Planet ISKCON

Reprinted with permission of the Gainesville Sun, the following article on Krishna Lunch for Healthcare Heroes was originally published in the online edition of The Sun on Friday, June 5, 2020 with the headline “Krishna Lunch, a staple at UF, reaches beyond campus” (see https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200605/krishna-lunch-staple-at-uf-reaches-beyond-campus?) The very next day the same article was republished on the front page of the Gainesville Sun’s weekend print edition with a big, new headline: “Uplifting […]

The post Uplifting Service appeared first on ISKCON News.

Krishna Lunch has been a University of Florida staple for nearly 40 years but, like many things, coronavirus brought the daily campus tradition to a swift halt. Now, the meals are being distributed to other hungry folk.

After months under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some ISKCON temples around the world are gradually starting to reopen in phases, with safety restrictions in place according to their local government recommendations.    ISKCON of Philadelphia, USA: After being closed to the public since March 22nd, the ISKCON temple in Mount Airy, Philadelphia reopened […]

The post Several ISKCON Temples Begin to Reopen with Restrictions appeared first on ISKCON News.

After months under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some ISKCON temples around the world are gradually starting to reopen in phases, with safety restrictions in place according to their local government recommendations. 

A video by Radhanath Swami.

A video by the National Geographic.

A video by Natural Ways. 

A video by spirituelle Bücher & Geschichten.

What leads one to become a Hare Krishna youth leader, initiated brahmana, real estate and food company manager, GBC trainee, and yes, a magician, all before the age of thirty-five?  For Dattatreya Yogesvara Das, it began with family. His mother Shaktimata Dasi, who joined ISKCON in 1973, worked for the BBT in the early days; […]

The post Devotee Profile: Youth Leader and Magician Dattatreya Yogesvara Das appeared first on ISKCON News.

What leads one to become a Hare Krishna youth leader, initiated brahmana, real estate and food company manager, GBC trainee, and yes, a magician, all before the age of thirty-five? 

  Anger has been flaring, Voices have been blaring, To identify who’s black, who’s white, And who happens to be right? These flesh-tone hues Shape a classic blues. Yet, recall when you’ve bled – All blood is deep red We must dissipate the dream For the body’s a machine. We take from the empiric That […]

The post Poem: NOW WHAT (After George Floyd’s Death) appeared first on ISKCON News.

"Anger has been flaring, / Voices have been blaring, / To identify who's black, who's white, / And who happens to be right?"

Answer Podcast

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Transcription :

Transcriber: Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: How can we overcome envy?

Answer: Usually envy is towards those who we think are equal to us. We do not feel envious towards the President of America or Prime Minister of India because they are completely out of our scheme. Usually we are envious towards those whom we think we should be superior to them but they are superior to me.

We feel envious because we think that our happiness depends on externals. If I get more than others then I will become happy. At the philosophical level we need to recognise that material things are not the sources of happiness. There may be some titillation or pleasure in getting those, but it is very superficial. When relatives tickle a small child, he may laugh but that laughter is not happiness. If tickling made us happy, we all can have our own perpetual tickling machines!

Besides philosophical understanding, at the practical level, we need to avoid unnecessarily focusing on what others have. Duryodhana, he had no business staying on in Indraprastha after every had left. Exposing ourselves to the things which can lead to envy within us is also not proper. We should take precautions if we cannot bear other’s opulence and do not unnecessarily expose ourselves. However, most importantly if we recognise that actually whatever whoever has that is a gift given by God.

Krishna can give wealth, fame, position and other endless blessings but such material things cannot give lasting happiness. When Krishna manifest in our heart and our heart becomes enriched with devotion for him that is when we get everlasting happiness. When we see that the blessing is given by Krishna, then our focus shifts from them to Krishna.

Our connection with Krishna is not based on what he has given us, but on what we are giving him. If somebody has a lot of wealth, that does not necessarily mean that the person is very dear to Krishna. Opulence of wealth in person’s life may be because of his past karma. Somebody may have a lot, and they may offer very little and may not get the happiness. We may have less but if we use it properly in a mood of service to Krishna, even that less can give us greater things.

