A video by the GBC Strategic Planning Team.

His Holiness Chaitanya Chandra Charan Prabhu, a spiritual teacher for Russian-speaking devotees and a member of the GBC, and his wife Gourachandrika Devi, have been ill with coronavirus for a few days. They are already feeling better and recovering.  They have been in a hospital in Almaty, Kazakhstan, for some time. Now their condition is […]

The post Russian Guru and GBC Chaitanya Chandra Charan Das Recovering from COVID-19 appeared first on ISKCON News.

Chaitanya Chandra Charan Prabhu and his wife Gourachandrika Devi are already feeling better and recovering. 

The GBC Executive Committee reported that “They have both been extremely ill for quite some days now but are on the mend.”

Sodasha means 16 and Upacaras refers the articles offered to the Lord in worship. The upacharas are different aspects of service. In daily worship, one usually offers  sixteen  upacharas to the principal deity. In the Purusottama month, worship of Sri Sri Radha Krishna with 16 Upacaras is highly recommended. To enable to each and everyone […]

The post Sodasha Upacaras Puja daily offered to Sri Sri Radha Madhava! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Sometimes Krsna and Balarama would play on Their flutes; sometimes They would throw ropes and stones devised for getting fruits from the trees, sometimes They would throw only stones, and sometimes, Their ankle bells tinkling, They would play soccer with fruits like bel and amalaki.

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Radha devi dasi, ISKCON’s GBC Vaishnavi Minister, recently announced the appointment of regional ministers in South Africa, the UK, Brazil and Mexico. Regional ministers serve as the liaisons for the Vaishnavi Ministry and develop programs for the care of Vaishnavis in their areas.

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By HH Giriraja Swami (20.09.2020)

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With Adi Gadadhar Das and Sachipran Das

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Srila Prabhupada explained, “In Maharaja Yudhisthira’s time, the government was responsible to keep people peaceful, without any anxiety. That is government—without any anxiety. And now the government means full of anxieties. You do not sleep peacefully at night. . . . This is our position, full of anxieties. Even we cannot sleep peacefully at night. This government. And here you see, compare the government—no anxiety. No anxiety. Just compare. So what is the use of this rascal government?

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The following is a video by His Holiness Bhakti Purushottama Swami speaking about the historic Grand Installation of the new Prabhupada Murti in the TOVP in February, 2021 to celebrate the 125th Appearance Anniversary Year of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.

February 25 – Nityananda Trayodasi / Worldwide Prabhupada Abhisheka

February 26 – Bhakti Charu Maharaja Samadhi Opening

February 27 – New Prabhupada Murti Installation

Donate today towards our worldwide combined guru dakshina campaign for Srila Prabhupada to help open the TOVP by sponsoring one or more of six kinds of abhishekas.

Go to the link below to sponsor an abhisheka: https://tovp.org/donate/prabhupada-murti-installation/

Lord Sri Krishna says: “For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” (BG 18.68/69)

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Podcast

 

Podcast Summary

 

Video:

The post The Monk’s Podcast 69 with Braja Bihari Prabhu – Guidance or Independence – How to make responsible decisions appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Podcast

 

Video:

The post Reconciling science and scripture 2- QA appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

• 

• 

Once upon a time, by the arrangement of providence, an extra month came to this world. Every one took this month to be most inauspicious, and even saw it as a stool-like month. Just as one should not touch stool, this month was also seen as untouchable. It was constantly unprotected and blasphemed, and rejected by everyone as an improper time for any religious and auspicious activities.

Being so rejected by all human beings, and constantly hearing only bad words and blasphemy, the personality of this extra month became very sad. She came to Vaikuntha to explain her sorrowful situation to the Lord. Seeing Lord Vishnu on His simhasana, she fell down at His lotus feet in a mood of sorrow and grief. Tears were falling profusely from her eyes. She prayed to the Lord, “Oh ocean of mercy! I have come to You because I am helpless. I have been rejected and blasphemed by all people of the world. Please protect me; please show me Your mercy. Please don’t be indifferent towards me.”

