Websites from the ISKCON Universe
If one chants and accepts the holy name as a material vibration, he falls down. One should worship and chant the holy name of the Lord by accepting it as the Lord Himself. During the chanting of the holy name, the tongue must work; the tongue is sevonmukha-jihva-it is controlled by service.
Progress in the field of lower knowledge, such as the progress in technology, is not really a progress. Real progress is progress in higher knowledge. This was a Krishna Lounge discussion.
Glastonbury Festival 2013
This must be the biggest music festival in the world.
Nice people come from all over the planet to experience this event.
A few months ago we posted an article on Dandavats, explaining how the festival organisers had gone corporate on us, they wanted us to buy our own tickets, not distribute prasad and that we would not get a good site for the tent.
Well, people complained, the organisers visited Dandavats and low and behold they gave us full facilities again, thanks Dandavats.
Enjoy the movie,be warned,it is not for those with a stanch imposition
Your servant
Parasuram Das
There is a new commercial ad delivery system coming our way. Talking train windows. Yup – as you drop your head against the train window to have a sleep, an ad is played to your ear which only you can hear. Check out the video to get an idea.
I was thinking – what would really help these tired urban hard working people are small spiritual quotes and instructions that can be served to their year using the same medium. Atleast that way, they can improve their lives and those of others too.
-Yonge-Dundas Square - Saturday, July 6th 
-12-hour Kirtan - Friday, July 12th
Come join us on Sunday July 14th, 2013 on Centre Island for the 6th Annual Yoga Meltdown, Toronto's largest, free outdoor spiritual yoga and kirtan exhibition. With free outdoor yoga classes, kirtan, mantra meditation sessions, yoga-inspired performances, vegan cooking demonstrations, a free vegetarian feast, and much more, the Sixth Annual Yoga Meltdown celebrates yoga in a dynamic and uniquely holistic way.-Yonge-Dundas Square - Saturday, July 6th -12-hour Kirtan - Friday, July 12thCome join us on Sunday July 14th, 2013 on Centre Island for the 6th Annual Yoga Meltdown, Toronto's largest, free outdoor spiritual yoga and kirtan exhibition. With free outdoor yoga classes, kirtan, mantra meditation sessions, yoga-inspired performances, vegan cooking demonstrations, a free vegetarian feast, and much more, the Sixth Annual Yoga Meltdown celebrates yoga in a dynamic and uniquely holistic way.Tonight ” Our Rights & Freedoms” – a discussion and presentation with Bhadrasena on, ” Our Rights & Freedoms are being undermined & stripped away ” , how does a mystic or yogi respond to this .. Great talks about how to make our way through the ever changing econ/poli, social climates? See you at [...]
The post Urban Meditations appeared first on The Loft Yoga Lounge Auckland.
A Ray Of Vishnu
The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients:
1 cup / 135g sunflower seeds
½ cup / 90g flax seeds
½ cup / 65g hazelnuts or almonds
1 ½ cups / 145g rolled oats
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt (add ½ tsp. if using coarse salt)
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (for sugar-free diets, use a pinch of stevia)
3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee
1 ½ cups / 350ml water
Directions:
Find it in the link below on Sarah Britton’s cooking blog
via The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread | My New Roots.
You will find some amazing and very easy menu ideas for your plate from Sarah’s blog. Easy read, healthy recipes and great photos.
(c) Image from Sarah Britton’s My New Roots Blog article
Luiz Antonio questions where his dinner came from.A video has gone viral of a Portuguese boy, Luiz Antonio, explaining to his mum why he doesn’t want to eat octopus gnocchi for dinner, saying that animals should be taken care of and not eaten
via Boy Realises Where Meat Comes From | Essential Kids.
Interesting news and video this one. Even a child knows about compassion. Why do adults have a strong distaste for love and care for other living beings? Why are they so adamant that they want to use animals and birds for experiments, sports and taste? Is is this our so-called advancement?
On another note, we can also see he is bringing his past life habits and desires into this life. Otherwise, it is very hard to have such strong views right from an early age. Perhaps, in a life prior to this, the boy must have been a strong advocate of animal rights and protection. He has taken another birth to carry on his mission. Good luck Luiz !
We should all read Śrīmad Bhāgavatam more carefully. It is the foundation of our entire spiritual practice, for without hearing attentively and with an ear for detailed comprehension, how will we invest our consciousness into chanting? And without chanting attentively, how will we expect to make any advancement towards a transcendental goal? By winning a lotto-6 of so-called “causeless mercy”??? That fails to recognize that the transcnedental goal is personal transformation, which cannot be effected without our personal involvement. No one else can do it for us. It all starts with hearing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam very carefully, with strong curiousity.
If by chance my attempt to do so is of service to you, all the gurus, headed ultimately by the Goddess, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī will be merciful to me and look on me favorably. Please bless me by finding something of inspirational value in my work on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
Your servant,
Vraja Kishor das
(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer)
[Originally published on July 1, 2013, though the topic is timeless, the endeavor constant]Two of the top difficult things to understand—out of many—for new readers of Bhagavad gita are the personhood of Krishna, and his Universal Form. Of course they are related, since Krishna reveals that the Universal Form comes from him, and is a manifestation of his energy as the material world. In particular this display of the Universal Form (there are others), though inspiring to show the greatness and inconceivableness of God, is also at times ghastly and fearsome, and as a form of time, “the destroyer of the worlds,” all of which may be disconcerting. While Krishna is both the creation and annihilation of everything he is also the seed of all existence, the life of all that lives, and the soul of our souls, so we have to look at the whole picture before being able to evaluate who Krishna is.
