Krishna Balaram Mandir Darshan in Vrindavan (4 Jan, 2020) (Album of photos)
Please take darshan of the Deities of Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir and the foggy winter morning in Sri Vrindavan Dham.

TOVP Pujari Floor Grand Opening - H.H. Gopal Krishna Maharaja Speaks Out (2 min. video)
In a little over one month, ISKCON will be celebrating another milestone event at the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium in preparation for the opening in 2022: The Grand Opening of the fully completed Pujari Floor. On February 13, 2020, in observance of the 146th anniversary of the appearance of His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and in preparation for the relocation of our beloved world Deities into Their new home, the Pujari Floor will be inaugurated with great pomp and celebration.

A recent seminar by HG Suresvara Prabhu presented in Iskcon Melbourne.

Harinama in Russia (Album of photos)
Some shots from the New Year Harinam and book distribution night.
At the end of the Harinam just one book left and we met Father Frost who was super exciting to see Prabhupad’s book and get prasadam! When we asked:
-What’s your name? He replied:
-Anirudha Krishna Das.
It was unexpectable at all!:)
Find them here: http://bit.ly/2MVxI94

New Year Kirtan Program in Kolkata (2020) (Album of photos)
Devotees in Kolkata were very fortunate to have the blessed association of HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj and they organized an amazing kirtan program at Seal Mansion on the first day of the new year 2020. The owner of the place comes from the same lineage of Srila Prabhupad and they had a very old and aristocrat mansion. Themed as “Srivas Angan”, the decoration of the place was marvelous and depicted traditional Bengali art. Many devotees led Kirtan and everyone was enthused by Maharaja’s katha, bhajan and kirtan.

Photos from London New Year’s Eve 2019.
“For us, every day is New Year’s. Krishna is always new, always fresh, and we are always celebrating Him. Just see how these people in maya are celebrating, drinking poison to forget everything! Because they are frustrated, they want to forget. But for a devotee, it is just the opposite. The devotee wants to remember Krishna at all times.” - Srila Prabhupada. December 31, 1966, New York.

Exciting news for the San Diego Hare Krishna Temple.
To our dear Hare Krishna community family:
We have very exciting news. This year our Temple Property Mortgage Fundraiser exceeded all expectations, and by Krishna’s grace we raised the full amount to pay off the $138,000.00 that remained on this loan! We started this fundraiser back in 2015, when we owed $300,000.00, and each year since, many of you have come forward to help our temple with donations to reduce the principal on this loan. And to complete this effort, by the end of 2019 we had collected enough donations to pay off the full balance. Thus we are starting the New Year on a very positive note, with no debt burden on our temple.

Yes this is Srila Prabhupada’s world — it’s a world of MERCY MAGIC! The visionary mercy of a compassionate Gaudiya Vaisnava’s heart, and the magic of bhakti in action. On this very cold day we have had the good fortune to see so many compassionate devotees in action — all of them uniquely individual, all absorbed in their own heart-chosen field of service. But there’s a palpable synergy among them. All their hearts have the same heart beat and they dance to the same tune — and what’s that? It is the irrepressible, indefatigable — and irresistible! — compassion of Srila Prabhupada! Continue reading "Serving Srila Prabhupada’s Mood
→ Dandavats"

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 28 May 2019, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Srimad Bhagavatam 6.11.25)

We have to bring some goodness in our life and we have to invest in the mornings. Rise early and have a strong morning program. Chant good japa. Read more in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Get absorbed and that will drive out this mode of passion and mode of ignorance, which are still sometimes weighing us down and making it hard for us to follow the rules and regulations of Krsna consciousness. This is confirmed in the Srimad Bhagavatam: tada rajas-tamo-bhavah kama-lobhadayas ca ye ceta etair anaviddham sthitam sattve prasidati (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.19). In this way, as loving devotional service is fixed in the heart, the influences of the modes of passion and ignorance will disappear and we will be able to follow Krsna consciousness.

