The Sacred India Gallery (5 min. video)
We recently hosted The Get Away Club, a local senior citizens organization, for a morning at The Sacred India Gallery

By the Blessings of Their Lordships, Srila Prabhupada, Vartaman Acharyas, Vaishnavas & the Extreme Hard Efforts by Devotees of Iskcon Pune

Srimad Bhagavatam class by HG Rohini Suta Prabhu in ISKCON Vrindavan (video)

The body of Nityananda Svarupa was most enchanting. He glanced mercifully on everyone. Whether He was eating, sleeping, or wandering about, He did not waste a moment without sankirtana. Wherever He performed dancing and congregational glorification of Krsna, many people became overwhelmed with ecstatic love. Even the householders’ children, who did not know anything, uprooted large trees. They roared loudly, uprooted trees, and ran around exclaiming, “I am a cowherd boy.” Each boy possessed such strength that even a hundred people were unable to control him. The children would joyfully roar like lions and call out, “All glories to Sri Krsna Caitanya and Nityananda! All glories to Sri Krsna Caitanya and Nityananda!” Continue reading "Nitai’s Prema Sankirtana Festival Begins
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Answer Podcast

The post How can we keep our emtions steady amid varying situations? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Ten Days of Jainism
HH Krishna Ksetra Swami: The International School of Jain Studies offers a ten-day (Dec. 27 to Jan. 7) introduction to Jainism each December-January for university students, especially those engaged in the academic study of religion. Jainism is a very ancient tradition, at least as old as Buddhism, with a rich literary canon and highly developed philosophy, centered around the principle of ahiṁsā—“nonviolence”. We were 23 students altogether, from several countries and varied backgrounds, including some undergraduates, some post-graduates, and some doctoral candidates doing research specifically on Jainism. The ahiṁsā ethic, so central to Jainism, was of particular interest to me, as I had been thinking and writing about this theme for the Cow Care book. A related interest was simply to learn “first-hand” about this lesser-known tradition to broaden my horizon of religious life, in pursuit of my interest in interreligious dialogue.

Roop Gaur Das: As a medical doctor and a practicing devotee, I sometimes happen to help devotees with their medical illnesses in my community. And it is saddening to see how devotees neglect their health and pay a much higher price later.

Read More...

New Varshana Holi Festival (Album of photos)
Ramai Swami: The management at New Varshana had the Holi celebration a little earlier than the actual date. This year it fitted in very nicely with the long weekend and Auckland day on Monday

'It was a calling' - Sunderland man reveals what life is really like as a Hare Krishna monk Daniel King describes his journey of dedicating his life to his faith and how it gives people a happier and more fulfilling life. In this fast-paced world that we live in, this Hare Krishna monk believes his lifestyle is the solution to a happy life. After living in a temple in Scotland for 13 years, following strict rules such as not drinking alcohol or eating meat, Daniel King has dedicated his life to his faith. Now Daniel, from Sunderland, has lifted the lid on what life is really like as a monk. The 39-year-old said: "It made a lot of sense to me, it was what I've been looking for. Continue reading "I found inner peace with Hare Krishna
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Lecture on the passing away of Bhishmadeva in the presence of Lord Krishna by HG Vraja Bihari Das in ISKCON Delhi

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Answer Podcast

Transcription :

Transcription by: Suresh Gupta

Question: Does science come from spirituality or is it made by man?

Answer: Science, as a body of knowledge, is clearly a human product. If we consider scientific books, they are written by human beings. Scientific concepts (such as gravity), their explanation and their mathematical postulation have also come from human beings.

Spirituality is the study of the totality of reality, whereas science is the study of a subset of that reality. Science studies the physical reality and especially the measurable parameters within physical reality. If we consider total reality as a big circle, then physical reality is a small circle within that big circle and science studies that physical reality. Therefore, in that sense, we could say that science is the subset of spirituality.

