
Rathayatra in Wroclaw, Poland (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: In the Bhagavad-Gita it is advised that one not forget the ...
Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Rathayatra in Wroclaw, Poland (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: In the Bhagavad-Gita it is advised that one not forget the ...
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The post Politics, Social Organization and Bhagavad-gita appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this report contains the following North American results of book distribution for the month of May 2019. North American Totals, Monthly Temples, Monthly Weekend Warriors. Monthly Top 100 Individuals, Monthly Top 5, Cumulative Countries, Cumulative Temples, Cumulative Top 100 Individuals, Cumulative Top 5
Continue reading "NASN May 2019 – North American Sankirtan Newsletter
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Harinama in Milan, Italy (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The process of chanting the holy name of the Lord is always super...
Mahadevi Dasi: Over the last week, I compiled and edited about 30 tributes from our Godbrothers and sisters and those were read yesterday, as not many Prabhupada disciples are here in Vrndavana right now. For the last 20 years serving in Vrndavana, I've had the great pleasure of organizing programs to glorify devotees. How could we leave out Brahmananda prabhu, who was also like a brother and very dear friend to me, as well as Prabhupada's dear son.. Continue reading "Tributes for our dearly departed Brahmananda prabhu
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The post Is frustration a wrong motive for starting spiritual life? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
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The post Bhagavatam tenth canto study 69 – 10.12.29-36 – Krishna fulfilled the desire of the gopas to have Agha’s body as a plaything appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
In an inspiring show of cooperation, six ISKCON-affiliated organizations in the New York area collaborated to put on a hugely successful Rathayatra festival this summer – Brooklyn’s Sri Sri Radha Govinda Mandir, the Bhakti Center in Manhattan, 26 2nd Avenue, ISKCON of Queens, New Yoga Pitha in the Bronx, and the Yuga Dharma Ashram.
TOVP: The tourist government department of Bengal releases a promo video for Iskcon Mayapur’s projects.
Sadbhuja Das: Hare Krishna everyone!
This is a very nice video which was shot for the tourist government department of Bengal. I believe is a great way of preaching and advertising our vast project. Please have a look and share with others!
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 30 April 2019, Radhadesh, Belgium, Srimad Bhagavatam 9.15.31)
The German writer Goethe, who is like the German equivalent of Shakespeare, came up with an interesting point.
He said that a child is a realist because a child is trying to understand what are apples and what are pears; a child tries to figure out the difference. He tries to understand what is reality.
A youth is an idealist – a dreamer of what he is going to make of his life. He said that in mid-life, one becomes a bit of a cynic. The person goes, “But yeah, yeah, yeah. I have seen it. These dreams … I know very well what happens.”
Goethe then said that in old age, one becomes a mystic. This is because in old age, you can see that even the people that have all the qualifications, all of them that should logically become a success, they are not becoming a success. Meanwhile, the people that have no attributes at all for becoming a success, they became the successful. This is when you become a mystic and realize that there is a divine hand in the entire arrangement and if you do not have the divine blessings, no plan can be successful. It is not possible then; nothing will work without these divine blessings.
The article " Divine blessings " was published on KKSBlog.
The joy of Narada muni’s agitating Kamsa (video)
A lecture by HH Devamrita Swami Maharaj at Journey of Self Discovery (JOSD) Wellington, New Zealand.
An insightful, thought-provoking and humorous session by HH Devamrita Swami Maharaj given at Journey of Self Discovery (JOSD) Wellington New Zealand on 21 June 2019.
Maharaj also distributed 4 sets of Srimad Bhagavatam and 3 sets of Sri Chaitanya Charitamritam.
Madhusudan Memories of Brahmananda prabhu. At 18 years old, around the time I met Brahmananda, the first president of an ISKCON temple in early 1967, I was still suffering from the effects of delusion resulting from so-called “consciousness-expanding drugs.” Wandering the streets late one night I knocked on the door of the temple when everyone was sleeping. Brahmananda, in his sober wisdom and seeing my state, would not let me in. A month or so later, after recovering a bit, I stated going regularly to the temple.
In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā it is stated that Vakreśvara Paṇḍita was an incarnation of Aniruddha, one of the quadruple expansions of Viṣṇu (Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha and Pradyumna).
He could dance wonderfully for seventy-two continuous hours. When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu played in dramatic performances in the house of Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita, Vakreśvara Paṇḍita was one of the chief dancers, and he danced continuously for that length of time.
Śrī Govinda dāsa, an Oriyā devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, has described the life of Vakreśvara Paṇḍita in his book Gaura-kṛṣṇodaya. There are many disciples of Vakreśvara Paṇḍita in Orissa, and they are known as Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas although they are Oriyās.
Podcast
Transcription
Question: If someone hurts us repeatedly, is that because of our past karma?
Answer: A lot depends on specifics, but I will give some broad principles.
