Australia’s first Hare Krishna schoolies: No sex, drugs,…
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Australia’s first Hare Krishna schoolies: No sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling or meat.
Principal Vinod Bihari das said he was proud of the students for choosing a different path to many other Australian school-leavers who favor Gold Coast getaways characterized by heavy drinking and late night doner kebabs.
“These Year 12s are making their own decisions rather than thinking ‘Just because everyone does it, that’s what we should do’, and that’s a true sense of independent thinking — you critically analyze what’s happening around you.
To read the entire article please click here: https://goo.gl/qWD5FN

The Monk who used his IIT degree for Environmental Transformation
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Hare KrishnaBy Rahul Singh

Gauranga Das Ji has successfully married city comforts within a village with a wellness program for stress free living. What started in 2005 with 5 humans and 8 cattle today is a 250 human and 100 cattle thriving economy. Gauranga Das Ji mentioned that there are 29 agro climatic zones in the world and India is blessed to have 21 of them. Yet due to modern linear (as opposed to cyclical) consumption model, India today is the 4th largest contributor of Carbon Dioxide after China, USA and EU. Continue reading "The Monk who used his IIT degree for Environmental Transformation
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ISKCON Sannyasa Ministry Newsletter
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Hare KrishnaBy the Sannyasa Minister

Srila Prabhupada: “If one takes up the sannyasa order of life but is not able to control the mind, he will think of objects of sense gratification namely family, society, expensive house, etc. Even though he goes to the Himalayas or the forest, his mind will continue thinking of the objects of sense gratification. In this way, gradually one's intelligence will be affected. When intelligence is affected, one loses his original taste for Krishna consciousness.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 4.22.30, Purport) Continue reading "ISKCON Sannyasa Ministry Newsletter
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Demons in Krishna lila 5 – Aghasura – Cruelty and violence
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[Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Washington DC, USA]

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Thursday, November 8th, 2018
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Russell, Ontario

I Like Trains

Much as I like walking, I also like taking the train.  I suppose I did have some choices on how to get to this bedroom community of Ottawa.  One option was catching a ride with other commuters going from Toronto to our Canadian Leaders Sanga.  Walking was not an option.  It would take me at least two weeks to get to Russell.  Out of the question.

I like the train because of the ample leg room.  Scenery is nice.  I see a gorgeous trail running edge-wise along Lake Ontario.  It is mouth-wateringly tempting.  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp-4OszA7SG/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=109ehdkcksobj

I also had my peaceful moments.  I enjoyed reading from Mukunda’s book, where he describes the recording of the maha mantraat the studio on Abbey Road, London, when George Harrison insisted there be some multiple voices to support the main singer, Yamuna, who had that golden voice. George was practical.  He brought in some secretaries, agents and janitors, whomever he could grab, to create a greater volume of sound.  It was spontaneous and it was teamwork.  I love the book, Miracle on Second Avenue.

Okay, so I arrived at Ottawa’s Via Rail Train Station, where Mandala, one of my support persons for the U.S. walk, picked me up, and then dropped me at the arts building in Russell.  There, a group of us conducted a Govardhan Puja, which is done in India.  The story, in short, describes how young Krishna raised an amazing rock. The Herculean feat is honoured all over the planet on this day.  He executed the feat long before the invention of the train.

May the Source be with you!
5 km

Wednesday, November 7th, 2018
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Toronto, Ontario

D Day (Diwali Day)

After a few glorious hours of Diwali calls from people, and dealing with people in general, it was time for a walk, some fresh air,, and a head clearing before the evening influx.  Diwali is indeed a big deal for a lot of people.  It’s the New Year for some.  It’s a fun fest.  It’s family-and-temple time.  It commemorates enlightenment over darkness—Ravana.

I escaped with my coat and beads in pocket to Bloor Street, then up to Christie.  There, many eateries, pubs and cafes dominate.  I passed by Home Hardware, Dollar Plus, and some ticky-tacky shops and such.  There is also the Poop Café, and it is popular.  Ever time I take a peek the place is more or less packed.

I got my break.

Then evening came upon us.  Diwali lovers started to trickle in.  They came with anticipation.  Will there be diyas(ghee lamps) to light? Will there be something exciting in the atmosphere?  A talk perhaps?  Some kirtan chants maybe?

There were no set plans to address a fair-sized group of people. There they were, mostly young folks and some children.

Okay then, Lila Mayi and Hitesh were there for the regular Wednesday chanting.  We went to the mic, started singing, and said some words about the importance of chanting. The group responded.  We even formed a circle, a huge one, and encouraged a dancing movement.  The doors to the deities opened, and I leapt out to get things cooking in the kitchen for the crowd.  It was successful. Team work works.

