2019 is gone. 2020 is in. Most of us are busy welcoming 2020, hoping that this year will bring unlimited happiness and will fulfil all our unfulfilled desires. We are also hoping that this year we should not be subjected to any types of miseries.  

Over 25 participants assembled to introspect, reflect, analyze, strategize and prepare an effective plan of action for ISKCON Communications India representatives.

Thoughts for the New Year.
We have gathered at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada in this wonderful temple of Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda, Sri Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman, and Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, in the presence of His Holiness Radhanath Swami and so many exalted devotees. We are entering the New Year, 2010, and the next decade, and on such occasions we take stock of what and how we did in the previous year and what we want to do in the next. Studies have shown, and probably many of us have experienced, that most New Year’s resolutions are broken during the first week. Still more are broken in the first month, and almost all are broken within the first three months.

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Answer Podcast

Transcription :

Transcriber: Sharan Shetty

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: How can an organization balance between maintaining structure and providing independence to its members?

Answer: Certainly, a balance is required everywhere in life. In anything which requires collective endeavour, we need a balance between organisation and structure. The exact balance will depend firstly on the nature of the organisation and secondly, the nature of the individual and thirdly, the link between the organisation and the individual. For example, if it is a military organisation or a hospital, then the chain of commands has to be performed very precisely since it can be a matter of life and death for somebody but if the organisation is about sales or script writing or play writing, there is much more room for creativity. Therefore, at one level, as per the nature of the organisation, the organisation and structure will be decided.
Secondly, when it comes to nature of the individual, some may work best with a team and some people work best alone. Depending on the nature of the individual, if a person who works best alone is made to work with a team then their creativity may get sapped and they will not be able to function. Many companies have special facilities for people who are mavericks. These people can sometimes come up with an idea that can change the industry, but they cannot work in a very structured environment. Of course, most companies need to have a structure, but in a team, there are some individuals who need freedom and space to feel creative.

Thirdly, the organization and structure depends on the nature of the relationship between the individual and the organisation. If it is a voluntary organisation then the extent to which the organisation can force something on their volunteers is extremely limited since people can just go away. If a person is paid and is very much dependent on the job, then the boss can have the attitude of “My way or the highway”. Overall, if we apply these principles to our Krishna Consciousness movement, we will see that the way Srila Prabhupada started it in a very traditional way. At the same time, when devotees came up with some idea to creatively share Krishna Consciousness, Prabhupada was very appreciative about it. In many letters Srila Prabhupada has mentioned to his disciples, “Because you are sincerely trying to serve Krishna, he has gifted you with intelligence from within the heart.” Srila Prabhupada was very particular about some philosophical points and some individual practices but on the issue of management of the movement, Prabhupada was not a believer in micro-management and did not even want the GBC to do that.

At one time, when the GBC decided to centralise all the finances, Prabhupada had the GBC suspended and saw to it that all the temple presidents correspond directly with him until the issue was resolved. Srila Prabhupada was against too much centralisation and believed that the main purpose of the leadership is to fan the service attitude, the enthusiasm, the desire to serve among devotees. Srila Prabhupada did give abundant room for individual expression and his vision largely sets the parameters of how the movement really functions.

As far as individuals are concerned, we see that in principle one is asked to be submissive and surrendered to the spiritual master. However, the spiritual master is not usually available as an authority figure on a basis of regular guidance especially with respect to practicalities. Also, for any person to become a devotee, they need to be strong minded which means they need to stand up to the world and swim against the current. Krishna Consciousness is not so easy and only when one has the strong-minded spirit to practice it despite opposition from family members, relatives, social circle will they be able to perform it with determination. Such devotees will need to be given space without which they will not be able to function.

It is true that Srila Prabhupada said – Krishna Consciousness will spread through organization and intelligence. Organization is important in order to have some over-arching structure, but intelligence also has to be there which means we have to consider what kind of structure will work where.

In the history of religion, especially Gaudiya Vaishnavism, there can be seen three organizational structure – hardcore, medium core and softcore. Originally, Gaudiya Vaishnavism began as a very softcore organization. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not appoint any successor, did not write any will, and did not start an organization because there was broad devotional faith in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as the savior and in the process of hari nama-sankirtan. When Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami’s wrote the Caitanya Caritamrita (combining Caitanya Lila with Caitanya Tattva) that Gaudiya Vaishnavism became softcore. Otherwise earlier it was softer than softcore.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur was the first one to bring some medium core level structure in the organization. There was a broad theological agreement about what we believe and there was a general monitoring of what was being done but that was left to individual creativity to some extent.

