Not Ebola but Haribola!
From His Holiness Maha Vishnu Swami. We wish him a speedy recovery so that he can go very soon on the streets on Harinam!
Maha Vishnu Swami: “Dear Concerned wellwishers,
Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
When I was preaching in DR Congo recently, I was infected with malaria by a naughty karma- inflicting mosquito.

Every year, some 800 projects from all over the world that conserve and protect our resources, or employ renewable energy, participate. One award winner is chosen from each country.

Read article about the event: https://iskconnews.org/iskcon-uk-recreates-abbey-road-album-cover-to-celebrate-50th,7096/

“After we celebrated ISKCON’s global 50th anniversary in 2016, I was keen to capture the mood of something quintessentially British for our own UK Golden Anniversary in 2019,” says UK communications director Mina Sharma. “And what is more British than The Beatles!”

“Turning to Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement is really the only way to stop being self-centred.”

Vyasa-puja speech, after VP ceremony, 28 April 2019

This quote was featured in the short talk after the Vyasa-puja ceremony on 28 April 2019. Listen to the whole class below or follow this link.

The article " Stop being self-centred " was published on KKSBlog.

Every year, the city of Toowoomba, which is about 100 kilometres west of Brisbane, celebrates the “Flower Festival” at the beginning of Spring.

One of the special attractions is the parade that goes through the streets and ends at a beautiful park downtown.

We are told that there are 50,000 to 100,000 people who come out to watch the floats and we have our smaller Ratha cart from the Gold Coast Bhakti Centre included.

Needless to say that when Lord Jagannatha and his devotees went past, the crowd enthusiastically clapped and waved. Our Rathayatra “float” won 1st prize, which it has done for the last five years.

The devotees from Radhadesh perform Harinama during the big manifestation “Strike for Climate” in Brussels (Album of photos)
This Harinama Sankirtana is actually the permanent solution to all problems of humanity. By glorifying the Lord, thanking Him, pleasing Him and being in harmony with His will there will be a higher taste and happiness so that people will get detached from irresponsible sense gratification which destroys the planet and the self. But how many can understand this?

Two Srimad Bhagavatam sets to one person at once!
Shastrakrit Das: Material desires are never satisfied no matter how hard we try and still we want more of the same. Spiritual desires, on the other hand, Krishna satisfies them more than we even desire.
This nice second-generation Indian man on his own walked over to my book table and put a generous donation in my donation box. I took the opportunity to show the Bhagavatam set and explain to him a bit about the glories of The Bhagavatam. Being so pious he was visibly moved and wanted it but he had a dilemma. His wife, himself and children only read in English. On the other hand, his parents, in-laws, relatives, read only in Gujarati. So he was confused. So praying to Pancha tattva I tried my luck. I asked him why he doesn’t take one set In English and one set in Gujarati? He gladly agreed. We both were in disbelief that such an exchange took place. As he was driving away he kept looking at me. I was all trembling. Never in my life I was able to distribute 2 sets to a stranger on the street. Must be all you devotees encouragement & blessings

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Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17 at a home program in Dallas.

“Similarly, a moment passed in the association of a pure devotee by hearing and chanting the transcendental messages of the Lord is a perfect guarantee for eternal life, for returning home, back to Godhead. Mad-dhama gatva punar janma na vidyate. In other words, a devotee of the Lord is guaranteed eternal life. A devotee’s old age or disease in the present life is but an impetus to such guaranteed eternal life. Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17 purport.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17 (Right click to download)

The ancient teachings of the Vedas say there are 5 things humans can do everyday to be happy. We would say that these are directly connected to an effective spiritual practice.

Why do we deviate? Because our mind is restless. We become committed when we learn to maintain focus in spite of our mind, not because our mind maintains focus.

A video by TEDxTalks. 

Launched in 1996 by Niranjana Swami and starting with an attendance of only 400, it grew to become one of ISKCON’s biggest festivals, with an unbelievable 12,000 devotees participating at one point.

As water quality improved and pollution levels fell, tiny oceanic life-forms such as algae and zooplankton bounced back, providing a crucial food base for a resurgence in menhaden, a schooling fish favored by whales.

D Magazine is available at every grocery store in Dallas, and is one of the best-selling magazines per capita in the U.S. on local newsstands. Devotees are saying that its piece – entitled “The Wild Pursuit of Bliss” – exhibits a rare look at the deeper essence of Krishna consciousness, not often found in the media.

