[Talk at San Jose, USA]

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[Talk at Sacramento, USA]

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[Sunday feast class at San Jose, ISKCON Silicon Valley, USA]

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The post When life hurts 3 – When our good deeds causes problems – Prahlad pastime analysis appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Seminar at ISKCON Silicon Valley, San Jose, USA]

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The post When life hurts 2 – When people attack us – Gajendra pastime analysis appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

What happens when you do Harinama in the streets of Vrindavan? (1 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: Let there be all victory for th...

Get the TOVP App and Stay in Touch!
Every devotee should have the TOVP App on their phone. With over 2,000 users to date recei...

Srila Prabhupada: Don’t play tricks with your spiritual master! (4 min video)
A memory of Srila Prabhupada by Vamanajana das (who left his body a few days ago)

Book distribution in Wethersfield, Connecticut, United States (Album of photos)
Book distribution in Wethersfield during Durga...

Surdas and the sweeper.
There once lived a seeker of God called Surdas. He was eager to study and understand Spirituality (knowledge about God). He approached a Guru and requested that the Guru teach him spiritual practice so that he could get close to God.
The Guru was well aware of Surdas’ defect of anger. He knew that this would prevent Surdas from feeling closeness with God. So the Guru decided to first prepare Surdas before teaching him serious spiritual practice. So the Guru replied, “Dear Surdas, chant the Lord’s Name during all your activities, for a month. Then take a bath and come back to me.”
Starting the very next day, Surdas chanted the Lord’s Name during all his activities. After a month, he went to a river, took a bath and put on fresh clothes to visit the Guru. On the way to the Guru’s ashram (hermitage), his clothes got dirty as a sweeper was sweeping the street carelessly. Surdas was furious and shouted at the sweeper, “What you are doing, you fool? Now I have to go back, wash and dry these clothes and bathe again! Such a waste of time!”

I have been rereading the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam and receiving great illumination and inspiration from it. Srila Prabhupada said that he was not sure how long he would live, so he put everything into the First Canto, and Ramesvara Prabhu told me that whenever he told Prabhupada that the BBT had money and asked what they should print, Prabhupada would reply “Reprint the First Canto.”

Reading the First Canto yesterday, I came across the solution to the political problems we are facing in the US and throughout the world: the voters and leaders must be educated in spiritual culture, in the principles of Srimad-Bhagavatam. “An administrative head or king like Maharaja Pariksit, with full majestic authority, well equipped with weapons to chastise miscreants, can challenge the agents of the Age of Kali. Then only will it be possible to counteract the degraded age. And in the absence of such strong executive heads, there is always disruption of tranquility. The elected show-bottle executive head, as representative of a degraded public, cannot be equal with a strong king like Maharaja Pariksit. The dress or style of royal order does not count. It is one’s actions which are counted. . . . In the Age of Kali, the poor helpless animals, especially the cows, which are meant to receive all sorts of protection from the administrative heads, are killed without restriction. Thus the administrative heads under whose noses such things happen are representatives of God in name only. Such powerful administrators are rulers of the poor citizens by dress or office, but factually they are worthless, lower-class men without the cultural assets of the twice-born. No one can expect justice or equality of treatment from once-born (spiritually uncultured) lower-class men. Therefore in the Age of Kali [the Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy] everyone is unhappy due to the maladministration of the state. The leaders of modern human society are not twice-born by spiritual culture. Therefore the people’s government, administered by people who are not twice-born, must be a government of Kali in which everyone is unhappy.” (SB 1.17.4, 5 purports)

So, we must distribute Srimad-Bhagavatam—its knowledge—as widely and quickly as possible. “This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krsna to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the Age of Kali shall get light from this Purana.” (SB 1.3.43)

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

The Lord in the heart (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by HG Vaisesika Prabhu in Vrindavana, Oct 18, 2018.

Child Protection Initiative in Iskcon Toronto.
Vijay Teli: On a sunny Saturday in September ISKCON Toronto hosted a Child Prot...