May the Source be with you!
6 km

Tuesday, November 6th, 2018
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Brampton, Ontario

Mouth and Feet

Leaves were swirling in the air and the winds were fairly high, compared to most days, as I was footing my way along Dupont.  Kate and Gaurachandra had dropped me off at one of the malls along Dupont where they would pick up fresh ingredients for constructing some wraps.

“I’ll walk back to the ashram from here,” I said.  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp4R5xogTqW/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=ki6otktdx29p

While walking, I was contemplating the visit I had just made to my dental clinic in Brampton, where some ‘teeth work’ was done.  These mouths and teeth get satisfied with a good veggie wrap and so many other edibles.  They are also used for communication—of good messages, hopefully.  

I also reflected on the series of verses from the Gitathat our morning group has been reading. For instance, Chapter 3 Verse 11, which I read to the others at 5:00 a.m., goes like this in the purport: “By performance of sacrifice, one’s eatables become sanctified, and by eating sanctified foodstuffs, one’s very existence becomes purified; by the purification of existence finer tissues in the memory become sanctified, and when memory is sanctified one can think of the path of liberation, and all these combined together lead to Krishna consciousness, the great necessity of present day society.”

So there you have it.  Our mouths are meant for sanctified food (prasadam) and it puts us in a better place. Thinking of food, I decided to make a neighbourly stop at the corner of Dupont and Bathurst, in Toronto, at the ‘Annapurna Restaurant,’ just to say hello.  Out of the pot-washing back room emerged Patrick, whom I’ve known for years.  He pulled away and walked a few blocks with me, through the swirling leaves.  Nice guy.  It’s always a bit hard to maintain cohesion, though, when talking.  Bless him.

May the Source be with you!
5 km


Gita 01.37 Consciousness that is contaminated becomes conquered and covered
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Devotees and Jimmy Hendrix in Hawaii
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Govinda dasi: Jimmy Hendrix, we were told, is the biggest in the rock business, so there were thousands of people, mostly young, expected at his shows at the Waikiki Shell (a venue for outdoor concerts and other large gatherings in the Waikiki area of Honolulu, Hawaii). Sure enough, the Shell was jam-packed on Friday night, May 30; the gate was 26,000 in all. It was crowded both inside and outside when we arrived there with our cymbals, bells and guitar.

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VIHE Bhakti Vaibhav 1 and 2 Promo
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Hare KrishnaThe VIHE (Vrindavana Institute for Higher Education) was established to fulfill the desire of Srila Prabhupada (Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) for an educational institute in Vrindavana. The VIHE in the holy Dham provides an ideal facility and atmosphere for you to improve your sadhana, develop your devotional qualities, engage in serious study, associate with senior devotees, and receive training in practical skills relevant to management and preaching.

Srila Prabhupada’s 41st Disappearance Day (Album of…
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Srila Prabhupada’s 41st Disappearance Day (Album of photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: More than 120 disciples gathered in Vrindavan to glorify Srila Prabhupada for his Disappearance Day Festival. Fabulous arrangements were made and they churned the great ocean of the nectar of Srila Prabhupada’s glories. Again in the evening, they gathered at Srila Prabhupada’s bed where he left this world. Every year I think they will never be able to make better decorations to his bed, but again, just see how gorgeous they did. Finally there was aratika at 7:20 pm, the time His Divine Grace entered Samadhi. Relish the pics of my dear Vittalrukmini Das
Find them here: https://goo.gl/dw7uCU

Two Most Amazing Tirtha’s (Album of photos) Indradyumna Swami:…
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Two Most Amazing Tirtha’s (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Yesterday we began our Kartika parikrama in Mayapur by visiting Nrsimha Palli and HariHara ksetra, two special holy places in the Dhama. There we discussed the glories of both Lord Nrsimha and Lord Siva. The spiritual atmosphere of these places was overwhelming and more so due to the ecstatic Kirtan’s we had!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/ieHdmQ

Glorification of Srila Prabhupada from senior devotees in Vrindavana
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Hare KrishnaBy Iskcon Vrindavan

Offerings of many sannyasis and older devotees in Iskcon Vrindavana for the disappearance day of His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Nectarean memories and selected words of respect, appreciation and love for Srila Prabhupada (video) Continue reading "Glorification of Srila Prabhupada from senior devotees in Vrindavana
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Grandma’s Home Remedies: Active Meditations to Help Me Deal with the Nitty-gritty Challenges of Life
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Hare KrishnaBy Srimati Dasi

