Monday, June 13, 2022
→ The Walking Monk

Lorette/Winnipeg

The Airy Prairie

I could not resist going down an endless prairie dirt road for the friendly skies of Krishna – blue clouds, great air, and no stop signs or intersections to worry about. The road I chose is located where I’ve been staying; I didn’t catch the name of it but it is edged by lots for new housing units. Out of nine lots, seven are sold and one of them is already under construction, at least the foundation. Three men were up and at it, hard hats and all. They were surprised to see a spec of saffron ambling along in the distance. As I got closer to the working crew, I waved. They reciprocated. I shouted, “Good luck with the project!” A second handwave followed. I guess they appreciated the encouragement. While in the prairies, I thought for a moment about the B.C. mountains and the Frazer River. Perhaps it was Paramatma, God in the heart, sending a message – “you have a Zoom call to tend to with the Vancouver community – a class on the Bhagavatam.” So, I rushed back to the home of my hosts, Amit and Priyanka, for that monthly call.

It was a sweet call. Here we were reading a portion of the ultimate literature, commenting on it with reflections deep. A great way to air out the mind.

Amit took me to St. Vital, a subsection of Winnipeg. Once I settled, I took to an urban stroll with Manitoba maple lining the streets; earth-toned rabbits running all around.

My day completed with a Zoom call with our east-coast devotees at this time, a bi-weekly Gita Chat.

What a perfect day!

4 km


 

Sri Jagannatha Ratha Yatra Seva Opportunity 2022!!!
→ Mayapur.com

Hare Krishna, Jai Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra Maharani! All glories to Sri Mayapur Dham Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Lord Jagannatha after being away from the eyes of everyone from Snana Yatra day, the Lord emerges very beautifully after 15 days of recovery to give Darshan to all […]

The post Sri Jagannatha Ratha Yatra Seva Opportunity 2022!!! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

New York City Ratha Yatra Procession (video)
→ ISKCON News

Every summer, on the Second Saturday of June, The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) presents their jubilant annual Ratha Yatra (Festival of the Chariots) Parade down Fifth Avenue. The procession of colorful chariots begins promptly at 12:00 PM from the corner of 45th Street and 5th Avenue and proceeds down Fifth Avenue, to Washington […]

The post New York City Ratha Yatra Procession (video) appeared first on ISKCON News.

Devotee Care Expanding to a Temple Near You
→ ISKCON News

The Devotee Care initiative has been expanding worldwide since 2015.  Many hundreds of devotees have taken the Devotee Care course.  Find it and everything else devotee caring at devoteecare.org/ This course can be a great boon to your temple, devotees, and congregations and you can host it at your temple. The Devotee Care committee can supply […]

The post Devotee Care Expanding to a Temple Near You appeared first on ISKCON News.

First-ever Ratha Yatra at Watford’s Cassiobury Park-UK
→ ISKCON News

History was made in Watford’s famous Cassiobury Park on Saturday 11th June. After local devotees gathered en masse along Watford’s bustling high street for hari nama chanting, for the first time they made their way to the park’s entrance to greet the cart carrying Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra. After a joyous Ratha Yatra procession around the […]

The post First-ever Ratha Yatra at Watford’s Cassiobury Park-UK appeared first on ISKCON News.

Refugees Sing Holy Name in Barcelona
→ ISKCON News

CHURCH OF BETHLEHEM – May 19, 2022 The Barcelona Temple has been receiving Ukrainian devotee refugees, one of the devotees is Nirmala Prema, who has been participating in our programs for several weeks with her inspiring voice. One day Nirmala passed by the Church of Bethlehem and listened to the children sing. She decided to […]

The post Refugees Sing Holy Name in Barcelona appeared first on ISKCON News.

TOVP June 2022 Construction Update with Pictures
→ ISKCON News

This month’s construction photo update includes photos of work being done in the Nrsimha Wing on the corridor doors, domes, and ceilings, production in the GRC (glass-reinforced concrete), and GRG (glass reinforced gypsum) workshop, the entranceway elephants, and the bas relief panels. Construction is full steam ahead as we race to the completion and opening […]

The post TOVP June 2022 Construction Update with Pictures appeared first on ISKCON News.