However, it is also true that science studies certain things and spirituality studies certain other things. They both have their own focus. Spirituality is the study of consciousness and its source. Unless there were consciousness, there would not be the longing for understanding and we would not search for anything. The animals have existed for millennia, but animals did not develop science, and neither did they question as to why things exist or how things work. Why? Because we humans have a longing to understand and that longing essentially is for spirituality. That longing comes because the soul in a human body has developed consciousness by which he can think about such topics whereas animals simply think about their immediate need. For example, instead of Newton, if the apple had fallen on the head of a monkey, it would have simply picked it up and ran away. But when the apple fell on Newton, he asked the question, why does the apple fall? Although human beings too have a biological drive (just like the monkey), we also have a spiritual drive. Spiritual drive is basically the drive to make sense of things and to understand what-is-what? That desire to understand things, led to the theory of gravity, and further led to the development of science.

Hence, study of science and the development of scientific knowledge, ultimately comes from our longing to understand and know If we were simply insentient matter like a table, then just like a table does not understand anything but simply exists, similarly we too would have understood nothing. In fact, a table does not even understand that it exists. It exists without understanding that it exists; but we have consciousness and hence we seek spirituality.

Therefore, spirituality is the study of the totality of reality and science is study of subset of reality. If spirituality is defined as our longing for higher understanding, then that longing for higher understanding can lead us to spiritual understanding. But that longing can also lead to scientific understanding. Therefore, science is created by human beings, but the reason it is created by human beings is because humans have a longing for understanding and that longing for understanding comes from our spiritual nature.

End of transcription.

The post Does science come from spirituality or is it made by man? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

The management at New Varshana had the Holi celebration a little earlier than the actual date. This year it fit in very nicely with the long weekend and Auckland day on the Monday.

There were an estimated eight to ten thousand people who attended and the majority were westerners. The festival has become very well known throughout the area.

Apart from the throwing of dyes, there was lots and lots of prasadam served and as you can see from the pictures, everyone had a good time.

Jagannath Rides The Oceans

Dear Prabhus,

Please accept my humble obeisances,

All glories to Srila Prabhupada,

We have 12 days to build the Jaladuta, please spread the word.

The mercy of Srila Prabhupada is freely available, Carpe Diem.

“Your program for extending Sankirtana Party activities to the nearby towns and cities and universities is very welcome. I have received similar good report of such extended Sankirtana Party tours or trips from many other centers in Europe as well as America. Lord Caitanya’s desire was that this chanting of the Holy Names be spread to every town and village on the face of the globe, and now His desire is being fulfilled. That is to your credit as sincere servants of the Lord.” 
Srila Prabhupada November 1970

https://mailchi.mp/08b83446bf47/new-temple-in-the-uk?e=eb62a8fca8

Have you any handyman skills, artistic skills, or some Laxmi to contribute. 

https://foodforalluk.com/donate/

We are renovating the interior of the ship.We need to transform the appearance this vessel to look life a certain medieval ship.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
 Your servants Food for All team

April 23rd Thursday Start 6am Holiday Inn Brentford, on canal near Thames.Go through London to Woolwich  past Houses of Parliament, London Eye, HMS Belfast, London Bridge ..30 miles arrive 10am Woolwich Woolwich 10am to Hernesbay  62 miles arrive 7pm , rest first night.
April 24th Friday. Day 36am start,Hearnsbay, Margate, Dunkirk to Zealand  7pm rest
April 25th Saturday Day 4Zealand to Amsterdam 
April 26th Sunday. Day 5 extra day Sunday Program on the deck
April 27th Monday. Day 6 Kings Day
April 28th Return Journey

Krsna’s Deity and Krsna are not different. I was explaining this morning, Krsna has come, kindly, to accept your service as you can deal with Him. If Krsna comes in His gigantic form – Krsna has got gigantic form also, as it was shown to Arjuna – you will not be able to capture Him, neither you have any means to dress Him. Suppose the universal form of Krsna is there, and you have to dress Him, [laughter] so the whole cloth factory will be finished. [laughter] Is it not? How you can dress? You have no capacity to dress. But Krsna has kindly accepted a form, the Deity.

