Planet ISKCON

We would like to dedicate the last 18 days of this year to celebrate this festival! The Gita Challenge is ONLY 18 days – from 14th to 31st of December!

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“As far as studying my books is concerned, I have already given the order. One hour in the morning class and one hour in the evening and if there is extra time during the day it may be used for studying but we cannot expect everyone to be studious.” Srila Prabhupada Letter to Rupanuga -- Sydney, 14 February 1973

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Srimad Bhagavatam class by HH Bhakti Vinoda Swami - 13 December 2020. ISKCON Coimbatore.

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By Srimati Dasi

Let’s face it. It’s not easy trying to live Bhagavad-gita in today’s world — it’s tough! And the taste is more often bitter/sweet than sweet/sweet. Govindadeva gives the practical essence of living Bhagavad-gétä in verse 18.66. The Kali-yugian heart has no trouble with the first half of the equation — abandon all varieties of religion. That’s very much in tune with today’s life standards. But the second half — surrender unto Me — that’s the tough part. Why do we find it so tough? Continue reading "The Bitter-Sweet Taste of Living Bhagavad-Gita
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Shri Saranga Thakura (Saranga Murari) lived in Mamagacchi, Modadrumadwipa (Navadwipa). Staying under a Bakula tree, Saranga Thakura served throughout the day to please his worshipable Deity. Single handedly, he would collect fruits, vegetables and firewood. He would also beg rice, cook, bathe, dress, and feed his Lord. After a full day of Deity service ,Saranga […]

The post Remembering Sri Saranga Thakura – Sri Saranga Thakura Disappearance appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Devotees around the world are aiming to distribute at least two million Bhagavad-gitas during the last quarter of 2020, as part of the Prabhupada marathon and the Live to Give campaign. The campaign will culminate with World Gita Day (also known as Gita Jayanti) on December 25th. To mark the occasion, there will be a […]

The post Live to Give Campaign to Distribute 2 Million Bhagavad-gitas by World Gita Day appeared first on ISKCON News.

Devotees around the world are aiming to distribute at least two million Bhagavad-gitas during the last quarter of 2020, as part of the Prabhupada marathon and the Live to Give campaign.

  We sometimes get allured by the promise of free entertainment on the Internet. Because it seems free, we may spend far more time than what we might have otherwise spend on it. For example, we may watch mediocre movies that we would never spend money to watch. Though such movies may be free in […]

The post Free Entertainment, Expensive Entanglement appeared first on ISKCON News.

The worst part of such entanglement is that we don’t even realize we are getting entangled.

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Sri Saranga Murari Thakura used to reside at Modadrumadwipa Mamagachi, where his Deities of Sri Sri Radha-Gopinath are still present. There is also a Bakula tree there which is perhaps existing since the time of Saranga Thakura. There is a local legend concerning this tree. One day when Mahaprabhu came there, He noticed that the Bakula tree in the courtyard of Saranga’s Temple was dying. So He asked Saranga, “This Bakula tree is dying, so what are you going to do?”

Saranga Thakura replied, “Besides Your mercy Prabhu, I don’t see any hope for this tree.” Then Mahaprabhu embraced that tree, which has remained healthy to this day and is now quite large.

Saranga Thakura had resolved that he would not accept any disciples but Mahaprabhu nevertheless repeatedly requested him to do so. Finally he relented and agreed by saying, “Tomorrow morning the first person I see I will initiate with the divine mantra.”

The next day, in the early morning, he went to take his bath in the Ganges. By chance a dead body came and touched his feet as he entered the water. Picking up this body he said, “Who are you? Get up.” From behind Mahaprabhu who was witnessing everything called out, “Saranga! Say the mantra in his ear!” Then when Saranga said the mantra into the ear of that dead child, the body became conscious. He said, “My name is Murari. I am your servant. Please bestow your mercy upon me.”

On the day when this boy was to be invested with the sacred thread he was by chance bitten by a snake and died. As he was only a boy, the custom was not to burn the body but rather to place it on a raft of banana trees and float it down the Ganga. When his parents received the news that their child was alive, they came there to take him home. However Murari declined to accompany them to his former home. He told them, “I will remain in the service of he who has given me life again, for I am indebted to him.”

According to Gaur-Ganoddesa-Dipika (text 172.) Saranga Thakura was previously Nandi Mukhi, in Braja lila.

vraje nandimukhi yasit
sadya saranga-thakkurah
prahlado manyate kaishchin
mat-pitraa na sa manyate

 “The Vraja-brahmani Nandimukhi-devi appeared as Saranga Thakura. Some people think that Saranga Thakura was the incarnation of Prahlada Maharaj. My father (Sivananda Sena – the father of Kavi-karnapura) did not agree with them.”