Let’s face it – trying to become a devotee in this faithless, fast, and quarrelsome age is very, very tough. If the mind is not making life difficult for us, it will be the neighbors, some authority figure, our bodies or our family. Actually, the list is endless. How to keep faith and focus in a world so obviously made for distraction?! The real challenges come in our daily dealings in life. The philosophy sounds fine in the class atmosphere, but often we lose sight of it when dealing with the “nitty-gritty” practicalities of life. This often leads to a spiritual schizophrenia. We have one sense of identity when at the temple and a very different one when we are at home or at work. What to do? Continue reading "Grandma’s Home Remedies: Active Meditations to Help Me Deal with the Nitty-gritty Challenges of Life
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Museum of The Hare Krishna Movement?
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Hare KrishnaBy Mayesvara Dasa

Those of us who appreciate the magical potency of what Srila Prabhupada gave us know that a miracle of colossal historic importance occurred in the late 1960’s. At that time His Divine Grace came and ignited a worldwide spiritual revolution that has no historic equivalent. Those of us who were blessed to become his disciples all got an opportunity to be part of this extraordinary moment in history. Yet time is gnawing away at all of us every day. One by one we watch the disciples of Srila Prabhupada evaporate right in front of our eyes. Continue reading "Museum of The Hare Krishna Movement?
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Gita 01.36 The ethical tension between kula-dharma and kshatriya-dharma leads to emotional over-reaction and physical inaction
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 01.36 The ethical tension between kula-dharma and kshatriya-dharma leads to emotional over-reaction and physical inaction appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Vrndavana Braj Parikrama – Day 1
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Written by Rukmini dd

The Vraj Parikrama is bursting at the seams this year. We are different. All 140 of us have come with a milieu of accents, skin tones, natures and cultures from all corners of the earth. Yet we have come to Vrindavan as family and Vrindavan is home.

We begin our pilgrimage in the early morning and load into three buses. Kadamba Kanana Maharaja smiles and chats to people in between managing logistics. He is a gracious host and guide on this sacred trail. Today we journey to Dhruva Tila in Madhuvan.

A five-year-old prince is insulted by the harsh words of his step mother who denounces him access to both his father’s lap and the kingdom. His heart, burning with the insult, festers with the need for revenge and he desires a kingdom greater than the material creation. He is told by his mother that only the Supreme Lord can fulfill such a desire and that He can be found in the forest. So he leaves home for the forests in search of Krsna.

Maharaja also chooses the bushy path towards Dhruva Tila, avoiding the noisy traffic, where our buses finally stop. Dhruva meets Narada, is given a process of sadhana and is sent to Madhuvan. We cross the soft sandy paths of Madhuvan leading to the temple honoring Dhruva, his guru – Narada; and Lord Narayana – who graced Dhruva with His darshan by the mercy of Narada.

Maharaja approaches the Dhruva lila with a fresh perspective. Narada instructs Dhruva to give up his enmity and be saintly. But Dhruva, deeply identifying as a ksatriya, sees the value of his instructions but could not embrace them in his heart. Narada then offers him a process of sadhana that would help achieve his goal yet purify him. However, Maharaja made the salient point that if Dhruva had embraced the transcendental instruction, he would have saved himself a lot of trouble. He made the distinction between following the orders of the spiritual master and wholeheartedly aligning ourselves with his mood.

This was a skillful link to the essence of his offering on Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day. Lord Caitanya was surrounded by three circles when dancing at Ratha Yatra. The inner circle was his closest associates. So too was Srila Prabhupada. The outer circle is those who were touched by Prabhupada but may still be distracted. The inner circle is those who had complete focus on Srila Prabhupada’s desire. Denying the transcendental instruction placed Dhruva – and maybe us – on the outer circle. “You cannot get to the inner circle just by initiation,” Maharaja commented. We prayed at Dhruva Tila to align ourselves with the mood of the spiritual master with single-minded focus.

After a pleasant breakfast at the base of the temple, which was peaceful except for the occasional appearance of a maddened bull, we loaded the buses once more. Destination: Talavan. This is where Lord Balarama tackled a bunch of demon asses by spinning them unconscious and hurling them into huge Taal trees. A very original move, no?

We reach the temple of Lord Balarama with a smaller Krsna on his right and Revati on the left. Balarama is blackish. It is generally mentioned in this regard that Balarama had been so absorbed in the meditation in Krsna that he assumed the colour of Shyam. “That’s the way to chant,” Maharaja comments. We first head out for the roof in the stinging midday sun. “Some austerity is needed in the dhama,” said Maharaja. Some dust, heat, crowd and noise – the hooter of our bus is an extremely high pitched version of a horror movie soundtrack! But this is the price to be paid for the lap of Krsna, Vrndavana. But Maharaja, being merciful, soon led us to the shaded courtyard.

