from the following four principles of degradation: 1) sex life outside of marriage, 2) meat-eating, or the eating of any animal food, 3) all forms of intoxication, and 4) gambling and idle sports. Our teachings are based on the authorized movement of Lord Chaitanya, on the principles of Bhagavad Gita, as the beginning, and Srimad Bhagwatam as the graduation.
I do not wish to prolong the body of this letter further, but if you think that my meeting with you will be beneficial for human society at large, I shall be very much pleased if Your Holiness will grant me an interview. Thanking you in anticipation of an early reply, I am
Yours in the service of the Lord,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
- From "Prabhupada-lila" by HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Letter to Pope Paul
→ Servant of the Servant
The letter by Srila Prabhupada to The Pope is as much relevant today as it was in 1968 in fact in my opinion it has gotten worse. Please read carefully the type of culture we are actively promoting for ourselves and our children. As Mahatma Gandhi said "be the change you want to see in the world" and so in that spirit, let us vow to make that change within our heart from materialism to God-centric and in time spread that consciousness to others. The change begins with us. Please read the letter - Hare Krishna.
AN OPEN LETTER TO POPE PAUL VI From A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
ISKCON Radha-Krishna Temple
3720 Avenue Du Parc
Montreal 18
Quebec, Canada
August 3, 1968
His Holiness Pope Paul VI
Vicar of Jesus Christ
State of Vatican
Rome, Italy
Your Holiness:
Please accept my respectful humble obeisances at your Lotus Feet. I beg to introduce myself as an Indian monk, following the Vedic principles of religious life. At the present, I am in the renounced order of Sannyas, aged 72 years, and am preaching God consciousness all over the world. I came to America in 1965, and since then I have many followers belonging to both Christian and Jewish faiths. And I have established a number of Krishna Consciousness temples in the USA and Canada. In the coming months, I am scheduled to go to London on this mission, and maybe I can visit other cities of European countries.
My mission is in the line of Lord Chaitanya, Who is personified Love of Godhead, and Who advented Himself 482 years ago in India, and preached God consciousness all over the world, on the basis of Srimad Bhagwatam (The Science of God). The principle of Srimad Bhagwatam is that any religious faith which helps a man to develop love of God, without any motives, and without being hampered by any material condition, is transcendental religion. And the best process or the easiest process, in this age especially, is to chant the Holy Name of God. From this definition of religion as we find it in the Srimad Bhagwatam, the criterion of religion is how it helps people to develop their dormant love of God. This is not artificially invoked, but it is aroused from within, due to bona fide association with devotees, and by hearing about God.
The human form of life is especially meant for this purpose, namely, to invoke the dormant love of God, because a higher development of consciousness is found in both man and animals. But the special significance of human life is to achieve love of God as the prime perfection of life. Unfortunately, at the present moment people are more concerned about the principle of sense gratification, or the animal part of human life, and they are gradually declining in God consciousness. This tendency is very much increasing, and because Your Holiness is the head of a great religious sect, I think we should meet together and chalk out a program for cooperation.
Human society cannot any longer be allowed to continue a Godless civilization at the risk of decreasing truthfulness, hygienic principles and mercifulness. Because, on account of the decline of these principles at the present moment, the duration of life, strength and memory of the human being is decreasing. Human society is gradually devolving in the matter of religiousness and justice; and "might is right" is gradually taking the place of morality and justice. There is practically no more family life, and the union of man and woman is gradually coming to the standard of sexuality. I understand it from reliable sources that people are trying to get Your Holiness' sanction for the contraceptive method, which is certainly against any religion of the world. In the Hindu religion, such contraceptive method and abortion are considered equivalent to murder.
Therefore, in the matter of sex, the human society is gradually becoming even less than animals. As a result of unrestricted sense gratification, even in ordinary dealing a man cannot trust another man, because the cheating propensity of man has increased beyond imagination. The attraction of young boys for young girls is no longer even a matter of love, but exists only on the basis of sexual potency. And as soon as there is a slackening of sex life, there is immediately a divorce petition.
In India, which was once the land of religion and Brahminical culture, things have deteriorated to such an extent that a man in a higher caste is recognized simply by putting a piece of thread on his body as a sign of sanctity. The so-called Swamis are cheating the public because the public wants to be cheated by some cheap method of self-realization. And today, if someone has no sufficient money, it is very hard for him to get justice from the court. And if anyone can simply bluff by so-called advancement of knowledge, he is offered the doctorate degree. If a man is falsely proud, he is accepted as civilized.