Hardcore organizational structure is where “what we believe” and “what we do” is rigidly monitored. This becomes exhausting both for the overseers and the overseen.

Overall, Srila Prabhupada seems to have favored medium core model of organization and because we are all volunteers, we need to ensure that devotees do not feel choked. They should feel inspired to serve Krishna and we need to see that according to their individual natures they feel comfortable in rendering service. Sometimes, when devotees are overseen, they see that as an expression of care and sometimes they see that as too much oversight, too much interference or lack of trust.

If communication is proper (i.e. the authorities and the subordinates are able to express themselves well enough) then the best balance between structure and independence will evolve naturally and gradually.

End of transcription.

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The GBC Organizational Development Committee is a standing committee of ISKCON’s GBC. It strives to provide proper organizational structure designed to create global alignment and ensure devotional standards and ethos throughout the society.

Answer Podcast:

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Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

0Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: Why did Bhishma and other elders stay silent when Draupadi was being disrobed?

Answer: Bhishma, Drona and other elders did not stay silent; they opposed, but they did not oppose forcefully enough. There is a contextual reason and a transcendental reason for the silence of Bhishma which we will discuss ahead. Draupadi was an honourable princess who later became the queen of Emperor Yudhishthira and to dishonour such a lady by dragging her by the hair, into an assembly full of people was a horrendous act. The Pandavas had lost everything in the gambling match including themselves and their wife Draupadi. Duryodhana, who was goaded by Dushasana, Karna and Shakuni wanted to dishonour Pandavas in every possible way and that is how the heinous act of disrobing Draupadi was carried out. At that time, Draupadi tried holding on to a technicality and said that if Yudhishthira has gambled himself first and lost then how could he have gambled me afterwards. Draupadi was trying to salvage the situation to prevent something heinous from happening and so she raised this question before Bhishma and other Kuru elders. Although Bhishma was the eldest among others present in the assembly but actually in terms of political position, Dhritarashtra, the king of Hastinapur and the father of the Kauravas was the most powerful person. Being a king, he was meant to oppose this disgraceful act but instead he stayed silent due to his greed for the throne and the desire to displace the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra was actually delighted and although normally he concealed his partisanship, on that occasion, his partiality and his sadistic nature did come out.

One of the elders, Vidura, vehemently protested this act but since he did not have any influential political position due to being a step brother born from a maidservant, his protest was put aside. He told various precedents from scripture explaining that when an innocent victim coming to a royal assembly seeking justice, is not provided justice, then the whole assembly, especially those who give decision in that assembly suffer grievously. In this way, he tried to reason based on scripture and morality but Dhritarashtra remained adamantly silent and certainly the disrespectful Duryodhana disregarded Vidura’s words.

When it came to Bhishma, he told Draupadi that the question she has asked is very difficult to answer because at one level a wife always remains connected with her husband (not like a property or a possession but in the sense that she is always under the protection of her husband). Such a situation was unprecedented where a husband has lost himself and then gambled his wife afterwards. Normally, a person would gamble the possession first and oneself at the end as a last measure. It was Yudhishthira’s great esteem for his wife Draupadi that even the thought of gambling her had not entered his mind during the match. When he gambled everyone including himself and lost everything, it was Shakuni who suggested gambling Draupadi. Everybody was horrified to hear this, including Yudhishthira. However, in the desperate aspiration to gain back everything that was lost, Yudhishthira gambled Draupadi.

One of the Kaurava brother, Vikarna, who did not share the evil disposition of the Kauravas, not only objected but also said that the whole match was null and void because Yudhishthira was compelled to gamble. He argued that the gamble was between Duryodhana and Yudhishthira but Shakuni played the dice for Duryodhana which was not correct and since Yudhishthira had already gambled himself before gambling Draupadi so he could not possibly gamble her later. That means, Draupadi should not be considered won by the Kauravas and the whole gambling match should be declared null and void but he was strongly opposed by Karna and the whole assembly went to disruption afterwards.

Externally, Bhishma was caught in niyamagraha which means seeking into the letter of the law while forgetting the spirit. Wife belongs to the husband means that the wife is under the protection of the husband. The woman should not be treated like a chattel and exploited. Protection should be given to those who are weak. In this situation, the spirit of the law of protection was lost in the letter of the law. One of the consistent themes of the Mahabharata is that dharma is guhya (confidential) and it is not easily understandable. This is the contextual reason and along with that, Bhishma and Drona had committed themselves to abide by the rule of the Kuru king because they had affiliated themselves with the Kuru king and that is why they could not oppose directly at that time. That affiliation had come because of the circumstances which is a different issue and because of this, although they voiced their protest, they did not forcefully intervene.

