Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Kurma das: Dipak had volunteered for the service of cooking lunch for Prabhupada during his visit to Melbourne. Yet Dipak, usually a proficient cook, was today not his usual confident self. He was nervously dropping butter on the floor, sliding chapatis off the stove and boiling over the milk when he noticed Srila Prabhupada at the kitchen door.
Bhakti-Sastri in Russian (Album of photos)
Winter semester at the VIHE has been declared by the arrival of enthusiastic Russi...
ISKCON Ludhiana’s Ratha Yatra Festival has started (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommended five items of devotional service, namely to serve the devotees of the Lord, to chant Hare Krishna, to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, to worship the Deity of the Lord and to live in a place of pilgrimage. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.19.38 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/yZxuo3
Hare Krishna devotee special invitee in a religious ceremony with very distinguished guests.
HH Radhanath Swami was the special invitee to the wedding of Mukesh Ambani’s daughter. He was the first person who was invited onto the stage even before Hillary Clinton and Pranav Mukerji.
Hare Krishna devotees featured on California Camp Fire Charity Album.
Two of the Hare Krishna Movement’s most well-known singers, Jayadev Das and his daughter Gaurangi Devi Dasi, are featured on a new charity record for the California Camp Fire, entitled “Tears Aren’t Enough.”
The Camp Fire, which ran from November 8thto 25th, was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history to date. It caused 86 civilian fatalities, covered an area of 153,336 acres, and destroyed 18,804 structures, causing an estimated $7.5–10 billion in damages.
When she saw the devastation, Barbara Sobel, a New York music promoter and CEO of Sobel Promotions felt she couldn’t sit by and do nothing. So she contacted an eclectic group of artists, including Jayadev and Gaurangi, asking for an unreleased song for a compilation charity album.
To read the entire article please click here: https://goo.gl/29Qk45
Chanting Hare Krishna prayerfully (video)
Christmas Retreat in Chicago conducted by Dravida Prabhu ACBSP, 21 December 2018.
Facilitate Krishna’s plan in this world (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam class by HG Vaisesika Dasa at the Toronto Iskcon Temple, Dec 16, 2018.
By Karnamrita Das Everyone falls short, or doesn’t progress as fast as they would like, on their spiritual journey. Can we ever think we love or serve Krishna sufficiently, when even great souls consider themselves deficient in devotion? Therefore, I always feel it is essential to portray my struggles as well as successes, so that devotees will be comfortable accepting and acknowledging where they fall short—at least with a select group, or a confidential friend. It is a sad truth that too many don't have such a friend and suffer without loving support, or even die alone, forgotten. If we hide behind a veneer of external practice and trying to look good, without admitting and sharing our struggles, we won’t be able to hear how other devotees have dealt with similar problems. Some devotees think they are the only one with a particular challenge or sensual weakness, but if there was more honest sharing of experiences, devotees would see that while the exact details and degree of intensity vary, most of us have many of the same issues and struggles. Continue reading "Encouraging Words
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Answer Podcast
The post Why did Vidura not instruct Dhritarashtra to apologize to the Pandavas and to thereby become offense-free for practicing bhakti? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
An August Assembly (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Yesterday, Pundrik Goswami of the Radha Raman Temple in Vrindavan asked me to accompany him to a lecture he was giving in Agra, not far from the famous Taj Mahal. The program, by invitation only, was attended by many of Agra’s most influential and distinguished citizens. The title of the lecture was: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Goswami kindly had me speak to the audience for 20 minutes before his lecture. I explained the scriptural references to Lord Caitanya’s appearance as well as His introducing the Yuga Dharma of chanting the Hare Krsna mantra. I concluded by sharing with the audience how Srila Prabhupada took Lord Caitanya’s message to the west and how the chanting is now being heard throughout the entire world. I am grateful to Goswami for allowing me to address such an august assembly.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/dnUmRo
Bomb scare at LA Temple, mandatory evacuation 
An affective feeling towards a person or group member based solely on that person’s group membership.
An unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge.
An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
Any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.
Unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding an ethnic, racial, social, or religious group.
How to become purified and fixed in devotional service (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam by HH Romapada Swami in Iskcon Chicago, 12/21...
I consider myself to be in good hands—God's—when trekking a trail. Despite the mild weather of today and the willingness to experience the +3°C, destiny had it that I was to be temple-bound all day long. For me the high point of the day entailed the morning discussions at the Bhagavatam class led by Hara Kumar on yogis who took to spontaneous combustion.
A video by ISKCON Desire Tree.
Oh my Lord of golden limbs / Raised hands / And love drunk eyes, / Cause a revolution / In my heart!
The Lord’s Holy Names continue to be chanted in every town and village, no matter how exotic or remote. Devotees on Réunion Island held their second annual Rathayatra in the city of St. Pierre on Saturday December 8th, summertime for the island.
ISKCON Philadelphia Deities Move Into Beautiful New Temple Room.
Around six hundred congregation members and newcomers visited ISKCON Philadelphia on December 8thto celebrate as the presiding Deities moved into Their beautiful, spacious new temple room.
“What’s a Woman to Do?” a new 32-page booklet written by Srila Prabhupada disciple and author Visakha Dasi, and released on Gita Jayanti day, reflects on women’s services in Srila Prabhupada’s Hare Krishna Movement.
When she saw the devastation, Barbara Sobel, a New York music promoter and CEO of Sobel Promotions felt she couldn’t sit by and do nothing. So she contacted an eclectic group of artists, including Jayadev and Gaurangi, asking for an unreleased song for a compilation charity album.
