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Bhaktivedanta Academy is an institution dedicated to elevating society through spiritual education. We make videos about Krishna consciousness, Vedic philosophy, Brahminical culture, and the Gurukula educational system.
By Vijaya Das It's amazing what devotees can do, even in difficult circumstances. Many had to stop distributing books person to person, because of Covid-19, but our competent Commander-in-Chief, Vaisesika Prabhu, enlivened the whole Society to distribute two million Bhagavad-gitas and 26,000 sets in a few months Of course, it wouldn't be fair to say it was just because of his direction, because thousands of devotees participated in the marathon as well as throughout the year. But he was a big part of why we collectively did over five million books worldwide in 2020 making another big year for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada. Continue reading "WSN December 2020 – World Sankirtan Newsletter. Over five million books worldwide in 2020!
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By: Siddha Hari das for ISKCON News on Jan. 23, 2021
Posted with permission
Bibek Debroy, Chairman of India’s Prime Minister’s Economic Council has launched Sidharth Chhabra (Siddha Hari Das) and Madhavendra Puri Das’ upcoming book on the Bhagavata Purana.
Srila Prabhupada frequently asserted that the Puranic accounts are historical facts, although labeled mythology by modern man. In their book, the authors use rigorous scientific evidence to support Srila Prabhupada’s words.
The Big Bang and The Sages covers a research into the Puranic chronological cycles. Europeans became aware of billion and million year-long periods in the Puranas in the 17th century. They laughed at them due to their biblical orientation and ridiculed billion-year dates for the origin of the Earth, the Solar System, and the Universe. As a result of this bias, the Puranic chronology never received a comprehensive look. Carl Sagan famously, on his show in the ’80s, appreciated the estimates of Indian sages. However, even he wasn’t aware of the accuracy of the ancient Indian thinkers. In the last few years, modern science has reached such maturity that it shows a stunning agreement with the Puranic histories.
According to the Puranas, Brahma created the Sun at the end of his night 4.563 billion years ago. Modern astrophysics state 4.567 billion years. The Puranas state biggest mass extinction, a.k.a pralaya, was 251.3 million years ago. Paleontologists state 251.9 million years ago. The Puranic sages talk about the origin of the Universe 13.819 billion years ago, which differs from cosmologists’ date for Big Bang/Big Bounce by 0.1%. These three dates are the tip of the iceberg, which we have discovered in our comprehensive study of the Puranic narrative. I am a computer scientist, and my friend a Puranic aficionado for 40 years. We have come together to weave this bridge between ancient Puranas and modern science. We show that Puranas have so much to offer to modern science, specifically in ecology preservation and self-realization.
The Big Bang and Sages book is available through the TOVP Book Marketplace.
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The Balcony, Toronto
Fight the Real Storm
I wait by the storm till my driver will arrive.
So intense is the snow, I hope he’s still alive.
Wicked is the weather, the vision is obscure.
Fearless he appears, that is him for sure.
I’m grateful he penetrated the white wind, the storm.
And hopeful nature’s wrath comes down to some norm.
Behind the wheel is Nanda with nothing to impede.
Our mission — an essential — to address a dental need.
I was pensive for a moment; the world is just like that —
Perilous and precarious, we must admit the fact.
We hit low points, high points, valleys and hills —
Good times, bad times, hot ones and chills.
What’s to learn from all this natural disturbance?
It’s best to bite the bullet and make the day a dance.
Is the real battle the elements or something very subtle?
Krishna speaks of culprits, lust and the mind, as His rebuttal.
-Bhaktimarga Swami, The Walking Monk ©
May the Source be with you!
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I invite you to view our new film, Rolling the Dice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF3legHdMgI
Ramsden Park, Toronto
In the Jaws
The king of elephants, Gajendra, found himself in a difficult spot. After spending some leisurely time in the water with his female friends, the fun stopped when one of his legs was locked by the jaws of a menacing crocodile. Recalling his habit of prayer from his former life as a human, he suddenly took to such supplication, calling on help from Vishnu. Vishnu responded to the devotional plea of the elephant and set him free from the perilous mouth of the reptile.