From the transcendental perspective, this whole past-time is enacted to demonstrate the truth that no matter how protected we may be in this world, the outside events can turn in such an unpredictable and unfortunate way that despite having many protectors, one may be rendered defenceless and it reveals that ultimately we have only one protector, that is Krishna. This is the transcendental purpose of this whole past-time and everything, right from Yudhishthira losing his self-mastery and gambling to such a terrible extent, was ultimately part of the Lord’s plan for demonstrating that a woman who had, not one, but five powerful husbands, was yet ravished by a brutish person. She was in a public assembly, in the presence of her five husbands who were her protectors, in front of her elders who were supposed to defend her and yet in such a situation she was reduced to a position of defencelessness and helplessness where finally Krishna protected her and saved her honour. Thus, rather than focusing on the technicality that who behaved in what way and why did they behave like that, we can focus on the transcendental principle that was demonstrated by Krishna from this past-time that although we may make arrangements for having the best protection in this world, still, we should not let ourselves get blinded to the fact that ultimately we have no protector apart from Krishna. Therefore, the helpless and desperate surrender of Draupadi to Krishna and Krishna’s reciprocation is the purpose of this entire past-time.

End of transcription.

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ISKCON’s Ministry of Education has issued an announcement regarding an educational census among the educators and leadership of ISKCON to determine ISKCON’s current scope of activities and the future needs of the members

The second most popular mela after Kumbh Mela is the Ganga Sagar Mela.  Celebrated with great vigor and enthusiasm, the festival has a cultural and spiritual significance where pilgrims dip themselves in the holy waters of Ganga to purify their souls.  

A video by ISKCON Desire Tree.

We all have stories about ourselves that become part of our identity, part of how we self-identify. These stories don’t just go away, or have to continue – but they don’t have to be a part of who I am.

Vaisesika shares why goals are important in Krishna consciousness and in other aspects of life; and how to set your New Year’s Resolution goals effectively in a way that will lead to success.

A talk by Giriraj Swami on January 2, 2010, Bhaktivedanta Manor, England.

We have gathered at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada in this wonderful temple of Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda, Sri Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman, and Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, in the presence of His Holiness Radhanath Swami and so many exalted devotees. We are entering the New Year, 2010, and the next decade, and on such occasions we take stock of what and how we did in the previous year and what we want to do in the next. Studies have shown, and probably many of us have experienced, that most New Year’s resolutions are broken during the first week. Still more are broken in the first month, and almost all are broken within the first three months.

Why does this happen, and what can we do? Man is a creature of habit. We have developed certain habits over the past however many years—perhaps lifetimes—and to change our habits requires sincere desire and determined effort. Another study has shown that when a person is trying to develop a new habit, he has to consistently, diligently strive to adhere to the new practice for at least thirty days. After thirty days, he is able to follow more easily but can be derailed by stress or changes in his life. After ninety days it becomes just as easy to follow the new habit as not, and after a year it is easier to follow the new habit than not.

So, what new habits do we want to develop in the next year? That depends on our goals. When I visited Pune some years ago, the Malhotra brothers arranged a program for me in the main hall, and at the end of the talk the general in charge of the Southern Command of the Indian Army asked an important question: “What is the aim for which we are born, what is the aim of our life? It certainly could not be to amass some wealth and ultimately die, or to make a building and then die, or to marry and procreate and then die. For our minor activities in life we have the aims set first, before we get going to achieve them. When we train our people in the army, whatever they have to do we first tell them what the aim is. And once they are clear what the aim is, then we decide what means to adopt to achieve that. And invariably we don’t go wrong. Now here it is—my whole life is going to waste, to my mind; I am still not very clear what is the aim of my life. Would you kindly enlighten us about the aim of life so that thereafter we can be very, very clear as to what we have got to do to achieve that aim?”

Srila Sanatana Gosvami asked the same question of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:

“‘ke ami’, ‘kene amaya jare tapa-traya’
iha nahi jani—kemane hita haya

“‘sadhya’-‘sadhana’-tattva puchite na jani
krpa kari’ saba tattva kaha ta’ apani”

“Who am I? Why do the threefold miseries always give me trouble? If I do not know this, how can I be benefited? Actually I do not know how to inquire about the goal of life and the process for obtaining it. Being merciful upon me, please explain all these truths.” (Cc Madhya 20.102–103) He said, “In ordinary dealings people consider me to be a learned scholar (pandita), but I am so learned I do not even know who I am. So please tell me who I am and what is the goal of life.” And Lord Chaitanya replied, “By constitution you are an eternal servant of Krishna —jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’—and the goal of life is to be reinstated in your constitutional position as His loving servant.”