Answer Podcast

The post The Gita tells us to do karma, but also asks us to understand karma – what karma does it refer to? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Beautiful New Raman Reti (Album of photos)
Our summer tour took us to the lovely New Ramanreti Community of Alachua, Florida w...

Go Puja at the farm today, Hare Krishna Valley in Melbourne (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: This is not the idea, to keep cows and get milk and produce yogurt and cheese and ghee and by selling them to become fat, rich capitalists. The idea is to please Krsna. That is bhakti. (From “Watering the Seed,” by Giriraj Swami, p. 240. Torchlight Publishing, 2010.)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/LvFC9y

Auckland city Diwali (Album of photos)
Festival performance, Harinam and Prasad distribution! Srila Prabhupada: I read your sankirtana newsletter with great relish. Europe and America are in great danger; this Hare Krsna movement is enveloping them. The sankirtana devotees are very, very dear to Krsna because you are doing the field work of distribution, Krsna has immediately recognized them as true servants. Just like during war time, a farm boy or ordinary clerk who goes to fight for his country on the front, immediately becomes a national hero for his sincere effort. So Krsna immediately recognizes a preacher of Krsna consciousness who takes all risks to deliver his message. It is called drdha-vrata—determination. These boys and girls are mahatmas: mahatmanas tu mam partha, daivim prakrtim asritah; bhajanty ananya-manaso, jnatva bhutadim avyayam ‘O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.’ This verse is applicable here, if these boys were under material nature they would not take so much risk, they are mahatma, they are real mahatma, not that long beard and saffron cloth mahatma. They are unswerving in their determination—drdha-vrata. All glories to the American devotees! Letter to Uttamasloka dasa, 11th December, 1975
Find them here: https://goo.gl/HXC2R8

The article " Real Security and Shelter " was published on KKSBlog.

Get the benefit of leaving your body in the Ganges by reading this!
[It says that one who hears the pastime, when they leave the body they will get the benefit of leaving in the Ganges.]
Lord Caitanya’s father, Jagannath Mishra, he would go to his guru’s ashram regularly. So one night he came back and suddenly got a high fever. So Sachi Mata started crying and she didn’t know what to do. At that time Lord Caitanya was still a small boy, maybe nine years old. He said everybody in this world leaves, as a human being everyone dies. So why are you lamenting? Call your relatives, call his friends, they should gather around him and chant Hare Krishna. What else are friends for? When you leave the body, they should be chanting. So she called their friends and relatives, they sat around Jagannath Mishra and began to chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Two brahmanas were at the doorway discussing that this is very serious. So what should we do now? 500 years ago they did not have an ambulance to rush them off to hospital. No pharmacist. But they had physicians. Basic first aid. They thought the best thing was to lower him in the Ganges and the cool water would either take away his fever, otherwise if he left his body in the Ganges then he would go back to Godhead. Of course he could go any time he wanted, he could go, come back, he is an eternal associate of the Lord. But they didn’t know that and he was playing the pastime with the Lord.

So they took him down in procession to the Ganges. And mother Sachi said that, where are you going? Take me with you. I spent my whole life serving you, cooking your prasadam, you know, she made her plea that if you are going take me with you. At this time Lord Caitanya, He said, father, if you go who will hold My hand and take Me to school? When I call out father, who will be there to answer? So then they were about to move him into the Ganges and told Lord Caitanya, because he is in the mood that he is the father and Lord Caitanya is his son, he doesn’t think that Lord Caitanya is Lord Krishna.

He says there is one thing I have to tell you, I prayed to Lord Rama to take care of you and so you have nothing to worry about. You are under the protection of Lord Rama. So they lowered him in the Ganges up to his neck and they were all chanting Hare Krishna. Above his head came a divine chariot with two attendants. Then after some time he left his body and his spiritual form transferred to the spiritual airplane and then he went back to Godhead.