The above story, outlined in Canto 8 of The Bhagavatam, I detailed to a group of devotees in Montreal and God was kind to give a second opportunity in the evening to tentative listeners in Georgetown, Guyana. This time we reflected on the story as well as the kindness of two super humans, Chaitanya and Nitananada of Bengal. Like Vishnu, they offered help to those in trouble. Their approach and their scope were very broad. During the middle ages of Europe, which was embroiled in so many socio-political issues, India had its own issues being in the jaws of Kali Yuga, the age of darkness.
The Guyanese community was celebrating its 12th anniversary since the installation of the deities of Krishna by the names (get this) Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurasunder. They are a pair of murtis shaped in the image of the two Lords.
What is their contribution? They saved many lives. People who were apparently destined to a dark existence were turned around to positive approaches. A prime example is the characters (or criminals) Jagai and Madai, who were so degraded, the two Lords, Chaitanya and Nityananda, were very merciful and gave the rascals a chance.
May the Source be with you!
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Sachinandan Nimai Das, disciple of HH Radhanath Swami, was invited to a private event where U. S. President Joe Biden and First Lady, Dr Jill Biden addressed Bay Area Executives. Bidens gave a very nice speech addressing some crucial issues like racism and equality.
Within the last 5 months Siddhanta Prabhu has kindly uploaded almost all of his series "Prabhupada Memories" to his YouTube channel
“Actually these books are the foundation stone of our movement. Whatever we are is resting on these books, so far reading them and distributing them. This should be our only motto”
Srila Prabhupada Letter to Hrdayananda -- Bombay, 31 October 1974
By Govindanandini dasi In this training there is no memorization of theory or examination. Rather it is called an “action-reflection” model, which means, first I visit patients and then I reflect on those experiences with a group of peers and supervisor to discuss and learn why I did what I did and what I missed. Before hastily offering any spiritual or religious resources to the patient, we chaplains are trained to be present with, listen to and accompany the patient in their grief or distress, relate and build trust. Continue reading "Chaplain: My Calling for a unique profession.
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Question: How can humility go along with self-respect?
Answer: Let’s look at it this way. Is there a difference between humility and humiliation? Yes, there is, definitely.
We say we should cultivate humility, but none of us want to be humiliated. Let’s put it another way, we all want to cultivate humility. So, should we start insulting and humiliating each other in our community? Then we will all become humble. You are proud and I will insult you, I will humiliate you and you humiliate me and in this way by exchanging humiliation we will all get humility. No!
Does humiliation make one humble? Not necessarily. Humiliation can make one feel offended, it can make one feel enraged. Sometimes it may make one humble, but not necessarily. So, clearly, there is a difference between humiliation and humility, and certainly although we talk about, say, we should be humble, but we also say respect each other. That’s the injunction in our devotee community and that’s normal human conduct also. So, we could put it that humiliation is false ego frustrated. Humility is false ego rejected.
Humiliation is false ego frustrated. I want to be respected, but instead of being respected, I was disrespected, I was mocked, I was derided, I can’t bear this. So, humiliation is false ego frustrated. I want to be respected, but I was not.
But humility is false ego rejected. That means I don’t crave for respect from others. I don’t depend on respect from others. That doesn’t mean that I don’t care at all. I mean it’s not so easily possible. We are human beings and we will notice how people are dealing with us. We can’t artificially become stone-like and that’s not exactly humility. But humility and humiliation are… Humiliation is I want something and I don’t get that respect, that’s humiliation. But humility is I don’t want it that much.
So, we could look at humility from the perspective of what we expect, what we demand from the world, what we need from the world. So that’s one aspect of humility.
