Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Devotees in the Czech Republic read the entireity of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is online during a nonstop 27-hour live broadcast on the sacred occasion of Gita Jayanti, December 25th. The idea was originated by Loka Saranga Das and moderated by Madhu Pandit Das, while Priya-kirti Das advertised the livestream. The reading, conducted via […]
The post Czech Devotees Livestream Reading of Entire Bhagavad-gita For Gita Jayanti appeared first on ISKCON News.
Devotees in the Czech Republic read the entirety of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is online during a nonstop 27-hour live broadcast on the sacred occasion of Gita Jayanti, December 25th.
By Mahavaraha Das We would like to inform the ISKCON community that HH Jayapataka Swami has been tested positive for Covid-19 this evening. At the moment Maharaja does not have any symptoms but the doctors and the Seva-Committee are having an emergency meeting to decide on a plan of action for treatment and if it is necessary to move Maharaja to a hospital. We kindly request all disciples and well-wishers to pray to Lord Krsna for the well being of Maharaja and many of his servants who also tested positive. Continue reading "HH Jayapataka Swami has been tested positive for Covid-19 this evening
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Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, the guru of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, appeared in Sri Ksetra Dhama.(Jagannatha Puri) on 6 February 1874 as the son of Srila Sacidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
In his childhood he quickly mastered the Vedas, memorised the Bhagavad-gita, and relished his father’s philosophical works. He became known as “The Living Encyclopedia” for his vast knowledge.
He preached convincingly against casteism and philosophical deviations from Gaudiya Vaisnavism. He tried to unite the four Vaisnava sampradayas by publishing their teachings. Srila Sarasvati Thakura earned the title Nrisimha Guru for his fearless and powerful delivery of the Vaisnava siddhanta. Mayavadis would cross the street to avoid confronting the “lion guru.”
Besides being a courageous preacher, he was ornamented with all divine qualities and full of ecstatic love of God. He established 64 Gaudiya Math temples in India and centers in Burma, England, Germany.
Srila Sarasvati Thakura excavated Lord Caitanya’s appearance place at the Yogapitha in Sridhama Mayapur and built a beautiful temple there.
Ultimately, when Srila Sarasvati Thakura reached the age of sixty-two, his health declined, and he made statements indicating that he would soon be leaving. In late October 1936 he traveled to Puri, a holy place that was also warmer than Calcutta.
After midnight on December 31, Srila Sarasvati Thakura left this world. His disciples took his body to Mayapur and established his samadhi there.
He was a monumental personality. News of his departure was broadcast on All-India Radio, and an official day of mourning was observed in Bengal. The Corporation of Calcutta held a special meeting in tribute to his memory and issued a resolution expressing its members’ deep sorrow.
In Radha-Govinda’s eternal pastimes in Goloka Vrndavana, Srila Sarasvati Thakura serves as Nayana-mani manjari. His pushpa samadhis are at Radha-kunda and Radha Damodara.
A new year is here — are we here?
A hard, hard year has just ended,
Yet many normal things remain suspended
Leaving us with problems far greater than we’d conceived
Exposing our existence to be frailer than we’d believed
There’s light at the end of the tunnel, we are told.
Yet the end seems too far away for us to behold.
Life is a coin, whose one side is insecurity
Flip the coin, and there lies opportunity.
The opportunity to be here in the present
Leaving behind the past that we resent
Fearing not the future that we can’t see
Knowing we are where we’re meant to be.
