Intelligence means to place things in the most constructive context – Hindi
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[Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, India]

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East or West, Krishna consciousness is the best
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[Class at ISKCON, Dwarka, Delhi, India]

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Love selflessly, not headlessly – Hindi
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[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Noida, India]

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Thinking of Krishna at the Time of Death, January 20, Houston
Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami and Rtadhvaja Swami spoke on the subject of life’s final exam during the Sunday Feast Program in Houston.

In this verse the importance of Krsna consciousness is stressed. Anyone who quits his body in Krsna consciousness is at once transferred to the transcendental nature of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is the purest of the pure. Therefore anyone who is constantly Krsna conscious is also the purest of the pure. The word smaran (“remembering”) is important. Remembrance of Krsna is not possible for the impure soul who has not practiced Krsna consciousness in devotional service. Therefore one should practice Krsna consciousness from the very beginning of life. If one wants to achieve success at the end of his life, the process of remembering Krsna is essential. Therefore one should constantly, incessantly chant the maha-mantra – Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.—Bhagavad-gita 8.5 purport

Life’s Final Exam, Giriraj Swami and Rtadhvaja Swami

A Merciful Glance From Their Lordships Is Enough!
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A Merciful Glance From Their Lordships Is Enough!
January 27, 2019. Acarya dasa: On January 10 the All-India Padayatra reached Chamorshi, a town in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra close to the banks of the Wainganga River. Parmeshwara dasa serves at the Chamorshi ISKCON centre that has deities of Radha and Krishna and Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra. It was the devotees at the centre who had arranged a big welcome ceremony for us and honoured us with beautiful garlands. The citizens also warmly welcomed us whenever we went for a home programme or out on sankirtan, in fact we had never worn so many garlands as those we received in the Chamorshi area. Residents and devotees alike joined us during nagar sankirtan for three to four days and hardly anybody went to work because they were so busy with the temple activities. We distributed many books, the atmosphere so surcharged by the sankirtan and the Uludhvani (a high-pitched vocal sound commonly heard at festivals and celebrations) that for many padayatris it was hugely reminiscent of Mayapur.

Installation of Peacock Brackets
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Another gorgeous element of the external temple finishing work are the peacock brackets. Each of the eight Chatris will have 29 peacock brackets installed underneath them for a total of 232 brackets, and will create a beautiful ornamental appearance like a diamond ring surrounded by precious stones.

The photo shows one such bracket after being installed to give you an idea of its beauty, size, and position.

 

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Memory of Srila Prabhupada at ISKCON Hawaii 50th Anniversary (Balabhadra…
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A short memory from Balabhadra das of massaging Srila Prabhupada at the Ala Aoloa temple location during the bus tour of historic ISKCON Hawaii locations. The occasion was the 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada in Hawaii, January 19, 2019. Balabhadra das was the first person to be initiated by Srila Prabhupada in Hawaii. It is because of Srila Prabhupada's teachings that ISCOWP was established in 1990.

Her Grace Labangalatika Devi Dasi
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Her Grace Labangalatika Devi Dasi.
Pancha Tattva Dasa: Last week, at the Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai, I had the good fortune to meet Mother Labangalatika, an early disciple of Srila Prabhupada, whose son Dwarkadish also had Srila Prabhupada’s association. There is a famous picture of Dwarkadish being guided by hand in his writing lesson by Srila Prabhupada. Mother Labangalatika was there to get some tests. She was frail, but her mind was agile, and she was full of love for Srila Prabhupada and the devotees.

Adelaide Ratha Yatra 2019 (Album of photos)
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Adelaide Ratha Yatra 2019 (Album of photos)
ISCKON Adelaide celebrated its 6th Annual Rath Yatra on the 26th of January, 2019 as part of the Australia Day Parade. After years of trying to have its own ratha, they finally procured a decrepit one from ISKCON Perth. As the chariot (chassis of an old truck), was too big and dilapidated, planning, reconstruction and restoration of the chariot began in earnest fashion as soon as it landed in Adelaide. The chariot had to be downsized too as the council had set legal limits on its height at 4.2 meters due to tramlines crisscrossing the city. Engineering works were brought to a halt soon after starting, when our friendly welder Antonio Rodrigues of Portuguese descent, who has a soft spot for India and its culture, fell victim to a minor industrial injury.