But this is also a matter of decision. We can make this decision right now. We can decide that we will follow the four regulative principles now and not allow ourselves to go outside of them anymore. This is our choice. The time is now! Surrender now! Right now! Not tomorrow, “I will be a pure devotee from tomorrow”. No, try to be a pure devotee right now! If we try now to be a pure devotee, we will be pure. And we will become more pure day by day. So surrender now, that is all!

The article " A resolution to surrender now! " was published on KKSBlog.

Answer Podcast:

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Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: How can we know that the Deity accepts the bhoga when it remains as it is?

Answer: It is a valid question. To understand, we must know that Krishna is bhaava-graahi (one who accepts the devotional emotion in the service). When we offer bhoga (food in a platter), he takes the bhaava in the bhoga. But if we make the mistake of sticking to material vision, then not just offering bhoga, the entire idea of deity worship can be rejected as sentimentalism.

It is important to understand the principle of Krishna manifesting in a deity is an opportunity for us to get sensory access to transcendence. With this understanding, the principle of offering bhoga should be perceived. Suppose a person visits his friend or a relative carrying a box full of sweets and after entering the house he gifts the box to that person. Ideally, in any culture, when someone gives a box full of sweets, the other person would not return it empty and would instead add some sweets in the box and then give it back. This principle is also highlighted by Srila Rupa Goswami in The Nectar of Instruction Text 4 – dadati pratigṛhṇati (offering and accepting gifts). When the meeting ends, the person will leave the friend’s home and return back carrying the box. If somebody watching from outside assumes that the box which went inside is the same box which came outside and so there was no exchange of sweets then he would be mistaken. Similarly, when we offer bhoga to Krishna, what Krishna is interested in, is the bhaava. Thus, metaphorically the bhoga that we offer is like the box and our devotional emotion and love with which we prepare the bhoga is like the sweets in the box. Just like, after gifting the box full of sweets to his friend, the person received the same box with different sweets, similarly, the bhoga after being offered to Krishna is received as it is but is filled with His kripa (His mercy).

Thus, seeing with our external vision, the food may remain the same but by spiritual vision, there has been a reciprocation of bhakti (devotional service) and kripa (divine mercy) and how do we know the difference? At intellectual level, if we understand the philosophy, we can note it whereas at an experiential level, when we take prasad (sanctified food which is offered to Lord) we may find that our heart has become purified. Our heart will become purified because we experience a higher taste and the anarthas (offences) in our heart –lust, anger, greed etc start to decrease. This intellectual and experiential understanding can be understood more clearly by the example of a child who is told by his mother to throw away all the pieces of paper lying in the house. Co-incidentally, the child finds a 100 rupee note lying on the floor and proceeds to throw it in the dustbin due to no knowledge of a currency note. The mother notices him and stops him from throwing the currency in the dustbin. She explains that this is not an ordinary piece of paper (gives intellectual understanding). Seeing the child perplexed she takes him to a shop and buys him chocolates with that money. After receiving the chocolates, the child tries to buy more of them using the wrappers of the chocolates, but the shopkeeper throws them away. This helps the child understand the difference in an ordinary piece of paper and a hundred rupee note (experiential understanding). Similarly, when we serve Krishna like a deity as per the philosophy, it is with intellectual understanding but with practise of bhakti we will experience the differences through realizations.

End of transcription.

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Lecture – Bhagavad Gita 5.21 La Familia de Krishna O la Familia de Apple 2019-12-02 #Spanish #Dallas

The exhilarating experience has been a tradition for ISKCON Ireland for over three decades, and is well known to the Dublin public. 

A video made in honour of Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara’s 50th Anniversary with interviews with devotees, past and present, who have had the blessed opportunity to serve Their Lordships, the Deities who were personally installed by Srila Prabhupada in 1969 and are the first large Radha Krishna Deities in ISKCON. As the video shows, They hold a very special place in devotees’ hearts.

