Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Established by the late ISKCON guru Bhakti Tirtha Swami, IFAST (Institute for Applied Spiritual Technology) operates on the idea that it’s not enough to simply give people spiritual knowledge – we must teach them how to apply it.
Terrible darkness moved out of the shadows and into our national and global psyche last weekend in Pittsburg. Spurred on by hatred, ignorance, and a growing culture of civic unrest that increasingly divides, alienates, and deprecates those different than ourselves, a gunman attacked the Tree of Life Jewish Congregation killing eleven men and women, and injuring more.
[Talk at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada]
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The post What reality TV tells us about reality appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
"When we turn away from the sun, we face our shadow. When we turn away from God, our original Source, we see ourselves as separate, and fear arises."
Ananda Vrindavaneswari Devi Dasi: As my bare feet hit the cold marble floor of the altar during the early morning service hours I whispered, ‘Oh, so cold!’. My fellow pujari turned and smilingly whispered back, ‘Austerity!’
It wasn’t the first time I was reminded that there is a sweetness to doing something difficult for Krishna. Actually, it’s only by intentional practices that we can begin to access spiritual tastes and emotions that are less obvious and more refined.
The Parliament of the World’s Religions, the largest global interfaith gathering, will be held in Toronto from November 1 – 7 in Toronto, Canada. The gathering will welcome close to 10,000 delegates from 80 countries, representing nearly 200 religious, spiritual, and Indigenous traditions.
10 Tips for Fostering Mutual Respect and Appreciation.
Grihastha Vision Team: In today’s rough and tumble world, practicing courtesy, kindness and respect may seem out of place but NOT for us devotees trying to purify our lives! For us, it is imperative to practice these as ‘devotional service begins at home.’ It is so easy to lose respect and appreciation for each other due to the challenges of familiarity, conflicts, stress, unexpected events such as guests, illness, financial downs, hormonal changes, natural disasters, and even more serious ones such a shaky relationship, abuse or infidelity. These last 3 mentioned need marriage counseling and reading these tips and acting on them may be appropriate in the maintenance stage after your relationship has healed, not used as a substitute.
When being completely “brainwashed” is a blessing.
Swarup Hebel: Some time ago I received what I considered to be a very nice compliment right here on Facebook. Someone wrote in a personal message, “I have been reading your posts and comments for the past two weeks and it seems to me that you don’t have a single solitary original thought or idea in your head and that you are completely brainwashed by Swami Bhaktivedanta.” Such praise coming from a complete stranger touched me deeply.
Iskcon of DC joins larger community’s condemnation of all hate crimes and expresses solidarity with the Jewish Community in Pittsburgh.
RESOLUTION ON BRUTAL KILLINGS INSIDE A PITTSBURG SYNAGOGUE.
Pastimes of Narotam Das Thakur narrated by Narasimhananda Prabhu at ISKCON Juhu on 29th Oct 2018 (video)
Visit to Vrinda Kunda (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Vrinda Kunda is a favorite place of pilgrimage for all Vrajavasis....
A fortunate soul describes how receiving a book (Spiritual Yoga) from NYC Harinama Ashrama changed her life. (2 min video)
By The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust This Prabhupada Marathon, join an international celebration of Giving - sign up for the Be A Giver Campaign! Be A Giver is a celebration of giving. An International campaign being organized by the BBT Marketing, Communication and Innovation Department for Srila Prabhupada Marathon 2018. One of our main goals is to unite the world as a team, to share best practices and inspiration and grow as the “One World Team” in the service of Srila Prabhupada. Our goal is to get at least 10,000 givers internationally. What do I need to do? Register as official “Givers” at https://www.prabhupadamarathon.com/ Share your stories, pictures, videos using using #BeaGiver and #PM18 Like, Follow and Share BBT International Facebook, Instagram Continue reading "Be A Giver Prabhupada Marathon 2018
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Answer Podcast
The post How can we find which work bests suits our nature? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
The post Gita 01.28 Our thought-train’s journey from intentions to actions is diverted by our emotions appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
The beautiful arati ceremony at Radhakunda 2018 (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Horse is controlled by the mouth. Therefore you have seen the harnesses are fixed in the mouth, the driver controls the mouth, and the horse goes. So Krishna was a boy. How did He know that “This Kesi has come in the shape of a horse. If I have to control him, I will have to control his mouth.” So he pushed His hand within the mouth of the horse, and the horse felt it was just like a hot iron bar, so he died. Similarly, when Krishna fought with Aristasura, he knew that to control the bull you have to control the horns. So He took up the horns and killed him. This is svabhaviki, natural. He knows everything. Mayapur, June 17, 1973.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/V7LXuL
[Talk at Montreal, Canada]
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The post How Halloween celebration points to our longing for Krishna appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Everyone’s not that happy about the lax Canada cannabis rules.
