Disappearance day of Sri Uddharana Datta Thakur (Album of photos)
Today is the disappearance of Sri Uddharana Datta Thakur, who was an ancestor of our dear Srila Prabhupada. This is a photo of his Deities in Saptagram.
Adi Saptagram is one of the glorious places of Bengal. It is located in the Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. In ancient and medieval times, it was a major port and a chief city. The place has mentions in the scriptures where seven sages performed austerities. As ‘sapta’ refers to seven, it is comprised of seven villages. The place is very important for Gaudiya Vaishnavas as it is the Sripath of Sri Uddharana Datta Thakura, the eternal associated of Lord Nityananda and also one of the most prominent of the twelve cowherd boys (dwadas gopal). He is the ancestor of our beloved A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. Sri Gaura Ganoddesha Dipika reveals that Sri Uddharana Datta Thakur was the incarnation of Subahu, the intimate friend of Krishna and Balarama in Vrindavan.

With only two years remaining until the Grand Opening of the TOVP in 2022, it is more important than ever to complete your pledge payments as soon as possible. Or if you haven’t started yet or stopped for some reason, this is the time to begin again. Also consider giving again according to your means from one of our 18 donation options.

There are several ways to make your pledge payments, depending on what part of the world you live. These are explained in detail on this TOVP website page.

However, for most devotees an online payment on the TOVP website is now easier than ever. Simply go to www.tovp.org, click on the red DONATE NOW tab at the top right of any page, then click on the blue PLEDGE PAYMENTS tab on the top right under the main banner to go to the donation page. On this page you can make a one-time payment whenever you are able or set up automatic recurring payments.

As part of our Live Your TOVP Pledge Campaign we encourage you again to help us complete the TOVP. We completely rely on your generous donations and support for this purpose, and without your help we would not have achieved what we have thus far accomplished.

We thank all our donors for their steadfast support and dedication and look forward to celebrating with you the Grand Opening of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium in 2022.

TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH

Visit us at: www.tovp.org
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch us at: www.youtube.com/user/tovpinfo
View us 360° at: www.tovp360.org
App at: https://m.tovp.org/app
News & Texts at: https://m.tovp.org/newstexts
RSS News Feed at: https://tovp.org/rss2/
Buy from us at: https://tovp.org/tovp-gift-store/
Support us at: https://tovp.org/donate/seva-opportunities/

The post Live Your TOVP Pledge – Pledge Payments Made Easy appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

A Muslim from Algeria receives the mercy!
NYC Subway Sankirtan Book Distribution reaches new heights in swimming in the ecstatic Sankirtan Yajna Transcendental Book Distribution Marathon!

Radha Gopinath Temple – Bahar (Album of photos)
Ramai Swami: The land at Bahar, Bali, was the first property that was bought in Indonesia. The BBT, Australia, gave a grant to purchase it nearly 40 years ago.

ISKCON Communications Director and Governing Body Chairman Anuttama dasa offered his thoughts on lessons Vaishnavas can gain from the Christmas season during a Sunday Feast lecture at the Washington DC Temple. Is there something to gain from contemplating the sacrifices of Lord Jesus Christ...and plastic reindeer? Continue reading "Unwrapping Christmas
→ Dandavats"

"Sharing that's the heart of Christmas!" chimes Better Homes and Gardens. "To celebrate, people share traditions from gift-giving to party-going with family, friends, and acquaintances too. And food plays a special part in these yuletide activities. Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without the aroma of the festive bird and baked goods wafting through the kitchen! … Once the sharing begins, and you've sampled our treats, you'll realize that fellowship and food go hand in hand in making your holidays memorable." Continue reading "Sharing the Spirit of Christmas
→ Dandavats"

Eight days before leaving this world, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati instructed in a weak halting voice the devotees assembled by his bedside. Those vital and immortal words were to become famous as his last address. Expressing the essence of his perennial message, and would be featured in innumerable publications. Sundarananda prabhu jotted them down.