Our Lord is forever within us, in our solitary heart
Raising beautiful flowers in broken soil is his art
What we see as broken, he sees as a work in progress
His glorious plan for us goes on, even through life’s duress
The world is the soil where our soul blossoms brighter
As he makes our path clearer, mind wiser, heart lighter
Seek first to do what is right in his eyes
Not to make the world right in our eyes
Let’s be here with him, open to improvement
And he will enrich us through life’s every movement
Resolve to be with the One who is omnipresent
And every moment will convey his loving present
Video:
The post A New Year Is Here – Are We Here? – A poem with New Year wishes by Chaitanya Charan appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
By Vijaya Dasa Sydney, totally fired up in November, did 6,467 book points, almost doubling the second-place temple in the Medium Temple category. Chattagram, Bangladesh also did really huge: 38,351 book points, making it the No. 1 temple in the Small Temple category and the No. 2 temple worldwide, just behind New Delhi, with 38,761 book points. New Delhi is in a category of its own. All glories to Gopal Krsna Goswami and the team of enthusiastic book distributors! Moscow Gita-Nagari also got Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy by doing 14,548 book points. Continue reading "WSN November 2020 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
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By Sankirtana Das 2020. It’s been a rough year. Brutal for some. Revelatory for others, especially that the leaders in the Kali-yuga (the age of quarrel and hypocrisy) are pretend leaders. There is no proper training on how to be a leader. This pretending has been going on for quite some time, and now it has only become more evident. In Mahabharata, the teacher, Dronacarya, sent the two prime candidates for leadership into the city to perform a task. Duryodhana is sent to find someone better than himself. Yudhisthira is sent to find someone lower than himself. Duryodhana examines the people he encounters, but he can’t find anyone better. He thinks he himself is the best and greatest. Yudhisthira, on the other hand, sees the value in the various members of society: the brahmanas, the tenders of the cows, the merchants and workers. He concludes that he himself is the lowest. Continue reading "2021 – A Return to Kindness
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By Kalakantha Das “The soldiers in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement must always possess physical strength, enthusiasm and sensual power. To keep themselves fit, they must therefore place themselves in a normal condition of life. What constitutes a normal condition will not be the same for everyone, and therefore there are divisions of varṇāśrama—brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa.” (SB. 8.2.30, purport) Continue reading "Attaining A “Normal Condition of Life”
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Rosedale, Toronto
Shaking Hands With Many
Every time I step out the door it becomes like a handshake with the elements. It is the greeting of friends. After a day of interaction with comrades inside the ashram, and on the phone with the members of our spiritual family, I found further fortune in my connecting with nature’s buddies. Mr. Air, Mr. Raindrop, Mr. Snow, Mr. Ether and Mr. Breeze were all together. It was night and in the course of ambling along I eventually saw Mr. Moon peaking as well. Oh, he was tall; up high.
The sound was extraordinary. Because of the thaw all that was hard from frost was now dripping and dropping and trickling. It was a concert of sound. Very sweet! Nature was on no lock-down. The beauty of it all was a human silence. Except for a small group coming out of a home you couldn’t help but sense the tranquility.
It is hard to imagine us not meeting at Old City Hall this year, where we are accustomed to beating mallets on drums and pushing mantras with out lungs after the countdown for the New Year. Anyway, we are booked up for an hour’s slot of kirtan at 7:30 a.m. EST, nighttime in India, which is closer to the actual change of calendar.
May the wind blow that page!
I also wanted to offer a reminder that we are broadcasting our film, “Rolling the Dice” via YouTube, 4:45 p.m. EST. I pray for impeccable technological output. In fact, I’ve prayed for a lot of things this evening. Especially for the diminishment of confusion that has arrived from the Covid-19 virus. May bewilderment be replaced by clarity with the help of mantra.
May the source be with you!
3 km
A talk by Giriraj Swami on January 2, 2010, Bhaktivedanta Manor, England.
We have gathered at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada in this wonderful temple of Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda, Sri Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman, and Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, in the presence of His Holiness Radhanath Swami and so many exalted devotees. We are entering the New Year, 2010, and the next decade, and on such occasions we take stock of what and how we did in the previous year and what we want to do in the next. Studies have shown, and probably many of us have experienced, that most New Year’s resolutions are broken during the first week. Still more are broken in the first month, and almost all are broken within the first three months.
Why does this happen, and what can we do? Man is a creature of habit. We have developed certain habits over the past however many years—perhaps lifetimes—and to change our habits requires sincere desire and determined effort. Another study has shown that when a person is trying to develop a new habit, he has to consistently, diligently strive to adhere to the new practice for at least thirty days. After thirty days, he is able to follow more easily but can be derailed by stress or changes in his life. After ninety days it becomes just as easy to follow the new habit as not, and after a year it is easier to follow the new habit than not.