A truly memorable event, London has never seen the Hare Krishna movement like this before. Running for nine days from Sunday 24th November to Monday 2nd December, the festival showcased exceptional displays of performance arts and visual arts, poetry readings and kirtans, historical accounts of Radha-Londonisvara.

Seventeen children and youth, aged two to eighteen, took three months to complete the movie and worked on every part of the production from set building, special effects, and lighting, to voices, puppeteering, filming and editing. The film premiered in Saranagati on Christmas Day to rave reviews.

Produces by the students of Govardhana Avademy, Sharanagati Farm, Canada.

Shastrakrit Das: Sweet Kiwi family, they were looking for presents to give family for New Years’. Where ever we go in the world, everyone is doing the same old things. Until they come across one of Srila Prabhupada’s books!

Ladies’ Ashrama Update
The women’s ashrama at New Govardhana, Australia, has been full of activity of late, with new devotees Bhadra Yamuna (from the US), Bhaktine Cameron (from UK) and Bhaktine Jin Lou (from Hong Kong) arriving, inspired to serve Shri Shri Radha Govardhanadhari.

Melbourne Namahatta preaching (Album of photos)
Ramai Swami: Most devotees who visit Melbourne temple know about the program near the temple at an apartment complex just where the tram goes around the corner.

A Spiritual Trek to The Heart of The Himalayas
One of New Govardhana’s main pujaris Dhanistha devi dasi recently embarked on a spiritual pilgrimage to the Himalayas. Along with friends, Bhuvana Mohini devi dasi and Madhu, Dhanistha braved dangerous slopes and high altitudes to eventually arrive at Gangotri, the origin of Mother Ganga.

Answer Podcast:

Download by “right-click and save content”

Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: Is Deity visarjan required – why?

Answer: More than the requirement the important principle to understand and know, is that Krishna or even the devatas (demigods) are offering people opportunity for periodic worship when the regular nitya pooja (uninterrupted worship) is not possible. Certain people who are religiously very committed can invite a deity at their home and serve the deity throughout their life. But some people may not be able to serve the deity everyday throughout their life and so, in order to trigger them to at least perform religious activity at some level, it is recommended that they do pooja (deity worship) for a particular period.

Also, the deities are not just ordinary statues made of stone, wood etc. There is a religious practise of aarohan (invoking the deity by offering prayers and paraphernalia as per customs mentioned in the Vedic scriptures) and after the period of worship is over, there is the process of visarjan (immersing the idol in a river). Just like an ordinary cylindrical box called post box being authorized by the government is used to send letters similarly although the deities may externally look like an ordinary statue but because they have been invoked by bonafide and authorized instructions of Vedic scriptures, they have the potency to receive services and offer blessings.

Ideally the deity is prepared or sculpted in a prayerful mood where the Lord is invited to manifest in the deity. Once installed, the deity is worshiped for a particular period and at the end before immersion, the Lord is offered gratefulness, thanked and requested to leave the deity. After this, the visarjan process takes place. It is not mandatory that there should be visarjan of the deity but for those who cannot do nitya vigrah pooja (uninterrupted and daily deity worship) for them nainitik pooja (on special occasions like Ganpati) is allowed so that they can at least perform some bhakti. For that purpose, the deity is worshipped for a particular period and at the end, visarjan is done.

End of transcription.

The post Is Deity visarjan required – why? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Most devotees who visit Melbourne temple know about the program near the temple at an apartment complex just where the tram goes around the corner.

It’s been going on for decades and headed up by Nityananda Priya. Those who attend are mainly students and predominantly from India. When I’m in town I always go over on a Saturday evening.

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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Video:

The post Gita key verses course 3 – What is death, what is reincarnation, do we have soul mates? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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.

The post How can an organization balance between maintaining structure and providing independence to its members? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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:

Download by “right-click and save content”

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.