Saying these words, the extra month [adhik maas] continued crying in front of Lord Vishnu and sat down before Him in a dejected mood. Seeing the humble and pitiable position of the extra month, Lord Vishnu became very merciful towards her. He told her, “Do not lament, I shall give you protection form all of your miseries. Please stop crying. It is not proper to lament after taking shelter of My lotus feet.”

Lord Vishnu told the extra month, “Oh child, your misery will be finished very soon. Get up and come with Me to Goloka Vrindavana, which is even unattainable to great yogis. Goloka is the abode of Lord Sri Krishna. Here Lord Sri Krishna is in His two handed form, surrounded by gopis and is enjoying His eternal pastimes. The Supreme Sri Krishna of Goloka will deliver you from all your miseries, please come with Me.” Then Lord Vishnu took Malamasa (the extra month) to Goloka by catching her by the hand.

Having reached the Supreme Abode, Lord Vishnu met Lord Sri Krishna who was surrounded by many devoted gopis. Lord Vishnu husband of Ramadevi, paid His obeisances to Lord Sri Krishna. Then He made the extra month also offer her obeisances at the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna, even though she was crying loudly. Immediately Sri Krishna asked, “Why is she crying? She is in Goloka Vrindavana, why is she crying?”

Hearing these words form Lord Sri Krishna, Lord Vishnu got up from His seat and started explaining the miserable condition of the extra month. He begged Him to please protect his unprotected month. “There is no one except You Lord Krishna, who can save this extra month from her hellish condition and give her full protection.” Having said these words, Lord Vishnu remained standing in front of Lord Krishna with folded hands.

Purushottama Sri Krishna said, “Oh Vishnu, you have done a very great deed by bringing this extra month to Me. You will become even more famous for performing this act. Because You have accepted this Malamasa, I will also accept her. I shall make this poor extra month just like Me in quality, fame opulence, realization, success, and in giving benediction to the devotees. This month will become equally potent to Me. I am bestowing all of My divine qualities in this abused month. Named after Me, this month will be famous as Purushottama month in this world.

“Oh Janardana, now that she has imbued My qualities, I Myself will become the husband and protector of this Purushottama month. And being equal to Me, this month will be the master of all other months. Now this month will become worshipable by one and all. Everyone should pay their obeisances to her, everyone should worship her. This month is equally as powerful as Me to give any type of benediction to its observer. The worshiper of this month will be able to burn all this past sinful reactions to ashes, and after enjoying a blissful life in the material realm, he will return back to Godhead.

Purushottama Maas comes every three years and is an extra month in the Vedic calendar that is inserted to keep the lunar and solar calendars aligned. It is during this time that devotional practices and vows are highly beneficial.

Lord Sri Krishna said (Padma Purana):

“All human beings should perform some devotional service in this Purushottama month by:

1. Worshipping Me, Sri Krishna, by chanting My holy name
2. Study of Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita, particularly Chapter 15, Purushottama Yoga
3. Giving in charity
4. Offering ghee diya (lamp) daily

• 

• 

Rosedale, Toronto

 

This Is A Good One

 

The following is a knee-slapper sent by Bhakti Purusottama Swami from Orissa, India.

 

An Indian dies and goes to hell. There he finds that there is a different hell for each country. He goes first to the German hell and asks "What do they do here?" He is told "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."

 

The man does not like the sound of that at all, so he moves on. He checks out the USA hell as well as the Russian hell and many more. He discovers that they are all more or less the same as the German hell. Then he comes to the Indian hell and finds that there is a very long line of people waiting to get in.

 

Amazed he asks "What do they do here?"

 

He is told "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the Indian devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."

 

“But that is exactly the same as all the other hells - why are there so many people waiting to get in?”

 

"Because the maintenance is so bad that the electric chair does not work, someone has stolen all the nails from the bed, and the devil is a former Government servant, so he comes in, signs the register and then goes to the cafeteria."

 

May the Source be with you!

3 km

 

Queen’s Park, Toronto

 

Letting Go!

 

It always pays off. This walking I do, to a nearby park, in any direction, almost each day, gets attention by some individual and leads to a spontaneously established friendship.

