Planet ISKCON

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The post When Lord Chaitanya destroys demonic mentality, not demons, why did the person who threatened devotees constructing the Juhu temple die? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

As some of you know I have mainly been recycling older blogs and slightly modifying them to represent some of my current struggles in my treatment protocols. With this offering I am writing afresh, having to discontinue my treatment due to the lockdown here in Vrindavana, though I present similar themes to what I teach as a result of facing possible death for the last 4 ½ years as well as intense headaches and other pains for the last year. I still consider personal or horizontal growth work important for those contemplating the shortness of their life which includes getting our inner (emotional/mental) and outer (physical) house in order.

Why? The simple reason, according to my understanding from personal experience, is that the trauma, disappointment, wounds, and pain from this life and previous lives negatively impacts our practice of bhakti by taking energy away from our focus on loving devotional service and tends to cause us to make offenses to others by our reacting to them based on our past emotional pain and trauma. Progressive spiritual life, and even a successful material life, requires changing unthinking patterns of behavior that don’t serve us or anyone else.

Part of progressive endeavor comes through intense, threadbare introspection, to let us understand our negative patterns or habits of thinking and acting. There are many processes that can assist us in such work and help us be more focused and present spiritually, which is the greatest necessity. We are advised to accept whatever is favorable for our bhakti and give up what isn’t, and that can open up possibilities we might not have considered before.

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As some of you know I have mainly been recycling older blogs and slightly modifying them to represent some of my current struggles in my treatment protocols. With this offering I am writing afresh, having to discontinue my treatment due to the lockdown here in Vrindavana, though I present similar themes to what I teach as a result of facing possible death for the last 4 ½ years as well as intense headaches and other pains for the last year. I still consider personal or horizontal growth work important for those contemplating the shortness of their life which includes getting our inner (emotional/mental) and outer (physical) house in order.

Why? The simple reason, according to my understanding from personal experience, is that the trauma, disappointment, wounds, and pain from this life and previous lives negatively impacts our practice of bhakti by taking energy away from our focus on loving devotional service and tends to cause us to make offenses to others by our reacting to them based on our past emotional pain and trauma. Progressive spiritual life, and even a successful material life, requires changing unthinking patterns of behavior that don’t serve us or anyone else.

Part of progressive endeavor comes through intense, threadbare introspection, to let us understand our negative patterns or habits of thinking and acting. There are many processes that can assist us in such work and help us be more focused and present spiritually, which is the greatest necessity. We are advised to accept whatever is favorable for our bhakti and give up what isn’t, and that can open up possibilities we might not have considered before.

read more

Recently we sent out the official announcement about the Second Annual #GivingTOVP 10 Day Matching Fundraiser which you can read here. This event starts on April 26 (Akshaya Tritiya) until May 6 (Nrsimha Caturdasi) and is poised to raise over $300,000 to help the completion of Lord Nrsimha’s entire East Wing and altar in the TOVP for the opening ceremony during Gaur Purnima 2021.

In this video His Holiness Bhakti Caru Swami speaks about the importance of this fundraiser for completing Lord Nrsimha’s temple wing and altar by 2021.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Due to the disastrous effects of the Corona virus pandemic worldwide and the 21 day lock-down in India, ISKCON Mayapur is experiencing a serious financial crisis. On account of this emergency situation, Ambarisa and Braja Vilasa prabhus from the TOVP have decided to help ISKCON Mayapur by creating an extension campaign to the #GivingTOVP Fundraiser called the TOVP Care Emergency Matching Fund Campaign. Ambarisa will match 10 cents for every dollar raised for the #GivingTOVP Fundraiser (online only) and donate it to ISKCON Mayapur.

For more information go ​here​.

Please download and share the #GivingTOVP Fundraiser flyer below.

TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH

Visit us at: www.tovp.org
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch us at: www.youtube.com/user/tovpinfo
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News & Texts at: https://m.tovp.org/newstexts
RSS News Feed at: https://tovp.org/rss2/
Buy from us at: https://tovp.org/tovp-gift-store/
Support us at: https://tovp.org/donate/seva-opportunities/

The post H.H. Bhakti Caru Swami Speaks About the #GivingTOVP 10 Day Matching Fundraiser appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

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The post Gita key verses course 16 – If God is good why does he allow evil to exist? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Sri Abhirama Gopal Thakura  was also known as Sri Rama Das. He was a great Devotee of Lord Nityananda.  On the order of Nityananda Prabhu, he became a great acharya and preacher of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. 

He was a very influential personality, and atheists and blasphemers were very much afraid of him. Empowered by Nityananda Prabhu, he was always in ecstasy and was kind to all fallen souls. It is said that if he offered obeisances to any stone other than a shalagram-shila, it would immediately burst into pieces. 

According to Gaura-Ganodesa-Dipika  (12) in Krishna-lila he was Sridama, one of the 12 prominent boy cowherd friends of Sri Krishna. He was Nityananda’s dear-most devotee. Abhirama Gopal’s wife’s name was Malini devi.