There is a love that guards and there is a love that guides. That means that love is the same, but if a small child, maybe two or three years old, goes and, while playing with a ball, breaks the neighbour’s window, the parents will say it’s okay, do not worry about it, we will pay for it. Now, if a child does something wrong, the parents stand next to the child and guard the child from the results. But if a teenager or adult child does something like that, then at that time, it is the love that has to guide. If the parents keep guarding the child from the consequences of their actions, then what happens? The child keeps doing the wrong thing. Guarding children from the consequences of their actions in the name of love is actually a disservice to them.
I was in Connecticut, I had gone to a seminar on spirituality and mental health and addictions. A whole group of addicts and their family members were there. There was one man who was a little older, 65 to 70 years, and there was a girl with him who was five years old. After the class, I was talking with them. They were both Americans. He told me that she is his granddaughter. He said that his daughter had become a drug addict and she was taking more and more drugs. She would borrow money from me and never return. Then I retired and one day she broke into my house and stole all of my life savings. Not only that, while she went to get a big haul of drugs, she left her daughter in her home alone and there’s some kind of electrical wiring which went off, and there was a fire. I had to run and save her at that time. When both of these incidents happened in quick succession, till then I was trying to help her. But then I did a court case against her due to which she had to go to a de-addiction center. Then I filed for custody of my granddaughter. At that time my daughter was very angry with me. She said what kind of father are you? You are taking my own daughter away from me and sending me to jail. She is still in the addiction centre getting treatment. She is gradually becoming a little sober. She is understanding that what I did for her was good. Even after she comes out, she’s not going to get her daughter back. My granddaughter is going to be with me.
That is an extreme example. But in general, if somebody is an addict, bot only they are to be counselled, but often their family members also have to be counselled. There is a concept called codependency. Codependency means that the addict’s care providers unwittingly start facilitating the addict’s addiction. So the addict may get drunk or go high. And after every episode, their significant other picks up all the pieces. If they keep doing that, that person is not hit by the consequences of their actions, then they keep doing it more and more and more.
Sometimes letting people suffer the consequences of their actions is love. It’s painful because there is no easy way. We don’t want them to hurt, but we don’t want us to also get hurt. These are decisions that have to be taken very carefully. As I said, a lot will depend on the specifics. But the principle is that if that particular suffering which we are getting is because of that person’s misuse of free will, then at the very least we should stop giving them power over us. If an addict is squandering all the money of a family member and this family member calls this to be due to his karma. Well, it’s not karma, that’s irresponsibility. It requires courage to take a stand.
Everybody commits mistakes and we cannot come thundering down on people for one or two mistakes. However, if something is being done repeatedly to worse and worse degrees, then at the very least we have to create some distance. Specifically how we do that will vary.
Sometimes the situation might be different. If somebody is autistic or has some other mental developmental issues because of which they are aggressive and hurt others, we understand they are not consciously doing it, then it’s a different dynamic. Therefore, we should check the specifics.
Broadly speaking, we have to look at things from the perspective of what is the best for that person, but what is also the best for us. If we are drowning ourselves in trying to help them, then they will drown and we will also drown. It is not selfish to think of our basic survival needs. That is intelligence.
Beyond that, if you are thinking only of ourselves, then that is a problem. It is like say in aeroplanes it is said that whenever there is an emergency, first put the mask on yourself, then put it on your children. Why? Because if we try to put it on the children first, we might not be able to reach them. Before that, we might succumb and they may not be able to put it on their own. So, there are times when our very life is itself becoming unbearable due to other’s repeated misdoings, then some appropriate action is required.
End of transcription.
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We will be having kirtan at my ashram in Carpinteria with Madhava, Radhika, Vrindavan Kirtan, and others on Sunday, June 23, at 5 p.m., followed by prasada. Please join us in person—otherwise the kirtan will be live streamed on Madhava Naidoo’s and my Facebook pages.
Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami
The temple of New Mayapur is situated near the Loire Valley in Central France. Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, visited the castle several times in the mid-seventies and installed the deities of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Sri Sri Krishna Balarama. In this video local devotees speak about the history of the community and its various departments. A video by Vrishabhanu Das.
Harinama in Aachen (2 brief videos)
At the junction of three borders (Germany, Belgium and Holland) is located the city of Aachen. There were wonderful devotees here who have been invited to participate in the city’s multicult celebration, a celebration that represents the different cultures of the city. The tent of the devotees was one of the most popular. Continuous prasadam distribution and kirtan chanting all the time. Thank you, devotees, for the invitation and inspiration. Haribol!
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Dance and chant. This is best exercise. We allow them to dance very… Yes. High jump. Actually that is exercise, and at the same time ecstasy. If they dance and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, it is automatically a very big exercise and spiritual advancement. (Śrīla Prabhupāda’s lecture given on Oct. 2, 1968 in Seattle) The hall […]
The post Srila Vakresvara Pandita – Mahaprabhu’s Dancer-in-cheif appeared first on Mayapur.com.