How to Fight Virtual Collective Rukmini Prabhu and Anuttama Prabhu

Sadbhuja Das: Hare Krishna, We have finally completed Nanda and Sunanda, our two Vaikunthadutas. Now we only have two more demigods remaining, which is Indra and Manu. All this wonderful work is done by the talented Ambhoda Devi Dasi, we are very thankful and blessed to have her on our team!

My dear Daruka, do not be unhappy because of the destruction of the Yadu dynasty, or the disappearance of Lord Balarama. Become patient and fixed in actual knowledge. These calamities are simply an illusory show, fabricated by My internal potency. There is no need to become agitated because of these so-called catastrophes. Continue reading "Dealing With the Loss of One’s Spiritual Master
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In each weekly five-minute episode, Nityananda Chandra speaks on a verse from the Bhagavad-gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam or a story from the Puranas or Mahabharata. He also incorporates personal anecdotes to make his philosophical points more relatable.

At New Vrindaban, Mother Earth is manifesting an exceptional radiance this year. We see it in our high tunnel greenhouses where the bountiful production of vegetables is unsurpassed.

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Cabbagetown, Toronto

Wet Walk

Our very, very good cook, Dwarkanath, has got a very, very good grip on things. Of course, he must have a firm hold on the pots and pans he uses, and the ingredients; water, produce and spices all require careful and firm handling. Two nights ago he did a big favour of massaging my legs. My delicate knees were worked on with slightly more force than required. It left me moving on a limp. However, I was not cursing him, he’s too precious.

Aisvarya and I sauntered along to Cabbagetown, east of downtown, where residents are abound. With humidity top notch, we sweat along our way, and for me, a trite limp, made it tough. On our return I suggested to Aisvarya that he get us a cab. It’s a first for me. No, that’s not usually something I do. As a teen, working in the tobacco fields for hours, I became trained up. I learned to be solid.

In any event Cabbagetown really is one of those ‘very best’ residential areas in Canada. There’s a certain charm. Houses are tight and majestic. They are hugged by trees. For the eyes, it’s nice. The neighbourhood is a mix of young families and retirees.

It was such a sweet, full day with some people’s resolve in-the-making. To top it off was this walk, an actual reward for the day, despite some discomfort.

When the sweaty stepping was over the Beck’s taxi driver came. I rolled down the window and the best breeze entered in. We stopped at 243 Avenue Road, my home. I opened the door, went to the basement, which is all poised for a renovation, and came to Karuna Sindhu. I then plopped down on the chair next to him, punctuating a period at the end of the sentence of the day.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

“Ordinarily, the spiritual master, husband, father, mother or superior relative accepts worship from an inferior relative, but here Rsabhadeva forbids this. First the father, spiritual master or husband must be able to release the dependent from repeated birth and death. If he cannot do this, he plunges himself into the ocean of reproachment for his unlawful activities. Everyone should be very responsible and take charge of his dependents just as a spiritual master takes charge of his disciple or a father takes charge of his son. All these responsibilities cannot be discharged honestly unless one can save the dependent from repeated birth and death.” —Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.18 purport Continue reading "Success in Grihastha Ashrama
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Sri Sri Radha Madhava’s Jhulan Yatra Festival Starts in 2 Days in Sri Dhama Mayapur on July 30th, 2020

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The post The Monk’s Podcast 36 with Anuttama Prabhu – How to engage with the world? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Giriraj Swami and Rtadhvaja Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.18

“Ordinarily, the spiritual master, husband, father, mother or superior relative accepts worship from an inferior relative, but here Rsabhadeva forbids this. First the father, spiritual master or husband must be able to release the dependent from repeated birth and death. If he cannot do this, he plunges himself into the ocean of reproachment for his unlawful activities. Everyone should be very responsible and take charge of his dependents just as a spiritual master takes charge of his disciple or a father takes charge of his son. All these responsibilities cannot be discharged honestly unless one can save the dependent from repeated birth and death. Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.18 purport

Success in the Grihasta Ashram (Right click to download)

Oakville, Toronto

Getting Around

I took great delight in one of those live stream MS Teams presentations with GEL, which stands for “Gita Ethics Learning,” an educational program to encourage a more holistic lifestyle. The lessons are for the young, however, this morning’s call took more the form of a town hall meeting, with students and their parents.