 

Today I made my way southbound to Queen’s Park to meet a newly made compadre, Saurav, where we would be going over a discussion on chapter 1 of The Gita. He tells me he has accepted me as his teacher and also admitted it’s hard for him to spark an interest in spiritual talk with his buddies. With me it’s 90% all about that.

 

Our reading over the verses of chapter 1 went well. It is one of the more compelling segments of the Gita. In our reading of the 40 plus verses I suggested he go at it a little more dramatically. I thought it suited his nature. After all, he is a very expressive type of person.

 

“Saurav, A little more oomph!” I am implied.

 

We were nearing the end of our verse recitation and discussion when a young Asian woman approached us. We were sitting on a park bench facing in the direction of an impressive statue of King Edward VII on a horse. She identified herself as Audrey and asked if she could join us. Naturally our answer was “Yes.” She pulled out of her bag a book authored by David Hawkins called, “Letting Go” and she admitted it’s helping her overcome some challenges in life.

 

The term “letting go” is perfect for describing the essential message behind The Gita, so we discussed that with Audrey, who’s such a pleasant person. We were a buzzed-up trio from here on until departing time. It was very fulfilling for all of us.

 

May the Source be with you!

3 km

 

On June 21, 1973, in Mayapur, Srila Prabhupada spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.10.6:

nadhayo vyadhayah klesa
daiva-bhutatma-hetavah
ajata-satrav abhavan
jantunam rajni karhicit

“Due to the king’s having no enemy, the living beings were not at any time disturbed by mental agonies, diseases, or excessive heat or cold.”

Srila Prabhupada explained, “In Maharaja Yudhisthira’s time, the government was responsible to keep people peaceful, without any anxiety. That is government—without any anxiety. And now the government means full of anxieties. You do not sleep peacefully at night. . . . This is our position, full of anxieties. Even we cannot sleep peacefully at night. This government. And here you see, compare the government—no anxiety. No anxiety. Just compare. So what is the use of this rascal government?

“The rascal government must be there because we are rascals. You cannot complain against the government, because we select. It is the days of democracy. We elect our representative. So why should you blame the government? You have created the government. You have sent your representative, a rascal, another big rascal. You are rascal, and another big rascal you have voted; so how you can expect good government? You send only big rascals. That’s all.

“So there cannot be. That is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, that in the Kali-yuga all the people will be rascals, sudras. Simply by manipulation if one gets vote, he captures the governmental power. Sudra. He’s a sudra. He is not a kshatriya like Maharaja Yudhisthira, trained-up kshatriya. He is a rascal, third-class man, fourth-class man. He gets the vote, and we give vote. So how we can be happy? How we can be carefree or anxiety-free or disease-free? It is not possible.

“Therefore if the people in general become Krishna conscious, become trained up in Krishna consciousness, understand the value of life, how to live, then they can send good representative, Krishna conscious man. Then the government will be nice.”

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

 

One of the gopis once playfully warned her friend about the power of Krsna’s attraction: “My dear friend, if you are at all attached to your worldly friends and relatives, do not look at the smiling face of Lord Govinda as He stands on the bank of the Yamuna at Kesi-ghata.

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Padmavati Devi Dasi, during Harinama asks people in the street to chant twice the Hare Krishna maha-mantra for love and peace in the world. So many beautiful people are reciprocating and willing to chant for the first time!

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As a part of  World Holy Name week celebrations, ISKCON Mayapur management members and community did blissful Harinam around the Campus. After long silence int he campus , following the lock down, it was such a welcome sight to see Nagar Sankirtan going on in the temple with Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. Param Vijayate Sri […]

The post World Holy Name Week Celebrations in Sri Mayapur appeared first on Mayapur.com.

The process of bhakti teaches us so much about life…the journey is as important as the goal. We would now love to share the ‘story’, ‘process’ and ‘journey’ which have contributed towards not just the project, but also our own internal growth.

Click here to see it in your browser or download a copy to your desktop for offline reading.