As we are gearing up for the upcoming festivities in Shri DhamMayapur, this post is intended to give Mayapur Community and devotees visiting Mayapur for festival, comprehensive overview and guidance on the Corona Virus outbreak which is already announced by WHO as a global emergency. In Mayapur, the presence of a wonderful local and international […]

The post Visiting Mayapur for Festival- Advisory on Corona Virus appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Pune was the No. 1 temple in the world, with 663,371 book points. Who would have thought twenty years ago that Pune will be on top? Back then, the temple had just a little center in the city, and now there’s also an enormous temple, an immense congregation, and over a hundred brahmacaris. ISV also had a huge marathon and ended up No. 2 in the world, with 161,211 book points. For 2019, ISV was No. 1 in the Western hemisphere. This is a temple no one lives in, except the Deities. It's a congregational temple, inspired by the famous Vaisesika Prabhu, completely fired up to distribute Srila Prabhupada's books Continue reading "WSN December 2019 – World Sankirtan Newsletter. Pune No. 1 temple in the world! ISV No. 2!
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Material life is when we put the flickering pleasures and securities of the mind and the senses in the center of our lives, our decisions, our aspirations, our goals are according. Spiritual life or true bhakti is when we put the pleasures of God or Krishna in the center of our life— what pleases Krishna, all of our decisions, our aspirations are orchestrated accordingly. Continue reading "The Pastimes of Srila Madhvacharya
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Madhvacarya's advent was principally to counter and defeat the Mayavad conclusions. In South India despite Ramanujacarya's aggressive preaching for many years and very potent dissemination of the principle of pure bhakti there was still Mayavad that was well entrenched. And the Mayavadis were also becoming very aggressive and they were spreading like anything everywhere. So Madhvacarya's purpose of advent was essentially to be like a connecting link between Sankara and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu if one looks at it like that. Continue reading "Appearance Anniversary of Srila Madhvacarya
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Sri Advaita Acarya (video)
Caitanya-caritamrita Class by HG Mukunda Datta Prabhu at ISKCON Vrindavan

Answer Podcast

Transcription

Question: Does karma continue perpetually because we hurt others and they hurt us back as a reaction again and again?

Does karma have a perpetual succession?

Answer: It doesn’t have to have. What it means is that, say, if A comes and slaps B, and B goes back and slaps A, and A punches B, and then B punches A, then A takes a stick and beats B, and then B takes a mace and beats A. It keeps escalating. It is said that if you follow an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, then the whole world will become eyeless and toothless. It will become blind and toothless. So, it has to stop somewhere.

Now, as far as karma is concerned, what is the purpose? People are not programmed devices. Everybody has free will. If A has hurt B, now A has to get consequences for that. But if B starts giving the consequences, then it is like taking the law in one’s own hands. Nowadays, the police and politicians are perceived to be corrupt; so, there are a lot of movies coming out about vigilante justice. Vigilante justice means somebody themselves takes the law, this person has done this crime or this person is a gangster, this person is a terrorist, and some hero goes and kills all of them. Now, in movies, vigilante justice might seem like a nice thing, but actually, once you start taking the law in our own hands, then it is dangerous. Whenever a law is made, we should not just see what is the good that can be done when the law is applied, but we also need to see what is the bad that can be done when the law is misapplied. That is the responsibility of every lawful person. So, taking the law in one’s own hands, I may take the law in my own hands to kill somebody who is bad, but tomorrow, somebody else may take the law in their hand and they may kill somebody good. So, you cannot have lawlessness like that.

The idea is that if somebody has done bad, then there are legal ways of seeking consequences for that. In the past, there were killings, now there are governments and if those means don’t work or if those means require too much work and you don’t want to get into it, then you may decide, okay, probably this was my past karma, let me accept it and move on. You get exhausted. Now, if through some legal means, somebody is given some punishment, and if the legal system is reasonably good, then that is like a retribution or punishment for their wrong and then it gets over.