If someone understands that he is not the body, that he is the soul within the body, and that his real relationship is not with the body or things related to the body but that as a spiritual soul his real relationship is with the Supreme Soul, then he can adopt the methods that are suitable for reviving his eternal relationship with the Supreme Soul, Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada formed the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to give people this knowledge: We are not the body but the soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Soul. Our real relationship is with Him, and our duty and goal in life, is to revive our eternal loving relationship with Him, with God, Krishna. The whole process of sadhana-bhakti is to help us to awaken that eternal love for God.

nitya-siddha krsna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya
sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya

“Pure love for Krsna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.” (Cc Madhya 22.107) That love is eternally there within the heart, just as fire is within a match. You just have to strike the match and the fire will come out. Similarly, we just have to strike the heart by chanting and hearing about Krishna and that love will come out.

The main process is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. We are in the Hare Krishna temple. (On the way, we saw the sign, “Hare Krishna Temple,” with an arrow.) Somehow, we are part of the Hare Krishna movement, and we are known as Hare Krishna people. We are meant to chant Hare Krishna. And by our chanting Hare Krishna, the mirror of the mind can be cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam), the blazing fire of material existence extinguished (bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam), and ultimately our dormant love for Krishna awakened. Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam.

But there is also the matter of quality to the chanting. Queen Kunti prays to Lord Krishna,

janmaisvarya-sruta-sribhir
edhamana-madah puman
naivarhaty abhidhatum vai
tvam akincana-gocaram

“Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education, and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.” People on the path of material advancement want good birth (janma), material opulence (aisvarya), material learning (sruta), and physical beauty (sribhih). They cannot feelingly approach the Lord. And when we chant the holy name, we are trying to approach the Lord. The holy name of Krishna and Krishna Himself are the same.

nama cintamanih krsnas
caitanya-rasa-vigrahah
purnah suddho nitya-mukto
’bhinnatvan nama-naminoh

“The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Krsna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Krsna’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Krsna Himself. Since Krsna’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with maya. Krsna’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Krsna and Krsna Himself are identical.” (Padma Purana, Cc Madhya 17.133)

Commenting on Kunti’s prayer, Srila Prabhupada cites scripture, that by uttering the holy name of the Lord even once, one can destroy the reactions to more sins than one is able to commit. “Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord. There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually, the Lord’s holy name has such powerful potency.” We are all suffering because of sinful reactions. If we were freed from sinful reactions, we would no longer have to suffer. As Prabhupada explains, however, “there is a quality to such utterances also. It depends on the quality of feeling. A helpless man can feelingly utter the holy name of the Lord, whereas a man who utters the same holy name in great material satisfaction cannot be so sincere.” Lord Krishna is akincana-gocaram, easily approached by those who are akincana, who have no material possessions.

Now, these statements may give rise to some questions. This word akincana means “without material possessions,” or “without a sense of false proprietorship.” Of course, there should be no duplicity in the matter, but this principle allows us, for example, to have an opulent temple here. We have a beautiful property, a large estate, but as long as we think, “This is Radha-Gokulananda’s property. This is Srila Prabhupada’s property. It is not my property; I am here only to serve them and use this property in their service,” we can be free from false proprietorship, false prestige, and false designations. And in that mood we can chant the holy name with feeling, approach Krishna with feeling. Otherwise, there is a subtle rivalry going on between us and Krishna. We come into the material world out of envy of Krishna. In effect, we want to take His position. We want to be the proprietor and controller and enjoyer (isvaro ’ham aham bhogi), which is actually Krishna’s position. While chanting Krishna’s name, we may be thinking, “Why should I be chanting Krishna’s name? People should be chanting my name. ‘Giriraj Maharaja ki jaya!’ ” That is our sorry plight. We don’t want Krishna to be the center; we want to be the center. So we chant the holy name with ourselves in the foreground and the holy name in the background. That is our tendency as conditioned souls.

The proper process is to chant with attention. We let go of all those thoughts about ourselves—“I” and “me” and “mine”—and focus on the holy name, on Krishna. Those other thoughts are irrelevant. They may come up, but we don’t pay them heed. We just focus our attention on Krishna, on the sound of Krishna’s holy name. And when we do that, we can actually feel His presence. We can appreciate that the holy name is Krishna Himself reciprocating with our sincere desires to serve Him.