So, what new habits do we want to develop in the next year? That depends on our goals. When I visited Pune some years ago, the Malhotra brothers arranged a program for me in the main hall, and at the end of the talk the general in charge of the Southern Command of the Indian Army asked an important question: “What is the aim for which we are born—what is the aim of our life? It certainly could not be to amass some wealth and ultimately die, or to make a building and then die, or to marry and procreate and then die. For our minor activities in life we have the aims set first, before we get going to achieve them. When we train our people in the army, whatever they have to do we first tell them what the aim is. And once they are clear what the aim is, then we decide what means to adopt to achieve it. And invariably we don’t go wrong. Now here it is—to my mind, my whole life is going to waste; I am still not very clear what is the aim of my life. Would you kindly enlighten us about the aim of life so that thereafter we can be very, very clear as to what we have got to do to achieve that aim?”
Srila Sanatana Gosvami asked the same question of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:
“‘ke ami’, ‘kene amaya jare tapa-traya’
iha nahi jani—kemane hita haya
“‘sadhya’-‘sadhana’-tattva puchite na jani
krpa kari’ saba tattva kaha ta’ apani”
“Who am I? Why do the threefold miseries always give me trouble? If I do not know this, how can I be benefited? Actually I do not know how to inquire about the goal of life and the process for obtaining it. Being merciful upon me, please explain all these truths.” (Cc Madhya 20.102–103) He said, “In ordinary dealings people consider me to be a learned scholar (pandita), but I am so learned I do not even know who I am. So please tell me who I am and what is the goal of life.” And Lord Chaitanya replied, “By constitution you are an eternal servant of Krishna —jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’—and the goal of life is to be reinstated in your constitutional position as His loving servant.”
If someone understands that he is not the body, that he is the soul within the body, and that his real relationship is not with the body or things related to the body but that, as he is a spiritual soul, his real relationship is with the Supreme Soul, then he can adopt the methods that are suitable for reviving his eternal relationship with the Supreme Soul, Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada formed the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to give people this knowledge: We are not the body but the soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Soul. Our real relationship is with Him, and our duty and goal in life is to revive our eternal loving relationship with Him, with God, Krishna. The whole process of sadhana-bhakti is to help us to awaken that eternal love for God.
nitya-siddha krsna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya
sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya
“Pure love for Krsna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.” (Cc Madhya 22.107) That love is eternally there within the heart, just as fire is within a match. You just have to strike the match and the fire will come out. Similarly, we just have to strike the heart by chanting and hearing about Krishna and that love will come out.
The main process is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. We are in a Hare Krishna temple. On the way, we saw the sign, “Hare Krishna Temple,” with an arrow. Somehow, we are part of the Hare Krishna movement, and we are known as Hare Krishna people. We are meant to chant Hare Krishna. And by our chanting Hare Krishna, the mirror of our minds can be cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam), the blazing fire of material existence extinguished (bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam), and ultimately our dormant love for Krishna awakened. Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam.
But there is also the matter of quality to the chanting. Queen Kunti prays to Lord Krishna,
janmaisvarya-sruta-sribhir
edhamana-madah puman
naivarhaty abhidhatum vai
tvam akincana-gocaram
“Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education, and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.” (SB 1.8.26) People on the path of material advancement want good birth (janma), material opulence (aisvarya), material learning (sruta), and physical beauty (sribhih). They cannot feelingly approach the Lord. And when we chant the holy name, we are trying to approach the Lord. The holy name of Krishna and Krishna Himself are the same.
nama cintamanih krsnas
caitanya-rasa-vigraha
purnah suddho nitya-mukto
’bhinnatvan nama-naminoh
“The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Krsna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Krsna’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Krsna Himself. Since Krsna’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with maya. Krsna’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Krsna and Krsna Himself are identical.” (Padma Purana, Cc Madhya 17.133)
Commenting on Kunti’s prayer, Srila Prabhupada cites scripture, that by uttering the holy name of the Lord even once, one can destroy the reactions to more sins than one is able to commit. “Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord. There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually, the Lord’s holy name has such powerful potency.” We are all suffering because of sinful reactions. If we were freed from sinful reactions, we would no longer have to suffer. As Prabhupada explains, however, “there is a quality to such utterances also. It depends on the quality of feeling. A helpless man can feelingly utter the holy name of the Lord, whereas a man who utters the same holy name in great material satisfaction cannot be so sincere.” Lord Krishna is akincana-gocaram, easily approached by those who are akincana, who have no material possessions.