It is only when we take the law in our own hands and we start doing wrong, then that is how it goes on. Sometimes it is said that if you kill a cow, then you will become a cow in the next life and the cow will become a human and the cow will kill you. Now, this is a possibility, but it is not necessary that it has to happen like this. These kinds of descriptions are indicative of the principle of the law of karma. It is not that karma has to be perpetual because if we say that all cow killers will become cows, then can you say that all cows were cow killers in the previous life? That would be a ridiculous argument. Cows are gentle and you say all cows are cow killers in the previous life and therefore, just to give them the karmic punishment, all cows should be killed. That would be a ridiculous argument, isn’t it? So, it is not implicit that karma is perpetual. Whenever there is an action, there is a consequence, but how the consequence comes, that will determine whether it will just escalate or it will end over there.

End of transcription.

This story was heard from the pujari at Sri Advaita Acharya’s house in Shantipur, West Bengal. He came to the ISKCON Chaitanya Chandrodoya Mandir with a copy of the Back to Godhead article about Srila Prabhupada entitled “A Lifetime in Preparation.”

Just recently an amazing realization occurred to me that I wanted to share with devotees everywhere. I have been the pujari and sevaite at the house of Advaita Acharya for many years. I was also there back in the 1940s and ’50s. At that time, I noticed that one grihastha Bengali devotee was coming to the temple quite regularly. He was dressed in a white khadi dhoti and kurta, and he always came alone. He would sit in the back of the mandir without speaking and would chant harinama on his mala very quietly and deeply. He came on the weekends, usually once every month or two. After chanting there for many hours, he would always thank me when he left. His presence was profound, and I became attracted to him. Since his devotions were solitary, I never spoke to disturb him. Sometimes I happened to notice that while he was chanting, his eyes would be full of tears.

Then, for a very long time, he did not come. But in August of 1965 I saw a saffron-clothed sannyasi sitting in the back of the mandir and recognized him to be my old friend. Again he sat for a long time chanting Hare Krishna. I could see his beads moving, his eyes closed in concentrated devotion. He was weeping unabashedly, even more than he used to, while he took the holy name. Finally, as evening came, he paid his dandavata pranama for long time. When he arose he came up to me and again thanked me for my seva here at Advaita Bhavan. I asked him, “Who are you? I remember you from so long ago.”

He replied, ‘My name is Abhaya Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja. I am an unworthy disciple of His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada, my divine master. I have been coming here for such a long time because my gurudeva has given me an impossible mission. His desire was for me to go across the ocean to the Western countries and spread the sublime teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. There are countless souls there who have never heard of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, and so they are suffering greatly. I have not known how this mission of his will be successful, so I have been coming here to this special house of Advaita Acharya, where He, Nityananda Prabhu, and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would gather together to plan the sankirtana movement. It was here that They launched the inundation of love of God that swept India and continues to this day. Thus I have been praying very earnestly here that They will all give me Their mercy that somehow They will empower me and guide me. I want to satisfy my gurudeva’s desire, but I am feeling unqualified to do this.”

As he was speaking to me, I saw tears falling down on his cheeks again. Then he continued, “Tomorrow I am leaving for Calcutta to go upon a ship across the ocean, to America. I do not know what will befall me there, but I am praying most earnestly here for help.” Then he very humbly asked me for my blessings. I was moved by this Vaishnava’s sincerity and determination as I watched him depart upon his journey.

It was a few years later that I began noticing, for the first time, white Vaishnavas coming to Advaita Bhavan. They were wearing dhotis and saris and chanting on tulasi-mala. I never spoke to any of them, but then one of them gave me this Back to Godhead magazine from America. As I looked at the photographs, suddenly I recognized a picture of the Founder-Acarya who had brought Krishna consciousness to the West. It was my friend Bhaktivedanta Swami, who had come and prayed here so many times before. Then I realized that he has actually accomplished that impossible mission of his gurudeva. I saw that it was he, starting alone and without pretense, who had accomplished this glorious miracle against all odds.