 His appearence is on the 14th day of the dark fortnight of the month of Asar. His disappearance is on the 13th day of dark fortnight af the month Agrahayon (Mrigashirsha – November-December). 

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243 Avenue Rd., Toronto

 

Path of Grace

 

My day finished with a piece of lightly sweetened carob cake. The topping of the day, not the cake (with no icing), was a continual cleanup in the temple’s pantry, some emailing, some calls to promote the Gita-drive known as “Give to Live,” and a call with Radhanatha Swami, something we regularly share.

 

My conversation with Radhanatha was private enough, however, we did cover conversations of a more sharing nature. First of all we were both participants in a forum of eulogies about our recently deceased Krishnanandini. She was a fine example of a great human being, a family person and a devotee of God.

 

We also talked about his childhood. He had a friend who lost his life in the icy waters of Lake Michigan, just off a cliff’s edge. Yes, we dwelled on the topic of death and birth. That’s common enough as themes for monk discussions—unless you’re the hermit-type where a little is said, a lot is seen and much is thought.

 

We left our call on the note of a west-coast friend we both share, an individual struggling with Parkinson’s. Oh, how tough is the world and life itself.

 

One other short list of items I will share with you all came from a person who is quite introspective. His sharing goes like this:

1. Everything changes and ends.

2. Things do not always go according to plan.

3. Life is not always fair

4. Pain is part of life.

5. People are not always loving and loyal.

 

His conclusion was that we should follow the path of bhakti, the path of grace.

 

May the source be with you!

3 km

 

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto

 

Didn’t Step Out

 

I didn’t step out of the building today. My knees and ankles are sometimes weak. At such times I apply something called “Sacred Salve” and the pain goes away immediately. The other miracle I apply is a good brand of mustard seed oil. That also does wonders; the body likes it.

 

There’s something we do in the ashram that the soul likes and each morning the few of us sit down to become absorbed in the Leela of the Lord. Recently we have been listening to the verses from Canto One of the Srimad Bhagavatam, were the queens of Krishna speak like mad women. They address the birds, the river, the breeze, the cloud and the ocean, communicating with them in a mood of separation. They even express a sense of jealousy. “Laxmi, the Goddess of Fortune, is getting all the attention.”

 

They truly miss Him when He’s not about. They are immersed in His charm, looks, warmth and protectiveness. These are their warm thoughts about Him—thoughts that don’t easily drift away. It’s a beautiful theme to soak in for a morning meditation.

 

My afternoon was an actual absorption in the stories about devotees’ lives. It is material for a book I’m working on, Krishna In The Mapleleaf. “Wow!” I say to the tales I hear directly from those who’ve experienced the wonders of Krishna Consciousness in the early years—1967 to 1977—up to the point of our guru’s divine departure. I couldn’t hold back my tears when one of these great souls relayed her traumatic life events to me.

 

May the source be with you!

0 km

 

 

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

Date: 13th Dec 2020

Day: Sunday

Time: 11 am to 12 noon

Topic: Meditation on the auspicious marks on the Lotus feet of Lord Krsna and Smt Radha Rani

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



CC. Madhya 8.253:
“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu inquired, “Out of many types of meditation, which is required for all living entities?”
Srila Ramananda Raya replied, “The chief duty of every living entity is to meditate upon the lotus feet of Radha and Kṛṣṇa.”


The parrots glorify the lotus feet of Lord Krsna(From Govinda-lilamrta by Sri Krishna Das Kaviraja Gosvami)

• All glories to the lotus feet of Sri Krsna, which are imprinted with nineteen auspicious marks and thus advertise the supremacy of the original Personality of Godhead, Purusottama. His beautiful lotus feet contain the marks of disc, halfmoon, barleycorn, octagon, water-pots, umbrella, triangle, sky, bow, svastika, thunderbolt, cow-hoof, conch-shell, fish, upward-line, elephant-goad, a lotus, a flag and ripened blackberry fruits.
• Simply by meditating on Krsna's lotus feet, one attains all spiritual and material fortune, beauty, good qualities and wealth. They are the abode of all pastimes. May those feet be our everything.
• Even a slight worship of Krsna’s feet turns a mere stone into a purposeful gem, a mere cow into a kamadhenu, a mere tree into a kalpavrksa -desire tree. They fulfill all desires of a living being. Who will not take shelter of these lotus feet?
• Giridhari's lotus-feet always gladdens the tongues of the honeybee-like devotees with their fragrance that fills the whole world. Which devotee of taste could give up these feet?

Sri Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi-The Nectar Moon of Sri Radha's Sweetness- by Prabhodananda Saraswathi

• O Sri Radha, when will I place on my head Your lotus feet, which are a flood of the nectar of spiritual love, a flood that always flows among Your devotees, and are the treasure more dear than life for Lord Krsna?

ISKCON Scarborough
3500 McNicoll Avenue, Unit #3,
Scarborough, Ontario,
Canada, M1V4C7
Website: www.iskconscarborough.org
Email:
iskconscarborough@hotmail.com
scarboroughiskcon@gmail.com

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 1 August 2020, Radhadesh, Belgium, Initiation Ceremony Lecture)

By taking initiation, there are such powerful blessings which are passed, that practically our journey back to the spiritual world is guaranteed. We just simply do our level best, whatever that is, as good as we can. To follow this for our lives and surely, then success will be there. So it is a very joyous occasion. It is a serious matter also. One question we can raise is that how can one take a vow for one’s whole life? How do we know what it would be like in ten years’ time? It maybe be very different. How can we really promise for our whole life? We are promising for our whole life praying to Krsna to somehow or other help us to make it possible to develop love for Him. We are praying to all the vaisnavas to make it possible. Only then, it can be done. Although we promise for our whole life, it is just like climbing a mountain and we are going to the top. We have an idea of the path that we are going to go but while we are climbing, we are paying attention to what is in front of us. So in this way, we are focusing on the present, although we are trying to last for a lifetime. We do it by making our spiritual life a success today. We are investing in our spiritual life today and to make the best possible offering to Krsna. And in this way, we make a plan to chant our 16 rounds and we go forward.

The initiation is the beginning of a long journey on the way to the spiritual world. But it is possible to make it successful in this lifetime. That is our desire. Our desire is to somehow or other make that desire complete in this lifetime, not by our perfect sadhana, not that we are going to be the best devotees, probably not. As time goes on, we realise that maybe we are just average at best. But with time, we realise that the mercy of the vaisnavas is very powerful, so we hang onto that mercy. Somehow or other, that mercy will bring us home.

The article " Guaranteed to go back home " was published on KKSBlog.

Kaliya Krishna dasa, also known as Kala Krishnadasa, was a devotee of Nityananda Prabhu. His birthplace is in the Bardhaman (Burdwan) district of West Bengal within a short distance from the Railway station at Katwa, at the village called Akai Hatta. This village is situated on the old king’s road between Nabadwipa and Katwa. Akai […]

The post Kaliya Krsna dasa- Disappearance appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Srila Prabhupada, our Founder-Acharya, the perfect example of being conservative but simultaneously merciful

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By Jayapataka Swami

In Mayapur, because of the outreach programs, various namahatta devotees attending in Mayapur, somehow the coronavirus has spread amongst our namahatta preachers. Of them, two swamis, His Holiness Gauranga Prema Swami and His Holiness Bhakti Vilasa Gauracandra Swami have tested positive. So they have quarantined the whole namahatta and they are undergoing treatment. But this disease is, you know – it is hard to make the devotees understand that this is a serious thing, it is still there. Continue reading "Prayers needed for HH Gauranga Prema Swami and HH Bhakti Vilasa Gauracandra Swami (Mayapur)
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By the BBT

What is Live to Give? “Live to Give” is the end of year book distribution campaign uniting devotees all over the world to combinedly distribute at least 2 Million Bhagavad Gitas. See here how we are doing as One World Team. Continue reading "Live to Give – Distribute 2 Million Bhagavad Gitas
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By BBT MCI

Updates on all the exciting events happening on World Gita Day!. Empowered by Gita Contest It's time to get your creative hat on! Get out your brushes, pens and cameras for the Empowered by Gita Global Contest part of the World Gita Day We have age categories from 3 to adults plus winners and runner-ups in each will get an exclusive BBT swag bag plus get their work featured on World Gita Day Global event! Get creating right away as deadline is on December 17th, 2020 Continue reading "World Gita Day
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Srimad Bhagavatam class by HG Bhakta Prabhu at ISKCON Melbourne.

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Seaton Village, Toronto

 

Towards the Light

 

Subuddhi is in her 80’s and it’s a little bit tough for her to get around these days. For her group studies online she requested a copy of the mystical text, Brahma Samhita. She called me and asked for a copy.

 

“I haven’t yet walked today so I can walk over and drop off a copy. I’d be happy to,” I said.

 

The sun was in the west and to get to her place at Seaton Village I would have to head west. Great! I know the neighbourhood quite well with its quiet back streets. It’s pretty much and eclectic neighborhood, mostly people of European background. Lots of families and schools as well as small parks in the area.

 

I have been calling our centres across Canada, encouraging the leaders to pledge towards the Gita drive called “Gifts of Knowledge,” coining the phrase “Give to Live.” It’s working. This is the time of year that wisdom is disbursed in a big way by Krishna devotees all over the globe. I guess my short 3 km to Subuddhi’s, a god-sister, fits into this particular service effort. Delivering to someone’s home a brick of gold like the Brahma Samhita is a pious deed. Although it was dark at the time (the days are getting shorter) I felt as if I were walking into the sun.

 

The other day, at High Park, I walked with Christopher towards the light; towards the sun.

 

May the Source be with you!

6km

 

 

High Park, Toronto

 

High in High Park

 

It’s strange but Toronto has been my home base since 1973 and in all that time I’ve never had, or taken, the opportunity to venture into High Park. It is rated as 4.5/5 and I can testify. When you’re there you won’t feel like you’re in the city.

 

Walking along the pond called Grenadier is pleasant as well as the main trails and off route ones. It’s always great to be in nature, with or without company. I’m not going out to even small home events but in nature’s social-distance venues I have no problem.

 

Christopher and Nick brought me along and it is Nick who more-or-less was our guide, being that he frequents this treasure, which is in his neighbourhood. We got a charge from the lone swan, the unique trees and, I guess you can say, the people. Trees, water, earth and sky bring out the best in folks. They seemed to respond to the need of getting out.

 

This notion of moving on, getting out the door and going to explore and seen more reminds me of something from the shastra, scripture. In Canto One of the book Bhagavatam, the wise Vidura tells his older and sickly, blind brother that it’s time to leave the house (in his case, the palace). He was urging him to depart from his attachment and comfort. “Go to the north! Go to the quiet!” Was the message. He was implying the need to exit the world from there and to do so in a proper frame of mind; one of detachment while remaining attached to Krishna.

 

The three of us were not ready to leave the world. We still want to see more of the world’s leaves.

 

May the source be with you!

3 km

 

Cabbagetown, Toronto

 

Squash the Term Pumpkin

 

Our cook, Dwarkanath, made this amazing pumpkin cake. It was baked to perfection; somewhat moist and sweet. Since pumpkin is a fruit I hope no sugar was added, especially that dreadful worst of foods—white sugar.

 

I do have a small issue with my friends from India or Bangladesh, that cook or bake, over the use of the word “pumpkin.” “Pumpkin,” I tell them, without malice, “is roundish, orange and is a member of the squash family.” I also mention that our indigenous people of this area grew squash for centuries and pumpkin is one of them. In fact, at lunchtime I sat down with Dwarkanath and learned a lot from him about cooking Indian-style. However, I will never let go of my, perhaps obstinacy, over the difference between a pumpkin and a squash. Well, they are one but different. If someone was to hold a gorgeous acorn squash with green tones and call it a pumpkin I would passionately object. A major resolve on the matter is that a prep should taste good and be offered to Krishna, regardless.

 

Anyway, it turns out that the cake was made of squash. It was good and I decided to take two squares of it to two nice devotees from Croatia, who did some work on our first attempt at filming a drama. The couple live in Cabbagetown, but where people do play squash. You can look online to explore the meaning of the word in the supportive context. I guess I will too. Oh well, Hare Krishna!

 

Maybe the source be with you!

5 km

 

The event is entitled as “Jijnasa: Vedantic Theology For the Advancement of Scientific Temper”, and will be held on 19th and 20th of December, 2020. 

After many years residing on the third floor of Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s temple, Tulasi Devi at the New Vrindaban farm community in West Virginia has been offered a beautiful new dedicated greenhouse to provide her with a high standard of care.  An intimate servant of Lord Krishna who appears in the form of […]

The post Tulasi Devi Offered Beautiful New Greenhouse in New Vrindaban appeared first on ISKCON News.

About 600 square feet in size, the Tulasi Devi Greenhouse features double-paned insulated glass, and a bronze-finished aluminum frame with an ornamental crest along the roof ending in a motif based on ISKCON’s lotus logo.

Perhaps one of the saddest parts about growing up is learning that Father Christmas is not real. I recall a few years ago hearing how a teacher had been hauled across the coals for revealing this terrible truth to his class of six year olds, after outraged parents had bombarded the school with complaints. I […]

The post Come Out of the Darkness appeared first on ISKCON News.

Prabhupada opened my eyes to Christ’s real message, “What does it profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul?” I saw the truth of this.

A video about an upcoming science & religion event by Institute for Science and Spirituality Delhi.

The nearly hour-long play consisting uses carefully chosen music and dramatic sound effects to make listening to the most important conversation in humankind a memorable experience for the audience.