By Siddhanta dasa

What struck me most about that lecture more than anything was one question that was asked of him by a member of the audience. Srila Prabhupada had been stressing the importance of chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, and the guest asked what Srila Prabhupada personally felt when he chanted this mantra. Without hesitation, Srila Prabhupada answered, “I feel no fear”; Because his response was so immediate and filled with such conviction, I sensed that not only what he said was true, but I felt an urgency to try the same mantra-meditation process myself. Continue reading "“I feel no fear”
→ Dandavats"

World Holy Name Festival

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World Holy Name Festival

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Podcast Summary

 

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Transcription :

Harmonizing faith and reason in bhakti – The Monk’s Podcast with Radhika Raman Prabhu

Summary from 2:39:42

Chaitanya Charan Prabhu: So we discussed today you could say broadly on the topic of faith and reason, in devotion, in bhakti. In started with your experience. You had education, home-schooling, but that was protection, not isolation. And so you develop critical thinking at that time itself. And it was not a big culture shock or intellectual shock when you entered into academia.

The “us and them”, mentality comes primarily when we don’t interact with people, except to say, speak down to them. Or so we, we can see our faith is special, but at the same time, respect other people’s faith also be seeing that there are different ways to approach Krishna.

And then within the faith and reason dialogue in the academic world. I think two main themes we discussed were the historicity and the principle of Revelation. So historicity- it was very beautiful. Before answering a question, we need to question the question that why this question is important, and in the Abrahamic traditions, because they have a linear conception of history. So history is going somewhere. And that’s why where what happened, when what happened and how becomes important. But in our tradition, history is not going anywhere, the soul is going somewhere. So the historical events promote the souls evolution; is more important than the specific history or geography of those events itself. So, we discussed Srila Prabhupada’s quote about not denying that Ahobilam is where Narsimha appeared, but not insisting on it. It’s not we are not historical or non-historical, but history is simply like a departure point for us to go to the transhistorical.

So, for us, if we start giving an exam that we are not prepared for, then we will get into trouble. Do we want to do that exam also? What is central for us is not the specific history. So, it is like a pyramid. One is to say a little history is itself important and this is how it is whatever the tradition says. The other is that Oh! it doesn’t matter at all. It’s what we taught is more important, it is all mythology. So, we understand its history, but the more than history is what is critical for us. What is the trans historical that is taught, that’s what we focus on. And even in the historical like say, we say Krishna appeared here in Vrindavana, it’s not the literal geography of Rādhā Kunda, but Radha Kunda as it is seen in the pratyaksha, Vidusha , that is what is important for us.
So historical question, if we want to change the frame of the discussion, you discussed earlier to go inside and there is a lot of area for going into the, into the academic world. And then like Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya spoke for seven days to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu got to speak.
So, some devotees who have the requisite supportive association to sustain that hearing of things which are of a non-devotional perspective to things and then they also have the intellectual skills, they have the nature and they get the training for that. Then when they speak, then they will be heard. And then the the mainstream dialogue itself will, the mode of that dialogue itself can be changed significantly. And we can see that other religions have done that significantly, but we Hindus have not done Hinduism Vaishnavism or even our movement has not done that so much.

Then we discussed about the revelation question. The religious or the traditions approaches that religion is something which is consistent, comprehensive and timeless, whereas, the academic scholars’ approach is that it is something historical, philosophical, social, cultural or psychological – these factors. So, when this conflict comes up, so, same as the Upanishads, they are other revelations or are they discussions and because of a political conflict between different regions that happened at a particular place.

So, both can go together, because we see that Krishna can act by breaking through history, descending into history or Krishna can act through the movements of history itself. Both can, it seems inclusive and they can increase our faith.

So there’s the transcendental circumstantial, we could say both of them are, are overlapping, are two simultaneous or overlapping modes of explaining the same thing. And that way, it doesn’t have to necessarily challenge one’s faith. We discussed various examples for that purpose.