So they took his body out from the Ganges and Lord Caitanya then cried in separation. Big tears, black tears, the size they call it elephant prose, gajamani. These tear droplets formed like a pearl white necklace on the chest of Lord Caitanya. So then Lord Caitanya did all the final rites for his father, He did the yagna and everything. It says that one who hears the pastime, when they leave the body they will get the benefit of leaving in the Ganges.

HH JAYAPATAKA SWAMI
Thursday, May 5, 2016

Ram Katha (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by HH Bhakti Charu Swami at Iskcon Kanpur, Oct 19, 2018.

Photos from the last day of the GBC meetings in Kanpur, India.
Srila Prabhupada: Train up your mind, God, godly mentality. Then you’ll be transferred next life, back to home, back to Godhead. That is required. This Krsna consciousness movement is training the people for being promoted to the highest standard of life. This Krsna consciousness movement is so important. We are giving chance to the people not to become next life cats and dogs and vultures. But associate with Krsna. To become a cowherd boy, to play with Krsna, or gopi, to dance with Krsna. This much facilities we are giving. So everyone should consider how much welfare movement is this Krsna consciousness movement and they should follow the instruction of Krsna and the acaryas and make their life successful.
From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Bhagavad-gita 13.4 – Paris, August 12, 1973
Find them here: https://goo.gl/4DUVic

ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 09/23/2018

Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes cow protection, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON New Vrindaban’s Founder-Acharya.

Participating Directors: Anuttama, Chaitanya Mangala (chair), Jamuna Jivani (board secretary), Makara, Olivia, Ranaka, and Vraja.

Participating Advisors: Kripamaya.

1. Ranaka’s Monthly Report

Lalita Gopi – Temple Barn:

• There are currently 12 cows here. We are milking seven cows: Jamuna, Surabhi, Subhadra, Lakshmi, Anjali, Sriya, and Malati who are producing approximately 24 gal of milk per day.
• Usha, who is about seven months pregnant, is also residing here waiting to come fresh. Also, there are also four calves: Lalita, Gaurangi, Gopi-Katyayani, and Jayasri.
• We have dried Sita and she is now at the Valley Barn with Dharma to be bred.
• Anandavidya is making 15-20 lbs of butter weekly, and 15 gal of yogurt. He is not making ghee this month.
• Dr. Mores visited Lalita who had a nail in her hoof. She is walking with a slight limp but improving greatly.

Ray (General Farm Hand):

• In addition to normal duties, he continues harvesting hay as the weather permits. Pippalada has been moving hay into the barn while training Rama, who has also been raking hay. To date 468 800-pound round bales have been harvested and stacked in the barn for storage, in addition to the 210 bales from last year.
• He completely rebuilt the cow loading chute at Bahulaban so we are ready to move cows from there to the Valley Barn next month as winter approaches.
• He is working with Suchandra’s crew, harvesting potatoes at the Community Garden. The potatoes are being brought down to the valley storage building to be washed and bagged on the wash line there.

Caitanya Bhagavat – Nandagram:

• He and Rama have been taking care of Lalita’s hoof at the Temple Barn and caring for Saraswati at the Valley Barn, who has an infection in her udder.
• He and Rama are working daily with the new oxen Bhadra and Sesa at Bahulaban, and Hari and Priya at Nandagram.
• Preparing for winter by clearing the dung out of the Nandagram barn.
• Cutting trees off the fence line at Nandagram.
• Mowing and weed-whacking weekly at the Nandagram and Bahulaban farms.
• Daily cow care for the 18 cows in Bahulaban, and 17 cows in Nandagram

Suchandra – Community & Teaching Gardens:

• Suchandra’s crew consists of: Monique, Moriah, Madri, Ryan, and Shyama.
• Moriah, Monique, and she mostly worked at the Community Garden harvesting and weeding, and made plans for next year.
• They helped clean up tomatoes and marigolds, and harvested at Vidya’s garden
• Pippalada, Moriah, and Ryan mowed the grass at the Community and Teaching Gardens.
• Madri deadheaded marigolds, watered, weeded, and maintained the area at the Teaching Garden. Also, she planted some mums to replace the marigolds that had become too blighted.
• Shyama picked marigolds, zinnia, and dahlias everyday. Also, she helped with some harvesting at the Community Garden.
• Harvest Totals for the Community and Teaching Gardens for August:
  • Large Marigolds – 5,900 pcs
  • Small Marigolds – 2,165 pcs
  • Dahlias – 300 pcs
  • Zinnias – 200 pcs
  • Cucumbers – 726 pcs
  • Green Beans – 70 lb
  • Tomatoes – 200 lb
  • Zucchini – 26 pcs
  • Green Peppers – 20 lb
  • Hot Pepper – 6 lb
  • Yellow Squash – 103 pc
  • Bittermelon – 32 pc
  • Okra – 45 pc
  • Carrots – 40 lb
  • Beets – 50 pc
  • Lettuce – 10 lb
  • Butternut Squash – 3 pc
• Vidya’s Garden, Harvested by Suchandra and Crew in August:
  • Green Peppers – 2 lb
  • Hot Peppers – 2.5 lb
  • Large Marigolds – 18,050
  • Small Marigolds – 8,950

 Lila (Nandagram Garden)

• Pulled out old plants and cover with hay.
• Cut along fence for mower.
•  Trained plants to keep them away from mower.
• Weeded.
• Brought harvest to temple kitchen and Valley Barn.
• August harvest from Nandagram:
  • Kale – 1.5 lb
  • Hot pepper – 4.5 lb
  • Yellow Summer Squash – 15.75 Lb.
  • Bitter-melon – 26.5 lb
  • Green Beans – 18.25 lb
  • Small Roma Tomato – 138.5 lb
  • Cherry tomato – 9.25 lb
  • Okra – 2.25 lb
  • Green Bell Pepper – 1.75 lb
  • Big Rutger Tomato – 152 lb
  • Zucchini squash – 1 lb
  • Basil – 1.25 lb

Radhanath Das (Vidya’s Garden)

• For the month of August, Govinda harvested hundreds of pounds of bitter melon.
• Radhanath das did maintenance, clean up, and organization at the garden sheds and storage areas, and made plans with Vidya for next year
• The garden received two dump trailer-loads of manure from Nandagram that will be spread and tilled in to the beds.
• Ranaka, Radhanath and Vidya are planning a 10’ x 16’ greenhouse built on skids with electric heat, city water, and grow lights that would allow for Vidya to continue her service of starting over 60 flats of flowers and vegetables to be grown for Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra, and many devotees in the area. ECO-V would be able to relocate the greenhouse in the future, if need be.
• Vidya brought produce to sell at a table by temple on some weekends.
• With the help of Anandavidya and his trailer, Ray was able to fix our riding lawn mower.
• 200+ lbs of tomatoes were brought to Ranaka and Josh to process into puree.
• Due to the rain and other factors, the marigolds have reached the state where the blight is in every flower and are no longer offerable.
• Basil was also planted in overabundance
• Total produce from Vidya’s Garden, delivered to the temple kitchen in August:
  • Lilies – 827
  • Gladiolus – 106
  • Sunflower – 5
  • Marigold – 825
  • Bitter Melon – 511
  • Tomatoes – 103
  • Green Beans – 95
  • Green Peppers – 39
  • Hot peppers – 43
  • Loki – 50
• 100 additional pounds of bitter melon and 100 pounds of tomatoes were harvested. The tomatoes went to the Valley Barn for processing and the karela (bitter melon) was sold to community members.