Now, these statements may give rise to some questions. This word akincana means “without material possessions,” or “without a sense of false proprietorship.” Of course, there should be no duplicity in the matter, but this principle allows us, for example, to have an opulent temple here. We have a beautiful property, a large estate, but as long as we remember, “This is Radha-Gokulananda’s property. This is Srila Prabhupada’s property. It is not my property; I am here only to serve them and use this property in their service,” we can be free from false proprietorship, false prestige, and false designations. And in that mood we can chant the holy name with feeling, approach Krishna with feeling. Otherwise, there is a subtle rivalry going on between us and Krishna. We come into the material world out of envy of Krishna. In effect, we want to take His position. We want to be the proprietor and controller and enjoyer (isvaro ’ham aham bhogi), which is actually Krishna’s position. While chanting Krishna’s name, we may be thinking, “Why should I be chanting Krishna’s name? People should be chanting my name. ‘Giriraj Maharaja ki jaya!’ ” That is our sorry plight. We don’t want Krishna to be the center; we want to be the center. So we chant the holy name with ourselves in the foreground and the holy name in the background. That is our tendency as conditioned souls.
The proper process is to chant with attention. We let go of all those thoughts about ourselves—“I” and “me” and “mine”—and focus on the holy name, on Krishna. Those other thoughts are irrelevant. They may come up, but we don’t pay them heed. We just focus our attention on Krishna, on the sound of Krishna’s holy name. And when we do that, we can actually feel His presence. We can appreciate that the holy name is Krishna Himself reciprocating with our sincere desires to serve Him.
This practice requires effort. We are habituated to think that we are the center of existence and that everything revolves around us. We see everything in terms of us, not in terms of Krishna. But our habit can change. There is a saying that up to the age of twenty, you think that people are looking at you and like you, from the age of twenty to forty that they are looking at you and don’t like you, and then, after the age of forty, that they aren’t even looking at you or thinking of you. So, we have to reform this habit of thinking that we’re the center, always thinking about ourselves and that everyone else is thinking about us, too. We must know that Krishna is the center.
Once, when I was chanting my rounds at the beach in Carpinteria, I was sitting alone, chanting with attention—making a serious effort to be attentive—somehow thinking of different people who were close to me, and feeling how much they were suffering. I was actually feeling their pain. As I continued chanting, that sense of feeling for others expanded to people who weren’t so close to me, and then to the people on the beach, whom I didn’t even know. There weren’t many, but there were a few people surfing. And I was really feeling their suffering. Srila Prabhupada had joked that the surfers were actually “sufferers,” but I was actually feeling their suffering.
Then the feeling went beyond the human beings. There were pelicans at the beach. They fly very high and then suddenly zoom down and crash into the water. I understood that they were hovering high in the sky looking for prey and that when they saw some potential food they came straight down and crashed into the water. Ordinarily I would think, “Oh, how picturesque—flying so high and then diving into the ocean.” But now I was feeling, “They are in anxiety. They are hungry. They need food and are searching—‘Where is food? Where is food?’ And when they see something and dive straight down and crash into the water, although they are birds, still, coming from that height at that velocity and crashing into the water is bound to be a shock to their system. And they don’t know whether they will actually get that fish or not. And whatever happens, after they come down they go up and start the same process all over again. They are never satisfied—‘Now we can just relax.’” I was thinking, “What a life, full of anxiety, full of pain!”—and feeling it.
And the dolphins and the sandpipers and the seagulls—the same thing. I was feeling so much suffering on all sides. It was as if the illusion of material happiness and charm had been lifted, and this whole beautiful panorama became a horrible scene of intense suffering, which I was feeling. And I was just chanting, chanting, chanting. Then a little lady bug landed on my hand. Growing up, I thought that lady bugs were auspicious and cute. But this time I looked at the lady bug and thought, “This lady bug is suffering”—and, again, feeling it. Looking at the lady bug, I thought, “I don’t think I can take much more of this. I am feeling too much suffering; I am going to have a breakdown.” I wanted to help these creatures. I was feeling their suffering and desiring to help them, but it was getting to be too much.
Then I had the type of breakthrough that one gets when one chants with attention, with the effort to chant with attention. Suddenly I felt as if Krishna were speaking to me, revealing something to me. I got the intuition, or inspiration, in my heart that Krishna loves these creatures more than I do, more than I can even imagine. He loves them so much that He accompanies them as the Supersoul in whatever species of life they enter. And not only does He love them more than I can ever imagine, but He can actually do something to help them. I may feel for them and want to help them, but what is my capacity to help them? I may not even understand what’s troubling them. Parents sometimes experience that their baby is crying and they want to help but don’t know what the baby wants. They may think the baby is hungry, but the baby may be troubled by something completely different. Or even if they do understand what is causing the suffering, they may be unable to relieve it.