Let me give a simple example. Suppose after this program there is a feast where everybody is going to have their own plate with their own delicacies. Now I have a feast in my plate with all delicious things, but rather than looking at my plate I am looking at everybody else’s plate thinking that they have better delicacies. What we need for our happiness, Krishna has already provided us, but we hanker for more. Rather than craving for delicacies in others plate, we focus on the relishing on what is in our plate.

Happiness does not come by focussing on what we have, rather from what we do with what we have. We accept the gifts that we have, develop those gifts and try to use them properly. By doing so, we will be happy.

In the Ramayana, there is a story of how Lord Ram was building the bridge. Hanuman was carrying the giant boulders and there was a squirrel which was taking some sand particles. Sri Ram said I am equally happy with both of you. You both are doing according to your capacity. Similarly, it is not that greater material prosperity means that someone necessarily has a greater blessings of Krishna That’s also a blessing, but greater blessing of Krishna is giving the greater intelligence to use what we have in Krishna’s service.

End of transcription.

The post ​How can we overcome envy? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 12 April 2020, Vyasa-puja Address)

The flow of mercy is never obstructed, no matter what the situation. We are all in different places during this lockdown but we are still together, still together at Prabhupada’s feet, still together at Krsna’s feet. So now let us take full advantage of this golden opportunity.

Watch the Vyasa-puja address below or visit Youtube.

The article " The Flow of Mercy is… " was published on KKSBlog.

Answer Podcast:

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Transcription :

Transcription: Suresh Gupta

Editing: Sharan Shetty

Question: When an eye for an eye will make everyone blind, why does the Gita teach that?

Answer: Bhagavad-gita does not teach the philosophy of “an eye for an eye”. Rather, it teaches that we should act out of spiritual love and do whatever that is best for the expression of ours and others spiritual love. Krishna told Arjuna to fight the battle not just to avenge the wrongs done to him by Duryodhana but because Duryodhana was disrupting society, disrupting dharma and taking all of society towards adharma which was causing distress, disorder and disaster. Focusing on this point, “an eye for an eye will make everyone blind” reminds us of a respected Indian spiritual teacher who adapted this biblical saying which in simple term means “Tit for Tat”. For such sayings, there is a time and a place where they can be applied and there is also a time, place, circumstance where this philosophy will not apply. For example, when two people are having a street fight and both fight with each other and break each other’s teeth, both will become toothless. But if there is a larger interest involved, in the sense, that there are two states and each state is trying to conquer the other state. If one state attacks and the other state stays silent then the first state will become more and more threatening. Rather, if the first state hits and the other state hits back as harder as it can, and this goes on for a while then essentially it will lead to both states becoming cautious of each other and leading to deterrence. Deterrence means a state may avoid an attack thinking it can lead to a counter-attack but if there is no hitting back from the state which is being attacked, then the attacking state will exploit, destroy, dominate or even enslave the other state and there will be complete misery for the ruler who was submissive. For example, Hitler was on a rampage, tormenting the Jews and this Indian leader wrote him a letter asking him to not fight and tried to bring out the nobility within him, but it was in vain. There are some people who are so despotic that when they see someone surrender to them, they do not see that as an opportunity for expressing compassion but rather as an opportunity for expressing domination. Such people see surrender as weakness and a reason to destroy. Thus, when there are small petty trifles and if we start thinking of avenging each and every one of them then there will be continuous animosity and it will degrade the relationship of both people. But when one of the parties is anyway hostile and exploitative, the relationship between them will remain hostile at some level. In a situation where a husband and a wife are living together or two brothers or two sisters are living together in a family, “an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth” is going to create continuous animosity and therefore they will need to overlook the small faults since they have to live together but say if we have a situation of countries like India and Pakistan where Pakistan keeps provoking and provoking and India keeps tolerating and enduring passively then Pakistan will become more brazen leading to a continuous and growing threat of terrorism, insurgency, violence in India. But when India hits back, Pakistan will understand that it should avoid posing any threat and be careful, else India may hit back harder. I am not recommending a war against Pakistan but simply pointing out, that in real politics, the simplistic forgiving attitude will simply lead to self-destruction.