Our longing for equality points to our spirituality
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Our longing for equality points to our spirituality (Based on Gita 05.18)
Chaitanya Charan Das: In our times, equality is considered one of the most cherished values. Few things provoke as much indignation as incidents of discrimination – or even allegations of discrimination. Such outrage is healthy, for it helps create a world where everyone has equal opportunities.
Still, what is the basis for our longing for equality? Intuition, we might say – we innately feel that everyone should be treated equally. Yes, but what is the basis of that intuition? In other words, what is the worldview that grounds this intuition in a coherent living framework? The prevailing worldview of materialism offers no basis.

Thursday, January 24th, 2019
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Toronto, Ontario

26 Qualities

I walked in the evening, and came upon a park bench by a wintery young maple tree, dedicated to Bhaktivedanta Swami, who stood in that spot in June of 1976.  And I reflected on the twenty-six qualities of Godly men, as listed in the Gita, Chapter 16, Verses 1-4:

fearless
pure
wise
generous
self-controlled
service-oriented
student of knowledge
austere
simple
non-violent
truthful
anger-free
renounced
peaceful
optimistic
compassionate
non-greedy
gentle
modest
determined
energetic
forgiving
courageous
clean
non-envious
prideless

May the Source be with you!
6 km


Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019
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Toronto, Ontario

In the Temple

Every day before any walking excursions on the streets of the city, we have something called Guru Puja,  a time for honouring the guru.  In our temple section of the ashram, there is a statue of Prabhupada, upon whom members of the ashram meditate and offer words, in Bengali, in gratitude for his contributions.  On either side of his statue, a replica of a lion stands proudly as a guard, symbolic of protection. https://www.instagram.com/p/BtBCyYQgv8J/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=30dfld14esz

I spent considerable time today, sitting near these images which give me strength to carry on with administrative tasks. Strategically, it is a great place to get work done.  Pilgrims come here throughout the day, so for that portion of time, I become the greeter—provided I'm not on the cell—in which case I'll ask another ashram dweller, one of the monks, to have a few kind words to offer them, along with a 2019 calendar, and a piece of prasadam, blessed food in the form of a sweet, usually.

For a half hour, I gave full attention to reading over the phone to a dying god-sister in Victoria, British Columbia. Bhaktavasya is her name, and she is under the care of others. We have learned from our guru, Prabhupada, that such people, god-brothers or sisters, are very special.

So before I took a stroll on the streets for an hour, I found myself content watching people coming and going in our temple, and all the while, our Govinda's Dining Room is having a face-lift with new colours and some new furnishings.

May the Source be with you!
5 km

Tuesday, January 22, 2019
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Toronto, Ontario

In Dryness and Slush

Over the weekend, an Ayurvedic doctor read my pulse and offered a few suggestions.  “Avoid sour if you can.  Too much acid is not good for you.”  He also implied, because I do a certain amount of walking each day, my feet, in particular, get too dry.  “Rub some sesame oil on the bottom of the feet before resting.” 

Those two steps were easy enough to follow, so I’ve begun.

I stayed overnight at Nanda and Ananda’s place, since their home is close to my dental appointment which was early in the morning.  The dental assistant who cleaned my teeth showed a real interest in mantra meditation. She also showed interest in helping me with better tooth care and gave me recommendations.  It looks like I received help from head to toe in the last twenty-four hours.

Then it was my turn to give to humanity what I needed to do for my own wellness, in addition to the wellness of others. There was already a demand for help. Circumstances (which I cannot reveal here for privacy sake) were in a queue, through text messages, telephone calls and  personal visits.  Each person had questions or just wanted to mildly vent.  It was okay.  Everything came in small instalments.  

The Tuesday sangha was on with discussions from Chapter Two of the Gita.  That was definitely a mental calmer.  And then more peace of mind came along later, while walking the slushy evening streets of the downtown.  Weather had warmed up.  Chanting softly over the slush helps one cool down.

May the Source be with you!
7 km

Monday, January 21, 2019
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Houston, Texas

People On The Way to The Farm

Ella becomes Wheatley Street at some point. It was on Ella that I met a middle-aged woman in a red pickup truck.  I walked by her home as she was about to back out onto the road, to run an errand, I suppose.  At first, she drove off, but then made a U turn, slowed, rolled down her window and stopped.