By frustration, people are gradually becoming communists and hippies, and the guardians of society must now take up the situation very seriously, without further delay.
The Krishna Consciousness movement is meant for overhauling the whole situation. We are creating men of character, and we are training our disciples to becoming lovers of God, or Krishna. From the very beginning, they are trained to refrain from the following four principles of degradation: 1) sex life outside of marriage, 2) meat-eating, or the eating of any animal food, 3) all forms of intoxication, and 4) gambling and idle sports. Our teachings are based on the authorized movement of Lord Chaitanya, on the principles of Bhagavad Gita, as the beginning, and Srimad Bhagwatam as the graduation.
I do not wish to prolong the body of this letter further, but if you think that my meeting with you will be beneficial for human society at large, I shall be very much pleased if Your Holiness will grant me an interview. Thanking you in anticipation of an early reply, I am
Yours in the service of the Lord,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
- From "Prabhupada-lila" by HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
AN OPEN LETTER TO POPE PAUL VI From A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
ISKCON Radha-Krishna Temple
3720 Avenue Du Parc
Montreal 18
Quebec, Canada
August 3, 1968
His Holiness Pope Paul VI
Vicar of Jesus Christ
State of Vatican
Rome, Italy
Your Holiness:
Please accept my respectful humble obeisances at your Lotus Feet. I beg to introduce myself as an Indian monk, following the Vedic principles of religious life. At the present, I am in the renounced order of Sannyas, aged 72 years, and am preaching God consciousness all over the world. I came to America in 1965, and since then I have many followers belonging to both Christian and Jewish faiths. And I have established a number of Krishna Consciousness temples in the USA and Canada. In the coming months, I am scheduled to go to London on this mission, and maybe I can visit other cities of European countries.
My mission is in the line of Lord Chaitanya, Who is personified Love of Godhead, and Who advented Himself 482 years ago in India, and preached God consciousness all over the world, on the basis of Srimad Bhagwatam (The Science of God). The principle of Srimad Bhagwatam is that any religious faith which helps a man to develop love of God, without any motives, and without being hampered by any material condition, is transcendental religion. And the best process or the easiest process, in this age especially, is to chant the Holy Name of God. From this definition of religion as we find it in the Srimad Bhagwatam, the criterion of religion is how it helps people to develop their dormant love of God. This is not artificially invoked, but it is aroused from within, due to bona fide association with devotees, and by hearing about God.
The human form of life is especially meant for this purpose, namely, to invoke the dormant love of God, because a higher development of consciousness is found in both man and animals. But the special significance of human life is to achieve love of God as the prime perfection of life. Unfortunately, at the present moment people are more concerned about the principle of sense gratification, or the animal part of human life, and they are gradually declining in God consciousness. This tendency is very much increasing, and because Your Holiness is the head of a great religious sect, I think we should meet together and chalk out a program for cooperation.
Human society cannot any longer be allowed to continue a Godless civilization at the risk of decreasing truthfulness, hygienic principles and mercifulness. Because, on account of the decline of these principles at the present moment, the duration of life, strength and memory of the human being is decreasing. Human society is gradually devolving in the matter of religiousness and justice; and "might is right" is gradually taking the place of morality and justice. There is practically no more family life, and the union of man and woman is gradually coming to the standard of sexuality. I understand it from reliable sources that people are trying to get Your Holiness' sanction for the contraceptive method, which is certainly against any religion of the world. In the Hindu religion, such contraceptive method and abortion are considered equivalent to murder.
Therefore, in the matter of sex, the human society is gradually becoming even less than animals. As a result of unrestricted sense gratification, even in ordinary dealing a man cannot trust another man, because the cheating propensity of man has increased beyond imagination. The attraction of young boys for young girls is no longer even a matter of love, but exists only on the basis of sexual potency. And as soon as there is a slackening of sex life, there is immediately a divorce petition.
In India, which was once the land of religion and Brahminical culture, things have deteriorated to such an extent that a man in a higher caste is recognized simply by putting a piece of thread on his body as a sign of sanctity. The so-called Swamis are cheating the public because the public wants to be cheated by some cheap method of self-realization. And today, if someone has no sufficient money, it is very hard for him to get justice from the court. And if anyone can simply bluff by so-called advancement of knowledge, he is offered the doctorate degree. If a man is falsely proud, he is accepted as civilized.
By frustration, people are gradually becoming communists and hippies, and the guardians of society must now take up the situation very seriously, without further delay.
