A video by Bhava Films.

Traditional kirtan and dance performed in Srngarvat, Vrindavan, India with The Kirtaniyas. This is just before this beautiful location was painted over and developed.

A video by Ananta Vrindavan.

The Bhakti Center is more than a Lower East Side yoga studio, a meditation school, a temple or even a cultural center. The Bhakti Center is a place of spiritual education and personal transformation. Each year in January we publish an annual report: a document that highlights our key achievements and successes of the year. This year, we decided to focus on the stories of our community –and their experiences of spiritual growth. We hope this publication will not only inspire you, but will invite you into the lives of our community members and help you feel a part of our growing Bhakti community.

TOVP progress report (Album of photos)
Sadbhuja Das: Here is a progress update on the installation of the GRG ceiling panels which are on the pujari floor. As you can tell from the pictures we have definitely fastened up the pace, and the results of these fixations are looking quite stunning

Srila Prabhupada: Even if we vegetarian are, then how you become big? The goats are vegetarian. Huh? Apadāni catuṣ-padām. This vegetable is meant for the catuṣ-padām, for the animals, four-legged animals. If somebody says that "Why shall I take this vegetable? It is meant for the animals. I shall take the animal." That is a good argument. Yes. So, to become vegetarian is not ahiṁsā at all. It is a bogus theory. To become a devotee and take Kṛṣṇa prasādam, that is perfect. Kṛṣṇa says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati

You Too Can Chant Hare Krishna and Be Happy! (13 min. video)
While advertising the 2019 Ratha-yatra festival, Harinamananda and Sundar Nitai Prabhus of Harinama Ruci engaged dozens of shop workers, tourists, locals, and street performers of Dublin in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, thus relieving them of their karmic burden and giving them a taste of devotional service to Krishna. You too can chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

Serves: 4
Cook time: 50mins

Chaunce
1tsp cumin seeds
1tsp fennel seeds
1tbs ginger
1/2tsp hing

Veggies
1L worth of veggies (potato, carrot)
2c baked pumpkin (pureed)
2c chickpea or red kidney beans, soaked over night in water

1/2c coconut cream
1/3c lemon juice
1/2c sugar
pinch chilli flakes
1.5tsp ground fenugreek
2tsp coriander powder
1.5tsp turmeric
2tsp salt

Method 
1. Heat a pot with oil, lightly toast the cumin and fennel seeds, when they’re slightly browned add the ginger and hing
2. Add the chickpea or beans with water that comes just above the beans, boil for 45 minutes or until they are cooked (take one out and if can easily be squished it’s done)
3. Peel and roughly chop the pumpkins, bake in the oven until soft then puree (or mush with hands)
4. Chop the other veggies into bite sized pieces and lightly steam them separately
5. When the beans are cooked, add the lightly steamed veggies and all the other ingredients, cook for another 5minutes
6. For our secret ingredient, and to make it Krishna Food quality, simply say ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare’ over the pot and then enjoy the meal!

Podcast

The post Gita key verses course 5 – What is spirituality? Is it a state of mind? Why are so few people spiritually minded? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Podcast

The post Gita key verses course 4 – How can we heal after the death of a loved one, should we suppress our grief or express it appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

The post Is science atheistic – does it promote atheism? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

A photo of Taal volcano erupting since Sunday and getting stronger every day as I speak. Just 30 km. From New Vraja eco-village temple. Sources said that the entire area is covered with ashes. Devotees are also preparing food for life, clothing and water for the evacuation centers. The eruption looks like someone dropped a nuclear bomb!

Lecture – Srimad Bhagavatam 1.4.5 Do not imitate Brahman Vision 2019-12-05 #Dallas

Today, Makara-sankranti, is the forty-second anniversary of the grand opening of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari’s temple in Juhu. On this day I have submitted the final manuscript of my book about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu, entitled I’ll Build You a Temple: A Good Fight and a Promise Fulfilled, so that it can be formatted for publication. Attached is a lovely photo of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari from today.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 05 May 2019, Melbourne, Australia, Bhakti Vriksha Program)

Krsna is so attractive, yet our material desires constantly bounce back up like a ball in water. We push it down, but then it always pops back up. How about that? Krsna will always win in the end because Krsna is the most attractive, however maya also appears to be attractive. Not as attractive as Krsna, but enough to make you think, “Yes, you can have Krsna, but He is far away. But I am here right now. You also have to live now. I mean of course, pure love of God is a beautiful and desirable thing, but what about now?” So this is the ongoing difficulty. However, by regular practice of Krsna consciousness, we are assured to always get more and more attracted to Krsna, and less and less to maya. So in this way, Krsna will always win!