I spoke about my being raised in the countryside, on a small farm, and what that involved. “The animals were all around us.” The Q&A session went well, much to do with parents exploring how to motivate their kids towards higher values and states of consciousness.

My second half of the day entailed a visit to “I Gita”, a studio facility for yoga. And last, but not least, some participation in Brampton’s chariot festival. Due to the lockdown, once again, this annual event was downscaled dramatically, but with safety in mind—adjustments were made. The community is happy, they have missed the temple.

In fact the calls are increasing. The need for socializing in a pure environment is on the rise. Calls are very frequent from those wanting a piece of action with Krishna. The time will come for all of us to celebrate that event when the doors open. Most people are predicting we will be in the pandemic for many months to come.

May the Source be with you!

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It's just a piece of coal, but it undergoes an intense pressure and transforms into a diamond.

Forest Hill, Toronto

Themes

We managed to sustain an evening mini-concert on our temple’s entrance steps. Three extra people joined us — Georgia from Mexico (her first time here) and two guys, both with the name, Victor.  The sarod and djembe were captivating.

For today, rather tonight, we set out walking in the Casa Loma area, entering a lush ravine, residential area and then the famous castle itself. It was definitely a leisurely walk, which included a peek at the castle’s old stables and examining flora and fauna.  As the night set in, certain creatures came out – skunks, raccoons, fox, and bunnies. People too.

Two young women asked about us. They saw my orange. “Our theme today is fertility,” said one of the women. “My backyard suddenly sprouted all these mushrooms and I was told it means the soil is fertile. Then we have been seeing all these rabbits, which also represent fertility.”

We found that interesting.

“What is your theme?” Asked the same woman, a question directed more to me.

“Community — belonging,” I said.  That met with some kind of approval. After all, the three from our group (one of the Victor’s had to dash off on his motorcycle) were truly relishing our discoveries while seeing signs of optimism. Good omens.

Whenever you meet anyone these days the Covid-19 topic comes up. It’s devouring us as a theme. If so, see the good in that as well. Do not slump into darkness.

May the Source be with you!

4 km

Dundas, Toronto

Green Wedding

We had merely walked a few metres down-hill, and then came to this lush section of a Carolina forest, on the Jon White Trail. This was the location of a sweet marriage between Cameron and Katie. What a spot! Wild raspberries everywhere. Congratulations!

Cameron had decided that I marry him as I am a registered solemniser of weddings in the province. I consented to his wishes. He has been a Gita student of mine for some time. Usually on Thursday afternoons we have a weekly one hour call and comb through the mysteries of the Gita, chapter by chapter, however, today was different. He chose today to tie the knot.

Ananda, from Scarborough, drove Krishna Chandra and me to this heavenly sphere, at the conservation spot. He also conducted the ceremony, basically. The three of us chanted mantras,to invoke a good future for the couple, and executed a mini fire-ceremony. There was an exchange of garlands and rings. We were succinct in all that had to be said. I quoted from chapter 6 of the Gita, about yoga, which, by the way, refers to union.

Refreshments followed, oh yes, at the couple’s Hamilton address. Very nice!

We then had to rush to Toronto, after some chatting, to make it in time for a Zoom call with devotees in Florida. On the call were bhakti yogis who engaged themselves in hearing from chapter 2 of the Gita, information, not overload, however, under applied by most of us. One epiphany that came out of the discussion was, “from tolerance, truth is revealed and from truth, tolerance is born.”

May the source be with you!

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Sunday Feast - HG Danakeli devi dasi - The Best Use of a Bad Bargain

Srila Prabhupada: One who hears the transcendental sound vibration of the holy name of the Lord, Hare Krishna, also improves in health. We have actually seen that many brahmacaris and grhastas connected with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness have improved in health, and a luster has come to their faces. (Srimad Bhagavatam, 3.21.45-47 Purport)

The Monk's Podcast with Krishna Kshetra Swami

Srila Prabhupada recounts: "So Calcutta became devastated. All people practically left Calcutta. Daily hundreds and hundreds of people were dying. I was one year old or one and a half year old. I have seen what was happening, but there was plague epidemic. That I did not know. I, later on, I heard from my parents.