The Bhagwad Gita teaching is that if there can be individual morality then that must be separated from social or state morality. For example, in Chapter 18, when Krishna talks about the qualities of people in different varnas, he describes kshama – forgiveness as one of the characteristics of brahmanas but when he is talking about kshatriyas he says (BG 18.43), yuddhe capy apalayanam – courage in battle as one of their characteristics. Why is this difference? Because the brahmanas at the individual level can be forgiving, but if a king at state level is forgiving, that will lead to transgressors exploiting, dominating, destroying the kingdom. This misconceived sense of charitability or forgiveness cannot be used when the opponent is hostile and bound to exploit and dominate. In history, many Indian kings who were indiscriminately forgiving thought they were very dharmic but unfortunately they did not understand the serving of dharma. They did not understand that kshatriya dharma and brahmana dharma are to be very different. Often the invaders used this forgiveness for their benefit and came back attacking. Each time they were forgiven, they repeatedly came back and attacked and eventually when they conquered, they did not forgive, they slaughtered.

The point is, certainly Bhagwad Gita is not a book which calls for violence. It is very clear about morality and codes of war. The battle took place on a war field between two armies who were prepared, equipped and trained to fight without causing any harm to innocent civilians. It in no way propagates terrorism in the name of religion where terrorists kill defenceless, innocent and unsuspecting people, such a thing is completely against any principle of dharma. Now a brahmana, who is not having a state position, can be forgiving at an individual level, but such a thing can be disastrous at state level because at the state level there are actions which affect the entire kingdom. Therefore, if a king forgives the aggressor and the aggressor attacks and destroys the king and lays pillage on the whole kingdom then sense of forgiveness is mistaken. The real world is such, that a king needs to use force – sometimes to punish criminals within and sometimes to attack and counterattack invaders from without.

Therefore, “an eye for an eye” when it is used in petty trifles among people living together in a family or in a close setting, then it leads to escalation of hostilities but when there is aggression between two states, at that time, the possible strategy of counter-attacking helps in creating deterrence and prevents the escalation of hostility and violence in that situation. Hence, the dharma of a brahmana is different from the dharma of a kshatriya. Forgiveness is the dharma of brahmana and fearlessness in terms of not fleeing from a fight and being willing to fight when necessary for the sake of protection, that is the characteristic of a kshatriya.

To summarise, the Bhagwad Gita does not recommend indiscriminate violence nor does it recommend revengeful attitude like “an eye for an eye” or “a tooth for a tooth” rather the Bhagwad Gita talks about doing whatever it takes to establish dharma and to keep those who are opponents of dharma out of power.

End of transcription.

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Rosedale, Toronto

Persistent Perfume

Emotions were high across the globe over the death, and today’s funeral, of an innocent George Floyd. It was a clear act of injustice on the part of the police—hence the general public is angry.

From a spiritual point of view George is resting in peace and will be known as a victim/hero. From a social perspective a number of issues need sorting out. May good reason and justice take its presence.

Personally I felt some relief that some resolve, spiritually (to do with Krishna), had come upon the human race. A few hours of sobriety, calmness and shanti have pervaded planet earth. Let sanity envelop us.

Victor and I took to the trails of Balfour and Corley Parks for the evening. We sensed, from the plants around us, a form of rejoice in concert with the mood of people during these few hours of peace after anger. Those incredible aromas exploded out from trees, bushes and low-lying plants. Whether from the refined home gardens or the valley of trails, both of us were occupied with the intense reactions of our nostrils. These currents of bursting fragrance were up to some kind of joy; some kind of applause to acknowledgment. At least that’s the way I interpreted it with the persistent perfume.

Nature can be harsh. Nature can be sweet. Tonight she was sweet. Sweetness dominated, for a time, over what is often dismal.

May George Floyd rest in peace.

May the Source be with you!

6 km

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBQkFA6gLKP/

Toronto, Ontario

A Few Minutes with Jerry

My phone rang. On the phone’s display I saw the name of my brother—Jerry Vis. I answered.