Ranaka:

• Elena and Joshua Rama continue to process the tomatoes from the three ECO-V garden areas (Nandagram, Vidya’s, and the Community Garden) in the ECO-V processing room at the Valley Barn. We now have two 15-cubic foot chest freezers full of green beans and tomatoes. To date the ECO-V team has processed and frozen 138.75 gallons of tomatoes and 23 gallons of green beans from our garden.
• Interfacing with Tejo on the complete revamping of the 35-year-old Valley Barn water system, which includes purchasing and burying two new 1,500 gallon storage tanks on the hill above the barns, locating and repairing water leaks, adding meter pits and new shut off valves, and installing a new water pump and its controls, etc.

2. Report on DeLand, FL Meetings

Jamuna Jivani reported on the ISKCON Ministry for Cow Protection & Agriculture organizational meetings in DeLand Florida in June:

Setting: Bhakti Caru Swami sponsored the meetings at the Veda Foundation, situated on a beautiful piece of land in a rural setting in central Florida. While the project is new and the buildings are old, the dedicated team were able to accommodate the group very nicely.

Attendees: Approximately 18 devotees from LA/Ojai, The Bhakti Center, New Talavan, Alachua, The Harmony Collective (Ypsilanti), Veda Foundation, and ECO-Vrindaban. Also, Gita Nagari and ISKCON Silicon Valley gave virtual presentations.

Facilitators: Kalakantha dasa, Bhaktin Allegra, and Jamuna Jivani

Objectives:

Networking and Awareness: connecting with and deepening relationships between devotees whom are engaged in related services; sharing about achievements, current projects, and future plans. Also, introducing the North American Farm Organization team to the various projects.
North American Vision and Plan: bringing together the leaders in the field to devise a vision and a strategy for the promotion and development of agriculture and goraksa throughout NA. For the Ministry, it represents identifying central areas of focus for agriculture and cow protection in North America and presenting the policies and action lines that the ministry is working on.
Biennial Conference in 2019: to discuss a theme, topics and ideas for the 2019 North American ISKCON Farm Conference, and to begin its planning process.

Highlights:

• Bhakti Caru Swami’s presentations on the Veda Foundation and his vision for a gosadana program, as well as his general participation
• Special messages submitted by:
  • Devamrita Swami – shared the vision for Gita Nagari by Srila Prabhupada, presented the city/farm relationship and how the direct experience with cows is a great transformational tool for outreach, and spoke of a strong trend in society of being “re-enchanted” by nature.
  • Mukunda Swami – produced a booklet about cow protection that can be customized for any project.
  • Krsna Ksetra Swami – writing a book on Cow Care, which will be published by MacMillan Palgrave.
• Inspiring presentations by the participants on their various projects
• Deepening relationships and new connections made
• A warm, supportive atmosphere where devotees felt comfortable to share their frustrations and difficulties
• Discussions on the challenges and areas of focus for North America on agriculture and cow protection
• Also, Lalita Gopi and Jamuna Jivani gave a brief presentation on ECO-V’s activities and projects.

Based on her report, Jamuna Jivani was requested to continue developing a plan for networking within and outside of ISKCON, which she will continue to do.

3. Request from Varsana Swami to Use Stones from Madhuban

Previously Madhava Gosh had purchased some stones that have been sitting unused at Madhuban. Varsana Swami would like to use stones to build a replica of Govardhana hill. The Board agreed. Ranaka will inform Nityodita who made the request on Maharaja’s behalf.

Announcements:

The next board/staff meeting will be on Sunday, October 14, 2018.

The October board meeting will be on Sunday, October 21, 2018.

The Autumn weekend gathering will be November 2-4, 2018.

Here’s a link to the ECO-Vrindaban website.

For regular updates, please visit, like and follow the ECO-V Facebook page.