Sadbhuja Das: Here is a little update on the situation with the Ganga. Last time we took pictures of the water levels was last Monday, and as you can see the level of the water has gone up but not that much.

TOVP talks is a bi-weekly webinar hosted by His Grace Braja Vilasa das from Sridhama Mayapur – unveling the Vision of the Paramapara. In this series, HH Jayapataka Swami spoke on ToVP: Sri Caitanya’s desire fulfilled. TOVP: A fullfilment of the desire of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu HIS HOLINESS JAYAPATAKA SWAMI LIVE ON TOVP TALKS WEBINARJuly […]

The post TOVP: A Fulfillment of Desire of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Speaking on Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.41, on June 7, 1976, in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada explained the following verse from the Padma Purana:

arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhir
visnor va vaisnavanam kali-mala-mathane pada-tirthe ’mbu-buddhih
sri-visnor namni mantre sakala-kalusa-he sabda-samanya-buddhir
visnau sarvesvarese tad-itara-sama-dhir yasya va naraki sah

“One who thinks the Deity in the temple to be made of wood or stone, who thinks of the spiritual master in the disciplic succession as an ordinary man, who thinks the Vaisnava in the Acyuta-gotra to belong to a certain caste or creed, or who thinks of caranamrta or Ganges water as ordinary water is taken to be a resident of hell.”

These were his comments:

 Arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhih naraki. Forbidden—never think of the vigrahah, the form of the Lord, as stone or wood; gurusu nara-matir, or the spiritual master as ordinary human being; vaisnave jati-buddhih, or the Vaishnava, who has become a devotee, as belonging to some caste or nation. No. He doesn’t belong to anything. Never think that he’s American Vaishnava, he’s Indian Vaishnava, he’s brahman Vaishnava, he’s kshatriya. No. This is jati-buddhih, classification. A Vaishnava does not belong to any jati. He belongs to Krishna, krsna dasa. Jivera svarupa haya nitya krsna dasa. [“The living entity’s constitutional position is to be an eternal servant of Krishna.”] (Cc Madhya 20.108)

Therefore practically you can see the members of Krishna consciousness: some of them are Indians, some of them are Europeans, some of them are Englishmen, some of them are black, some of them are white, some of them are brahmans, some of them are Hindus—but they do not think anymore that “I belong to this category.” No. Otherwise they could not work together. Every one of them is completely aware that “We are all Krishna’s servants.”

Similarly, the guru is not an ordinary human being. Gurusu nara-matir. Guru is not ordinary human being. Ordinary human being cannot preach Krishna consciousness. That is not possible. Krsna-sakti vina nahe krsna nama pracara. [“The fundamental religious system in the Age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Krsna. Unless empowered by Krsna, one cannot propagate the sankirtana movement.”] (Cc Antya 7.11) So anyone who is preaching, he cannot be considered an ordinary human being. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has explained, Why not ordinary being? Even though his son is calling him “father,” or his relatives are taking him as ordinary, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that still he is not an ordinary human being. Why? Because he is preaching Krishna consciousness. So, vaisnave jati-buddhih, gurusu nara-matir.

TOVP – The Desire of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Fulfilled

No one can speak with more conviction and authority on the subject of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium than His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja.

In this interview Maharaja will explain both the practical reasons and preaching vision Srila Prabhupada had for the project, and the sublime, esoteric roots of the TOVP going back to Lord Nityananda and our acharyas. Join us for this remarkable journey into the transcendental realm of Mahaprabhu’s mission and how it is manifesting in the world today.

 

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Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.6.

etavan sankhya-yogabhyam
sva-dharma-parinisthaya
janma-labha? parah pumsam
ante narayana-smrtih

“The highest perfection of human life, achieved either by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by practice of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of occupational duty, is to remember the Personality of Godhead at the end of life.” Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.6.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.6 (Right click to download)

An internship program has been launched to help build a website and carry out important research for the still under-development project “ISKCON at the United Nations.” After applying and going through a rigorous approval process, The Office of Communications for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) received ECOSOC status with the UN in 2016, the highest level at which an NGO can be associated with the UN. Continue reading "Internship Program Launched to Help Develop ISKCON at the UN
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Srimad Bhagavatam class by HH Badrinarayan Swami in San Diego, Ca

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The podcast boom has accelerated in the first half of 2020, perhaps partly due to the appetite for more streaming content while people stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. ISKCON devotees have also embraced the medium, and recently a new podcast, 5 Minute Meditations, has emerged as a digestible weekly slice of Bhagavad-gita philosophy, […]

The post 5 Minute Meditations Podcast Presents Practical Gita Philosophy for Public appeared first on ISKCON News.

