Planet ISKCON

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Ramsden Park, Toronto

Raised in Lebanon

“I was raised in Lebanon” said the 25-year oldish woman when she saw me and only after she told of her religious affiliation with Islam. “There was a lot of anger and hardness, so I got very discouraged.” She really did want to talk after seeing my apparel, so she went on.

“Then I went to a Christian church. People were quiet, friendly. They were singing and doing it so sweetly. I felt very welcome.”

I told her of my involvement in a tradition which has roots from India. “Since 1973, I’ve been a monk and, in our culture, we concentrate on meditation to do with mantras. It’s a true peaceful approach to life.” I gave her my card with the maha-mantra on it. It reads, “Please try the following MANTRA and SHINE: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. TRANSLATION: O Awesome Creator, allow me to be of blissful service to You and the world.”

The young woman glanced at it and wanted to continue to speak, but in a somewhat hurried way. “Maybe I should look into this?”

“Yes, we have a temple and a restaurant.”

“I think meeting you was meant to be. Maybe this is my next phase?”

“I believe you,” I said. “I wish you the best. Don’t hesitate to contact me.”

“I will,” she remarked with anticipation all over her face. 

May the Source be with you!

4 km

 

Faculty in the News: Neha Gothe, Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health   CHAMPAIGN, Illinois — There’s no shortage of scientific evidence that aerobic exercise is good for the brain. Imaging studies have shown that getting the heart pumping from a strong jog or bike ride strengthens connections in many brain networks and helps […]

The post Yoga May Be As Beneficial To The Brain As Aerobic Exercise appeared first on ISKCON News.

There’s no shortage of scientific evidence that aerobic exercise is good for the brain. Imaging studies have shown that getting the heart pumping from a strong jog or bike ride strengthens connections in many brain networks and helps new neurons grow. Not nearly as many studies have investigated the benefits of yoga exercise, but scientists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say research shows that yoga strengthens many of the same brain networks as aerobic exercise.

Source: Krishna Tube 

 

243 Ave. Rd., Toronto

Welcome, Atul Krishna

No walking today. Mopping, yes! Meaningful meetings? Most definitely. A Zoom Gita class? Oui. And then came 6 pm.

Ananda Gauranga came as the priest and, with Nimai Nitai’s assistance, pulled together what’s called a havan kund, an area for a fire, all decorated nicely for an initiation ceremony.

Atal Pandey, who’s in his eighties, stepped up for his diksha, or initiation. Yes, he has now entered the fold of the Iskcon family. There along with support from family and friends, he took to happy moments of even greater acceptance.

It got me thinking about my own commitment, only 48 years ago. It was a late summer day at the end of September. There was myself, a Godsister by the name of Bhadra Priya, and the priest of that time, Sripati, who hailed from the U.K. Things were so much simpler in those days. For Atal Pandey’s diksha, I just had to ask for the keys to the temple boutique to acquire neck beads and japa chanting beads. It was a piece of cake.

At my initiation our rented-house-turned-temple had no stock of anything. The big retreats to India where you buy devotional merchandise had not begun.

“Just go somewhere downtown, buy some beads from some place, get some string and purchase,” is what our temple commander told me. I didn’t know where to start, but something happened and I’m still here. Atal Pandey received the name Atul Krishna.

May the Source be with you!

 

Owen Sound, Ontario

The Pretty and the Painful

Every trail is unique. Every rock is distinct. Every cloud in the sky is different. Every tree has its own character. And today, I am viewing a waterfall which stands out from any other.

The water from the Sydenham River flows as cascades at Inglis Falls, a lovely drop of rushing H₂O. It is one of four waterfalls in the Owen Sound district. Its gorgeousness was the reason for a second stroll for Mahadeva, Anna Purna, and I, but here we were accompanied by local friends who are all nature lovers. That is the very reason I’m here; to get encouraged by people and nature – and to some degree to encourage.

Who would not be inspired by a rush of water playing on rocks and making the most soothing music you could find around? The hiss of the moving water is just a reminder of our place in the world. We are small. Everything else is huge.