This practice requires effort. We are habituated to think that we are the center of existence and that everything revolves around us. We see everything in terms of us, not in terms of Krishna. But our habit can change. There is a saying that up to the age of twenty, you think that people are looking at you and like you, from the age of twenty to forty that they are looking at you and don’t like you, and then, after the age of forty, that they aren’t even looking at you or thinking of you. So, we have to reform this habit of thinking that we’re the center, always thinking about ourselves and thinking that everyone else is thinking about us too. We must know that Krishna is the center.

Once, when I was chanting my rounds at the beach in Carpinteria, I was sitting alone, chanting with attention—making a serious effort to be attentive—somehow thinking of different people who were close to me, and feeling how much they were suffering. I was actually feeling their pain. As I continued chanting, that sense of feeling for others expanded to people who weren’t so close to me, and then to the people on the beach, whom I didn’t even know. There weren’t many, but there were a few people surfing. And I was really feeling their suffering. Srila Prabhupada had joked that the surfers were actually “sufferers,” but I was actually feeling their suffering.

Then the feeling went beyond the human beings. There were pelicans at the beach. They fly very high and then suddenly zoom down and crash into the water. I understood that they were hovering high in the sky looking for prey and that when they saw some potential food they came straight down and crashed into the water. Ordinarily I would think, “Oh, how picturesque—flying so high and then diving into the ocean.” But now I was feeling, “They are in anxiety. They are hungry. They need food and are searching—‘Where is food? Where is food?’ And when they see something and dive straight down and crash into the water, although they are birds, still, coming from that height at that velocity and crashing into the water is bound to be a shock to their system. And they don’t know whether they will actually get that fish or not. And whatever happens, after they come down they go up and start the same process all over again. They are never satisfied—“Now we can just relax.” I was thinking, “What a life, full of anxiety, full of pain”—and feeling it.

And the dolphins and the sandpipers and the seagulls—the same thing. I was feeling so much suffering on all sides. It was as if the illusion of material happiness and charm had been lifted, and this whole beautiful panorama became a horrible scene of intense suffering, which I was feeling. And I was just chanting, chanting, chanting. Then a little lady bug landed on my hand. Growing up, I thought that lady bugs were auspicious and cute. But this time I looked at the lady bug and thought, “This lady bug is suffering”—and, again, feeling it. Looking at the lady bug, I thought, “I don’t think I can take much more of this. I am feeling too much suffering; I am going to have a breakdown.” I wanted to help these creatures. I was feeling their suffering and desiring to help them, but it was getting to be too much.

Then I had the type of breakthrough that one gets when one chants with attention, with the effort to chant with attention. Suddenly I felt as if Krishna were speaking to me, revealing something to me. I got the intuition, or inspiration, in my heart that Krishna loves these creatures more than I do, more than I can even imagine. He loves them so much that He accompanies them as the Supersoul in whatever species of life they enter. And not only does He love them more than I can ever imagine, but He can actually do something to help them. I may feel for them and want to help them, but what is my capacity to help them? I may not even understand what’s troubling them. Parents sometimes experience that their baby is crying and want to help but don’t know what the baby wants. They may think the baby is hungry, but the baby may be troubled by something completely different. Or even if they do understand what is causing the suffering, they may be unable to relieve it.

So, I was thinking, “Not only does Krishna love them, but He can actually do something to help them.” And then I came to the bottom of it. The problem was that I was trying to take the position of Krishna. In the Bhagavad-gita (5.29) Lord Krishna says,

bhoktaram yajna-tapasam
sarva-loka-mahesvaram
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam
jnatva mam santim rcchati

“A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.”

When one recognizes that Krishna is the enjoyer, Krishna is the proprietor, Krishna is the best friend, he attains peace. I thought of what Srila Prabhupada often said, so simple yet profound—that your best friend is not he or she who poses as your best friend but he {or she }who tells you that Krishna is your best friend. Suddenly this whole problem of how to help these suffering souls became very easy. I didn’t have to help them personally; I just had to direct them to Krishna, who could really help them. And it was such a relief.

So this is our mission: to serve Krishna. And serving Krishna means doing what Krishna wants, and Krishna wants that we should bring other souls to Him. As He says at the end of the Bhagavad-gita (18.69), His dearmost servant is he who preaches the message of the Gita. Na ca tasman manusyesu kascin me priya-krttamah/ bhavita na ca me tasmad anyah priyataro bhuvi: “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also said, yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa: “Wherever you go, whomever you meet, just present the message of Krishna.” And that is something any of us can do. It is actually very easy. Any of us can do it.