Simply love Krishna
→ Dandavats

“Outside devotees, the devotees who are outside Vṛndāvana, they are studying the inhabitants of the Vṛndāvana, how great they are. But the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, they don’t care to know how great is Krishna. That is the difference. So our business is simply to love Krishna. The more you love Krishna, the more you becomeRead More...
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Serving the Father or Spiritual Master
Giriraj Swami

Here are a relevant verse and purport from Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.24.13):

etavaty eva susrusa
  karya pitari putrakaih
badham ity anumanyeta
  gauravena guror vacah

“Sons ought to render service to their father exactly to this extent. One should obey the command of his father or spiritual master with due deference, saying, ‘Yes, sir.’ ”

Srila Prabhupada explains, “Two words in this verse are very important; one word is pitari, and another word is guroh. The son or disciple should accept the words of his spiritual master and father without hesitation. Whatever the father and the spiritual master order should be taken without argument: ‘Yes.’ There should be no instance in which the disciple or the son says, ‘This is not correct. I cannot carry it out.’ When he says that, he is fallen. The father and the spiritual master are on the same platform because a spiritual master is the second father. The higher classes are called dvija, twice-born. Whenever there is a question of birth, there must be a father. The first birth is made possible by the actual father, and the second birth is made possible by the spiritual master. Sometimes the father and the spiritual master may be the same man, and sometimes they are different men. In any case, the order of the father or the order of the spiritual master must be carried out without hesitation, with an immediate yes. There should be no argument. That is real service to the father and to the spiritual master. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has stated that the order of the spiritual master is the life and soul of the disciples. As a man cannot separate his life from his body, a disciple cannot separate the order of the spiritual master from his life. If a disciple follows the instruction of the spiritual master in that way, he is sure to become perfect. This is confirmed in the Upanisads: the import of Vedic instruction is revealed automatically only to one who has implicit faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead and in his spiritual master. One may be materially considered an illiterate man, but if he has faith in the spiritual master as well as in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then the meaning of scriptural revelation is immediately manifested before him.”

On this occasion, I pray to become a proper servant of my spiritual master, or spiritual father, Srila Prabhupada, and of all his other servants.

Hare Krishna.

Your aspiring servant,
Giriraj Swami

There is hope!
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 5 May 2019, Melbourne, Australia, Bhakti Vriksha Talk)

The acaryas were so absorbed in chanting that they did not want to do anything else. When Gaura Kishor das Babaji was chanting and would get hungry, he would simply eat some clay from the Earth. He was hungry, but he did not want to be distracted by going elsewhere to eat since he wanted to keep on chanting. How can we understand this, how can we understand such a high taste for chanting?!

It is said in the Sri Caitanya-carita by Murari Gupta that, “Gopinatha Acarya took the path of hearing Sri Nama Japa. Then fully intoxicated with Krsna-prema, Gopinatha would again and again cry out His names. He thus created a wave of song, dance and music, on which he would dance like the ocean flooding its shores.” Now, that is what you call chanting japa, right?! You are making a wave of a song, dance and music in chanting japa? This is another level! So, here we can see that there are levels of japa that we cannot even imagine, but the acaryas are writing about it! And then we are reading it and now we are imagining it. In this way, we get a little glimpse of what might be coming in the future.

We are maybe not yet chanting with pure love, but there is some hope. Through the spiritual master, we first become free from our temporary material conditioning. And then, we develop our eternal and ecstatic spiritual nature. So let us see how we progress in this movement, it is going to get more and more ecstatic as each day passes by!

The article " There is hope! " was published on KKSBlog.

There is hope!
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 5 May 2019, Melbourne, Australia, Bhakti Vriksha Talk)

The acaryas were so absorbed in chanting that they did not want to do anything else. When Gaura Kishor das Babaji was chanting and would get hungry, he would simply eat some clay from the Earth. He was hungry, but he did not want to be distracted by going elsewhere to eat since he wanted to keep on chanting. How can we understand this, how can we understand such a high taste for chanting?!

It is said in the Sri Caitanya-carita by Murari Gupta that, “Gopinatha Acarya took the path of hearing Sri Nama Japa. Then fully intoxicated with Krsna-prema, Gopinatha would again and again cry out His names. He thus created a wave of song, dance and music, on which he would dance like the ocean flooding its shores.” Now, that is what you call chanting japa, right?! You are making a wave of a song, dance and music in chanting japa? This is another level! So, here we can see that there are levels of japa that we cannot even imagine, but the acaryas are writing about it! And then we are reading it and now we are imagining it. In this way, we get a little glimpse of what might be coming in the future.

We are maybe not yet chanting with pure love, but there is some hope. Through the spiritual master, we first become free from our temporary material conditioning. And then, we develop our eternal and ecstatic spiritual nature. So let us see how we progress in this movement, it is going to get more and more ecstatic as each day passes by!

The article " There is hope! " was published on KKSBlog.