Bhaktimarga Swami: Long day. Long waits. Delhi. Amsterdam. Then Toronto Airport. New computers at customs. No paper. Just pressing some buttons. A long enough indoor walk to the outside. Time to think. What did I think? I remembered several brahmacharis coming to me on the last day at Kanpur. Those monks were saying, “We’ll miss you,” because we had the best times before the deities of Krishna. We were singing and we were swinging with new moves—for them and me—dancing for God.
Vrinda Kunda is a favorite place of pilgrimage for all Vrajavasis. Vrinda-devi herself is one of the 5 divine personalities who grant eternal residence in Vrindavan Dhama. Understanding these transcendental realities our parikrama party of nearly 500 devotees relished a day at Vrinda Kunda; hearing, chanting and enjoying each others association.
Our beloved Srila Prabhupada (video)
Srimati Mandakini Mataji’s Lecture on “Srila Prabhupada” at ISKCON Chowpatty, Oct 29, 2018
Damodarastakam explained (video)
H.H. Sivaram Swami elaborates on the meaning of the famous Sanskrit composition glorifying th...
The frog in the Well Moral Story (4 min video)
Once upon a time, there was a frog who lived at the bottom of a well. The well was the frog’s whole world, until the day the well ran dry and the bugs began to disappear…
By ISKCON-London Communications On the evening of 24th October, devotees from across London gathered at the Radha-Krishna Temple in Central London to celebrate Sharad Purnima, the beautiful full moon night of the autumn season. Sharad Purnima, which takes place on the eve of the month of Kartik, commemorates Lord Krishna performing a beautiful dance called "rasa lila" with His dear-most devotees, the gopis – the cowherd damsels of Vrindavana Continue reading "An enchanting Sharad Purnima festival leaves devotees mesmerised in London
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NEW VRINDABAN DAYS
As New Vrindaban enters its 50th anniversary (1968 to 2018), I wrote this series of articles for the Brijabasi Spirit in an attempt to give the reader not only an “understanding,” but more importantly a “taste,” of what life in early New Vrindaban was like – through the stories of one devotee’s personal journey.
The title of the series, “New Vrindaban Days,” is in tribute to the wonderful book “Vrindaban Days: Memories of an Indian Holy Town” written by Howard Wheeler, Hayagriva Dasa. He was one of Srila Prabhupada’s first disciples, a co-founder of New Vrindaban, and, a great writer. As with Hayagriva’s book, this series focuses on a period of time in the 1970’s.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank Chaitanya Mangala Dasa, for spending untold hours assisting me in refining my writing for your reading pleasure.
I have been asked to describe certain aspects of early New Vrindaban Community life such as the nature of the austerities, what it was like for a new person coming here, cooking, anecdotes about particular devotees, etc.
I attempt to tell these stories in some semblance of a chronological order, beginning with my first meeting with devotees in 1968, leading to my arrival in New Vrindaban in late 1973 and carrying through to the official opening of Srila Prabhupada’s Palace in 1979.
Advaitacharya Dasa
CHAPTER EIGHT: PROPAGANDA
The year is 1974 and it’s my first year in New Vrindaban. Everywhere I go there is talk about what New Vrindaban will be – “someday.” Someday – we will have a theme park replica of Krishna’s pastimes called Krishnaland. Someday – we will have a hand carved altar for Krishna made of the finest teak wood. Someday – people will visit from all over the world. Someday – there will be a Palace for Srila Prabhupada to live in.
The reality is we are penniless, we have very little to eat, we are in the middle of nowhere and we have no visitors. Very quickly I have come to believe all of the “somedays” are no more than propaganda meant to convince the feeble minded to stay.
When a ten foot blue print of a hand carved altar is hung up on the wall in the prasadam room for all of us to inspect, I am impressed at how far they will go to brainwash us.
I have been in New Vrindaban a matter of weeks. Despite the fact that I have burned down the community’s only source of income, the Swami seems to like me and I have quickly moved up the ladder from dragging mud, to cutting wood, to shoveling horse manure.