Caste system is probably among the most talked and most misunderstood current social controversies; misunderstood because it is based on a false premise- caste determination by birth

Iskcon Tanzania - East Africa (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If we practice devotion of God, then next life is to become the associate of God. That cintamani-prakara-sadmasu – we are transferred to that planet. These are simple things. The whole thing is in my hand. If I want to be degraded, I can prepare myself in this life for such degradation in the next life. And if we want to elevate ourself to the highest perfection of life, as to become one of the associates of God, we can prepare ourself like that. -From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.11 – New York, March 4, 1966

Answer Podcast

Transcription :

Transcribed by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: How do we deal with fear of rejection?

Answer: We are all social creatures and want relationships. We all need to realize that we are existentially alone. We were born alone, we will die alone. In the journey, we will and should form relationships, but the foundation should be clear.

There are three kind of people (i) independent (ii) dependent (iii) interdependent. Only independent people can become interdependent. We all define ourselves in terms of our relationships. For example, as children, we say “I am son or daughter of so and so”, as young adults, we say “I am husband or wife of so and so” etc. However, this is not our sole identification. We are not just sum total of our relationships.

We have horizontal relationship in this world and we have a vertical relationship with Krishna. Krishna as God is always present with us – sarvasya cha aham hridy sannivishtho. He is present in the heart of everyone. He is closest to us; closer than best of our loved ones. This relationship is supposed to be our anchor.
In the horizontal relationship there will be ups and downs. Sometimes there will be affection, sometimes confrontation, sometimes alienation. If we are in an ocean, the waves will toss us here and there. If there is a helicopter above, and we are holding on to the rope coming from the helicopter, the waves in the ocean will still come, but will not shake us that much because we have a shelter.

Similarly, for us in the relationship that we have, there will be storms, ups and downs etc. If we are vertically sheltered by a strong relationship with Krishna which can be developed by the practice of bhakti yoga, then we understand that at least there is one person who always cares for us. That is God, Krishna. He will never leave us, no matter what happens.
In any relationship if we experience rejection, we feel unloved. To feel unloved is distressing. When we feel multiple rejection, we may start thinking that there is something wrong with myself. To feel unloved is distressing, to feel unlovable is devastating. When we experience our relationship with Krishna through the practices of bhakti, we feel inner serenity. That helps us understand that God cares for me, no matter what happens in my life. That will give us the inner security by which if there is a rejection in our horizontal relationship, our sense of self-worth will not be determined by the horizontal relationship alone.

We need to be independent and not dependent. If we are dependent on any relationship for our security and self-worth, then any turbulence in that relationship will be very agitating. If our self-worth and security come from Krishna, then even if the relationship with others goes up and down, we will have inner stability to move forward in life.

End of transcription.

The post How do we deal with fear of rejection? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.17.1-22

“A devotee’s conclusion is that no one is directly responsible for being a benefactor or mischief-monger without the sanction of the Lord; therefore he does not consider anyone to be directly responsible for such action. But in both the cases he takes it for granted that either benefit or loss is God-sent, and thus it is His grace. In case of benefit, no one will deny that it is God-sent, but in case of loss or reverses one becomes doubtful about how the Lord could be so unkind to His devotee as to put him in great difficulty. Jesus Christ was seemingly put into such great difficulty, being crucified by the ignorant, but he was never angry at the mischief-mongers. That is the way of accepting a thing, either favorable or unfavorable. Thus for a devotee the identifier is equally a sinner, like the mischief-monger. By God’s grace, the devotee tolerates all reverses. Maharaja Pariksit observed this, and therefore he could understand that the bull was no other than the personality of religion himself. In other words, a devotee has no suffering at all because so-called suffering is also God’s grace for a devotee who sees God in everything. The cow and bull never placed any complaint before the King for being tortured by the personality of Kali, although everyone lodges such complaints before the state authorities. The extraordinary behavior of the bull made the King conclude that the bull was certainly the personality of religion, for no one else could understand the finer intricacies of the codes of religion.” Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.17.22 purport.

A video by Hare Krishna Television & ISKCON Desire Tree. 

A video by Ananta Vrindavan.

A video by Radhadesh Mellows.

Every year,  4.73 billion plastic cups are thrown away in France. Only 1% of these are recycled. The bold ban aims to drastically cut levels of plastic waste, and drive innovation in biodegradable products.

Desserts served during BHAKTI SANGAMA festival in Ukraine, 12 September (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If we become pure devotee of Krsna, then my love will be extended to everyone. Not only my society, but to everyone. It is not that “This is my children; that is other’s children.” All children. All human being. Not my countrymen – all other countrymen. Not only human being, but even animals also. That is sneha. It is not that “I am safe, and let the animals be killed in the slaughterhouse.” No, that is not love. Love means for everyone. Samah sarvesu bhutesu. Equality to all living entities. That is real love. That is real concern, Krsna consciousness. A lover of Krsna will hesitate to kill even one ant. You know the story, Mrgari. That is love. Just like this child. If I like I can kill him, there is no difficulty. But does it mean that I shall kill him?