When devotees, myself among them, first came to Bombay, two of Prabhupada’s early disciples, Syamasundara and Malati, had a small daughter, Sarasvati, who used to approach respectable gentlemen who visited our center. Although only three or four years old, she would approach them and say, “Do you know who is Krishna?” And then she would answer, “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Srila Prabhupada commented, “That is preaching. She is repeating what she has heard from authorities, and even if she doesn’t have full realization, what she is saying is perfect, because she has heard it from authorities— Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” So, any of us can preach. We can simply repeat what we have heard from authorities—“Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” “Chant Hare Krishna and your life will be sublime.” “Come to the Hare Krishna temple.” And that will please Krishna.

I was very happy when I passed through England on my way to South Africa at the end of November and saw all the books around Srila Prabhupada’s vyasasana. I could feel the mood in the atmosphere to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. I felt, “Srila Prabhupada is pleased. They have the spirit to distribute his books.” The books are as potent and effective now as ever. So many people I meet—when I ask them how they came to Krishna consciousness, it goes back to a book. They got a book. The formula that Srila Prabhupada gave us forty years ago still works. By giving them Prabhupada’s books, we are giving them Krishna and Prabhupada, the message of Krishna through Prabhupada, and that is enough to awaken their sense of Krishna consciousness and begin them on the path. Many of us are here because of Srila Prabhupada’s books.

So, we should try to develop the habit of putting Krishna in the center, putting the holy name in the center, putting Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada and their mission in the center, and that will make all the difference. Our spouse can be there, our children can be there, our house can be there, our work can be there—everything can be there—but with Krishna in the center, everything will be beautiful and peaceful. And as long as we persist in habits that may have been with us for many lifetimes—thinking that we are the center, we are the lords, we are the enjoyers, we are the proprietors—there will be so many problems, and in the end whatever we have will be taken away from us anyway.

So it is most auspicious that we are beginning the New Year in the association of devotees here at Bhaktivedanta Manor. My request is that we use this coming year, and this valuable human form of life, for their proper purpose, in Krishna consciousness, and that in this endeavor we help and support each other. We can’t do it alone. And I pray that I can always remain in the association of such wonderful devotees, because I am sure that in this association, hearing their instructions, I will be nudged along on the right path, back home, back to Godhead.

Hare Krishna.

NEWS FROM THE BRAHMACHARY ASHRAMA
It’s been a productive year in the brahmachary ashrama at New Govardhana (Iskcon Farm Community in Australia) in 2019. The ashrama is headed up by Krishna Gana dasa, who has not only been traveling around Australia catering but also took Govinda’s catering over to France to help the New Mayapur team begin their catering venture.

Great Vaishnava Women. An address to members of the International Network of Women and Religion (INWAR) at their headquarters in New York City.

IN FOCUS: RATIPRIYA DEVI DASI
By Anasuya dasi.
This month, we interviewed Ratipriya devi dasi, who has had a connection with both the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula and New Govardhana (Iskcon Farm community in Australia) since the 1980s.

Please pray for rain!
Iskcon Farm New Govardhan, Australia.
Karunamayi dasi: Due to the lack of rain and increasing heat the drought has been getting worse all around the country! The farm has not been this badly affected by drought in anyone’s memory.

The Shree Krishna Haveli is a feat of architecture, built from traditional materials that reflect the character of local Hertfordshire, such as timber, brick and tile. It features a reception area with a bakery and café; a Kirtan Hall with a stage and lighting for festivals, visiting speakers, Sunday programs and play performances; and a Seva Hall for serving prasad, as well as youth clubs, weddings and other samskaras.

Kirtan Mela in Dnipro, Ukraine (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: In the sastras it is said that if a person only once chants the holy name and completely surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Lord, the Lord immediately considers him His ward and is always inclined to give him protection. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.49 Purport)

Happy New Year!
HH Giriraj Swami: “For us, every day is a New Year. Nava-nava-rasa-dhamany. Our Krishna consciousness is so nice, the more you advance, the more you see new year, new year. That’s all. Nothing is old. People are seeing that ‘They are simply chanting the same old slogan, Hare Krishna.’ But we are feeling new pleasure in every moment. Take any other chanting, you cannot chant more than a few hours. But the Hare Krishna mantra we can chant perpetually. So, unless there is new enlightenment, how we can do that?”

Today’s featured video on Dandavats.com.
Watch it here: https://is.gd/jPy75H

Answer Podcast:

Download by “right-click and save content”

Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: Why do some bad habits stay on despite our devotional practice – how to deal with them?