And then, specifically with respect to faith and reason, we had a long discussion towards the conclusion that, reason is always a part of the okay if you want about faith. Faith is in our tradition; faith is not simply based on beliefs. Okay, this is what I believe that apart from beliefs, this is what I practice. This is what I have experience. This is how I have seen my saintly teachers to be and this is how what I have, say, learn by studying scripture. So there are so many aspects to faith. And when one area becomes weak, just as when one leg is weak, we rely more on the other leg. And that’s why while specializing in one according to our nature, you also need to have enough time to appreciate the other sources of faith also, because they may become the source of our survival at some time.
And overall, then we talked about, how faith can rely on reason at the initial stage, and faith can partially rely on reason and faith can ultimately transcend reason. But when it even when it transcends reason, it doesn’t reject reason it just doesn’t rely on reason. Because even in our tradition, there you talked about Ramanujachaya using reason to show how reason cannot prove the existence of God – the Shreebhashya.

Also, our tradition has critical scholarship where you know, okay, this versus has this versions. So, there is the critical attitude with the tradition also. And ultimately for us the challenge is that the rationality is just one way of thinking. It is valuable for both- for us to understand Krishna better and for us to explain Krishna better to others, and between academic scholarship and sages, the devotional practice the devotional way of looking at things. There could be traditional scholarship also. So, that is something which has not been so developed. But as our movement is evolving, that kind of spaces will be created. And for us, the same rationality which can help us to fix our mind and Krishna can also obstruct us, if we start thinking that this is the only way or this is the superior way or this is the best way and we start looking down upon on the rational devotee. So, if we have that Vaishnav understanding that ultimately, we are here for Seva, and my scholarship is one way of serving, then we all can contribute in the Lord’s mission in the way that he has gifted us.

Radhika Raman prabhu: That was amazing. Your ability to summarise everything we spoke about, points to your own brilliance as a devotee and as an intellectual. So Thank You for that. I have nothing to add or subtract from what you just said. I think that’s a good overview.

I am just really really grateful that I have the opportunity to discuss all of these matters with you. So nourishing for my own Krishna Consciousness, to have your association like this today. Whether this video gets any views on YouTube or not it really not matter. To me it’s completely successful to just have your association to discuss these wonderful topics. It was for me a wonderful morning for me in the US and for you in India.

End of transcription.

The post The Monk’s Podcast 68 with Radhika Raman Prabhu – Harmonizing faith and reason in bhakti appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Podcast

 

Video:

The post Reconciling science and scripture 1 – talk and QA appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

“All men are created equal” penned Thomas Jefferson in 1776’s “Declaration of Independence”, though he himself kept over 600 slaves throughout his adult life. Slavery […]

Srila Prabhupada said our ISKCON is nothing without its festivals, festival means a joyous occasion, lots of singing and dancing.

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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 13 September 2018, Durban, South Africa, Northdene Program Lecture)

Radharani is known as the soft-hearted feminine counterpart of the Lord. She is therefore very compassionate. Now, Caitanya Mahaprabhu has taken that mood of Srimati Radharani. One might say that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is golden but Caitanya Mahaprabhu said it Himself that, “I am not golden. I appear golden because I touched Srimati Radharani and therefore I became golden. Actually, I am blackish but I have taken this mood to feel the blissful emotions of Radharani”.

The article " The Golden Avatar " was published on KKSBlog.

One day Krsna decided to take His breakfast as a picnic in the forest. Having risen early in the morning, He blew His bugle made of horn and woke all the cowherd boys and calves with its beautiful sound. Then Krsna and the boys, keeping their respective herds of calves before them, proceeded from Vrajabhumi to the forestRead More...

Take refuge in the Holy Names. Our only panacea from all onslaughts.

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By Sri Nandanandana dasa

We should not think that sankirtana, or the chanting of the Lord's holy names, is simply part of the system of mantra-yoga, or is merely a formula that has been passed down through the ages like other yoga systems. Nor is it a ritual, ceremony, or activity meant for producing good karma or positive fruitive results. Neither is it merely a way to focus the mind and achieve peace and tranquility. It is far more than any of these. It is the Lord Himself who establishes the chanting of the holy names Continue reading "God Inaugurates Chanting the Holy Names
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World Holy Name Festival

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