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

Question: Whose mercy is more important, Guru or Krsna?

There is no difference between the mercy of Guru and Krsna, no difference whatsoever. The Guru is the direct representative of Krsna in each of our lives. In the beginning, we naturally see that the Guru is more accessible because he is here in our world and he speaks to us directly. Sometimes he would chastise us, and sometimes he would encourage us. So the Guru has the power to correct us.

Krsna on the other hand is silent. Now, He may be speaking to us, but we cannot hear Him. So in the beginning, we need the mercy of the Guru so that we can eventually obtain the mercy of Krsna. Ultimately however, both their mercy is the same. The mercy of the Guru is the same mercy that flows from Krsna. If Guru has any mercy, where does he get it from? Dharmam tu sakshad bhagavad pranitam (Srimad Bhagavatam 6.3.19) – The origin of all religious principles is Krsna. So whatever spiritual mercy that the Guru has, he has got it from Krsna. That mercy from Krsna is all he can give us.

Therefore, in the beginning, the mercy of the Guru is more important because it is the Guru who holds our hand, takes us to Krsna and then leaves us with Krsna so that we can eternally serve Him.

The article " Guru or Krsna? " was published on KKSBlog.

ILS 2020 Invitational Video. ILS 2020 promises to be the largest gathering of ISKCON leaders to date. Five hundred devotees attended ILS in 2012 and the numbers have been steadily increasing. This will be our 5th ILS gathering, and we are anticipating 1500 devotees from all over the world. Please be one of them! Those who joined Prabhupada’s mission in the 60’s and 70’ are anxious to see ISKCON’s management and leadership transferred safely into competent hands. This was the message Srila Prabhupada’s gave to his followers when he reached his mid-seventies. Continue reading "ISKCON’S BIGGEST GATHERING OF LEADERS – ILS 2020 – Leading ISKCON into the Future
→ Dandavats"

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23.

Audio:
Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23 (Right click to download)

Toowoomba Rathayatra (Album of photos)
Ramai Swami: Every year, the city of Toowoomba, which is about 100 kilometres west of Brisbane, celebrates the “Flower Festival” at the beginning of Spring.

For those of you that think Srila Prabhupada never ventured off the path of a so-called ‘Vedic’ diet, think again…

Read More...

ISKCON Rupanuga Vedic College - Kansas City: Last weekend we hosted 2 groups of High School-aged Christians sharing about with them...

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Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.20

Mahatma is a synonym of sadhu. It is said that service to a mahatma, or elevated devotee of the Lord, is dvaram ahur vimukteh, the royal road of liberation. Mahat-sevam dvaram ahur vimuktes tamo-dvaram yositam sangi-sangam (Srimad-Bhagavatam. 5.5.2). Rendering service to the materialists has the opposite effect. If anyone offers service to a gross materialist, or a person engaged only in sense enjoyment, then by association with such a person the door to hell is opened. The same principle is confirmed here. Attachment to a devotee is attachment to the service of the Lord because if one associates with a sadhu, the result will be that the sadhu will teach him how to become a devotee, a worshiper and a sincere servitor of the Lord. These are the gifts of a sadhu. If we want to associate with a sadhu, we cannot expect him to give us instructions on how to improve our material condition, but he will give us instructions on how to cut the knot of the contamination of material attraction and how to elevate ourselves in devotional service. That is the result of associating with a sadhu. Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.20 purport.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami: “Association doesn’t just mean to be in the same physical place at the same time, but it means to receive instructions on devotional service and to apply the instructions.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.20 (Right click to download)

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.