As soon as I saw this, I came here to his temple in Mayapur to tell you this information. I know that he has gone from this world now, but I thought perhaps you might want to know this story about your and my beloved Srila Prabhupada.

—Our Srila Prabhupada, A Friend to All, Compiled by Mulaprakrti devi dasi

Those who may want to come to Mayapur from China, or other countries and areas in close proximity to outbreaks of this virus, or those with any symptoms of fever, cough, runny nose or breathing difficulties please refrain from coming to Mayapur until further advise.

Today is Advaita Acharya’s appearance day.
The foremost of all the Vaishnavas who reside at Navadwip is Sri Advaita Acarya, whose virtuous presence has made all the worlds blessed. He is the most preeminent preceptor in all fields including knowledge, renunciation and devotion. In explaining Krishna-bhakti he is like Lord Shankara (Shiva) himself, and whatever scriptures that exist within the three worlds he explains in the light of Krishna-bhakti.

ISKCON Mayapur Adwaita Acharya Appearance Day 01/02/2020 (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommended five items of devotional service, namely to serve the devotees of the Lord, to chant Hare Krishna, to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, to worship the Deity of the Lord and to live in a place of pilgrimage. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.19.38 Purport)

Devotee Care Course in Melbourne.
Aniruddha Dāsa: Here’s most of the successful attendees at the Devotee Care Course held in Melbourne last long weekend. Rādhā Gopinātha and Damodāra did an outstanding job covering all aspects of Devotee Care and introducing us to some of the basics of Strategic Planning so we could come up with some very actionable plans we can fine-tune later for practical implementation. You can tell by the smiles how absorbing and satisfying this challenging course was for everyone involved.

Coming Closer to Krishna.
Visakha Dasi has now been warmly welcomed as the new Temple President of Bhaktivedanta Manor. She is well known in the international devotee community for the time she spent as Srila Prabhupada’s photographer and as an avid writer for Back to Godhead magazine. In more recent years she assisted her husband, Yadubara Das, in producing the award-winning film, Hare Krishna! The Mantra, the Movement and the Swami Who Started It All. Her book Five Years, Eleven Months and a Lifetime of Unexpected Love: A Memoir, which depicts her time spent with Srila Prabhupada, has also received great reviews.

With Mercy, Nothing Is Impossible!
My sister—nineteen-year old, wheelchair-bound, muscular-dystrophic Madana-mohana-mohini dasi from Pune, India—really wanted to participate in book distribution during the marathon month, in December 2019, because it is so dear to Srila Prabhupada.

Answer Podcast

Transcription :

Transcriber: Suresh Gupta

Question: Are the Mahabharata real or stories?

Answer: History is not like an empirical repeatable science like gravity which is proved by the falling of a fruit in the past and present. Then how do we know what happened historically? Broadly speaking, there are multiple ways. One way is to adopt the same methodology which historians use and then look at Ramayana and Mahabharata. Few years ago, in an archaeological expedition the remains of an ancient city were found under the water which was off the coast of the city of Dwarka. Certain seals were found bearing marks of an ancient city. There was also the name of Vasudeva (one of the names of Krishna) marked there. Hence, archaeological evidence for the existence of the city of Dwarka is almost non- debatable now. Everybody accepts it. This can be one way to know about history.

Second way, which is more sophisticated, is called archeoastronomy. Archeoastronomy is the science of using the knowledge of mathematics and astronomy to know how the planetary bodies or the celestial bodies move and using this we can also predict the occurrence of eclipses. We can also predict, to some extent, astronomical patterns and also whether a full solar eclipse occurred in the past or when it will reoccur in future. As per the Vedas, it is said that when Kaliyuga started, all the nine planets aligned in one line. This is an extremely rare event in human history. This is something which happened approximately five thousand years ago (which is when the Mahabharata took place) and scientists have themselves said this.