Anyway, pleasant times. You have to make some room for them. Last evening we had a meaningful look at 2.20 from the Gita. This morning the same method was applied at the same place, the Hanna family, where we reflected on a verse from Canto One of the Bhagavatam. In this passage, the great Vidura is speaking about the suffering that nature inflicts. How true! Nature presents two sides – the pretty and the painful.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

 

Holland Centre, Ontario

Foresty Fragrant

One of the Gita Zoom calls for this Tuesday night is located in Owen Sound, Ontario, where our host, Sudhama, resides. Some of us decided to be there physically, so we drove up, a two-and-a-half-hour drive north west. Mahadeva was behind the wheel while his good partner, Annapurna, and I were passengers. To break up the drive we decided to hit a trail off of Hwy 10. A rails-to-trails pathway appeared to our right just prior to Holland Centre, a tiny hamlet, so this then became our down-time, a one hour walk down the Durham ATV Trail.

Peaceful, fresh, pristine and foresty-fragrant are some words that describe this little piece of heaven. I believe everyone should take some time during the course of the day for tranquility and reflection. It makes such a difference for input and output.

Now, how did our Zoom class go?

It was 2.20 from the Gita – a powerful verse. “The body can be slain, but the soul cannot.” That message is important to always keep in mind. And just to recall something that we dwelt on a few weeks back – “Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent (the material body) there is no endurance and of the eternal (the soul) there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both.”

All good, contemplative stuff.

May the Source be with you!

4 km

 

Brampton, Ontario

Being Reasonable

It was Dharma who drove me to Brampton Civic Hospital to see Madhurya Lila, a dear member of a Brampton branch and who’s struggling with cancer. She has a few days remaining and so I chanted by her bedside, convinced that this is the only resort. Krishna, bless this very good soul.

Before I arrived at this huge facility – the hospital – Dharma treated me to lunch. I hadn’t the time to eat so he arranged pizza from a nearby outlet called Pizza Depot. The person who came to pick me up after that meaningful visit was Bihar, an enthusiastic devotee. When I told him I had no lunch due to the fact that I was occupied in the morning with filling out forms for my right knee surgery, it left me no time to eat, so Dharma ordered a veg pizza.

“Oh, you can do that? Eat out?”

In other words, someone likely told him that it was wrong, even sinful, to eat food from karmis, or materialistic sources. I don’t consider this good man to be a fanatic. I was trying to tell him that I generally don’t eat out and that back at the temple there would be nothing to eat given that our Govinda’s is closed on Monday. (Our guru, Prabhupada, would go to a famous kachori shop which was not run by devotees).

In the evening, Ananda and his wife, Suskil, treated me to “Planta,” a chain restaurant specializing in plant-based food. It was good. We had chanted some mantras to make the food prasadam; consecrated. As mentioned, I rarely eat out and this occasion was a learning experience of taste and service attitude. My additional remark is that I refuse to fall into the fanatic category. When you do you play into madness that creates war.

May the Source be with you!

6 km

 

243 Avenue Road, Toronto

Of Subduers I am Time

This was our final day for the MANtra Retreat, which was very fulfilling. It was also engaging. It required my presence. While on top of that I invested time in desperately adding the final touches to “The Embassy,” our film for this year. Because of this preoccupation, I had to ignore calls (put on DO NOT DISTURB) and make it a priority. I disappointed some people and had to cancel the Gita Zoom Class with our Mississauga group, as well as the message I was going to deliver to the Muskoka group. My deep apologies. I had to give full attention to the Retreat this weekend.

I noted some powerful messages that came from presenters. Let’s start off with a quote from the Gita. “Of subduers I am time.” That was quoted in connection to “men and grieving.”

Other statements that resonated:

“Take responsibility of how you feel.” Also, “Take responsibility for how you react.”

“Don’t act on how you feel, but act on dharma.”

“Sadhana starts at 9 am,” (referring to how you apply what you’ve got from chanting and hearing before that).

Mahatma, one of the presenters, quoted Bhaktivinode saying that the three components of bhakti are compassion, humility, and forgiveness.

Prabhupada was quoted saying that if one is envious of another, then serve them in some capacity. It was also pointed out in a session that resentment is an addiction. It also is an identity. Overall, MANtra 2021 was a great success. God content. Good character.

May the Source be with you!

 

St. Jamestown, Toronto

MENTOR at MANTRA

At the MANtra retreat today, brilliant presentations were made, for instance, by Partha regarding marriage and the topic “Making an Ally,” referring to relationship development. Yadunatha entertained us with his skits. He is just great at getting us to laugh at ourselves and our habits, which could sometimes come across as fanatical. Dravida blessed us with his MANTRA RAPS. Anuttama took hold of a panel discussion, all under the umbrella of “The Hero’s Journey.” One that I really relished, presentation wise, was Radhika Raman, who spoke about “Guides, Gurus, and Mentors.”