“How are you, Jerry?”

“Great! You’re walking?” He could hear me pacing, breathing, panting slightly.

“Yes, I am.”

“You’re in Toronto?” he asked.

“Yes, rather grounded, but liking it.”

“What street are you on?”

“Huntley Street; I’m headed for the library on Wellesley. What are you up to?” I asked Jerry.

“I’ve been laying bricks in the laneway.”

“Hard work!”

“It’s okay! Some gardening, biking.”

“Stay away from the poison ivy. I think it’s a cousin of Covid 19.” I was humoring him. However, knowing that he sometimes gets the dreaded rashes, I said, “I know a way of dealing with the nasty stuff.”

“Oh yah?”

“Smear mud or clay on the infected area before you rest. It takes away the itch and drinks up the leaky oils it produces. Then it goes away.”

Jerry said he’d try it. We chatted some more, and then he let me walk. Yes, indeed, the world is replete with challenges. Poison ivy is one helluva culprit. I haven’t known it to kill, except for when a friend from Ohio, Akilananda, mentioned he had a lamb who died from swallowing the plant. Nature takes us down in many ways.

I continued walking and chanting on my beads. The chanting helps to refocus on the Absolute.

May the Source be with you!

6 km

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Toronto, Ontario

Gems at the Corner

In the last few days, through the medium of Zoom, we have spoken on topics of “Teamwork in Spiritual Life,” “Happiness,” “The Importance of Relationship,” “Worry,” “Grooming a New Generation,” “Samadhi,” “Surrender in Modern Times,” and more. It has been good, especially when the sessions allow for questions and answers. It is the way to stay connected in these times, when travel is frozen, or, at best, thawing.

In any event, nothing is going to stop my walking various distances through the neighbourhood. Again, today, I went, accompanied by Aisvarya, to the corner of Wellesley and Sherborne. I experienced so much success sitting there at the public library’s mini-outdoor square.

It was Vishal who came over to greet us. He was driving his van, saw the saffron cloth, and pulled over. I had known Vishal from the OM festivals, which are like Rainbow Gatherings, only on a slightly smaller scale. I used to attend the OM and provide extensive cooking for the crowds—preparations of pasta and Kichari,and the organizing of a major chapatimaking session. It was fun. It was outdoors by a lake with many free spirits all around. A rave would happen all night long and well into the early morning. It might subside by 8:00 a.m.

I usually don’t forget a face, and Vishal’s was one of those faces. Kind, caring and perceptive. Lots of good qualities.

At this rather crazy corner, Wellesley and Sherborne, you’ll find some gems.

May the Source be with you!

6 km

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Hare Krishna

Please accept my humble obeisances

HM Lord Lieutenant of Greater London thanks the Prasad Distribution Team

The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the Queen Elizabeth ll personal representative throughout the United Kingdom. It is a great honour for the Prasad Distribution team to get the recognition for their  constant service throughout the pandemic.

Everyday a team of 50 volunteers show up at Krishna’s Castle to prep the veg and box up the Prasad, while we listen to George Harrison’s songs.

In the Summer of 1973 Queen Elizabeth was going through the Bhagavad Gita and exclaimed:“How marvelous it would be to completely trust K???a”

Your servants 

Food for All Team –

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Answer Podcast:

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Transcription :

Transcription: Suresh Gupta

Editing: Sharan Shetty

Question: If bhakti is the conclusion of the Vedas, shouldn’t the Vedas be filled with bhakti?

Answer: There are three different things – Summary, Conclusion and the Essence. Summary is more like a briefly re-telling of what has been told. Certainly, bhakti is not a summary of the Vedas because the Vedas contain a variety of things. Usually, conclusion is thought of as something which is spoken at the end but that may not necessarily be a conclusion. When things are told in a sequence, there might be some concluding points but sometimes concluding points of the class may not be the most striking points. For example, speaker may tell some stories and then conclude the class. Now within the story some striking points may have been told and that might have an emphasis, however, that might not be repeated again in the conclusion. If there is an explicit call for action given at the end, then we can say it is a conclusion otherwise the conclusion does not necessarily come at the end. There is chronological conclusion which comes at the end but what is to be primarily told that may not come at the end, it may come somewhere in the middle also.