Another aspect is, if I’m not demanding, how am I looking at myself? So now we have great saintly people saying that, Bhaktivinoda Thakura says “Amara Jeevana Sada Pape Rata,” that my life is full of sin and there is no good that is seen in me. Now, he has songs like that, but then he is writing books, he is sharing Bhakti wisdom confidently, countering misconceptions. So, when he is saying there are no good qualities in me, I am sinful, he is looking at it from a very elevated perspective. So, he is thinking of how pure Krishna’s devotees are, how pure Krishna is. As compared to them, what am I? Krishna loves me so much, what am I doing to reciprocate with him? I am doing nothing.
So, when we are at a different level of consciousness, we are not really perceiving how much Krishna loves us. Often, we may actually be feeling the opposite. Why doesn’t Krishna care for me? There are so many things wrong in my life, why is Krishna not helping me? Does Krishna even care for me? So, when we are not at that level, we can’t artificially imitate that.
Our frame of reference presently is mostly our human society and how people are interacting with each other and people are interacting with us in human society. But for great souls like Bhaktivinoda Thakura or Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami, their frame of reference is not human society. Their frame of reference is Krishna and community of exalted devotees of Krishna. As compared to that, they feel, what about me, I am nobody. But in human society, they are functioning assertively, they are functioning very purposefully and even strongly when necessary for Krishna’s service. So, how do we look at ourselves? One aspect of humility is that it’s not that we look down at ourselves, we think I am worthless, I am useless. Well, we see that I am a part of Krishna and in that sense there is intrinsic worth for me. I have a whole seminar on “can we love ourselves”. Self-love can seem very self-indulgent, but actually it’s not.
If we understand we are parts of Krishna, how can we love Krishna without loving his parts? The part over which we have most control, the part for which we are most responsible is we ourselves. Now we don’t love Krishna in the sense of becoming self-indulgent and I am great. No, but love in the sense of that we respect, we care for ourselves, we respect ourselves, we want the best for ourselves. So, that is definitely there. Humility doesn’t mean we look down at ourselves, rather we are not looking at ourselves constantly and not looking at how people are looking at us. We are thinking of Krishna and we are thinking of how we can serve Krishna.
We are thinking of what is my service, what is my responsibility, how can I do it the best. In that sense, self-respect and humility go together because we don’t need other people’s respect because we have that intrinsic self-respect.
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Whilst growing up and into adulthood, I was extremely curious and interested to learn about Ayurveda, yoga and the philosophies of various religions. In my head, it was a big mess of different philosophies and teachings, but I was leaning more towards the learnings of various yoga systems from Indian gurus. A bit later, I stumbled upon the definition of bhakti yoga (devotional service). In the beginning, I felt like it wasn’t for me but my feelings started to change upon meeting ISKCON devotees.
Sri Dham Mayapur is home to an international community. Some people come for a short time, some stay for decades. We asked Mayapur residents: “What is your reason nr.1, why you love to be in Mayapur?”
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The Mantra Lounge in Philadelphia, known for its book distribution, has been reaching out to people during the COVID-19 pandemic by feeding the homeless and others in need. “When the pandemic began in Spring last year, we saw people start to lose their jobs pretty quickly, and remembered Srila Prabhupada’s instruction that no one within […]
The post Philadelphia’s Mantra Lounge Feeds The Needy During Pandemic appeared first on ISKCON News.
The Mantra Lounge in Philadelphia, known for its book distribution, has been reaching out to people during the COVID-19 pandemic by feeding the homeless and others in need.
TKG Academy, a PK – 12 independent private school in Dallas TX, the first school established in ISKCON by Srila Prabhupada, is holding a virtual Open House on Wednesday, February 3, 2021. Join the presentation at 7PM ET, 6PM CT, 4PM PT online at www.tinyurl.com/tkgopenhouse. (password tkg108) During the last school year, and despite the […]
The post TKG Academy in Dallas Announces Virtual Open House appeared first on ISKCON News.