The offering of a sincere disciple

Thus a pure devotee of the Lord is aniketatam, without a fixed residence, meaning that he accepts neither the gross nor subtle body as his eternal residence.

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Answer Podcast

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Transcription
Question: Is spirituality meant to make us feel good or does spiritual growth require us to feel bad?

Answer:

Interviewer: So, thank you so much, Chaitanya Charan Prabhu. I think most of the questions were very nicely answered. I just want to summarize the section on humility before we move to the next section.

So, you gave two wonderful definitions of humility. You said humility should lead us to the glorification of Krishna. That is the “trinad api sunichena” verse. That was very powerful and all the examples that you gave actually fell into that particular definition. The other definition that you gave is, humility is not to let our ego come in the way of our mission. So, these two definitions actually kind of solved all the other issues that we all asked.

And then in terms of practical applications, you mentioned that keep small things small, overlook provocations, have forgiveness in your heart, like keep forgiving people, stand up for yourselves, and when it comes to social media, we can understand if they are their mission and Krishna is not their mission, then that is not humility. So, thank you so much for a comprehensive view of humility. Now, I just want to talk about the other section on feel good, feel bad.

Let’s talk about one simple example of Arjuna. Krishna told Arjuna to fight, but the same Krishna told Uddhava to renounce, and in both cases, they both felt good.

Chaitanya Charan Prabhu: Krishna told whom not to fight?

Interviewer: Krishna told Arjuna to fight and Krishna told Uddhava to renounce.

Chaitanya Charan Prabhu: Okay.

Interviewer: Yeah, so in both cases, both Arjuna and Uddhava felt good by Krishna’s advice and that was of course Krishna, but when we go and do our outreach, we always have this problem. Sometimes we tend towards purification and sometimes we tend towards affirmations. We say that no, you have to get purified or sometimes we say no, it’s okay, whatever you’re doing is fine. So, this conflict always exists. Sometimes we just focus on saying that change your actions and sometimes we say just change your thinking.

In fact, most self-help tools, most self-help talks these days is focused on change your thinking, but don’t worry about your actions. Whereas in our movement, we focus on change your actions and it doesn’t matter about your thinking. So again, there’s this dichotomy.

So, in the next section of our discussion, if we can talk more about should we feel good, should we feel bad about these things, how do we balance it? Because sometimes when somebody says it is necessary to say that you should get purified and that person takes it as a good thing. He feels good. But the same advice, if you give it to another person and say that you just have to get purified, then that person might feel bad.

Chaitanya Charan Prabhu: Yeah. I see.

Interviewer: So, how do we know when to say what, when to feel good, when to feel bad or spirituality is beyond this and so on. So that’s the next section.

Chaitanya Charan Prabhu: This is actually a big subject and I suspect that we might need to have a separate discussion for this because our discussion on humility went quite far, but maybe I’ll address the specific issue that you raised and then depending on how many more questions are there, we could decide whether we want to have a separate session.

So, with respect to our practice of spirituality in our daily life, sometimes we may feel good, sometimes we may feel bad, and in different situations, different directions are given. So how are these to be reconciled? Well, I would say two or three different things are going on over here. First is that, I find it often very helpful to consider the mind to be like the body. It is a domain of reality in itself. At the level of the body, if somebody’s sole purpose is to be comfortable or even the sole purpose is to be safe. Now, safety is important and certainly we don’t want to trivialize, be casual about safety.

But somebody could argue that just going out in a car on a street increases the probability of an accident as compared to staying at home. Yeah. So, does that mean one should always stay at home? Safety is important. Safety is basic and we could say it’s important, but more than that is comfort. Now, physical comfort is… nobody in itself wants to be uncomfortable, but sometimes to grow physically, we need to be ready to put ourselves in some kind of discomfort. So, if somebody wants to be healthier, they need to do some exercises and doing exercise itself is not always comfortable. Just as there is the comfort of the body, there is the discomfort of the body.