“I have upset many persons minds. many would have considered me their enemy because I was obliged to speak the plain truth of service and devotion toward the absolute Godhead. I have given them all those troubles only so that they may turn their face toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Without any desire for gain and with unalloyed devotion. Surely someday they will be able to understand that. All of you propagate the message of Rupa Ragunatha with supreme enthusiasm. Our ultimate desire is to become dust at the lotus feet of the Rupanugas. All should remain united in following the asraya vigraha for the sake of serving the advaya jnana…”

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura’s Disappearance (Right click to download)

Answer Podcast

The post Why are women marginalized in Indian scriptures such as the Gita? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

The land at Bahar, Bali, was the first property that was bought in Indonesia. The BBT, Australia, gave a grant to purchase it nearly 40 years ago.

At that time, there was a small tin shed erected to have programs and we used to wade through a shallow creek to get to it.

These days, there is a beautiful temple with installed deities of Radha Gopinatha and Gaura Nitai. The devotees have bought homes in the area so they can regularly render service. I always visit here when I go to Bali.

Relief Panels, Murtis and Elephants

Here is a short Art Progress Report video on what is almost completed, and some things that are currently being worked on here at the TOVP. Please have a look and you will find some of the things very interesting and inspiring, and quite impressive as well.

The post TOVP Art Progress Report – December, 2019 appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Met Chance by Chance Today!
Danakeli Dasi: Krishna has blessed us with a good spot for our book table in downtown San Antonio, TX, for the days leading up to Christmas—right outside a three-story mall on a busy walkway. We had just 10 minutes remaining to our day when a nice young man happily approached our table, saying, “I was hoping I’d find you guys out here.” His name is Chance, & he has an interesting story.

Answer Podcast

The post What is the difference between knowledge, intelligence and self-realization? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

The Vaisnava Appreciation Festival in Berlin (Album of photos)
“A family that prays together, stays together. A family that sings together, clings together. A family that dines together, shines together. A family that dances together, advances together.” (HH Radhanath Swami)
On Saturday it was time for one of the best celebrations of the year: The Vaisnava Appreciation Festival!
Many of us had been looking forward to this glorious occasion - and no one of the more than 40 guests went home disappointed!

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

Krsna is described as the source of all opportunities. This is a fact. Krsna says: sarvasya caham hrdi sannvistho mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham (Bhagavad-gita 15.15). He says that He is in the heart of all living beings and from Him comes remembrance and from Him comes forgetfulness.

Srila Prabhupada explains that Krsna helps us to remember Him and Krsna also helps us to forget Him. So the opportunities are entirely in our hands. We can decide what we want to be. We can decide if we want to live like an animal or if we want to live like a human being or if we want to live like a demigod. It is entirely up to us to decide whether we want to be in the mode of ignorance or mode of passion or mode of goodness or go to the path of pure transcendental devotional service. All these opportunities are there, so never is there a moment that we do not have an opportunity from Krsna. No one can say that they are exempt from devotional service; that is simply not possible.

There is no condition when we do not have an opportunity. May be someone cannot chant, at least not through the mouth but they can chant in the mind. Maybe someone can worship the Lord in the mind. It is there in our scriptures that this is entirely possible. It is possible in any condition to be Krsna conscious. Never can we say that, “I cannot”. It is always a challenge; even if we have everything, there is still going to be a challenge. Even if our hand is in the bead bag, it is still hard to move the beads. It is still difficult to open the mouth and to speak the mahamantra. It is hard because the mind is unwilling; because we are unwilling. We always find a reason to decline the opportunity to be Krsna conscious.

The article " Source of all opportunities " was published on KKSBlog.

(For nytimes.com) You Can’t Take It With You, but You Still Want More! The study show that even when people know clear boundaries — that they absolutely can’t take the candy with them when they go — they still earn more than they can possibly use. Continue reading "“The powerful lure of material accumulation” – scientists document the atyahara principle
→ Dandavats"

This is several questions made in the form of an article. I find them intriguing and aspire for answers. I beg kind insightful devotees to offer insights, and, if they find time, to evaluate or critique the answers which i have offered according to my own limited understanding Continue reading "Sanskrit’s Nature And History
→ Dandavats"

Open Letter to Greta Thunberg. Dear Greta! I am your fan, therefore I want you to know how we see and handle the problem of environment protection and climate change. Doctors say that healing is at its best when the cause of the illness is removed, not just the symptoms get mitigated. As you know, carbon and methane emission are not the deepest cause of our ills. These are but some of the symptoms. They show what happens when masses of people succumb to materialistic life. This simplistic world view says that human life has no higher purpose and we can only become happy if we agitate our senses more and more and, in the meantime, if we possess more and more money and things. To achieve this result, we need factories belching poisonous gases... So, greed is the real epidemic afflicting mankind. Continue reading "Greta and the Veda. Appreciation and advice from Vedic perspective on the climate change issue
→ Dandavats"