The article " Krsna will win! " was published on KKSBlog.

With this in mind just like a drop of rain can become a pearl with the touch of oyster, in the same manner with the touch of a pure devotee we can clean our filthy hearts filled with dust and make it shine like a mirror. But, when that same drop of water drops into the gutter, it is not even worth of washing our feet.

How to remain satisfied and keep a positive disposition by HG Navina Nirada Das (video)

Sri Gopal Bhatta Goswami, one of the six Goswamis of Vrindavan, was born in 1503 on the 13th day of the dark moon in the month of Pausha. Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami lived for 75 years and left this world to enter into the eternal pastimes of the Lord in 1578.    

Sri Gopal Bhatta Goswami was the son of Vyenkatta Bhatta, a brahmana resident of Sri Rangam in South India, who was initiated in the Sri Sampradaya tradition, in the disciplic succession of Sri Ramanujacarya. 

In 1511, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stayed at the house of Vyenkatta Bhatta. At the time of Mahaprabhu’s visit, Gopal was only a child. When the little boy offered his respects at the feet of Sri Chaitanya, the Lord picked him up and held him on His lap and affectionately embraced the boy.

Later, when Gopal Bhatta arrived in Vrindavan, Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatana Goswami looked after him very nicely.

 After some time, Sri Gopal Bhatta Goswami went on a pilgrimage to various holy places.

He stayed at Hardwar, and then went further north into Nepal and to the Gandaki river where he retrieved twelve Salagram Silas from the river. He used to keep them in a cloth bag hung round his neck. Still, he had a desire to worship the Sri Vigraha of the Lord in His Deity form.

Around this time a rich merchant visited Sri Gopal Bhatta Goswami. Eager to serve, the rich man offered some fine clothes and ornaments for the service of the Lord. Sri Gopal Bhatta placed these things before his Salagrams saying tearfully that he wished he could adorn the Lord with all the nice ornaments and clothes. 

The next morning he bathed in the Yamuna and went to wake his Salagrams. When he opened the basket, he saw, in the midst of the Salagrams, one of the Salagram silas had turned into a full-fledged Deity of Krishna

The Goswamis named this Deity, “Sri Radha-ramana deva.”

Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, the forty-seventh branch, was one of the great and exalted branches of the tree. He always engaged in discourses about love of Godhead in the company of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami.

 For Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s appearance day I thought to read a verse and purport about him from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Ten, “The Branches of the Caitanya Tree”:

TEXT 105

sri gopala bhatta eka sakha sarvottama
rupa-sanatana-sange yanra prema-alapana

TRANSLATION

Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, the forty-seventh branch, was one of the great and exalted branches of the tree. He always engaged in discourses about love of Godhead in the company of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami was the son of Venkata Bhatta, a resident of Sri Rangam. Gopala Bhatta formerly belonged to the disciplic succession of the Ramanuja-sampradaya but later became part of the Gaudiya-sampradaya. In the year 1433 Sakabda (A.D. 1511), when Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was touring South India, He stayed for four months during the period of Caturmasya at the house of Venkata Bhatta, who then got the opportunity to serve the Lord to his heart’s content. Gopala Bhatta also got the opportunity to serve the Lord at this time. Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami was later initiated by his uncle, the great sannyasi Prabodhananda Sarasvati. Both the father and the mother of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami were extremely fortunate, for they dedicated their entire lives to the service of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They allowed Gopala Bhatta Gosvami to go to Vrndavana, and they gave up their lives thinking of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When Lord Caitanya was later informed that Gopala Bhatta Gosvami had gone to Vrndavana and met Sri Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami, He was very pleased, and He advised Sri Rupa and Sanatana to accept Gopala Bhatta Gosvami as their younger brother and take care of him. Sri Sanatana Gosvami, out of his great affection for Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, compiled the Vaisnava smrti named Hari-bhakti-vilasa and published it under his name. Under the instruction of Srila Rupa and Sanatana, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami installed one of the seven principal deities of Vrndavana, the Radha-ramana deity. The sevaits (priests) of the Radha-ramana temple belong to the Gaudiya-sampradaya.