The head of the “plough” department is Paramananda Das, a senior devotee amongst the first that joined Prabhupada at the original Hare Krishna temple at 26 Second Avenue in New York. Paramananda is in his mid-thirties, making him much older than the younger devotees like myself. He and his family live up the road at the Madhuban farm. Paramananda is very nice to me, sometimes even taking me along when he visits local farmers he befriended.
In a conversation with Paramananda, in which I reveal that I am having trouble getting out of bed early in the morning to chant my rounds, I get a tidbit of advice that has stuck with me for over forty years.
“Have your wife prepare a bowl of fresh berries,” Paramananda says.
I am all ears.
“Pour some ice cold fresh cream over the berries,”
I’m transfixed.
“Sprinkle the berries and cream with several spoonfuls of sugar,”
I’m drooling.
“And then have her wake you up with that bowl of berries and cream right by your head.”
It is completely against any semblance of the “sense control” philosophy of the Hare Krishna movement, but he has painted the most succulent picture of an alarm clock and method of waking up I have ever heard.
Unfortunately for me, I have no access to berries, fresh cream, or sugar. Nor does it appear that I will at any time in the near future. Nonetheless, if I ever I find myself in need of a gentle way to wake a starving person out of a dead sleep, this is it.
Also working in the horse barn is Kasyapa Das (aka Varsana Swami), a brahmacari who every day makes the 3 mile walk from the ashram at the original Vrindaban farm to Bahulaban.
He is from New Jersey, not far from New York City where I am from. But, unlike me, Kasyapa is reserved, contemplative, and self-controlled. We are polar opposites. I talk constantly and Kasyapa seems most comfortable talking to the horses. At the time I do not know it but he is also the hardest working devotee in the community and trying to keep up with him is near to impossible. He is the first on the job, despite his three mile walk, and the last to quit at the end of the day.
In addition, he does not seem to need to eat. Even though seemingly all of the New Vrindaban residents meditate constantly on their next meal, it is not unusual for Kasyapa to take us on a long walk to an obscure field, in the middle of nowhere, with no intention of getting us back in time for lunch.
Sometimes we eat gnarly, wild crab apples found on an errant tree. Sometimes we don’t eat lunch at all. Growing up watching television in New York City there was a commercial for a Columbian coffee that plays up its mascot, the coffee bean buyer, El Exigente – The Demanding One. To me Kasyapa is – El Exigente!
It is on a Sunday morning, getting close to spring, when Kasyapa approaches me saying we will be going three miles up the road with the horses to do some work in one of the fields.
My mind catches fire immediately. “He can’t think we are going to miss the Sunday feast to work in some God-forsaken field, can he?”
No, I tell myself, afraid to ask him. He must have a couple of things to do in a small field and then we will return in time for the feast. We trudge the three miles up the state road, finally exiting into a forest.
When we come out on the other side of the woods I am looking at one of the biggest fields I have ever seen. My chest tightens, making it hard for me to breathe and my heart cracks at the realization we will most certainly be missing the feast. Besides the obvious frustration of the feast issue my mind becomes more disturbed as Kasyapa begins to explain the job at hand.
The field has been plowed at some time in the past and lies before us in torn up clumps of clay measuring about 1 ft. x 2 ft. each. Kasyapa leads me to a rusted piece of ancient horse drawn farming equipment called a “cultivator.” It lies close to the ground and is about 5 ft. x 6 ft. and has about four rows of spinning steel blades that are meant to cut through and break up the giant clumps of clay.
It sounds logical until Kasyapa hooks up the horses to it and begins pulling it across the field with me following behind them. The clumps are so hard that the blades have no effect and just bounce along the surface of the soil. Soon Kasyapa stops the team and ponders, before turning to me.
“Maybe you can stand on top of it to give it some added weight,” he suggests.
Standing on top of a rusted piece of equipment, that consists of not much more than fifteen whirling steel blades, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but Kasyapa is fairly confident I will not get killed. I climb up struggling to balance myself as he commands the horses to pull. Lucky for me, I do not get killed – or even fall off – but it doesn’t matter because my weight didn’t make any difference to the giant clay clumps.
Kasyapa is completely frustrated at the failure of our effort. I pretend to be just as disappointed but in reality I am internally rejoicing, thinking he will give up the folly of this effort and we will rush back to the temple so I can fill my face at the Sunday Feast.
“Follow me.” he says, walking the horses to the other end of the field where we find a tarp draped over a large pile. Kasyapa removes the tarp revealing a mountain of 50 pound bags of lime, which we will spread on the field after we get it cultivated.