Similarly, in the Mahabharata there are a number of celestial formations mentioned during the events at that time. There were rapid occurrences of lunar and solar eclipses which we can predict using the scientific knowledge today. There is a video on YouTube – Krishna History or Myth? where a professor has done complete research on this subject where he is talking about archeoastronomy and the description of the celestial formations, eclipses and other formations in Mahabharat. He did calculative dating of these formations and it came out to be approximately three thousand BC, that is, five thousand years old which is when the Mahabharata took place.

Along with archaeology and archeoastronomy, another way to know is looking at the architectures. We see that at least two thousand five hundred years ago, there were invaders from Europe and other part of the world who came to India and while they were in India, they built structures and columns where they put insignias of Krishna, Vasudeva etc.
Another way is, cross referencing other texts. When Buddhism and Jainism rose in India, at that time, these religions, in order to attract followers, criticised Hinduism and their central figures like Krishna and Rama, their philosophies and teachings. But it is important to note that none of them ever said that Krishna and Rama are not historical figures. If these figures were imaginary then one of the easiest ways for those critics to challenge the teachings and philosophy of Krishna and Rama would be to deem them as mythology, but none of them did that. Hence, we see that the opponents of the Vedic tradition have also talked about these figures.

Beyond all of this, we should also consider what history can prove and what it cannot prove. What history can prove is maybe the existence of some people or things. When God descends in this world, sometimes he performs some miracles and when such miracles are performed, those cannot be historically proved. For example, if somebody asks, “Can you prove that Krishna lifted the Govardhan hill?” There is no historical way to talk because these are super-natural things. Somebody may doubt, “How Krishna could lift the Govardhan Hill? For me to lift this table on a finger, I will have to find its centre of gravity. How could Krishna find the centre of gravity of Govardhan Hill?” Well, if we understand Krishna’s position as God then we will know that Krishna does not need to find the centre of gravity because he is the source of gravity.

Hence, miracles are not against science, miracles are above science. God makes the laws of nature and sometimes if He wants, He can expand the laws of nature. We cannot prove such super-natural things historically but at the same time, that is not what history is about? At present, we may doubt whether such things happened or not but with archaeological studies we may get more evidence. As India does not have enough earmarked funds for archaeological studies, that is why we do not have much archaeological evidences apart from Dwarka and few other places but many of the cities which even the Bible talked about and which were considered mythology, archaeological studies found many of them to be true. Therefore, if we earmark more funds for archaeological studies in India, surely many more evidences can come out. However, even with the sparse funds that have been given today we have significant amount of archaeological, archeoastronomical and architectural evidence by which we can make a strong case that the Mahabharata is historical. As for the Ramayana, it being very old, the presence of same amount of evidence is not possible but the ones that are present prove it to be historical as well.

End of transcription.

The post Are the Mahabharata real or stories? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Today is the disappearance day of my Guru Maharaja. I was born in a different family, my Guru Maharaja was born in a different family. Who knew that I would come to his protection? Who knew that I would go to America? Who knew that you American boys would come to me? These are all Krsna’s arrangements. We cannot understand how things are taking place Continue reading "These Are All Krsna’s Arrangements
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In this episode Maharaja opens up about his own spiritual journey, his challenges, his 50 years of experience in dealing with obstacles that confronts a practitioner, his inspiration, enriching experiences and much much more. A video by Jigyasa.

Viplavah 2020, the Annual International Symposium by ISKCON Ministry of Education will be held on February 21st & 22nd, 2020, at ILS Venue in Gita Bhavan, Sridham Mayapur.

Back in 2009, when devotees in Radhadesh, Belgium held a small kirtan weekend with Sivarama Swami and Madhava, just 100 people attended. It was a similarly intimate group the next year, when festival coordinator Manu Magnin, then 19 years old, took over the organizing and invited his second generation friends.

Hiranyakashipu had all the riches of the world but still it wasn’t sufficient enough to buy him happiness. He was the most powerful person of the universe, but he was always insecure.