COMMENT

Actually, one of the families entrusted with the Deity service at the Radha-ramana Mandir has a history of relations with the line of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Visvambhara Gosvami’s father or grandfather had relations with Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the family maintained relations with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and then Visvambhara Gosvami had very friendly relations with Srila Prabhupada. And he spoke very nicely about Srila Prabhupada. Now Visvambhara Gosvami’s son Padmanabha Gosvami is also very favorable to ISKCON. In fact, ISKCON devotees often honor prasada at his home at the Radha-ramana Mandir. I also took prasada there with His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami, and Padmanabha Gosvami showed us a letter that Srila Prabhupada had written to his father, Visvambhara Gosvami, about how all Vaishnavas should cooperate. So, not only does the Radha-ramana temple belong to the Gaudiya-sampradaya, but at least some of the sevaits have had close relations with the line of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.

PURPORT (concluded)

When Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami took permission from all the Vaisnavas before writing Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami also gave him his blessings, but he requested him not to mention his name in the book. Therefore Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami has mentioned Gopala Bhatta Gosvami only very cautiously in one or two passages of the Caitanya-caritamrta. Srila Jiva Gosvami has written in the beginning of his Tattva-sandarbha, “A devotee from southern India who was born of a brahmana family and was a very intimate friend of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami has written a book that he has not compiled chronologically. Therefore I, a tiny living entity known as jiva, am trying to assort the events of the book chronologically, consulting the direction of great personalities like Madhvacarya, Sridhara Svami, Ramanujacarya, and other senior Vaisnavas in the disciplic succession.” In the beginning of the Bhagavat-sandarbha there are similar statements by Srila Jiva Gosvami. Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami compiled a book called Sat-kriya-sara-dipika, edited the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, wrote a foreword to the Sat-sandarbha and a commentary on the Krsna-karnamrta, and installed the Radharamana Deity in Vrndavana. In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (184) it is mentioned that his previous name in the pastimes of Lord Krsna was Ananga-manjari. Sometimes he is also said to have been an incarnation of Guna-manjari. Srinivasa Acarya and Gopinatha Pujari were two of his disciples.

COMMENT

Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami ki jaya!

One story about Gopala Bhatta Gosvami is that on the eve of Nrsimha-caturdasi all the other Gosvamis and Vaishnavas in Vrindavan were preparing to worship their Deities and hold festivals. Gopala Bhatta Gosvami had only a salagrama-sila; he didn’t have a Deity with arms and legs and a body that he could dress and decorate. So, he was feeling deprived of the opportunity to serve like the other devotees who had Deities they could serve in these ways. And out of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s strong desire, a salagrama-sila became manifest in the form of Radha-ramana. Radha-ramana is considered the most beautiful Deity of Krishna. He is the one original Deity of the Gosvamis that has remained in Vrindavan, while the others had to be taken elsewhere for fear of the Muslim invaders. And near the temple of Radha-ramana in Vrindavan is the samadhi of Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami.

Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s uncle and siksa-guru was Prabodhananda Sarasvati. His samadhi is also located in Vrindavan, just off the parikrama path near Kaliya-ghata, which is quite near our Krishna-Balaram Mandir. So, often when we go on parikrama down the path near the Yamuna, we visit Prabodhananda Sarasvati’s samadhi and bhajana-kutira. And then we proceed to Srila Sanatana Gosvami’s samadhi. Srila Sanatana Gosvami was the most senior of the Gosvamis and was also a close associate and instructor of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. In fact, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami worked with Sanatana Gosvami to produce the great treatise Hari-bhakti-vilasa.

I feel that Gopala Bhatta Gosvami has been especially merciful to me on two occasions. On one, I visited his bhajana-kutira at Sanketa, a place between Nandagrama and Varsana where Radha and Krishna used to meet and sometimes perform rasa-lila. Gopala Bhatta would sit and chant underground in a deep cavern, accessible only through a long, narrow passage. At the end of the passage was a somewhat roomier place where Gopala Bhatta used to chant, now marked as his bhajana-sthala. I remember going there with Tamal Krishna Goswami and others on a very hot day and struggling to crawl through the passage to the bhajana-sthala. It was very difficult, but when I finally reached there, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami was very merciful. He allowed me to chant with a glimpse of taste. And after all the devotees emerged from the cavern, I stole back in. I crawled back to Gopala Bhatta’s lotus feet, and I sat there chanting. I will never forget his mercy to me there, and I pray that he will enable me to chant with relish and love.

On the other occasion, the last time I visited Vrindavan, in Kartik of 1999, shortly before my surgery, I visited Gopala Bhatta’s samadhi near the Radha-ramana Mandir. We arrived just after raja-bhoga-arati, and the pujari was closing the doors to the samadhi-mandira. But he was kind enough to open the doors for us, to allow us darshan of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. He gave us some flowers and caranamrta, and invited us to stay for prasada. Thus our small party, along with some local sadhus, honored Gopala Bhatta Prabhu’s maha-maha-prasadam with great relish, and we even stayed to take a little rest before, filled with bliss, we continued on our way. So, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami is very kind.