Now, essence means that which is the crux which the speaker wanted to speak.

To identify the essence is very difficult. Srila Jiva Gosvami in his sandarbhas takes a traditional tool which is called as taatparya linga where linga means “symbol” and taatparya means “meaning”. Therefore, taatparya linga means “markers of meaning” and he uses it to explain how one can know the meaning of a book. They are:
i. Upakrama – Beginning or commencement
ii. Upasamhara – Conclusion
iii. Abhyasa – That which is repeated, reiteration
iv. Apurvata – Uniqueness or novelty, special example not told anywhere else
v. Phala – Fruit that is promised

Srila Jiva Goswami says that by looking at these markers, we can understand what the essential message of a book is. He does an elaborate analysis in the sandarbhas and first talks of Srimad Bhagavtam as the essence of Vedas. He says Srimad Bhagavatam is sarva pramanam chakravarti (emperor of all evidences). After that he talks about how Srimad Bhagavatam’s conclusion is pure devotion to Krishna. He uses these five tools to explain this point.

Apart from these five tools, the essence is something which requires our thoughts to understand it and guidance to do it correctly. It may even require Lord Krishna’s mercy in terms of revelation. To understand the essence, we see it from the perspective of the author and the originator. The author of Vedas is Srila Vyasadeva. It is known that Vyasadeva put the entire Vedas in written form but at the end he was not satisfied by it (explained in Srimad Bhagavatam). Finally, when he compiled the Srimad Bhagavatam in written form, at that time he became satisfied (yayatma suprasidati). Therefore, from the author’s perspective, we see that the essence is pure devotion or bhakti. Ultimately, as Vedas are coming from God, that same Supreme Lord is speaking the Bhagavad-gita in which he says, sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja (BG 18.66). Apart from Srila Jiva Goswami’s sandarbhas there are many other perspectives pointing towards the same essence.

If we just go by the numerical quantity, we will not find that the Vedas talk so much about bhakti. However, the essence is not always to be understood through numerical count. There are different ways in which the essence can be understood and here the numerical count can be misleading. Vedas are also reflecting what they are fulfilling i.e. human desires which are mostly material. So, naturally Vedas talk about the material things. Thus, we can recognise from the author and the original source, what is the essential message. Although there are talks about karma kanda but one should go beyond as explained in BG 2.45, trai gunya visaya veda nistrai-gunyo bhavarjuna (the Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes). That is the essence which Lord Krishna speaks. Bhakti and Krishna are essence not in the sense of numerical quantity but as the ultimate purpose.

End of transcription.

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Video – Bhagavad Gita 5.19 Sunday Feast – Cannot Afford the space to fall down Dead 2015-07-26 #Timisoara

Adi-lila 10: The Trunk, Branches and Sub-branches of the Chaitanya Tree
Text 17-19

Vakresvara Pandita, the fifth branch of the tree, was a very dear servant of Lord Chaitanya’s. He could dance with constant ecstasy for seventy-two hours.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu personally sang while Vakresvara Pandita danced, and thus Vakresvara Pandita fell at the lotus feet of the Lord and spoke as follows.

“O Chandramukha! Please give me ten thousand Gandharvas. Let them sing as I dance, and then I will be greatly happy.”

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Video – Srimad Bhagavatam 3.14.51 Progression of Desires 2015-07-25 #Timisoara

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“These regulative principles should act as servants of the basic principle — that is, one should always remember Krishna and never forget Him. This is possible when one chants the Hare Krishna mantra. Therefore one must strictly chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra twenty-four hours daily. One may have other duties to perform under the direction of the spiritual master, but he must first abide by the spiritual master’s order to chant a certain number of rounds. In our Krishna consciousness movement, we have recommended that the neophyte chant at least sixteen rounds. This chanting of sixteen rounds is absolutely necessary if one wants to remember Krishna and not forget Him. Of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s order to chant at least sixteen rounds is most essential.” Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 22. 133 purport.

Always Remember Krishna and Never Forget Him