Answer: Bad habits are a result of certain anarthas which are deep rooted and which may have come from our past life. By the initial practice of Krishna consciousness, some or many of those habits go away but some remain due to multiple reasons. One reason is that such impressions are deep, but another important reason is that we indulge in them quite often. For example, if a person has got rashes on his skin, the doctor may advise two things – avoid scratching it and apply some medicine. If the person follows both the instructions, the rash will be cured but if the person applies the medicine and at the same time secretly scratches the rash, then it will take much longer to cure. In general, habits persist longer when we also indulge in them. Before coming to Krishna consciousness, many devotees found it difficult to give up tea but after practising Krishna consciousness, they found that the temptation went away. If we minimise indulging on our indulgences then it is relatively easier for us to experience the purifying potency of Krishna consciousness, but when we indulge privately, then it will take a long time to cure.
Sometimes fault-finding is not necessarily bad. If we are in a leadership position where we have to train someone, then it may involve some fault finding to improve them. Thus, the problem is – when one finds faults all the time. If our relationship with others is based only on finding faults in them, then we strain the relationship.

His Holiness Satsvarupa Maharaj, in one of his books writes that once Srila Prabhupada was going for some TV programme. At that time, Prabhupada was little sick and had just recovered. In that state, he applied his tilak little twisted. So Satsvarupa Maharaj was wondering whether to tell Srila Prabhupada about this or not. He thought, “Should I tell my spiritual master that the tilak is twisted or should I consider that in the case of my spiritual master, the tilted is straight.” While thinking, he remembered that in the early days, once when Prabhupada was writing his book, he had stated a word while dictating that was not present in the dictionary. So all the devotees gathered and were thinking what to do in this situation. One of them said that since a pure devotee has used it rather than changing the pure devotee, we should change the dictionary and avoid using it in this case. One of the devotees suggested that we should ask Srila Prabhupada and hence they later changed the word as per Prabhupada’s instructions. This shows how eminently practical Srila Prabhupada was. The point here is that there are certain situations where fault finding is simply to facilitate or increase the service of Krishna.

The question may arise, how to avoid fault finding from becoming the basis or centre of our relationship? The answer is by trying to see the positive things in others. If we find it difficult to see good things in a person then we can talk with someone who has a good relationship with that person. Through them we can learn the positive side of that person which will help us see the good in them. So, fault-finding is definitely not the same as constructive criticism. Srila Rupa Goswami explains in The Nectar of Instruction Text 4 – guhyam akhyati pṛcchati which is one of the limbs of sadhu sangha (association of devotees) to share our heart with the other person and to hear from them. Therefore, it is not that all fault finding is bad, but when fault-finding becomes centre of relationship then it becomes a problem. There is a prayer in the Upanishads which says, “let good thoughts come to me from everywhere” and this is an exercise which we can try if we are having lot of relationship problems. It may sound simple but its practical application is very tough.

That is why, we should try to see the good in others first. It is difficult when we have a negative relation with the other person but if we put in conscious efforts then eventually seeing the good in others first becomes a habit. Lord Krishna uses the word manah prasadah (satisfaction) in Bhagavad-gita 17.16 to describe one of the austerities of mind. Interestingly, the word satisfaction is generally used as an emotion but a deeper understanding reveals that satisfaction is a conscious decision. Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport that the more we think of sense enjoyment, the more the mind becomes dissatisfied. The best course is to divert the mind to the Vedic literature, which is full of satisfying stories, as in the Puraṇas and the Mahabharata. Thus, we can see that satisfaction is not just an emotion that we feel but is also a decision that we make consciously.
Also, one very good object at which we can direct our fault-finding mentality is, at the mentality itself. This we can do by trying to find the cause of fault-finding and if we do that then the fault-finding mentality also gets utilised and we can distance ourselves from this mentality.

End of transcription.

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“For us, every day is a New Year. Nava-nava-rasa-dhamany. Our Krishna consciousness is so nice, the more you advance, the more you see new year, new year. That’s all. Nothing is old. People are seeing that ‘They are simply chanting the same old slogan, Hare Krishna.’ But we are feeling new pleasure in every moment. Take any other chanting, you cannot chant more than a few hours. But the Hare Krishna mantra we can chant perpetually. So, unless there is new enlightenment, how we can do that?”

In this conversation in Los Angeles on January 3, 1974, Srila Prabhupada referred to a verse by Sri Yamunacharya:

yad-avadhi mama cetah krsna-padaravinde
nava-nava-rasa-dhamany udyatam rantum asit

“Since my mind has been engaged in the service of the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, and I have been enjoying an ever new transcendental taste.”