Nayima and a part of a higher plan!
Shastrakrit Das: Last week Rhonda brought her friend Nayima to our evening program and during the talk, she kept staring at the Srimad Bhagavatam set that we have displayed on the mantle. I noticed that and at the end of the program I said to Nyima, “ those books are for you to take home.“ Nayima got startled and asked me, “what do you mean? All the books? Are you trying to find a home for them? How much do they cost? Those books are beautiful and I couldn’t stop staring at them.“

Answer Podcast

Transcription :

Transcribed by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: Even after knowing eternal pleasures why we keep chasing temporary pleasures?

Answer: Temporary and eternal are not necessarily contradictory. When we start seeking only temporary pleasure then it is a problem. For example, we all have to eat food, we cannot live without food. However, if our purpose of life becomes eating, then that is not good. Similarly, wealth is a need in life, but money is something which we “live with”, not something which we “live for”. “Live with” means a “resource for living”, “live for” means “purpose of living”. When temporary pleasures become purpose of our life, then it becomes problem for our spiritual growth.

We keep chasing those pleasures, because the world glamourizes those pleasures. The world advertises to us – “buy this”, “eat this”, “use this”, and then “you will enjoy”. Whereas rarely we are taught about spiritual pleasures. Even if we know about spiritual pleasures, our understading remains as “intellectual knowledge” and does not become “transformational knowledge”. For our intellectual knowledge to become transformational, we need spiritual association. Only when we associate with spiritually minded people, our knowledge transforms our desires.

Desires are not just linear but also triangular. “Linear desire” means I see something and develop a desire to enjoy that. “Triangular desire” means that we not only see the object, but we also see somebody enjoying that object. Suppose a company launches a smart phone. They will hire a celebrity to endorse that phone. We may not get attracted to the phone, but when we see a celebrity endorsing it, we want to try the phone.

Similarly, we know spirituality is important, but we think that “maybe we will do it later.” This is because all around us mostly people are materialistic. If we associate with spiritually minded people, then seeing them peaceful, joyful, purposeful, spiritual desires triggers within us. Therefore, to transform the knowledge into action, we need association.

End of transcription.

The post Even after knowing eternal pleasures why do we keep chasing temporary pleasures? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Ananda Vrindavaneswari: When I was young we spent time at our aunt’s farm in the south of Ireland. She had 5 milking cows, all had names, and when she sat and milked them in the morning and evening, great conversations would be had. With the cows that is.

Srila Prabhupada: People are running around–“Oh, I am the manager. I am the factory owner. I am this. I am that. We know his politics, we have to defeat our competitors.” All these things are created just like a man creates a situation in a dream– svapna–drastur ivanjasa.
So when someone asks, “When did we come into contact with the material nature?” The answer is that we have not come into contact. By the influence of the material energy, we THINK that we are in contact. Actually, we are NOT fallen. We cannot be fallen. We have simply created a situation. Rather, we have not created a situation; Krsna has given us a situation. Because we wanted to imitate Krsna, Krsna has given an opportunity: “All right. You want to imitate? You want to be an imitation king on the stage. So feel like this.

The Kailash on Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi is finally complete!

The TOVP made the necessary arrangements and with the help of the team from Moscow who manufactured and assembled it, as well as to Jagadananda Prabhu and Ajita prabhu for monitoring and managing the whole process, we were able to achieve these wonderful results. A big thank you to them!

 
[See image gallery at tovp.org]  

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The post Matching TOVP Kalash on Samadhi Completed appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Here is a sample of the relief panel work of Krishna and Balarama, along with all his cowherd boyfriends, who are jubilantly herding all the cows of Vrindavan.

This is only one of the four relief panel works which will be placed in the main temple around the altar area, two of which will be dedicated to Gaura Lila and the other two to Krishna Lila. The measurements of these pieces are 5m (16.5′) by 2m (6.5′). With the work on some of these panels done, in a few days the fiberglass casting will begin in order to produce the finished products.

 
[See image gallery at tovp.org]

The post TOVP Relief Panel Work Progress appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Ukraine Bhakti Sangam Festival (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Many thousands of devotees showed up for this year’s annual Bhakti Sangam Festival in Ukraine. The theme for this year’s event was “boiling the milk.” In other words, taking care of devotees. The kirtans were out of this world, as were the many seminars and cultural performances.