The Krishna Consciousness movement is meant for overhauling the whole situation. We are creating men of character, and we are training our disciples to becoming lovers of God, or Krishna. From the very beginning, they are trained to refrain from the following four principles of degradation: 1) sex life outside of marriage, 2) meat-eating, or the eating of any animal food, 3) all forms of intoxication, and 4) gambling and idle sports. Our teachings are based on the authorized movement of Lord Chaitanya, on the principles of Bhagavad Gita, as the beginning, and Srimad Bhagwatam as the graduation.
I do not wish to prolong the body of this letter further, but if you think that my meeting with you will be beneficial for human society at large, I shall be very much pleased if Your Holiness will grant me an interview. Thanking you in anticipation of an early reply, I am
Yours in the service of the Lord,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
- From "Prabhupada-lila" by HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
06 Urmila Devi Dasi – Learn to Read Books – Part Two
→ Successful Vaisnavas – Personal Development for Hare Krishnas
Did you miss the first part of the interview? Click here: Urmila Part One At the end of the first part of the interview we were hearing how the Learn to Read books project was facing major challenges. Urmila was feeling stuck and unsure of how to proceed. In this part we will hear how […]
The post 06 Urmila Devi Dasi – Learn to Read Books – Part Two appeared first on Successful Vaisnavas - Personal Development for Hare Krishnas.
06 Urmila Devi Dasi – Learn to Read Books – Part Two
→ Successful Vaisnavas
Did you miss the first part of the interview?
Click here: Urmila Part One
At the end of the first part of the interview we were hearing how the Learn to Read books project was facing major challenges. Urmila was feeling stuck and unsure of how to proceed.
In this part we will hear how by asking one question to an expert the whole project got back on track and how one thing after another miraculously fell into place allowing the successful completion of all the books.
Continue listening to hear some very profound realizations about working for Krishna without attachment for results and the amazing reciprocation that Krishna provided.
To learn more about the wonderful books described in this interview visit: http://www.learntoreadenglish.co.uk/
The ipad version can also be purchased at
http://successfulvaisnavas.com/LTR
For another version of the story of how these books were produced.
Click this link:
The Zone
→ Home
Have you heard of the zone? It's a state of mind sometimes called "flow state". Humans experience it when they get really absorbed in an activity, such as sports, music, art, computer programming, and gaming, etc. It is the mad scientists state of mind when he is so absorbed in his invention that he hasn't eaten, washed, or slept in three days; it is the childs state of mind when she is so absorbed in playing that she doesn't realise that she has gotten hungry or tired; and it is the StarCraft champions state of mind when he is playing the computer game so intensely, executing ten actions per second, hammering his mouse and keyboard, ultimately defeating his opponent through superior focus and "micro", but has to retire at the age of twenty five because his reflexes become too slow.
Micro and Macro in Starcraft
Video of someone who is in the zone playing micro Starcraft
If you have experienced the zone, then you know it is blissfully absorbing. Your attention is completely taken away from other things. Your mind detaches from your body. You are fully in the moment, not conscious of the body, outside reality, or the passage of time. The zone produces an inner clarity where the activity you are doing becomes its own reward and you feel fantastic.
Many Eastern teachings, including the art and science of Krishna Consciousness, explain that we are not the body, but are, in fact, beings of pure spiritual consciousness. The zone closely resembles our original state of pure consciousness and is therefore a state of such great happiness. It is not, however, automatically a spiritual experience. It can be spiritual, but more often than not, it is simply the material mind getting absorbed in a material activity without any direct spiritual connection.
For all its wonders, there are some problems with the zone. For one, it is difficult to get into. It requires an activity that you are very skilled at and that is very challenging at the same time. Such activities are hard to come by, and the more you master them, the less likely they reliably lead you into the zone.
(source: Wikipedia)
The zone is also very much a temporary state. You might loose track of time for a while, but sooner or later you emerge from the zone and enter back into mundane realitythe bills, the work, and the usual routine.
The yoga texts of ancient India elaborately describe Krishna Consciousness' path into the zone. The texts present a practice of meditation that leads to greater and greater absorption in relationship with the Supreme Consciousness, to Krishna Consciousness. This path starts with hearing sacred sound vibration, then repeating such sounds as you have heard them. This repetition can be done either quietly in "japa" meditation, or loudly in "kirtan" singing. The more you repeat the sacred mantras, the more they embed themselves into your consciousness. Soon, you start to remember them throughout the day, and your mood lifts. With determined practice, the mantras (sounds that represent the many names of the Supreme) become second nature, until you remember them in every situation. Prolonged practice of such Krishna Consciousness leads to a state known as "samadhi", pure spiritual trance, or fully awakened consciousness. In that state you completely understand your relationship to the Supreme and inhabit a body made of pure spiritual consciousness. You are no longer of this material world. You are completely happy, fully and permanently in the spiritual zone.