So, I was thinking, “Not only does Krishna love them, but He can actually do something to help them.” And then I came to the bottom of it. The problem was that I was trying to take the position of Krishna. In the Bhagavad-gita (5.29) Lord Krishna says,
bhoktaram yajna-tapasam
sarva-loka-mahesvaram
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam
jnatva mam santim rcchati
“A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.”
When one recognizes that Krishna is the enjoyer, Krishna is the proprietor, Krishna is the best friend, he attains peace. I thought of what Srila Prabhupada often said, so simple yet profound—that your best friend is not he or she who poses as your best friend but he or she who tells you that Krishna is your best friend. Suddenly this whole problem of how to help these suffering souls became very easy. I didn’t have to help them personally; I just had to direct them to Krishna, who could really help them. And it was such a relief.
So, this is our mission: to serve Krishna. And serving Krishna means doing what Krishna wants, and Krishna wants that we should bring other souls to Him. As He says at the end of the Bhagavad-gita (18.69), His dearmost servant is he who preaches the message of the Gita. Na ca tasman manusyesu kascin me priya-krttamah/ bhavita na ca me tasmad anyah priyataro bhuvi: “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also said, yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa: “Wherever you go, whomever you meet, just present the message of Krishna.” And that is something any of us can do. It is actually very easy. Any of us can do it.
When devotees, myself among them, first came to Bombay, two of Prabhupada’s early disciples, Syamasundara and Malati, had a small daughter, Sarasvati, who used to approach respectable gentlemen who visited our center. Although only three or four years old, she would approach them and say, “Do you know who is Krishna?” And then she would answer, “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Srila Prabhupada commented, “That is preaching. She is repeating what she has heard from authorities, and even if she doesn’t have full realization, what she is saying is perfect, because she has heard it from authorities— Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” So, any of us can preach. We can simply repeat what we have heard from authorities—“Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” “Chant Hare Krishna and your life will be sublime.” “Come to the Hare Krishna temple.” And that will please Krishna.
I was very happy when I passed through England on my way to South Africa at the end of November and saw all the books around Srila Prabhupada’s vyasasana. I could feel the enthusiasm to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. I thought, “Srila Prabhupada is pleased. They have the spirit to distribute his books.” The books are as potent and effective now as ever. So many people I meet—when I ask them how they came to Krishna consciousness, it goes back to a book. They got a book. The formula that Srila Prabhupada gave us forty years ago still works. By giving them Prabhupada’s books, we are giving them Krishna and Prabhupada, the message of Krishna through Prabhupada, and that is enough to awaken their sense of Krishna consciousness and begin them on the path. Many of us are here because of Srila Prabhupada’s books.
So, we should try to develop the habit of putting Krishna in the center, putting the holy name in the center, putting Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada and their mission in the center, and that will make all the difference. Our spouse can be there, our children can be there, our house can be there, our work can be there—everything can be there—but with Krishna in the center, everything will be beautiful and peaceful. And as long as we persist in habits that may have been with us for many lifetimes—thinking that we are the center, we are the lords, we are the enjoyers, we are the proprietors—there will be so many problems, and in the end whatever we have will be taken away from us anyway.
So, it is most auspicious that we are beginning the New Year in the association of devotees here at Bhaktivedanta Manor. My request is that we use this coming year, and this valuable human form of life, for their proper purpose, in Krishna consciousness, and that in this endeavor we help and support each other. We can’t do it alone. And I pray that I can always remain in the association of such wonderful devotees, because I am sure that in this association, hearing their instructions, I will be nudged along on the right path, back home, back to Godhead.
Hare Krishna.
At the end of this remarkable year of 2020, we would like to share a message to all
Rosedale, Toronto
The Topic
Victor came to join me today while the source of vitamin D was upon us. Sarthak also came, a first time for him. He just arrived from India. He already has his PR, permanent residency. “PR used to mean public relations,” I said.
My two companions laughed. I know when I was a teen that term used to imply something kind of dirty, illicit or whatever.