Some of his remarks were as follows:

“A mentor is one who sees the potential in the mentee.”

“A mentor will fail if he/she gets caught up in themselves.” (It’s not about numbers or money)

“A mentor brings about humility and confidence.”

“A mentor recognizes the weaknesses and the strengths of the mentee.”

“A mentor helps a mentee cross over a threshold.”

“Trust is born of truth. Truth is born of honesty.”

“More important than content is character.”

“The scariest person of all is oneself.”

Good stuff! The MANtra program is designed to empower, enrich, and enlighten men to become better performers of devotion to all.

May the Source be with you!

3 km

 

• 

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All the unmarried gopīs in Vṛndāvana used to daily worship goddess Kātyāyanī early in the morning after taking a bath in the river Yamunā. Kātyāyanī is another name for goddess Durgā. 
The goddess is worshiped by preparing a doll made of sand from the bank of the Yamunā.

The gopīs used to prepare the deity of goddess Durgā and worship it with candana pulp, garlands, incense, lamps and all kinds of presentations—fruits, grain and twigs of plants.  

The unmarried girls used to pray with great devotion to goddess Kātyāyanī, addressing her as follows: “O supreme external energy of the Personality of Godhead, O supreme mystic power, O supreme controller of this material world, O goddess, please be kind to us and arrange for our marriage with the son of Nanda Mahārāja, Kṛṣṇa.”

From Krsna Book by His Divine grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

• 

• 

Below is a narration of a conversation between His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and Bhavananda Prabhu in Mayapur, 1977:

 

Source: Vedic Science Channel - Dr. Richard L. Thompson

Talk show host Bob Hieronimus discusses with Sadaputa Dasa (Dr. Richard L. Thompson) his recently published “Alien Identities.” The book created an immediate sensation amongst ufologists because of its sweeping survey of UFO phenomena and its exceptionally honest analysis. “Bizarre is a culturally conditioned term,” Thompson explains. But if we can escape the narrow confines of the scientific community’s self-imposed reductionism, he suggests that the alien close encounters, reported over the centuries and recorded by nearly all ancient cultures, shed their “bizarre” status and become a compelling subject for serious scientific investigation.

The South African National Council (SANC), which has served as the overarching management structure for ISKCON in South Africa since the late 1980s, is undergoing sweeping changes in its structure and approach. The aim of the transformation is to “more fully realize Srila Prabhupada’s vision for Krishna Consciousness in South Africa and to present Krishna […]

The post ISKCON South African National Council Makes Sweeping Changes appeared first on ISKCON News.

The South African National Council (SANC), which has served as the overarching management structure for ISKCON in South Africa since the late 1980s, is undergoing sweeping changes in its structure and approach.

With the recent COP26 climate conference in Glasgow a current hot topic of discussion, ISKCON will be holding the Felication Ceremony for its biggest Value Education Olympiad yet on November 22^nd. There it will recognize hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren from across India and the world who studied environmental values based on the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita.

After being virtually free of Covid-19 for most of the pandemic, New Zealand instituted a lockdown in August after discovering its first case in six months. Auckland, the epicenter of the outbreak, has remained in lockdown for over 90 days now, while most of the rest of the country has been living with minimal restrictions. […]

The post New Zealand Devotees Feed Thousands During Auckland Lockdown appeared first on ISKCON News.

Prasadam meals are distributed in the city, in all the suburbs around Auckland, and to homeless people in “community hubs,” as well as those who cannot work due to lockdown. Meals are also dropped off at the door of Starship Children’s Hospital for staff to distribute.

This year’s MAN-tra Retreat, held from November 12^th to 14^th, explored “The Hero’s Journey,” a common story template that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a crisis, and comes home transformed. The retreat applied the template to the life of devotees, who often see a similar awakening or call to adventure, followed by trials and transformation.

Hare Krishna!
Please accept our humble obeisances!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!

Date: 21st Nov 2021

Day: Sunday

Time: 11 am to 12 noon

Topic: "What Causes extremism - And How To Deal With It"

Speaker: HG Chitanya Charan das


Link to join the class from your desktop or laptop:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9150790510?pwd=Wk5GYXVRMkJmdk84MzZJRXBKYUgwUT09

HG Chatanya Charan das

Chaitanya Charan is a monk, mentor and spiritual author. He has done his Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering from the Government College of Engineering, Pune. He subsequently served as a software engineer in a prominent multinational software corporation. He also secured 2350 out of 2400 in GRE, gaining the top rank in Maharashtra.