Below are some amazing videos of Alex Honnold, supremely expert free-solo climber. He climbs vertical walls without any tools, ropes, or support. I think part of the reason he does this is because he can reliably enter into the zone when doing such climbs and there is great happiness in that state. Alex has an amazing skill and I have the greatest respect for him. Still, as you watch the videos (notice your hands start to sweat as you watch) think to yourself how much safer, easier, and more accessible path into the zone you might find by seeking out a friendly group of spiritual practitioners, practitioners engaged in chanting japa and kirtan, practitioners on their way into "samadhi".
The Zone
→ Home
Have you heard of the zone? It's a state of mind sometimes called "flow state". Humans experience it when they get really absorbed in an activity, such as sports, music, art, computer programming, and gaming, etc. It is the mad scientists state of mind when he is so absorbed in his invention that he hasn't eaten, washed, or slept in three days; it is the childs state of mind when she is so absorbed in playing that she doesn't realise that she has gotten hungry or tired; and it is the StarCraft champions state of mind when he is playing the computer game so intensely, executing ten actions per second, hammering his mouse and keyboard, ultimately defeating his opponent through superior focus and "micro", but has to retire at the age of twenty five because his reflexes become too slow.
Micro and Macro in Starcraft
Video of someone who is in the zone playing micro Starcraft
If you have experienced the zone, then you know it is blissfully absorbing. Your attention is completely taken away from other things. Your mind detaches from your body. You are fully in the moment, not conscious of the body, outside reality, or the passage of time. The zone produces an inner clarity where the activity you are doing becomes its own reward and you feel fantastic.
Many Eastern teachings, including the art and science of Krishna Consciousness, explain that we are not the body, but are, in fact, beings of pure spiritual consciousness. The zone closely resembles our original state of pure consciousness and is therefore a state of such great happiness. It is not, however, automatically a spiritual experience. It can be spiritual, but more often than not, it is simply the material mind getting absorbed in a material activity without any direct spiritual connection.
For all its wonders, there are some problems with the zone. For one, it is difficult to get into. It requires an activity that you are very skilled at and that is very challenging at the same time. Such activities are hard to come by, and the more you master them, the less likely they reliably lead you into the zone.
(source: Wikipedia)
The zone is also very much a temporary state. You might loose track of time for a while, but sooner or later you emerge from the zone and enter back into mundane realitythe bills, the work, and the usual routine.
The yoga texts of ancient India elaborately describe Krishna Consciousness' path into the zone. The texts present a practice of meditation that leads to greater and greater absorption in relationship with the Supreme Consciousness, to Krishna Consciousness. This path starts with hearing sacred sound vibration, then repeating such sounds as you have heard them. This repetition can be done either quietly in "japa" meditation, or loudly in "kirtan" singing. The more you repeat the sacred mantras, the more they embed themselves into your consciousness. Soon, you start to remember them throughout the day, and your mood lifts. With determined practice, the mantras (sounds that represent the many names of the Supreme) become second nature, until you remember them in every situation. Prolonged practice of such Krishna Consciousness leads to a state known as "samadhi", pure spiritual trance, or fully awakened consciousness. In that state you completely understand your relationship to the Supreme and inhabit a body made of pure spiritual consciousness. You are no longer of this material world. You are completely happy, fully and permanently in the spiritual zone.
Below are some amazing videos of Alex Honnold, supremely expert free-solo climber. He climbs vertical walls without any tools, ropes, or support. I think part of the reason he does this is because he can reliably enter into the zone when doing such climbs and there is great happiness in that state. Alex has an amazing skill and I have the greatest respect for him. Still, as you watch the videos (notice your hands start to sweat as you watch) think to yourself how much safer, easier, and more accessible path into the zone you might find by seeking out a friendly group of spiritual practitioners, practitioners engaged in chanting japa and kirtan, practitioners on their way into "samadhi".
Deity Darshan: 4/21/2013
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Blog!
Mediate before you meditate
→ Tattva - See inside out
- Tolerance – the first moments of a conflict situation can determine the entire conversation. Be tolerant and patient. The art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. Adopting an adversarial approach erects barriers which block the meeting of hearts.