 Years later, when some of my disciples from Bombay went to Vrindavan on pilgrimage, they visited the samadhi. They told the pujaris about me, how my health no longer allowed me to visit Vraja, and asked for some prasada for me. And one of the pujaris kindly gave them a piece of cloth from the samadhi. It is very special. Now, twice a year, once on his appearance day and once on his disappearance day, we bring it out and touch it. So now we shall pass it around and touch it to our heads and to our hearts—and pray to Gopala Bhatta Gosvami for his sublime mercy.

Thank you.

Hare Krishna.

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s appearance day, July 31, 2002, Carpinteria, California.]

Saturday 11th January, 2020, New Govardhan, Goshala Conference Hall, “Srila Prabhupada’s daughter’s”,

PRESS RELEASE

Macallum Ratha Yatra for Unity at Penang last Saturday. Highlights:
Fostered Unity amongst the Indian & Chinese Community at Macallum area.
Food festival with varieties of food (Satay, cotton candy, full rice meal, noodles & etc)
Wonderful performances by devotees.
Dragon & lion dance.
Fire show by Malaya Tigers.
Kirtan out of the world!
Srila Prabhupada in Malaysia book launch.
Cake cutting ceremony by HH Janananda Goswami.
Result: Blissful year with Guru & Gauranga’s mercy. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Photos and videos: http://bit.ly/35NrD5f

HH Kavicandra Swami: Someone liked Srila Prabhupada ‘s books!

HG Svavasa Prabhu - New Dwaraka 2019 Report - 1-13-20 (video)
Progress Report for ISKCON Los Angeles

Answer Podcast

The post Is the amount of grieving on the death of a loved one inversely proportional to one’s spiritual advancement? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

A popular Zoom conference, Wisdom of the Sages, has gone public and become a daily podcast, delivering transformational wisdom, Bhakti-yoga philosophy, and profound stories with fun and energy on Youtube, Instagram and most podcast platforms.

Vaishnava marriage in Jandelsbrunn, Germany (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Caitanya Mahaprabhu says: “I have brought medicine to awaken very living being from perpetual sleep. Please receive the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and awaken. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 5.13.9 Purport)

Read More...

Pushya Abhisheka Day In Sri Dhama Mayapur (20 min. video)

Audio
The Holy Name and Bhakti Yoga (Right click to download)

Answer Podcast:

Download by “right-click and save content”

Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: What does simple living really mean?
Answer: Simple living primarily means living which does not agitate our minds. Simple living does not mean that everybody has to live without material conveniences or latest gadgets.
To understand the point, we can consider the example of one’s capacity to carry weight. For Person A, the weight lifting capacity maybe ten kg whereas for Person B it maybe twenty kg. Person B might be able to lift fifteen kg easily, twenty kg with little difficulty, twenty-five kg with great difficulty and thirty kg without any success. Similarly, the idea of simple living will be different for different people. What level of responsibility and material prosperity will disproportionately complicate our life will vary from person to person.

One of the problems with modern society is that it imposes same definition of success on everyone. Everybody is evaluated on the basis of the zeroes on their salary cheques, the size of their house, the price tag on their clothes, the number of cars they own etc. It is important to understand that different people are of different natures and if the same definition of success is imposed on everyone then people are unnecessarily brought under pressure which leads to severe problems of inferiority complex, depression, anxiety etc. Therefore, simple living essentially means living in a way which does not agitate our mind, and which helps one pursue one’s goals in life at a level that does not cause them stress.

Ideally speaking, simple living will vary from person to person. Important thing to know is that simplicity is not defined in terms of more possessions or lack of possessions. It is defined in terms of internal priority. If we are internally burdened, then it means we need to externally simplify our way. This is the primary criteria by which we can understand the meaning of simple living.

End of transcription.

The post What does simply living really mean? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION IN NAIROBI (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: All glories to the chanting of Hare Krishna mantra or Krishna sankirtana movement. All glories. All victory. How it is victory, all victory? If you chant this Hare Krishna mantra, then the dirty things which have accumulated in your heart due to material contamination will be cleared off. (Purport to Siksastakam)

Seminar on humility in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia (Album of photos)
Bhakti Chaitanya Swami: We have been in Irkutskfor some days, having a seminar on humility. The response from the devotees has been wonderful