Seeing the prevalent problems of stress, depression, addiction and overall misdirection – all caused by a lack of spirituality – he felt inspired to dedicate his life to the cause of sharing the spiritual wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita under the aegis of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness).


He travels all over the world from Australia to America, giving talks on spiritual subjects in universities such as Princeton, Harvard, Stanford and Cambridge and companies such as Intel, Google, Amazon and Microsoft. See Chaitanya Charan’s talks across the world


He is the author of the world’s only Gita-daily feature, wherein he writes daily a 300-word inspirational reflection on a verse from the Bhagavad- Gita. Till now he has written over seventeen hundred Gita meditations that are posted on www.gitadaily.com and are read through daily feeds by thousands from all over the world. He also answers questions by seekers on his site www.thespiritualscientist.com, where his over three thousand five hundred audio answers and several hundred articles are available.


His articles have been published in many national newspapers including Indian Express, Economic Times and Times of India in the Speaking Tree column. His writings in English have been translated into several foreign languages including German, Chinese and Romanian and several Indian languages including Kannada, Telgu, Bengali, Hindi and Marathi.


He is a member of ISKCON’s leading intellectual body, the Shastric Advisory Council, and is the associate-editor of ISKCON’s global magazine, Back to Godhead.

He has authored several wonderful books


ISKCON Scarborough

3500 McNicoll Avenue, Unit #3,

Scarborough, Ontario,

Canada, M1V4C7

Website: www.iskconscarborough.org

Email:

iskconscarborough@hotmail.com
scarboroughiskcon@gmail.com

The Purnima or full moon of Damodar month is the second full moon of the autumn season, and rasa lila is again celebrated. This second rasa yatra is celebrated more in Bengal, whereas the first one is celebrated more in Sridham Vrindavan. ISKCON Mayapur celebrates this day by decorating beautiful dancing deities of Srimati Radharani […]

The post 𝑺𝑹𝑰 𝑲𝑹𝑰𝑺𝑯𝑵𝑨 𝑹𝑨𝑺𝑨𝒀𝑨𝑻𝑹𝑨 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

This festival which falls on the bright half day of Kartik. Tulasi devi descended as the daughter of King Kushadvaja the faithful wife to demon Jalandhar. Being born in water Jalandhar claims sovereignty over the ocean and demands the 14 treasures churned out of the ocean in Vishnu’s second incarnation. He declares war and becomes […]

The post Tulasi- Saligram Vivaha appeared first on Mayapur.com.

• 

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Accurate biographies are difficult to find, yet authorities agree that Shri Nimbarkacharya preached Krishna consciousness about three-hundred years before the adventure of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. 

In Navadwipa Dhama Mahatyam, Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that Nimbarka had previously worshiped Lord Shiva in Bilva Paksha, Rudradwipa (Navadwipa). Lord Shiva appeared before Nimbarka instructing him to take initiation from the four Kumaras, who were meditating nearby.

Nimbarka received Radha-Krishna mantra and continued living in Navadwipa. Following the teachings of the Sanat-Kumara Samhita, he worshiped Radha and Krishna with great love. Soon Radha and Krishna appeared before Nimbarka. Then the Divine Couple displayed Their unified form as Shri Gauranga Mahaprabhu. 
 
Lord Gauranga said, “Nimbarka, in the future when I begin My sankirtana movement I will personally preach the perfect transcendental philosophy of achintya-bheda-abheda-tattva. I will take the essence of the philosophies of Madhva, Ramanuja, Vishnuswami. From you, Nimbarka, I will take two important principles: (1) The necessity of taking shelter of Shrimati Radharani. (2) The high esteem of the Vraja gopis love for Shri Krishna.”

Lord Gauranga disappeared after instructing Nimbarka. Shedding tears of ecstasy, Nimbarka left Navadwipa to begin his preaching mission. In Chaitanya lila, Nimbarka appeared as Keshava Kashmiri and received love of Godhead directly from Nimai Pandit.

In Vrindavana, about one mile from Govardhana, there is the village of Nimgaon, named after Nimbarkacharya, who lived there from childhood and later performed bhajana there. Many of Radha-Krishna’s pastime places in Vrindavana are now maintained by the Nimbarka sect.