- Circumstance - beyond the perceived irrationality of actions and words, try to understand why someone is doing what they do. Then you hold the key to progress. In interpersonal relations the golden rule is this: seek first to understand, then to be understood. To do that you have to listen with an open heart and an open mind.
- Acceptance – did you ever consider that there may not be a right or wrong answer? Conflict comes from difference, but diversity is not necessarily bad. Fear of difference is fear of life itself. By accepting that we're all individuals, we can more appreciate that conflict is often a case of different ‘angles of vision’ illuminating the same truth.
- Importance – keep disagreements in perspective and properly evaluate their importance. Question whether the tenacious pursuance and resolution of a conflict is really necessary. Issues can easily be dropped or ignored, but often our emotional involvement keeps us doggedly fighting till the last breath.
- Transcendence – we love to be right, but the spiritual principle is to transcend right and wrong. The real aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress. If a concession of ‘defeat’ improves our relationships, helps us develop character, and opens up opportunities for progressive solutions, then where is the loss?
Mediate before you meditate
→ Tattva - See inside out
- Tolerance – the first moments of a conflict situation can determine the entire conversation. Be tolerant and patient. The art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. Adopting an adversarial approach erects barriers which block the meeting of hearts.
- Circumstance - beyond the perceived irrationality of actions and words, try to understand why someone is doing what they do. Then you hold the key to progress. In interpersonal relations the golden rule is this: seek first to understand, then to be understood. To do that you have to listen with an open heart and an open mind.
- Acceptance – did you ever consider that there may not be a right or wrong answer? Conflict comes from difference, but diversity is not necessarily bad. Fear of difference is fear of life itself. By accepting that we're all individuals, we can more appreciate that conflict is often a case of different ‘angles of vision’ illuminating the same truth.
- Importance – keep disagreements in perspective and properly evaluate their importance. Question whether the tenacious pursuance and resolution of a conflict is really necessary. Issues can easily be dropped or ignored, but often our emotional involvement keeps us doggedly fighting till the last breath.
- Transcendence – we love to be right, but the spiritual principle is to transcend right and wrong. The real aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress. If a concession of ‘defeat’ improves our relationships, helps us develop character, and opens up opportunities for progressive solutions, then where is the loss?
Join us this Sunday for the association of our guest speaker His Grace Mahabhagavata Dasa
→ ISKCON BRAMPTON'S BLOG
Sunday Feast, April 21st @ 11:00am
The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse by His Grace Mahabhagavata Dasa
namas te narasimhayaThe program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse by His Grace Mahabhagavata Dasa
1:05 pm - 1:20 pm Tulasi Puja
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
Upcoming Events:
Nrsimha Caturdasi - Appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva
Please mark your calender for this upcoming event. ISKCON Brampton would celebrate this festival with an evening program starting 7:00pm on Friday May 24th.More details will be sent in the near future.
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
Upcoming Events:
Nrsimha Caturdasi - Appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva
Please mark your calender for this upcoming event. ISKCON Brampton would celebrate this festival with an evening program starting 7:00pm on Friday May 24th.More details will be sent in the near future.
prahladahlada-dayine
hiranyakashipor vaksaha
shila-tanka-nakhalaye
I offer my obeisances to Lord Narasimha, who gives joy to Prahlada Maharaja and whose nails are like chisels on the stonelike chest of the demon Hiranyakasipu.
Join us this Sunday for the association of our guest speaker His Grace Mahabhagavata Dasa
→ ISKCON BRAMPTON'S BLOG
Sunday Feast, April 21st @ 11:00am
The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse by His Grace Mahabhagavata Dasa
namas te narasimhayaThe program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse by His Grace Mahabhagavata Dasa
1:05 pm - 1:20 pm Tulasi Puja
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
Upcoming Events:
Nrsimha Caturdasi - Appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva
Please mark your calender for this upcoming event. ISKCON Brampton would celebrate this festival with an evening program starting 7:00pm on Friday May 24th.More details will be sent in the near future.
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
Upcoming Events:
Nrsimha Caturdasi - Appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva
Please mark your calender for this upcoming event. ISKCON Brampton would celebrate this festival with an evening program starting 7:00pm on Friday May 24th.More details will be sent in the near future.
prahladahlada-dayine
hiranyakashipor vaksaha
shila-tanka-nakhalaye
I offer my obeisances to Lord Narasimha, who gives joy to Prahlada Maharaja and whose nails are like chisels on the stonelike chest of the demon Hiranyakasipu.