“Help me with these bags.” he says, and we begin stacking them any place they can fit on the cultivator without hitting the steel discs. After stacking four or five hundred pounds of lime on board Kasyapa instructs me to sit on top of the bags and again commands the horses to go. This time we actually make a minor dent on the clay clumps before Kasyapa stops the team to give them a rest.
Sitting atop the lime bags, and pondering the vastness of the task before us, I peer through the treetops where my eyes come to rest on a lone cinder block wall across a valley, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
“What is that?” I ask Kasyapa.
“That is Srila Prabhupada’s Palace.” He replies.
I am stunned. I stand on the pile of lime bags. “That’s Prabhupada’s Palace?”
“Yes,” he answers.
In that moment, I am blown away. It is really there. It is not propaganda. The devotees have actually built a fifty foot cinder block wall all by themselves.
My mind reels. Someday – there will be a Palace for Srila Prabhupada to live in.
On that day, there would be no Sunday feast for me.
But, also on that day, standing in a field with Kasyapa, I got my first glimpse of “someday,” clearly visible on the New Vrindaban horizon.
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Did you miss any of the previous chapters? Click the links below to catch up:
Chapter 1: Every Journey Begins With a Single Step
Chapter 2: Srila Prabhupada – Jaya Radha Madhava
Chapter 3: Captured by the Beauty of Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra
Chapter 4: Fired Up – We Depend On Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra
Chapter 5: The New Vrindaban Landscape – January 1974
Stay tuned for Chapter 9: Vedic Civilization
The next monthly installment will be posted December 2018!
All the cows were resting under a group of Live Oak trees which gave them a lot of shade on the hot Fall day. Almost all of these cows in the ISCOWP herd were saved when they were about to be slaughtered. While the cows were in a restful mood, Balabhadra das offered Arati to the ISCOWP Diety Giiraj and the ISCOWP herd. In celebration, the herd was fed alfalfa cubes as treats and the younger members of the herd were given access to a pasture they never roamed before. All herd members were joyful either eating alfalfa cubes or running and kicking their heels exploring the new pasture. 
A Ram bhakta gets his Bhagavatam set.
Shastrakrit Das: Remember how I met Josh a couple of months ago at my book table ?! He s...
By Varaha Das Following in the footsteps of His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami, who was an exponent of bridge preaching and unity in diversity, his disciples in West Africa and in Togo particular have been participating actively in interfaith dialogue with other major religious faith in the country. It was decided that the Hare Krishnas should host the national day of Prayer for Peace this year by the Commision Permanent De L'espirit d'assise, the Commitee in charge of organising the annual Prayer for Peace in TOGO. The event which took place on the 27th of October was attended by many religious denominations, the government was represented by the Minister of Interior and Territorial Collectivities as well as the Mayor of Lomè. Continue reading "National Inter-Faith Prayer For Peace In the Spirit of Assisi Held in Hare Krishna Temple In Togo
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By Bhaktisiddhanta Swami In the Padma Purana, Kartika Mahatmya, it is stated that Radha-kunda is very dear to Sri Hari and is situated near Giri Govardhan hill. By taking bath in Radha-kunda on the eight day of waning moon in the month of Kartika[Bahulastami] one can greatly please Lord Hari who enjoys His pastimes there. This Kunda is as dear to Sri Krsna as Radha Herself. As a result of the killing of the Aristasura demon, a lila of mutual purification followed with the appearance of Syama-kunda from Krsna’s kick, and most importantly Radha-kunda from Radha/gopi’s dig, an invitation to all celestial rivers and then a bath; now this has become an annual midnight celebration. Continue reading "Bahulastami: Dipa Dana, Snana, and Cleaning 2018
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Answer Podcast
Transcription :
Question: How can we know which spiritual path to follow?
Answer: This is a valid concern by many who think of practising a spiritual path. We may think, there are so many teachers, books, paths – how do I know that my path is right? To understand what is good for us, we need to be pragmatic. If our conception of spirituality is – there is one right path and finding it will make my life successful and not finding it means failure – then such understanding of spirituality will make our life insecure. Instead we should see and understand that there is a purpose to life.
Look at our existence right now. While speaking, we formulate some thoughts and then speak. However, the entire mechanism of thoughts getting converted to voice is unknown. Similarly, how food gets digested and converted to energy is unknown. We can see that there is something beyond us which sustains our existence and enables our basic functions in life. We need air, water, food for survival which is provided to us. We need heat and light for functioning which is also provided to us. If such survival and functional needs of life are provided for then the need for a spiritual path should also be provided for by a similar arrangement.