In Mathura-Vrindavana, innumerable Devotees follow Nimbarka’s path of bhakti. The Shriji Mandir, just off Loi Bazaar in Vrindavana, serves as the center of Nimbarka sampradaya. 

• 

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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 17 November 2018, Prema-Sarovara, Vrndavana, India, Parikrama 2018 Lecture)

The word bhakti can be translated to devotion, devotional service. Bhaja is the root form of bhakti. Bhaja dhatu includes love, service and worship. The very essence of bhakti is emotions. When we speak of rasa, it implies emotions.

Whilst we are in this material world, we become conditioned, therefore we have a lower and a higher nature. There are two sides to our nature. The lower nature has become attached to the temporary and things of small significance, like when I lost my teddy dog as a child. I got over it. I grew up. When I was five, however, that was a tough moment. Emotions that are too affected by the temporary are not to be given much importance. Our emotions have to be awakened to the eternal. As we are advancing, we awaken our emotions to the eternal, towards Krsna, and then these emotions become favourable. When connected to temporary things, these emotions will bind us to them, and because it is temporary, it will make us broken hearted.

The dhama remains after the whole world is destroyed. After the dissolution of the universe, when England, Brazil and Holland will be no more, the dhama will still be there. Not exactly as we see it now, but in a spiritual, eternal form. Let us connect our feelings to the eternal and that will liberate us. It is an advanced state to have feelings for Krsna!

The article " Emotions in bhakti " was published on KKSBlog.

Today is the disappearance day of Srila Bhugarbha Gosvami, who is described in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 12.82):

bhugarbha gosani, ara bhagavata-dasa
yei dui asi’ kaila vrndavane vasa

“The eleventh branch of Gadadhara Gosvami was Bhugarbha Gosani, and the twelfth was Bhagavata dasa. Both of them went to Vrndavana and resided there for life.”

Purport: “Bhugarbha Gosani, formerly known as Prema-manjari, was a great friend of Lokanatha Gosvami, who constructed the temple of Gokulananda, one of the seven important temples of Vrndavana—namely those of Govinda, Gopinatha, Madana-mohana, Radharamana, Syamasundara, Radha-Damodara and Gokulananda—which are authorized institutions of Gaudiya Vaisnavas.”

“Bhugarbha Gosani, a disciple of [Gadadhara] Pandita Gosani, was always engaged in topics regarding Lord Caitanya, knowing nothing else. Among his disciples were Caitanya dasa, who was a priest of the Govinda Deity, as well as Mukundananda Cakravarti and the great devotee Krsnadasa.” (Adi 8.68–69)

May Srila Bhugarbha Gosvami bless us all.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Today is the auspicious disappearance day of Srila Bhūgarbha Goswami, a disciple of Gadadhar Paṇḍita Gosāñi, was always engaged in topics regarding Lord Caitanya, knowing nothing else.He is therefore considered to be Gadadhara’s branch. He along with his intimate friend Lokanatha Goswami located lost sacred places in Vrindavan by the order of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. To […]

The post 𝑫𝑰𝑺𝑨𝑷𝑷𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑫𝑨𝒀 𝑶𝑭 𝑩𝑯𝑼𝑮𝑨𝑹𝑩𝑯𝑨 𝑮𝑶𝑺𝑽𝑨𝑴𝑰 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Stephen Hawking on Trial: Confronting the Big Bang

By Pierre St. Claire (Vaiyasaki Dasa)

The wee Doctor behind the electronic voice on trial?

Stephen Hawking’s influence was significant. Nonetheless, renowned cosmologists have detected serious errors in his Grand Design theory of the universe.

Stephen Hawking On Trial documents the flaws in the final theory of an elder physicist.

Inconsistencies in Hawking’s thesis:

• Hypotheses vital to his theory lack supportive data
• Three major questions he glossed over deserve real answers
• What we factually know, but more importantly, what Hawking’s theory fails to explain

 
Author: Pierre St. Claire (Vaiyasaki Dasa)
Published: December 13, 2015
Book/File size: 202 KB, 144 pages
Formats: Kindle, Paperback

 
BUY ON AMAZON  

  Residents of India will have to search for this book on www.amazon.in

  View other books by Pierre St. Clairre (Vaiyasakdi Das) and other authors at the TOVP Book Marketplace.

 

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