Maharaja has planned this parikrama as a meditation. It is no coincidence that we approach Lord Balarama on the first day. He represents the adi-guru and is the giver of spiritual strength. Maharaja makes the important connection that Lord Balarama’s very essence is service to Krsna. We pray to Him for such a service attitude because through service we experience joy. That joy is the crux of spiritual strength. That joy is a gift from Lord Balarama.

We head back to Krsna Balarama Mandir having planted prayers in sacred places. Precious seeds of instructions toss in our minds searching for our hearts.

 

The article " Vrndavana Braj Parikrama – Day 1 " was published on KKSBlog.

Big gathering of vaishnavas in Srila Prabhupada’s samadhi…
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Big gathering of vaishnavas in Srila Prabhupada’s samadhi in Mayapur (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The Spiritual Master and Krishna are two parallel lines. The train, on two tracks, moves forward. The Spiritual Master and Krishna are like these two tracks, they must be served simultaneously. Krishna helps one to find bona fide Spiritual Master, and bona fide Spiritual Master helps one to understand Krishna. If one does not get bona fide Spiritual Master, then how he can ever understand Krishna? You cannot serve Krishna without Spiritual Master, or serve Spiritual Master without serving Krishna. They must be served simultaneously. Letter to Mahapurusa, February 12, 1968
Find them here: https://goo.gl/kg15QU

Ecstatic Ratha-yatra in Vrindavan (Album of photos)
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Ecstatic Ratha-yatra in Vrindavan (Album of photos)
Mahadevi Dasi: Totally ecstatic Vrndavana RATHYATRA with our ISKCON JAGANNATHA BALABHADRA SUBHADRA and CHAKRAJI!
The Sacred Sounds of the Holy Names of KRSNA were vibrating throughout the universe it seemed!
Devotees pulling Lord Jagannatha’s Cart while singing, dancing, laughing, smiling n showing various signs of the JOY that RATHYATRA gives so freely.
Brijabasis lined up along Bhaktivedanta Marg to join in the chanting, clapping their hands n showing their appreciation for the Lords going by giving tons of garlands, fruits n sweets!
Lord Jagannatha drenching everyone in Their Mercy- literally- as a rain shower came pouring down after the RATHYATRA!
Jagannatha Swami nayana patha ga me bhava tu me!

Appreciating life’s ARC – Achievements, Relationships, Consciousness
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[Talk at Intel, Phoenix, USA]

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PPT:

Video:

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Appreciating Prabhupada’s powerful practicality – PASS acronym
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[Prabhupada disappearance day class at ISKCON, Phoenix, USA]

Podcast


 

Video:

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Ramayana series 4 – Sita’s faithfulness – The strength of devotional acceptance
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[Talk at Phoenix, USA]

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Video:

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Ramayana series 3 – Shurapanakha’s manipulativeness – Exploiting others’ weaknesses doesn’t make us strong
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[Talk at Phoenix, USA]

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Ramayana series 2 – Ravana’s recklessness – Attachment makes us overvalue things
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[Talk at Phoenix, USA]

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Ramayana series 1 – Comparing Dasharatha and Dhritarashtra – What we do is not as important as why we do it
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[Talk at Phoenix, USA]

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Podcast Summary


 

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Govardhana lila lessons – Krishna disempowers and empowers – and opens channels for reciprocating love
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[Govardhana puja talk at ISKCON, Phoenix, USA]

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ISKCON Member Selected as KAICIID International Fellow. ISKCON…
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ISKCON Member Selected as KAICIID International Fellow.
ISKCON India’s Director of Communications, Yudhisitr Govinda Das, was earlier this month chosen by the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) as one of its twenty International Fellows for the year 2019.
KAICIID, based in Austria’s capital city Vienna, is an inter-governmental organization jointly founded in 2012 by the Republic of Austria, Kingdom of Spain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Holy See (Vatican) following the initiative of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to promote inter-religious dialogue with the aim of preventing and resolving conflicts.
To read the entire article please click here: https://goo.gl/x8nsPX

ISKCON New Vrindaban Reaches Out to Jewish Community
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On October 27, ISKCON New Vrindaban devotees in West Virginia heard of the horrific mass shooting at the Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh, a 90-minute drive away from their idyllic rural community. Jaya Krishna Das, the Temple President of ISKCON New Vrindaban, wrote a heart-warming condolence letter to the Tree of Life Synagogue and the Jewish community, which was noted by the Intelligencer newspaper of Pennsylvania.