Halfway into our walk I received a call from Nicholas and Gabriel. Oh yes, it’s our weekly Gita discussion at 2:30 p.m. We rushed back and I jumped for that great weekly opportunity and had to bid farewell to Victor and Sarthak.
Chapter Three is entitled “Karma Yoga” and a section of it addresses lust, but we didn’t quite reach that topic, yet it did enter our conversation. In fact, we didn’t get beyond one verse; text thirty. Of course, both guys, whom I would easily classify as devotees, are in their twenties. We also delved into the subject of women and their place in the Vedic context as well as today’s context. The topic was stimulating.
Anyway, more to go over when we will discuss the position of gay and lesbian life with respect to Krishna consciousness. We know that sex is on the minds of many people. Of course, no one is against it but some guidelines are given on how to perceive the issue from a Vedic point of view. We will definitely cover the subject next week, hopefully when I am stationary and have completed my walk for the day. We’ll also discuss it with my walking companions, one day.
May the source be with you!
4 km
Most resolutions take the form of “do’s”—things I resolve to do—and “don’ts”—things I resolve to not do. And Vedic wisdom tells us that all do’s and don’ts should support one main do—always remember Krishna (God)—and one main don’t—never forget Him.
Now, practically, what can we do to always remember Krishna and never forget Him? The processes most favorable for remembering Him are chanting and hearing: chanting and hearing His holy names—the Hare Krishna maha-mantra—and chanting and hearing His transcendental topics—krsna-katha, such as the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. And in broad terms, the processes most obstructive to remembering Him are mental speculation and sense gratification, especially vicious activities against Vedic principles, or God’s laws—which include eating meat, taking intoxicants, engaging in illicit sex, and gambling.
So, for our New Year’s resolutions, we can resolve to increase our chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, especially on beads, and our reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books. And we can resolve to decrease, or stop, activities detrimental to Krishna consciousness. And the Lord will help us in our efforts, for God helps those who help themselves.
We wish you a happy New Year—in Krishna consciousness—by the grace of Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga.
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami
Haripada Das: Happy, happy New Year, I wish you, O my dear, Have a blissful life, Free from lust and anger. The enemies within, Which, cannot be seen, Are lust and anger, Those force us to commit sin.
A seasoned educator, Bimla Prasad Prabhu, posed his concerns regarding ISKCON Education and Examinations system, to the ISKCON Ministry of Education, Executive Director. What followed was a candid assessment of what we have and the way forward. We hope it addresses some of your concerns too
By Radhanath Swami Sri Prahlada Maharaja, a five-year-old child, spoke eloquent philosophy, but he was a simple boy who had simple conclusions. He looked around at the whole world, and he looked at his father, Hiranyakasipu, who was a really complicated person [laughter]. His father was a brahmana and the son of a rsi, and yet he was really confused. Prahlada said that when we lose reference to the focus of the goal of life, then every time we try to solve a problem, our solution becomes a bigger problem than the original problem. And isn't that what is happening in the world? We want more convenience, so we create technology, but we forget the basic premise, and when technology is developed on the basis of selfishness and greed, whether individual or collective, it is going to create bigger problems than the original problem. Continue reading "Thoughts for the New Year
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By ISKCON Ministry of Education It is with great enthusiasm that we present to you our latest Quarterly Journal. This issue is special for two reasons. Firstly, it has been published during a very special Sankirtan season in ISKCON. A time when there is much focus on book distribution. However, there are innumerable methods to distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books during this time. Traditionally it started with taking advantage of the Christmas spirit celebrated through-out the world, but now opportunities are presented through the spirit of Gita-jayanti; and the interfaith dialog taking place because of the simultaneous Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu festivals during this period. Continue reading "Viplavah Quarterly Journal
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The post The Monk’s Podcast 85 with Krishna Kshetra Maharaj – Dashavatara 4 – Narasimha appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
The Annex, Toronto
Approaching New Year
I would like to express a happy new year to all the readers and also say that we should not be so torn by the social circumstances of these days. This is the play of the mundane world. There is always some agitation.
At noon I had lunch with one of our ashram residents, Uttamananda. He brought up a topic that is indeed upsetting. As he is driving through the day he sees how the big chain box stores are permitted to be open for business. However, “The small persons doors are required to be shut down.” (If so) he was implying that it is not fair. Such is this world. It is often perceived as unfair.