The fifth day of the GBC Meeting was evoked with the auspicious spiritual initiation ceremony by Bhakti Charu Swami and it marked the fourth installation ceremony of the ISKCON Kanpur temple. Four years ago, it was on Dussehra or Rama Vijaya Dasami day, that the splendid Kanpur temple was inaugurated and the deities were installed with grandeur and pomp. Zonal Secretary of ISKCON Kanpur, Devakinandan Das recalled, ‘Srila Prabhupada always desired a temple to be erected in Kanpur. This did not just enter through my ears and hit my head but it touched my heart and inspired me to work towards fulfilling Prabhupada’s desire. Keeping Srila Prabhupada and his teachings at the centre of everything always, celebrating the fourth anniversary amidst the GBC Meetings felt ecstatic.’ Continue reading "Exceptional Magnificence At The GBC Meeting
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Vamanajana das Adhikari ACBSP left his body.
Jaya Gouranga Das: For all those devotees who knew and remember our dear Godbroth...

Answer Podcast

Transcription :

Transcribed by: Raji Nachiappan

Question: If somebody feels depressed or suicidal, how do we help them?

Answer: If people feel that we can non-judgmentally understand them, then people open up. The biggest burden, in actuality, is the burden of a mask. Sometimes, when we have to carry a heavy bag, we may consider it a burden. Yes, it can be. However, when we wear a mask out of fear of judgement by others, we conceal ourselves, our struggles, our problems and fears. Such a mask is a much bigger burden. Of course, to some extent, we all have lower desires and we need to discipline them. This is required in a civilised society. However, if certain issues are troubling us and we have nowhere to share that, then that becomes a burden.

If we can somehow give people the faith that we are not going to judge them, then they can open their heart. Once they open, then we can direct their thoughts in a particular way and offer suggestions. However, what can happen is that people can live in denial. Or sometimes, they specify they are depressed and make a show of their depression. In cases where people make a show of their depression, they are in denial of the possibility that they can come out of it. They have accepted that this is how they are. They think that if they try to change but are unsuccessful, then people may judge and condemn them. As a result, they stop trying itself.

In essence, people need a sense of connection with others. There are some areas in which people feel safe to open up. For example, if we happen to be living alone in a locality with a high crime rate and if someone knocks on the door, we do not immediately open the door. We might have a look through security window, or we might just open the door slightly to have a look. In the same way, people through their words open their hearts a little bit. If at that time, we can act in a non-judgemental and helpful way, then they will open their heart. At that time, especially, if we can connect them with some spiritual wisdom, then even if we are not there, the spiritual wisdom will be there for them.

Therefore, first we try to establish a personal connection with them and then try to give them a spiritual connection. If somebody is very seriously depressed, then it is best to seek help from someone who is trained. If they are ready to take that help, then we can try to be the medium in between. However, we cannot ourselves become too caught in somebody else’s world. When we are trying to help others, we can’t help them unless they want to be helped. The door to personal change can only be opened from inside. Unless there is a spark for change from their side, we will only be beating ourselves. Unfortunately, it will only hurt us. For example, if a car does not start, the driver usually asks for help. People from outside push the car. Driver from inside steers the car and together they get the car started. Suppose, if people from outside are pushing the car but the driver has kept the brakes pressed, then there is no point in pushing.

Therefore, sometimes people are just not in a position to be helped. And in trying to help them we may get agitated and we may get depressed. Hence, we have to be careful that we protect our own health and ensure we do not get too emotionally entangled in other people’s issues. When they are ready to be helped, we should be there to help them.

End of transcription.

The post If someone is depressed and suicidal, how can we help them? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

The epic show of dance, theater, martial arts and live music has been touring Poland for 29 years to great success, and came to the U.S. for the first time last year under the name “Discover India.”

Our "Paramahamster" comic strip follows an enthusiastic devotee as he navigates a 9 - 5 work day in the corporate world. Please check back weekly for new episodes!

A video by ISKCON Desire Tree.

A video by Ananta Vrindavan.

The fifth day of the GBC Meeting was evoked with the auspicious spiritual initiation ceremony by Bhakti Charu Swami and it marked the fourth installation ceremony of the ISKCON Kanpur temple.

Srila Prabhupada once said, “Unless in the human society the Varnasrama system is introduced, no scheme or social order, health order or any order, political order, will be successful.”