It’s a problem when both become ends in themselves. If somebody thinks comfort is the only end that they seek in their lives, then their life will soon become meaningless because often doing something meaningful, doing something worthwhile requires taking some amount of discomfort. But on the other hand, if somebody makes discomfort itself a virtue, just see how much discomfort I’m putting myself in. Well, to make yourself uncomfortable is not the purpose of life. It is that we need to have something worthwhile to do and while doing that worthwhile thing, we try to avoid discomfort as much as possible, but that doesn’t mean that we have to avoid comfort also. The idea is that the body needs a certain level of comfort, and as much as possible, we create a comfortable situation, but creating a comfortable situation is not the purpose of life. The purpose is that physically comfortable situation is meant to help us focus on a purposeful life.

The same approach we can have toward our emotions also, that on an average, we don’t want to have disturbing emotions within us. We don’t like to feel worried. We don’t like to feel angry. We don’t like to feel confused. There are various kinds of emotions which make us feel bad. At the same time, if we want to do anything meaningful in our lives, it means investing ourselves in something that is not entirely in our control. As soon as we invest ourselves in something that is not entirely in our control, all these emotions will come up. Sometimes when something important for us is going wrong, there’ll be fear. If sometimes we don’t know what to do about a particular situation, there’ll be anxiety, there’ll be confusion rather, and sometimes when something goes opposite of way we want, there might be resentment, there might be anger. So, if one makes it the goal of their life to avoid these things, then they will never be able to do anything.

Life involves confronting uncomfortable emotions also, but we don’t make cultivating uncomfortable emotions the goal of one’s life. It’s that for doing something meaningful, if sometimes some uncomfortable emotions have to be confronted, that’s fine. So, say for example, ___840 spirituality. One extreme of spirituality, as you mentioned, is that we just want to feel good about ourselves and that’s why feeling good about ourselves means just have positive, uplifting thoughts. So, for example, some people in the name of affirmations, they will say, “I’m strong, I’m powerful, I can do whatever I set my mind on. I have all the abilities that I need.” This kind of affirmations could be healthier than just if our mind is constantly having a negative script, “you’re worthless, you will never amount to anything.” The second kind could be damaging. The first kind could be beneficial.

But if somebody gets caught only in affirmation and then there is no action following that affirmation, there is no meaningful action, no purposeful action, then what is the point of all that positive thoughts if there are no proper actions that are there. So, in spiritual life for spiritual growth, there are times when the bubble of our ego needs to be burst. If we are too full of ourselves, we need to get out of ourselves. But at the same time, spiritual life is not so much about feeling good or is it about feeling bad? It is about feeling a reality bigger than ourselves. In fact, feeling the ultimate reality. We want to connect with Krishna and in that sense we want our feelings to be free from ourselves.

If there is too much of self-congratulatory an attitude, then our feelings are caught in congratulating ourselves and then they’re not available for focusing on Krishna, on connecting with Krishna, on serving Krishna, on thinking about Krishna at a basic level. We don’t want that self-congratulatory attitude.

On the other hand, if there is a self-condemnatory attitude, I’m constantly beating myself up, then also my emotions are caught in myself and then also I’ll not be able to focus on Krishna. So, in that sense, we need to have a balance. Again, if we keep the purpose in mind, I want to have positive thoughts so that there are some positive actions, that I am able to do something worthwhile, something meaningful. So, we don’t make a fetish of feel good or of feel bad.

One major problem with spirituality as it is seen in the mainstream world is that spirituality is seen more as a shock absorber than as a life transformer or more specifically a purpose or a goal transformer. I want to do what I want to do and while I’m doing what I want to do, I want to feel good about myself also. That is a very utilitarian understanding of spirituality where we see it as a means to feel good. But that’s a very, we could say, a diluted or almost a distorted understanding of spirituality. Spirituality is much, much more.

Spirituality is meant to be a goal transformer. It reveals a higher reality to us, a higher reality of who we are, what the nature of the world is, what we are meant to do and it transforms that goal. Once it transforms the vision of our world, transforms our goal, and then when we are pursuing bigger things in our life, then sometimes we may feel bad because there are challenges, sometimes you may feel good, but that higher purpose is what consumes us, that is what absorbs us and that’s the essence of spirituality.

End of transcription.