Gaurangi’s song features Boy George, lead singer of the 1980s pop hitmakers Culture Club. Entitled “Human Beings,” it’s an epic, heartfelt ballad, taken from Jayadev’s 1990s musical Nimai: The Spirit of Vrindavan.
Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death (video)
HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami speaks on Srimad Bhagavatam 04.07.35 at ISKCON Perth
With over 25 songs with various instrument accompaniment and many dance routines and their skills in kirtan, the Mayapur International Preaching group is fully equipped to inspire through their own example how to live a Krishna conscious life. These devotees inspire thousands upon thousands of people, because to the people, seeing these devotees giving up their material comforts and desires to take up their own Vaisnava culture puts things into perspective for them. 
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 May 2016, Vrndavana, India, Bhagavad-gita 3.34)
We may not be fully Krsna conscious, our love for Krsna may not be so deep and there may be other desires. But this is just restlessness. How much faith do we have in these other desires? Which devotee can claim to have full faith in sex life? We may be attracted to sex life but do we have full faith that it will make us happy? After having heard transcendental knowledge, it is hard to have full faith in material enjoyment. Still, we may have a flirtation with these desires here and there sometimes. For a moment we may be in the pink cloud of illusion, but then we come back to the hard reality of suffering and again, we endeavour more seriously to get out of the material world.
The article " The cloud of illusion " was published on KKSBlog.
“Preaching can be a difficult, thankless task, but a preacher must follow the orders of the Supreme Lord and be unafraid of materialistic persons.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 6.5.39, purport His Grace Sudama Das (ACBSP) recalled when Srila Prabhupada was leaving Tokyo to go to India. “He (Srila Prabhupada) said, ‘I have opened the West. Now […]
The post Mayapur International Preaching – Srila Prabhupada’s Dancing Elephants appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Answer Podcast
The post How can we persevere amidst distractions? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
The auspicious day on which the Bhagavad Gita was revealed to Arjuna by Lord Krishna at Kurukshetra, 5000 years ago, is celebrated as Gita Jayanti. It is observed on the Shukla Ekadasi, the 11th day of the waxing moon of Marga-shirsha month.
Literally meaning ‘the song of the Supreme Lord’, Bhagavad Gita prompts individuals to think about the nature of the supreme soul, the individual soul, time, nature and activities.
Celebrating Gita Jayanti includes readings and discussion on the Bhagavad Gita and It is observed with great devotion, not only in India, but around the world.
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Who’s the Mother of Magic Realism?
Mukunda Goswami: In the Ramayana, the vanara Hanuman takes flight like a bird, and enters supra-mundane realms.
Sometimes it’s fun to take a retrospective—a look back at what was happening in the world a few years ago. The following article originally appeared in the Hindustan Times, New Delhi, on November 9th, 2005.
I SEE YOU IN THE SKY!
Sacinadana Swami: “I would believe only in a God that knew how to dance.” - Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
A few days ago, I went for a long walk with a very dear friend. We were so absorbed in our talks that we forgot the time. All of a sudden, we found ourselves surrounded by the pitch-black night.
A recent hurricane had torn off the branches of many timeworn trees and uprooted numerous others, leaving us an ominous path back home. Fortunately, my friend had a mobile phone with torchlight function, and our eyes were thus firmly fixed on the bumpy ground ahead. When we finally emerged out of the dense forest, both of us spontaneously stopped, as if on cue.
Is God cruel?
Sacinandana Swami: Recently I received a letter in which someone wrote: “I am struggling with the concept that Krishna fully loves the living entities. When I look at the way He deals with someone who does not surrender to His desires, it seems He is quite annoyed and punishes him with heavy circumstances like war, rape, death, doubts about the purpose of his life and many other sufferings. Is someone who creates cruel circumstances for all those who don’t do His will really full of unconditional love? Imagine someone who torments a friend severely, just because he decided to go separately on a holiday trip.”
I thought about this question deeply, and then answered, “This question was precisely my first and most urgent question to my own spiritual master. I asked him, “Why has God, whom you praise so much, created such a cruel world?’”
Winter in Vrindavana (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Winter has set in and it’s cold here. But the Vrajavasis don’t seem to mind as they are always thinking of Krsna. I would also like to always remember the Lord and thus I constantly meditate on Sri Vrindavan dhama, His eternal abode and residence.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/ciEvg1
When nothing is worth fighting for, anything can provoke a fight (Based on Gita 18.25)
Chaitanya Charan Das: If we see two people fighting over something trivial, we would naturally wonder: Why are they making such a big issue of this?
The legal battles to establish public Harinama in America.
Satsvarupa Das Goswami: “I don’t remember the exact details, but somehow I decided to go to the library to research the Supreme Court’s decisions about the type of activity we were carrying out. I discovered that almost all these decisions were made by the Supreme Court Justice Warren in the ’40s and ’50s, and almost all the cases referred to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. There was one laywer I noticed—he was himself a Jehovah’s Witness—who had gone again and again to the Supreme Court and won. In delivering the judgment, Justice Warren had made strong statements about how the First Amendment approves the right of people to share their religion in public places. The fact that they asked for donations didn’t make it any less religious. Thus I discovered that the Supreme Court had clearly defended ISKCON’s right to witness our religion on the streets and to collect money for our tracts.
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[Talk at Udupi, India]
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The post Gita Jayanti talk – The Gita provides Partha with paramartha appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
The post If we resolve to wake up at a particular time and wake up at that time without an alarm, is that due to our subconscious mind? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Adult Education At The Temple