If we use our intelligence and consider all the teachers, books, paths available around us we may get confused. How to choose between so many options? Whichever option we chose, we may think that there still might be a better option available. However, if we think that there is some higher divine being or force who is sustaining my existence and based on my intelligence take a step forward in that direction, we can have two possibilities. If my path is right, I will realize about that divine higher being. If my path is not right, I will not realize. Here we should understand that realizing that my path is not right should not be seen as a failure This should be seen as a step in my evolution. When we are sick, we do not explore all the possible treatments available. We take what is workable using our experience and intelligence. If the treatment works, we continue. However, if it does not work, we explore other ways. Similarly, if we do not get intended results after choosing a spiritual path, we explore other ways.
We do not have to wait for a mystical revelation to begin our spiritual journey. We can take small steps using our intelligence and experience and do a course correction if we realize that the teacher or the path is not the best for me. We will be given this intelligence from inside because, we are not just putting faith in a particular teacher, we are putting faith in the divine.
To summarize, we do not have to wait infinitely to choose a spiritual path. At the same time, we do not have to gullibly just jump into whatever comes in front of us. We use our God given intelligence to make the best choice and leave it to the higher force to guide us further.
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
The post Gita 01.27 The sequence of perception determines the consequence on our emotion appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
[Talk at Calgary University, Calgary, USA]
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The post Life, Afterlife and the Search for Meaning appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
The post Developing service attitude (2) appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
The Ultimate Parikrama (8 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: The parikrama around Govardhan Hill is the ultimate parikrama. This vi...
Please distribute Srila Prabhupada’s nectar! (15 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: Vrindavan does not require to be modernized because Krishna’s Vrindavan is transcendental village. They completely depend on nature’s beauty and nature’s protection. The community in which Krishna preferred to belong was Vaisya community because Nanda Maharaja happened to be a Vaisya king, or landholder, and his main business was cow protection. It is understood that he had 900,000 cows and Krishna and Balarama used to take charge of them, along with His many cowherd boy friends, and every day, in the morning He used to go out with His friends and cows into the pasturing grounds. Letter to Hayagriva, June 14, 1968.
Harvest of The Heart - Have we loved much? And have we loved well? Audio lecture by Garuda Das.
Due to heavy rains in the area, one of the villages of Faridabad (Haryana, India) was heavily flooded. In this time of distress, ISKCON Food Relief Foundation, branded as "Annamrita" offered humanitarian and generous support to the flood victims and provided nutritious and sumptuous meals to the victims in extremely short span of time. There has been both the online coverage and the offline coverage of the news. 
In the sublime atmosphere of Giriraja Govardhana, immerse yourself in the magical world of Krsna’s pastimes in the association of HH Sacinandana Swami, HG Bhurijana Prabhu, HG Jagattarini Mataji, HG Madhavananda Das and HG Adi Purusha Prabhu during the annual VIHE Govardhana Retreat. Please join us for a unique opportunity to enliven your devotional life with unforgettable devotional experiences in Vraja. This year the retreat will be on Dec 6-13. 
By Srila Krsna dasa Kaviraja Gosvami After Nityananda Prabhu, the greatest branch is Virabhadra Gosani, who also has innumerable branches and sub-branches. It is not possible to describe them all. Although Virabhadra Gosani was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He presented Himself as a great devotee. And although the Supreme Godhead is transcendental to all Vedic injunctions, He strictly followed the Vedic rituals. He is the main pillar in the hall of devotional service erected by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He knew within himself that He acted as the Supreme Lord Visnu, but externally He was prideless. It is by the mercy of Sri Virabhadra Gosani that people all over the world now have the chance to chant the names of Caitanya and Nityananda. I there take shelter of the lotus feet of Virabhadra Gosani so that by His mercy my great desire to write Sri Caitanya-Charitamrta will be properly guided. Continue reading "Srila Virabhadra Prabhu – Appearance
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By Giriraj Swami Another event that took place during Kartik was Lord Krishna’s killing of the demon Arista, who had assumed the form of a bull. Thereafter, Lord Krishna manifested Syama-kunda and Radha-kunda. Because today is celebrated as the appearance day of Radha-kunda, we shall read a relevant verse from The Nectar of Instruction, an authorized English presentation by Srila Prabhupada of Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Sri Upadesamrta. Continue reading "Sri Radha-kunda’s Appearance Day
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