During my walk this evening (and usually I do go in the evening, when it’s safest) I chose to meander the resident areas through The Annex, so I did not pass by those mom-and-pop shops mentioned above. In my own contemplation of the pandemic dynamics I thought again of such unnerving exploits of this world but as I moved along, avoiding ice patches, I came to a resolve simply by thinking that life sucks when one is in mundane consciousness. “Remember Krishna, who’s not of this world.”
I believe I made a woman and her young son uneasy as I was sauntering along. When the streets are wet, slushy and salty, as they are these days, I preferred to wear practical clothes, so I doned a black coat with a hood and black pants. I sported stark white tilkamarkings on the forehead, which might have thrown them off their equilibrium a bit. It is a sign of Vishnu and it is auspicious; it’s not really mundane.
Happy new year!
May the Source be with you!
5 km
St. Jamestown, Toronto
End of he Year
Now, as we wind down the year our little film crew is doing the finishing touches to our production “Rolling the Dice” for public viewing. Michaela Vaksan, our editor, will have it ready for January 1st. We already have the trailer out. Now our time is to be spent tightening up our production, which premiered during the MANtra retreat last month. It’s all quite exciting. I’m curious about the response and feedback.
It has now been my fourth walk to meet Michaela and Dhruva who live in the same neighborhood. Dhruva has been our sound person.
I bring them some prasadamin the form of some sweets and with our sincere meeting we plan and prepare, looking at what needs to be done for the future thespian projects. Covid-19 lockdowns leave little or no alternative to shooting all our theatrical productions, at least for the next little while, until we “reset.”
I don’t know how some people are handling this social and financial disaster of the virus. On top of the tragedies Covid is bringing, we also have our regular, natural pauses that life puts us through. In our Toronto community we are seeing a number of deaths as well as senior health-threats taking place among our congregants.
The lessons of life to be learned are expressed in our story, “Rolling the Dice.” It is about curbing greed, anger and lust. The final message of peace comes in the approach of surrender. That’s the lesson of Sri Krishna (who is implied in our production but not really seen). Krishna’s message is about letting go.
May the source be with you!
2 km
We have been so pained by the reports of devotees getting the virus, and especially those leaving their body or having long-term debilitating effects. As the virus continues or gets worse in many parts of the world, you can expect periodic reminders from us imploring you to remain cautious as we enter the new calendar year.
HH Jayapataka Swami: I had some devotees, who were rendering personal service for me. They all stay together in the same room. Somehow they turned positive for the coronavirus. And thus had to be retired for treatment. There was pre-occupation, that I might have got infected by them. So they tested me, but by Krsna’s mercy, I turned out to be negative. And so did the other persons serving me.Read More...
Auspiciousness is the most sought-after element of human society today given the fact that we are compelled to carry a large baggage of the pandemic. Though the beginning of the end is in sight now . What better way to repose our faith into Spirituality than dedicating our time, energy and emotions in chanting the […]
The post ISKCON Celebrates New Year in Its Signature Style appeared first on Mayapur.com.
ith HG Mondakini Devi Dasi. Personal pastimes, instructions and so much more
By Lilamayi Radha dasi For the past 3 years, ISKCON Hong Kong has launched an outreach Sri Damodara Street program during the all auspicious Kartik month. This year was no exception. Devotees set up a mini mobile temple on the street and warmly invited the passers-by to offer ghee lamps to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Sri Sri Yasoda Damodara Deities. This program was accompanied with sweet chanting of the holy names, lovely prasadam and book distribution. In the face of the epidemic, we immensely felt that the message of Godhead was much needed in the society to give both the dressed and distressed light and hope. Continue reading "ISKCON Hong Kong-Sri Damodara Street Program 2020
→ Dandavats"
In 2007 the GBC RESOLVED:
“Whenever the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection rules that an offense is such as to restrict a person from serving in ISKCON in positions of leadership (including but not limited to offices of GBC, minister, zonal secretary or temple officer), the restriction must include the position of initiating guru. This restriction shall apply to all previous and future decisions of the Central Office of Child Protection.
A devotee initiated by a guru subsequently affected by this resolution is considered to have been duly initiated under the authority of ISKCON and the GBC and is recognized as an ISKCON member in good standing with all the privileges of an initiate. Other questions that may arise in the application of this law should be referred to the Executive Committee of the GBC.”