Krishna could have demonstrated his nature as the creator and maintainer by showing baby animals, lovely human children, beautiful scenes in Nature, the universe being incredibly sustained and flourishing, but specifically to get Arjuna’s attention, he wanted to encourage Arjuna in his duty of fighting by showing him that the great warriors he had to fight were already killed by Krishna’s power--in fact we all must die, our bodies that is, at our allotted time. For conditioned living beings, the Universal Form teaches us that the material world is temporary, and not really suitable for eternal souls to live, since bodies, planets, and the entire Universe are constantly changing, and will ultimately be vanquished. The point is that Krishna is present in all things and, through his energy, is everything. His greatness is all-sided and unlimited, manifested in the subatomic dimension and as the whole universe—in the micro and macro-cosmic level. For us imperfect and limited souls, he can be experienced in what we can observe. Though we can’t perceive his spiritual form, or even our own souls, we can, by the grace of the Bhagavad Gita, Shrimad Bhagavatam, and the mercy of the devotees who live by such revealed Vedic literature, “see” him, specifically in “…all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations…”[ Bg 10.41].
In what follows I will share some highlights of these manifestations of Krishna from the Bhagavad Gita, which is another version of the Universal Form, or Krishna’s material form.
(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer)
Two of the top difficult things to understand—out of many—for new readers of Bhagavad gita are the personhood of Krishna, and his Universal Form. Of course they are related, since Krishna reveals that the Universal Form comes from him, and is a manifestation of his energy as the material world. In particular this display of the Universal Form (there are others), though inspiring to show the greatness and inconceivableness of God, is also at times ghastly and fearsome, and as a form of time, “the destroyer of the worlds,” all of which may be disconcerting. While Krishna is both the creation and annihilation of everything he is also the seed of all existence, the life of all that lives, and the soul of our souls, so we have to look at the whole picture before being able to evaluate who Krishna is.
Krishna could have demonstrated his nature as the creator and maintainer by showing baby animals, lovely human children, beautiful scenes in Nature, the universe being incredibly sustained and flourishing, but specifically to get Arjuna’s attention, he wanted to encourage Arjuna in his duty of fighting by showing him that the great warriors he had to fight were already killed by Krishna’s power--in fact we all must die, our bodies that is, at our allotted time. For conditioned living beings, the Universal Form teaches us that the material world is temporary, and not really suitable for eternal souls to live, since bodies, planets, and the entire Universe are constantly changing, and will ultimately be vanquished. The point is that Krishna is present in all things and, through his energy, is everything. His greatness is all-sided and unlimited, manifested in the subatomic dimension and as the whole universe—in the micro and macro-cosmic level. For us imperfect and limited souls, he can be experienced in what we can observe. Though we can’t perceive his spiritual form, or even our own souls, we can, by the grace of the Bhagavad Gita, Shrimad Bhagavatam, and the mercy of the devotees who live by such revealed Vedic literature, “see” him, specifically in “…all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations…”[ Bg 10.41].
In what follows I will share some highlights of these manifestations of Krishna from the Bhagavad Gita, which is another version of the Universal Form, or Krishna’s material form.
The city of Newcastle has a population of over half a million people and is situated about two hours north of Sydney. It was once the headquarters of mining giant BHP, which has now ceased most of its operations.
The city is the country regional hub for the Hunter Valley with more than a million people living in the area. It has a big university that caters to local students as well as students from nearby towns.
For many years we operated a restaurant, shop and preaching centre in the city central. However, a big development company bought out the city block where our restaurant was located and made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.
In the beginning of June we purchased a shop with two apartments at back in the Mayfield area of Newcastle. This is just a ten minute drive from the university where we operate a Vegie club 4 or 5 times a week. Many students who eat at the Vegie club visit our farm at Millfield.
Over the next few months we will set up the shop as a Hare Krishna Food for Life premises, where we will cater for the Vegie Club as well as provide cheap meals from the shop itself. We will also hold regular Kirtan, prasadam and lecture classes from there.
Significance Of Pushya Abhishek …!!!
The 5th chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam’s Second Canto gives a fascinating, intriguing description of how the All-Attractive creates the primordial universe. Here is a footnote from the manuscript I am currently working on:
Text [2.5.]21 explains that the All-Attractive desires to be many, because its inherent nature is bliss – which is enjoyed in the form of love, which requires relationships, which requires multiple independent beings. The All-Attractive causes many beings to manifest from itself as a result of its own “magic” or mystical power (māyā) using three tools, time, destiny, and psychology.
Text 22 elaborates on this. It states the All-Attractive becomes the Puruṣa (a.k.a. Viṣṇu) to use these tools upon our “material world.” He uses time (kāla) as a catalyst to activate (vyatikara) the three qualities (guṇa). He then uses psychology (svabhāva) to stimulate evolutions (pariṇāma) within those qualities. “Psychology” refers to the various unique predilections and preferences of the various unique living entities who will populate the world. Then, the destiny (karma) that arises from the living entities psychological interaction with the three qualities causes the world to evolve out of the abstract realm and become the primeval form of the tangible universe (mahāt-tattva).
Madhav Das @ Birmingham 24 hour Kirtan 2013