TKG Academy, a PK - 12 independent private school in Dallas TX, the first school established in ISKCON by Srila Prabhupada, is holding a virtual Open House on Wednesday, February 3, 2021.
TKG Academy, a PK - 12 independent private school in Dallas TX, the first school established in ISKCON by Srila Prabhupada, is holding a virtual Open House on Wednesday, February 3, 2021.
Krishna Chandra Das of the ISKCON Daiva Varnashrama Ministry (IDVM) has been included in the World Book of Records for reciting all 700 verses of the sacred text Bhagavad-gita from memory in the minimum time of 73 minutes. The record was originally achieved on January 27th 2020, from 5:12pm to 6:25pm in Bellary, Karnataka, South […]
The post ISKCON Devotee Achieves World Record by Reciting all 700 Verses of Bhagavad-gita From Memory in 73 Minutes appeared first on ISKCON News.
Krishna Chandra Das of the ISKCON Daiva Varnashrama Ministry (IDVM) has been included in the World Book of Records for reciting all 700 verses of the sacred text Bhagavad-gita from memory in the minimum time of 73 minutes.
On December 27th, 2020, around twenty New Vrindaban devotees celebrated 52 years of worshipping the beautiful Little Radha Vrindaban Chandra with an abhisekha bathing ceremony, chanting, feasting and retelling of the Deities’ illustrious history. While some longtime residents of the rural West Virginia community – ISKCON’s first farm – were present, hearing the history was […]
The post New Vrindaban Celebrates 52 Years of Worshipping Little Radha Vrindaban Chandra appeared first on ISKCON News.
Their Lordships arrived weeks after the inception of New Vrindaban in 1968 and were being worshipped in the original New Vrindaban farmhouse during Srila Prabhupada's first visit in 1969.
Devotees in Mayapur having good time chanting Hare Krishna together with the cows
One of the greatest teachers of the past that continues to inform the teachings and spiritual practices of ISKCON today, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, envisioned inclusivity not alienation based on bodily identification.
I worship that transcendental seat, known as Śvetadvīpa whereas loving consorts the Lakṣmīs in their unalloyed spiritual essence practice the amorous service of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa as their only lover; where every tree is a transcendental purpose tree; where the soil is the purpose gem, all water is nectar, every word is a song, […]
The post A Divine Experience In Full Manifestation – Sri Krishna Pushya Abhishek! appeared first on Mayapur.com.
In the material world, the living entity must accept different types of bodies. But the living entities who are promoted to the spiritual world do not return to the prison-house of a material body.
Tulasi is a plant most sacred to Krishna. Tulasi, also known as ‘holy basil’ is auspicious in all respects. She is a pure and great devotee of the Lord, and most dear to Lord Krishna. It is stated in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana that Tulasi, in her last birth was Vrinda devi married to an asura (a person with demonic qualities) named Jalandhar. To gain victory over Jalandhar, Lord Vishnu had persuaded Vrinda devi to give up devotion towards her husband. After being pleased with her, Lord Vishnu blessed her as Tulasi; one who can be worshipped by people all over the universe.
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Generally, in speech, writing, and thought, devotees of Krishna do not place much emphasis on bodily identification. The rationale is that avoidance of seeing ourselves and others in terms of the body helps to free our true self, the spirit soul currently encaged within the temporary body, from the constraints and miseries associated with the […]
The post Inclusivity, My Story appeared first on ISKCON News.
It is said of Srila Prabhupada that "He Built a House in Which the Whole World Can Live." My story is just one of the many stories of inclusivity told by the residents of that house.
Before coming across Srila Prabhupada’s books, I was living in amnesia. Wasn’t sure of my real identity nor what the purpose to my existence was. Spending years in frustration, reading several books, listening to lectures after lectures and up all night wondering what was I to do? I came to a period in my life, […]
The post Developing Spiritual Vision Through Books appeared first on ISKCON News.