In 2007 the ISKCON CPO CLARIFIED:
“We can categorically state that Dhanurdhara Maharaja, and any others with similar CPO decisions, may not act as initiating spiritual masters in ISKCON.”
In 2020 the ISKCON North American GBC CONFIRMED:
“So the conclusion is that the North American GBC Council are not willing to make any changes in Dhanurdhara Swami’s status and he will remain outside of ISKCON in North America.”
In 2020 the ISKCON CPO CONFIRMED:
“Dhanurdhara Swami remains outside of ISKCON North America. His choice to live as a sannyasi and a guru is his own independent choice.”
This was because Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma could not joke freely and Yaśodā could not liberally pamper the boys because of the presence of Nanda and his brothers. However for Kṛṣṇa’s relatives the evening meal was a hundred times more blissful because the entire family could eat with Kṛṣṇa. It was a million times more blissful for Yāśodā because of seeing the bliss of the relatives.
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Yorkville, Toronto
Be Practical
We have often heard our guru, Prabhupada, define jnanamas knowledge and vijnanam as applied knowledge. The first word is theoretical and the second is practical.
Practical application, even common sense, is the way I tried to best steer my presentation tonight, to devotees in Kazakstan and surrounding areas; known as Central Asia. The topic title was “When I Rains, Use an Umbrella,” with subtitle “Be Practical.” I’m quite passionate about the theme of not allowing sentiment to inhibit one’s spiritual growth. Permit discernment to have some say. We call bhakti-yoga, buddhi-yoga at times—uniting with the Supreme with heart and intelligence. Buddhi refers to intelligence.
Those listening from far away seemed to enjoy the talk, followed by a question session. They also enjoyed the opening four minutes and sixteen seconds of the excerpt from the musical, “Singing in the Rain,” where Gene Kelly is strutting his stuff, dancing in a downpour. In this perfectly choreographed piece, he is seen with his umbrella opened up. Then he decides to draw it closed and takes in the rain, almost as if to transcend the wetness. It certainly was a creative way to open up a class or discussion on Krishna Consciousness.
What a great feeling it was, communicating and seeing these great souls from the other side of the world. I also had the pleasure of connecting with the Oakville crew. With them we are going over the Gita’s Chapter 16, reviewing the dark side of the soul.
May the Source be with you!
3 km
Yorkville, Toronto
The Gita & Christmas
At noon, Alberta time, I Zoomed a class to out community in Edmonton, explaining the significance of the day. First of all, I spoke about the parallels of Christ and Krishna and then more emphatically detailed the wisdom factor that they both delivered for the benefit of humanity. The comparative notes were appreciated by the listeners. I feel an obligation to share with our congregants the importance of viewing the similarities between traditions and not overly emphasizing distinctions.
One area of activity that both Krishna and Jesus had in common, which I failed to mention, was their adherence to the walking culture. Jesus, for instance, did much travel on foot from place to place. The only recollection I have of his using another conveyance was when he rode on a donkey while being greeted palms.
Krishna, on the other hand, used so much leg muscle as a cowherd, walking the expanse of pastures with His friends and the calves. These thoughts came to mind when I was doing one of those brief walks through the snow-shoveled sidewalks of Yorkville, just metres away from our temple ashram. In fact, my walk was short due to a commitment of reading Chapter Six from The Gita, entitled “Dhyana Yoga.”
Quite a few people were online listening, not just to my segment of Chapter Six, but the entire seven hundred verses, a task of listening for about three hours. And while the reading was occurring through the audible level of my phone’s speakers, in the next room over, the kitchen, our cook was listening to the Sanskrit version. The atmosphere was surcharged with goodness.
May the Source be with you!
2 km
It might be sunny on one side of the street and raining on the other. We may choose to walk on the sunny side, but the rain might come on that side too. So in this way, we have to accept the direction of time. In real life, we do not want to take this; we want to change the destiny. But in reality, we have to take the destiny and make adjustments to it. That is the only independence that we really have!
The article " Destiny – can we change it? " was published on KKSBlog.
Following the recent release of the audio version, the Bhaktivedanta Players performed this drama on Bhakitvedana Manor's new Sri Krishna Haveli stage to have it filmed. (Due to precautions against the Coronavirus, a live audience was not permitted).