May you all have a wonderful, Krishna conscious New Year.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

The ISKCON Leadership Sanga will be held  in Sri Dham Mayapur between February 14-20 2020, with 75 unique seminars and discussions, uplifting kirtans, wonderful prasadam, and 45 stalls displaying various projects and services from all over the world. 

Beautifully captured highlights and memorable moments of Krishna Spectacular at the Apollo, celebrating 50 years of Hare Krishna culture in the UK by Filmworks Studios.

Generally people reach the ages of 55 to 65 and gradually retire. But two devotees in the Los Angeles temple, Bhrgupati Prabhu and Sacitanoy Prabhu, now 68 and 67, respectively, are a sankirtan team. They go out daily on book distribution, except on weekends, and do huge. Recently, these two non-decrepit book distributors were in the top twenty worldwide. Brghupati is No. 6 for November, with 4,328 book points, and Saci Tanoy is No. 19, with 1,270 book points. They are good examples of what Srila Prabhupada wanted: devotees who dedicate their lives to the spreading of Krsna consciousness. Bhrgupati has been distributing since 1973 and Sacitanoy since 1979 (in Spanish and English). When you see Bhrgupati distributing, it's amazing. He has the energy of a teenager and ageless enthusiasm. I hope that they both continue for more years being great examples of devotees who give their all, from youth through old age, for Krishna's pleasure. Continue reading "WSN November 2019 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
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When Ram Dass visited the Hare Krishna temple.
Narottamananda das ACBSP: 1969, a beautiful spring day: almost 2 years after the summer of love. Many of the students at the University of Buffalo were gathered outside enjoying the sun and good weather, some throwing, some chasing Frisbees, others chatting and lounging on the grass. Perhaps only 50 or 100 students out of 20,000 came to the hall to hear the speaker, Richard Alpert, Baba Ram Dass, who had worked with Timothy Leary at Harvard and who was known for his experimentation with psychedelics.

Lecture – Srimad Bhagavatam 1.4.2 Forever Facelift? No Just For Five Years 2019-12-02 #Dallas

Answer Podcast:

Download by “right-click and save content”

Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: Where do we get our individuality from – matter or spirit?

Answer: The spirit soul is said to be sac-cid-ananda (sat means eternal, cit means knowledge and ananda means bliss). The principle of sac-cid-ananda is very lofty because to understand that something is made of eternity, consciousness and bliss is very difficult since all three of them appear to be unquantifiable.

In general, the nature of spiritual existence is not easily comprehensible. Krishna confirms in Bhagavad-gita 2.25 with the word acintyo ’yam (soul is inconceivable) which means not only Krishna is achintya (inconceivable) but the soul is also achintya. The shastric description of sac-cid-ananda explains the composition or the defining characteristic of the soul. Along with that, the Vedic scriptures also explain that each of us are a part and parcel of Krishna.

In Bhagavad-gita 15.7, Krishna says, mamaivamsho jiva-loke jiva-bhutaḥ sanatanah (the living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts).
Each of us is a unique individual and we all have our original spiritual identity. We are not just a spark of consciousness or a small atom made of sac-cid-ananda. We have our individuality as a spiritual person. However, from a material point of view, our individual personality comes both from our subtle body (mind, intelligence, false ego) and our gross material body. Our individuality can be known by the fact that we all think differently and look different. Even if we look same, we still think differently. For example, twins may physically appear same, but they have individual personality and thoughts.

It cannot be known if there is a relationship between our material individuality and spiritual individuality and it is not necessary that there has to be a relationship. For example, those who are manjari (maidservants) in Lord Krishna’s past-times, they became Goswami in Lord Chaitanya’s past-time. If we look at the role of manjaris and the lives of the Goswami, they seem very different from a material point of view, but they are the same person manifested in a different way. Hence, there may or may not be any similarity between our present individuality and our eternal individuality. However, important point is that bhakti means the willingness to serve Krishna with whatever we have now.

In future, if we have something better then we can definitely do something better for Krishna but right now what we have, can and should be used in Krishna’s service. Thus, we see our present individuality also as a gift from Krishna and we try to use it in his service to the best of our capacity. Even if the present individuality is coming from our subtle and gross bodies, still it is in some way reflection of our original individuality. We are originally spiritual individuals and we have spiritual desires which may get reflected, refracted, distorted due to material contact because of which we manifest our material individuality. Therefore, from a material or a spiritual point of view, we are unique individuals and we should use what we have in Krishna’s service. Thus, by using our present individuality to serve Krishna, gradually our spiritual individuality will be manifested.

End of Transcription.

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