“Is everything Okay?” She continued, “I’ve never seen you walk around here.”

I spoke and then she carried on. “You’re sure you don’t need anything?” 

I felt a spirit-soul was reaching out.  The best thing that I could do was offer her a mantra card and let her know of our extraordinary Govinda’s Restaurant up the road. I was happy someone stopped on the rather busy roadway.

Once Ella turned into Wheatley, I met a second person, a pedestrian, and the only one I came across on this roughly two mile stretch. Part-Spanish and part-Caucasian and in his sixties, he began to talk. “It’s cold, but walking keeps me warm.  You know I like to walk, but I zig-zag a little.  You see, I fell once.  Damaged my head.  Went to a surgeon who sent me to another surgeon about my brain.  He said, ‘Yah don’t have a brain left to do surgery on.’” The telling of his story was followed up by his slight chuckle.  

I informed him that I had walked America, from Boston to San Fran and his eyebrows rose up.  “I’m Swami.  Good to know you,” I said.

The hand shakes with those two folks made my day, as I was on my way to the Bhakti Urban farm.  Someone had arranged for some ten to eighteen-year-old young people to meet me there and talk about connecting with nature.

May the Source be with you!
5 km

Melbourne Bhakti Vrksa
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Whenever I visit Melbourne temple I like to go to some home programs if possible. Fortunately, there are twenty seven Bhakti Vrksa groups (meaning fruit-bearing tree of bhakti) in the suburbs where regular gatherings take place.

The evening usually starts with kirtan, then lecture and prasadam. The program was hosted by Sridhar prabhu and everyone was quite enthusiastic in participating and asking questions.

New Gokula, Australia (2019) (Album of photos) New Gokula is one…
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New Gokula, Australia (2019) (Album of photos)
New Gokula is one of the most beautiful farm communities we have ever visited. Surrounded by beautiful hills, this place is a real wonderland of Australia. Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda’s beauty cannot be described in words. The place is filled with peacocks and cockatoos and many other beautiful birds. Wherever we looked, we saw cows are grazing. We had a very wonderful time with the loving devotees there. Please relish the pictures of this beautiful place which gives us a glimpse of the real spiritual world.
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Bless Your Enemy. HG Mahatma Prabhu: The highest kind of…
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Bless Your Enemy.
HG Mahatma Prabhu: The highest kind of forgiveness is to pray for the welfare of your offender. If you hope he will suffer in some way for his misbehavior, you haven’t yet totally forgiven. On the other hand, as mentioned before, bringing a criminal to justice doesn’t have to mean you are taking revenge.
A devotee is always everyone’s well-wisher. If your offender receives the blessings you prayed that he receives, you will be happy if you have truly forgiven him/her.
Are you willing to forgive those who have hurt and offended you? If you are not, you are also guilty – guilty of the crime of ‘unforgiving.

The Consciousness In Science Conference Was A Great Success! In…
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The Consciousness In Science Conference Was A Great Success!
In preparing for the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies’ Consciousness in Science 2019 conference opening ceremony at the University of Florida’s Harn Museum on Friday 18th January, so much interest arose that it was necessary for the organisers to curtail advertising efforts. The 225 capacity auditorium would not suffice. Spilling out into an overflow room that was streaming the event live, a total of 400 consciousness and science enthusiasts, scholars and students enjoyed an inauguration by Lauren Poe the Mayor of Gainesville, followed by keynote talks from eminent scientists, Professor Stuart Hameroff and Brenda Dunne.

After a remarkable start to the event, the conference retreated to the tranquil and historic Thomas Centre for two days of lively talks and breakout discussion groups. 20+ countries were represented from six continents, with some travelling from as far away as Australia, India and Russia. The atmosphere was electric, with a broad array of highly esteemed guests, including 50 devotee scholars holding a PhD or MSc qualification.

The primary objective of this conference was to gather together as many devotee scientists as possible from around the world, and to provide them with a platform to share their research ideas, as well as to connect with fellow devotee scholars. In a letter to Rupanuga dasa on February 14 1976, Srila Prabhupada stated that, “…we require many PhDs for our Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Study (BIHS).“
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