Answer Podcast

The post If we have a miscarriage, is it Krishna’s will to not fulfill our material desire for a child? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

HH Indradyumna Swami’s health update.
Indradyumna Swami: Last week here in Durban, South Africa, I visited my dermatologist – a skin specialist. Unfortunately, he found a Malignant Melanoma skin cancer on my face. The tumor was very near to the first one I had five years ago. It is called recurrence cancer. I had a PET/CT scan to see if this second tumor had metastasized (spread) throughout my body. The result came back clear. It had not spread. Nevertheless, as a precaution, my oncologist (cancer doctor) asked that while surgically removing this second tumor, the doctor also perform a neck dissection and remove a number of lymph nodes to ensure the Melanoma had not spread there. It sometimes happens that PET scans cannot see small traces (micro-metastasis) of Melanoma.

“From his front room at 6 Sita Kanta Banerjee, Abhay conceived, wrote, edited, and typed the manuscript for a magazine. He designed a logo, a long rectangle across the top of the page. In the upper left-hand corner was a figure of Lord Chaitanya, effulgent with rays of light like rays from the sun. In the lower right were silhouettes of a crowd of people, in darkness but groping to receive light from Lord Chaitanya. And between Lord Chaitanya and the people, the title unfurled like a banner— BACK TO GODHEAD. In the lower right corner was a picture of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati seated at his writing, looking up thoughtfully as he composed. Above the logo ran the motto ‘Godhead is Light, Nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead there is no Nescience.’” - Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta, a six-volume biography by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami.

Back to Godhead!
Srila Prabhupada once wrote of Back to Godhead magazine, “This paper is the beginning of my spiritual life.”
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
To commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of Back to Godhead, we present Srila Prabhupada’s opening article of his first issue of the magazine, which he launched on the appearance day of his spiritual master in 1944. The world was at war, and Srila Prabhupada discusses that harsh reality in light of the purpose of the magazine.

Lecture given on July 16, 1969, in Los Angeles. A talk given on the occasion of the installation of the deities Sri Sri Rukmini Dvarakanatha.

History made in British Parliament (1 min. video)
History made in British Parliament – With Bhagavad Gita As It Is!
Radha Mohan Das: The reelected Member of the British Parliament for Harrow East, Mr Bob Blackman made history this week.
During the traditional swearing-in ceremony within Parliament’s main debating Chamber, in his right hand, he took a copy of Bhagavad Gita As It Is, along with the traditional King James Bible.
Bob Blackman MP is a Vice Chair of the Parliamentary Group Conservative Friends of India.

Srila Prabhupada’s books in Arabic now distributed in sets!
Arabic book sets going out in NYC! We hope to make these stacks larger soon with the addition of the Arabic SSR and Sri Isopanisad!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 8 April 2019, Amritsar, India, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.6.37)

Prabhupada told us the story of the old Bengali lady, who while on her death bed, is being forced by her son to chant ‘Hare Krsna!’

The son says to his mother, ‘chant! chant! Hare Krsna bolo!’ but the mother is simply not chanting. The son then pushes her a little stronger and finally the lady says a full sentence, “I am dying, can’t you see? What more do you want me to say?” The lady says this whole sentence but still she could not say Hare Krsna! Why?

This is because the lady has not seen how chanting this mahamantra will bring her eternal happiness. The son continues to force his mother to chant, but if the son were to show her how this chanting will bring happiness, then she would be able to chant.

Therefore, somehow or other, we must be able to show people that there is happiness coming from the chanting of the mahamantra. And of course, this is easiest through kirtan because kirtan brings everybody happiness.

The article " Show people happiness " was published on KKSBlog.

So the Krishna consciousness movement is not for the persons who are envious. It is a movement to train people how to become non-envious. Yes, it is very first-class scientific movement not to become envious. Any religion system, if there is jealousy, it is not religion. We should understand what jealousy is. Jealousy means that you are rightful owner of something; I won't allow you to take it. This is jealousy; try to understand it. Continue reading "Religion of Non-envy
→ Dandavats"