Abhirama Thakura had a bullwhip that was imbued with divine power. Its name was “Jayamangal.”  Whoever was struck with this whip became filled with Krishna Prema.  

One day Srinivasa Acharya went to take darshan of Abhirama Gopala.  At that time, Abhirama Gopal touched him three times with Jayamangal. The Thakur’s good wife, Malini, cried out, “My Lord! Do not touch him again. Calm yourself. Srinivas is only a boy. If you touch him again he will lose consciousness.” As a result of coming in contact with the whip of Abhirama Thakura, Srinivasa Acharya became filled with Sri Krishna Prema.

When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu ordered Nityananda Prabhu to preach in Bengal, he sent Abhirama Gopal and Gadadhara Das along with him. His disappearance day is on the seventh day of the dark moon in the month of Chaitra, and on that day a great festival attended by thousands of devotees is held every year in Khanakula-Krishnanagara. 

With the UK now about to go into its fourth week of lockdown, people who would be struggling from one week to the next during normal times are now running out of money. Many are also sick or completely isolated in their homes without any family members. In this environment, more and more community groups are calling for free meals to help those in need. 

The Lives Inside Our Head

It gives me great pleasure to introduce the stars working in the capacity of Architects and Designers who institute the Architecture office in Pune and Mayapur.

The Corona virus put the world on standstill, and Pune still worse. No meetings, no travels, no outdoor movements. This is no impediment for the TOVP Architects, as they find ways and means to remain connected and working virtually.

This report captures snippets of weekly works undertaken by each individual member.

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

The post TOVP Architecture Department Report Architecture at the Moment – April 2020 appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

“We see that because of the Coronavirus, more and more people are losing their jobs, and running out of money,” says ISKCON Hungary spokesperson Gandharvika Prema Dasi. “And they have no support. So the number of people in need has been growing.”

Srila Prabhupada’s Letter to Dr. W. H. Wolf-Rottkay, June 18, 1975:

Biological evolution is taking place on account of the soul’s desire. It takes place because of infection. If a man has smallpox virus, then he is subjected to smallpox. It is not that everyone is infected and everyone is attacked with smallpox disease. Only the person who is infected, he is attacked.

In this connection, Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, purusah prakrti-stho hi bhunkte prakrti-jan gunan karanam guna sango ’sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu [Gita 13.22]. Purusa means the living entity, or the soul. He is subjected to be infected by the modes of material nature. There are three modes of material nature: sattva-guna, raja-guna, tama-guna. And when they are mixed up, they become 3 x 3 = 9, and 9 x 9 = 81, and in each quality, there are millions of forms. Therefore the total number of forms is 8,400,000.

So, the diseases are there, and the forms of disease are also there. Material form means diseased form. Therefore, one has to change this form—death. And he carries with him the infection, and he develops another disease. In this way, the soul, although part and parcel of God, in diseased condition is forced to change body. That is transmigration of the soul from one body to another.

To be more clear, the disease is there. Just as the smallpox disease is there. One has to become diseased, being infected. Similarly, the forms of the body are there. One has been infected by the form and it develops. Karanam guna sango ’sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu. Because he is infected by different diseased forms, therefore he is developing different forms of body. There is no such case of smallpox changing into malaria. Smallpox is smallpox, and malaria is malaria. By the desire of the living entity, he becomes infected with a certain disease or body. Krishna consciousness is the vaccine for all the diseases (different forms of material bodies).

Krishna says,

mam ca yo ’vyabhicarena bhakti-yogena sevate
sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhuyaya kalpate
                       [Gita 14.26]

Brahma-bhuyaya is the immune stage, or Krishna Conscious stage, when one is always fixed in Krishna. When one reaches this perfectional stage he no longer has to accept these different types of diseases, or bodies.

I hope this meets you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

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The post Gita key verses course 13 Gita 4.11 Why are there so many religious paths Do all paths lead to the same goal appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

As Nrsimha Caturdasi is less than a month away, and the dangers of the worldwide Corona virus pandemic hang over everyone’s heads into the foreseeable future (several devotees have unfortunately already passed away from the virus), the TOVP Management has made an important decision to call on Mayapur Nrsimha’s help.

ISKCON Mayapur is the World Headquarters of ISKCON and the TOVP is the future home of our Deities here. It thus behooves us to act for the benefit of all devotees worldwide as gratitude for their support in building this temple and for keeping the samkirtan movement alive by calling on the Lord of the universe in His form of Lord Nrsimha Who gives protection.

Under Ambarisa prabhu’s instruction, this Goodwill Campaign will include a daily Nrsimha yajna for the protection of the worldwide devotee community specifically, and humanity in general. To participate, we request all devotees to send us their names using the email address below, so they may be announced to the Lord during the daily yajna. We will compile this list and send weekly reports by email of our service, and also post the same on the TOVP website.

Please email your name to: